Relaxing revelations

 

Last week was a bit messed up in a number of ways so we're catching up and at the same time trying to relax a bit so I did play a couple of records one being a Bay City Rollers album from the days I had lots of clippings, posters and scarfs of theirs.

Given my super audio cd player spends over 80% of its time playing regular cds I recently changed the external digital to analogue converter that takes the noughts and ones from the transport in the player to improve on its sound.

I've had cd since 1986 so not surprisingly some my cds go back a long time and some have had a number of cd releases so how would you know what's worth keeping as we tend to remember how something sounded but not necessarily take account of what we heard it on.

This variant of the first Duran Duran album was from 1985 to the early 1990's the international cd release of the album which saw To The Shore removed and the 1983 single Is There Something I Should Know? added as track five (and last track on side one on the US/Japan lp) 

In 1993 a version that restored To The Shore was issued in Europe with a newer mastering issued but to my ears it seemed to lack "attack" and subsequent issued in 2003 and 2010 worse.

The usual criticism of that first cd issue was that sounded bright and that 1983 single was mastered a bit louder than the rest of the album and I can remembering how it sounded on my original Toshiba player.

Putting it in the super audio cd and playing from the new external digital to analogue convertor was a revelation as it didn't sound bright, there was an obvious bass line and Simon Le Bon's vocals had great presence.

I even heard clear soundstaging!

Actually I had to pinch myself that I wasn't hearing a record playing it was that good correcting that level issue while playing it.

Actually this was a really good sounding cd ONCE you corrected the level mismatch and took advantage of the advances in digital technology.

Now it won't sort a bad cd out but it certainly will bring out everything that the disc has and that for generations we assumed it never had.

Now Yearbook Vault 1984

I did suggest it was going be a busy period on music releases last week and on Friday while sneezing my nosy off something a bit familar but also a bit different arrived.

Now Yearbooks, we covered them here looking from 1982 and before with 1977 due next month, rounding up on three very well filled lps the main hits of each year complement my original Now and Hits Lps from the 1983 and 4 respectively and then some older compilations.

In June Now launched a sub series VAULTS, which aims to cover minor hits of the sort that tended to pad out our Ronco and K Tel sets as much as we may of preferred some of them to the big hits back in the day and also American Hits which unless someone did a American Hit compilation you didn't get so I'd buy the 45's where available.

We didn't bother with 1983 as that was well covered on the vinyl front and I have many American and Canadian acts albums from that year I liked anyway so the initial title got a miss here.

Yesterday though they issued Vaults 1984 which although 1984 is well represented with a half of Now 2 and the whole of Now 3 and 4 plus the first Hits  did miss out a number of these min or hits and American hits that never were over here so I thought "What the heck!" and ordered it.

Like the regular Now Yearbooks on LP, these are coming out in three lp sets, three discs stuffed in a single sleeve which means we do miss some of the tracks from the 4 cd version in cheapskate wraparound card or fuller book forms but most of the essentials make it.

Record one  begins with some pop gems from established artists such as Heaven 17, ABC, and Scritti Politti ahead of Wild Life a U.S. single release from Bananarama followed by the solo debut from Helen Terry who had sung back-up vocals on the previous years’ massive seller ‘Colour By Numbers’ from Culture Club features along with Level 42, Soft Cell and Talk Talk who close the first side with ‘Such A Shame’. 

Flipping the record over we get to enjoy the sumptuous vocal pairings of Teddy Pendergrass and Whitney Houston, and Dennis Edwards and Siedah Garrett. The side also features the debut from the Colour Field, M+M’s ‘Black Stations/White Stations’, a commentary on racially defined radio in the States and established artists Tom Robinson and Marillion.

Record Two kicks off with a stunning collection of indie-pop, including Cocteau Twins, Siouxsie And The Banshees, The Icicle Works and the Top 40 debut from Everything But The Girl… plus Malcolm McLaren, The Associates and Blancmange with their cover of ABBA’s ‘The Day Before You Came’, whilst the dance-floor beckons on the other side with electro-dance and Hi-NRG from Sheila E., Divine, Evelyn Thomas, Miquel Brown, and chart regulars Shalamar, Donna Summer and Sheena Easton – with Arrow closing the LP with carnival favourite ‘Hot Hot Hot’.

The final record focuses on singles that found chart success in the U.S. and opens with Culture Club’s ‘Miss Me Blind’, which didn’t get a single release in the U.K, alongside a selection of U.S. new-wave hits from The Fixx, a British group who found more success in the States, Go-Go’s and The Cars. Synth-led tracks from The Psychedelic Furs, Visage and Sparks close the side. 

The Pretenders open the final side with ‘Show Me’, which was a U.S. hit, but not issued as a single in the U.K. Daryl Hall & John Oates, and Rick Springfield continued their run of Stateside hits and Bon Jovi debuted with ‘Runaway’. Scorpions and Judas Priest are up next with rock classics ‘Rock You Like A Hurricane’, and ‘Freewheel Burning’… and the concluding moment is given to ZZ Top with ‘TV Dinners’ one of four singles from their massive ‘Eliminator’ album.

It's a slightly off the beaten track musical overview of 1984 covering much that wasn't on those pioneering 1984 compilations regardless of quality and for those reasons gains a spot in my vinyl compilation collection

Updating the NOW's - Now Eighties Dancefloor Disco & Electro

We've looked a bit a Now's, mainly from the Updating the Now's angle as the original Now That's What I Call Music series started in late 1983 so there was a period before of less good compilations and certainly a lack of Year based Greatest Hits sets so we've been going back so far in to 1973

The last Updating post was from June last year looking at Alt Rock.

Now these days is a massive brand when it comes to compilations so there are a few others on compact disc dotted about but one recently did come out on December 1st last year which does slot well within the vinyl Now collection here.

Now have a few vinyl only series releases and one series is Now Eighties Dancefloor which so far has two issues an another due at the end of February.

The main aim of the series is gather up 80's dance music within genre specific issues and for these they are either regular single or radio edits rather than 12" remixes.

This appealed as it has a high proportion of tracks I don't have on vinyl albums and covers a period where I used to make my own compilation tapes from singles.

