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Penthouse (Album of the Day)
With ex-Galaxie 500 leader Dean Wareham fronting a foursome including former Feelies and Chills members, Luna was something approaching an alternative rock supergroup, and the band's third album, PENTHOUSE, is worthy of that lineage. The Elektra collection adds a couple of guest stars on top of that (Television guitarist Tom Verlaine and Stereolab vocalist Laetitia Sadier), but the best of these 11 tracks - “Chinatown,” “Lost In Space” and “Kalamazoo” - highlight the cohesive playing of the core quartet. This is evocative, late-night music, with Wareham's skewed but witty lyrics offset by shimmering instrumentation. Released 25 years ago this week, PENTHOUSE shows Luna reaching new heights, and the collection was justifiably named one of the decade's best by Rolling Stone magazine.
Up On The Roof: The Best Of the Drifters (Album of the Day)
Following years with Clyde McPhatter as The Drifters' frontman, Ben E. King stepped to the microphone for 1959's "There Goes My Baby," one of the first R&B songs orchestrated for strings. The hit launched a new era for the group, who got their pick of pop-friendly songs penned by such top Brill Building writing teams as Pomus & Shuman, Goffin & King, Bacharach & David and Leiber & Stoller. Among the classics that resulted: “Sweets For My Sweet,” “Up On The Roof,” the No.1 smash “Save The Last Dance For Me” and “This Magic Moment” (which is currently having its own magic moment on TikTok). All the above classics, plus nine more favorites, are featured on UP ON THE ROOF: THE BEST OF THE DRIFTERS, a superb survey of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers' most enduring music.
Alright, Still (Album of the Day)
Though she's the product of a show business family, Lily Allen's debut, ALRIGHT, STILL, is refreshingly free of glitz. While the 11 originals here are meticulously produced (by a team including Mark Ronson), there's bite beneath the bright surfaces as Allen offers cheeky rejoinders to ex-boyfriends (“Smile,” a U.K. No.1 hit), her slacker brother (“Alfie”) and others. Thanks to the singer's confidence and sense of humor, the put-downs are never off-putting, and the 2006 collection has tender and affirmative moments in the heartbreaking “Littlest Things” and urban anthem “LDN” to add variety. England was quick to embrace Allen's ska-tinged pop - the set just missed the top of the chart there – but the irrepressible ALRIGHT, STILL was a Top 20 success in America as well.
Beat & Soul (Album of the Day)
Like its predecessor, BEAT & SOUL finds the Everly Brothers delivering a set of superb rock and R&B covers. Regarding the former, the 1965 Warner Bros. set offers nods to Little Richard (“The Girl Can't Help It”) and Mickey & Sylvia (“Love Is Strange,” a minor U.K. hit), while the soul side includes then-recent songs by The Impressions (“People Get Ready”) and Rufus Thomas (“Walking the Dog”). The brothers contribute only one original, but it's a great one; “Man With Money” would itself be covered by several British beat groups. Phil & Don's immaculate harmonies are complemented here by instrumental work from a dream team of session players – James Burton, Glen Campbell, Leon Russell and Billy Preston among them. As BEAT & SOUL celebrates its 55th anniversary this month, it's time to give one of the Everlys' more underrated albums a closer listen.
Manna (Album of the Day)
Anyone remotely interested in pop songcraft has (or ought to have) a Bread best-of collection, but MANNA is proof that there was much more to the band than its signature singles. Of course this third studio set from the '70s hitmakers includes a Top 10 David Gates-penned ballad (“If”), but “Let Your Love Go” shows he could write rockers just as effectively. His songs alternate with those by James Griffin and Robb Royer, whose “Take Comfort” and “Live In Your Love” are also outstanding; adding a strong rhythmic backbone to all 12 tracks is Bread drummer Mike Botts. With its memorable melodies complemented by muscular performances, the gold-certified MANNA remains a slice of soft-rock heaven.
