Alquin - Blue Planet (2005)

"Blue Planet" is the comeback album by Dutch music group Alquin. A reunion tour of Alquin was so positively received and the atmosphere between the musicians was so good, that they decided to enter the studio again to record a new album. Place of execution were the Park Studio in Amsterdam and The Schiehal in Delft. The album lets hear a mix of styles: from progressive rock to soul, almost like blues and other pop music. For lovers of Pink Floyd is an item hidden in the first track; the first showing of "Echoes" are played on a mockery in the bass guitar that resembles the basloop of Money.

Alquin anno 2005 has substantially the same occupation as the penultimate plate, "Best Kept Secret" (1976). Only bassist Walter Latuperissa is new within the group. He is a solid and flexible with Job Tarenskeen rhythm section and especially the basloopje in the instrumental opener, Return To The Blue Planet to feast. The rest of the tracks are sung and only now falls on what a great singer Michel van Dijk. His voice provides together with the sultry saxophone of Ottenhoff and the blissful Hammond-sounds of Funk for the soul-like atmosphere that the music of Alquin so hot.

With a whopping 14 songs of average length would be a conservative progfan might fear for too many ready-made pop songs with simple structure. But don't worry: Despite that each number according to the popformule is built, plays as soloist composer Ferdinand Bakker about continuously on his guitar and also with great class. Also the organ of Franssen seems constantly to purr and just about under each couplet I hear the pleasant blowing lots of Ottenhoff. Highlight is without doubt Terror Eyes. In terms of both sound and as regards the voting use of Michel van Dijk should I unwise to The waterboys thinking, which is meant as a compliment. It is a very varied and attractive number that falls into two parts. Especially the second part, with the strong ' riots on the street nothing on tv silence on the radio'-chorus, is very strong. Nice is also beautifully placed silence with that goose bumps causing saxophone solo afterwards.

"Blue Planet" is on the whole a very strong album, a fine album for traveling to faraway places.

Track listing

01.  "Return to the blue planet"  (F.Bakker, J.Tarenskeen)  - 6:01

02.  "Murder in the park"  (F.Bakker, J.Tarenskeen)  - 4:43

03.  "Over & out"  (F.Bakker, J.Tarenskeen)  - 5:53

04.  "The hitman"  (F.Bakker, J.Tarenskeen)  - 3:21

05.  "Falling"  (F.Bakker, J.Tarenskeen)  - 4:39

06.  "Love = a little thing"  (F.Bakker, J.Tarenskeen)  - 2:10

07.  "Terror eyes"  (F.Bakker, J.Tarenskeen)  - 6:18

08.  "2 days 2 nights"  (F.Bakker, J.Tarenskeen)  - 3:48

09.  "Pictures"  (F.Bakker, J.Tarenskeen)  - 4:14

10.  "Can't sleep"  (F.Bakker, J.Tarenskeen)  - 3:08

11.  "Enough = enough"  (F.Bakker, J.Tarenskeen)  - 3:43

12.  "Singapore Connection"  (F.Bakker, J.Tarenskeen)  - 5:09

13.  "Cherise"  (F.Bakker, J.Tarenskeen)  - 5:43

14.  "The Beach"  (F.Bakker, J.Tarenskeen)  - 5:54

Release:  september 15, 2005

Recorded At:  Park Studio, Amsterdam and The Schiehal, Delft

Label:  Universal Music

Genre:  Symphonic Rock

Total Time:  64:44

Producer:  Ferdinand Bakker

Personnel

Ferdinand Bakker - guitars, violin, piano, vocals

Michel van Dijk - lead vocals

Dick Franssen - Hammond, keyboards

Ronald Ottenhof - saxes

Walter Latuperissa - bass guitar, vocals

Job Tarenskeen - drums, vocals

Brendan Croker & The 5 O'Clock Shadows - Brendan Croker & 5 O'Clock Shadows (1989)