Following the height of its’ popularity in the late 1970s, Disco in the early 1980s retained the irresistible melodies and beat but became primarily synth driven. 

The era saw some of the genres’ biggest hits including this collections’ opener ‘Flashdance…What A Feeling’ from Irene Cara – this theme from the film ‘Flashdance’ was not only a massive selling single, but the song also won multiple awards including an Academy Award. Lipps Inc. produced a timeless hit with ‘Funkytown’, and Shalamar with ‘A Night To Remember’, Odyssey with ‘Use It Up And Wear It Out’ and Indeep’s ‘Last Night A DJ Saved My Life’ were all huge commercial Disco hits.

Disco masters Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic feature here in their roles as producers and writers with Diana Ross’s massive hit ‘Upside Down’, ‘Why’ from Carly Simon, and the peerless ‘Spacer’ from Sheila & B. Devotion and in 1984 remixed Sister Sledge’s ‘Lost In Music’ which became a massive hit again and is included here in its full 12” version.

Amii Stewart’s classic version of ‘Knock On Wood’ was remixed too joining it, Donna Summer enjoyed huge success with ‘She Works Hard For The Money’ in 1983, and other established Disco superstars celebrated returns to the charts with an 80’s Disco sound including, and featured on this collection, KC & The Sunshine Band and Evelyn “Champagne” King.

The prevalence of the synth in the 1980s gave rise to new and exciting sounds and to tracks that were created with fusions of genres. 

One thing I liked about it was on this collection it celebrates ‘ELECTRO’ – a sub-genre of Electronic Dance music that combined elements of Disco, Funk and Hip-Hop and featuring a heavy synth backing, and the commercial Electro-Pop hits it produced. 

In 1984, Chaka Khan who had achieved huge success with the Disco classic ‘I’m Every Woman’, had a worldwide smash with a cover of Prince’s ‘I Feel For You’ which combined Disco, Funk, R&B, Synth-Pop and Hip-Hop – to stunning effect. 

In addition 1984 saw Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced a classic fusion of Disco, R&B, Funk and Synth-Pop for the S.O.S Band with ‘Just Be Good To Me’ and also included here are hugely influential Electro-Pop gems from Freeez, Rockers Revenge feat. Donnie Calvin, Malcolm McLaren, Break Machine, and Rock Steady Crew.

In the latter half of the 80s, Disco and Electro-Pop continued to evolve and fill dance-floors. Taking influences from both genres, Expose and Company B enjoyed ‘freestyle’ hits and DJ, remixer and producer Jellybean had a string of hits including ‘Just A Mirage’, and Whitney Houston became a global superstar. 

One of her signature tracks ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)’ serves as a stellar example of how Dance music had evolved through the decade and remained as vital and uplifting as ever.

This usefully expands upon my original NOW and HITS compilations and their Ronco and KTel predecessors.

Changestwobowie redux

On Wednesday I went out armed with a remaining HMV store voucher and some cash from Christmas at least in part because of that store groups current crisis is in 'administration' with the intention of getting the odd thing I'd not got around to.
In June of 2016 I wrote about the vinyl re-issue of the iconic ChangesOneBowie compilation lp - a kind of greatest hits - originally issued in 1976 but on April 13th last year the follow up issued some five years later was also reissued but I hadn't gotten around to getting a copy.

Originally issued in November of 1981on RCA records, it followed the format of the first volume with a seamless selection of  songs split for lp across two sides with a fairly plain photo free blue rear with a large capitalized tracklisting.
I remember seeing this at a record store I frequented around late 1981/2 looking almost lost around the other major releases of the era and a part of this stems from David having no input into the track selection which has it odd points as it features 1984 from the Diamond Dogs album but not his more recent hit, 1979's Boys Keep Swinging and as this compilation goes back to 1971 for its selection it failed to sum up what mattered in that year so much effected by the "Berlin trilogy" albums (Low,Heroes and The Lodger) and Scary Monsters.

 That was an influence on not buying it until the cd era - have the super rare RCA cd from 1984 - and I wasn't alone as the sales figures were much lower for this than it the first installment.
This is in spite of having the disco remake that is John I'm Only Dancing (Again) that was never on a studio album.
The record was re-issued in both standard black vinyl 180 grams and blue which like with the re-issued ChangesOneBowie with it being pot luck as to which version you got as there's no indication on the lp jacket.
Mine is the rarer blue vinyl one shown above where you'll see  they have stylized "Bowie" to pass at first sight for the 1980's RCA records logo on the left and the reminder of the typesetting mimics the RCA label of that era.

 The record itself is housed in a smooth-sided card sleeve that is a close replica of the original that removes any reference to RCA Records and his narration on the record of Peter and the Wolf that RCA issued and was advertised originally.
Looking at it in 2018/9, the pair of albums to sum up as well as one might expect his main era and for some of us the soundtracks of our lives nay childhoods even and so sound better than the original editions did.
Whereas on cd the 1993 deleted The Singles Collection sums his career up better to 1987, I think for a vinyl based part nostalgic look these two albums do work well.

Previous entry:
ChangesOneBowie

Teen Beat XXIII - Hall and Oates

One thing here I do talk about is about music and what is termed "Blue-eyed soul", soul as performed by 'white' people is something I've always liked as much as I find categorizing music by race of  its artists and performers disagreeable as a blind friend of mine said once "How'd you tell by listening anyway?" and like Jay Kay of funksters Jamiroiquai put it when questioned why he should perform in a black style got pretty angry, I object strongly to being racially stereotyped too.
Getting back to the subject, one of most popular and  best artists in this genre for much of the 70's and 80's were Hall and Oates who originate from Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania  and like much of my music collection what were my  lp records and tapes by them became shiny new compact discs.
As I'm getting back to playing more vinyl for enjoyment, I was looking for a good compilation covering those essential singles as Sara Smile, Private Eyes, I Can't Go For That and Out Of Touch and a few minor hits.
One obvious starting point was 1983's Rock 'n' Soul Part 1 but that's short at 47 odd minutes and features a live recording of Wait For Me rather than the single.
This set coming on originally on cd seemed to fit the bill and as issued on double lp by RCA Legacy this year was available new quite cheaply so I bought that.

