Collecting Vinyl Record Blog Reaches 300,000th Visitor

it's certainly been an entertaining and informative ride and it's been a riot.   to think that people are this interested in what i post is, quite humbling and i am very honored that you stop by. that said, i will continue my quest to reach one million and hope to add some new refreshing changes to the blog in the coming weeks. to my loyal followers, a hearty thank you for coming to visit so often and to my new readers, stop by often as i will continue to post the latest vinyl record news and features for years to come!

To help celebrate the 300,000th visitor, the CVR Blog is running a contest. seth over at www.soundstagedirect.com  has given me 6 $10 gift certificates toward a purchase of vinyl at his website.

To win a $10 gift certificate, be one of the first 6 people to email me at rbenson30@wi.rr.com with Sound Stage Direct in the subject line and you win!

Again, thanks so much got stopping by the CVR Blog!!

Vinyl Record News & Music Notes

intriguing article about some japanese blue note reissues!

Press on

By GARY DEMUTH Salina Journal

Kenichi Arai and Koki Hanawa flew from Tokyo to Salina to fill a pressing need.

The Japanese businessmen, one a record label executive and the other a manager and buyer for a chain of Japanese record stores, came to a converted warehouse in north Salina to watch record presses make nearly 1,000 vinyl copies of five classic jazz albums.

If this initial press run is successful, workers at Quality Record Pressings might be pressing thousands of copies of 95 additional classic jazz albums for eager Japanese record collectors.

Arai, a strategic and international marketing executive for EMI Music Japan, said he was impressed with the Salina plant.

"It's exactly what we were expecting," he said.

Read the rest at salina.com

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WHITESNAKE: 'Box O'Snakes: The Sunburst Years 1978-1982' Boxed Set

On November 7 EMI is scheduled to release the new WHITESNAKE boxed set 'Box O'Snakes: The Sunburst Years 1978-1982.' The boxed set will contain eight CDs (every studio and live album recorded for the EMI label), one DVD (include a Washington 1980 show, the promotional singles from 1978-1982 and BBC TV performances), a limited-edition seven-inch single as well as a 90-page book with new interview and previously unseen photos.








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METALLICA And LOU REED: 'Lulu' Deluxe Edition Detailed

Lou Reed and METALLICA's new effort 'Lulu' is set to be released on November 1st in North America via Warner Bros. Records and one day earlier (October 31) in the rest of the world through Universal Music. The CD was co-produced by Reed, METALLICA, Hal Willner and Greg Fidelman. Fidelman also mixed the record.

The deluxe version of 'Lulu' will come in a tube-shaped container measuring 13 centimeters x 1.24 meters, will also include the following:

* 2xCD digipack package
* A large 1.2 m x 1.6 m poster (with song lyrics)
* 3 photographs by Anton Corbijn (50 cm x 50.8 cm)



Tracklist:
1. Brandenburg Gate (4:19)
2. The View (5:17)
3. Pumping Blood (7:24)
4. Mistress Dread (6:52)
5. Iced Honey (4:36)
6. Cheat On Me (11:26)
7. Frustration (8:33)
8. Little Dog (8:01)
9. Dragon (11:08)
10. Junior Dad (19:28)

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Frank Zappa: ‘Conventional, Conservative Man’

Andrew Vaughan

A new book by one-time Frank Zappa assistant Pauline Butcher paints a fascinating picture of the American guitar pioneer.

According to the BBC, Butcher met Frank Zappa in London in 1967 and worked with him in California for five years. Butcher moved in with Zappa and his wife in their notorious Log Cabin in Los Angeles’ Laurel Canyon.

“Frank and his wife and their little baby Moon Unit lived in this house called the Log Cabin. It was well known in Hollywood. Every day we were visited by rock stars of the time: Joni Mitchell, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane. Eric Clapton was always at the house.”

Read the rest at our friends at Gibson



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Why Can't Floyd Get Along?

According to Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason he is saying that he is disappointed that his former bandmates are unwilling to reunite. The band – David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Richard Wright and Mason – last played together in 2005 at Live 8. Wright has since died. When asked by Rolling Stone whether Pink Floyd still “exists,” Mason stated:

“I think it’s one of those things where I’m not quite ready to say it doesn’t exist anymore. And, you know, it might be I’m a sad person and just can’t let go of something, but it’s just that feeling that, you know, who knows? I suppose I live in hope that their might be another Live Aid or something like that. I don’t seriously expect anyone to suddenly announce that we should get back into studios and knock out an album.

“I’m quite keen on not saying it’s all over. It’s partly to do with me hating the idea of conceding any sort of retirement. I’ve always held the door open. I absolutely know that David [Gilmour] wouldn’t want to do anything at present but, you know, people change. In a year’s time, a few years’ time, whatever.”

as the nike commercial says, just do it....

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lovely cover art....

Suicidal Angels Reveal Artwork For New LP

Greeks thrash band Suicidal Angels have recently announced that they will enter Prophecy & Music Factory studios in Kempten, Germany to record their upcoming LP 'Bloodbath,' which is due for release on January 27, 2012 via NoiseArt Records. The cover art was created by Ed Repka.


















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SCORPIONS: 'Comeblack' Cover Artwork Reveiled 

German hard rock veterans SCORPIONS are scheduled to release 'Comeblack,' which is a collection of re-recorded versions of the band's classics songs, on November 4 via Sony. The effort will be made available as a CD and on double vinyl.

In a recent interview with ArabNews.com, SCORPIONS frontman Klaus Meine talked about the group's future plans: "Our newest project comes out in the next few months. It gives you a chance to experience the SCORPIONS in 3D. You can actually feel the smoke string out of the guitar like it is a live show. It is an incredible experience. The DVD features our concerts in 3D in Germany. We are just about to do the mix and it should be in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia hopefully soon. Indeed, the strong 3D technology makes us feel like pioneers after all these years. (Laughs) We have an album coming out later this year featuring classics. You know our love for them. The '60s was the era for our inspiration. Our movie/documentary also is soon to be released. We have cameras with us on tours, so this documentary is being made during or tours. It also gives you a picture of the SCORPIONS career and journey."

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Lydia Unveil New Album Artwork

Lydia have revealed the cover art for their new record, 'Paint It Golden.' The album, which was recorded this past summer with producer Matt Malpass, is set to be released on October 4.

In a press statement, frontman Leighton Antelman remarked, "I am overly excited to put out this new record. I have been holding onto a lot of these songs for years now and I didn't even know if I'd ever release them. I am truly blessed to be able to share my thoughts and ideas with so many people around the world."

Tracklist:

1. Hailey
2. Dragging Your Feet in the Mud
3. Eat Your Heart Out
4. Get It Right
5. Best Nights
6. I'll Bit You
7. Seasons
8. Ghosts
9. Skin + Bones
10. Birds

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JOHN 5 Releases Second Single From Forthcoming Solo Album

"Welcome To Violence", the brand new single from ROB ZOMBIE/ex-MARILYN MANSON guitarist John 5, is available to purchase today from all good online music retailers. The track is the second single to be released from John 5's sixth solo studio instrumental album, "God Told Me To". It features cover art by ROB ZOMBIE bassist Matt Montgomery (a.k.a. Piggy D.).

Read more at our friends at Blabbermouth















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CHRIS CORNELL: 'Songbook' Album Details Revealed

SOUNDGARDEN/ex-AUDIOSLAVE singer Chris Cornell will release an album of live "Songbook" tour performances on November 21 via Universal Music Enterprises. The set will feature Cornell's own songs as well as a few covers. All fans who purchase their "Songbook" tour tickets online will receive a digital copy of the album with each order.

"Songbook" track listing:

1. As Hope And Promise Fade
2. Scar On The Sky
3. Call Me A Dog
4. Ground Zero
5. Can't Change Me
6. I Am The Highway
7. Thank You (LED ZEPPELIN cover)
8. Cleaning My Gun
9. Wide Awake
10. Fell On Black Days
11. All Night Thing
12. Doesn't Remind Me
13. Like A Stone
14. Black Hole Sun
15. Imagine (JOHN LENNON cover)
16. The Keeper

Get more information at Blabbermouth

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love the new music from the band and love this review!

Blink-182 releases their much anticipated album

By Cassie Rossel

The boys of Blink-182 are finally giving worldwide fans what they've been begging for with the release of their sixth studio album, Neighborhoods, on Sept. 27.

A new record seemed nearly impossible since Blink-182 announced that they would be taking an "indefinite hiatus" in 2005.

After the split, each member of the band went on to do their own projects, which further led fans to believe that Blink-182 was really over.

Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus formed the band +44, while Tom DeLonge formed the band Angels and Airwaves. Barker also made a solo record along with several side projects.

The incident that brought the band together once again was Barker's near death experience three years ago. DJ Adam Goldstein and Barker were the only survivors of a flaming Learjet 60 crash site in South Carolina.

After the terrifying crash, the three longtime friends began to come into contact once again.

Read the rest at lariatnews.com

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someone always comes up with these lists, this one is more interesting than most, as it has lots of awful album cover art that i have not seen before (i guess i didn't miss much):

25 Worst Heavy Metal Album Covers Of All-Time

by Rob O'Connor

With the generous help of Bill Billoney, who runs the essential blog Bang Your Head or I'll Rip It Off at bangyourheadorillripitoff.blogspot.com  and the Atrocious Heavy Metal Album Covers group at Facebook, I cherrypicked the worst of the worst.

See the list at new.music.yahoo.com









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How many versions of an album do we need?

author Bernard Perusse of Postmedia News and the www.montrealgazette.com rants about the number of reissues coming our way. but, as a music fan, he seems to appreciate the efforts!

Read more at montrealgazette.com

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and in music history for september 29th:

In 1907, country crooner and legend Gene Autrey was born (he died in 1998).

