Gary U.S. Bonds - Dedication (1981)

“Dedication” is an album released by Gary U.S. Bonds in 1981, the first of two on which he collaborated with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. The musicians accompanying Bonds on the album include many members of the E Street Band and the Asbury Jukes. The album includes three songs written by Bruce Springsteen, one written by Steve Van Zandt, and several covers of songs from the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, and others. It also features a duet between Bonds and Springsteen on the Cajun traditional track "Jole Blon". Bonds' early 1960s sound had been a major influence on both Springsteen and Van Zandt.




The songs written by Springsteen, including the cover of "Jole Blon", were originally intended for his 1980 album, “The River”, but he felt they fitted better with Bonds and his versions of them have never been released although he has performed most of them live, often featuring Bonds as a special guest.

Bruce Springsteen played guitar, sang a duet, wrote three songs, and co-produced and co-arranged four on Gary U.S. Bonds' comeback album, recorded 20 years after his heyday. Springsteen also lent his backup group, The E Street Band, while E Street guitarist Miami Steve (Van Zandt) also contributed a song and produced the bulk of the record. The result, naturally, sounds like a Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band album with lead vocals by Gary U.S. Bonds. Bonds' elastic tenor, heard in much greater clarity than it ever was in his early years, has just enough grit to be soulful, and he puts across the pop-soul tunes Springsteen and Van Zandt have constructed for him effectively. He also tackles the Beatles' "It's Only Love" and Bob Dylan's "From a Buick 6," and sings Jackson Browne's "The Pretender" as if the lyric was devoid of irony. It's an enjoyable album that does nothing to change the notion that Bonds as a recording artist essentially conforms himself to the intentions of his producer, whether that's Frank Guida, Jerry Williams, Jr., or Bruce Springsteen.

Side one
A1    Jole Blon   (Vocals: Bruce Springsteen)  3:25 
A2    This Little Girl   (Vocals: Bruce Springsteen)  (3:42) 
A3    Your Love   (Vocals: Ben E. King, Chuck Jackson)  (3:26) 
A4    Dedication  (3:11) 
A5    Daddy's Come Home   (6:22) 

Side two
B1    It's Only Love   (3:03) 
B2    The Pretender  (Vocals: Brenda Hilliard)  (6:12) 
B3    Way Back When   (4:03) 
B4    From A Buick 6   (4:24) 
B5    Just Like A Child   (3:40) 

Credits
Accordion – Danny Federici
Arranged By – Bruce Springsteen (tracks: A1 to A4), Miami Steve
Backing Vocals – Brenda Hilliard, Bruce Springsteen, Carol Williams, Carol Sylvan, Clarence Clemons, Ellie Greenwich, Miami Steve, Mikie Harris, Ula Hedwig
Baritone Saxophone – Joey Stann
Bass – Gary Tallent, John Clemente
Bass [Fuzz], Bongos – Miami Steve
Drums – Max Weinberg, Mike Micara
Engineer – Bill Scheniman, Bob Clearmountain, Larry Alexander, Neil Dorfsman, Randy Mason, Tony Bongiovi
Engineer [Assistant] – Dave Greenberg, Garry Rindfuss, Jason Corsaro, Jeffry Hendrickson, Ray Willhard
Guitar – Bruce Springsteen, Louie Conte, Miami Steve, Rob Parissi
Keyboards – Danny Federici, Roy Bittan, Rusty Cloud
Mastered By – Larry Emerine, Stephen Marcussen
Producer – Bruce Springsteen, Gary Bonds, Lanny Lambert, Miami Steve, Rob Parissi
Tenor Saxophone – Clarence Clemons, Ed Manion
Trombone – La Bamba
Trumpet – Michael Spengler, Rick Gazda 

Notes
Genre - Rock
Phonographic Copyright (p) – EMI America
Mastered At – Precision Lacquer
© 1981 EMI-America Copyright

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Fleetwood Mac - The Pious Bird Of Good Omen / The Best Of (1969)

"The Pious Bird of Good Omen” is a compilation album by Fleetwood Mac, released in 1969.