For his major-label debut, Silvertone Records threw a lot of resources at Brendan Croker, including a hefty production budget that allowed Brendan Croker & the Five O'Clock Shadows to feature a gaggle of session musicians. This turns out to be a bit of a mixed blessing  the opening number, "No Money at All," is so dominated by the guitar of Mark Knopfler that it sounds like a lost Dire Straits track rather than the work of a new artist. Fortunately, after that Croker is allowed to bring more of his own sound to the fore, and while the gentle picking of Dire Straits is certainly one reference point to that sound, there are many others throughout this album. Obvious influences range from Woody Guthrie to John Hartford or Pete Seeger in terms of lyrical content, and from Northern soul to American country to Yorkshire folk in terms of music. Being a Brit who writes largely about social injustice has also earned Croker a number of comparisons to Billy Bragg, although musically Croker has a much wider-ranging palette. He gets to show this off to good effect on Brendan Croker & the Five O'Clock Shadows, jumping between bluesy numbers ("This Kind of Life," "That's Why I'm Leaving Here") and mellow country tunes ("Just an Old Waltz"), as well as rearranging a traditional folk song ("All Mixed Up") into a smoldering soul workout. While the production by John Porter may be a little too slick for longtime Croker fans who are used to a rawer mix, this well-written, eclectic album will serve as an excellent introduction for anyone who has heard Croker as a member of the Notting Hillbillies and wants to further explore the genesis of that band's polished-but-rootsy sound.

Track listing

01.  "No Money at All"  (Brendan Croker)  - 3:38 

02.  "You Don't Need Me Here"  (Brendan Croker)  - 3:45 

03.  "Shine On"  (Brendan Croker)  - 4:26 

04.  "This Man"  (Brendan Croker)  - 3:12 

05.  "Wrong Decision"  (Brendan Croker)  - 4:08 

06.  "That's Why I'm Leaving Here"  (Brendan Croker)  - 2:25 

07.  "All Mixed Up"  (Brendan Croker)  - 3:42 

08.  "This Kind of Life"  (Brendan Croker)  - 3:19 

09.  "My Government"  (Brendan Croker)  - 3:15 

10.  "Ain't Gonna Smile"  (Brendan Croker)  - 3:08 

11.  "Just an Old Waltz"  (Brendan Croker)  - 2:55 

12.  "Mister"  (Brendan Croker)  - 4:17 

13.  "Coconut Tree"  (Brendan Croker)  - 4:10 

Release:  August 15, 1989

Recorded at:  KGM, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Matrix, London, The Fletcherdome, London, Home of the Blues, London

Label:  Silvertone Records

Genre:  Pop, Blues-Rock

Length:  46:20

Producer:  John Porter

Personnel

Brendan Croker - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Slide Guitar, Banjo

Mark Knopfler - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar

Guy Fletcher - Bass, Keyboards, Piano 

Drums – Steve Goulding

Marcus Cliffe - Bass Guitar

Mark Cresswell - Electric Guitar 

Guy Fletcher - Keyboards, Strings, Drums  

Alan Clark - Organ [Hammond]

Preston Heyman - Percussion 

Molly Duncan - Saxophone 

Neil Sidwell - Trombone 

Martin Drover - Trumpet 

Katie Kissoon, Tessa Niles - Backing Vocals

John Porter - Slide Guitar, Drums

Tanita Tikaram - Vocals [Harmony Vocals]

Rob Mason - Harmonica

Eric Clapton - Vocals

Steve Phillips - Vocals

John Cale - Comes Alive (1984)

Five years after delivering one of the crucial live albums of the 1970s, 1979's "Sabotage/Live", John Cale turned around and unveiled one of the least necessary of the 1980s, a "Comes Alive" set that, frankly, should have been left for dead. The problem is not the performance  circulating underground tapes of the show in London earlier that year catch Cale and his current band at the peak of their powers, punching through a set built upon, but by no means dependent on, the Caribbean Sunset album and delivering chilling interpretations of his most sainted oldies. "Waiting for the Man" was nightmarish, and "Pablo Picasso" positively surreal. But there was no room for the painter on "Comes Alive", as a 90-minute show was slashed in half and the surviving tapes were so remixed that the very audience sounds like a sample. The result is an album so polished and lifeless that even the ghost of the live show went home before the end. Alarming, too, was the top-and-tailing of the disc with two new studio recordings, the Cale-by-numbers ballad "Never Give up on You" and the oddly amusing skip-rope parody "Ooh la La." The latter worked as a one-off single, in which form it first appeared the previous month; the former would have worked as a bit of album-filler. But they have nothing to do with the rest of the record  and it has nothing in common with the rest of Cale's catalog.

