A Record a Week: Erroll Garner - Misty

SIDE !.
MISTY
EXACTLY LIKE YOU
YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE
WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LOVE
FRANTONALITY

SIDE 2.
AGAIN
WHERE OR WHEN
LOVE IN BLOOM
THROUGH A LONG AND SLEEPLESS NIGHT
THAT OLD FEELING

This is a great and classic swing album. Garner bridges the gap between classic jazz and swing without being too generic or offensive to either style.

This album contains a good collection of songs, including the leading song, Misty, which became a jazz standard covered by several other jazz musicians. The song, first released on 1954's Plays Misty was at that time an instrumental. Lyrics were later added by Johnny Burke and the song re-released on the album Contrasts. This record is a re-release of Plays Misty and includes the lyricized version of the song.

The other songs are equally well-written and engaging, encompassing a bright vision of all elements of jazz. Various time signatures, including at some times different ones played by different hands, meld together at the right time creating an element of suspense-satisfaction as the listener gets drawn in. Even if you can't hear such subtleties (ones I only heard occasionally myself), this album plays out as a great jazz/swing collection.

A Record a Week: Fun Boy Three - Fun Boy Three

SIDE 1.
IT AIN'T WHAT YOU DO (w/ Bananarama)
THE TELEPHONE ALWAYS RINGS
WAY ON DOWN
THE LUNATICS
FUNRAMA 2 (w/ Bananarama)


SIDE 2.
BEST OF LUCK MATE
FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY
LIFE IN GENERAL (LEWE IN ALGEMEEN)
I DON'T BELIEVE IT
ALONE (w/ Bananarama)
SANCTUARY (w/ Bananarama)

For some reason, I at one point had two copies of this album even though I had never heard of it. I know this, because when me and my old roommate began screenprinting, we used covers of albums I didn't know about or listen to as test prints (something I now wish I hadn't done).

This album is an interesting mix of things I didn't expect. Judging by the cover and the hairstyles donned on said cover, I thought it would be more along the lines of A-HA or Culture Club. While there were elements of that new-wave/electro/pop sound, there were definitely larger elements to the album that were pleasantly surprising. The majority of the album has an underlying African drum/bongo beat thing going on and combined with a funky beat, creates a real Dr. John feel. It was a bit of a musical cacophony, certainly more complex than what I had pictured going in.

On a technical note, the band only existed for a couple years ('81-'83) and released just this and one other record. The featuring of Bananarama on this record was what launched their career. I would say that, in the end, they may have got the better deal career-wise.

A Record a Week: Footloose, the Soundtrack

SIDE 1.
FOOTLOOSE (Kenny Loggins)
LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY (Deniece Williams)
ALMOST PARADISE (Mike Reno and Anne Wilson of Loverboy/Heart respectively)
HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO (Bonnie Tyler)

SIDE 2.
DANCING IN THE STREETS (Shalamar)
I'M FREE (HEAVEN HELPS THE MAN) (Kenny Loggins)
SOMEBODY'S EYES (Karla Bonoff)
THE GIRL GETS AROUND (Sammy Hagar)
NEVER (Moving Pictures)

Before six degrees of Kevin Bacon, before coke-addled Chris Penn ballooned and then passed away came the 1908's dancing-oppressed small-town story Footloose. Released when I was only a wee tot, I grew up with this soundtrack and the movie. I am not sure as an adult if this movie is any good or not, but I certainly remember them both fondly.

Full of excellent 80's dancing hits, this soundtrack is great, perhaps missing only Pat Benetar's 'Love is a Battlefield'. Listening to this record provided great dancing opportunity for my daughter and me.

The first five songs on this album are the best of the lot. They remind me that although the 80's provided a lot of lackluster music in my opinion. However, the 80's offered talented singers and guitarists that didn't have the luxury of auto-tune and multi-layered tracks. The result was that the songs were able to be reproduced live without pumping extra tracks through the house speakers or adding terrible effects to the vocals. It was a glory time for stadium music and even better, there was no Nickelback.

A Record a Week: Flashback Fever (V/A)

SIDE 1.
SUMMER IN THE CITY - The Lovin' Spoonful
SURFER GIRL - The Beach Boys
KICKS - Paul Revere & The Raiders
THIS DIAMOND RING - Gary Lewis & The Playboys
AIN'T SHE SWEET - The Beatles
MR. TAMBOURINE MAN - The Byrds
RUBBER BALL - Bobby Vee
YOU ARE MY DESTINY - Paul Anka
RUBY BABY - Dion
LITTLE LATIN LUPE LU - Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
DOWN IN THE BOONDOCKS - Billy Joe Royal
FEVER - The McCoys

SIDE 2.
(THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN) MASSACHUSETTS - The Bee Gees
SURF CITY - Jan & Dean
HANKY PANKY - Tommy James and the Shondelles
TWENTY FOUR HOURS FROM TULSA - Gene Pitney
(WE AIN'T GOT) NOTHIN' YET - Blues Magoos
SWEET TALKIN' GUY - The Chiffons
SILENCE IS GOLDEN - The Tremeloes
BREAD AND BUTTER - The Newbeats
1-2-3 RED LIGHT - 1910 Fruitgum Co.
GREEN TAMBOURINE - The Lemon Pipers
BE MY BABY - The Ronettes
ALONG COMES MARY - The Association
GIMME LITTLE SIGN - Brenton Wood

This records promise starts when you read the cover and see a number of notable names. The promise continues into the first few songs and even holds you through much of the first side (even though there a few misses). I flipped it over, though, and it began to lose me quickly. The artists are not ones I had heard of and the songs by those artists, and even the songs of the artists I did recognize, were forgettable ones.

A little bit of research and I found out a few things that told me most of what I needed to know. First of all it is called Flashback Fever and it was released in 1970. What this tells me is that it is less of a flashback (except the songs that were from 1960 or '61 maybe) and more of a recent retrospective or chronicle of the past decade. At least when I think of a flashback, I think farther back than even say the 90's at this point. So maybe if the album were called 'Looking Back on the Past Decade' it might be more representative. The second is tied in with the same thing. If you don't have a good solid record, why the dozen or so songs on each side? It is conceivable to have less on an LP, even if it's a greatest hits or other type of collection. Plus the 'hits' selection would be much greater.

The last thing ties into the first. If you do want to make a flashback album (at the proper time), then there is another reason to do it many years later than just the name. At that point, you can take a look at which songs and bands have stood the test of time. It is alright to include a few diamonds in the rough that people may not have heard of, but this certainly rings true for the popular bands. If you made this album in the later 70's you might have come up with different tracks that became more popular in later years by these, or other artists. On a personal note, I would rather see Hang on Sloopy than this McCoys song (and it was #1 in 1965, so no excuses there).

Sunday Brunch: Holiday Oreo Brownies

No picture, these were eaten with christmas dinner and I meant to write it then, but didn't get around to it.

INGREDIENTS:
2 squares Cooking Chocolate
½ cup Margarine
1 cup Sugar
2 Egg Replacers
½ cup Flour
pinch Salt
½ cup Pecans
½ tsp Vanilla
2-3 Mint Holiday Oreos, chopped


Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Cream margarine and sugar together, add eggs. Stir in remaining ingredients and pour into a lightly oiled baking pan. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until fork comes out clean. Oreos will melt and make things a little gooier, but they firm up a bit when cooled, so don't overcook too much.