Tommy Boyce (Boyce & Hart) was born in 1939 (died in 1994).

In 1956, Bill Haley had five songs in the U.K. Top 30: “Rockin Through the Rye,” “Saints Rock n’ Roll,” “Rock Around the Clock,” “Razzle Dazzle” and “See You Later Alligator.”

Also in 1956, RCA Victor, by this day, had received 856,327 advance orders for "Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley.

In 1958, the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace" entered the US Pop chart, where it will top out at #6.

Also in 1958, Tommy Edwards' "It's All In The Game" led the Billboard chart. The melody of the song had been written in 1912 by Charles Gates Dawes, who would become vice-president of the United States between 1925 and 1929. Updated lyrics were added in 1951.

In 1959, Cliff Richard became the first UK artist to have a rock 'n' roll hit in the US when "Living Doll" makes the Billboard chart, where it will peak at #30.

In 1961, Bob Dylan played harmonica on three tracks of his friend Caroline Hester's first album. Producer John Hammond is so impressed that he signs Dylan to a contract and arranges for a solo recording session in October.

In 1962, "My Fair Lady" closed after a 6½ year run on Broadway. The show, at the time, held the record for the longest-running musical.

In 1963, the Rolling Stones opened their first English tour in London at the New Victoria. Also on the bill were Bo Diddley and the Everly Brothers.

In 1966, Jimi Hendrix and Noel Redding meet for the first time while auditioning for Eric Burdon's New Animals in London.

"I Heard it Through the Grapevine" was released by Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1967.

Mickey Hart joined the Grateful Dead in 1967.

"45rpm SongFacts"

In 1973, Grand Funk Railroad went to #1 on the US singles chart with “We’re an American Band,” the group’s first of two chart toppers. The song was sung by drummer Don Brewer rather than Mark Farner, who usually took lead vocals.

Grand Funk drummer Don Brewer:

"We started out as a trio in 1969. Everybody calls it 'Heavy Metal,' but heavy metal didn't come around until the '80s, so we were just a hard rock trio. We were kind of riding along with the FM underground situation, so we were able to make 7 minute, 9 minute songs and we'd get the airplay because that was the in thing to do - we could get whole albums played. As we moved into 1972, FM underground radio was beginning to be very commercial, so they were looking for songs that were 3 minutes 30 seconds long. We needed to go that way. We left our former manager Terry Knight in 1972. We were going through lawsuits and all this crap and we came out with an album that was very different for Grand Funk Railroad called The Phoenix Album. We were lucky to have sort of a semi-hit off that record ('Rock 'N' Roll Soul'), but we knew that the next record had to be something big or the career was going to go down the toilet. We were touring, supporting The Phoenix Album, we were going from town to town, there were lawsuits flying all over the place, it was a very tumultuous time period. I remember lots of discussions in the back of cars going, 'What are we going to do next?' Our manager kept saying, 'Why don't you just write songs about what you do: you're out here on the road, you're going to this hotel, you go to different places, there's people, you come into town...' So the thought came into my mind, 'We're coming to your town, we'll help you party it down.' That's really what we were doing - we were coming into town and we were the party. That's where the line came from, and the next thought I had was, 'We're an American band.' It wasn't to wave the flag or anything, it was just simply what we were. It was a true description and it kind of rolled off my mind. I went home and worked on the concept for a while and picked up a guitar; I'm not really a great guitar player, I can play 2 finger chords and that kind of stuff. I worked out the chord structure and I brought it in to rehearsal one day and there you go - we just let it go from there. It had a mind of its own."

The lyrics are about little things that were going on on the road during the Phoenix tour. All of them are true. Don explains the line, "Up all night with Freddie King, I've got to tell you, poker's his thing":
"Freddie King was the opening act for us, the great Blues guitar player from Texas. It always struck me as funny that he would make his band play poker with him every night. We used to sit in on some of the poker games, and that's where that line came from. His band, he'd pay them, and then he'd go win all the money back so they were broke and they'd have to keep playing for him - it was a great deal. A lot of people don't understand the Freddie King part because they don't know who Freddie King is. Anybody who knows about Freddie King immediately picks it up. People who don't say, 'What are you saying, that Focus can't sing?'

The line "Sweet Sweet Connie was doing her act" is about Connie Hamzy, a famous groupie known as "Sweet Connie." Some of her rumored conquests include Brewer, John Bonham, Keith Moon, Huey Lewis, Peter Criss, and Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas. This song made her famous, and in 2010 VH1 ran a special about her life. According to Hamzy, she didn't have "the whole band," as stated in the lyrics, but she came pretty close - Mark Farner was a holdout.

Grand Funk was one of the best-selling bands of the '70s, and this was their biggest hit. Critics were often very harsh, especially Rolling Stone magazine, but they had a huge fan base and got lots of radio play. Says Brewer, "The time was right, it was the summer heading for the 4th of July. We'd really come off of about a year of publicity in Rolling Stone and other music mags with publicity flying over our lawsuits with Terry Knight. There were a lot of things going on where as long as we came up with something that was very commercially viable, it was going to hit, and this came and really took it over the top. We enlisted Todd Rundgren to work on the album - we wanted that commercial appeal Todd could give us with FM radio - he really understood what the sound of the time was. When he came in, the magic was there. We recorded in Miami, one thing was leading to another and it was all snowballing and happening for us. The fact that the song was so good, and so commercially good just added to it."

In the first pressing, all the copies of the 45 RPM records were pressed on gold vinyl. Says Brewer: "That was Capitol's idea. A couple of bands had done that prior to us. It's called virgin vinyl and it's expensive, so record companies didn't want to do virgin vinyl. You could see through it. Black vinyl, they can put all kinds of impurities in there that nobody cares about. Virgin vinyl, where you can see though it, if there were impurities and stuff there would be specks all through it, so they didn't like doing that, but we went to them and said, 'Look, we want to make a special statement,' so they agreed to print 100,000 units of both the single and the album on virgin gold vinyl to go along with the gold record situation we had going - we had about 6 gold records prior to that, and it was like, 'Let's give everybody a gold record.' They were rare, and they still go for a pretty good buck with collectors."



In 1974, John Lennon appeared on WNEW-FM in New York as a guest DJ.

In 1976, enjoying his own birthday celebrations, singer Jerry Lee Lewis accidentally shot his bass player Norman Owens in the chest. Lewis had been blasting holes in an office door. Owens survived but sued his boss.

In 1977, James Brown's band walked out on him Hallandale, FL. They were complaining about being underpaid and overworked.

In 1984, Prince's single "Let's Go Crazy" hit No. 1. He then held the No. 1 single, album and film simultaneously. Only the Beatles had accomplished the feat previously.

In 1989, with a full-scale Eagles reunion still five years away, Glenn Frey joined Don Henley onstage for the first time since 1980 at a concert in LA. Throughout the decade, band members received several lucrative offers to reunite, but declined them all.

In 1989, while travelling on his motorbike from Los Angeles, Bruce Springsteen stopped in a small salon in Prescott, AZ, and played a few songs with the band. He overheard a woman talking about financial problems concerning her medical bills. A week later she received a check for $100,000 from Springsteen. that's why he is the BOSS

In 1990, Rick Nelson's sons Gunnar and Matthew have a number one hit on Billboard's Hot 100 with "Love and Affection", becoming the third generation of Nelsons to accomplish that feat. Their grandfather, Ozzie Nelson, led his orchestra to the top of the chart in 1932 with "And Then Some" and Rick topped all others in 1958 with "Poor Little Fool" and in 1961 with "Travelin' Man".

In 2001, Farm Aid 2001: A Concert for America was held in Noblesville, IN with Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Doobie Brothers and Martina McBride.

In 2004, Keith Moon’s five-piece drum kit, custom-made for The Who drummer in 1968, sold for $215,772 in London to an American collector, setting a world auction record for a set of drums.

birthdays today (among others) include: Les Claypool (Primus) (48), Mike Pinera (Blues Image, Iron Butterfly) (63), John Payne (Asia) (53), Mark Farner (Grand Funk Railroad) (63) and the immortal Jerry Lee Lewis (76)

Ask Mr. Music by Jerry Osborne

FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 26, 2011


DEAR JERRY: I came across a song in my collection that I need help identifying. It is a 45 rpm single with Dion's “Love Came to Me” on the A-side. The label on the B-side incorrectly says it's “Sandy,” also by Dion.

I have no idea what this song is, but it is obviously not “Sandy,” and probably not even Dion. I do not recognize the singer or group at all.

Based just on the lyrics, I would call it “Steady, Makin' Love.” I hope you will recognize it and will let me know the real title and artist.
—Dan Becker, Hartland, Wisc.


DEAR DAN: Congratulations, your choice of a title is exactly correct! It is “Steady, Makin' Love,” and the mystery singer is known as Jimmy Angel.

The original single of “Steady, Makin' Love” (Laurie 3654) came out in 1977, and has nothing to do with Dion's 1963 hit, “Sandy” (Laurie 3153).

In 1978, Laurie added a single of “Love Came to Me” coupled with “Sandy” to their Back-to-Back Hits catalog. However, due to a mix-up at the factory, Jimmy Angel's “Steady, Makin' Love” got stamped on the side intended for “Sandy.”

Only a few dozen were produced before the glitch was noticed and remedied.

Now, instead of a $3.00 record (copies with “Sandy”), ones playing Jimmy Angel's “Steady, Makin' Love” are worth five times as much.


DEAR JERRY: I am so happy with your depiction of my brief but special journey with the outstanding musicians who worked on my Amy recording sessions, including my producer, Paul Simon.

It is hard to believe we were all so incredibly young. It is still a magical time to me. Now, after all these years, there is finally a detailed account of the journey.

Thanks for crediting everyone involved that night in New York, in 1963, when we recorded “Play Me a Sad Song” and “I Wrote You a Letter.”

