Music That We Adore

Take a trip through the 60s, 70's and 80's Music, and relive all the songs and artists that marked an Era.

Best-Selling Artists

The Beatles - Elvis Presley - Michael Jackson - Frank Sinatra - Bing Crosby - ABBA - Julio Iglesias - Led Zepplin - Nana Mouskouri - Queen

Best-Selling Singles [Millions Sold]

White Christmas 50m- Candle in the Wind 33m- Silent Night 30m- Rock Around the Clock 25m- Diana 20m - We Are the World 20m- If I Didn't Care 19m- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 18m- Yes Sir, I Can Boogie 18m

Great Song Lists

You will enjoy more discographies of artists on this blog than most other blogs.

Great Artists - Great Albums

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Thursday, December 30, 2021

Gram Parsons [RIP] - Discography

Gram Parsons Discography

Born: November 5, 1946  -  Died: September 19, 1973
R.I.P.

Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist born Ingram Cecil Connor, III. A solo artist as well as a member of The International Submarine Band, The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, he is best known for a series of recordings which anticipate the country rock of the 1970s and the alt-country movement that began in the 80s. Parsons was a close friend of Keith Richards and is also credited for turning the Rolling Stones onto country music in their 'Let it Bleed'-era.
Parsons described his records as "Cosmic American Music". He died of a drug overdose, at the age of 26, on September 19, 1973. Parsons' body was stolen from the airport and cremated on a makeshift outdoor funeral pyre (coffin and five gallons of gas) at Cap Rock,Joshua Tree by his road manager, Phil Kaufmann.

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Johnny Crawford [RIP] - Discography

 Johnny Crawford - Discography


Born: March 26.1946 - Died: April 29. 2021
R.I.P.

John Ernest “Johnny” Crawford is an American actor, musician, and singer. He rose to prominence for playing Mark McCain in the hit ABC series ‘The Rifleman’. The series, which depicted the story of a widowed farmer and his son on the frontier, was a huge success. It ran for five years and earned him an Emmy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Born in a family of performers, Crawford first performed before an audience as one of the Mouseketeers on Walt Disney’s ‘The Mickey Mouse Club.’ Besides being a talented actor, he is also a skilled musician and has performed in a California-based vintage dance orchestra. He is a singer as well and has released a number of singles during his recording career. In 1999, Crawford retired from the entertainment industry and has since then maintained a low profile. His personal life has been devoid of any major controversy.

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Canned Heat - Discography

CANNED HEAT DISCOGRAPHY


A hard-luck blues band of the '60s, Canned Heat was founded by blues historians and record collectors Alan Wilson and Bob Hite. They seemed to be on the right track and played all the right festivals (including Monterey and Woodstock, making it very prominently into the documentaries about both) but somehow never found a lasting audience.

Certainly their hearts were in the right place. Canned Heat's debut album -- released shortly after their appearance at Monterey -- was every bit as deep into the roots of the blues as any other combo of the time mining similar turf, with the exception of the original Paul Butterfield band. Hite was nicknamed "The Bear" and stalked the stage in the time-honored tradition of Howlin' Wolf and other large-proportioned bluesmen. Wilson was an extraordinary harmonica player, with a fat tone and great vibrato. His work on guitar, especially in open tunings (he played on Son House's rediscovery recordings of the mid-'60s, incidentally) gave the band a depth and texture that most other rhythm players could only aspire to. Henry Vestine -- another dyed-in-the-wool record collector -- was the West Coast's answer to Michael Bloomfield and capable of fretboard fireworks at a moment's notice.

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Scott Walker [RIP] - Discography

 SCOTT WALKER  [R.I.P.] - DISCOGRAPHY

R.I.P.
Born: January 9, 1943 - Died: March 22, 2019

Noel Scott Engel (January 9, 1943 – March 22, 2019, better known by his stage name Scott Walker, was a British-American singer-songwriter, composer and record producer who resided in England. Walker was known for his emotive baritone voice and his unorthodox stylistic path which took him from being a sophisticated teen pop icon in the 1960s to becoming an avant-garde musician in the 21st century. Walker's success was largely in the United Kingdom, where his first four solo albums reached the top ten. He lived in the UK from 1965 onward and became a UK citizen in 1970.

Rising to fame in the mid-1960s as frontman of the pop music trio the Walker Brothers, he began a solo career with 1967's Scott, moving toward an increasingly challenging style on late-1960s baroque pop albums such as Scott 3 and Scott 4 (both 1969). After sales of his solo work started to decrease, he reunited with the Walker Brothers in the mid-1970s. From the mid-1980s onward, Walker revived his solo career while moving in an increasingly avant-garde direction; of this period in his career, The Guardian said "imagine Andy Williams reinventing himself as Stockhausen". Walker's 1960s recordings were highly regarded by the 1980s UK underground music scene, and gained a cult following.

Walker continued to record until 2018. He was described by the BBC upon his death as "one of the most enigmatic and influential figures in rock history".

Friday, December 17, 2021

Icehouse [Aust] - Discography

 ICEHOUSE DISCOGRAPHY

Icehouse is a rock band from Sydney, formed in 1977. Initially known in Australia for their pub-rock style, the band later achieved mainstream success playing new-wave and synthpop music and attained Top 10 singles chart success locally and in both Europe and the U.S. The mainstay of both Flowers and Icehouse has been Iva Davies (singer-songwriter, record producer, guitar, bass, keyboards, oboe) supplying additional musicians as required. The name "Icehouse", adopted in 1981, comes from an old, cold flat Davies lived in and the strange building across the road populated by itinerant people.

Monday, December 13, 2021

Kamahl [Aust] - Discography

KAMAHL DISCOGRAPHY


Kamahl is the name which, for over four decades, has identified the music and unique voice of a man who is one of the most sensational recording stars in Australian history. This is his inspiring and heart-warming story.

When he arrived in Adelaide from Malaysia as a Tamil Hindu schoolboy in 1953, after a tormented childhood under Japanese occupation, he was a black in an alien white country. A lone teenager speaking poor English, totally unfamiliar with Western music and his only skills were those on the sports fields.

Shyly, he learned to sing, from pop to the classics, inspired by other great black artists such as Nat King Cole, Paul Robeson and William Warfield, all of whom he met. He survived by agility and luck, outwitting the Immigration Department and the “White Australia Policy”, which wanted him deported. Kamahl was protected mainly with the loyalty of his mentor and friend, Rupert Murdoch.

