With their third album, and the first to be released worldwide, INXS knocked the flinty edge off of their hard rock sound, added a dance beat and stepped off the big island and onto the world stage. In the process they created a blueprint for the rest of their career.
The album begins with "The One Thing," a strutting number that gives Michael Hutchence a real chance to shine as a singer; strong and commanding, while the combined synth/guitar/sax hook that drives the song is instantly memorable.
But if "The One Thing" is grand, "Don't Change" is just flat out fantastic, one of the best album closers ever dreamed up. Soaring in on a just dreamy enough synth line from Andrew Farriss and then a quick guitar burst, the rest of the band then explodes into action -- it's some of the best rock-without-apology-or-quotes sound anyone could ever hear, crisp, fierce, and clean.
Hutchence takes charge of that action like the vaunted frontman he was, delivering one of the more cryptic but still just right romance lyrics from that time with aplomb and fire. The chorus is simply killer, while the concluding, extended calls of the title phrase over the song's last notes make up the icing on the cake.
Material: Michael Ruby via amazon.com & Ned Raggett via All Music Guide
Sex Pistols Announce First Manchester Show In 30 Years
The Sex Pistols inspired a musical revolution in Manchester in the late '70s - and now they're returning.
The legendary punk band have announced their first Manchester show in 30 years, a gig at the M.E.N. Arena on November 17. It will be their only show outside London this year.
The band announced last week they would reform for a single gig at south London's 4,900-capacity Brixton Academy on November 8 to mark the 30th anniversary of their seminal album Never Mind the Bollocks.
Due to overwhelming demand after the one-off show sold out in 10 minutes, the reformed group added three more nights in London, and one in Manchester.
Their initial career only lasted a few short years, with four singles and one studio album.
But its impact on music and culture was immense, especially in Manchester after a series of gigs in 1976.
Their debut at the Lesser Free Trade Hall on June 4 that year is recognised as one of the most influential of all time - 'nothing short of an epiphany' according to the late music mogul Tony Wilson.
According to records, only 32 people were in the crowd but like Wilson many of them would go on to shape Manchester's music scene over the next decade.
Watching the Pistols that night were Morrissey, Mark E. Smith from The Fall, Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook of Joy Division and later New Order, and the show's promoters (the) Buzzcocks.
Wilson booked the band on his Granada TV show So It Goes for their first ever TV appearance and they returned later in that sweltering summer to play another gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall on July 20.
The M.E.N. show on November 17 will be the original punks' first appearance in the city since their gig at Electric Circus in December 1976.
Bassist Glen Matlock left the band in 1975, replaced by Sid Vicious, who died of a heroin overdose in 1979.
Glen returns for the current tour, forming the original line up with John Lydon, Steve Jones and Paul Cook.
Photo and material: manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Known simply as Talk Talk in the U.S., the band's debut album was their most electronic of all. The first track, "Talk Talk," was the first single to get air play in America before "It's My Life" hit the top 40 a few years later.
Talk Talk, comprising singer Mark Hollis, bassist Paul Webb, and drummer Lee Harris, formed in England in 1981. From the start, Hollis cited jazz and classical artists like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Claude Debussy as major musical influences.
While they never completely embraced the fading New Romantic trend, Talk Talk's name drew unenviable Duran Duran parallels, which were cemented by the hiring of Colin Thurston to produce The Party's Over, as he had done with Simon Le Bon's band. The LP went on to sell over a quarter of a million copies, although an extensive American tour supporting Elvis Costello produced only modest results. Tellingly, this would be the first and last of their albums on which writing credits were shared by the entire band.
Material: wikipedia.org & Within Without
The four original members - John Lydon, guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bassist Glen Matlock - will come together for a one-off concert to mark the 30th anniversary of their only studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols.
The show is scheduled to take place Nov. 8 at London's Brixton Academy. Tickets go on sale Friday.
The concert date will be preceded by the re-issue of Never Mind the Bollocks, recognized as one of the most influential albums in rock history.
Four singles, "Anarchy In The UK," "God Save The Queen," "Pretty Vacant," and "Holidays In The Sun," are also scheduled to be reissued on vinyl.
Already music magazine NME have shown their support by gearing up their readers to get "God Save the Queen" to number one on the charts, a position it failed to reach when originally released in 1977. Banned by Radio One, it is one of music's most legendarily apocryphal tales that the chart was rigged by jittery regulators who felt the Queen might not be amused at having her Jubilee celebrations sound-tracked by a fevered anthem to monarchy bashing.
Material: entertainment.timesonline.co.uk
Continuum Books to release story of the legendary garage band
May of 2006 marked the Fleshtones' 30th anniversary as the only band from the mid-70s New York City Punk/New Wave scene that hasn't had an inactive year. In that time they've amassed an incredible history—they shared a practice space with the Cramps in the 70s, they shared a label (IRS) with R.E.M. in the 80s, and the likes of Steve Albini and Peter Buck have produced them. They've opened for James Brown and Chuck Berry, played at the same summer festivals as Iggy Pop.
Sweat is not the typical rock & roll story of stars, stacks of money, or wild, unbridled triumphs; it's the story of a band that has reached the threshold of fame many times over, but never quite made it; a band that contributed to numerous sea changes in the New York City music scene, but unlike many of the bands around them, didn't come out the other side famous or drenched in cool.