You mentioned Valerie Simpson, and her eventual marriage to Nick Ashford, and I recently read that Nick passed away from throat cancer last month (August 22).

For nearly two years now, I have been focusing on cancer, working with an oncology surgeon-musician, using music in the operating room during cancer surgeries, as well as in the chemo units. This even applies to Stage IV cases and beyond.

I loved the part about the unborn Whitney Houston, being in on the session as a special guest of sorts in the womb of Cissy Houston, one of our backup singers.

Thanks also for getting all the facts straight.
—Dorothy “Dotty Daniels” Goodman


DEAR DOROTHY: You made it all so easy, and for that I am grateful. Until now I didn't know about your work in the OR, which is both fascinating and rewarding.

We will talk again soon.

DEAR JERRY: Paul Revere and the Raiders is one of my favorite groups of the 1960s and '70s. Still, I don't recall any of their members, besides lead singer Mark Lindsay, having hits as a solo artist.

If they did, who, what, and when?
—Ann Perez, McMinnville, Ore.


DEAR ANN: Yes, Mark Lindsay did crank out eight solo hits, including the Top 10 ballad, “Arizona.”

Meanwhile, after easing away from the Raiders to focus on country music, Freddy Weller scored big with one hit after another for 12 years (1969-1980).

Less successful as solo artists than Weller and Lindsay are three other Raiders who recorded apart from the group: Jim “Harpo” Valley (“Try, Try, Try”) and Keith Allison (“Look at Me,” “Freeborn Man,” etc.), both in the 1960s; and Phil “Fang” Volk (“The Times They Are a-Changing”), issued earlier this year.

Other than these five, none of the other 23 who were Raiders at one time or another — including their namesake, Paul Revere — carved out a solo career.


IZ ZAT SO? Surprisingly, Freddy Weller's total number of post-Raiders solo hits (32) slightly exceeds the career total of Paul Revere and the Raiders (30).

Among Freddy's top hits are: “Games People Play”; “These Are Not My People”; “The Promised Land”; “Indian Lake”; and “Another Night of Love.”

Over their many years, at least 28 men have been a member of Paul Revere and the Raiders:

Ross Allemang; Keith Allison; David Bell; Michael Bradley; Charlie Coe; Joe Correro Jr.; Carlo Driggs; William Hibbard; Blair Hill; Mike "Doc" Holliday; Red Hughes; Jerry Labrum; Drake "Kid" Levin; Mark Lindsay; Andrea Loper; Omar Martinez; Dick McGarvin; Jamie Revere; Paul Revere; Mike "Smitty" Smith; Jim "Harpo" Valley; Phil "Fang" Volk; Dick Walker; Freddy Weller; Steve West; Richard White; Robert White; and Robert Wooley.

Jerry Osborne answers as many questions as possible through this column. Write Jerry at: Box 255, Port Townsend, WA 98368 E-mail: jpo@olympus.net   Visit his Web site: www.jerryosborne.com  

All values quoted in this column are for near-mint condition.

Copyright 2011 Osborne Enterprises- Reprinted By Exclusive Permission

Vinyl Record News & Music Notes

Styx Career Spanning Effort 'Regeneration Volume I & II' Due Oct 4th

Styx are set to their newest release, a double-disc career spanning effort called 'Regeneration, Volume I & II;' being released via Eagle Rock Entertainment this October 4th.

With over 30 million records sold in North America alone, Styx is one of the most beloved rock bands on the planet. Tommy Shaw, James “JY” Young, Chuck Panozzo, Lawrence Gowan, Ricky Phillips and Todd Sucherman have been together longer than any other lineup in the band’s 40-year existence. In addition to thirteen Styx classics and a brand new song “Difference In The World,” Regeneration, Volume I & II also includes interpretations of “High Enough,” and “Coming Of Age,” originally recorded by Damn Yankees, which featured Shaw, along with Night Ranger’s Jack Blades, Ted Nugent and drummer Michael Cartellone.” The band had originally re-recorded these acclaimed anthems to sell only at their live shows, as they continued to tour the globe and introduce a new generation of fans to their chart-topping hits. Now, for the first time, this music is being made commercially available.



Tracklist:
DISC 1
1) The Grand Illusion
2) Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)
3) Lorelei
4) Sing For The Day,
5) Crystal Ball
6) Come Sail Away
7) Difference In The World

DISC 2
1) Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
2) Miss America
3) Renegade
4) Queen Of Spades
5) Boat on The River
6) Too Much Time On My Hands
7) Snowblind
8) Coming Of Age
9) High Enough

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Colorfeels Release Debut Album On Vinyl

The Nashville band Colorfeels debut record 'Syzygy' is being released on vinyl. Syzygy is available now at two locations in Nashville. You can visit Grimey's on 8th Ave., or if you live in East Nashville, head over to The Groove and pick up a copy. The 2LP vinyl release is on black, 180-gram, audiophile quality vinyl and comes with a free download of the album in any file format you choose.

The initial writing for SYZYGY began more than two years ago in the winter of 2008 when musicians and writers Parker Cason and Justin Maurer teamed up to help push each other creatively. They soon realized that they shared a special musical connection worth pursuing. The two spent most of 2009 writing songs together and singing them for friends around the house. Still, the sound they crafted in their heads felt unfulfilled. Taylor Zachry, a long-time friend and musical collaborator of Parker’s, joined their efforts and brought a new energy to the duo which helped solidify what would become the core of a changing line-up. Colorfeels was born. With the addition of multi-instrumentalist and texture auteur, Jared Ziemba, the sound of Colorfeels departed from its earthly origins, never to return. Soon after, they got a short-term lease on a house in West Nashville and spent five months at the beginning of 2010 writing, rehearsing, and performing live.

Flash forward to September of 2010. The band, joined by the young, talented drummer, Matt Scibilia, brought an entire studio’s gear to the Cason family home in Brentwood, Tennessee. The historic 18-acre property, called Forge Seat, served as a gun forge during the Civil War. Colorfeels camped out at Forge Seat for a week with friends/audio engineers Ben Klise and Andrew Darby. Between Forge Seat and two other studios in Nashville, the team crafted their debut.

www.colorfeels.com

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Korn Announce New Dubstep Album

KORN are scheduled to release their tenth studio album called 'The Path of Totality’ on December 5th.

‘The Path of Totality’ is an experimental album which finds Korn shifting gears and exploring new territory. The band have collaborated with some of the leading dubstep and electronic producers in the world, including Skrillex, Excision, Datsik, Noisia, Kill the Noise, and 12th Planet. The result is something completely new, yet utterly and definitively Korn. Leave it to a band like Korn to continue to reinvent itself two decades deep into its career. Tracks on the album include 'Narcissistic Cannibal', 'Burn The Obedient.' 'Illuminati', 'Kill Mercy Within,' and 'Chaos Lives In Everything'.

"The title The Path of Totality refers to the fact that in order to see the sun in a full solar eclipse, you must be in the exact right place in the exact right time," Korn frontman Jonathan Davis explained. "That's how this album came together. I think all the producers feel the same way. I'm not sure it could ever happen again"

The album will be released in two configurations: as a standard 11 song CD and a special edition CD that will include bonus tracks as well as a DVD of ‘The Encounter’, a full length video concert of Korn's once in a lifetime performance in the middle of a 900 foot long crop circle in a Bakersfield wheatfield. The complete concert, previously seen last year on TV and online in an abbreviated form, will be offered in its entirety to those who purchase the deluxe version.

No word if the effort is going to be released on vinyl.

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from our friends at vinylcollective

Sub Pop Reissues Nirvana’s Bleach on Single LP

On November 22, Sub Pop Records will release a non-deluxe, affordably-priced, single-LP version of “Bleach“, Nirvana’s debut album. This single-LP version of Bleach contains the full remastered album – as found on the Bleach Deluxe Edition 2LP, SP834 – and a printed inner sleeve. Pre order it here.


Tracklist:
Blew
Floyd the Barber
About a Girl
School
Love Buzz
Paper Cuts
Negative Creep
Scoff
Swap Meet
Mr. Moustache
Sifting
Big Cheese
Downer

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Biohazard New LP Due In January

Biohazard have recently announced that their new album 'Reborn In Defiance' is set for release on January 20, 2012. The release will mark the final album of bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld, who left earlier in the year.

BIOHAZARD has sold over five million albums worldwide since its formation in the late Eighties in Brooklyn, New York. They achieved international success with their albums "Urban Discipline" on Roadrunner Records in 1992 and 1994's "State of the World Address" on Warner Brothers.







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VENOM: 'Fallen Angels' Cover Artwork Unveiled

VENOM, the hugely influential U.K. outfit now celebrating a full 30 years since the release of its "Welcome To Hell" debut, will have a brand new studio album released on November 28 via Spinefarm Records/Universal. Titled "Fallen Angels" and featuring 13 fresh recordings produced by mainman/bassist Conrad "Cronos" Lant, this is the follow-up to 2008's "Hell" release, and sees the trio (completed by guitarist Rage and drummer Dante) adopting a style highly redolent of classic early VENOM with modern studio technology employed only to increase the general level of nastiness.

The first limited edition pressing of "Fallen Angels" will come with two bonus tracks, "Annunaki Legacy" and "Blackened Blues".

Prior to the album's release, on October 31, a double-A side single, "Hammerhead" / "Hail Satanas", will be made available on 12-inch vinyl and digital download, also through Spinefarm/Universal.

Read the rest at our friends at Blabbermouth




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Funeral For A Friend Releasing New EP

Funeral For A Friend are scheduled to release a nine track EP which will serve as an expansion to their ‘Welcome Home Armageddon’ album, which was released earlier this year. the new effort is titled ‘See You All In Hell.' This collection of tracks will also include one brand new song "High Castles," as well as a selection of live, acoustic and cover songs. It will be released digitally and on CD on 7th November. The release will also coincide with a vinyl edition of ‘Welcome Home Armageddon’ which will include a CD insert of ‘See You All In Hell’.