Track listing

01.  "Never Give Up on You"  (John Cale)   - 3:20

02.  "Evidence"  (John Cale)    - 3:24

03.  "Dead or Alive"  (John Cale)   - 4:01

04.  "Chinese Envoy"  (John Cale)   - 3:24

05.  "Leaving It Up to You"  (John Cale)   - 5:26

06.  "Dr. Mudd"  (John Cale)   - 39:30

07.  "Waiting for the Man"  (John Cale)   - 4:27 

08.  "Heartbreak Hotel" (Mae Boren Axton, Tommy Durden, Elvis Presley)   - 4:21

09.  "Fear"  (John Cale)   - 3:32

10.  2Ooh La La"  (John Cale)   - 3:56

Release:  September, 1984genrePop/Rock

Recorded live at:  The Lyceum, London, February 26, 1984

Label:  ZE/Island Records

Genre:  Art Rock, Experimental

Producer:  John Cale

Remix Engineer:  Stephen Street

Engineers on Ooh La La and Never Give Up:  Roddy Hui, D. Young, D. Lichtenstein, A. Heermans

Personnel

John Cale - guitar, piano, vocals

Andy Heermans - bass

David Lichtenstein - drums

David Young - guitar

Various Artists - Folkways: A Vision Shared - A Tribute To Woody Guthrie & Leadbelly (1988)

"Folkways: A Vision Shared - A Tribute to Woody Guthrie & Leadbelly" is a Grammy Award-winning 1988 album featuring songs by Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly interpreted by leading folk, rock, and country recording artists.

Produced by Harold Leventhal, Guthrie's long-time business manager, the album received widespread critical acclaim and included performances by Guthrie's son, Arlo Guthrie, and many other luminaries: Bob Dylan, Fishbone, Emmylou Harris, Little Richard, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Little Red School House Chorus (Sarah St. Onge, director), Taj Mahal, U2, and Brian Wilson. This tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly might be fueled by superstar appearances, but it is the strength of the songs by the two honored legends that is the true highlight of this collection. Woody Guthrie was a folk troubadour who documented the often hard life and times of his America, while Leadbelly explored his vision through an amalgam of folk, gospel, blues and pop. Honored by the contemporary musicians they greatly influenced, the two musical icons come alive thorugh new interpretations of their durable songs.

Highlights include the obvious: Dylan sings his idol Woody Guthrie's epic ballad "Pretty Boy Floyd," a track powerfully displaying the potency of a majestic song, a simple, distinctive vocal and acoustic guitar. The always pitch-perfect, ethereal Emmylou Harris performs a mesmerizing "Hobo's Lullaby." John Mellencamp proves his roots with a rendition of Guthrie's "Do Re Mi," exhibiting how Woody was the original voice of the heartland. Bruce Springsteen gives a searing acoustic performance of Woody's Dustbowl ballad "I Ain't Go No Home" and then rocks out with a Stones-ish "Vigilante Man." U2 leave their distinctive stamp on a frenetic romp through the Guthrie-penned "Jesus Christ." The background voices even sound like an updated version of the Weavers, a revered vocal quartet which first popularized Guthrie and Leadbelly's classics. The most upbeat cut is without a doubt Little Richard and rock/punk/funk stylist Fishbone's raucous charge through Leadbelly's classic "Rock Island Line." Taj Mahal injects a welcome shot of blues with a biting take on "The Bourgeois Blues," and Beach Boy Brian Wilson offers up a version of "Goodnight Irene" that flows in the same airy vein as his own hit "Sloop John B." The album ends with a Pete Seeger-led let's-all-join-in version of the collection's most famous song of all, "This Land Is Your Land."

Track listing

01.  "Sweet Honey in the Rock - Sylvie"  (Leadbelly)  - 2:01

02.  "Bob Dylan - Pretty Boy Floyd"  (Woody Guthrie)  - 4:34

03.  "John Mellencamp - Do Re Mi"  (Woody Guthrie)  - 3:23

04.  "Bruce Springsteen - I Ain't Got No Home"  (Woody Guthrie)  - 3:40

05.  "U2 - Jesus Christ"  (Woody Guthrie)  - 3:13

06.  "Little Richard with Fishbone - Rock Island Line"  (Leadbelly)  - 2:32

07.  "Arlo Guthrie - East Texas Red"  (Woody Guthrie)  - 5:34

08.  "Willie Nelson - Philadelphia Lawyer"  (Woody Guthrie)  - 2:59

09.  "Emmylou Harris - Hobo's Lullaby"  (Woody Guthrie)  - 2:41

10.  "Taj Mahal - The Bourgeois Blues"  (Leadbelly)  - 2:43

11.  "Sweet Honey in the Rock - Grey Goose"  (Leadbelly)  - 2:07

12.  "Brian Wilson - Goodnight, Irene"  (Leadbelly)  - 2:38

13.  "Bruce Springsteen - "Vigilante Man"  (Woody Guthrie)  - 4:09

14.  "Pete Seeger with Sweet Honey in the Rock, Doc Watson, The Little Red School House Chorus This Land Is Your Land"  (Woody Guthrie)  - 3:45