He always swam against the tide, acquiring along the way a reputation for toughness and arrogance which was a shield against the feelings of racial inferiority which have haunted him throughout his life. He cheerfully took career gambles as few others have done, audaciously hiring the London Palladium to star himself, twice playing Carnegie Hall in New York, and arriving as an unknown in Europe with a hit about an elephant that made him a star there.

The story of his life, which took him from a child in the cow paddocks of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to being a performer able to count among his friends some of the great and mighty, is one of the most extraordinary adventures in show business… from being bombed in Malaysia to a sometimes turbulent, but enduring marriage in Australia, to making and losing a fortune, and making it again. His philanthropy along the way is legend, and for it he was made a Member of the Order of Australia.

But, above all, Kamahl is still entertaining … and still packing them in.

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

The New Seekers - Discography

 THE NEW SEEKERS DISCOGRAPHY

Known chiefly for making a Coca-Cola jingle into a massive worldwide hit, the New Seekers ostensibly grew out of the ashes of the Australian folk-rock outfit the Seekers ("Georgy Girl"). Although their clear harmonies, pop leanings, and squeaky-clean image were similar to the original band, their actual connection was tenuous at best. After the Seekers disbanded, guitarist/vocalist Keith Potger put together an otherwise completely new band in late 1969: female vocalists Eve Graham and Sally Graham (no relation), guitarists/vocalists Laurie Heath and Marty Kristian, and bassist/vocalist Chris Barrington. Potger christened them the New Seekers and produced their self-titled 1970 debut album, and while he did sing with them at first, he soon retired from both performance and production to become their manager, leaving them with no members of the original Seekers. His last appearance was on the ironically titled follow-up Keith Potger and the New Seekers, which was issued before the end of the year and featured numerous personnel changes; only Eve Graham and Marty Kristian remained, joined by singer Lyn Paul and guitarists/vocalists Paul Layton and Peter Doyle.

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Bill Medley - Discography

BILL MEDLEY DISCOGRAPHY 


Medley was born on September 19, 1940 in Santa Ana, California, to Arnol and Irma Medley.
He attended Santa Ana High School and graduated in 1962. Medley was raised as a Presbyterian and started singing in a church choir.  His parents had a swing band.  He became interested in R&B music listening to black music radio stations.  An early influence he cited is Little Richard whom he first heard when he was fifteen or sixteen years old, and later Ray Charles, Bobby Bland, and B.B. King.
Medley first formed a singing duo called The Romancers with his friend Don Fiduccia, who also played the guitar. He began to write songs and record multi-track recordings in his living room.  At 19, he had two songs, "Womaling" and "Chimes of My Heart", recorded by vocal group The Diamonds.  Medley and Fiduccia then formed a group called The Paramours in 1960, with Sal Fasulo and Nick Tuturro, later joined by Mike Rider and Barry Rillera. The band had its first paying gig at Little Italy restaurant in Anaheim, California. The Paramours was signed to Mercury Records' subsidiary label Smash Records, and released songs such as "That's The Way We Love" and "Miss Social Climber" in 1961.

The Righteous Brothers - Discography

THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS DISCOGRAPHY


They weren't brothers, but Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield (both born in 1940) were most definitely righteous, defining (and perhaps even inspiring) the term "blue-eyed soul" in the mid-'60s. The white Southern California duo were an established journeyman doo wop/R&B act before an association with Phil Spector produced one of the most memorable hits of the 1960s, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." The collaboration soon fell apart, though, and while the singers had some other excellent hit singles in a similar style, they proved unable to sustain their momentum after just a year or two at the top.

When Medley and Hatfield combined forces in 1962, they emerged from regional groups the Paramours and the Variations; in fact, they kept the Paramours billing for their first single. By 1963, they were calling themselves the Righteous Brothers, Medley taking the low parts with his smoky baritone, Hatfield taking the higher tenor and falsetto lines. For the next couple of years they did quite a few energetic R&B tunes on the Moonglow label that bore similarity to the gospel/soul/rock style of Ray Charles, copping their greatest success with "Little Latin Lupe Lu," which became a garage-band favorite covered by Mitch Ryder, the Kingsmen, and others.

Monday, December 6, 2021

Kevin Johnson [Aust] - Discography

 KEVIN JOHNSON DISCOGRAPHY 


Australian singer/songwriter, born 1943 in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia.

Australian singer-songwriter Johnson is best remembered for his sole commercial hit, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life)’. Originally recorded in 1973 for Mainstream Records in his native territory, it gradually picked up airplay until in 1975 it was covered by Mac Davis, who took it into the Billboard Top 20 in the US. In consequence Jonathan King leased Johnson’s original version to his own UK Records label and was rewarded with a Top 30 success (number 23). It proved to be the artist’s only success and has not subsequently been anthologised.

Friday, December 3, 2021

Slim Dusty [Aust] - RIP - Discography

SLIM DUSTY DISCOGRAPHY 

Born: June 13, 1927 - Died: September 19, 2003
R.I.P.
Slim Dusty, AO MBE (born David Gordon Kirkpatrick; 13 June 1927 – 19 September 2003) was an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He was an Australian cultural icon and one of the country's most awarded stars, with a career spanning nearly seven decades and producing numerous recordings. He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australia, particularly of bush life and renowned Australian bush poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson that represented the lifestyle. The music genre was coined the "bush ballad", a style first made popular by Buddy Williams, the first artist to perform the genre in Australia, and also for his many trucking songs.

Slim Dusty "released more than a hundred albums, selling more than seven million records and earning over 70 gold and platinum album certifications". He was the first Australian to have a No. 1 international hit song, with a version of Gordon Parsons' "A Pub with No Beer".[1] He received an unequalled 45 Golden Guitar and an Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) award. He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and Australian Roll of Renown. At the time of his death, at the age of 76, Dusty had been working on his 106th album for EMI Records. In 2007, his domestic record sales in Australia surpassed seven million. During his lifetime, Dusty was considered an Australian National Treasure. He performed "Waltzing Matilda", a very famous song in Australia, at the closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Sunday, November 28, 2021

Skyhooks [Aust] - Discography

SKYHOOKS DISCOGRAPHY

In the mid-'70s, the Skyhooks shook and shaped Australian rock almost as much as the Beatles and Elvis Presley.