The band say of the release – “We wanted to release something special as an add-on to 'Welcome Home Armageddon' and we've got some different versions of tracks from the record on there in the form of live, acoustic and a remix by our friend LoveGadgetsHateGizmos. It was a lot of fun to throw in a Strife cover as we've all grown up as massive fans of that band. We were really eager to get back into the studio and write the follow up to 'Welcome Home Armageddon' and I think 'High Castles' is good indication of where we'll be taking things on the next record.

Tracklist:
1. High Castles (New original track)
2. Will To Die (Strife cover)
3. Medicated (LoveGadgetsHateGizmos remix)
4. Sixteen (live at XFM)
5. Broken Foundation (live at XFM)
6. Man Alive (live at XFM)
7. Front Row Seats To The End Of The World (live at XFM)
8. Old Hymns (acoustic)
9. Welcome Home Armageddon (acoustic)

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BËEHLER Cover Artwork Unveiled

The Canadian band BËEHLER, featuring drummer/vocalist Dan Beehler, bassist Brian Stephenson and guitarists Sean Brophy and Scott Walsh have signed a deal with the German label High Roller Records. The group's debut album, 'Messages To The Dead,' will contain 12 songs and will be released on both LP and CD with the exact release date to be announced soon.

Tracklist:
1. Jet Black
2. March Of Death
3. Eternal Tormentor
4. Message To The Dead
5. Destitude Abuser
6. In Know One We Trust
7. Organized Mayhem
8. Destroy
9. Megalodon
10. Save Me From Myself
11. Kill The Witch
12. The End Of The World

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HOSTILE To Release 'Eve Of Destruction' In October

British metallers HOSTILE — who feature in their ranks bassist Alex Hill, son of JUDAS PRIEST's Ian Hill — will release their debut album, "Eve Of Destruction", on October 31. The CD was produced by former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing.

Not only did K.K. produce HOSTILE's debut CD — he also wrote and performed on the song "Avenger", the first time the guitarist has ever written for a band outside of PRIEST. K.K. became interested in HOSTILE's talent and potential after seeing them perform at a club called JB's in Dudley, Midlands.

Read the rest at our friends at Blabbermouth





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always loved this guy, saw him play and the sheer enjoyment he took just from playing that guitar was worth the price of admission

Thorogood on the blues, Beatles and being bad

by Nikki M. Mascali/Weekender Editor

When asked how he was during a phone call last week, George Thorogood said he was “bad.”

“Bad to the bone, do you get it?” the jovial musician replied with a laugh while traveling in “one of the states in New England.” He swore to the government, you see, to never disclose his exact whereabouts.

While he might always be “Bad To the Bone,” thanks to his popular 1982 song, things seem to be going pretty well for Thorogood and his band, The Destroyers, since its inception in 1974. The group — which also features bassist Billy Blough, drummer Jeff Simon, guitarist Jim Suhler and saxophonist Buddy Leach — released its 15th studio album, “2120 South Michigan Avenue” in July.

Named after the location of Chicago’s Chess Records, the 13-song album features covers of some of the label’s greatest musicians: Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy and more, plus a few new originals.

Read the rest of the story at theweekender.com

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Phil Spector Catalogue Being Released On Oct 31st

The reissue of four newly remastered, mono recordings Best Of… compilations, the much-anticipated 7CD Philles Album Collection boxset and the perennial favourite 'A Christmas Gift For You' are scheulded for release on Halloween. All these albums were recorded between 1962 -1964 when Spector perfected his ‘wall of sound’ recording technique. The ‘Philles Album Collection’ brings together 6 classic Spector produced albums and 1 disc of rarities for a stunning 7 disc-box set. ‘The Philles Album Collection’ features eight top 20 pop hits from those two years and includes tracks written by Gene Pitney, Carole King, Ray Charles, Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich and performed by Darlene Love, the Crystals and the Ronettes; among others.

Newly remastered in their original mono versions, each album is being reissued in its entirety for the very first time. The collection also includes a booklet focusing on a comprehensive history of the music within the set and a bonus disc of rare B sides mostly unavailable since originally issued some 50 years ago.






DARLENE LOVE
The Sound Of Love: The Very Best Of…

1. No Other Love – The Blossoms with Eddie Beal’s Orchestra
2. He’s A Rebel – The Crystals
3. My Heart Beat A Little Faster – Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans
4. He's Sure The Boy I Love – The Crystals
5. Why Do Lovers Break Each Others Hearts? – Bob B. Soxx
and The Blue Jeans
6. (Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry
7. Not Too Young To Get Married – Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans
8. Wait Til’ My Bobby Gets Home
9. Run Run Runaway
10. A Fine, Fine Boy
11. Strange Love
12. Stumble And Fall
13. (He’s A) Quiet Guy
14. A Long Way To Be Happy
15. That’s When The Tears Start – The Blossoms
16. Good Good Lovin’ – The Blossoms
17. Lord, If You’re A Woman

THE CRYSTALS
Da Doo Ron Ron: The Very Best Of…

1. There’s No Other Like My Baby
2. Oh Yeah, Maybe Baby
3. Uptown
4. What A Nice Way To Turn 17
5. He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)
6. No One Ever Tells You
7. He’s A Rebel
8. I Love You Eddie
9. Another Country – Another World
10. Please Hurt Me
11. He’s Sure The Boy I Love
12. Da Doo Ron Ron
13. Heartbreaker
14. Then He Kissed Me
15. I Wonder
16. Little Boy
17. All Grown Up
18. Woman In Love (With You)

THE RONETTES
Be My Baby: The Very Best Of…

1. Why Don’t They Let Us Fall In Love – Veronica
2. Be My Baby
3. Baby, I Love You
4. (The Best Part Of) Breakin’ Up
5. So Young – Veronica
6. Do I Love You?
7. Walking In The Rain
8. I Wonder
9. When I Saw You
10. You Baby
11. Born To Be Together
12. Is This What I Get For Loving You?
13. Paradise
14. Here I Sit
15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine
16. Everything Under The Sun
17. I Can Hear Music

VARIOUS
Wall of Sound: The Very Best Of Phil Spector 1961-1966

1. He’s A Rebel – The Crystals
2. Da Doo Ron Ron – The Crystals
3. Be My Baby – The Ronettes
4. Then He Kissed Me – The Crystals
5. (Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry – Darlene Love
6. Baby, I Love You – The Ronettes
7. He's Sure The Boy I Love – The Crystals
8. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah – Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans
9. Wait Til’ My Bobby Gets Home – Darlene Love
10. Walking In The Rain – The Ronettes
11. Uptown – The Crystals
12. Why Do Lovers Break Each Others Hearts? – Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans
13. Do I Love You? – The Ronettes
14. A Fine, Fine Boy – Darlene Love
15. There’s No Other Like My Baby – The Crystals
16. You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling – The Righteous Brothers
17. (The Best Part Of) Breakin’ Up – The Ronettes
18. Not Too Young To Get Married – Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans Blue Jeans
19. River Deep, Mountain High – Ike & Tina Turner


A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU from Phil Spector

1. White Christmas - Darlene Love
2. Frosty The Snowman - The Ronettes
3. The Bells Of St. Mary - Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans
4. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - The Crystals
5. Sleigh Ride - The Ronettes
6. Marshmallow World - Darlene Love
7. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - The Ronettes
8. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - The Crystals
9. Winter Wonderland - Darlene Love
10. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers - The Crystals
11. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love
12. Here Comes Santa Claus - Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans
13. Phil Spector; Traditional - Phil Spector, Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans, Darlene Love, The Crystals & The Ronettes

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Tony Bennett's Duets II #1 on the Billboard Album Chart

DUETS II TOP 5 ON iTUNES ALBUM CHART

NEW YORK, Sept. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Tony Bennett's highly anticipated new release, DUETS II (RPM Records/Columbia Records) debuts at the #1 position on Billboard's top albums chart, with 179,000 units sold in the first week. The album has remained in the top 5 on iTunes' album chart in the US and other countries since its release. Digital albums represented 20% of overall sales, the highest for any Bennett album to-date.

Danny Bennett, Tony's son and manager stated, "It's an unprecedented and historical event that an artist at the age of 85 has topped the charts. He's remained at the top of his game without having ever compromised his integrity and standard of excellence."

"The number one success of Duets II pays tribute to the enduring genius of Tony Bennett," said Steve Barnett, Chairman, Columbia Records. "It is a true testament to Tony's artistry that he continues to top the charts while at the same time reaching a broader fan base and breaking new ground."