Invasion of Your Privacy (Album of the Day)
L.A. glam metal greats Ratt returned to record stores a year after their smash debut with 1985's INVASION OF YOUR PRIVACY. Producer Beau Hill is back behind the boards, adding radio/MTV-friendly polish to 10 originals including opener “You're in Love,” “Between the Eyes” and Top 40 hit “Lay It Down.” Driving and catchy with an appealing touch of sleaze, this music is an ideal showcase for Stephen Pearcy's commanding vocals and the twin-axe attack of Robbin Crosby and Warren DeMartini (whose solos here qualify him for guitar god status). INVASION OF YOUR PRIVACY was a double-platinum success, and the Atlantic collection is truly a ball for headbangers.
World Clique (Album of the Day)
Vocalist Lady Miss Kier joined forces with Russian-born DJ Dmitry and Japanese techno specialist Towa Tei in 1988 to form one of dance music's most colorful trios, Deee-Lite. The New York-based group were also among the style's most successful; their Elektra debut, WORLD CLIQUE, climbed charts on both sides of the Atlantic and was soon an R.I.A.A.-certified gold album. Singles “Power of Love,” “Good Beat” and “E.S.P.” kept feet moving in clubs around the globe, and “Groove Is in the Heart” reached the U.S. Top 10 and earned a slew of MTV Award nominations. A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip and Bootsy Collins both guest on that crossover smash, and James Brown band mainstays Maceo Parker: and Fred Wesley appear elsewhere on the collection. Smart, fun and funky, WORLD CLIQUE just celebrated its 30th anniversary, and remains a guaranteed party starter.
Sparks (Album of the Day)
Rock's favorite pair of oddballs, Sparks was formed in the late 1960s by brothers Ron and Russell Mael, on keyboards and vocals, respectively. The duo started out as Halfnelson, and it was under that moniker that they entered the studio with producer Todd Rundgren to cut their eponymous debut for Bearsville. The 1971 album failed to connect in the marketplace until the boys changed their name to Sparks, signed with Warner Bros. and reissued the set a year later – at which point SPARKS earned a minor regional hit (in Alabama, of all places) with “Wonder Girl.” Guitarist Earle Mankey, his bassist brother Jim and drummer Harley Feinstein fill out the sound on these 11 originals, and the band is as tight as it is quirky. The clever lyrics, falsetto singing and willingness to mash-up pop genres that would make the Maels cult heroes are in full bloom on SPARKS.
The Case Of The Three Sided Dream In Audio Color (Album of the Day)
Dreams inspired Ronald Theodore Kirk to change his name to Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and their influence can be heard on the legendary jazzman's THE CASE OF THE THREE-SIDED DREAM IN AUDIO COLOR. The cover of the Atlantic collection was surreal enough, its intertwined horns reflecting Kirk's penchant for playing two saxophones at once. The music on the double album (which included one side with hidden spoken tracks) is just as visionary, with such originals as “Freaks for the Festival” and “Echoes of Primitive Ohio and Chili Dogs” interspersed with standards like “Bye Bye Blackbird” and tape loops. If it sounds trippy, it is – but the set is also anchored by potent grooves laid down by Rahsaan and a top-flight soul-jazz band including guitarist Cornell Dupree, keyboardist Richard Tee and drummer Steve Gadd. Now celebrating its 45th anniversary, THE CASE OF THE THREE-SIDED DREAM is an album that adventurous listeners shouldn't sleep on.
GP (Album of the Day)
After pioneering country rock with The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons perfected the form on GP. Though the singer-songwriter's 1973 Reprise Records solo debut includes some covers (George Jones' “That's All It Took” among them) the album leans heavily on such outstanding originals as “She” and “The New Soft Shoe.” Great as the material is, it's the performances that really put this set over the top; Gram's vocals never sounded better, and he's surrounded by such stellar instrumentalists as guitarist James Burton, fiddler Byron Berline and co-producer Ric Grech on bass. In a class by herself is Emmylou Harris, whose harmonizing here helped launch her illustrious career. Parsons was born on this day in 1946, and we'll salute the cosmic American musician with another spin of GP.