The glitter rock period of music did not sit well with Australian music, which is steeped in singers and bands having to be able to cut it in front of an audience. In the '70s, no self-respecting new Australian band would dare stand in front of an audience in make-up, glitter, and stacked heels and hope to be taken seriously. Melbourne's Skyhooks decided to parody that side of music rather than follow it. They dressed in an assortment of costumes, but what they wore had nothing to do with the music they performed, which was pure sex, drugs, and rock & roll, in songs that spoke about the world around them as it a was, right down to the names of the streets and suburbs the band and their audience came from. The songs, written by bassist Greg Macainsh, spoke louder than the costumes. Instead of being the intended parody the costumes only helped to separate Skyhooks from everything else happening in world and Australian rock.

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Freda Payne - Discography

FREDA PAYNE DISCOGRAPHY

Freda Payne
The multi-talented Freda Payne is best known for her singing career, yet she has also performed in musicals and acted in movies over the years, and was briefly the host of her own TV talk show. Born Freda Charcilia Payne on September 19, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan, Payne developed an appreciation of music at an early age (due to such sultry jazz singers as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Billie Holiday). Payne's own musical career blossomed soon after, as she began early singing radio commercial jingles, which brought the young vocalist to the attention of several music-biz heavyweights. Berry Gordy, Jr. attempted to sign Payne to his then-burgeoning record company Motown, while Duke Ellington employed Payne as the featured singer with his renowned orchestra for two nights in Pittsburgh, resulting in Ellington offering the teenager a ten-year contract. But in both cases, Payne's mother turned them down.

After the Lights Go Down Low and Much More!!!
During the early to mid-'60s, Payne established herself as a fine jazz vocalist, touring the country with both Quincy Jones and Bill Cosby, and issuing a jazz/big band-based album in 1963, After the Lights Go Down Low and Much More!. In addition to a sophomore effort surfacing three years later, How Do You Say I Don't Love You Anymore, Payne enjoyed further exposure via appearances on such TV shows as Johnny Carson, David Frost, and Merv Griffin. But it wasn't until Payne signed on to the Invictus label in 1969 (headed by longtime friends/former Motown songwriters/producers Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland) and issued the fine album Band of Gold that she scored her breakthrough hit single, the album's title track, which peaked at number three in the U.S. and topped the chart in the U.K. in 1970.

Lori Lieberman - Discography

LORI LIEBERMAN - DISCOGRAPHY

Lori Lieberman (born November 15, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who accompanies herself on guitar and piano. She first came to public attention in the early 1970s with a series of albums on Capitol Records, one of which featured the first recording of "Killing Me Softly with His Song". After a long gap, she resumed her recording career in the mid-1990s.

Lieberman began singing and composing at a young age, simultaneously acquiring a taste for French singers and songwriters as well as American rock and pop music. The latter passion was fed by an older sister who would return from trips to the U.S. with albums by Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Leonard Cohen and Jefferson Airplane.

Shortly after she returned to America to study in her late teens, Lieberman was signed to a production, recording and publishing deal struck between Capitol Records and songwriters Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel. Lieberman's contributions to the process were occasionally credited during this period of her career, most notably on "My Lover Do You Know" which appeared on her first album, 1972's Lori Lieberman, and which was singled out for praise by Billboard magazine.

In the gap between her first and second albums, "Killing Me Softly With His Song", a track from Lieberman's debut, was recorded by Roberta Flack – becoming a US No. 1 and international hit and rapidly overshadowing Lieberman's own, more understated original which had until that point been gaining traction on radio. Undeterred, Lieberman returned in 1973 with Becoming, her first album to achieve a placing on the Billboard Top 200.

Saturday, November 20, 2021

Don McLean - Discography

Don McLean Discography

Don McLean released his debut album, Tapestry, at the dawn of the 1970s when the hangover haze of the 1960s still lingered strongly in the air. McLean specialized in that netherworld between '60s coffeehouse folk and '70s introspection, navigating the distance between confessional singer/songwriter and MOR pop. He'd never abandon this aesthetic, crafting a handsome, modest body of work over the course of nearly five decades, but he'd always be known for "American Pie," his fluke 1971 chart-topper. A long, winding elegy for rock & roll, "American Pie" spent four weeks on the Billboard charts but that smash success was eclipsed by its enduring afterlife in the culture, where it served as the fodder for nostalgia and parodies for decades, eventually earning entry into the National Recording Registry in 2017. So strong was the allure of "American Pie" that it suggested McLean only had one charting hit, which isn't true: its follow-up, "Vincent," peaked at 12, and throughout the '70s he was a mainstay on Billboard's adult contemporary charts, culminating in his final crossover hit in the form of a 1980 cover of Roy Orbison's "Crying." McLean faded from the charts not long after that, but he'd keep touring and recording all the way into the 2010s, relying as much on affection for his entire catalog as he did on "American Pie."

Friday, November 19, 2021

The Sorrows - Discography

 The Sorrows Discography

A British band of the 1960s, the Sorrows had a short run of success in the United Kingdom before they experienced another burst of fame in Italy. The Sorrows started out playing tough, moody rock & roll with an R&B accent, and like many bands of the Beat era, elements of freakbeat and psychedelia would find their way into their music as the decade wore on, a process aided by the frequent personnel turnover during their later years. Though they only scored one major hit in the U.K., "Take a Heart," they would go on to enjoy a cult following that outstripped that of many of their contemporaries as their music retained a fresh approach. The group's sole album, 1965's Take a Heart, is a superior Beat era long-player, and 2021's Pink, Purple, Yellow & Red: The Complete Sorrows is an exhaustive summary of their full recorded legacy.

