Everything you need by Dolly Mixture...And More!

A really wonderfully packaged box set with a great booklet with sleevenotes by Bob Stanley and loads of archive photos.

The only problem with this CD set is that they didn't make enough of them and it currently sells for over £100!

I borrowed this copy but hopefully it'll be reissued at some point.

The demo version of 'Everything And More' is especially charming.

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Anybody who has a desire to see Paul Brady at a stage in his career when he changed direction completely should own this. The DVD footage as far as I'm concerned is pure gold. I had the good fortune to see Paul around the time Hard Station was released when he was recorded by BBC Northern Ireland at the Students Union in Queens University for broadcast in Northern Ireland. It was one of the best gigs I have ever attended and I'm nearly sure the line-up on this DVD was the same one I saw that night. The atmosphere was electric, the music was rocking and the band were really on top form. This is as close as I'm ever going to get to re-live that magical evening as I doubt the tapes were retained by the BBC , which is such a shame. It should be brought to the attention of the "Missing Presumed Wiped" investigators alongside the Fruupp concert recorded at The Kings Hall, Belfast, and the Taste concert recorded at The Ulster Hall, Belfast, when Rory decided to wind up Taste and go out on his own.
As for this DVD, if you like this period of Paul Brady's career you won't be disappointed. BUY IT!!!

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This is a record in three languages, with titles and texts in Italian, English and French in the booklet. The 'Good Father' of the title, Pope John Paul II, speaks mostly in Italian, to soothing musical backing, but also in English on some tracks. The use of English for the credits page of the booklet persuades me that it was an 'International' release.

The title track (4)
[YouTube Video]

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I really wanted "Red Rubber Ball" more than anything else. But their other three hits and a few misses are quite enjoyable too. The calliope on "Red Rubber Ball" seems slightly buried compared to my original 45 in which it's right out front. The issue is likely the difference between the mono 45 and the stereo CD.

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Why try to compete with "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be"? Just do something low key. A brilliant decision by Paul in retrospect. If you're looking for Paul's finest work you won't find it here but the record is still a great listen. He plays all the instruments including some blazing guitar work but you'll have to excuse the drumming. "Maybe I'm Amazed" got a lot of airplay from this record but was never issued as a single. Big mistake there. As with "Ram", the bonus tracks are interesting but hardly essential.

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In the past 8 years or so, Chris (Héloïse Letissier) has had a meteoric rise to fame, accompanied by her (Drag) Queens. She appeared on British TV for the massively popular New Year's Eve show of 2016/17 compèred by Jools Holland. She has worked with producer Nile Rogers and she credits herself as producer on "Chris", but the Rogers influence is writ large throughout.

The same feel is maintained through all the tracks, but "Girlfriend" and "What's-her-face" have rather more intensity than most of the numbers. Girlfriend is the radio hit, and like most of the tracks is offered here in both English and French versions, recorded to the same instrumental and FX tracks.

Chris is also experienced in dance, and it is worth looking on YouTube for some of the choreographed videos from this album. "Girlfriend" is quite my favourite number in either language: this video has the exact track from the album, while the dance videos add some Foley effects.

[YouTube Video]

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When this album was first released in 1974 there were some impressive names contributing albeit with a Deep Purple connection in many cases. There are some excellent songs and musical pieces on this and it is worthy of a re-release with lots of unheard bonus material in this box set. I've given it a couple of spins and it still sounds good. It is one of those concept albums, many of them don't work but this one does with it's very good lyrics, artists and good tunes.

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This was his second album, and still one of his best. Every track still sounds good today. I remember seeing him on the OGWT doing "Talking Old Soldiers" about the time this was released. Brilliant and I had to have it. I had his first album which was OK but this was excellent and it got played to death. One of my favourite tracks "Where to now St Peter" was covered by Ann Wilson (Heart) on her 2007 "Hope & Glory" album. Elton made a guest appearance here doing some of the vocals. He made a series of good albums up until about 1975 when he started to dress like a duck and go "pop". Downhill after that in my opinion with the odd good song, but few and far between..

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There are some very early recordings on this, charting the development of the band and the personnel changes. from about 1968 onwards. A must have for all Skynyrd fans out there.
The booklet has some informative notes and good pix also.