Released:  August 23, 1988

Genre:  Folk, Pop, Country

Length:  45:55

Label:  CBS

Producer:  Harold Leventhal

Brian Wilson And Van Dyke Parks - Orange Crate Art (1995)

"Orange Crate Art" is a 1995 album by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks released on Warner Bros. Records, where Parks has been contracted since 1967.

Brian Wilson enlisted Van Dyke Parks as his collaborator for "SMiLE", the follow-up to the Beach Boys' groundbreaking album "Pet Sounds". One single, "Heroes and Villains," was released from the sessions and became a hit, but the rest of the album remained on the shelves. Over the years, the legend of "SMiLE" continued to grow, as bootlegs circulated and selected songs were recorded by the Beach Boys (including "Sail on Sailor," from 1973's Holland). Parks and Wilson didn't work again until 1995, nearly 30 years after the "SMiLE" sessions. However, the resulting album, "Orange Crate Art", isn't quite a collaboration  it's a collection of Parks songs as sung by Wilson. And that is the major flaw in the project. Van Dyke Parks' approach is intellectual, not instinctual, which means his compositions are over-labored and overwrought. Instead of making his melodies catchy, Parks makes sure they are complex, which means they are rarely memorable. Similarly, his lyrics are dense and laden with poetic imagery and metaphors, yet they are entirely too cerebral for a pop album. Then again, "Orange Crate Art" isn't a pop album  it's a self-conscious work of art. Parks may have set his sights high, but neither his music or lyrics fulfill his ambitions. For that matter, neither do Brian Wilson's vocals. On each track, he manages to pull of a couple of nice, sweet lines, but he often sounds forced and reedy, and he never breathes life into the still-born material.

Track listing

01.  "Orange Crate Art"  (Van Dyke Parks)  - 3:00

02.  "Sail Away"  (Van Dyke Parks)  - 5:15

03.  "My Hobo Heart"  (Van Dyke Parks, Michael Hazelwood)  - 3:16

04.  "Wings Of A Dove"  (Van Dyke Parks)  - 3:07

05.  "Palm Tree And Moon"  (Van Dyke Parks)  - 4:07

06.  "Summer In Monterey"  (Van Dyke Parks, Michael Hazelwood)  - 4:14

07.  "San Francisco"  (Van Dyke Parks)  - 4:28

08.  "Hold Back Time"  (Van Dyke Parks)  - 3:39

09.  "My Jeanine"  (Van Dyke Parks)  - 3:13

10.  "Movies Is Magic"  (Van Dyke Parks)  - 3:54

11.  "This Town Goes Down At Sunset"  (Michael Hazelwood)  - 3:21

12.  "Lullaby"  (George Gershwin)  - 6:06

Released:  24 October 1995

Genre:  Folk Rock

Length:  47:51

Label:  Warner Bros.

Producer:  Van Dyke Parks

Personnel:

Brian Wilson - vocals

Van Dyke Parks - keyboards

Ira Ingber - guitar, mandolin, programming

Grant Geissman, Fred Tackett, Dennis Budimir, Brian Otto - guitar, mandolin

Terry Schonig - hammered dulcimer

Richard Greene - violin

Tommy Morgan, David McKelvy - harmonica

Dan Savant - trumpet

Lee Sklar, Carl Sealove - bass

Bernie Dresel, Chili "Darryl Francis" Charles - drums, percussion

Robert Odin Greenidge - steel drums

Bruce Donnell, Marvin Saunders, Mike Watts - synthesizer programming

Danny Hutton, Doug Lacy, Donny Gerrard, Carmen Twillie, Arnold McCuller, David Joyce, Bob Joyce, Mona Lisa Young, Johnny Britt, Jules Greene - background vocals

John Farnham - Age Of Reason (1988)

"Age Of Reason" is a studio album by Australian pop singer John Farnham. It was released  on 25 July 1988. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as lead singer of Little River Band during 1982–1985.

This album was also hugely popular in Australia but did not match the success of its predecessor. In part this was because John Farnham was no longer certain who his target audience was: a pop audience or an adult contemporary audience.

