Giorgio Moroder & Joe Esposito - Solitary Men (1983) (Reissue 2013)

This is a great album. A great collaboration between Giorgio Moroder and Joe Esposito. Joe Esposito had an amazing voice. 

Favourite songs on this album are My Girl, lady, Lady, Face to Face, to Turn the Stone(which I’d never heard before), and I love his rendition of Nights in white Satin.

This elusive 1983 title from one of the music industry's most celebrated European synth guru and pop's (way underrated) male vocalist capture the solid pop rock atmosphere of the 80's. 

Despite the liner notes and essay inside the cd jacket this is by no means a "disco" project. The project harkens a strong resemblance to the Flashdance sound that was popular in its hey day. After all Moroder was the driving force behind that soundtrack.

Gone are the wah-wah disco sounding guitar ingredients of Love to Love You Baby or I Feel Love.In place is a more refined solid synth rock sound without sounding cheaply contrived for even the flashy 80's. 

The so-called typical computerized auto pilot sound found on so many similar artists' records of that era is absolutely absent here; it's all rock and soul. In addition, the soulful throaty and smokey r&b lead vocals by Joe "Bean" Esposito are undeniably his, yet,sound like a cross between Benny Mardones(Into the Night) and a hint of Michael McDonald (blue-eyed soul sound)!

the strongest tracks are Solitary Man, Show Me the Night, Too Hot To Touch,Lady,Lady,Lady (from Flashdance) and to Turn the Stone (originally performed by Donna Summer and Abba's Frida). 

The bonus tracks are nothing spectacular, but hey they're included for free. The re-make of Moroder's Chase theme from Midnight Express has been given a pre-techno (1985) re-working...

This is the album where Moroder demonstrated that he could leave the disco production tag behind and move into the 80's. This is truly an 80's treasure find...

Tracklist

1.  Solitary Man - 3:50

2.  Show Me The Night - 3:52

3.  My Girl - 3:54

4.  Too Hot To Touch - 3:29

5.  Diamond Lizzy - 3:22

6.  Washed In The Neon Light - 4:09

7.  A Love Affair - 3:49

8.  Nights In White Satin - 4:03

9.  Lady, Lady - 4:13

10.  White Hotel - 4:33

11.  To Turn The Stone - 3:13

12.  Face To Face  (Bonus Track) - 3:56

13.  Chase  (Remix 1985) - 4:22

14.  Valley Of The Dolls  (Bonus Track) - 10:36

Companies, etc.

• Recorded At – Carla Ridge Camp
• Recorded At – Musicland Studios
• Recorded At – Weryton Studios
• Mixed At – Carla Ridge Camp
• Mixed At – Musicland Studios
• Mixed At – Weryton Studios
• Made By – CGD Messaggerie Musicali S.p.A.
• Distributed By – CGD Messaggerie Musicali S.p.A.
• Mastered At – Allen Zentz Mastering
• Licensed From – Oasis Records 
• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Oasis Records 
• Copyright © – Oasis Records 

Credits

• Arranged By, Keyboards – Sylvester Levay
• Arranged By, Producer – Giorgio Moroder
• Art Direction, Design – Larry Vigon
• Bass, Guitar – Richie Zito
• Coordinator [Production] – Laurie Kanner
• Drums, Percussion – Keith Forsey
• Engineer, Mixed By – Brian Reeves, Stephan Wissnet, Ulli Rudolf
• Lacquer Cut By – DD
• Mastered By – Brian Gardner
• Photography By – Jim Shea
• Saxophone – Dino Solera
• Vocals – Joe Esposito

Notes

Released: 1983 (2013 Reissue, Remastered)

Genre:  Electronic, Pop

Style:  Synth-pop, Disco

Runtime:  100:59

Label - Repertoire Records

Adam Ant - Vive Le Rock (1985)

Vive Le Rock is the third solo album by Adam Ant, released in September 1985, which contained two versions of Ant's 1984 song "Apollo 9". 

Producer Tony Visconti, famous for his 1970s work with Ant's heroes Marc Bolan and David Bowie, commented on his work with Ant on Vive Le Rock: "What a creative ball of energy! 

He was great to work with. He's very opinionated and knows what he wants. We didn't quite agree during the mixes, he kind of wanted everything very trebly and I'm a bassey kind of producer."

Adam Ant adopted a '50s-style rock & roll sound for his third solo album, achieving a pastiche with some of the effervescence, but none of the definition (or popularity), of Elton John's "Crocodile Rock." 

Producer Tony Visconti tried to give him some of the plastic rock legitimacy of Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie, but Ant was even goofier, and especially with his vocals smothered in harmony and echo and buried in the mix, he wasn't so much transformed into a rocker manque as rendered anonymous on his own record. 