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I now have the Entire lot of these (Finally sent them). 1974 to 1985 plus all the sub ones to. IE: Dance, Disco, Punk so on..... The over all sound Is Superb there are Needle Drops, Live Versions,12" Versions, LP Versions, Strange Versions, Remix's In the Wrong places, Edited Single Versions. A lot are on CD for the First Time (Another Reason for Buying). Come on £4.99 for Three Disc's packed with Classics like this Bargain. The Cardboard packaging Is well done. Printing Is top Notch. I don't know how they are making any money out of these. I have More Expensive CD's that don't even come close to these. You'll be wanting to crank up the Volume In no time and the Quality will be Great they will have You Singing along In no Time. I would say that Top Of The Pops TV Sound only In Stereo (You know what I'm saying) So Come on Grab them while they are Available. Highly Recommended. H.

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The best thing about this CD is the artwork. In fact the only thing that makes this marginally better than Robert Stigwood's ill fated 1978 movie version of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is that it only has one bonus track. Whereas Stigwood's movie soundtrack has most of "Abbey Road", "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Get Back" inexplicably thrown into the mix. The bonus track on this CD is "Echo And The Bunnymen's" version of "All You Need Is Love" which is at least more appropriate but certainly not their best work.
The rest of this album follows suit with most of the artists offering up second rate or worse versions of songs from this classic album. What this CD most successfully does is make you want to take it off immediately and hear the original to remind yourself of how it was and should be done.

The two major UK music magazines both revert to this format of recreating classic albums with contemporary artists from time to time but the results are usually/always disastrous as is the case here. Apart from the artwork (10/10) the content here is appalling and a travesty rather than a tribute to a great album.

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"I always loved his golden voice", Kristina said. When Boz Scaggs left the Steve Miller Band to form his own band I hoped it would develop into a blues band. But Boz had a more versatile concept. He mixed blues, soul and a little jazz into his musical masterplan. All was glued together by his velvet voice and a slick band of incredible musicians. So here we are, nine songs exactly fitting his concept. Some slow, some midtempo. As a bonus we get 'Baby's Callin' Me Home', a live track almost nine minutes long. It was recorded 1972 in San Francisco at the Fillmore West's 'Last Days'. Boz and his band presented this irresistable melody and jammed quite a bit in the middle section. But this was long before they turned into a more adult orientated soul-blues band. I love this long jam but Kristina is more into the other songs. So here we are.

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Kristina said: 'Very colourful album. I remember her from another age. Is this new?' Yes this album has just been released but the recordings are from the late sixties and early seventies. 'Medicated Goo', 'Brand new day' and 'You can't always get what you want' were recorded with Eric Clapton, Jim Gordon, Bobby Whitlock and Carl Radle, better known as 'Derek and the Dominos'. How about that? And there is more: Two covers from Blood, Sweat and Tears, five songs written by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees with some help from his brother.
It is about time that these songs are available to the public. This is all topped by P.P. Arnold's wonderful and powerful voice. I still cannot understand why there have been so many years when nobody heard anything from her.

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A superb new CD on the revived legendary Doctor Bird label. It comprises two popular Trojan label LPs from 1969 and 1970, featuring 24 tracks produced by producer Harry J (Johnson), many recorded at Coxsone Dodd's Studio 1 studio. First time on CD for both albums.

A must for all lovers of early ('Skinhead') Reggae. Unusually for a compilation of Harry J productions, there is no 'Liquidator' here.

Extensive notes in the inlay, but as yours truly wrote the sleeve notes, I can't really comment on them.

Inlay images courtesy of some website named 45cat!

A great way to start a new reissue programme on a classic label.

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One of my favourite 'oddball' compilations. I really appreciate the effort they've made to listen through possibly 100s of boring/terrible Christian records to come up with the 16 tracks here which have that indefinable certain something. At times funny, jazzy and sometimes downright weird. I've been listening to this for 16 years now and I'm still praying for a volume 2. Amen.

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A good quality recording of a Maria Callas performance from 1957, showcasing her voice in its prime. The voice has a silvery quality, with beautifully sung scales, staccati, and top notes. The live recording reveals her ability to fill a theatre with her special sound quality, and to dominate a performance with the Callas magic. The supporting cast is also fine. One might hope that someday the sometimes intrusive audience sounds heard during musical highlights could be reduced or eliminated from the soundtrack. The role of Amina in La Sonnambula is the kind of coloratura vehicle that helped propel Callas to fame, and the kind of singing often omitted in more recent compilation recordings that focus on her later recordings of music in a later verismo style rather than the florid (though melodious) one heard here.

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This album proves - quite literally - something I've always fond to be true with music:

...that you can be "sentimental", and not be cheesy and saccharine, so long as you are genuine

You can always sense when someone is just being sweet and sentimental just for effect, or to sell records... it sounds inauthentic and stagy (ahem - Robbie Williams - ahem :), and often has more to do with the person being seen to be sentimental for their own motivations, that being actually so.