As always, John Farnham's voice was the weak link, although in many places this is disguised by the choice of some very competent backing singers in the form of Venetta Fields and Lisa Edwards.  The album starts with an outstanding opening song called 'Age of Reason' (a song which should be heard by soldiers before they go fighting...maybe teach them the futility of war)and ends with 'When The War is Over'. The theme of this album is simply the futility of hate. Farnham puts his message across well and not in a political way like the Oils did. Farnham keeps things harder-edged than usual, including a cover of AC/DC's It's "A Long Way To The Top". Two of Farnham's biggest hits are featured: the soaring message of "The Age Of Reason" with its textured vocal harmonies and the anthemic passion of "You´re The Voice". Other strong tracks: the driving "Burn Down The Night", the emotional ballad We´re No Angels,  the powerful "Beyond The Call" and the infectious Some Do Some Don´t.

Musically, "Age of Reason" was not greatly different to "Whispering Jack". In fact, the first single from this album "Age of Reason" was an attempt to recreate the success of "You're the Voice," right down to the bombastic lyrics.

Track listing

01.  "Age of Reason"  (T. Hunter, J. Pigott)  - 5:08

02.  "Blow by Blow"  (D. Stewart, O. Ormo, B. Harrison)  - 4:37

03.  "Listen to the Wind"  (B. Thomas, J. Stevens)  - 4:26

04.  "Two Strong Hearts"  (B. Woolley, A. Hill)  - 3:35

05.  "Burn Down the Night"  (B. LaBounty)  - 3:32

06.  "Beyond the Call"  (D. Batteau, D. Brown, K. Dukes)  - 4:43

07.  "We're No Angels"  (R. Wilson)  - 4:52

08.  "Don't Tell Me It Can't Be Done"  (C. Thompson, A. Qunta)  - 3:35

09.  "The Fire"  (C. Thompson, K. Reid, Leiber)  - 4:26

10.  "Some Do, Some Don't"  (S. Hague, M. Mueller)  - 4:19

11.  "When the War Is Over"  (S.Prestwich)  - 4:50

12.  "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll)"  (A. Young, M. Young, B. Scott)  - 4:11

Released:  25 July 1988

Genre:  Pop, Rock

Length:  52:50

Label:  Sony BMG

Producer:  Ross Fraser

Personnel

John Farnham - vocals

David Hirschfelder - keyboards

Brett Garsed - guitars

Angus Burchall - drums & percussion

Wayne Nelson - bass

Venetta Fields - vocals

Lindsay Field - vocals

Jon Stevens - guitar on "Listen To The Wind"

James Morrison - trumpet on "Some Do, Some Don't"

Bill Harrower - sax on "Blow By Blow"

Thomas Metropouli - mandolin & piano accordion

Lisa Edwards - additional vocals

Ross Hannaford - additional vocals

Joe Creighton - additional vocals

R.E.M. - Document (1987)

"Document" is the fifth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released in 1987 a few months after their rarities collection "Dead Letter Office" appeared and is the last album of new material by the band released on the I.R.S. Records label. It is the first album on which the band worked with producer Scott Litt. "Exhuming McCarthy" makes an explicit parallel between the red-baiting of Joe McCarthy's time and the strengthening of the sense of American exceptionalism during the Reagan era, especially the Iran-Contra affair. Starting with the click-clack of a typewriter, it also includes a sound clip of Joseph Welch's rebuke of McCarthy from the Army-McCarthy Hearings: "Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator.... You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" The song "Strange" was originally recorded by the post-punk band Wire on their debut album "Pink Flag". This version has slightly altered lyrics, changing "Joey's nervous" to "Michael's nervous" in the first verse, and has a considerably faster tempo. "Finest Worksong," the stream-of-conscious rant "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," and the surprise Top Ten single "The One I Love" all crackle with muscular rhythms and guitar riffs, but the real surprise is how political the mid-tempo jangle pop of "Welcome to the Occupation," "Disturbance at the Heron House," and "King of Birds" is. Where "Lifes Rich Pageant" sounded a bit like a party record, "Document" is a fiery statement, and its memorable melodies and riffs are made all the more indelible by its righteous anger. In other words, it's not only a commercial breakthrough, but a creative breakthrough as well, offering evidence of R.E.M.'s growing depth and maturity, and helping usher in the P.C. era in the process.