Monday, November 15, 2021

Duran Duran - Discography

Duran Duran - Discography 

Duran Duran epitomized the sleek, fashionable side of new wave, specializing in danceable, synthesized pop delivered with visual flair -- a talent crystallized in a series of groundbreaking music videos from the early 1980s. The group had the good fortune to deliver their debut album in 1981, the same year MTV began broadcasting, and their success was intertwined: Duran Duran gave the network clever, cinematic clips for "Rio" and "Hungry Like the Wolf," which MTV played ceaselessly, helping to turn the Birmingham, England-based band into global superstars. Between 1982 and 1985, the band were fixtures on the British and American charts, with "Is There Something I Should Know?," "Union of the Snake," "The Wild Boys" and the James Bond theme "A View to A Kill" reaching the Top Ten on both sides of the Atlantic. Unlike many of their new wave peers, Duran Duran managed to sustain a career that lasted for decades, withstanding a shifting lineup -- the duo of keyboardist Nick Rhodes and vocalist Simon Le Bon were the only two members to stay with the group throughout the years -- and changes in musical fashion. The group forged an alliance with Chic's Nile Rodgers for 1986's funky Notorious, then refashioned themselves as mature balladeers in 1993 and landed one of their biggest hits with "Ordinary World." The original lineup from the New Romantic era reunited for 2004's Astronaut, a move that helped revive the band's profile. Over the next decade, they collaborated with a number of prominent modern hitmakers, including Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Mark Ronson, and Blur's Graham Coxon, who featured prominently on their 2021 album Future Past.

Saturday, November 13, 2021

Sweet - Discography

SWEET - Discography

In some ways, the Sweet epitomized all the tacky hubris and garish silliness of the early '70s. Fusing bubblegum melodies with crunching, fuzzy guitars, the band looked like a heavy metal band, but were as tame as any pop group. It was a dichotomy that served them well, as they racked up a number of hits in both the U.K. and the U.S. Most of those songs were written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, a pair of British songwriters who had a way with silly, simple, and catchy hooks. Chinn/Chapman and Sweet were smart enough to latch on to the British glam rock fad, building a safer, radio-friendly, and teen-oriented version of Queen, T. Rex, and Gary Glitter. By the end of the '70s, the group's time at the top of the charts had expired but their hit singles lived on not only as cultural artifacts, but also as the predecessors for the pop-metal of the '80s.

Thursday, November 11, 2021

The Everly Brothers [RIP] - Discography

Sad News that Don Everly has passed away
22 August 2021


The Everly Brothers
R.I.P.

The Everly Brothers were not only among the most important and best early rock & roll stars, but also among the most influential rockers of any era. They set unmatched standards for close, two-part harmonies and infused early rock & roll with some of the best elements of country and pop music. Their legacy was and is felt enormously in all rock acts that employ harmonies as prime features, from the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel to legions of country-rockers as well as roots rockers like Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe (who once recorded an EP of Everlys songs together).

Don (born February 1, 1937) and Phil (born January 19, 1939) were professionals way before their teens, schooled by their accomplished guitarist father Ike, and singing with their family on radio broadcasts in Iowa. In the mid-'50s, they made a brief stab at conventional Nashville country with Columbia. When their single flopped, they were cast adrift for quite a while until they latched onto Cadence. Don invested their first single for the label, "Bye Bye Love," with a Bo Diddley beat that helped lift the song to number two in 1957.

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

The Spencer Davis Group - Discography

The Spencer Davis Group


His ferocious soul-drenched vocals belying his tender teenage years, Stevie Winwood powered the Spencer Davis Group's three biggest U.S. hits during their brief life span as one of the British Invasion's most convincing R&B-based combos.

Guitarist Davis formed the band with Winwood on organ, his brother Muff Winwood on bass, and drummer Peter York. Signing on with producer Chris Blackwell, the quartet got their first hit (the blistering "Keep on Running") from another of Blackwell's acts, West Indian performer Jackie Edwards. After topping the British charts in 1965, the song struggled on the lower reaches of the U.S. Hot 100.

Monday, November 8, 2021

ABBA - Discography

ABBA


ABBA were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by members Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They became one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1974 to 1982. ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 at The Dome in Brighton, UK, giving Sweden its first triumph in the contest, and are the most successful group ever to take part in the competition.

ABBA's record sales figure is uncertain and various estimates range from over 140 to over 500 million sold records. This makes them one of the best-selling music artists. ABBA was the first group from a non-English-speaking country to achieve consistent success in the charts of English-speaking countries, including the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and on a lesser scale, the U.S. The group also enjoyed significant success in Latin American markets, and recorded a collection of their hit songs in Spanish.

During the band's active years, Fältskog & Ulvaeus and Lyngstad & Andersson were married. At the height of their popularity, both relationships were suffering strain which ultimately resulted in the collapse of the Ulvaeus–Fältskog marriage in 1979 and the Andersson–Lyngstad marriage in 1981. These relationship changes were reflected in the group's music, with later compositions featuring more introspective and dark lyrics in contrast to their usual pure-pop sound.

After ABBA disbanded in December 1982, Andersson and Ulvaeus achieved success writing music for the stage, while Lyngstad and Fältskog pursued solo careers with mixed success. ABBA's music declined in popularity until the purchase of ABBAs catalogue and record company Polar by Polygram in 1989 enabled the groundwork to be laid for an international re-issue of all their original material and a new Greatest Hits (ABBA Gold) collection in the Autumn of 1992 which became a worldwide smash. Several films, notably Muriel's Wedding (1994) and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), further revived public interest in the group and the spawning of several tribute bands. In 1999, ABBA's music was adapted into the successful musical Mamma Mia! that toured worldwide. A film of the same name, released in 2008, became the highest-grossing film in the United Kingdom that year.

ABBA were honoured at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, when their hit "Waterloo" was chosen as the best song in the competition's history. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

John Williamson [Australian Artist] - Discography

JOHN WILLIAMSON

John Robert Williamson AM (born 10 November 1945 in Quambatook, Victoria) is an Australian country music singer-songwriter. He has received more than twenty-three Golden Guitar Awards at the Country Music Awards of Australia and has won two ARIA Music Awards for Best Australian Country Record.

In 1970 Williamson's first song, "Old Man Emu", went to No.1 and became gold. Another one of his classics, "Mallee Boy", became triple-platinum and won him an ARIA Award.

Jay and The Americans - Discography

R.I.P.
Jay Black, Lead Singer of Jay and the Americans passed away 22 October 2021 aged 82. Jay died from complications due to pneumonia.

