Back in 2013, Rolling Stone magazine released their picks for the 100 best debut albums (I posted about that list on October 28, 2013). I just noticed that they updated the list in 2022, so let's take a look at the new list as it concerns albums released 1976-85. It is quite a bit different and it should be - different people with different perspectives in a different place in time. 5 albums were dropped from the list; 4 albums were added to the list; 17 albums dropped in ranking; 10 albums moved up. The biggest movers were Violent Femmes (dropping 66 places from 22 to 88) and Madonna (moving up an incredible 80 spots for 96 to 16), while Steel Pulse is introduced to the list at 17.
Released: 1981 (A&M) Produced by: Joe Jackson Not released in the US
Side One
Side Two
Hello Hello
It Ain't So
One Good Reason
Listening In
I Don't Wanna Cry
Saturday to Sunday Night
Spit It Out
If It's Not Too Much
Run Run Run
Greasy Money
Back to Black
World Ain't Turning
Smash Hits, April 30, 1981, p. 29
Not released in the US, this album sounds a lot like producer Joe Jackson's first two albums. If you're looking something new to play during your quarantine, you could do worse. I grow tired of the sound by the end, but there are plenty of hooks.
Recently came across this LP and while it isn't exactly my thing, I bought it anyway. The use of the term "heavy metal" is certainly questionable in some cases, but the whole thing reminds me of music I heard blaring out of cars and pickup trucks when I first went cruising in high school. In my little town, the cruising strip ran from the Dairy Queen to the movie theater. So open up your t-top, blast some pop-metal, and drive your sports car 20 mph. Good times.
So I'm perusing past issues of Smash Hits magazine and come across the following ad:
You have my full attention now, Smash Hits. Since I was in Texas and not England in 1983, it's not surprising that I didn't hear of this compilation when it was originally released. I could nitpick and complain that 1973-1983 is eleven years and, therefore, more than a decade, but no time for that - I gotta see a track list and quick. You can see the Discogs listing by clicking here or below is the best photo of the box set back cover I could find:
click to enlarge
That's a damn fine compilation plus many tunes with which I was previously unfamiliar. Here's a playlist (in dire need of updating) if you want to judge/discover for yourself:
Released: April, 1979 (Casablanca) Produced by: Giorgio Moroder & Pete Bellotte Peak on the US Billboard 200: 1 (6 nonconsecutive weeks*) Peak on the CashBox 200: 1 (5 nonconsecutive weeks)
Side One
Side Two
Hot Stuff
Bad Girls
Love Will Always Find You
Walk Away
Dim All the Lights
Journey to the Center of Your Heart
One Night in a Lifetime
Can't Get to Sleep at Night
Side Three
Side Four
On My Honor
There Will Always be a You
On My Honour
All Through the Night
You tend to suspect anyone who releases three double-LPs in eighteen months of delusions of Chicago, but Donna is here to stay and this is her best album. The first two sides, four songs per, never let up--the voice breaks and the guitars moan over a bass-drum thump in what amounts to empty-headed girl-group rock and roll brought cannily up-to-date. Moroder makes his Europercussion play on side four, which is nice too, but side three drags, suggesting that the rock and roll that surfaces here is perhaps only a stop along the way to a totally bleh total performance. Me, I still love my Marvelettes records. A-
ed. note: Mr. Christgau writes a C plus review then gives the album a grade of A minus? That's why I love the guy's reviews.
U.S. Billboard charted singles:
Hot 100
Disco
R&B
AC
Hot Stuff
1
1
3
Bad Girls
1
1
1
Dim All the Lights
2
1
13
44
Walk Away
36
35
22nd Annual Grammy Awards
"Hot Stuff"
Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
Won
"Bad Girls"
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Nominated
"Bad Girls"
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
Nominated
"Dim All the Lights"
Best Disco Recording
Nominated
Bad Girls
Album of the Year
Nominated
To call this thing a concept album about prostitution might be a stretch, but let's go there anyway. It's easier to call it a concept album about sex. I was twelve when this released so both sex and prostitution were things we didn't discuss at our house (I was a preacher's kid). That made this forbidden music which made it that much more attractive to me, naturally.