In the Netherlands the title on the album cover called “The Best Of”, but it´s the same album.

It consisted of the first four UK singles and their B-sides, two other tracks from their previous two albums, and two tracks by blues artist Eddie Boyd with backing by members of Fleetwood Mac. These two tracks came from Boyd's album 7936 South Rhodes.

The title of the album is a phrase found in an 1817 gloss (marginal note) to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1798 epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The phrase refers to the albatross killed in the poem. ("The ancient Mariner inhospitably killeth the pious bird of good omen.") Its use as an album title as well as the album art is a sly wink to the featuring of the band's number 1 UK hit "Albatross."

With songs taken from “Fleetwood Mac” and “Mr. Wonderful”, “Pious Bird of Good Omen” serves as a worthy 12-track compilation of the band's early Peter Green days. Climbing to number 18 in the U.K., the album managed to catapult Fleetwood Mac's version of Little Willie John's "Need Your Love So Bad" into the English charts for the third time, resting at number 42.

The album itself was released by Blue Horizon after the group's contract with them had expired, making it one of the best routes in which to explore their mingling of Chicago and British blues. "Albatross," "Black Magic Woman," and "I Believe My Time Ain't Long" are timeless Fleetwood Mac standards, representing some of the band's best pre-Rumours work. Anyone who isn't familiar with Fleetwood Mac's origins should use Pious Bird of Good Omen as a starting point in investigating the first wave of the band, which will almost certainly lead to further interests into albums such as “English Rose”, “Then Play On”, and “Kiln House”, and then into later albums like “Bare Trees” and “Penguin”, which reveal subtle yet effective changes in the band's blues sound. But even aside from its purpose as a collection, “Pious Bird of Good Omen” makes for a terrific laid-back stroll through some of the best British blues music ever made.

Side one
A1    Need Your Love So Bad   (3:36) 
A2    Coming Home  (2:38) 
A3    Rambling Pony   (2:37) 
A4    The Big Boat   (Performer With: Eddy Boyd)   (2:35) 
A5    I Believe My Time Ain't Long   (2:55) 
A6    The Sun Is Shining  (3:10) 

Side two
B1    Albatross   (3:07) 
B2    Black Magic Woman   2:46 
B3    Just The Blues  (Performer With: Eddy Boyd) (5:35) 
B4    Jigsaw Puzzle Blues   (1:33) 
B5    Looking For Somebody   (2:50) 
B6    Stop Messin' Round   (2:17) 

Credits
Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica – Peter Green
Bass – John McVie
Drums – Mick Fleetwood
Slide Guitar – Danny Kirwen
Slide Guitar, Vocals, Piano – Jeremy Spencer
Vocals, Piano - Eddie Boyd (on tracks A4, B3)
Recorded By [Recording Engineer] – Mike Ross
Producer – Mike Vernon
Coordinator – Richard Vernon

Notes
Genre: Blues Rock
Title on labels: "The Pious Bird Of Good Omen"
Made in Holland
© 1969 Manufactured, Distributed By – CBS Records

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Lancee - The Bidge (1981)

Ferdy Lancee (ware achternaam: Ferdy Dousenbach, Tilburg, 21 oktober 1953)  rockzanger/gitarist die rond 1980 enige landelijke bekendheid geniet. Qua muziek en imago het best te typeren als de Nederlandse Peter Frampton, begint zijn carrière als sessiegitarist. In 1972 verschijnt zijn eerste single, getiteld Joy In The Sky. 1976, Lancee gaat in de groep Dummy spelen. Het nummer Dummy Boy verschijnt op single. 1978, Lancee maakt deel uit van de groep Xandra, de begeleidingsband van Sandra Reemer. In 1979 vormt hij samen met gitarist Frank Klunhaar de groep Lancee. De muzikanten worden aangevuld met Marcel Lahaye (orgel, piano), Jos van de Dries (drums) en Pieter Korremans (bas).

