Alex Chilton: Ocean Club '77 (Norton Records/2015)

In 1977, Alex Chilton was in a time of transition. The band he'd fronted as a teen idol The Box Tops broken up in 1970 and the Power Pop legends Big Star – the band that Chris Bell had formed with Alex, Andy Hummell and Jody Stevens - had broken up in early 1975. Chilton had just released the Singer Not The Song EP and to properly promote it he moved in New York. There he formed a band with Chris Stamey (later of the dB's) on bass and Lloyd Fonroff on drums. Later that year the band was known as Alex Chilton and the Cossacks and had Fran Kowolski on keyboards.

Ocean Club '77 is what might be dubbed an official bootleg. It was approved by the Chilton estate. It claims to be a soundboard show. Which it may well be, albeit a poorly-mic'd one. The cover art font doesn't do it any favors either. However, the packaging is nice enough, with nice liner notes as well.

The first thing you hear is Chilton ordering a “Canadian Whiskey & Coca Cola on the rocks” from the stage to the bar. So, immediately you know it's going to be a fairly loose affair. Which it is. Although, it's not too loose as the rhythm section of Stamey & Fonoroff are tight-enough.

The song selection is pretty wonderful. “September Gurls”, “In The Street”, “O My Soul”, “Way Out West” and “Back Of A Car” all get confident airings. The Third nugget “Nightime” does as well – a good year before it's release. “The Letter” gets a different, slower arrangement. “Can't Seem To Make You Mine” (a cover of the Seeds' classic), “Window's Hotel”, “All Of The Time”, “My Rival” and “She Might Look My Way” all of which appeared on the rejected Elektra Demos, are in fine form here. As well as covers of the rock classics “Memphis”, “Wouldn't It Be Nice”, Walk Don't Run” and Nelson Slater's Lou Reed-produced “Dominating Force”.

Definitely recommended for the Chiltonphile of Big Star devotee.  

Here's the very special video review version:

Special Thanks to: Ebet Roberts, Norton Records and Dave Rerecich for making me vanish at the end. Into thin air. 

Tubeway Army: Replicas (Atco/1979)

Replicas is the Tubeway Army's second and final album. It successfully marries the monophonic and polyphonic synthesizers and guitars of Gary Numan to the bass of Paul Gardiner and drums of Jess Lidyard. Given the nature of Numan's later work, the album isn't as icy cold as one would assume. 

It is a classic New Wave release and contains the UK #1 hit “Are 'Friends' Electric? As well as the non-charting single “Down In The Park” (which was memorably performed in the classic film Urgh! A Music War!). As well as such fine tracks as “Me! I Disconnect From You”, the instrumental “I Nearly Married A Human” and the title track. This is a great, early synth album and is highly recommended for fans of all things synthesizer and EDM. 

Here's The Video Review:

Talking Heads: More Songs About Buildings And Food (Sire Records/1978)

More Songs About Buildings And Food is Talking Heads second album. It was the first in a trilogy of albums to be co-produced (with the band) by ex-Roxy Music synth layer and ambient music pioneer Brian Eno. Eno seemed to bring out the best aspects of the band and their interaction with one another. Eno also played synths, keyboards, additional guitars, percussion and backing vocals to the album.

The album more also contains more danceable elements to the songs and rhythm section of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz have become a tight unit. Jerry Harrison's role in the band is even more developed as this point as well. David Byrne's songs are quirky in the same way they were on Talking Heads '77, however there is a more seemingly organic nature to the material. All of the parts played are extremely purposeful yet wonderfully understated.

The cover art is comprised of 529 close-up Polaroids of the band which was done by the late artist Jimmy De Sana. And now resides in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The album reached #29 in the US eventually going Gold and peaked at #21 in the UK charts.

“Stay Hungry”, “Warning Sign”, “Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” and especially “The Big Country” are among the bands simplest yet somehow greatest songs, in my humble opinion. The band also achieved their biggest chart hit to date with a Top 40 cover of the Al Green song “Take Me To The River”. The band had previously had a minor hit with “Psycho Killer” which only reached #92 on Billboard's Single Charts. However “Take Me To The River” landed them spots on American Bandstand and Saturday Night Live which formally introduced them to America at large.

This is one of my all-time favorite albums and I can't recommend it highly enough.  

Here is the video review:

Barry Andrews: Town And Country EP (Virgin/1979)

Barry Andrews was the keyboard player for XTC from 1976 to 1979. He appeared on one EP (The
3-D EP), two albums (White Music and Go 2) and four singles. He was largely responsible the band's whimsical funhouse sound. He quickly grew tired of being a third wheel to dominant composers Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding. Virgin Records however loved his contributions to the band and upon leaving XTC released his first three solo singles. The first of these was the Town And Country EP which was released in May of 1979.

