Chicago At Carnegie Hall-Volume I, II, III & IV (Columbia C4X 30865) ©1971 Description: Chicago had only been recording for two years and three albums before they released this four-record (remember records?) concert set. Entirely overblown and slightly pretentious, an artistic and popular failure at the time, this still can claim to being the first … Continue reading
Their Name Is… NO ONE by Bill Henhoeffer Many bands look for a distinctive name to give them an identity. This new metal band’s name fights that notion, it has a sense of anonymity, a sense of everyman. NO ONE took their name to illustrate the way they all felt. All the members coming from … Continue reading
DON’T LOOK BACK (1967) Featuring Bob Dylan, Albert Grossman, Bob Neuwirth, Joan Baez, Alan Price, Tito Burns, Donovan, Derold Adams, Chris Ellis, Allan Ginsberg, John Mayall, Howard Alk, Jones Alk and Marianne Faithfull. Written by D.A. Pennebaker. Directed by D.A. Pennebaker. Distributed by New Video Group. 96 minutes. Not Rated. There are not nearly enough … Continue reading
Rod Stewart Storyteller – The Complete Anthology 1964-1990 (Warner Brothers 9 25987-2) ©1990 Description: It may just seem like Rod Stewart has been around forever. This box set makes it even seem more to be so. It is a long… and somehow in four disks rather lean… show of a distinguished career. What’s Good About … Continue reading
You’re Never Alone With… Ian Hunter by Ken Sharp After a long hiatus from recording, ex-Mott The Hoople frontman Ian Hunter is back, all guns blazing, with one of the best records of his career, Rant. We spoke with Ian Hunter about thirty years of rock and roll service. Rant is one of this year’s … Continue reading
Jill Sobule Too Cool… by Jay S. Jacobs It’s Friday evening at the Upstage; a new Philadelphia venue built in a beautiful old bank building that has been used as a Goth nightclub for the last several years. Lloyd Cole, the Scottish cult-singer who turned some heads with his 80s band the Commotions, is unpacking … Continue reading
Jimmy Webb All He Knows… by Ronald Sklar If you are under thirty and have even the slightest retro sensibility, chances are you are familiar with the classic pop songs of Jimmy Webb, and good for you. And if you are over thirty, endlessly toiling in an office and music appreciation is just a faint … Continue reading
BOBBY VEE SOMEWHERE DOWN THE LINE BY RONALD SKLAR Rock and roll is cram-packed with ironic stories. Read the bio of almost any artist and you’ll find the woulda-coulda-shoulda tale of how he almost became an accountant. And prefacing almost every Top 10 hit is the tiresome fable of how the song nearly wound up … Continue reading
Chuck E. Weiss Chuck E.’s In Love by Jay S. Jacobs “How come he don’t come and p.l.p. with me down at the meter no more…” With that opening line to a hit song in 1979, singer/songwriter Chuck E. Weiss was introduced to American popular culture. Problem was he didn’t write the song – or … Continue reading
Del Amitri – Hatful Of Rain… The Best of Del Amitri (A&M) Del Amitri’s single from about two years ago, “Not Where It’s At” was about a guy who had fallen for a woman who was a total scenester, but she rejected him because he just wasn’t cool enough for her. Ironically, that also pretty much nails … Continue reading