 

In 1980 wordt Lahaye vervangen door gitarist Leon van de Akker. Het eerste album “Models” verschijnt. De plaat blijft twee maanden in de albumlijsten staan en wordt bekroond met een Edison. Aan het eind van het jaar gaat Lancee naar Manchester om in de Strawberry Studio's van 10CC te werken aan de opvolger van “Models”.

 

In 1981 verschijnt hun tweede LP “The Bridge”. Op dit album zijn tekst en muziek beter op elkaar afgestemd. Op de plaat is te horen dat de muzikanten na de vele optredens een hecht collectief zijn geworden. “The Bridge” is echter geen commercieel succes en Lancee gaat uit elkaar. In 1982 vormt Ferdie Lancee een nieuwe band met Van de Dries, Joe Heuser (orgel, piano) en Steven Wienjus (bas) en schakelt over op de Nederlandse taal.

Side A
A1.  Chopper Jack   (4:58) 
A2.  You Don't Belong Here   (3:38) 
A3.  I''l Always Love You   (3:49) 
A4.  Standing In The Middle   (2:54) 
A5.  Rock Love    (3:49) 

 

Side B
B1.  Tonight You're On The Radio   (5:40) 
B2.  Rescue Me   (4:06) 
B3.  The Kids Are Comin'   (6:30) 
B4.  Paradise   (4:28) 

 

Credits
Bass – Pieter Korremans
Drums, Percussion – Jos Van Den Dries
Engineer – Pierre Geoffroy Chateau
Guitar – Leon Van Den Akker
Guitar, Vocals – Ferdy Lancee
Keyboards, Kalimba, Marimba – Frank Klunhaar
Producer – Frank Klunhaar
Genre - Pop

Notes
Companies etc
Phonographic Copyright (p) – CBS Grammofoonplaten B.V.
Published By – Intersong Basart
© 1981 CBS Grammofoonplaten B.V.

 

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Francis Lai - Bilitis (Original Film Soundtrack) (1977)

“Bilitis” is a 1977 French romantic drama film
directed by photographer David Hamilton with film score by composer Francis Lai. It stars Patti D'Arbanville and Mona Kristensen, Hamilton's first wife, as the title characters Bilitis and Melissa respectively.

A teenage schoolgirl spends the summer with a couple whose marriage is on the rocks and develops a crush on the wife. Meanwhile, she pursues a local teenage boy and tries to find a “suitable male lover” for the wife.

Although Bilitis can be best described as a coming of age film, the title character, Bilitis, ends up returning to school at the end of the film realizing she is not yet ready for adulthood.

Frances Lai, king of the overly sentimental film

scorers, gets his rightful place in composing the music for filmmaker David Hamilton's horrible adaptation of Pierre Louys' beautifully poetic novel Chanson de Bilitis (Songs of Bilitis). Lai was given the chore of creating a score for a provocative love story. There was only one problem: Hamilton saw the book as a way to make a soft-core porn flick and call it art. Therefore, Lai, who was familiar with writing scores for insipid romantic films, was further stretched by having to make his compositions "artful." The result would be hilarious if it weren't so predictable. This music is light to the point of almost not being there  it couldn't be too heavy, or it might get in the way of the viewer getting his or her fill of flesh on the screen. Lai uses synthesizers, acoustic guitars, and a truckload of strings to weave what is supposed to be the "perfect" setting for two young lovers to do what young lovers do, but has it all coming out of the wash sounding like a commercial for those laundry detergents that are airy fresh, or a silent movie score where the music is supposed to tell you that this is a pensive moment. But given the film itself, what else is there to expect? This is nothing more than the collaboration of two shlockmeisters plying their trade.

 

The romantic themes and magestic beauty of the pieces on this album can be played as a soothing and relaxing background music while reading or painting, or at a romantic dinner.