Jay and The Americans


Though they had a bunch of hits across the 1960s, Jay & the Americans were a throwback to a previous era in their doo wop-influenced vocals, neatly groomed, short-haired appearance, and mix of pop/rock with operatic schmaltz. Built around the neck-bulging upper-register vocals of David Blatt aka Jay Black, their biggest hits -- "She Cried," "Cara Mia" (which you could, in the second half of the 1970s, just imagine Eddie Mekka's Carmine Ragusa, aka "The Big Ragu," singing on Laverne & Shirley), "Come a Little Bit Closer," and "Let's Lock the Door (And Throw Away the Key)" -- came off as sort of hit parade versions of West Side Story. The group also relied on outside songwriters for its material, drifting into MOR covers of oldies by the end of the '60s, and was generally a sort of textbook of unhipness during a time when self-contained rock bands were becoming the norm.

Monday, October 25, 2021

Sugarloaf - Discography

SUGARLOAF 

SUGARLOAF
Best known for their 1970 AM pop classic "Green-Eyed Lady," Sugarloaf was formed in 1969 in Denver out of the ashes of the Moonrakers, which had released an album in 1968. Singer/keyboardist Jerry Corbetta and guitarist Bob Webber founded the group, adding Moonraker mates Bob MacVittie on drums and Veeder Van Dorn on rhythm guitar, plus bassist Bob Raymond. Originally dubbed Chocolate Hair, the band lost Van Dorn after just a few months when he joined Mescalero Space Kit. On the strength of their demos, the band was signed to Liberty, and changed their name to Sugarloaf, after a Colorado mountain popular with skiers (the record company was concerned about the possible racial overtones of Chocolate Hair). Sugarloaf recorded their self-titled debut album in 1970, and the single "Green-Eyed Lady" 

Friday, October 22, 2021

Albert Hammond - Discography

ALBERT HAMMOND 



Albert Hammond is one of the more successful pop/rock songwriters to come out of England during the 1960s and 1970s, and has also enjoyed a long career as a recording artist, his work popular in two languages on three continents across four decades. Hammond was born in London in 1944 -- his family actually came from the British colony on Gibraltar, but wartime considerations caused his mother to be evacuated to London, where she gave birth. He spent his childhood and youth on Gibraltar, where he became fluent in both English and Spanish -- that bilingual ability would serve him well in his later career. His family lived modestly on his father's fireman's pay, and one of his early diversions was music -- he sang in church and became head choir boy. He also became interested in popular music, sang for his own enjoyment, and also took up the guitar.

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

John Fred & His Playboy Band - Collection

John Fred & His Playboy Band

John Fred (b. John Fred Gourrier, 8 May 1941, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, d. 15 April 2005, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA) was a 6 foot 5 inch, blue-eyed soul singer who originally formed John Fred And The Playboys in 1956. This unit made their first record (‘Shirley’) two years later with Fats Domino’s backing group. During the early 60s various versions of the Playboys recorded for small independent record labels such as Jewel and N-Joy, and eventually became known as John Fred And His Playboy Band. It was not until the end of 1967 that success finally came with the international hit, ‘Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)’. An amusing satire on the Beatles’ ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’, the single beat off a rival version by Amboy Dukes. Unfortunately this meant the Playboy Band were unfairly perceived as a novelty group, when in fact they were a tight, well organized and long-serving unit. Fred’s blue-eyed soul vocals were most evident on Agnes English, which included a rasping version of ‘She Shot A Hole In My Soul’. By the end of the 60s the band had split-up, with Fred going on to record with a new group and work as a producer for RCS in Baton Rouge.

Elvis Presley [RIP] - Discography

ELVIS PRESLEY

Elvis Presley
Born: January 8, 1935 - Died: August 16, 1977
R.I.P.

Elvis Presley belongs on the short list of artists who changed the course of popular music in the 20th century. He may not have invented rock & roll, but he was indisputably its first rock star, a singer whose charisma intertwined tightly with his natural talent for a combination that seemed combustible, sexy, and dangerous when Presley seized the imagination of America in 1956 with four successive number one singles in 1956. Elvis spent the next two decades near the top of the charts, weathering changes in fashion, self-inflicted career missteps, and comebacks as his music expanded and evolved. Throughout his career, Presley never abandoned the rock & roll he pioneered on his early singles for Sun Records, but he developed an effective counterpoint to his primal rockabilly by honing a rich, resonant ballad style while also delving into blues, country, and soul, progressions that came into sharp relief with his celebrated "comeback" in the late 1960s. Some musical nuances were overshadowed by Presley's phenomenal celebrity, a fame maintained by a long string of B-movies in the '60s and extravagant Las Vegas shows in the '70s, elements that were essential in creating a stardom that persisted long after his premature death in 1977. The myth of Elvis grew in his absence, aided by turning his Memphis home Graceland into a tourist attraction, which made him an enormous cultural icon only loosely tied to his rock & roll origins; fortunately, the passage of time helped clarify the depth and range of his musical achievements. He undeniably kick-started the rock & roll era, shaping the sound and attitudes of the last few decades of the 20th century in the process, but he also built a distinctive body of work that reflected the best of what American music has to offer.

Jewel Akens - Discography

Jewel Akens

Jewel Akens

Doo wop veteran Jewel Akens was born September 12, 1940, in Houston, TX. He began singing in church as a child, but was also influenced by the blues joint in his neighborhood. In the late '40s, his family moved to Los Angeles. In his teens, Akens sang with a group called the Four Dots. Introduced to Eddie Cochran's manager Jerry Capehart, the group recorded a single for Freedom Records in 1959. Later Aikens and a friend, Eddie Daniels, recorded as Akens and Daniels for Capehart's Silver and Capehart labels. Eddie Cochran played guitar on these sides as well as Akens' sides for Crest. Akens did background vocals on releases by John Ashley ("Hot Rod Gang," "High School Caesar," "2001: A Space Odyssey"). The Four Dots also recorded singles for Liberty ("Don't Wake Up the Kids," "Peace of Mind"), Bullseye, and Dot Records ("My Dear"). In 1961, Aikens and Daniels recorded an Imperial single, "Boom a Lay" b/w "Hide & Seek," as the Astro-Jets.

Jewel Akens - All The Best of


Jewel Akens - Birds & The Bees


Jewel Akens - King Of The Road


Jewel Akens - The Best of Jewel Akens



Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Tom Waits - Discography

TOM WAITS

Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during the 1970s, but his music since the 1980s has reflected greater influence from blues, rock, vaudeville, and experimental genres.