 This covers everything including the Say It Isn't So and Adult Education  45's from Rock 'n' Soul part 1 and three 45's from 1984's Big Bam Boom album.
This new European pressed lp sounds really good and is very quiet.

 For licensing reasons that compilation album has nothing from their short early 70's period on Atlantic records not least the hit 45 She's Gone so to fill the gap I picked up used the original UK lp version of 1974's Abandoned Luncheonette album that mixes more country influences with then then prevalent PhillySoul as in She's Gone which sold well on reissue in 1976

l did get on super audio cd playable on regular players Rock and Soul Part 1 which does sound much better than the original cd ever did and transferred it to my Fiio music player.

Teenbeat XXI - The Cars on cd edition

It's 2016 and so a series of high quality reissues continues to trundle its way out in drips and drabs of the output of the influential Boston New Wave group The Cars whose music I've had on most formats since the late 1970's.
The Cars - 2016 sacd

 

This originally came out in 1978 being recorded in England where the singles My Best Friends Girl and Just What I Needed were quite popular even coming in picture discs.

This album has had two known remasterings on cd, the okay 1999 HDCD US only and the 1993 limited gold remaster by Steve Hoffman for the now defunct DCC Records which was pretty decent owning both.

The new one by Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs of Chicago,Ill., on super audio cd playable on regular players too, has brought out more fine detail hidden in the original recordings without sounding overly bright.

This like most recent Mfsl cds is packaged in mini lp form replicating the feel of a vinyl album with the disc in a soft cloth inner.

Candy-O - Gold regular cd 2011

 




















It had been a long time in the making near enough 22 months since I ordered this cd when it's release was announced in 2009 but on September 13th it finally came out on gold mini lp style cd and 180 gram vinyl.  
 I first remember buying this in 1979 being mightily impressed with the debut album released June 1978 and it's clutch of singles that charted well in the UK. 
The lead off single on this album was Let's Go a perky little 'new wave' number with It's all I Can Do being the second going from memory. 
 In case any doesn't know the model in the body stocking is Candy Moore. 
This new issue to me has judged the sound of the percussion about right as one of the signature sounds of producer Roy Thomas Baker's work is the forward highly miked drum sound that is hard to pull off without sounding harsh .
The original cd, a red coloured top one from the early 80's was generally a very pleasant sounding one easily one the best Cars cds of the time but suffered from quite a lot of his and also has a haze over the upper treble suggesting to me this was a few generations removed from the original master tape.
I'd say this new version marries the better tapes and attack  with the better rendering of the drums as well as that general listenable nature and certainly is the best cd version I've ever heard.
Strongly recommended.

 Heartbeat City - Audio Fidelity March 2009 HDCD



In March 2009 as part of the relaunch of Audio Fidelity, the 1984 Cars album Heartbeat City got re-issued and re-mastered from the original 30IPS master tapes by Steve Hoffman. This event created an awful lot of interest in hifi circles as you'd expect for the resumption of the 24karat audiophile cd format. From what Mr Hoffman said this is the first time since the original lp was cut in 1984 that these tapes had been used as all the CD versions used copytapes with equalization applied to aid vinyl cutting and the best of these is the WG "Target" which was one of the first CD's issued around the time of the lp issue (cd pressing capacity was a real problem back then).


Above is my copy showing the 'Target' design.
This was in many respects the last good Cars album and a staple of FM radio featuring the smash 45's Drive, You Might Think and Magic. It sure wasn't off my tape player having back the original on chromedioxide tape - that happened to sound rather good back then but both it and the target cd always sounded a bit bright which took away the edge from Ric Ocasek's vocals.
How the audio spectrum has been equalized to bring forward some of the bass  and smooth out the higher notes has made it more enjoyable to listen to.
I would conclude by saying I did not regret buying this Cd - it sounds great - and will be main listening copy for now on although there's a MFSL sacd coming out soon I'd like to hear. 
July 2016 MFSL 2016 SACD (Playable on regular cd players too)

 This one arrived August 19th.
The main difference I would say is it doesn't have the softened high notes of the AF so the slight rasp in the vocals is present without the very bright splashy symbols of the original but has a really warm midband projecting the vocals clearly as if you were in the studio booth hearing the session. In that way it's more truthful to the original lp but really builds what was captured on tape. The infamous gaps between songs appear to be correct on this issue although I did and remain convinced too much was made of that issue.
I prefer this sacd for the sound and love the mini lp presentation.

The Cars Greatest Hits - DCC CD GZS 1123 1996

Shortly afterwards I was able to get this CD also re-mastered by Steve Hoffman with a 19.99% reduction at a price I could just about afford as it's been out of print for just over a decade

This also uses the "original mastertapes" and is quite useful having all the top 40 45's from the first five albums on as Steve only tackled Heartbeat City for AF and The Cars S/T for DCC which is well out of print commanding three figure prices.
It does sound really good although I should note Steve used the album versions of I'm Not The Only One - a 1986 '45 and Heartbeat City rather than the remixes done by Elektra - the bands label - for the original Greatest Hits lp/cd.

Panorama - US Elektra 1999 HDCD

A real step up from my regular German cd and the home of the single Touch and Go, Misfit Kid and You Wear These Eyes.
 I also got the Joe Gastwirt HDCD U.S. only re-master of the bands 1980 Panorama album which in Europe remains in a murky sounding version with very little top response. This had to be imported.
While in every respect the finest version of this album remains the US original lp, the re-master is a considerable improvement obviously sourced from a good quality tape for anyone needing a cd.
The only negative is it is slightly bright on my system - with tone controls you need to turn the treble back to about 11 o'clock.



Shake It Up - Gold regular cd 2009

In November of 2009 Mofi issued this remastered version of the bands fifth album Shake It Up in goldplated UDII form with a mini lp style package which is the home of Victim Of Love, I'm Not The One, Since You're Gone and the title track
Remastered by Rob LoVerde this is the best CD I've ever heard of this title and although it's a limited edition it is highly recommended.
CD catalogue number UDCD788

I have the first five studio albums on lps mainly bought from new between  1979 through 85 too which have their own sound and gain from their bigger size when it comes to looking at the artwork..