The best track was the year-old U.K. Top 40 hit "Apollo 9," which had some of the manic energy of the Adam and the Ants hits. 

If the rest of the album had recreated its dizzy spirit, Ant might have made the comeback he needed with Vive Le Rock. Or maybe not--it's possible that his moment simply had passed. 

In any case, the album flopped on both sides of the Atlantic, Ant was dropped by his record label, and he didn't make another album for more than four years. 

Tracklist

1.  Vive Le Rock - 3:39 

2.  Miss Thing - 3:08 

3.  Razor Keen - 3:49 

4.  Rip Down - 3:23 

5.  Scorpio Rising - 4:04 

6.  Apollo 9 - 3:22 

7.  Hell's Eight Acres - 3:51 

8.  Mohair Lockeroom Pin-Up Boys - 3:14 

9.  No Zap - 3:14 

10.  P.O.E. - 3:24 

11.  Apollo 9 (A cappella Reprise) - 1:32 

All tracks are written by Adam Ant & Marco Pirroni

Personnel

• Adam Ant – lead vocals, piano
• Marco Pirroni – guitars
• Chris Constantinou (as Chris De Niro) – bass, backing vocals
• "Count" Bogdan Wiczling – drums, percussion

Technical

• Tony Visconti – producer, engineer
• Sven Taits – assistant engineer
• Francois Kevorkian – mixing (track 11)
• Ray Staff – mastering
• Adam Ant, Rob O'Connor - sleeve concept
• Nick Knight - photography

Notes

Released: 2 September 1985 

Recorded:  January–March 1985 Studio Good Earth Studios, Soho, London 

Genre:  Rock 

Length: 36:40 

Producer: Tony Visconti 

Label - CBS Records

Katrina And The Waves - Katrina And The Waves 2 (1984) (2010 Reissue)

Katrina and the Waves 2 is the second album by new wave band Katrina and the Waves, released in 1984. The album was originally only released in Canada on the Attic Records label. 

It was included on the 2003 compilation The Original Recordings 1983–1984, and also re-released with five bonus tracks in 2010 through the CGB label. 

Six of the album's songs would be reworked for the band's major label debut Katrina and the Waves.

After cutting their first two 12" releases on the cheap, Katrina & the Waves enjoyed some welcome success with their self-titled 1983 album (which became a hit in Canada), and the follow-up, boldly titled Katrina and the Waves 2, found them adding a dollop of studio polish to their sound. 

This was a good and a bad thing; the glossier production allows some of the finer details of Kimberley Rew's songwriting and guitar work to come to the surface, but the additional backing vocals, keyboards, and horns also clutter arrangements that had been lean and straightforward on their earlier recordings, and drummer Alex Cooper was asked to share percussion duties with a Linn Drum here, and as a result the music sounds stiffer and less energetic. 

It doesn't help that bassist Vince de la Cruz began stepping up as a songwriter on this album, and while his three contributions aren't bad, they're derivative and don't hold a candle to Rew's best stuff. 

But Katrina Leskanich is a significantly better controlled and more engaging lead singer here than on Katrina & the Waves' previous album, and "Cry for Me" and "The Game of Love" find Rew exploring a retro-styled pop sound that gave the recording a new twist. 

(Rew also found room to revel in his eccentricities on "Maniac House," and "Red Wine and Whiskey" is strong enough to rise above its over-production.) 

Katrina & the Waves would find out what a really slick production was like with their next album; after they signed with Capitol Records, they re-recorded highlights from their first two albums under far glossier conditions, and it's oddly quaint to compare the simple over-production of Katrina and the Waves 2 with the big-league variations of the Capitol sessions (though the bigger and horn-infused "Walking on Sunshine" was actually an improvement on the version from their first full-length LP).

Katrina and the Waves 2 was reissued in 2010 on the CGB label in a limited edition of 1000 copies, each individually numbered. 

It includes previously unreleased material and all tracks have been remastered from the original master tapes. 

The booklet includes detailed recording credits, band interviews, rare photos, and liner notes by former Attic Records employee Ralph Alfonso, who got the band signed to the label in 1983.

Tracklist

1.  Do You Want Crying  (Vince de la Cruz) - 4:02 

2.  Maniac House - 4:08 

3.  She Loves to Groove - 2:55 

4.  Cry for Me - 3:58 

5.  Red Wine and Whisky - 3:15 

6.  Mexico  (de la Cruz) - 2:50 

7.  One Woman  (de la Cruz) - 3:35 

8.  The Sun Won't Shine Without You - 3:54 

9.  He's a Charmer - 3:16 

10.  The Game of Love - 3:18 

2010 reissue bonus tracks

11.  Wild Thing  (Chip Taylor Album outtake; previously unreleased) - 2:28 

12.  River Deep, Mountain High  (Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich Album outtake; The Original Recordings 1983–1984, 2003) -  3:04 

13.  Plastic Man  (Single version)   (Non-album single, 1984) - 3:32 

14.  That's Just the Woman in Me   (Album outtake; The Original Recordings 1983-1984) - 4:15 

15.  Yes Agatha  (1991 recording; previously unreleased) - 2:14

All tracks are written by Kimberley Rew, except where noted.