Waits was born and raised in a middle-class family in Pomona, California. Inspired by the work of Bob Dylan and the Beat Generation, he began singing on the San Diego folk music circuit as a teenager. He relocated to Los Angeles in 1972, where he worked as a songwriter before signing a recording contract with Asylum Records. His first albums were the jazz-oriented Closing Time (1973) and The Heart of Saturday Night (1974), which reflected his lyrical interest in nightlife, poverty, and criminality. He repeatedly toured the United States, Europe, and Japan, and attracted greater critical recognition and commercial success with Small Change (1976), Blue Valentine (1978), and Heartattack and Vine (1980). He produced the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola's film One from the Heart (1981), and subsequently made cameo appearances in several Coppola films.
 

Monday, October 11, 2021

Arlo Guthrie - Discography

 ARLO GUTHRIE

Arlo Davy Guthrie was born July 10, 1947, in the Coney Island section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City and grew up there. He was the fifth child of Woody Guthrie, the famous folksinger and songwriter, but the second child born to his father's second wife, Marjorie Greenblatt Mazia Guthrie, a former dancer with the Martha Graham dance troupe who had become a dance teacher; his older sister, Cathy Ann Guthrie, had died in a fire at the age of four five months earlier. After having two more children, Joady and Nora, Guthrie's parents separated when he was four and later divorced; his mother remarried. His father remained an important presence in his life, however, giving him his first guitar for his sixth birthday in 1953. By then, Woody Guthrie had been diagnosed with Huntington's disease, an incurable, hereditary illness; he was hospitalized permanently in 1954, and Guthrie's mother supervised his care.

Thursday, October 7, 2021

The Walker Brothers - Discography

THE WALKER BROTHERS 

The Walker Brothers were an American pop group of the 1960s and 1970s that included Noel Scott Engel (eventually known professionally as Scott Walker), John Walker (born John Joseph Maus, but using the name Walker since his teens) and Gary Leeds (eventually known as Gary Walker). After moving to Britain in 1965, they had a number of top ten albums and singles there, including the No. 1 chart hits "Make It Easy on Yourself" and "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)", both of which also made the US top 20 and Canadian top 2. In between the two was the lesser US hit "My Ship is Coming In", which was another major hit in Britain, where it reached No.3 in the charts. The trio split up in 1968, but reunited in the mid-to-late-1970s and scored a final top 10 UK hit with "No Regrets".

Formed in 1964, they adopted the 'Walker Brothers' name as a show business touch even though the members were all unrelated — "simply because we liked it."[1] They provided a unique counterpoint to the British Invasion by achieving much more success in the United Kingdom than in their home country, a period when the popularity of British bands such as The Beatles dominated the U.S. charts.

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

The Tokens - Discography

 THE TOKENS

This Brooklyn doo wop group was originally known as the Linc-Tones when it formed in 1955 at Lincoln High School. Hank Medress, Neil Sedaka, Eddie Rabkin, and Cynthia Zolitin didn't have much impact in their early days recording for Melba. They later disbanded, but Medress re-formed the group in 1960 as the Tokens. Brothers Phil and Mitch Margo and Jay Siegel were now the members. They recorded for Warwick in 1960, then had their one glorious hit in 1962, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." It was based on the South African Zulu song "Wimoweh," and reached number seven on the R&B chart while topping the pop surveys. The Tokens formed their own label in 1964, B.T. Puppy, but weren't able to keep the hits coming very long, although "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" remains a standard.

Sunday, October 3, 2021

The Guess Who - Discography

THE GUESS WHO 

While the Guess Who did have several hits in America, they were superstars in their home country of Canada during the 1960s and early '70s. The band grew out of vocalist/guitarist Chad Allan (born Allan Kobel) and guitarist Randy Bachman's Winnipeg-based group Chad Allan and the Expressions, originally known as first the Silvertones and then the Reflections. The remainder of the lineup featured bassist Jim Kale, pianist Bob Ashley, and drummer Garry Peterson. The Expressions recorded a cover of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates' "Shakin' All Over" in 1965, which became a surprise hit in Canada and reached the U.S. Top 40. When the Expressions recorded an entire album of the same name, its record company, Quality, listed their name as "Guess Who?" on the jacket, hoping to fool record buyers into thinking that the British Invasion-influenced music was actually by a more famous group in disguise. Ashley had been replaced by keyboardist/vocalist Burton Cummings, who became lead vocalist when Allan departed in 1966. The Guess Who embarked on an unsuccessful tour of England and returned home to record commercials and appear on the television program Let's Go, hosted by Chad Allan. However, further American success eluded the Guess Who until the 1969 Top Ten hit "These Eyes"; the recording session for the accompanying album, Wheatfield Soul, was paid for by producer Jack Richardson, who mortgaged his house to do so. Canned Wheat Packed by the Guess Who produced three Top 40 singles later that year. In 1970, the Guess Who released the cuttingly sarcastic riff-rocker "American Woman," which, given its anti-American putdowns, ironically became their only U.S. chart-topper. The album of the same name became their first U.S. Top Ten and first gold album, and the group performed for President and Mrs. Nixon and Prince Charles at the White House. (Pat Nixon requested that "American Woman" be dropped from the set list.)

Saturday, October 2, 2021

Don Gibson [RIP] - Discography

 DON GIBSON

Born: April 3, 1928 - Died: November 17, 2003
R.I.P.

Singer/songwriter Don Gibson was one of the most popular and influential forces in '50s and '60s country, scoring numerous hit singles as a performer and a songwriter. Gibson's music touched on both traditional country and highly produced country-pop, which is part of the reason he had such a broad audience. For nearly a decade after his first hit single, "Sweet Dreams," in 1956, he was a reliable hitmaker, and many of his songs have become country classics -- they have been covered by a wide range of artists, including Patsy Cline, Ray Charles, Kitty Wells, Emmylou Harris, Neil Young, and Ronnie Milsap.