Music on the go Part II

You might remember the post about the new to me cassette machine, heard the 'clicks' in chat, and might of been thinking "Okay so you have this machine but just what are you going to do about listening to them on the go" especially as it's been 19 years since I had anything remotely portable that wasn't digital like a cd portable, a minidisc portable player or my beloved Fiio's that play stuff off Micro SD cards? I mean being stuck to a mains plug is rather limiting.

Well, you might just recall  how I write about the first cassette walkman, a portable battery player, I bought in the mid 80's and how that enabled you to play cassettes On The Go, well I bought a replacement to it after all that time!
It too is an Aiwa from the  late 80's - never again a Sony!!! - and although it doesn't reverse the tape for you, it does have Dolby for playing tapes you made with Dolby B correctly which that one didn't, a tape selector and a really handy thing called a stereo FM/AM  radio with presets no less so you can listen to broadcasts with a powerful output stage for good quality headphones.

 Living in the 80's!
Seriously younger persons reading this blog, we didn't have this downloading music from iTunes thing so you either made your own tapes up or you went to your local store - Sam The Man, HMV or for Brits Woolworths - and walked out with a ready done one with art work you slotted into the player and pressed Play!
Those three pre-recorded ones are my originals from the early 80's, UK Imports cos tapes in North America were not generally as good and they messed up the songs and tracks on UK bands albums for good measure.
The first one has just a square reduced version of the front lp jacket and merely lists the songs on the inside, the centre one extends the art concept of the to the rear of the inlay card and has a bit more information while the third has a redesign of the album cover and some of the lp sleeve notes printed.

Here's the spines of a few more-you spot what I was talking about on the spine of Rio - and that some used better quality tape and duplication techniques.

 Some on this group were the last pre-recorded cassettes in 1997 I bought being of particularly high quality sound, long playing times and extensive inlay notes about the music.

Music on the go

The idea of music on the go or at least wherever I was sat always had that kind of an appeal with me simply cos I don't feel like being confined to one space to enjoy it in much the same way I loved it when having gotten my first laptop I could pretty much use it anywhere convenient to me.
The first truly portable devices were tape based  although quite a number of smaller radios did have earphone sockets as the one I had during high school did which I used a lot and I can recall my second best friend at high school getting her tape device, it was a Sony Walkman quite well with a mains unit which in some ways restricted the idea of being just anywhere but in the days before rechargeable batteries were common, I could see the savings over changing the batteries every ten or more hours.
The first one I got was around 1985 having gotten that other entertainment essential of that era , the large stereo radio-cassette recorder to listen to the radio on and play your tapes on and mine was an Aiwa.

 

It was this, an Aiwa HG-G35 which automatically changed tape sides when you came to the end of one and resumed playing the other which was a great boon not least when you were walking around although I always had to have a grown up with me anywhere near roads cos apart from the risks of not hearing traffic, my road sense is poor anyway.

It had a tape selector in case had tapes made on anything other than regular type I  tapes and a three band equalizer to alter the tone with if you needed to and on the  tapes I made you didn't.

The mechanism unlike later models was nearly all metal.

It actually sounded really quite good on a pair of good quality headphones, much better than a later Sony one I had did.

I had  rather a lot of cute paper based self adhesive animal stickers on the front of mine that phazed some folks when I worked and a good indicator of how even in public my Middle with a little side was coming out even then but I wasn't bothered listening to Rush,Duran Duran and Five Star albums on Maxell type II tapes during breaks.

These days I have my Fiio player that plays digital files on Micro SD cards which technically is better but I loved the simplicity of that player.

Teen beat XX- The Electric Light Orchestra

The Electric Light Orchestra and I go back in time buying the 45's as they came out in the 1970's and early 80's a good number in their colourful picture sleeves, playing them at school and home and later on getting a good number of their albums on cd having borrowed  them from either brothers, friends or the public library.

The Elo, were a band that defied the single or album orientation bias  many back then had issuing worthwhile albums and many memorable singles such as Telephone Line, All Over The World, Mr. Blue Sky, Don't Let Me Down and Rock and Roll Is King.

That can make having a compilation quite desirable however there's been a good number starting from 1979's Greatest Hits that in some ways is remains the perfect summary of the 1973-77 singles and double or even triple cd sets.

The one I remember getting in December 1997 was Light Years, a mid price British double issued on cd, cassette and mini disc which was jam packed full of material including edited versions from singles and an EP, in no particular order and suffered from being too consistently loud and bright so I relented and got the original Greatest Hits album on a cheap cd. 

I did briefly get 1991's Greatest Hits Vol II but that sounded very thin although the selection was very good so I got rid of it.

That did leave missing a selection of the later hits as most miss off anything from the  Zanadu soundtrack that gave us three hit singles and to which the title song had been re-recorded in 1991 for the Flashback cd  box set that was criticized for chopping off the very start and ends of a number of tracks.

The one pictured above most would consider the best of the bunch having most of the essential tracks including the very early tracks and was very well mastered by Vic Anesini in 1995 who did excellent work on a number of Columbia projects like the Simon & Garfunkel remasters.

It was only issued in North America and recently I obtained a copy to fill those gaps and having the European Zanadu soundtrack on cd that came out in 1998, the missing tracks from it aren't so much of an issue with me. 

It sounds really good with the extra resolution from using good tapes and taking extra care about how you make each track sounds. 

Numbers

The weekends interlude of snow has passed so I wobble around our estate without fallin' down today which is nice as I don't like being shut in much at all.
Talking in various places across the week brought a few memories back about the past like how we were taught math.

 For us everything started with learning addition and subtraction (take aways) and the decimal system (yay for logical units!) before being introduced to times tables which we had to learn by rote, reciting both individually and as class  up to the Twelve timestable and also by compiling our own time tables  in a grid form.
Everything came from either a text book or more often what our class teacher stuck up on the board for us to either copy down in our exercise books and complete or to work through in class on the board with us being called out to complete in front of the class  showing your working out.
There weren't any work sheets, calculators or a computer back then.
Carrying over numbers and doing long division are kinda etched in my brain which says a lot about how effective the whole class teaching was despite my best effects of telling the teacher I didn't think I should have to, which responded in a sharp reminder who was actually in charge.
We did do fractions but by the time I went to boarding school we got more into equations, area and trigonometry  which I was lousy at to be honest.