R.E.M. expanded their instrumentation somewhat on the album, adding dulcimer to "King of Birds" and saxophone to "Fireplace". This experimentation would lead to their adoption of the mandolin, which featured prominently on their subsequent albums "Green" and "Out of Time". Furthermore, the band's musicians began swapping instruments both in concert and in the studio in an effort to create new sounds and avoid stagnation.

Track listing

01.  "Finest Worksong"  (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe)  - 3:48

02.  "Welcome to the Occupation"  (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe)  - 2:46

03.  "Exhuming McCarthy"  (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe)  - 3:19

04.  "Disturbance at the Heron House"  (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe)  - 3:32

05.  "Strange"  (Gilbert, Lewis, Newman, Gotobed)  - 2:31

06.  "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"  (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe)  - 4:05

07.  "The One I Love"  (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe)  - 3:17

08.  "Fireplace"  (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe)  - 3:22

09.  "Lightnin' Hopkins"  (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe)  - 3:20

10.  "King of Birds"  (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe)  - 4:09

11.  "Oddfellows Local 151"  (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe)  - 5:21

Released:  September 1, 1987

Recorded at:  Sound Emporium, Nashville, Tennessee
Mixed at:  Master Control, Los Angeles, California, United States

Genre:  Alternative Rock

Length:  39:51

Label:  I.R.S.

Producer:  Scott Litt and R.E.M.

Personnel

Bill Berry - drums, backing vocals

Peter Buck - guitar, dulcimer on "King of Birds"

Mike Mills - bass guitar, backing vocals

Michael Stipe - lead vocals

Steve Berlin - horns on "Fireplace"

Carl Marsh - Fairlight CMI synthesizer on "Fireplace"

Rosie Vela - Zazu (1986)

Roseanne "Rosie" Vela is an American model and singer-songwriter. Vela's family later moved to Arkansas, where she attended the University of Arkansas. While studying art and music, Vela also began modeling. She married the Arkansas born musician, Jimmy Roberts, but he died of cancer shortly after. Following this, Vela moved to New York where her modeling career took off and she graced the covers of various magazines from the 1970s onwards, and has appeared in numerous television commercials. Turning her attention to music, Vela built a home recording studio for herself and signed a recording contract with A&M Records. She released her debut album, "Zazu", in 1986. The entire album was written or co-written by Vela, and was produced by Gary Katz. It is also notable for the fact that it included contributions from both Donald Fagen and Walter Becker  "Zazu" is a solid pop/rock effort that could be described as an interesting combination of Joni Mitchell and Steely Dan. Vela doesn't have a great voice her voice is small and thin, but like jazz great Chet Baker, she demonstrates that you don't have to have a fantastic vocal range to be expressive and deliver a meaningful album. Favoring a relaxed, cool-toned style of singing.

The album produced the singles, "Magic Smile", "Interlude" and "Fool's Paradise".

Following Zazu, Vela did not release any further recordings, but has since become a backing vocalist for other musicians; including ELO on their 2001 album; Zoom.

Track listing

01.  Fool's Paradise  - 4:04   

02.  Magic Smile  - 4:26   

03.  Interlude  - 4:07   

04.  Tonto  - 5:40   

05.  Sunday  - 4:32   

06.  Taxi  - 3:27   

07.  2nd Emotion  - 4:47   

08.  Boxs  - 3:55   

09.  Zazu  - 4:46   

Release:  1986

Label:  A&M

Genre:  Pop, Rock

Lenght:  39:50

Producer:  Gary Katz

All Songs Written By:  Rosie Vela 

Personnel

Rosie Vela - Vocals, Keyboards 

Donald Fagen - Keyboards

Walter Becker - Soloist [Guitar] 

Jimmy Haslip -  Bass

Jimmy Bralower - Drums

Jim Keltner - Drums

Yogi Horton - Drums

Neil Stubenhaus - Bass

Michael Been - Guitar

Backing Vocals – Joy Askew, Jenny Peters, Joy Askew, Rosie Vela

Rick Derringer - Guitar

Aaron Zigman - Synthesizer

Tony Levin - Percussion

Larry Fast - Synthesizer

Daryl Hall & John Oates with David Ruffin & Eddie Kendrick - Live At The Apollo (1985)

"Live at the Apollo" is an album by Daryl Hall & John Oates released in 1985, recorded live at the Apollo Theater in New York. It is subtitled "With David Ruffin & Eddie Kendrick", of The Temptations-fame. The album is a mixture of their classics and some then-current songs by Hall & Oates.