Side one
A1.  Bilitis (Generique)  (3:26)
A2.  Promenade  (3:44)
A3.  Les 2 Nudites  (2:23)
A4.  Spring Time Ballet  (2:31)
A5.  L'Abre  (1:15)
A6.  I Need A Man  (4:27)

Side two
B1.  Melissa (4:38)
B2.  La Campagne (0:41)
B3.  Scene D'Amour (3:52)
B4.  Rainbow (4:35)
B5.  Bilitis (Generique De Fin) (4:57)

Credits
Arranged By – Jean Musy
Music By – Francis Lai
Recorded By – Claude Ermelin
Recorded By [Assistant] – Daniel Polyzuck
Engineer [Assistant Sound] – Daniel Polyzuck
Engineer [Sound] – Claude Ermelin
Photography – David Hamilton
Producer, Written By – Francis Lai
Production - Editions 23/Editions Marouani
Genre - Score, Soundtrack, Easy Listening
Label - Warner Bros. Records
Recorded at Studio Davout
© 1977 WEA Filipacchi Music

Notes
Original motion picture soundtrack of "Bilitis", a David Hamilton film, from the story by Pierre Louys.

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Carolyne Mas - Carolyne Mas (1979)

Carolyne Mas (born October 20, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and producer. Mas broke out of the Greenwich Village music scene boom of the late 1970s, along with other artists such as Steve Forbert, The Roches, and Willie Nile. Although she remains relatively unknown in the United States, except for a loyal cult of fans, she managed to gain popularity in Europe and Canada, mostly due to the use of television as a promotional tool in these markets.
Mas's energetic live shows, especially during the late 1970s and early 1980s whilst signed to Mercury Records, were well received. She toured the United States, Canada, and Europe extensively with a band of musicians including Crispin Cioe of the The Uptown Horns who later went on to play with acts such as The Rolling Stones. Her association with Springsteen included her involvement with him in the 'Jersey Artists for Mankind' project in May 1986.

In July 1979: Carolyne's self-titled debut album is released on Mercury Records.
Carolyne's first single, "Stillsane," makes Billboard's Hot 100.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sound is polished and the cover shows her in classy tophat, jacket and a bath robe belt as a tie and Carolyne later tells,"That picture was taken in my bathroom and I was wearing unbelievably ripped-up pants. That all got cropped out. She gives street-smart rock 'n' roll and new elegance.

Carolyne is singled out with high praise from their Vic Garbarini: "Mas is the most talented and compelling American singer-songwriter to emerge since Bruce Springsteen, and this is her 'Born To Run.' She pumps more heart and soul into her superbly crafted three-minute pop anthems than anybody I've heard in years." Mas' songs vary from reveries to roughhouse declamations without missing a beat, and if she keeps up this pace she may be dogging Randy Newman's tracks in a few years." Comparing her ballads to Patti Smith, Barbra Streisand, and Carly Simon. "The world needs more rock & rollers like her."

 

 

Carolyne Mas, however, never achieved a whole lot else - though she became a cult figure in Germany and stuck it out in the music business for more than 30 years, sporadically releasing albums while raising a family and pursuing other interests (including animal protection and painting). Along the way, she went broke at least once, nearly got stabbed to death, got kicked out of her home, and was routinely screwed over by managers, record companies, publishers, bootleggers, the legal system, and, arguably, life in general. Years later, Mas would opine, "I believe that I would have been a happier person if I had never made a record."

 

Side one
A1.  Stillsane  - 2:46   
A2.  Sadie Days  (Backing Vocals: Bernie Shanahan)  - 3:08 
A3.  Snow  - 5:00  
A4.  It's No Secret  - 3:28   
A5.  Call Me (Crazy To)  (Backing Vocals: Bernie Shanahan)  - 5:03 

 

Side two
B1.  Quote Goodbye Quote  (Backing Vocals: David Landau)  - 2:28  
B2.  Never Two Without Three  - 4:01  
B3.  Do You Believe I Love You  - 3:11  
B4.  Sittin' In The Dark  - 4:39  
B5.  Baby Please  - 5:22

 