Billy Joel, The Piano man Pt.3

Following on from the first two posts of this series, finally the specialty record company Mobile Fidelity re-issued Billy's 1983 album a few weeks ago.

While from the part of view of artistry this fails to keep up with his artistic development such as that on the previous years The Nylon Curtain, what it makes up for is his abilities to bring about a fine pastiche of 50's music for the 80's which hit the nostalgia market head on.
It also helped no end that Billy had embraced the pop video for stations such as Much Music and MTV so those memorable songs from the album such as the singles Uptown Girl, Tell Her About had lodged their way into ones visual recollections of that era. Billys performances on what I can consider to the best songs on the album such as the uptempo Christie Lee, the doowop inspired the Longest Time  and plaintive An Innocent Man are amongst the best he's ever recorded.
This remastered super audio cd that also has a layer that plays in regular players offers much improved transparency over the original and 1998 remastered edition coupled with an amazing rich sound that makes you feel Billy's singing in your room on a good quality stereo.
Strongly recommended for Billy Joel fans.

Learning past and present

One difference between the kind of education I had and that of many children today centres around how we were taught.
For most of my education for instance generally the teacher led the class learning determining what the days topic was in any given subject. They often would dictate notes or write them down on a chalk board for you to copy to your exercise book sometimes with drawings or diagrams too which was fun if you were not good at writing or spelling things as you'd struggle to keep up.
Sometimes we'd have school made duplicated work sheets for some subjects such as Combined Science to complete as we did experiments with bunsen burners, electricity and magnets.
In History we often read from and makes notes using set text books and all homework (and there was heaps of it!) was to be completed by hand.

This scene would be almost familiar to me in high school as we'd move from old style individual wooden desks to clusters of tables and plastic chairs except for one thing.
That's right, where the girl is sat we'd have our exercise book but she has a laptop which looking at this picture closely is something most of her peers do not suggesting she has 'special needs' and has been given one for 'writing up things' with.
That is something I'd of benefited from personally as my hand writing was poor and spelling pretty rotten too.
A number of schools today have huge screens,  some interactive, for teaching with rather than chalkboards (they were called Blackboards until some edict came down saying that word was racist!) but debate rages as to whither or not this is any more effective from the chalkboard and rote learning we had.

Reflections on the death of Margaret Thatcher

Today, it was announced that the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher died following a stroke.
I'm only too aware of the groan up political divisions her era has left however for me she left a powerful memory that's a part of my childhood
Without going into a lot of details on this public blog, my friends and I had the occasion to see Mrs Thatcher at school and we asked if we visit her. Surprisingly she agreed and her secretaries with the help of our school, organized everything!
There is inevitably a lot of work undertaking such an activity from sorting out dates, transportation and getting everyone security cleared with official permits and invites issued.
We were treated to a tour of Number Ten, Downing Street. Shortly afterward,  we did what you guys call 'small talk', talking with her and the staff over Afternoon Tea. Before we left we had pop in the garden at the back of the house (it's quite some garden I can assure you).
She was exceptionally nice to us and nothing was too much trouble.
It was a very memorable visit, something not every elected politician of any kind of  politics would just do for a group of school kids and a reflection of her personal generousity outside of the political posturing you saw in the press and tv.

Chilling little style

Well Sammy's moved so while Ik is down I thought I'd get this weeks entry written up.
One of things I recall thinking about heaps was about everything that would happen after the last period of afternoon school finished. When I went to day school it was kind of easy in that you'd pair off with a few friends and call in at the neighbourhood store to fix some candy to share while you talked about the day and what you thought of Master x's lesson.

At boarding school we had it back in the dorm but because tea was early it was frowned on as it 'spoilt your tea' so you'd leave them for later or weekends.
I have always loved lollipops still walk around the sidewalks  licking them that speaks volumes about me I guess.
Actually I have a pinafore dress not a million miles like that of the girl on picture and used to read while sucking on a lollipop so perhaps one way to visualize me is think of that girl at least in spirit if not in dress. The only thing that matters is having fun reading and sucking your lollipops.

Link:Lollipops

Billy Joel, the Piano Man Pt.2 (teenbeat special)

This is the slightly over due part two of our Teen Beat specials on Billy Joel whose music I loved growing up.

Following a bit of a gap the program resumed with 1978's fantastic 52nd Street jazz influence album with it's hit singles My Life and FM album favourites like Zanzibar which like all of  Mobile Fidelity's  issues in this series isn't just a finely mastered cd besting regular Columbia/Sony issues but also a even better sounding super audio cd that can be played on a dedicated sacd player or many Blu-Ray players that have playback built into them.
These releases use a mini lp style of presentation complete with lyric inserts which I much prefer over plastic jewel cases.

 On July 31st 2012, the specialty reissue company Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs as part of it's program of Billy Joel reissues put out a new version of Billy Joel's 'new wave' Glass Houses album from 1980, the one with 'It's Still Rock and Roll To Me' on it.
If you like Billy Joel as I do then you're no doubt familiar with numbers like 'All for Leyna' but what makes this so enjoyable is it hasn't had any extra narrowing of the quiet and loud passages applied to it so when those drums kick in you can tell! Plus it sounds really clear in the presence area great for Billy's voice and the percussion.The last edition of I bought was the 1998 Sony re-master which I have on Minidisc.

This 1982 album saw Billy emulating the feel of the 60's with many a nod to Paul McCartney and featured hits such as Allentown that caught the despondency of the early 80's Reagan era America as the smokestack industries faced decline.
This new version on regular cd is the best I've ever heard this album which although recorded digitally was actually mixed to analogue tape.
It is to be hoped the 50's pastiche that is An Innocent Man gets this treatment soon.

Elizabeth in Joanne?