And so I was intrigued with this when it came out, as a lot was made of the fact that Tanita Tikaram had just gone into the studio with a very basic set-up, a bag of strong tunes with great melodies, and made this wonderful album...

...So it was a little disappointing to see it dismissed as a "coffee table jazz" type of album, like it was just a light, throwaway, disposable piece of pleasant pap. Because in reality, after a few listens, you come to realise just how hard this must have been to do, as well as brave, and ambitious; To leave all the big production values out of it, and rely solely on the quality of the songs, and the execution. The musical equivalent of being very exposed, and even naked... and bravely, and genuinely sentimental.

But this has ended up being one of my favourite albums, and certainly my favourite of hers. There's usually two, three, or four tracks on each of her albums that I like, but this goes the whole way through every time.

So a straight, basic delivery, and excellent tunes, which make a very engaging, intimate listen.

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This is a real back to basics album from the Stones, showcasing post war Chicago Blues songs that are nearly as old as they are. It was (allegedly) put together in a couple or three days and is an excellent representation of Keith & Mick's love of the blues. They did visit 2120 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago in June 1964 and in November the same year, and again in May 1965 to record over 20 blues songs that did not get officially released although they have been bootlegged often and there is a version on this site.

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It's hard to know what they were thinking. Idol Mind claimed to have the tapes from which the original, groundbreaking "Ultra Rare Trax" set on The Swingin' Pig was made. They released them in this fashion in 2010, also claiming to have "remastered" them. If you look at the waveforms, their idea of "remastering" was heavy digital compression and limiting, which had to be undone for this issue. They padded out the contents to three discs by repeating several tracks throughout the set. If you have the original Ultra Rare Trax discs, their issues with playback speed and azimuth miscalibration notwithstanding, they sound a lot better than what Idol Mind released in 2010. In 1988, you couldn't mess up audio with digital jiggery-pokery yet, and some people just don't know how to leave a good thing alone.

This Remasters Workshop issue succeeds by making the recordings sound less tampered-with, and by fixing the speed and phase issues.

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This 2CD set is from Jasmine Records UK. The only complaint I have about this set is that it is MONO. This was rather upsetting when the CD arrived as all tracks were originally recorded in Stereo. CD Cover is a photoshopped "Pete Fountain's New Orleans" Coral CRL 757282 (1959), The back of the CD is a photoshopped "Swing Low, Sweet Clarinet" Coral CRL 757394 (1962).
The CDs themselves feature 4 of Pete's Albums and 1 part album.
CD 1 Tracks: 1 - 12 "The Blues" Coral CRL 757285 (1959) 3rd Coral Album
CD 1 Tracks: 13 - 16 "Presenting Pete Fountain & Al Hirt - Bourbon Street" Coral CRL 757389 (1962) 12th Coral Album, this is an 8 track Album, 4 Tracks By Pete (on this CD) 4 tracks of Pete & Al (not on this CD)
CD 1 Tracks: 17 - 24 "Salutes The Great Clarinetists" Coral CRL 757333 (1960) 6th Coral Album
CD 2 Tracks: 1 - 4 "Salutes The Great Clarinetists" Coral CRL 757333 (1960) 6th Coral Album
CD 2 Tracks: 5 - 16 "I Love Paris" Coral CRL 757378 (1962) 11th Coral Album
CD 2 Tracks: 17 - 28 "Swing Low, Sweet Clarinet" Coral CRL 757394 (1962) 13th Coral Album
(Swing Low, Sweet Clarinet features the Jubilee Singers (most likely the famous Fisk Jubilee Singers), but not shown as such.
The 2CDs are of remarkable quality, they have been remastered to the level expected by Sony or BMG, wonderful job. No need to comment on the music (spectacular)

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When I bought the vinyl edition of this album at the end of the 1980s, all I knew of SAC was "Incense And Peppermints", which I remembered hearing as a kid, and then got to know better years later via one of the Cruisin' series albums. Big Beat had done a great job of putting together this compilation, (even if "Birdman Of Alkatrash" sounded a little out of place amongst the other gently psychedelic cuts). I played the LP a lot for years as it fitted in nicely with other albums of its kind (Bam Caruso's 'Rubble' series, and other reissues on Edsel and Big Beat). After a while though I developed a taste for the harder-edged psych and prog music that I'd discovered along the way, so I traded Strawberries Mean Love (along with some similar reissues) in for something else.
Fast forward a few decades, and I had a desire to hear this again so got the CD version - with extra tracks too! - even better, I thought. Except that, well, it isn't. Out of the eight bonus tracks, there are only two ("Paxton's Back Street Carnival" and "Hummin' Happy") that match up to the quality of the material on the original comp, and to my ears the rest actually spoil it as there's nothing very comparable. They're fairly unnecessary additions and just don't have the same great atmosphere that the others do. I would have gladly traded the eight (actually six if you put aside the two I just mentioned) for the addition of "Unwind With The Clock" and / or "Pass Time With SAC" from the band's first album as they are far more in keeping with the style and the vibe of the rest of the original Strawberries Mean Love collection. The six bonuses (A's and B's) don't add a thing to the first thirteen tracks, and in this case less really is more: this 'more' is just too MOR.