It contains some of Barry's whizzing organs and keyboards albeit in an understated way than on his records with XTC. Colin Moulding is the bassist on the EP which features an outtake from Go 2, “Sargasso Bar”. “Me And My Mate Can Sing” is perhaps the records' catchy stand-out track and appears to reference groupies or hanger-ons. “ Mousetrap” and “Bring On The Alligators” are measured, punky, cockney mini-rave-ups.

The EP was produced by Martin Rushent (who had produced XTC's “Are You Receiving Me” single) and engineered by Hugh Padgham (who later engineered XTC's Drums & Wires and Black Sea albums). I personally like it as it fills a gap between Barry in XTC and his time in the bands Resurant For Dogs, The League Of Gentleman and his formation of Shriekback with Dave Allen of Gang Of Four.

For fans of XTC and Shriekback or late 70's Post Punk.


Here's The Video Review:

Shoes: Black Vinyl Shoes (Sire U.K./1979)

Zion, Illinois' Shoes were influenced by the usual suspects that influenced Power Pop bands of the late 1970's; namely The Beatles, Nazz, The Who, The Raspberries, Big Star and Badfinger. Although they'd recorded three privately released albums in significantly small quantities the band commercially released their fourth album Black Vinyl Shoes. Released on their own Black Vinyl label and on US indie PVC shortly thereafter, the album was recorded in guitarist Jeff Murphy's living room on a TEAC 3340S reel to reel tape recorder.

The warm sound, low-key yet mellifluous multi-tracked harmony vocals and overall impact of the material made the entire recording industry sit up and acknowledge the fact that an album this professional sounding could be recorded at one's home and completely take place without the financial help of a major label. It was released on Sire Records in the UK in 1979 and in no time at all the band signed with Elektra in the US and went on to record albums that sounded not too different than Black Vinyl Shoes.

Musically the band has the crunch of the Dwight Twilley Band, the vocal harmonies of The Raspberries, the melodic punch of fellow Illinois bands Pezband and Off Broadway. Shoes' vocal harmonies and hooks seem to just roll off very naturally. Lyrically, Black Vinyl Shoes seems to be preoccupied with the politics and dynamics of romantic relationships. The songs can be pretty dark yet they never come off as such on the surface. There's a certain saminess to the material on this album (as there are on most Shoes albums). However, generally speaking, if you like Shoes sound, approach and material, you won't have a problem with this.

Here's the video review:

Roxy Music: Manifesto (Atco/Polydor/1979)

On Roxy Music's sixth album Manifesto – their first album since 1976's live Viva album and their first studio album since 1975's Siren, the band has refined their sound. The rough, more-experimental edges have been smoothed-over and Bryan Ferry's lyrical concerns are now a smidge more direct. They actually sounds more like the bands that would later emulate them (Duran Duran, Japan, the entire new romantic movement) on this album. The songwriting is slightly more inconsistent than on previous releases, however there are also more subtleties as well to be enjoyed. Manifesto boasts three excellent singles; the lamenting “Dance Away”, the resigned “Angel Eyes” and arty new-wavey “Trash”.

The album tracks “My Little Girl”, “Still Falls The Rain”, “Spin Me Round” and the title track are all fine additions to the Roxy Music catalog. Guitarist Phil Manzanera and saxophonist Andy MacKay are given a few moments here and there, but this is definitely the first Roxy Music album where Bryan Ferry leads the band as his own. By no means a bad album, Roxy Music made far better albums than this. Half of this album is great, half of it is not. Not a great starting place (for that I'd recommend Country Life, Avalon and For Your Pleasure) but not bad once you've heard their best work either.

Here's the video review:

The Flamin' Groovies: The Flamin' Groovies Now (Sire Records/1978)

The Flamin' Groovies started their career in the late 60's as a San Francisco-based bluesy garage rock band. They released four albums in this guise with lead singer Roy A. Loney fronting the band. After Loney left the band in mid 70's, Chris Wilson joined the band as lead singer and rhythm guitarist and they moved to England and teamed up with guitarist/producer Dave Edmunds and released three albums of Rickenbacker-driven jangley late 60's power pop. 

The second of these Flamin' Groovies Now is a very satisfying listen. The guitars sound wonderful and the band sounds great. Of the originals “All I Wanted”, “Don't Put Me On” - which has a simply amazing coda - and “Between The Lines” are the greatest of the batch. The band tackles The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Cliff Richard, The Byrds and Paul Revere And The Raiders with varying degrees of success. Only the Stones covers seem a bit off. I personally love the album and think it's well-worth hearing (as are the other two albums that form a late 70's Power Pop trilogy – Shake Some Action and Jumpin' In The Night). As is their 1971 classic album  Teenage Head.