This post has be coming to me this morning where I'm poorly laying across my Hello Kitty bed attire and new Duvet in my school uniform, so do bear with me.
Off and on, I've made reference to the books I read during my chronological childhood some of which I owned, some borrowed off friends or via the library of the boarding school I attended.
Indeed you may of spotted a few entries here about books by Enid Blyton that come in that category and how I've gotten new copies not least the second but last entry around St Clare's that with this rotten cold I'm reading, something that is a direct echo of my childhood in times when I read books in my dorm or the sick bay.
I recently got though a most interesting addition again an older edition with original illustrations that has taken me back with some startling observations.
With the final three in one volume of St Clare's (Back to St Clare's) was another three in one book.

This was a 1992 edition of first three The Naughtiest Girl stories (Naughtiest girl again, Naughtiest girl is a monitor and Naughtiest girl in the school)

The stories are set in Whyteleafe, a progressive co-ed boarding school that some feel has a striking resemblance to Summerhill school in Suffolk, England.
The main character is Elizabeth who you could say is a very spoilt child used to getting her own way often running with unchallenged ideas so much so she resolves to behave so badly she can't avoid being expelled from the school she never wanted to go to. The secondary character is her best friend, Joan Townsend, who tries to get her to behave which by the time Elizabeth realizes how lonesome she was as a only girl, she gets more onside with the other children and  is less of a problem to the staff.
Here's an earlier cover from one of the separate books:

Now the first think upon quickly skimming the book was I saw my reflection in in how she dressed in the original illustrations, not least the fully pleated skirt, the modern version of which I'm actually wearing. She's around nine or ten years of age so the first thing I am thinking is, *Something* around this age is lodged in me as I'm not a senior. The second  is that smile as she's doing thinks like flirting ink about - it comes to me that around this age I did some similar things with ink and it's her awkwardness is causing this lashing out as oddly enough it did for me.

E.A stood there on the left of this original illustration is the image of that era of my life, meeting together with satchel, sports kit and naturally full uniform.
One interesting aspect of the Whyteleafe school is that the children have meetings where they dole out pocket money (everyone has a certain minimum  because it is pooled and the case for more has to be accepted by the others first) and also they deal with infractions dishing out punishments which the Monitors have the power to as Elizabeth is reminded of when she acted silly.
In practise, in my school head boys and girls also did although it wasn't formally set up - effectively they stepped in and if didn't accept whatever the outcome was, it was reported to the staff.
On one  particular day I did do something really silly like get going calling one girl rotten names and it got a bit out of hand, as does some of Elizabeth's silly things but unlike it being raised at a Meeting I was called to see the Headgirl in private who wanted answers, insisted on an apology to the girl in question and used her hairbrush on me (which was as far as I was concerned better than some poxy letter from the Head to my folks who'd just send me to child welfare person dragging the whole thing out. At least it's all over with in one go.).
Like Elizabeth I got better after that as I learned to fit in better with people, having my rough edges smoothed and even became a year rep, greeting very important people which does help when as now I have to do groan up things.
Having this book has reminded me of the distance I've travelled emotionally, the difficulties I've overcome in the past through learning to be more mature in how I deal with situations. As well, it affirms what Joanne remains deep down - a little girl only just in double digits - and no one least of me should ever forget it.

Over You (Roxy Music Teenbeat special)

Back in 1972, a year I remember well with moving there were a number of  acts that later on you realized were about to break big one of which was David Bowie who released the seminal Ziggy Stardust album that year and there was Roxy Music.
Roxy Music are an English art rock group formed in November 1970 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone and oboe) and Paul Thompson (drums and percussion). Former members include Brian Eno (synthesizer and "treatments"), and Eddie Jobson (synthesizer and violin). Although they disbanded in 1983 they reunited early this century releasing live albums but nothing new in the studio.
Roxy Music were one of the first English bands I got into buying their records over the years band one first artists to have their catalogues fully released on cd back in the mid 80's before the Stones or even Beatles and they have been reissued three times with the last set suffering from a very loud screechy sound that lead me toward buying my favourite albums by them on original vinyl.
Last Monday this 10 cd box set came out called The Complete Studio Recordings and I sprung for it although it's different than originally intended probably for cost reasons so here's a few thoughts  on it.
The first thing anyone getting this set has to get over this is it's not the ultimate set with High Resolution audio on dvds and a coffee table book throw in it's more basic than that but by way of compensation is a lot cheaper around the £50 mark. That's not much per cd now is it?
Also unfortunately a background capsule booklet wasn't included which is a shame because it would of helped to set the context of each album (and the singles) release for the casual fan but the packaging is otherwise of a high standard with thick card sleeves and a paper inner to protect the disc.
The card looks durable so shouldn't suffer damage in regular use with a bit of care. The box is sturdy (yay!) and functional allowing you to slide out the core to retrieve an album for playing when it is on your shelf something I appreciate having had experiences of the sort so big you end up putting them at the top of the closet!
For this set Roxy Music (self titled) loses Virginia Plain which was never part of the original lp and 1979's Manifesto gains for the first time on cd the album versions of Angel Eyes and Dance Away rather than the disco inspired remakes issued originally for the 45's and all are present in the  2cds covering non album singles, b sides and odd mixes.
The mastering for this set is different than the 1999 HDCD discs which remain available new, preserving far the better the difference between the quieter and louder passages so when you listen to a track like Street Life, it doesn't tire your ear and you can tell the difference between tracks with more softer passages and those that don't .It seems they redid the transfers from original analogue tape which coupled with newer analogue to digital converters results in much smoother sound compared to previous cds.
I've had quite a blast this week playing all these albums back comparing with other versions finding this set to the best sounding yet.
To sum up, it may not be the ultimate set when it comes to features but is a extremely good sounding set, well presented being available at a modest price suitable for either a casual fan as a one stop purchase or for those looking for upgraded sound.

Kajagoogoo - A teenbeat (tm) special

This posts history dates from a threat to launch a thread at a forum if the members didn't behave themselves around Kajagoogoo and was originally posted in a different forum at a forum I think is like to go soonish so I'm liberating this achievement and giving it to us.
If I'd of written it as a regular post here it sure would of been different!!!