The album outtake "That's Just the Woman in Me" was covered by Celine Dion in 2007 on her Taking Chances album.

"Yes Agatha" was recorded at Kimberley Rew's Remote Farm Studios, Cambridge in 1991. According to Rew, "recorded in what seemed like a novelty style at the time, but which actually makes it sound more like the earlier stuff."

Katrina and the Waves

• Katrina Leskanich – vocals, rhythm guitar
• Kimberley Rew – lead guitar
• Vince de la Cruz – bass
• Alex Cooper – drums

Additional musicians

• Nick Glennie-Smith – organ
• Alan Chaney – organ
• Eamon Fitzpatrick – brass
• Ed Briant – brass
• Chris Clarke – brass
• David Land – brass
• Wendy Nicholl – background vocals

Technical

• Pat Collier – producer, engineer (1-14)
• Katrina and the Waves – producer (1-12, 14)
• Steve Stewart – engineer (15)
• John de la Cruz – photography
• Randy Merrill – mastering (2010 reissue; at Masterdisk, March 2010)

Notes

Released:  1984 - 2010 Reissue 

Recorded:  1984 Studio Greenhouse Alaska (London)

Genre:  New wave, Rock 

Length:  50:44 

Producer(s):  Pat Collier, Katrina and the Waves

Label - Attic Records 

Crusaders - Standing Tall (1981)

posted by all-musicrecords

The peak of the group's commercial success came with 1979's Street Life, with Randy Crawford as featured singer.  

Later albums by the group featured singers Bill Withers and Joe Cocker.

Standing Tall is an album by the jazz group the Crusaders, their third studio album with MCA Records. 

It features singer Joe Cocker as guest artist on two tracks: the 1981 Grammy-nominated song "I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today" and "This Old World's Too Funky for Me".

This is their best if not the best ever band release, the Joe Cocker vocal contribution is phenomenal, my Favorite Crusaders album of all time.

It is a unique jazz album, all tacks are great, meticulously arranged, played and produced, five stars no doubt, no need to do any musical analysis or using fancy words or jargons, simply good music.

Production is great, solid funk record, if you're a fan of Joe Sample's key work you'll love this album. 

Plenty of funky Fender Rhodes, Clavinet, and B3. Overall great easy listening, I recently rediscovered this album in my collection and I think it makes great Saturday morning coffee music.

Track listing

1. "Standing Tall"  (Stix Hooper) - 6:46
2. "I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today"  (Joe Sample, Will Jennings) - 5:02
3. "Sunshine in Your Eyes"  (Sample) - 6:11
4. "This Old World's Too Funky For Me"  (Sample, Jennings) - 5:25
5. "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)"  (Chips Moman, Bobby Emmons) - 4:23
6. "The Longest Night" (Sample) - 6:24
7. "Reprise (I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today)  (Instrumental)"  (Sample. Jennings) - 2:59

Companies, etc.

• Licensed To – MCA Records
• Produced For – Crusaders Productions, Inc.
• Recorded By – MCA Records, Inc.
• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – MCA Records, Inc.
• Copyright © – MCA Records, Inc.
• Recorded At – Music City Music Hall
• Recorded At – Paramount Recording Studios
• Lacquer Cut At – Tape One
• Recorded At – Salty Dog Studios
• Recorded At – Producers Workshop
• Recorded At – Wally Heider Recording Studio, Los Angeles
• Recorded At – Yamaha Studios
• Published By – Leeds Music Ltd.
• Published By – Rondor Music (London) Ltd.
• Published By – The Whelk Music Group Ltd
• Published By – Heath Levy Music Co. Ltd.