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For a US Release this is surprisingly "International", and I suspect that it is being marketed in many places outside of North America, it's certainly easy to find in The UK.

The compilation consists of 20 tracks that had a big impact on Britain's "Northern Soul" scene (so called because it was centred on towns and cities in Northern England) back at the end of the '60s and throughout the '70s. The compilation was produced by Teri Landi, Andy Street and Ady Croasdell with Mr Croasdell providing a lengthy essay in the 16 page booklet detailing the origin of the tracks on display and how they fitted into Britain's "Northern Soul" scene all those years ago. Ady Croasdell is one of the forces behind the Soul releases at Kent/Ace in London and I can't help but think that there was more collaboration between ABKCO and Kent/Ace with this release than is immediately obvious from the packaging.

Here are three tracks that are included in this compilation ...

[YouTube Video]

[YouTube Video]

[YouTube Video]

There were plenty of other Cameo/Parkway releases that impacted on Britain's "Northern Soul" scene so I'm already looking forward to a Volume 2.

ABKCO's press release in June 2020 has the release date as 19th June.

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Those 45Worlders who have read previous reviews of mine may have seen the one I posted on this 2006 Supremes release where I suggested that it would be a candidate for the award for worst packaging of the year. This release would be top of my list for the 2009 award winner.

A few weeks back, in an attempt to dispel the lockdown blues, I decided to spruce up my collection of Isaac Hayes CDs. Having not previously owned a CD that had this 1971 masterpiece in its entirety I purchased this version. The package arrived and I started to remove the shrink-wrap so that I could play my new acquisition.

What happened next was something like what happened in that episode of "The Big Bang Theory" where Sheldon Cooper opens up a "boxed" Mr. Spock toy … the whole package seemed to disintegrate into a bewildering array of flaps and hidden compartments. It seems that this is how the original LP was packaged, with flaps opening out to form a cross shaped poster-sized image of Mr. Hayes!!

The booklet notes do point out that this is the first CD reissue to mimic the original packaging … maybe the producers of this reissue should have considered that there might have been a reason for this ... just because something might be appropriate for a 12" format doesn't mean that it should be miniaturised!!

For the next few minutes I gingerly tried to explore the various flaps and compartments to see if I could find the CDs and booklet. Eventually I succeeded but, not being a skilled surgeon, I did manage to slightly tear part of the package when attempting to prise one of the CDs out of its cubby-hole. Then, after finding everything and listening to it, there came the challenge of trying to put it all back together again … what goes where? …. which flap folds over which flap? … where is the front? … where is the back?

The whole thing reminds me of one of those "wooden-puzzles" that were all the rage in the '80s and '90s and I keep asking myself … Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? If this is the state that the music business sank to it's no surprise that Mr Hayes gave up his career to become a chef on "South Park" is it!!

The music, of course, is great for those (like me) who like plodding, orchestrated, well sung, early-'70s Soul … but then you knew that already didn't you.

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I bought this album on Vinyl when it first came out. It is a very raw recording with no overdubs. What you get is straight from the (presumably) mixing desk, so when Freddie hits a bum note or fails to reach the same note he did during the studio session, you hear it.

[YouTube Video]


I have just bought it again on CD, from my favourite online supplier (no names, but they are named after a South American river!) and what arrived was this version, which appears to be the USA version!

Anyway, on listening again I felt the electricty I had felt when I had seen the band over the years.

My first Queen gig was at the Liverpool Empire where they were what they billed as 'The Crazy Tour' as they were by this time used to playing much larger venues.


Copy of the typical set list on this tour can be seen here:
Crazy Tour Typical Set List

So, back to the CD - what can I say except, it's Queen - the best live band ever!

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It might have been thought impossible for the Mael brothers to have met the standards of 2017's Hippopotamus, but they have not merely succeeded, they have exceeded the quality of that album.