The story begins in a sleepy backdrop called Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England where Nick Beggs (bass), Steve Askew (Lead), Stuart Croxford Neale (Keyboards) and Jeremy (Jez) Strode (Drums) get together in 1979 and form Art Nouveau releasing the single 'The Fear Machine'. It sells a few hundred copies, gets airplay on the late John Peels BBC Radio One show but the band fails to gain a commercial contract.
By 1981 they were looking for a lead singer and after several auditions get Christopher Hamill who I think came from Lancashire whose stage name was.... wait for it Limahl which is an anagram of his surname.
Limahl had connections and managed to get the ear of Nick Rhodes (of mega stars Duran Duran) in a place he did some non musical work which resulted in Nick coming to see them play at The Embassy Club, London.
This resulted in them being signed by Duran's label EMI in July of 1982 and getting Nick together with their then produce Colin Thurston to do some work in the studio.
Between this they had a place on the Birmingham based Fashion (remember San Solo anyone?) groups tour.
The rest is history.
 Kajagoogogoo on video:
Originally there was a video EP issued in 1983 back when videos were dear containing Too Shy, Ooh To Be Ah and Big Apple which sadly never was issued as a single in the States (the rotters ! 😡 available on VHS and Billy Betamax.
The good news is those performances are available on DVD on a CD/DVD set entitled 'Too Shy-The best of Kajagoogoo and Limahl that came out in 2009.
That has the first 6 UK singles the solo Limahl singles of that era ('83/4) plus Space Cadet the single from the newly reformed band with all five members.
Said disc sells for about $8 CDN on Amazon in the UK so you've no excuses for having these videos in pristine condition.

 "Tongue tied or short of breathe" and more!

Having gotten the contract with EMI the band were left to demo material they had written including some Art Nouveau stuff in what was the then EMI facility at Manchester Square, London.
It was around the summer of '82 that in rehearsal studio the potential of Too Shy as an initial single was spotted. UK based but American born music media commentator and presenter Paul Gambaccini said "I think that's got something, guys".
It went through three re-writes with even the middle section changed in the studio on the day it was recorded before it was mixed. Paul featured this on his TV special looking at upcoming acts and to this day maintains a friendship with Limahl.
Too Shy was released in the UK January 22 of 1983 (EMI (12) 5359) backed with Too Shy (Instrumental mix) on both 7 and 12" singles with the 12" having the Midnight Mix as the top side. This climbed to the top of the charts and soon the band were plastered all over the magazines of the day such as No1 and Smash Hits that my friends and I all bought.
Following success in Japan - go on start singing 'Big In Japan' 😁 - EMI America decided to market them in North America issuing Too Shy on April 23rd that went Top Five.
The follow up single Ooh To Be Ah (EMI (12) 5383 coupled with Animal Instincts got to number 7 in the UK charts but was passed over by EMI America.

White Feathers

This was the first Kajagoogoo album issued April 1983 on cassette (TC) and lp on EMI EMC 3433 featuring Lies and Promises, Kajagoogoo plus both the initial singles.
It went top five.
In North America it was issued in June EMI America 17094 climbing as high as #38 but in the best American tradition they altered the tracklisting (typical!) reversing the order of the first two tracks (White Feathers and Too Shy) to lead off on the hit single and Frayo and This Car Is Fast from the second side.
The US cassette 4xt17094 added the Moonlight Mix of Too Shy to the end of the second side and also was issued with the XDR(tm) duplication system unlike the UK tape issue and sounds much better for it.

It has been issued twice on cd - yes I bought both ! - the first was in 1993 by OneWay Records in the States thru' CEMA with just the original program in the US track order and then in 2004 in the UK with bonus tracks such as b sides and all the 12" mixes (EMI 7243 4 73962 2 9).
The 2004 isn't bad but I found the OneWay release (7 2438 17608-2 6) more open sounding
Needless to say my circle soon wore out our tapes (I did get an lp too!) back in the day.

Hang On Now!
This was the final single released in the UK from White Feathers on June 4th peaking at #13 ( (12) 5394 and also garnered a Stateside release on August 27th (EMI America 8171) but only got as far as #87 on the chart.

Stay tuned for a word about compilations and that band split.

The band splits!
It was around the late Summer 1983 that we heard Limahl, the lead singer and something of a pin up had left or depending on who was writing in the press, was kicked out with Nick Beggs taking up lead vocals.
Over the years a number of reasons have been trotted out to explain this.
The most common one, mentioned in the VH1 Bands Re-united series, was that they saw Limahl's presence as a distraction as all the press attention was on him, his fashions and that hair. We all wanted that hair I might add!
The rest of the band it was said felt it detracted from their serious musicianship although the band have several issues with that whole VH1 Special since it's showing in 2004 around the coverage of this plus they felt VH1 edited to make it come over that there was a fairy tale ending. Sadly at that time it wasn't. 😢
My gut feeling is it may have come from the management company and possibly touring on a vast scale might not of helped.

Over the decades a number of Kajagoogoo compilations have come out although we're fortunate not to seen them as anthologized as much as Elvis.
My personal favourite is Too Shy - The Singles and More issued by EMI in 1993. Catalogue number 7243 8 21222 2 9

Mastered extremely well by by Jeff Ranch at Capitol and concurrent with the acclaimed 'Living In Oblivion' 80's pop series this presents the first seven band singles plus all of Limahl's up to 1992 which is as well as EMI haven't seen fit to re-issue on cd the two solo albums he did for them being only available on downloads. This is topped off by the 12" versions making this release invaluable to fans as well as general lovers of 80's pop.

Of the others The Very best Of on EMI Gold (7243 8 52956 2 1) from 1996 gives a good selection in reasonable sound.

On A Plane to Islands

It wasn't long before we got to hear what the Limahl less band had in mind musically when on September 17,1983 they issued Big Apple - a big horn driven stomper - backed with a live recording of 'Monochromatic' which has never been recorded in a studio.
This song was more of a statement on the fashion toward black and white clothing we jumble sale chic followers had back then that drove our folks nuts!
The single EMI (12)5423 came out in 7 and 12" forms with Big Apple 'The Metro Mix) as the top side and with the aid of a stylish video reached number 8 on the UK charts and many of us skated to it!
Unfortunately EMI America passed on releasing it which in hindsight can be seen as the moment the band effectively disappeared from the Stateside scene almost as quickly as they'd joined it.