Tony Bennett has garnered high praise with DUETS II. Some of the highlights are below:

"Each of the megastar pairings with Tony Bennett on his second disc of duets is momentous" US WEEKLY 3 1/2 stars

"As savvy as ever at 85, Tony Bennett leaves no box unchecked..." PEOPLE

"...constantly reaffirming his position as pop music's greatest living patriarch" WALL STREET JOURNAL

"…he's also timeless, popular to at least three generations and in many ways even emblematic of this one." LOS ANGELES TIMES

"Tony Bennett is as timeless as the songs he sings on DUETS II, which should put him back on the charts for a remarkable seventh straight decade." ASSOCIATED PRESS

SOURCE RPM Records/Columbia Records

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Preview: The Bridge School Benefit Concerts: 25th Anniversary Edition

Bridge School 25

Artist: Various Artists
Title: The Bridge School Benefit Concerts: 25th Anniversary Edition
Release Date: October 24, 2011
Label: Reprise
Format(s): 2-CDs, 3-DVDs, DD

On October 24th, Reprise Records will release two very special and highly anticipated packages: a three-DVD set and a two-CD collection that feature unique live performances from many of the phenomenal artists who've performed at the beloved Annual Bridge School Benefit Concerts over the past 25 years. Some of the biggest names in music are included on The Bridge School Benefit Concerts - 25th Anniversary Edition, performing rare, acoustic versions of songs, never heard anywhere else, to benefit The Bridge School, a non-profit, innovative organization educating children with severe speech and physical impairments through the use of augmentative and alternative communication systems and assistive technology. This once-in-a-lifetime collection is sure to become a treasured artifact for generations to come

Read the rest at our friends at vintagevinylnews.com

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GRIMEY'S BEST SELLERS 9/19 - 9/25, 2011

Top 25 Vinyl:

1. Diarrhea Planet - Loose Jewels
2. St Vincent - Strange Mercy
3. Denney & The Jets - Killin' Machine 7"
4. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
5. Megafaun - Megafaun
6. Hands Off Cuba - Volumes Of Sobering Liquids
7. Neon Indian - Era Extrana
8. Jack Oblivian - Rat City
9. Radiohead - Bloom remix 12"
10. Acid Baby Jesus - Hospitals 7"
11. Jimi Hendrix - Johnny B. Goode 7"
12. Beirut - The Rip Tide
13. Thrice - Major/Minor
14. Wild Flag - Wild Flag
15. White Denim - Live At Third Man
16. July - July
17. Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue
18. Adele - 21
19. Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
20. The XX - The XX
21. Whiskeytown - Pneumonia
22. The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
23. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
24. Widowspeak - Widowspeak
25. The Black Keys - Attack & Release

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in the music history section yesterday I printed that guitarist Jimmy McCullough died from a heroin overdose in his flat in Maida Vale, London, at age 26. I was a day early, he died on Spetember 28th. so with that said, here is this day in music for the 28th of september:

The iconic showman Ed Sullivan was born in 1901 (died1974)

In 1963, "She Loves You" by the Beatles was played on the radio by Murry The K in New York. It is believed that this was the first time a Beatles song was played in the US.

Also in 1963, the Ronettes performed "Be My Baby" on American Bandstand.

In 1968, American radio DJ Dewey Phillips died of heart failure at age 42. He was one of rock ’n’ roll’s pioneering disc jockeys. In July 1954, he was the first DJ to play the young Elvis Presley’s debut record, “That’s All Right”/“Blue Moon Of Kentucky.”

In 1968, the Beatles had not only their biggest hit, but also the largest selling record of the 1960s when "Hey Jude" reached the top of the US charts. The song, written by Paul McCartney for John's son Julian, would stay at number one in America for nine weeks and sell over eight million copies.



Janis Joplin's manager announced in 1968 that she has left Big Brother and the Holding Company.

In 1970, Eric Burdon and War were awarded a Gold record for "Spill the Wine".

David Bowie sold out New York's Carnegie Hall in 1972. It was his first sell out in the U.S.

In 1973, the Rolling Stones appeared on US television for the first time since 1967.

In 1974, Canadian singer Andy Kim went to #1 on the Billboard singles chart with "Rock Me Gently", his only US chart topper. The record was also a hit in the UK, reaching #2. Along with his recording career, Kim was also a successful composer and was the co-writer of The Archies' "Sugar Sugar".

In 1974, Bad Company went to #1 on the U.S. album chart with their self-titled debut album. Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke had come out of Free, while Mick Ralphs had played guitar with Mott the Hoople and Boz Burrell was bass player for King Crimson before the group formed in 1973. They produced six albums together before disbanding in 1983.

In 1975, Jerry Garcia and Friends and Jefferson Starship gave a free show to 40,000 fans in San Francisco's Lindley Park.

In 1976, George Harrison was sued by A&M records for $6 million after missing an album deadline by two months.

In 1989, Jimmy Buffett's short story book, Tales of Margaritaville, was released.

In 1991, American jazz trumpeter, bandleader and composer Miles Davis died of a stroke and pneumonia. His 1959 album Kind of Blue is a major influence on jazz music. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, and jazz fusion. Many well-known musicians rose to prominence as members of Davis' ensembles, including saxophonists Gerry Mulligan, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, George Coleman, Wayne Shorter, Dave Liebman, Branford Marsalis and Kenny Garrett; trombonist J. J. Johnson; pianists Horace Silver, Red Garland, Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett and Kei Akagi; guitarists John McLaughlin, Pete Cosey, John Scofield and Mike Stern; bassists Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Dave Holland, Marcus Miller and Darryl Jones; and drummers Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones, Jimmy Cobb, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette, and Al Foster. On October 7, 2008, his 1959 album Kind of Blue received its fourth platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of at least four million copies in the United States. Miles Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Davis was noted as "one of the key figures in the history of jazz.

On this date in 1991, on the week of their album Nevermind being released, Nirvana made an appearance at the Tower Records store in New York City and then played a show at The Marquee Club in New York. Their single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” had also entered the US Top 20 this week.

Also in 1991, Garth Brooks becomes the first Country artist to enter the Billboard Hot 200 album chart at number one. His "Ropin' the Wind", a collection of Pop and Country tunes, had advance orders of over 4 million copies.

In 2001, Courtney Love filed a claim against Geffen Records and two musicians from her late husband's band, Nirvana. The suit was aimed at invalidating a 1997 agreement over the group's body of work. Love claimed that she signed the deal while she was distressed.

In 2004, in Beverly Hills, CA, a tribute concert to honor Ray Charles raised $15 million for Morehouse College Center for the Arts in Atlanta. The performers included Bill Cosby as the host, Stevie Wonder, Travis Tritt, Michael McDonald (Doobie Brothers), James Ingram and Patti Austin. They sang Charles' hits, such as "Georgia On My Mind," "What I'd Say" and "Hit the Road Jack." Charles had died of acute liver disease on June 10, 2004.

In 2005, a Mick Jagger impersonator spent over an hour accepting free drinks and enjoying VIP perks at a New York night spot. Club officials only realized that the man wasn't Jagger after looking at a photo of the Rolling Stones' front man and noticing that the unnamed imposter was younger and heavier than Jagger.

In 2009, Lucy Vodden (née O'Donnell), the childhood pal of John Lennon's son Julian, passed away at the age of 46 after losing her battle with auto-immune disease lupus. She was the inspiration for The Beatles' track "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds", written mostly by John after Julian showed his father a nursery school drawing he called Lucy - in the sky with diamonds, depicting his classmate.

birthdays today include (among others) Ben E. King (73), Paul Burgess (10cc) (61), Moon Unit Zappa (44), Paul Harwood (Mahogany Rush) (58), George Lynch (Dokken) (57), Nick St. Nicholas (Steppenwolf) (68)

Vinyl Record News & Music Notes

THE CURE, HEART, JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS, DONOVAN Among 15 Nominees For Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

On the ballot for the first time are GUNS N' ROSES, THE CURE, HEART, JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS, ERIC B. AND RAKIM, THE SPINNERS, THE SMALL FACES/FACES, FREDDY KING and RUFUS WITH CHAKA KHAN, while previous nominees BEASTIE BOYS, LAURA NYRO, WAR, DONOVAN and RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS also made the cut again. Acts become eligible 25 years after the release of their first record. Votes will be cast by a group of more than 500 musicians and industry professionals; of the 15 nominees, the five that get the most votes will be announced in January and inducted into the Hall Of Fame at its 27th annual ceremony on April 14, 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio, home to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame And Museum.

The 2012 Nominees embody the broad scope of what ‘rock and roll’ means," said Joel Peresman, President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. "From vocal groups to hip hop, from singer-songwriters to hard rocking artists, this group represents the spirit of what we celebrate at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

Here are biographies for each of the fifteen nominees as released by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.


GUNS ‘N ROSES

GUNS N' ROSES was nominated in its first year of eligibility.

"It's a great honor," former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Gilby Clarke told The Plain Dealer. "The band deserves it. It was a long time coming."

Guns N’ Roses may have began as just another long-haired band trying to make it on the L.A. Sunset Strip club scene, but when they unleashed their debut LP Appetite For Destruction on the world in 1987 they instantly established themselves as one the most dynamic and explosive hard rock bands in history. In many ways, they became the Rolling Stones for a new generation. While their peers produced glossy songs that romanticized the party atmosphere of mid-1980s Los Angeles, frontman Axl Rose, guitarist Slash, drummer Steven Adler, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin and bassist Duff McKagan wrote about the gritty realities of the scene, most memorably on their masterpiece “Welcome To The Jungle.” The massive single “Sweet Child O’ Mine” showed their gentler side, while “Mr. Brownstone” was a brilliant cautionary tale about the dangers of heroin. In 1991, inspired by Queen and Elton John, they released the highly ambitious Use Your Illusion albums on the same day. Epic singles “November Rain” and “Civil War” proved how quickly the band had evolved in a few short years, and they were soon packing stadiums all across the globe. When the tour wrapped in late 1993, the band paid tribute to their 1970s hard rock, punk and glam heroes by recording an album of covers called The Spaghetti Incident. The band took a long break starting in 1994, but in the new millennium Axl Rose brought a brand new line-up of Guns N’ Roses on the road and in 2008 they released their long-awaited album Chinese Democracy. In recent years, Axl has welcomed original members Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin onto his stage - but he remains committed to the new line-up and they remain a touring juggernaut.