All the Sparks trademarks are there: the varied musical styles and influences (Left Out In The Cold is in a distinctly Latin style, The Existental Threat is based on klezmer); the oblique takes on reality (Stravinksky's Only Hit postulates what would have happened if Igor had decided to write pop songs instead, for example); and the glorious battiness (Lawnmower, Onomato Pia).

But there is a surprising melancholy underpinning many of the tracks Pacific Standard Time being the standout example. Perhaps this is what we can expect from a couple of septuaginarians.

The musicianship and production are excellent, with the brothers clearly knowing who they can bring in to provide tight and dynamic playing.

The outstanding track is iPhone, in which - in turn - Adam, Abraham Lincoln and Mrs Steve Jobs wrestle with the difficulty of trying to communicate with their audiences (Eve, the crowd at Gettysburg and Mr Steve Jobs respectively), hence the chorus, "Put that fucking iPhone down and listen to me!"

Quite possibly Sparks' strongest ever album and a sure-fire classic.

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Their first album I got on CD at early 90s. Previous albums I had only on tape at this time. Unfortunately it was their last so good release. Later they started to sound different and they stopped being so attractive. My all time favourites are: Joyride and Spending My Time.

Originally published at https://winyle-online.pl/album/roxette/joyride-1991

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At least half of the recordings in this 2 CD set went unreleased while the Chance label was in business from 1950-1954. Inside of the first CD is some discographical information, including Chance matrix numbers. On several occasions, the compilers chose unreleased alternate takes of recordings that were actually released, for unknown reasons. The sound quality is spotty, which might reflect the deterioration of the source tapes, or perhaps the original recordings were poorly made- and finally, the artist names shown on the back of the CD's and on the cover are often not the names under which the recordings were released (although this is corrected in the discography).

On the other hand, where else is one to find this stuff at all?

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One of my favourite albums and bands of all time.

For those of you who never caught the band live, I can assure you that I have never seen another band to come close to them live. When you consider the vocal range required to sing some of these songs, it's no wonder that occasionally Freddie either doesn't quite hit the note, or alters the pitch. Particularly when you think about the amount of time they were on stage.

The great thing about Queen live albums, is they are rarely overdubbed.

I bought Live Killers on Vinyl when it first came out and noted there were quite a few bum notes on it. Regardless, Queen liked to put their live material out as it was on the night - how many other bands would have the chutzpah to do that??

For any Queen admirer, I would strongly recommend ANY of their live albums to get a feel for how good they were - bearing in mind of course that when you are there, every band sounds better as you are caught up in the moment and the excitement of the gig.

A masterpiece.

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While most notably appearing on the compilation Pebbles Volume 3: The Acid Gallery, this contains a huge chunk of previously unreleased material by the band. Tracks 1 to 12 was originally planned to be released as an album in 1966, but was canceled and never saw the light of day until this compilation was released. Tracks 13 to 19 consist of demos recorded in New Mexico. The CD booklet has an interview with one of the band members explaining the history of The Driving Stupid, their formation, inspirations for writing the songs (sometimes changing some songs to avoid any controversy), details on recording sessions, a few photos here and there, and other bits of fun trivia.
That aside, the music itself consists of songs with absurd and quirky lyrics and nonsensical storylines. Hide The Lobsters, The Reality Of (Air) Fried Borsk, We've Come To Take The Earth Away, Green Things Have Entered My Skin, Gladys and Water My Doing Here? are prime examples of this. If you're familiar with the B-52's song Rock Lobster, they're essentially apples to apples with each other. There are a few exceptions to this, namely How Do You Tell A Stranger? and Greensleeves (The Twa Corbies) aren't really as quirky or comical. Despite being dubbed "country" in the liner notes, I'm Gonna Bash Your Brains In have lyrics reminiscent of your typical punk tune about violently beating somebody up and mutilating their body.
Overall, this CD is definitely worth listening to if you're into garage rock, punk, comedy rock, avant-rock, or just really weird stuff. Their music is supposed to be stupid on purpose, hence the name Driving Stupid. Although, I wouldn't say they're out there/outrageous like Frank Zappa or The Fugs.

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A Closer Listen presents the Best Field Recording & Soundscape Albums of 2010-19
Billed as a series of “radiophonic miniatures,” Terra Subfónica is the aural version of a breakfast cereal variety pack. Blinkhorn serves computers and clocks, serenades and seas, the amplified human body and the sound of his own children playing with toys. The album is held together by a sense of wonder. While listening, one begins to think about the sounds of one’s own house, car and community, and the question, “What makes a sound appealing?” Those unsure of what they enjoy may find some direction here; and if not direction, joy. (Richard Allen)

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