Here's The Video Review: 

Rush: Rush Through Time (Mercury/1982)

Rush have always been a very divisive band amongst music fans and musicians alike. Aside from their most accessible singles, I have never really been much of a fan of this band's extensive catalog. The band, as musicians, are very capable and have no problem reminding the listener of this fact. Their drummer Neil Peart, who also serves as the bands' primary lyricist, does not subscribe to the less-is-more philosophy. He is a great drummer, but his tendency to overplay undercuts any notion of feel or soulfulness. Bassist Geddy Lee is the front man and lead vocalist. His voice has always been something of an acquired taste, or rather when he raises his voice to a high-pitch (ala Robert Plant) it can become unpleasant. Otherwise, he's fine. Guitarist Alex Lifeson is a fairly traditional bluesy, hard rock player and is capable of many nice lead runs. The "progressive" tag seems to exist more for the tricky chord progressions than the overall oeuvre of the majority of their back catalog. Like Cream or Led Zeppelin - two of the bands' bigger initial influences - the bands' greatest strength is their interaction musically.

Rush Through Time was first released without the band's knowledge or consent, as a picture disc in 1979 for the German market. It was then reissued in a traditional sleeve in 1982 in Germany, the Netherlands, Mexico and New Zealand. It contains selections from the Fly By Night, Caress Of Steel, 2112 and A Farewell To Kings albums. Standout tracks include "Fly By Night", "Closer To The Heart", "The Twilight Zone" and "Bastille Day". If you're a fan of Rush, this piece of vinyl would make for a nice little addition to your collection. Otherwise, it's something of an okay, if randomly representative collection that, if you're a Rush fan, perhaps doesn't amount to anything more than just product.

Here's the video review:

Alex Chilton: Dusted In Memphis (And Elsewhere 75-80) (Bangkok Productions/1980)

Alex Chilton had been a teen idol in the mid-late 1960's with blue-eyed soul band The Box Tops. He'd then been a power pop innovator in the early 1970's with Big Star. He then embarked on a long and sometimes controversial (amongst fans) solo career. The first release from his post-Big Star period was the Singer Not The Song EP released in 1977 on Ork Records. This was recorded in Memphis and was produced by rock critic Jon Tiven in 1975, and was released in its' entirety in 1981 as Bach's Bottom (a play on "Box Top"). But these recordings aren't really representative of the first true solo music Alex made with his first solo band.

Alex moved to New York City in February of 1977 and formed a band with Chris Stamey on bass (later of The dB's) and Lloyd Fonoroff on drums. Shortly thereafter Fran Kowalski joined the band on keyboards and they became known as Alex Chilton & The Cossacks. They regularly performed at CBGB's, Max's Kansas City and The Lower Manhattan Ocean Club. They were approached and courted by Elektra Records' Karin Berg, whom Alex had known for some time. Elektra funded recording sessions that were engineered by John Klett at Trod Nossel Studios in Wallingford, Connecticut with the hopes of signing the band.

These sessions yielded unique and interesting recordings of "She Might Look My Way" (which Alex had co-written with Tommy Hoehn), "Shakin' The World", "My Rival", "Windows Hotel", "A Little Fishy", "All Of The Time" and a cover of The Seeds' "Can't Seem To Make You Mine". Sadly, Elektra passed on these recordings deeming them "too uncommercial". This is a great shame as it is an excellent document of where Alex was at during this stage of his career (he wooed the critics during his time in NY, but not the major labels). Two recordings that were in fact released that Alex had recorded with Chris Stamey at Trod Nossel - the fantastically produced "The Summer Sun" b/w '"Where The Fun Is", released as a Chris Stamey single (produced by Alex, he also plays guitar, drums, percussion and shares vocal duties with Chris).

The Dusted In Memphis bootleg contains six of the seven Cossacks songs (omitting "All Of The Time"). Other songs included are a rough mix of "Lovely Day" (an outtake from Big Star's Third which eventually came out on the Keep An Eye On The Sky box set), "Baron Of Love Part Two" which appeared on the Peabody Records version of Like Flies On Sherbert in 1979 and "Take Me Home And Make Me Like It" & "The Walking Dead" (both later appeared on the Razor & Tie version of Bach's Bottom, the latter in an edited form). The Cossacks material (excepting "Little Fishy") later appeared in digital form on (also a bootleg) Beale Street Green.

"My Rival" was re-recorded in a drastically different arrangement and released on Like Flies On Sherbert and "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" was re-recorded an released on the B-Side of Alex's "Bangkok" single in 1978. A live version of "A Little Fishy" came out on the Japanese-only release One Day In New York. "She Might Look My Way" came out of Tommy Hoehn's Losing You To Sleep album.

Allegedly, the only copy of these recordings that anyone associated with band had was lost in the house fire that claimed Alex Chilton's mother's life. If this is true, and the masters have been lost, it is truly a great, great shame as these are possibly the best post-Big Star recordings of Alex's long solo career.

If you find this release, I high recommend you pick it up.

Here's the video review:

Special Thanks to: Ardent Records, Stephanie Chernikowski, Michael O'Brien & Allan Tannenbaum