Hall & Oates resurrected the fading careers of ex-Temptations stars David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks. Hall & Oates took them on tour, paid them regularly, and arranged a record deal for them with RCA, but the relationship soured for unknown reasons. It's been rumored that Kendricks thought they were being used to boost Hall & Oates's career, which couldn't be true because Hall & Oates were already hot; it was Ruffin and Kendricks who had been reduced to playing bucket-of-blood, inner-city nightspots. Or perhaps Kendricks just tired of singing "Get Ready" so often. His voice sounded like it would tear when he sang "Ready" with Hall & Oates, while David Ruffin tempted in the background. Ruffin sounded better, much better; he still had some voice, but the electricity had gone out of it. Kendricks sounded better on the rollicking "The Way You Do the Things You Do," and acted like he enjoyed singing Smokey Robinson's metaphoric gem. An ordinary performance of "My Girl" ended the Temptations segment of the Hall & Oates show. Things really picked up, though, when Hall & Oates stood alone with band and did their current chart-toppers. Daryl Hall shows his blue-eyed soul roots by biting into "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby"; not to be denied, John Oates rips off a stinging guitar solo, helping Hall polish off Sam & Dave's classic in style. Their performances of "I Can't Go for That," "One on One," "Possession Obsession," and "Adult Education" have to be heard to be believed. They work a crowd like few can, and their harmonies are impeccable.

 

01. "Apollo Medley: Get Ready/Ain't Too Proud To Beg/The Way You Do the Things You Do/My Girl"  (Robinson, Whitfield/Holland, Rogers, White)  - 12:49

02. "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby"  (Isaac Hayes, David Porter)  - 4:44

03. "Everytime You Go Away"  (Hall, Oates)  - 7:07

04. "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)"  (Sara Allen, Hall, Oates)  - 7:58

05. "One on One"  (Hall)  - 5:50

06. "Possession Obsession"  (S. Allen, Hall, Oates)  - 5:54

07. "Adult Education"  (S. Allen, Hall, Oates)  - 6:34

Released:  September 30, 1985

Recorded:  May 23, 1985, Apollo Theater, NYC

Genre:  Pop, Rock, Soul

Length:  51.00

Label:  RCA Records

Producer:  Hall & Oates, Bob Clearmountain

Personnel

Daryl Hall - vocals, guitar, keyboards

John Oates - vocals, guitar

David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks - vocals

G.E. Smith - guitar

Lenny Pickett - tenor saxophone

Steve Elson - baritone saxophone

Charlie DeChant - saxophone, keyboards, background vocals

Mac Gollehon, "Hollywood" Paul Litteral - trumpet

Ray Anderson - trombone

Michael Klvana, Robby Kilgore - keyboards

Wells Christie - keyboards, Synclavier

Tom "T-Bone" Wolk - bass, background vocals

Mickey Curry - drums

Jimmy Maelen - percussion

The Fixx - Phantoms (1984)

"Phantoms" is the third studio album by British new wave band The Fixx, released in 1984. It contains the American hit "Are We Ourselves?",

The Fixx had a banner year in 1983, as their second album, "Reach the Beach", broke down doors and gave the band a huge hit with "One Thing Leads to Another." Phantoms wasn't as good, not just because "Reach the Beach" had that hit but also because it was simply a really good mainstream new wave record. "Phantoms" was a little more serious, a little more lugubrious, a little directionless, but it still is a pretty good record, all the same. The reason why? The Fixx were a good band. They had an original sound, thanks to the echoing synths, clean-processed guitars, cavernous drums, and Cy Curnin's soaring voice, which soared over the precise arrangements to make it sound human. The wondrous thing about this combination is that it sounded appealing even when the material wasn't the equal of the sound, which is often the case on Phantoms. That's not to say it's a disaster, because it hardly is  the band sounds good, and the record is a shining example of post-new wave production. But, it does play a bit as singles and filler, with the Top 20 hit "Are We Ourselves" shining brightly among the record's 12 songs, but "Lose Face," the reggae-tinged "Sunshine in the Shade," and "Woman on a Train" all were fine Fixx songs, standing proudly among the perfectly acceptable, but rather undistinguished, cuts that formed the rest of the album, including a preponderance of long, moody synth ballads. Even if it was an uneven record, its ratio of hits to filler was no greater than most pop albums. However, "Phantoms" had the misfortune of arriving in one of the greatest years for pop music, a year where every kind of style was in full bloom. So, "Phantoms" fell by the wayside, but, in retrospect, it was an admirable successor to an album that defined a band's career.