Credits
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Electric Guitar – Carolyne Mas
Tambourine, Synthesizer – Steve Burgh
Bass – John Siegler
Acoustic Guitar – David Landau
Drums – Andy Newmark
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – David Landau
Saxophone – Crispin Cioe
Keyboards – Robbie Kondor
Percussion – Jimmy Maelen
Management – Faris Bouhafa
Mastered By – Ted Jensen
Mixed By – Bob Clearmountain
Mixed By [Assistant] – Raymond Willhard
Engineer – Glenn Berger
Engineer [Assistant] – Brad Leigh
Written-By – Carolyne Mas
Label - Mercyry Records
Genre - Pop, Rock
Producer – Steve Burgh
Marketed By – Phonogram
Recorded At – A&R Studios
Mixed At – Power Station
Mastered At – Sterling Sound

 

Notes
Produced for Actual Music
All songs published by Eggs and Coffee and Music Ltd. except A1, B1 and B4 published by Eggs and Coffee and Music Ltd. and Landau Music. All songs ASCAP.
Recorded at A&R Studios, New York City. Mixed at Power Station, New York City. Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York City.
© 1979 Phonogram, Inc. a Polygram Company

 

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New Musik - From A To B (1980)

“From A to B” is the debut album from New Musik released on April 18, 1980, and is one of the best and most influential electronic LPs of the '80s. Tony Mansfield may now be best known as a producer, but in the early 80's he was the driving force behind New Musik.

Its keyboards may sound dated, but there's a freshness to these charming, unpretentious songs that hasn't been spoiled by technological advances in computerized instrumentation. Many new wave revivalists have attempted to capture the nerdy vocals and quirky synthesized bleeps of “From A to B” and failed.

This record is a product of its time, recorded when keyboards were viewed as eventually replacing guitar and bass as rock & roll tools. While many synth pop groups became mired in existential woe to show that they had emotions underneath the layers of Casio hiccups, New Musik is having a blast on “From A to B”. "With robot precision/We're gonna be doin' just fine," sings Tony Mansfield (guitars, keyboards, vocals) with geek sincerity on the exhilarating "Straight Lines." Like Kraftwerk, New Musik uses keyboards to create moods and not just to make feet move.

However, From A to B is more accessible than any Kraftwerk album.
The songs he created for the group still stand today as some of the best synth pop from the era and the lyrics to biggest hit 'Living By Numbers' have never been so relevant as they are today. It's no exaggeration either to say that Mansfield's distinctive production sound is still every bit as recogniseable as a Motown record.
'World Of Water' an irresistably catchy song with distorted vocal gimmickry in the chorus. 'Sanctuary' still remains one of my top twenty singles of all time, 'I'm looking at you, you look at me, we look for another sanctuary' (singing) remember it now? With Tony's distictive strumming guitar and drum machine sound all the tracks on this album are great with the exception of 'Dead Fish (Don't Swim Home)' which was not one of Tony's most inspired moments. The tracks on the LP are structured like traditional pop songs with catchy choruses.

There are no love ditties, but tracks like the soaring "On Islands" generate warmth and the group often utilizes acoustic strumming to prevent everything from seeming too mechanical. "Science" is nerdy sci-fi dance music years before Thomas Dolby.


Side one
A1.  Straight Lines  (5:12)
A2.  Sanctuary  (4:12)
A3.  A Map Of You  (3:50)
A4.  Science  (3:20)
A5.  On Islands  (4:24)

Side two
B1.  This World Of Water  (3:37)
B2.  Living By Numbers  (3:28)
B3.  Dead Fish (Don't Swim Home)  (5:24)
B4.  Adventures  (3:52)
B5.  The Safe Side  (3:09)

Credits
Tony Mansfield - Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Written-by
Tony Hibbert - Bass
Phil Towner - Drums, Percussion  
Clive Gates - Keyboards 
Artwork By [Sleeve Design] – Jan Leary
Artwork By [Sleeve Design], Photography – Andrew Douglas
Engineer – Andy Gierus, Rick Norton
Engineer [Chief] – Peter Hammond
Mastered By – Denis Blackham
Producer, Written-By – Tony Mansfield
Genre - Electronic, Synth-pop

