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Spurts: The Richard Hell Story (2013 Remaster) (Album of the Day)
Richard Hell's punk credentials are tough to top - he was a founding member of Television, The Heartbreakers (with ex-New York Dolls axeman Johnny Thunders) and The Voidoids (who made their live debut at Manhattan's legendary CBGB club on this day in 1976). With a recording career that's been as sporadic as it's been influential, SPURTS: THE RICHARD HELL STORY is the ideal way to sample the man's music. The 21 tracks on the Rhino collection include cuts from all three above-mentioned bands, as well as pre-Television group The Neon Boys and 1990s supergroup Dim Stars (featuring half of Sonic Youth), and no self-respecting alternative rock fan should be without such seminal sides as “Blank Generation,” “Chinese Rocks” and “Love Comes In Spurts.” The Rhino collection was remastered in 2013, and Hell's creative fire never burned more brightly than on SPURTS.
Space Oddity (2019 Mix) (Album of the Day)
David Bowie’s self-titled second studio album was released 50 years ago this month; opening track “Space Oddity” became the performer’s first trans-Atlantic hit. Inspired by Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the song had gained huge popularity when it was adopted as the unofficial theme of the Apollo 11 moon landing mission that launched five days after the single’s release. In honor of the golden anniversary, longtime Bowie producer/collaborator Tony Visconti has remixed the track in 360 Reality Audio music format, a new 3D audio from Sony. “You might have heard ‘Space Oddity’ 200 times,” he notes. “When you hear this I guarantee you will listen another 200 times. It’s a new way of hearing the song.”
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (Album of the Day)
On the heels of one of the decade's biggest albums, Alanis Morissette returned with SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE. Like its predecessor, the collection was co-produced and co-written by Glen Ballard, but it's hardly JAGGED LITTLE PILL II; the lyrics, singing and arrangements all display greater confidence and ambition. There's also greater variety in tone and some unusual influences at work (Alanis' visit to India the previous year clearly left its mark). These 17 originals include such standouts as “Unsent,” “Thank U” and “So Pure” - the latter two both earned Grammy nominations. A triple-platinum hit that topped the U.S. chart on this day in 1998, SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE was hailed by USA Today for “a maturity and sophistication rarely found in unseasoned artists. Add Morissette's vision and daring and you've got a spectacular achievement.”
Tom Tom Club (Album of the Day)
In the wake of REMAIN IN LIGHT, Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz launched a side project, Tom Tom Club, that proved lighter in tone but equally alluring. Recorded in the Bahamas with a small collective of like-minded musicians (including guitarist Adrian Belew), the group's self-titled 1981 debut was a gleeful fusion of new wave and hip-hop. The Sire set includes a cover of “Under the Boardwalk” and a pair of No.1 Dance Chart hits in “Wordy Rappinghood” and “Genius of Love”; the latter's breathy vocals and chirpy electronic keyboard riff would be sampled frequently in the years to come. Fun is the order of the day on the gold-certified TOM TOM CLUB, and we'll give the album another spin now to wish Weymouth a happy birthday.
Love Songs (Album of the Day)
Throughout Tina Turner's extraordinary career, the multi-Grammy winning artist has often sung about the joys and heartaches of romance on such unforgettable recordings as the international smash “What's Love Got To Do With It.” Spanning more than three decades, LOVE SONGS brings together the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's most memorable takes on the time-honored subject. The Rhino compilation's 18 tracks are drawn primarily from Turner's impressive string of gold and platinum solo records, including the title song from her emotional 1983 comeback album PRIVATE DANCER, “The Best” from 1989's FOREIGN AFFAIR and “I Don't Wanna Fight” from the soundtrack to her 1993 biopic. Along with music from her solo career, the collection also includes 1966's magnificent “River Deep - Mountain High,” cut with Ike Turner. We'll give LOVE SONGS another spin now to wish Tina Turner a happy 80th birthday
Hunting High and Low (Expanded) (Album of the Day)
a-ha rocketed to stardom in dramatic fashion in 1985 when the group’s debut single, “Take On Me,” topped the charts in 36 different countries on its way to becoming one of the best-selling hits of all time. The following year, a-ha was nominated for Best New Artist, becoming the first Norwegian band to be nominated for a Grammy. The group's outstanding debut gets beefed-up to four CDs this month with Rhino's HUNTING HIGH AND LOW EXPANDED EDITION. Its first disc features a remastered version of the original album, which has sold more than 10 million copies since its release. The second disc is packed with more than two dozen rare demos, the third features remixes and single versions from the period, and the final disc presents an alternate version of HUNTING HIGH AND LOW using early and alternate mixes for every album track, including the version of “Take On Me” that was used for the iconic music video.
