An occasional showcase of what's being pulled and spun from the Sharp Notes library shelves.
Donald Fagen = ドナルド・フェイゲン* – The Nightfly = ナイトフライ (Warner Bros. Records – P-11264, 1982 🇯🇵)
So what if it sounds huge and ginormous and maybe even a bit more approachable than the USA variant? Who cares if Fagen’s vocals sound like they’re emanating from a ten foot head? Who cares if the vinyl is dead silent? What does it matter that the digital synths are smoothed out, warm and groovy? It’s really all about that OBI strip, right? So much depends upon a thin and impossibly fragile piece of 40 year old Japanese paper. Won’t you pour me a Cuban Breeze, Gretchen?
Prince – 1999 (Warner Bros. Records – 9 29896-7, 1982 🇺🇸)
I may be dating myself by saying that I remember when it became 1999 and folks were going crazy about a song from 17 years ago, but it is what it is. The future doesn’t sound so futuristic anymore, does it? Not since 2000, at least. And is “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” one of my favorite Prince deep cuts ever? Definitely. It might actually be one of my favorite Prince songs ever. A great piano recording on that one coupled by a decades-long rock ‘em, sock ‘em radio hit, add in Prince looking his most Jimi and man, have you got an excellent 7 inch picture sleeve that’s a lot of fun to own.
Lunachicks – Sugar Luv (Blast First – BFFP44, 1989 🇬🇧)
Why settle for one 45 when you can have two? I can really get behind the gatefold, 2-disc, 7 inch release. Extra packaging, two extra songs: more than a single, but less than a true EP. Plenty of sludgy, female-fronted grunge punk on this release which came out even before the Lunachicks’ first album.
The Human League – Empire State Human (Virgin – VS 294, 1979 🇬🇧)
I’m having a lot of fun going through the 7 inch singles I’ve collected, but really haven’t sorted through, cataloged and listened to with the correct attention. The Human League is a band that I’ve somehow missed. These recordings are fabulous: the compositions are excellent, but I really enjoy hearing the production and synths and thinking about how otherworldly and new this must have been to listener’s ears in the late 70s and 80s. Excellent stuff.
Siouxsie And The Banshees – Playground Twist (Polydor – POSP 59, 1979 🇬🇧)
Leaves are falling, the sun hangs low on the walk home from school, Halloween decorations begin to crawl out from their coffins one skeleton at a time: it’s an ideal season to listen to Siouxsie and the Banshees. This early single from the group feels like a horror movie, but I’m not sure what’s going on. However, the laughing children and usually stark arrangement - paired with Siouxsie’s nervous howl - elicit a bit of true terror. And that hand-drawn sleeve? Sheeesh. Someone leave the lights on, please! 😳
King Crimson – In The Court Of The Crimson King (An Observation By King Crimson) (Atlantic – SD 8245, 1969 🇺🇸)
Happy 55th to this prog rock classic. A prog rock release that even non-prog rock people who don’t like prog rock can enjoy.
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