BEASTIE BOYS

At different times over the past three decades, the Beastie Boys have been shaven-head punks, hip-hop bad boys, Seventies-funk students, political activists and style icons. Most important: they have had one of the richest, most important careers in hip-hop and rock, introducing rap to a huge new audience and then pushing the frontiers of what a hip-hop group could do. Their 1986 debut album Licensed To Ill – a supremely bratty, hard-punching, pitch-perfect mix of rap and hard rock – was hip-hop’s first number one album, and remains near the top of the Billboard catalog charts to this day. The single “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!),” became a teenage party anthem of the 1980’s; a generation of hip-hop fans memorized hits like “Brass Monkey” and “Paul Revere,” songs which are now part of the rap canon. Their follow-up, 1989’s Paul’s Boutique, was one of the high points of hip-hop’s golden age of sampling, piling hilarious, streetwise rhymes over everything from Loggins & Messina to the Ramones. In the 1990’s, they came full circle musically, picking up their instruments and bringing back hardcore punk and funk into their music repertoire. They recorded three classic albums, Check Your Head, Ill Communication and Hello Nasty, and smash hits like “Sabotage” and “Intergalactic.” Along the way, they’ve kept experimenting with what a hip-hop band can be: becoming the most politically active group of their generation with the Tibetan Freedom Concerts; recording classic videos; putting their fans behind the camera with their film Awesome I F**king Shot That; and recording three new studio albums in the last decade, 2004’s To The Five Boroughs, 2007’s The Mix-Up and 2011’s Hot Sauce Committee Part Two.


THE CURE

More black eyeliner has been spilt to the music of the Cure than any band in rock history. With pale, droopy-haired frontman-guitarist Robert Smith as their dark, brilliant tune-smith and unlikely sex-symbol, along with Lol Tolhurst and later Roger O’Donnell on keyboards, Porl Thompson on guitar, Simon Gallup on bass and Boris Williams on drums, they’ve challenged conventions while influencing two generations of emo and goth bands. Forming in Crawley, England during the New Wave late ‘70s, the band quickly developed a unique sound, mixing the skeletal punk of Wire and the darkest of the Doors to create alluring, textural art-pop. As the ‘80s progressed, Smith’s writing brightened as his craft sharpened and the Cure developed into one of the greatest singles bands of the decade with brilliant songs like “Let’s Go To Bed” and “Lovecats.” In the late ‘80s, they jumped from clubs to arenas and stadiums, winning the radio play they’d long deserved with 1987’s “Just Like Heaven,” (which took an “alternative” sound to the mainstream before people were even using the term alternative) and their 1992 smash “Friday I’m In Love.” They’ve had some hiatuses over the years and a changing line-up, but they always return to prove the durability of their sound and image. Not only is it impossible to imagine artists like Marilyn Manson or bands like My Chemical Romance without their example, it is hard to see how goth-tinged phenomena like the Twilight movies could have an audience if Robert Smith had not stamped his black-fingernailed imprint on rock and roll and pop culture.


DONOVAN

The first British folk troubadour who truly captured the imaginations of early Beatles-era fans on both sides of the Atlantic, Donovan Leitch made the transition from a scruffy blue-jeaned busker into a brocaded hippie traveler on Trans Love Airways. As a folkie on the road with Gypsy Dave, Donovan became a Dylanesque visual presence on the BBC’s Ready Steady Go! starting in 1964, and released several classics: “Catch The Wind,” “Colours,” Buffy Ste.-Marie’s “Universal Soldier,” “To Try For The Sun” and more. That changed in 1966, as he came under the production arm of UK hitmaker Mickie Most, and was signed by Clive Davis to Epic Records in the states. Donovan ignited the psychedelic revolution virtually single-handedly when the iconic single “Sunshine Superman” was released that summer of ’66 (and the LP of the same name, with “Season Of The Witch”). His heady fusion of folk, blues and jazz expanded to include Indian music and the TM (transcendental meditation) movement. Donovan was at the center of the Beatles’ fabled pilgrimage to the Maharishi’s ashram in early ’68 (where, it is said, he taught guitar finger-picking techniques to John and Paul). Donovan’s final Top 40 hit with Most was “Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)” in the summer ’69, backed by the Jeff Beck Group. In the ’70s and ’80s, Donovan continued to record and tour sporadically, including songs for Franco Zeffirelli’s Brother Sun, Sister Moon (finally issued in 2004). During the 1990s, Rick Rubin (after working with Johnny Cash) produced Donovan’s Sutras. The 2008 documentary film, Sunshine Superman: The Journey Of Donovan is an essential overview of his career.


ERIC B. & RAKIM

When emcee extraordinaire Rakim and his right-hand man, producer Eric B., arrived on the scene in the mid-Eighties, they ushered in a revolution. Before them, acts like RUN DMC and LL Cool J were rap’s vanguard – rock-solid leading man types who built their songs around bold, direct declarations. Rakim dared to dream bigger. A sophisticated, cerebral character, he explored unheard-of levels of wordplay in his lyrics, packing each line with internal rhymes and complex syllable patterns that fans and fellow artists spent weeks analyzing. The two friends from Long Island were barely out of their teens when they recorded their debut single, “Eric B Is President” (1986). Eric B. looped up a hard-hitting, funky James Brown sample, setting the stage for Rakim to unspool three verses of inspired poetry: “I came in the door/I said it before/I never let the mic magnetize me no more/But it's biting me, fighting me, inviting me to rhyme...” That endlessly quotable song scored them a major-label deal in no time. They emphatically delivered on its promise with their first LP, Paid In Full (1987), and continued to sharpen their skills on Follow The Leader (1988), the tougher-sounding Let The Rhythm Hit ‘Em (1989) and their swan song, Don’t Sweat The Technique (1992). All four albums were hugely influential – it is difficult to imagine contemporary stars like Jay-Z and Eminem existing at all without them. Eric B. & Rakim parted ways after six years as a duo, but the body of work they created in that time remains monumental.


HEART

With a mix of hard rock riffs and lush, driving harmonies, Heart emerged from the Pacific Northwest with one of the most original sounds of the 1970s. Behind Ann Wilson’s powerhouse voice—one of the best in rock—and Nancy Wilson’s percussive guitar playing, along with guitarist Roger Fisher, bassist Steve Fossen, guitarist/keyboard player Howard Leese and drummer Michael DeRosier, Heart recorded a series of albums that stand as the best mix of hard rock and folk rock of their era: Dreamboat Annie, Little Queen, Dog And Butterfly and Bebe Le Strange. All those records included hit singles that remain standards of rock radio: “Magic Man,” “Crazy On You,” “Heartless” and “Barracuda.” Over their long career, Heart has released six Top 10 albums and twenty Top 40 singles. The first women to front a hard rock band, Ann and Nancy Wilson were pioneers, claiming the stage in a way that inspired women to pick up an electric guitar or start a band. When MTV transformed mainstream rock in the 1980s, Heart adapted and recorded some of the signature songs of the era: “Alone,” “What About Love” and “These Dreams.” In the 1990s, they returned to their roots with Desire Walks On and The Road Home, and in the last decade, they’ve released two of the strongest albums of their careers: Jupiters Darling and Red Velvet Car. Live, they have always been one of the most exciting and consistent hard rock bands on the scene.


JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts created a consistent and potent mix of hard rock, glam, punk, metal and garage rock that sounds fresh and relevant in any era. Their biggest hit, “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” (#1 in 1982) is a rock classic – as pure and simple a statement about the music’s power as “Roll Over Beethoven.” “It’s a feeling thing, it’s emotion. You don’t think about it. If you start thinking rock ‘n’ roll, you’re f**ked. That’s when you’re homogenized. That’s when it’s boring. And that’s when it’s bullshit,” said Jett. From her days as a founding member of the all-female Runaways, Jett has made loud, hook-laden records that convey toughness and fun. Sporting black leather and a shag to create a sexy and androgynous look, Jett took over a role formerly reserved for male rockers. She formed the Blackhearts in 1982 and their classic four-piece sound muscled past the synthesizer sound that dominated the 1980s. Three of their albums—I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll, Album and Up Your Alley – reached the Top 20, behind songs written by Jett and manager Kenny Laguna. The band’s cover versions, from songs by Gary Glitter to Tommy James, were key to their success – they made connections between every era of rock and roll. They toured incessantly and can always be counted on for a powerhouse live show. In the 1990s, Jett’s no-nonsense attitude and guitar sound was a major influence on the riot grrrl movement, and she went on to produce Bikini Kill and record with L7. Her success inspired renewed interest in the Runaways, who were dismissed in their day as a gimmick. She was the executive producer for a feature film on the band, the Runaways, in 2010.

FREDDIE KING

Guitarists ranging from Eric Clapton and Mike Bloomfield, to Peter Green, Jeff Beck and Carlos Santana have all acknowledged their debt to Freddie King (1934-1976), the “Texas Cannonball.” His ’60s classics, “Have You Ever Loved A Woman,” “Hide Away,” “You’ve Got To Love Her With A Feeling” and “The Stumble” are part of the DNA of modern electric blues. Born in Texas, young Freddie arrived in Chicago with his family in 1950, a perfect moment to start learning from Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Jimmy Rogers and all of the legendary post-war bluesmen. Over the next ten years, as the First Great blues revival took shape, Freddie developed a style all his own. In 1961, he miraculously charted six R&B Top 30 hits on the King/Federal label that were heard from coast-to-coast and were profoundly influential on both sides of the Atlantic. Three covers are indelibly etched: “Hideaway” featuring Clapton (on John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, the ‘Beano’ LP of 1966), “The Stumble” and “Someday, After Awhile (You’ll Be Sorry)” (both featuring Green, on Mayall’s A Hard Road, ’67) and “Have You Ever Loved A Woman” (a staple for Clapton ever since the first Derek & the Dominos album). Freddie King thrived on rock, jazz and blues scenes and at festivals starting in the late ’60s and ’70s, even getting name-checked by Grand Funk Railroad on “We’re An American Band” (“Up all night with Freddie King/ I got to tell you, poker’s his thing”). Right up through his death, all too soon at age 42, Freddie influenced Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan, and the next generation of disciples who would take electric blues into the ’80s, ’90s and beyond.