Apogee (Album of the Day)
From its spare cover art and dueling saxophone concept, you might mistake APOGEE for a 1950s album, but the set was released in 1978 and shows seasoned vets Pete Christlieb and Warne Marsh swinging for the fences. Produced by Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, the Warner Bros. collection features an appealing mix of standards (like “I'm Old Fashioned” and the Charlie Parker favorite “Donna Lee”) and such new compositions as Christlieb's “Magna-Tism.” The two tenors are in dazzling form throughout, and the rest of the quintet rise to the challenge; as pianist Lou Levy later recalled of APOGEE, “I remember sitting there, playing behind them, and thinking, 'Man, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience; I may never again hear two virtuosos play with this much speed, authority, and soul.'” One of the unheralded gems of 1970s jazz.
Desolation Angels (40th Anniversary) (Album of the Day)
In the late summer of 1978, Bad Company's Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke and Boz Burrell spent several weeks recording songs for the British supergroup’s fifth studio album at Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey, England. DESOLATION ANGELS – named after Jack Kerouac’s 1965 novel – was released in March 1979, and became a double-platinum hit, peaking at #3 on the U.S. album charts. The collection introduced fan favorites like “Evil Wind” and “Rhythm Machine” and spawned two singles: “Gone, Gone, Gone” and “Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy,” which took radio by storm and became the best-selling single of the band’s career. The new double-disc DESOLATION ANGELS: 40th ANNIVERSARY EDITION boasts 19 unreleased songs taken from the album’s recording sessions, including versions of seven album tracks as well as outtakes “Smokin’ 45” and “Rock Fever.”
This Fire (Album of the Day)
Dedicated to "the inner fire of all life,” Paula Cole's second album turned the heat up on the Massachusetts singer-songwriter's career. The self-produced THIS FIRE features adventurous arrangements, passionate performances and a set of original songs that are both thoughtful and ear-catching. Top 10 hit “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” and near-Top 10 single “I Don't Want to Wait,” which was used as the theme for TV series Dawson's Creek, are the best known tracks here, but such cuts as “Me” and “Hush, Hush, Hush” (with guest vocals from Peter Gabriel, with whom Cole had toured) underline the collection's consistent quality. A double-platinum hit, THIS FIRE earned 7 Grammy nominations, including a Best New Artist win, and it still burns brightly.
Giant Steps (Album of the Day)
“History will undoubtedly enshrine this disc as a watershed the likes of which may never truly be appreciated,” said Allmusic of GIANT STEPS, and few jazz fans would argue the point. Tenor saxophonist John Coltrane had just finished his work for Miles Davis when he began recording this, his debut for Atlantic Records, with producer Nesuhi Ertegün in New York. Assembled from two 1959 sessions (the second of which reunited Trane with KIND OF BLUE pianist Wynton Kelly and drummer Jimmy Cobb), the collection introduced such jazz standards as “Naima” and the title track – as well as a host of stylistic innovations. Jazz solos would never be the same after the intense “sheets of sound” treatment they receive here, and the approach to chord changes was just as groundbreaking. Released 60 years ago this month, GIANT STEPS has been enshrined by the Library of Congress, Rolling Stone and The Penguin Guide to Jazz, and it remains essential listening.