Notes
Recorded at TMC Studios
Mastered at Tape One
© 1980 (P) GTO Records LTD

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The Four Seasons - Who Loves You (1975)

Who Loves You is an album by The Four Seasons. It was released in 1975 on Warner/Curb Records. The record introduced the new Four Seasons lineup: John Paiva (guitar), Don Ciccone (bass), Lee Shapiro (keyboards) and Gerry Polci (drums). Polci and Ciccone shared lead vocals with Frankie Valli, backed by producer Bob Gaudio and former Seasons bassist Joe Long.

After mounting a comeback as a solo artist with the hits "My Eyes Adored You" and "Swearin' to God" in 1974-1975, Frankie Valli, along with longtime partner Bob Gaudio, turned to their group, the Four Seasons, to work the same magic. The band had not charted since 1970 and had not released a record since 1973. Noting the success of the Bee Gees' "Jive Talkin'," a disco-oriented hit that most listeners did not recognize at first as a Bee Gees track, Gaudio fashioned "Who Loves You," set to a disco beat and emphasizing a harmonized chorus over Valli's solo singing, its title borrowed from the popular catch phrase "Who Loves Ya, Baby?," frequently spoken by actor Telly Savalas on his hit TV series, Kojak. As a single, it peaked at number three in the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1975, the group's best showing in ten years.

Naturally, this “Who Loves You” album quickly followed, and it found Gaudio, who had long been the Four Seasons' Svengali as singer, songwriter, keyboardist, and producer (but who had long since retired from their stage act), composing all the music and co-writing the lyrics with his wife, Judy Parker.
It also found Valli backing off of his usual lead singing duties, often in favor of the smooth tenor of drummer Gerry Polci. (Significantly, the LP did not display a picture of the group on the cover, opting instead for an illustrated image of a miniature, silver-suited woman dancing on the palm of shadowed man.) It was Polci who took the lead on "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)," a song that neatly straddled

an evocation of the Four Seasons' past with their dance-styled present and which, when released as a single, gave them their first number one hit since 1964. "Silver Star," a Walter Mitty-esque fantasy with even less involvement from Valli, penetrated the Top 40 as the album's third hit single. Valli did take the reins for the ballads "Storybook Lovers" and "Harmony Perfect Harmony," but those songs sounded like throwbacks. It is notable that as an LP, “Who Loves You” never got higher than number 38 in Billboard, even with those three hit singles, which suggested that the new fans the Four Seasons had acquired were a fickle singles audience who did not have much allegiance to them beyond the next dancefloor success.

Side one
A1.   Silver Star    (6:05) 
A2.   Storybook Lovers    (3:43) 
A3.   Harmony, Perfect Harmony   (4:46) 
A4.   Who Loves You   (4:22) 

Side two
B1.   Mystic Mr. Sam    (4:23) 
B2.   December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)   (3:36) 
B3.   Slip Away    (3:04) 
B4.   Emily's (Salle De Danse)   (6:40) 



Credits
Piano, Keyboards, Producer, Music By – Bob Gaudio
Vocals – Bob Gaudio, Don Ciccone, Frankie Valli, Gerry Polci, John Paiva
Bass – Don Ciccone
Guitar – John Paiva
Keyboards, Arranged By [Strings And Horns] – Lee Shapiro
Drums – Gerry Polci
Design – Vigon Nahas Vigon
Engineer [Mixing] – Val Garay
Engineer [Recording] – Steve Maslow
Lyrics By – Bob Gaudio, Judy Parker
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Photography By – Chris Callis, Dean Cade

Notes
Published by Seasons Music Co./Jobete Music Co., Inc. - ASCAP
Produced for Mike Curb Productions
Recorded at The Sound Factory, Hollywood
Mastered at The Mastering Lab, Hollywood
Genre: Pop, Soft Rock
Label: Warner Bros. Records
© 1975 Warner Bros. Records Inc.

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