LAURA NYRO

Bronx-born singer, songwriter and pianist Laura Nyro (1947-1997) was still a teenager in 1966 when she recorded her debut album, and Peter, Paul & Mary cut “And When I Die.” At age 19, Laura played the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, which brought her to the attention of first-time manager David Geffen. He led her to Columbia, Laura’s record label for the next 25 years, starting with 1968’s iconic Eli And The Thirteenth Confession. Other artists scored hit after hit with her songs, led by the 5th Dimension’s “Stoned Soul Picnic” and “Sweet Blindness” in 1968 (then “Wedding Bell Blues” in ’69 and “Blowin' Away” in ’70). Over two consecutive weeks in October 1969, Blood, Sweat & Tears entered the Hot 100 with “And When I Die,” and Three Dog Night followed with “Eli’s Coming.” In 1970-71, Barbra Streisand charted three consecutive times with Laura Nyro songs, “Stoney End,” “Time And Love” and “Flim Flam Man.” Laura’s 1971 LP with Labelle, Gonna Take A Miracle, an entire program of R&B covers, produced in Philadelphia by Gamble & Huff, remains a classic four decades later. Elton John acclaimed her influence to Elvis Costello: “The soul, the passion, the out-and-out audacity of her rhythmic and melody changes was like nothing I’d ever heard before.” Laura’s tragic death of ovarian cancer at age 49 robbed popular music of one of its purest lights.


RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

Formed in the sin-and-glamour capital of America – Hollywood, California – in 1983, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the most flamboyant, commercially successful and musically influential bands of rock’s last quarter century. Singer Anthony Kiedis, bassist Michael Balzary a/k/a Flea, guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons were high school pals who combined their passions for Jimi Hendrix, Seventies R&B and hardcore punk with sexual exuberance and local skateboard culture, immediately becoming famous for their outrageous (often near-naked) live shows and incendiary jamming. After Slovak’s death in 1988 and other personnel changes, the Chili Peppers – with guitar prodigy John Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith – broke through with 1991’s BloodSugarSexMagik, a multi-platinum fusion of metal and rap that was pivotal in bringing modern black street culture and music to the Nirvana generation. The Chili Peppers’ hits have run the melodic and emotional gamut from the fierce hip hop of BloodSugar’s “Give It Away” and the 1992 Number Two ballad “Under The Bridge,” one of the best pop songs ever written about the grip of addiction, to the heavy riffing of “Scar Tissue” and the gorgeous melancholy of “Otherside” on 1999’s Californication. The Chili Peppers’ 2006 two-CD set, Stadium Arcadium, went right to Number One, an ambitious collection that added Sixties-pop harmonies, blazing psychedelia and progressive-rock dynamics to their heavy California soul. After their longest hiatus ever, the Chili Peppers returned in the summer of 2011 with a new album, I’m With You (which debuted at Number One in 17 countries), and a new tour that will take them through 2013.


RUFUS WITH CHAKA KHAN

“I’m every woman,” Chaka Khan declared in one of her best-known songs. Of course, the artist born Yvette Marie Stevens is unique, a woman whose soulful, stylish vocals defy categorization. Funk queen, rock goddess, jazz singer, disco diva – Khan has been called, and transcended, all of the above. Yet it is her ability to capture, with effortless emotional authenticity, all aspects of the female – and human – experience that is most remarkable, and can make it too easy to take her for granted. Has any singer conveyed lust more joyfully or infectiously than Khan did on “Sweet Thing,” by Rufus, the groundbreaking Chicago band she joined as a teenager? Khan’s distinct blend of raw sensuality and elegance, ferocity and tenderness helped define that group’s sound in the mid-to-late ‘70s, yielding singles that proved as irresistible to pop fans as they did to R&B purists (not to mention one of the most exhilarating live albums ever released, 1983’s Stompin’ At The Savoy). She then became one of the few band vocalists, male or female, to launch an even more high-profile solo career, collaborating with countless giants – Stevie Wonder, Steve Winwood, Ray Charles and Quincy Jones, to name just a few – and influencing pop stars and critical favorites from Mary J. Blige to Ledisi. (It is impossible to imagine the contemporary hip-hop-soul diva without Khan’s earthy, rhythmically savvy template.) And she has remained one of the most prolific and eclectic singers around, covering songbook standards and soul classics to equal acclaim and earning the 2008 Grammy for best R&B album with Funk This. Few stars offer such convincing proof that in rock & roll, grit and grace can co-exist harmoniously.


THE SMALL FACES/THE FACES

Founded in London in 1965, the Small Faces were two great bands in one: visionary mods who were creative peers and commercial equals of the Beatles, the Who and the Rolling Stones, then reborn in the early Seventies with a shortened name and a thrilling inventive hard-rock sound. Together, the Small Faces and Faces have been a lasting inspiration on artists like the Black Crowes, the Jam’s Paul Weller, the Replacements and Oasis. Named for their diminutive stature and mod slang for a snappy dresser, bassist Ronnie Lane, organist Ian McLagan, drummer Kenney Jones and singer Steve Marriott recorded an explosive series of U.K. hit singles and classic albums, mostly written by Marriott and Lane, that set the standard for Sixties soul-inflected pop and English psychedelic romanticism. Marriott’s Cockney-Otis Redding wail was a profound influence on heavy-rock singers like Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant. When Marriott quit in early 1969, Lane, Jones and McLagan recruited singer Rod Stewart and guitarist Ron Wood, both from the Jeff Beck Group. Fusing R&B, country roots and Fifties rock, the Faces made joyful roots music with arena muscle, cutting their own immortal body of work (1972’s “Stay With Me,” Lane’s elegiac gem “Ooh La La”) while conquering America with boozy-brother showmanship. The Faces broke up in 1975 when Stewart went solo full-time and Wood joined the Stones. (Lane died in 1997.) But in their exuberance and pioneering spirit, the Small Faces and the Faces have always been one band: brilliant, unprecedented and as influential as ever.


THE SPINNERS

One of the world’s most beloved R&B vocal groups, the Spinners were a hitmaking machine at Atlantic Records, where they came to define the Philadelphia Sound despite their Motor City origins. Before settling into the classic five-man lineup of the late Billy Henderson, Pervis Jackson, and lead singer Philippé Wynne, and surviving members Henry Fambrough and Bobbie Smith, the Spinners spent nearly two decades in their native Detroit. This included stints in the ’60s on Harvey Fuqua’s Tri-Phi label and later on Motown’s V.I.P. imprint. At Aretha Franklin’s behest, they moved to Atlantic in 1972, where they were teamed with Philadelphia producer-songwriter Thom Bell and the Sigma Sound Studios crew. Bell’s track record with the Delfonics and the Stylistics made him the perfect choice for the Spinners, who exploded at Atlantic with four #1 R&B hits in less than 18 months: “I’ll Be Around,” “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” “One Of A Kind (Love Affair)” and “Mighty Love.” In fact, there were 15 consecutive Top 10 R&B singles over their first five years at the label. During this time, the Disco era brought massive crossover hits with “Then Came You” (with Dionne Warwick, #1 pop), “They Just Can’t Stop It (The Games People Play)” and “The Rubberband Man.” In the decades to follow, the Spinners’ trunk full of hits found new fans on every continent, and such artists as Elton John, David Bowie and Elvis Costello have all sung their praises. To see Henry Fambrough and Bobbie Smith leading the group today is one of the eternal joys of classic R&B.


DONNA SUMMER

Raised on gospel music in the church, Boston’s LaDonna Andrea Gaines was perform­ing in the European tour of Hair in the early ’70s, when she decided to settle in Germany. In 1975, she began a long-term association with Munich song­writers-producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. They heard her lyric “love to love you baby” and, at the request of Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart, turned it into a 17-minute opus of orgasmic delight (Donna said she was evoking Marilyn Monroe). The song was Summer’s U.S. chart debut and first of nineteen #1 Dance hits between ’75 and 2008 (second only to Madonna). Summer made chart history in 1978-80, as the only artist who ever had three consecutive double-LPs hit #1: Live And More, Bad Girls and On The Radio. She was also the first female artist with four #1 singles in a 13-month period: “MacArthur Park,” “Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls” and “No More Tears” (with Barbra Streisand). Her first U.S.-recorded LP, 1982’s self-titled Donna Summer, produced by Quincy Jones, featured Bruce Spring­steen, Roy Bittan and many American rockers. “She Works Hard For The Money” kept Donna on top in 1983, followed by the Top 10 “This Time I Know It’s For Real” in ’89. As recently as 2009-2010, she had #1 U.S. Dance Club hits with “I’m A Fire,” “Stamp Your Feet” and “Fame (The Game).” Endless covers and sampling of her music by producers and DJs have kept the five-time Grammy Award-winning Queen Of Disco’s pioneering body of work on the front-line.


WAR

War starts with its six African-American founding members: the late Papa Dee Allen and Charles Miller, survivors Harold Brown, B.B. Dickerson, Lonnie Jordan and Howard Scott. They were gigging around L.A. for nearly a decade (first as the Creators, later as Nightshift) before hooking up with Eric Burdon (ex-Animals) and Danish harmonica player, Lee Oskar in 1969. Burdon and producer-manager, Jerry Goldstein, named them War and they backed it up with a steamy Afro-Latin R&B groove on their debut hit “Spill The Wine.” The partner­ship with Burdon lasted less than two years, as each went their own way in 1971. It was the start of a long string of Top 10 pop/R&B crossover hits that established War’s status through the decade – “Slippin’ Into Darkness,” “The World Is A Ghetto,” “The Cisco Kid,” “Why Can’t We Be Friends?,” “Low Rider” and “Summer” – always with a timely social message grounded by their distinctively breezy Southern California vibe. As the ’80s arrived, rappers and DJs (from Beastie Boys and 2Pac to Ice-T and De La Soul) discovered innumerable samples waiting to be found in War’s music (cf. Rap Declares War). Numerous personnel shifts altered the lineup in the ’80s and ’90s, but War (with Goldstein’s lifelong tutelage) has continued to please loyal fans with their unique fusion of rock, R&B, Caribbean and Afro-Latin flavors. In 2008, War released their first new album recording in 14 years, Greatest Hits Live.