It wasn't until the following year that Kajagoogoo treated us to a new single that was part of the hype around the release of a new album.
On March 3rd 1984 The Lions Mouth - another horn driven song - was issued on (12) EMI 5449 in a striking colour representation of the notion of Bird about to be consumed by a Lion as the front cover. There was an extended version 'The Beast Mix' as the top side of the 12" and an instrumental 'The Pump Rooms Of Bath'.
The single reached number 25 and yes again was not issued in the States.

Islands

The writing of the songs for this album started in the late spring of 1983 with the band being mindful, via the first new single - 'Big Apple' - to set the musical style for the whole album with this and 'On A Plane' being the first written songs. They decided to adopt a more Jazz based sound implementing brass sections while at the same time Stuart got to grips with a PPG Wave term System.

The composing style altered as the band took - not unlike Tears For Fears - the approach of developing instrumental ideas in the studio, cutting them into song themes adding then the melodies and lyrics resulting in the completed song.
The band used a digital multi track recorder which created some scary moments as the tapes started shredding oxide so they had to be sent to Townhouse Studios for one to one duplicating to save months of work.
The song themes featured had moved on exploring more about the human condition 'The Power To Forgive', 'No Man Is An Island' than previous numbers such as 'Ergonomics'
Issued on Lp EMI Kaja1 and XDR(tm) cassette the album reached number 35 on the charts.

Extra Play
Not for the first time had the US record company decided to mess with the British arms completed product only this time they retitled and at the same time altered the feel of the lp by changing the track order.
The parent UK album had nine tracks.

Issued on EMI America 17157 Lp and XDR(tm) tape April 1985 and reached #185.
[list type=decimal]
[*]"Turn Your Back on Me (Thompson and Barbiero U.S. Mix)" – 3:56 *
[*]"The Power to Forgive" – 4:46
[*]"Big Apple" – 4:02
[*]"Melting the Ice Away" – 5:18
[*]"The Lion's Mouth" – 3:30
[*]"Turn Your Back on Me (Flipped Disc Mix)" – 6:58
[*]"Big Apple (Metro Mix)" – 6:02
At long last EMI UK issued this album in an expanded form on cd in 2004 with a reasonable re-mastering job that added all the b sides, 12" mixes and the US mix (*) 7243 4 73654 2 3. As a fan of this album I'd recommended it.
Finally The last single to issued from this album on May 5th 1984 was Turn Your Back On Me on 12" and 7 (12) EMI 5646 peaking at #47. In the US it was issued on March 13 1985 - EMI America 8262 but failed to chart.

Limahl's solo work.

Following the continuation of Kajagoogoo as a four piece band you might well of wondered what did its' original pin up star do?
Well after crying on the Chesterfield for a bit with his sister - the story is told on the inner sleeve - he got underway on recording his first solo album.

It was necessary to issue a single fist to remind folk of his abilities so on November 5th 1983 Only For Love EMI (12) LML1 was issued with a funny romantic video which peaked at #16. It was another track we loved skating to!
Tellingly this was issued in the States until July 20th 1985!

On June 2 1984 he issued Too Much Trouble EMI (12) LML 2. This only reached as high as number 64 on the UK charts so things were not looking to good for the upcoming album release.

Fortunately Limahl had managed to get the ear of synthesizer wizard Georgio Moroder and this resulted in the recording of Never Ending Story from the motion picture 'The Never Ending Story'.
Released October 13 1984 - EMI (12) LML 3- this brought Limahl back in the public's eye with it reaching number 4 on the UK chart. It was issued in the States by EMI America on 8230 on March 23rd 1985.

Don't Suppose

 

  Finally in December 1984 that solo album he'd spend over a year on came out on EMI PLML 1 (EJ 24 0156 2 (/4 for TC) on lp and XDR(tm) cassette.
A collection of pop songs with a personal feel featuring all three singles mentioned so far on it, it hasn't been issued on cd anywhere but all but one track are available scattered across the many Limahl/Kajagoogoo compilations.

In May 1986 he issued the album Colour All My Days on EMI EMC 3510 (US: EMI America 17142) which did not chart.
From this album two singles Love In Your Eyes issued April 14 1986 on EMI 5558 and Inside To Outside issued September 29 on EMI 5570 were issued also failing to chart. This album has not been reissued on cd either.

At this point public interest in all things 'googoo' had dropped and it was not until 1992 that he issued an album in Germany called Love Is Blind (Bellaphone 10007634) with new material and some remixes including one of Too Shy.

The best way on cd to hear his all his solo singles is the Too Shy-The Singles and More cd I mentioned earlier on.

Crazy Peoples Right To Speak.

 Following the release of 1984's Islands album that had garner some critical acclaim and had gone Gold in Japan, Jez Strode left the band.

The band formally adopted throughout the world 'Kaja' as their title (although 'Extra Play' in the US was credited to Kaja in '84) perhaps reflecting on the new identity of the band although the bands brief short memorable tunes with a visual depth remained. This time around the feel was to get quite a bit harder edged something that was immediately apparent on the albums opener, 'Do I'.
For this album album they located to California and hung out with production legend Ken Scott. Although it is commonplace for many artists to use session musicians this was the first time they had used them and the resultant work was then re-mixed at Air Studios, London.
The album was issued in the UK as EJ 24 0399 -1(lp)/-4(XDR(tm) tape) in September 1985.
This album was re-issued with bonus tracks in 2004 on EMI 7243 4 73860 2 2 but either is or is fast approaching out of print status having checked Amazon UK a week back.

The first single released from the sessions was Should Do That on September 21st 1985 on Parlophone (12) R6106 that garner radio replay reaching #63 on the charts.
Promo: R_9V-XYqYDw
The US version was issued on EMI America September 4th on 8284

The last single issued from the album was Do I but this did not chart.
2007 Retrofest performance: gjD3TYyFC0A

Shortly afterward Kaja dissolved as although the band were happy with the album - and it really holds up with much contemporary artists work - sales and interest in Europe was low.

Reunion
There was an attempt by VH1 to re-unite the band in 2003 although various members had worked with each other off and on since the mid 80's but this attempt left a bitter taste in the mouths although around 2007 the band did eventually get back together issuing recordings in 2008 and 2010.