He was born Donald Eugene Gibson in Shelby, NC, the youngest of five children of Solon and Mary Gibson. His father, a railroad worker, died when Gibson was just two years old, and his mother remarried in the early '40s, when Don Gibson was still a boy -- by that time, the family survived as sharecroppers, but even as a boy the youngest Gibson hated farming, and as he grew older he made the decision to get as far away from it as possible. He ceased attending school regularly after the second grade, a decision that he regretted in the years to come -- perhaps in compensation, Gibson subsequently became a voracious reader across much of his adult life. And for all of his professed desire, even at a young age, to break away from a life on the farm, he was hindered by terrible emotional insecurity. Gibson was hopelessly shy all through life, defensive about his appearance -- to the point where, as a boy or a young man, he would avoid walking into places that were too crowded -- and also about his voice, which was characterized by a very bad stutter while he was growing up.

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Badfinger - Discography

BADFINGER 

There are few bands in the annals of rock music as star-crossed in their history as Badfinger. Pegged as one of the most promising British groups of the late '60s and the one world-class talent ever signed to the Beatles' Apple Records label that remained with the label, Badfinger enjoyed the kind of success in England and America that most other bands could only envy. Yet a string of memorable hit singles -- "Come and Get It," "No Matter What," "Day After Day," and "Baby Blue" -- saw almost no reward from that success. Instead, four years of hit singles and international tours precipitated the suicides of its two creative members and legal proceedings that left lawyers as the only ones enriched by the group's work.

Sunday, September 26, 2021

B.B. King [RIP] - Discography

B.B. KING

Born: September 16, 1925 - Died: May 14, 2015
R.I.P.

Universally hailed as the king of the blues, the legendary B.B. King was without a doubt the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century. His bent notes and staccato picking style influenced legions of contemporary bluesmen, while his gritty and confident voice -- capable of wringing every nuance from any lyric -- provided a worthy match for his passionate playing. Between 1951 and 1985, King notched an impressive 74 entries on Billboard's R&B charts, and he was one of the few full-fledged blues artists to score a major pop hit when his 1970 smash "The Thrill Is Gone" crossed over to mainstream success (engendering memorable appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and American Bandstand). After his hit-making days, he partnered with such musicians as Eric Clapton and U2 and managed his own acclaimed solo career, all the while maintaining his immediately recognizable style on the electric guitar.

Saturday, September 25, 2021

Gilbert O'Sullivan - Discography

GILBERT O'SULLIVAN 


Singer/songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan successfully combined a flair for Beatlesque popcraft with an old-fashioned music hall sensibility to emerge as one of the most distinctive and popular new performers of the early 1970s. Born Raymond O'Sullivan in Waterford, Ireland on December 1, 1946, he went on to attend art school in Swindon, England, writing songs throughout his formative years and sending out demo tapes to little avail. After graduating he went to work in a London department store; one of his co-workers there was under contract with CBS, and soon O'Sullivan was signed to the label as well. Early singles like "What Can I Do?" and "Mr. Moody's Garden" were released to little attention, however, and so O'Sullivan sent his demo to impresario Gordon Mills, whose MAM label was home to superstars like Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck; the gambit worked, and his first single for MAM, "Nothing Rhymed," became a Top Ten U.K. hit in late 1970.

Friday, September 24, 2021

The Springfields - Discography

THE SPRINGFIELDS

The Springfields were a British pop-folk vocal trio who had success in the early 1960s in the UK, US and Ireland. They included singer Dusty Springfield and her brother, record producer Tom Springfield, along with Tim Feild, who was replaced by Mike Hurst. 

While Dusty Springfield is best remembered for the iconic pop singles she released in the '60s and her masterful 1969 album Dusty in Memphis, she first found fame with the trio the Springfields, whose canny blend of light pop and folk earned them a handful of hits in both Great Britain and the United States. The Springfields featured Mary O'Brien and her older brother Dion O'Brien; Mary began singing while a student at St. Anne's Convent in West London, and later became a member of the vocal group the Lana Sisters. Dion, meanwhile, played with a variety of groups while a student, and after a hitch in the British military he formed a folk duo with Tim Feild. Looking to expand the group's sound, Dion invited Mary to join the group, and they adopted new stage names; Mary became Dusty Springfield, while her brother became Tom Springfield.

Dusty Springfield [RIP] - Discography

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD

Born: 16 April 1939 - Died: 2 March 1999
R.I.P.


Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien OBE, professionally known as Dusty Springfield, was an English pop singer and record producer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s.


Britain's greatest pop diva, Dusty Springfield was also the finest white soul singer of her era, a performer of remarkable emotional resonance whose body of work spans the decades and their attendant musical transformations with a consistency and purity unmatched by any of her contemporaries; though a camp icon of glamorous excess in her towering beehive hairdo and panda-eye black mascara, the sultry intimacy and heartbreaking urgency of Springfield's voice transcended image and fashion, embracing everything from lushly orchestrated pop to gritty R&B to disco with unparalleled sophistication and depth. She was born Mary O'Brien on April 16, 1939, and raised on an eclectic diet of classical music and jazz, coming to worship Peggy Lee; after completing her schooling she joined the Lana Sisters, a pop vocal trio which issued a few singles on Fontana before dissolving. In 1960, upon teaming with her brother Dion O' Brien and his friend Tim Feild in the folk trio the Springfields, O'Brien adopted the stage name Dusty Springfield; thanks to a series of hits including "Breakaway," "Bambino," and "Say I Won't Be There," the group was soon the U.K.'s best-selling act.

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

The Shadows - Discography

The Shadows - Discography



The Shadows are usually thought of as the quintessential British instrumental group and, along with the American band the Ventures and the Swedish group the Spotnicks, one of the most popular instrumental groups in the world. But that barely tells the story of their true significance in the history of British rock & roll -- including the fact that they were the first home-grown British rock & roll band to dominate the U.K. charts; or that they weren't originally an instrumental group, either. The band's roots go back to Chesthunt, Hertfordshire, in early 1958, when a young Indian-born singer/guitarist named Harry Webb joined with drummer Terry Smart and guitarist Norman Mitham to form a group that they ended up calling the Drifters -- at the time, none of the records by the American R&B group of the same name, founded by Clyde McPhatter, had been released in England, so they had no inkling of the name's already being used.