"Ma’am, who is this Queen of Disco?" (SNL, 4/15/2000)
The first LP (sides 1 & 2) is a great stand-alone album that sees disco moving to a slightly harder sound - Giorgio Moroder sure knew what he was doing. Tracks are carefully segued with no breaks just like a good DJ would mix it, so there's no need to skip any of those tracks. In addition to the three hits ("Bad Girls," "Hot Stuff," "Dim All The Lights"), I'm particularly fond of "Journey to The Center Of Your Heart" and the funky chorus of "One Night In A Lifetime." We're not as lucky with side three which bogs down with ballads. Not that Summer can't pull off a good ballad, but that's not why I buy her music. Side four gets us back with a return to the more synth-oriented sound that hearkens back to "I Feel Love." The album ends with the wonderful but overlooked "Sunset People."
I didn't own this album when it was released. I mistakenly thought there wasn't much need to own it since I could hear the hit songs on the radio (bad pun intended). A single album (sides one and two with "Sunset People" subbed in for "Love Will Always Find You") would have easily rated a grade of A+, but I had to dock the thing a few points for side three.
Note: much of this post's content has previously appeared on this blog. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
Released: 1981 (A&M) Produced by: Chuck Mangione Peak on the US Billboard 200: 55
Side One
Side Two
Tarantellas
The XIth Commandment Suite
Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor
Bellavia
Hill Where the Lord Hides
Side Three
Side Four
Lake Placid Fanfare
Things to Come
'Round Midnight
Manteca
My One and Only Love
All Blues
In 1977, Mangione hit it big with his Feels So Good album and single then he followed it up in 1978 with a live album - most likely a calculated effort to introduce his new fans to his older material. It worked. Also in 1978, he soundtracked The Children of Sanchez motion picture. His true follow-up to Feels So Good didn't come until 1979, when he released the single "Give It All You Got" from the Fun and Games album. This double LP live album, Tarantella, was released in 1981 and quickly disappeared. Maybe only three years between live albums containing much of the same music was too much to ask of record buyers? It has never been officially released in any digital format that I can find, I'm guessing due to licensing fees and general record label nonsense. I've got a vinyl copy. I listened to the heck out of this release when it first came out. The concert featured several guest stars, most notably Chick Corea and Dizzy Gillespie. But it was great group of musicians he put together for the show:
Recorded live at The Americana Hotel Ballroom, Rochester, New York, on December 27, 1980, the concert benefited victims of a recent, massive Italian earthquake. The Americana became a Holiday Inn in 2015.
Cash Box, May 5, 1981, p. 19
Billboard, May 5, 1981, p. 66
Tarantellas (3:55) - Actually two traditional tarantellas arranged by Chuck's brother, pianist Gap Mangione.
The XIth Commandment Suite (12:39) - a shorter version of this Mangione original was included on his 1977 Feels So Good album. In the intro to this suite, Mangione introduces über-drummer Steve Gadd and states that he wrote this suite for Gadd's recital back in 1968 at the prestigious Eastman School of Music.
Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor (7:47) - All songs on side two are Mangione originals, slightly rearranged for this particular ensemble. This tune originally appeared on Mangione's 1973 Land of Make Believe album.
Bellavia (7:03) - A ballad that carries Chuck's mother's maiden name. Originally the title track of a 1975 album.
Hill Where The Lord Hides (6:20) - Originally on a 1970 Mercury album titled Friends and Love, it was released as a single and peaked at #76 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early '71.
Lake Placid Fanfare (:17) - a brass fanfare written by Mangione for ABC's coverage of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Used here as walk-on music for Dizzy Gillespie.
Things to Come (5:38) - a screaming, blazing bop showcase Gillespie wrote in the 1940's and used with big bands for the remainder of his career.
'Round Midnight (8:26) - Thelonious Monk's 1944 standard ballad is given the big band treatment.
Manteca (11:05) - one of Gillespie's most famous compositions, this 1947 tune is considered one of the foundational pieces in the Afro-Cuban jazz genre. Gillespie not only features on trumpet, he also plays the mouth harp here.
My One and Only (11:59) - Mangione and Chick Corea share an intimate duet on this 1952 standard by Guy Wood and Robert Mellin.
All Blues (8:30) - the entire ensemble ends the album with a jam cover this Miles Davis' tune which originally appeared on the legendary Kind of Blue album in 1959.