Credits

• Arranged By [Strings, Horns], Conductor – Joe Sample
• Art Direction – George Osaki
• Backing Vocals – Julia Waters Tillman, Maxine Waters Willard, Stephanie Spruill
• Bass – Louis Johnson, Marcus Miller 
• Coordinator [Production] – Robin Howell
• Design – Georgopoulos , Imada
• Drums, Percussion – "Stix" Hooper
• Electric Bass – Wilton Felder 
• Engineer – Bill Harris
• Engineer [Assistant] – David Debusk, Russell Castillo
• Engineer, Mixed By – Galen Senogles
• Guitar – David T. Walker, Dean Parks, Jon Goin, Larry Carlton, Reggie Young, Steve Gibson
• Guitar, Soloist – Barry Finnerty
• Keyboards [Acoustic, Electric], Synthesizer – Joe Sample
• Lacquer Cut By – JA
• Management [Executive Assistant] – Tom Hooper
• Organ – Billy Preston
• Other [Equipment Coordination] – John Malta, Wes Leathers
• Percussion [Special Percussion] – Paulinho Da Costa
• Photography By – Alan Messer
• Producer – Stix Hooper, Joe Sample, Wilton Felder
• Saxophone – Wilton Felder

Notes

Released: 1981

Genre:  Smooth Jazz, Soul

Runtime:  35:42

Producer(s):  Wilton Felder, Stix Hooper, Joe Sample

Label - MCA Records

Kraftwerk - Schöne Neue Welt (Remix, Remodel) (1997)

posted by all-musicrecords

Tracklist

1.  Electric Cafe (Mixx-It-Remix) - 5:05

2.  Die Roboter (US Rap Mix) - 5:34

3.  Sex Objekt (Demo Mix) - 4:18

4.  Computerwelt (US DJ Promo Mix by Razormaid) - 10:01

5.  Powerwork Megamix - 9:10

6.  Telephone-Mix - 10:00

7.  Re-Worked (Music Factory Mastermix) - 4:41

8.  Razormaid / Gridlock Mixmedley - 13:25

9.  Sex Objekt (US DJ Promo Mix by Razormaid) - 7:35

10.  Housephone - 4:56

11.  The Telephone Call (Remix) - 3:47 

This Compilation is NOT authorized by the artists!

...Contains fragments of tracks by Nitzer Ebb + Depeche Mode

Notes

Released: 1997

Genre:  Electronic 

Runtime:  1:18:36

Label - Not On Label (Kraftwerk)

Skin, Flesh & Bones - Dub In Blood (1976)

posted by all-musicrecords

Band formed by bass player Lloyd Parks that featured many of the players who would go to form Revolutionaries.

Chef, singer, record producer, owner of 10 record labels and father of 17 children, Phil Pratt is one of the more unusual and elusive characters in Jamaican music. 

Responsible for some crucial rocksteady sides in the ‘60s, Phil went on to produce some of the best roots music to come out of Jamaica, including huge hits like Artibella and My Heart Is Gone. 

But since relocating from Kingston, his focus has mostly been on cooking, and his headquarters has been the Scandal restaurant in West London, where his signature dishes are Oxtail Stew and Lobster Curry.

On the menu with 'Dub in Blood' we have some top draw versions mixed at Channel One. 

"Dub In Blood" is one of the rarest Dub albums ever released. Originally issued on Phil Pratt's Sunshot label (also issued in England with different track titles and called "The Best Dub Album In The World") in very small quantities, this CD reissue is a welcome addition for Dub fans.

The band on this album--Skin, Flesh and Bones, was more of a live band rather than a studio group, centered around "Sly" Dunbar. 

Other musicians include Robbie Shakespeare, Earl "Chinna" Smith, "Horsemouth", Ansell Collins, Ossie Hibbert, "Family Man", and a few others. Pratt recorded a lot of Dub music and this set is one of his best. 

The rhythms he used are deep and organic sounding. 

The track titles don't tell the story of just how good this set is. Dub fans should check this out--not only because of it's rarity, but because this is prime Dub music from the era when this type of music was heard all over Jamaica.

Tracklist

                                       

1.   Dub In Blood - 3:07

2.   Skin Dub - 2:58

3.   Flesh Dub - 3:08

4.   Bones Dub - 3:04

5.   Heart Dub - 2:57

6.   Dub To The Vein - 3:35

7.   Injection In Dub - 3:59

8.   Syring Dub - 2:17

9.   Doctor Dub - 2:52

10.   Medicine Dub - 3:02

Companies. etc.

• Recorded At – Channel One Recording Studio
• Distributed By – Sunshot Records

Credits

• Arranged By – P. Pratt
• Artwork, Design – Andell Forgie
• Bass – Raunchie McLean As Raunchy
• Directed By – George Phillips Known As Phill Pratt
• Drums – Charlie Dunbar As Sly
• Engineer – Ernest Hookim
• Guitar – Rad Bryan As Douggie
• Keyboards – Ansel Collins As The Bear, Bobby Kalphat As Collie Macka
• Liner Notes – Andell Forgie
• Mixed By [Re-Mix] – Oswald Hibbert
• Producer – George Phillips Known As Phill Pratt

Notes

Released: 1976

Genre:  Reggae

Style:  Dub

Runtime:  30:59

Label - Sunshot Records