Sweat is a bare-knuckled, compelling account of road-paving rock & roll played in the real world, where success measured over the long haul is redefined each and every hard-won morning and where patience, vision and determination do not always lead to prosperity. Join author Joe Bonomo as he guides you through the peaks and valleys of the Fleshtones' impressive career, and enjoy an insider's view of three decades in New York City's music scene along the way.
Sweat is more than just the story of a band, it's a rock & roll allegory for anyone who has ever persevered in the face of adversity, and the soul sucking pressure of the status quo, to continue to do what they loved.
Material: continuumbooks.com
The self-titled debut album from the Liverpudlian band of the same name was a concept album about alien abduction and delivered the greats "I Ran (So Far Away)," "Space Age Love Song," "Messages," and Waist High favorite "Telecommunication."
Paul Reynolds' guitar work on this album was set apart from other synth-heavy acts of the time and is noted as some of the best to come out of the '80s.
A Flock of Seagulls took their name from a line in the song "Toiler on the Sea" by The Stranglers.
In November 2003 the original AFOS line-up (Mike and Ali Score, Paul Reynolds and Frank Maudsley) reunited for a one-off performance on VH1's Bands Reunited. Mike Score continues to tour under the band's name with a new line-up, but the other original members have retired from music.
"STUPID HAIR ASIDE...THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST NEW WAVE ALBUMS EVER."
Quote: Paul J. Lewis "supersquigg" via amazon.com
Released in the summer of 1982, Avalon was Roxy Music's eighth studio album and is generally regarded as the culmination of the smoother, more adult-oriented sound of the band's later work. It was a huge commercial success, hitting #1 in the UK and staying on the album charts for over a year. Avalon was the band's only platinum record in the US.
Continuing a Roxy Music tradition, Bryan Ferry's girlfriend Lucy Helmore appeared on the cover wearing a medieval helmet and carrying a falcon. The image evoked King Arthur's last journey to the mysterious land of Avalon. The lush arrangements and synthesizer drenched sound of Avalon later found its way onto Ferry's solo follow-up album Boys and Girls.
The single, "More Than This," preceded the album and was a Top 10 hit in Britain, Australia, and most European countries. "More Than This" is unusual for a pop song in that Ferry's vocal ends at 2:45 minutes, leaving the last 1:45 minutes as a synth-driven instrumental. It has since become regarded as a classic Roxy Music song.
The title track was released as the album's second single and also became a UK Top 20 hit. A third extract, "Take A Chance With Me," with a remixed version of album track "The Main Thing" on the b-side, reached UK #26 and was Roxy Music's last UK hit single.
Original Roxy Music member Brian Eno is often credited as being the creator of "ambient" music.
"Few albums are truly captivating from start to finish. This is one of them. Avalon is simply exquisite."
Material: wikipedia.orgQuote: "A music fan" via amazon.com
Recorded in the spring of 1982, going gold in the US in March of 1983, and platinum in April, Rio eventually reaching double platinum status. It peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained on the charts there for 129 weeks.
EMI in Britain had promoted Duran Duran as New Romantics, but that genre was barely known in the United States, and Capitol was at a loss about how to sell the band.
The band however, had their own plans and ambitions for promotion. They reunited with director Russell Mulcahy (who had directed the music video for their first single "Planet Earth") and planned the release of a full length video album -- eleven videos for the best songs off of the Duran Duran (released in 1981) and Rio albums. The band traveled to Sri Lanka and Antigua between tour dates to film the memorable videos for "Rio," "Hungry Like the Wolf," and "Save a Prayer."
The rest is history.
In 2000, Rio was ranked #98 in Q magazine's "100 Greatest British Albums." In 2003, it was listed at #65 in the NME "100 Greatest Albums Of All Time." In 2004, CMJ ranked it as #1 in their "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1982."
Material: wikipedia.org
Details of the Control OST have now emerged. The album, scheduled for release on October 1st, includes three brand new tracks from New Order, a cover of "Transmission" by the cast (presume that's the Joy Division actors) and The Killers' cover of "Shadowplay."
The New Order tracks are titled "Exit," "Get Out," and "Hypnosis." (It would be cynical to speculate that Bernard wrote these for Hooky.)
Full Tracklisting:
1) Exit - New Order
2) What Goes On - The Velvet Underground
3) Shadowplay (Joy Division cover) - The Killers
4) Boredom (Live) - Buzzcocks
5) Dead Souls - Joy Division
6) She Was Naked - Supersister
7) Sister Midnight - Iggy Pop
8) Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
9) Problems (Live) - Sex Pistols
10) Hypnosis - New Order
11) Drive In Saturday - David Bowie
12) Evidently Chickentown - John Cooper Clarke
13) 2H.B. - Roxy Music
14) Transmission (Cast Version) - Joy Division
15) Autobahn - Kraftwerk
16) Atmosphere - Joy Division
17) Warszawa - David Bowie
18) Get Out - New Order
The three New Order tracks are the instrumental tracks used in the last third of the film. They consist of Hooky's trademark bass lines, some sparse drumming from Morris, and Sumner playing what sounds like a flute sound on a mellotron - not particularly in the style of Joy Division, as was previously mooted.
Material: neworderonline.com