Friday, September 10, 2021

The Beatles - (1962-1980) All 50 Videos

The Beatles

Track List
1-01 (1962) "Love Me Do"
1-02 (1963) "From Me to You"
1-03 (1963) "She Loves You" 
1-04 (1963) "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
1-05 (1964) "Cant Buy Me Love"
1-06 (1964) "A Hard Days Night"
1-07 (1964) "I Feel Fine"
1-08 (1965) "Eight Days a Week"
1-09 (1965) "Ticket to Ride"
1-10 (1965) "Help!"
1-11 (1965) "Yesterday"
1-12 (1965) "Day Tripper"
1-13 (1965) "We Can Work It Out"
1-14 (1966) "Paperback Writer"
1-15 (1966) "Yellow Submarine"
1-16 (1966) "Eleanor Rigby"
1-17 (1967) "Penny Lane"
1-18 (1967) "All You Need Is Love"
1-19 (1967) "Hello, Goodbye"
1-20 (1968) "Lady Madonna"
1-21 (1968) "Hey Jude"
1-22 (1969) "Get Back"
1-23 (1969) "The Ballad of John and Yoko"
1-24 (1969) "Something"
1-25 (1969) "Come Together"
1-26 (1970) "Let It Be"
1-27 (1970) "The Long and Winding Road"
Bonus:
"Hey Jude" with Paul McCartneys commentary.

2-01 (1963) "Twist and Shout"
2-02 (1963) "Baby Its You"
2-03 (1963) "Words of Love"
2-04 (1963) "Please Please Me"
2-05 (1964) "I Feel Fine"
2-06 (1965) "Day Tripper" [Alternate v.1]
2-07 (1965) "Day Tripper" [Alternate v.2]
2-08 (1965) "We Can Work It Out" [Alternate]
2-09 (1966) "Paperback Writer" [Alternate]
2-10 (1966) "Rain" [Alternate v.1]
2-11 (1966) "Rain" [Alternate v.2]
2-12 (1967) "Strawberry Fields Forever"
2-13 (1967) "Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows" 
2-14 (1967) "A Day in the Life"
2-15 (1967) "Hello, Goodbye" [Alternate v.1] 
2-16 (1967) "Hello, Goodbye" [Alternate v.2]
2-17 (1968) "Hey Bulldog"
2-18 (1968) "Hey Jude" [Alternate]
2-19 (1968) "Revolution"
2-20 (1969) "Get Back" [Alternate] 
2-21 (1969) "Dont Let Me Down"
2-22 (1977) "Free as a Bird"
2-23 (1980) "Real Love" 

 The Beatles - (1962-1980) All 50 Videos Remastered Deluxe - 2015 



Monday, September 6, 2021

Duane Eddy - Discography

DUANE EDDY DISCOGRAPHY


If Duane Eddy's instrumental hits from the late '50s can sound unduly basic and repetitive (especially when taken all at once), he was vastly influential. Perhaps the most successful instrumental rocker of his time, he may also have been the man most responsible (along with Chuck Berry) for popularizing the electric rock guitar. His distinctively low, twangy riffs could be heard on no less than 15 Top 40 hits between 1958 and 1963. He was also one of the first rock stars to successfully crack the LP market.

That low, twangy sound was devised in collaboration with producer Lee Hazlewood, an Arizona disc jockey whom Eddy had met while hanging out at a radio station as a teenager. By the late '50s, Hazlewood had branched out into production. Before Duane began recording, his principal influence had been Chet Atkins, but at Hazlewood's suggestion, he started concentrating on guitar lines at the lower end of the strings. The opening riff of his debut single, "Movin' and Groovin'," would be lifted for the Beach Boys five years later to open "Surfin' U.S.A." It was the next 45, "Rebel Rouser," that would really break up him as a national star, reaching the Top Ten in 1958. Opening with a down-and-dirty, heavily echoed guitar riff, it remains the tune with which he's most often identified.


Thursday, September 2, 2021

The Foundations - Discography

THE FOUNDATIONS 

The Foundations were a surprisingly obscure late-'60s outfit, considering that they managed to reach the tops of the both the British and American charts more than once in the space of a year and had a solid three years of recordings. At the time of their debut in mid-1967, they were hailed as being among the most authentic makers of soul music ever to emerge from England -- the best practitioners of the Motown sound to be found on the far side of the Atlantic -- and were also accepted in jazz circles as well. "Baby Now That I've Found You," "Build Me Up Buttercup," and "In the Bad, Bad Old Days" were the biggest hits for this multi-racial octet, made up of Londoners and West Indians.

The Foundations were formed in January 1967 in the basement of a local coffee bar in Bayswater, gathered together through advertisements in Melody Maker. Lead singer Clem Curtis was a former boxer from Trinidad, while lead guitarist Alan Warner had been making his living in the printing trade in London while waiting for music to pay off. Flutist/saxman Pat Burke hailed from Jamaica, tenor saxman Mike Elliott had played with Colin Hicks (brother of Tommy Steele) in his band the Cabin Boys, as well as in several jazz bands, and trombonist Eric Allan Dale was another jazz veteran. Tony Gomez (keyboards), Peter Macbeth (bass), and Tim Harris (drums) rounded out the lineup. They selected the name Foundations based on their surroundings, a rehearsal space in the basement of a building.

The group made very little headway during their first few months together, although they did manage to get an audition at the Marquee Club. It was at their regular spot at a much smaller club called the Butterfly -- where they played one legendary gig on the last night of the Stax/Volt European tour -- that led to their breakthrough. They were spotted by record dealer Barry Class, who was impressed enough with what he heard to become their manager. He arranged a meeting with Pye Records producer/songwriter Tony Macaulay, who was working with Long John Baldry

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Paper Lace - Discography

PAPER LACE

Formed in 1969 in Nottingham, England, and made up of Michael Vaughn, Chris Morris, Carlo Santanna, Cliff Fish, and Phillip Wright, Paper Lace was one of hundreds of pop bands in England looking for the big time while slogging their way through small club gigs and brief television appearances. Their big break came in 1974 when their version of the tear-jerking bubblegum tune "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" won top honors on Opportunity Knocks, a nationwide talent-show on ITV. They rode that song all the way to the top of the U.K. charts but were aced out of any sales in the U.S. by Bo Donaldson & the Haywoods' transcendent version. Their next single,"The Night Chicago Died," did manage to hit the number one slot on the U.S. charts (number three in the U.K.) and then that was it. The group released two albums, Paper Lace and Other Bits of Material in 1974 and First Editon in 1975, and did a quick fade from the public eye.