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40 Golden Greats (Album of the Day)
Don't dismiss Cliff Richard with other early 1960s teen idols; along with his band The Shadows, he practically invented British rock 'n' roll. Epochal rocker “Move It” opens 40 GOLDEN GREATS, a well-chosen survey of the still-active performer's influential early recordings. Richard's first double album - a No.1 U.K. hit upon its 1977 release – includes classic group and solo sides, soundtrack recordings and his mid-'70s comeback single “Devil Woman” (which became the performer's biggest stateside hit). Sir Cliff has been an entertainment icon in England for nearly 60 years, and 40 GOLDEN GREATS shows why.
Unforgettable: With Love (Album of the Day)
With more than a decade of R&B hits for Capitol and Epic to her credit, Natalie Cole must've surprised longtime fans with her Elektra Records debut, UNFORGETTABLE … WITH LOVE. From its evocative George Hurrell B&W cover photo to its final notes, the album is a tribute to the sophisticated pop of an earlier era – specifically that of her father, legendary performer Nat King Cole. The collection recreates 22 of his signature songs including “Mona Lisa,” “Straighten Up And Fly Right” and “Unforgettable,” arranged as a duet between Natalie and her dad. On this day in 1991, the set began a five-week run at No.1 on the U.S. chart; it would go on to win three Grammys, including Album Of The Year. While several artists have mined the Great American Songbook for hits in the years since, Cole's UNFORGETTABLE … WITH LOVE remains among the most heartfelt and beautiful.
World Without End (Album of the Day)
Frequently compared to Echo and the Bunnymen, The Mighty Lemon Drops added more than a drop of jangle-pop to the Bunnymen's blend of post-punk and neo-psych, but to judge from the outstanding WORLD WITHOUT END, the Wolverhampton, U.K. quartet needn't stand in anyone's shadow. Produced by Tim Palmer, the Sire set brims with Rickenbackers, strong melodies and melancholy lyrics on ten originals including “In Everything You Do,” “Closer To You” and “Inside Out” (which is as catchy a song as anything released in 1988). Insistent and memorable throughout, WORLD WITHOUT END ranks among The Mighty Lemon Drops' mightiest.
Electric Warrior (Album of the Day)
Make It Last Forever (Album of the Day)
Born in Harlem on this day in 1961, Keith Sweat was singing with a group called Jamilah when he crossed paths with Teddy Riley, keyboard player in another local band, Total Climax. It was a fortuitous meeting; the pair would team to produce Sweat's debut album, MAKE IT LAST FOREVER. The 1987 collection helped inaugurate New Jack Swing with a string of R&B Top 10 hits including the title track, “Something Just Ain't Right” and “I Want Her” (the last of which also reached #5 on the Pop chart). There isn't a dud among the seven originals here, and the cover of The Dramatics' “In The Rain” shows Sweat was a master of romantic slow jams from the get-go. MAKE IT LAST FOREVER is Keith Sweat at his peak, and it's the perfect way to wish him a happy birthday!
Life And Times (Album of the Day)
If the 1970s singer-songwriter movement is most closely associated with Southern California, the East Coast had a strong representative in Jim Croce. The Philadelphia-born troubadour brought an urban directness and a gentle sense of humor to the music – along with a colorful cast of characters. His fourth studio album, LIFE AND TIMES, profiles a “Roller Derby Queen,” “Speedball Tucker” and “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” (which went to No.1 on the U.S. singles chart on this day in 1973). Though no one was better at these amiable story-songs, Croce could also break your heart with intimate ballads like “These Dreams,” and the unerring balance he maintains between these moods makes LIFE AND TIMES one of the performer's very best albums.
Love Bites (Special Edition) (Album of the Day)
Forty years ago today, Buzzcocks made their concert debut; that the U.K. quartet were just as impressive in the studio as onstage is amply borne out on LOVE BITES. Produced by the great Martin Rushent, the 1978 collection arrived in stores just six months after their first album, but the group's supply of classics was by no means depleted: “Real World,” “Just Lust” and the immortal “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)” reveal Steve Shelley to be a songwriter of the first order. The two-disc Special Edition of this superb set features a bumper crop of bonus tracks including demos, live recordings and John Peel sessions. With an instrumental attack as propulsive and catchy as any Ramones album, LOVE BITES will sink its teeth deep into punk fans.
AWB (Album of the Day)
The band name may have been self-effacing, but these six white guys – from Scotland, no less – cut one of the funkiest records of the 1970s in AWB. Certainly some of the credit for the band's Atlantic Records debut goes to veteran R&B producer Arif Mardin, but one listen to the set's No.1 hit “Pick Up The Pieces” reveals some serious instrumental chops at work here. In Alan Gorrie and Hamish Stuart, the group also had a pair of talented vocalists, and the original material on this 1974 collection, including such tracks as “Person To Person” and “You Got It,” was tailor-made for dancefloors. Gorrie was born 70 years ago today, and we'll celebrate the birthday with another spin of the chart-topping AWB.
THE ATLANTIC YEARS IN MONO (Album of the Day)
Renown for his revolutionary “sheets of sound” technique and the deep spirituality of his music, John Coltrane was truly a “heavyweight champion” of jazz, and the albums he cut as a bandleader for Atlantic in 1959 and 1960 remain landmark recordings. JOHN COLTRANE: THE ATLANTIC YEARS - IN MONO gives fans a glimpse into how Coltrane's music first appeared to dedicated listeners through the 1960s; when these recordings were originally issued, most consumers were still using monaural equipment. Featuring six of his albums from the Atlantic vaults (mono masters of MY FAVORITE THINGS, COLTRANE JAZZ and COLTRANE'S SOUND were lost in a fire decades ago), this new boxed set represents the heart of John Coltrane's unparalleled legacy.