Track listing

01.  "Lose Face"  (The Fixx)  - 3:03

02.  "Less Cities, More Moving People"  (The Fixx)  - 3:53

03.  "Sunshine in the Shade"  (Brown, Curnin, R. Greenall, P. Greenall, West-Oram, Woods)  - 2:26

04.  "Woman on a Train"  (Brown, Curnin, Greenall, Jeannette Obstoj, West-Oram, Woods)  - 3:56

05.  "Wish"  (The Fixx)  - 4:08

06.  "Lost in Battle Overseas"  (The Fixx)  - 4:10

07.  "Question"  (The Fixx)  - 3:26

08.  "In Suspense"  (The Fixx)  - 3:45

09.  "Facing the Wind"  (The Fixx)  - 3:20

10.  "Are We Ourselves?"  (The Fixx)  - 2:27

11.  "I Will"  (The Fixx)  - 3:54

12.  "Phantom Living"  (The Fixx)  - 3:50

Released:  August, 1984

Label:  MCA Records

Genre:  New Wave, Pop

Length:  41:52

Producer:  Rupert Hine, The Fixx

Recorded, Mixed by:  Stephen W Tayler, assisted by Andrew Scarth

Personnel

Dan K. Brown - bass

Cy Curnin - vocals

Rupert Greenall - keyboard

James West-Oram - guitar

Adam Woods - drums, percussion

King Sunny Adé and His African Beats - Juju Music (1982)

"Juju Music" is the 1982 major label debut of Nigerian jùjú band King Sunny Adé and His African Beats.

After nearly 15 years as Nigeria's biggest musical draw and juju music's reigning monarch, King Sunny Ade went global in 1982 with a brief but fertile stint on the Mango label. The three albums that resulted  "Juju Music", "Synchro System", and "Aura" gave Ade unprecedented exposure on the Western market and introduced a slew of music lovers to the sounds of Afro-pop. "Juju Music" was the first of Ade's Mango titles and remains the best of the lot. Over the course of seven extended cuts, King Sunny Ade & His African Beats lay down their trademark mix of talking drum-driven grooves, multi-guitar weaves, lilting vocal harmonies, and pedal steel accents; for this major-label debut, the band also chucks in some tasteful synthesizer bits and a few reggae-dub flourishes. Besides classic juju pop like "Ja Funmi" and "Ma Jaiye Oni," Ade and his 20-piece entourage serve up percussion breakdowns like "Sunny Ti de Ariya" and a heady blend of soul, dub, and synth noodlings on "365 Is My Number/The Message." Throughout, Ade deftly inserts Hawaiian slide guitar licks and Spanish-tinged lines reminiscent of Hendrix' "All Along the Watchtower." Juju Music should not only be the first-disc choice for Ade newcomers, but for the Afro-pop curious as well.

Track listing

01.  "Ja Funmi"  - 7:08

02.  "Eje Nlo Gba Ara Mi"  - 7:14

03.  "Mo Beru Agba"  - 3:27

04.  "Sunny Ti de Ariya"  - 3:46

05.  "Ma Jaiye Oni"  - 5:07

06.  "365 Is My Number/The Message"  - 8:16

07.  "Samba/E Falaba Lewe"  - 8:07

Released:  1982

Recorded at:  Otodi Studio, Lome, Togo.

Genre:  Jùjú, Nigerian Pop

Length:  43:05

Label:  Mango Records

Producer:  Martin Meissonnier

All tracks composed by:  King Sunny Adé

Personnel

Shina Abiodun – conga

Mofes Acambi – drums

King Sunny Adé – guitar, composer, keyboards, vocals, mixing

Ademola Adepoju – steel guitar

Adisa Adeyemi – bongos

Jacob Ajakaye – vocals

Rasaki Aladokun – African drum, talking drum

Gani Alashe – shekere

Michael Babalola – maracas

Adrian Boot – photography

Tunde Demiola – vocals

Niyi Falaye – vocals

Jomoh Gbadamosi – African drum, talking drum

Segun Hori – guitar

Jelili Lawal – bass guitar

Segun Llori – guitar

Martin Meissonnier – keyboards, producer

Bob Ohiri – guitar

John Okeumeu – guitar, rhythm guitar

Alhaji Timmy Olaitan – drums, African drums

Matthew Olojede – vocals

Femi Owomoyela – vocals

Segun Shokumbi – vocals