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this from of all places digitalmusicnews.com

The Best Selling Vinyl at Indie Retail Today

The tally comes from StreetPulse, which monitors more than 1,200 independently-owned retailers across the US, both physical and digital. Here's the latest, for the week ending September 18th

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this from our friends at vinylcollective.com

Top 10 Albums – September 26, 2011

Here are the Top 10 albums at Shop Radio Cast for the week of September 20 – September 26, 2011:

1. Mock Orange – Nines & Sixes LP
2. Saves The Day – Daybreak LP
3. Thursday – Full Collapse LP
4. Nirvana – Nevermind 4XLP [Deluxe Edition]
5. Between the Buried and Me – Colors (2XLP)
6. New Found Glory – Nothing Gold Can Stay LP
7. Yellowcard – Ocean Avenue LP
8. Yellowcard – Paper Walls LP
9. Chuck Ragan – Covering Ground LP (w/ Free Coozie & Coasters)
10. Jack’s Mannequin – People And Things LP

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Top 5 eBay Vinyl Records Sales ~ Week Ending 09/24/2011

Mostly LPs again this week. Blue Notes and Beatles take up the top 4 spots, with an original, and signed, Bad Brains single rounding out the list.





1. LP - Hank Mobley self titled Blue Note 1568 - $5,600.00

2. LP - The Beatles "Let It Be" UK Box Set PXS 1 - $5,171.73

3. LP - The Beatles "White Album" #0000483 Mono UK Pressing - $4,055.46

4. LP - Jutta Hipp "with Zoot Sims" Blue Note 1530 - $3,650.00

5. 45 - Bad Brians "Pay To C*m" / "Stay Close To Me" signed - $3,100.00



Top 5 eBay Vinyl Records Sales ~ Week Ending 09/17/2011

LPs of every variety make the list this week. There's the ever-present Beatles LP, though this time it's a UK first press of "Sgt Pepper" and not a "Please Please Me" or a butcher cover. The Might Ryeders is a private press funk lp from the late seventies. Mellow Candle is a psych obscurity from the foggy years of the late sixties. A fifties french classical LP gets the #4 spot. And just to make sure all genres are accounted for, a rare folk record out of Canada gets the #5 spot.

1. LP - The Beatles "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" Parlophone UK 1st Pressing - $3,164.79

2. LP - Mighty Ryeders "Help Us Spread The Message" Sun Glo - $3,150.00

3. LP - Mellow Candle "Swaddling Songs" Deram UK Pressing - $2,345.00

4. LP - Faure / Ravel "Trios" Pretoria French Pressing - $2,010.00

5. LP - David Wiffin "At The Bunkhouse" - International Canadian Pressing - $1,999.99


More on this week's Top 5 on Vinyl Record Talk, Tuesday 8:00PM Eastern / 5:00PM Pacific on Radio Dentata.

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R.E.M. Willl Release Three New Songs

Good news for fans of the group, the three new songs that were recorded this year before the band announced their breakupt, will be available on November 14th on the band’s compilation album, 'R.E.M., Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage, 1982 – 2011,' and will include the previously unreleased cuts “We All Go Back To Where We Belong,” “A Month of Saturdays” and “Hallelujah."

The three tracks were produced by Jacknife Lee in Athens, Georgia, after the band finished the Collapse Into Now album, released earlier in 2011.

Cool, can't wait to hear them....

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Aerosmith's New Album Due in March?

Aerosmith and specifically Tom Hamilton have been saying that their new record could be released next May (presumably to tie-in with the finale of American Idol, where frontman Steven Tyler is a judge). However, according to Tyler, the album could be available a little bit earlier.

“Two months doing that and we’re almost there,” Tyler told Rolling Stone backstage at the iHeartRadio festival in Las Vegas. “We’re gonna spend another month in L.A.”

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Water Borders To Release Album On Vinyl

Water Borders have announced the release of their first full-length LP called, 'Harbored Mantras', on October 11 via the NYC-/London-based label Tri Angle Records. The effort will be available on CD, vinyl, and digital download. Expect heavy dance music with Gamelan rhythms!

Tracklist
1. Tread on Them
2. What Wiwant
3. waldenpond.com
4. Bad Ethos
5. Even in the Dark
6. Feasting on Mongeese
7. Seed Bank
8. Miners
9. Antechamber

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Guitarist Guy Buttery Releasing Vinyl LP

South African fingerstyle guitarist Guy Buttery will release his newest album, To Disappear in Place, on vinyl format with previously unreleased content. Buttery, who won last year’s 'Best Instrumental Album' at the 2010 South African Music Awards for Fox Hill Lane, will hand-number and personalide each of the 300 available limited edition LP copies sold. The album will be pressed in Holland on 180 gram virgin vinyl and includes a coupon insert for an MP3 download. The 10-track album is a B-sides successor to Fox Hill Lane, comprising of an exclusive collection of outtakes, remakes, live recordings and demos.

The LP release also includes an exclusive vinyl only track and extensive liner notes about each recording.

“The inspiration for releasing an album exclusively on vinyl goes back to an obsession I had with collecting records from as young as 14 years old” says Buttery. “It was eventually long time friend Steve Hawes from Erased Records who actually manifested the project for me.”

Despite the ongoing change in the industry, vinyl records have remained a sought after product to serious music fundis, DJs and album collectors. He says if anything, vinyl has become a sort of antidote symbol for those that value the tangible embodiment of hard copy albums. “ LP sales have increased where CD sales have dropped, probably because they represent authenticity to fans.”

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heard from Will Russell of Transmission Recordings and he hinted that I might like a brand new artist, singer-songwriter Sam Gray, who supported Charlie Simpson earlier this year. He's been on BBC Radio 2 in the UK and his video is currently playlisted on VH1! Sam Gray's debut album is called 'Brighter Day'.

Sam Gray - Brighter Day (Official Video)



hey Will, you are right, I found the cut infectious (reminded me of the Housemartins for some reason) and the clip entertaining, can't wait to hear more!

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this from our friends in philadelphia (i never get tired of these clips!)


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and in music history for today, september 27th:

In 1933, "Waltz Time" debuted on NBC Radio. It stayed on the network until 1948.

In 1942, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra appeared live for the first time.

In 1958, Connie Francis reaches the top of the UK chart for the second time this year with "Stupid Cupid". Last Spring, she lead the hit parade with "Who's Sorry Now".

In 1962, the New York Times ran the story "Bob Dylan: A Distinctive Folk Song Stylist" after a concert at Carnegie Hall.

The Beach Boys made their TV debut on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.

In 1967, working on new songs, the Beatles recorded various parts for the new John Lennon song “I Am The Walrus” and the new Paul McCartney song “Fool on the Hill.”

In 1969, Carlos Santana had his first taste of success when his debut LP entered Billboard's album chart. The disc contained his hit single "Evil Ways" and would eventually hit number 4, staying on the chart for over two years. His 1999 album, "Supernatural" has sold in excess of ten million copies as well as winning a Grammy Award for Best Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocals.



In 1972, Rory Storm, the leader of one of Liverpool's earlier beat groups, takes his own life in what is presumed to be a suicide pact with his mother, who is also found dead at the scene. Rory Storm and the Hurricanes are most often remembered as the group that Ringo Starr left in 1962 to play drums for the Beatles.

In 1975, John Denver's two sided hit, "I'm Sorry" / "Calypso" reached the top of the Billboard singles chart. It was his fourth and final US number one record, although he would place six more songs in the Top 40.

In 1979, Scottish guitarist Jimmy McCullough died from a heroin overdose in his flat in Maida Vale, London, at age 26. Member of Stone the Crows, Thunderclap Newman and Wings (1974 to 1977). When “Something in the Air” by Thunderclap Newman went to #1 in 1969, it made McCulloch the youngest guitarist to ever play on a U.K. #1 single. He was 16 years old at the time.



The LP "Eat To The Beat" was released by Blondie in 1979.

In 1986, Metallica bass player Cliff Burton was crushed to death after the band’s tour bus crashed between Stockholm and Copenhagen. During a European tour, members from the band drew cards for the most comfortable bunk on the tour bus, Burton had won the game with an Ace of Spades and was asleep when the tour bus ran over a patch of black ice and skidded off of the road. He was thrown through the window of the bus, which fell on top of him. He would be posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the group on April 4, 2009.

Also in 1986, the Beatles' "Twist and Shout" re-enters the US Pop singles chart over twenty-five years after it first appeared. The song was featured in the films Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Rodney Dangerfield's Back To School.

In 2004, legendary record producer Phil Spector was formally charged with murder in the February 3rd, 2003 shooting of actress Lana Clarkson. He will be convicted in April, 2009 and sentenced to 19 years to life in the California State prison system.

In 2006, Jamie Lyons, lead singer of Music Explosion, died of a heart attack at the age of 57. The band is most often remembered for their garage-band classic "Little Bit o' Soul", which spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Pop chart in 1967, peaking at #2.

In 2008, Metallica started a three-week run at #1 on the U.S. album chart with Death Magnetic, the band’s ninth studio album.

In 2010, Cleveland's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame announced the 2011 inductees that included Alice Cooper, Dr. John, Neil Diamond, Darlene Love and Leon Russell. Among those who were nominated but not selected were Bon Jovi, The J. Geils Band, Donna Summer and Chic.

celebrating birthdays today (among others): Randy Bachman (67), Stephen Jenkins (Third Eye Blind) (47), Chris Demakes (Less Than Jake) (38), Brad Arnold (3 Doors Down) (33) and the man with the silliest name in rock and roll, Meat Loaf (born Marvin Lee Aday) (64)