Tag: Mill No. 5
Former textile mill in Lowell, MA that was home to Vinyl Destination, then later A Damn Shame records, as well as host of many record fairs. Now closed and being converted into apartments.
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ZZ Top, Fandango!, 1975 on London Records
Fourth release from Texas blues band ZZ Top, Fandango! included an A side with live songs (from The Warehouse, in New Orleans) and a B side of new studio recordings. A Fandango is a dance originating in Spain and Portugal – which wikipedia tells me “is used as a synonym for ‘a quarrel’, ‘a big…
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Cyndi Lauper, She’s So Unusual, 1983 on Portrait
Lauper’s debut solo album, She’s So Unusual had four top-five singles: “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” “Time After Time,” “She Bop,” and “All Through The Night.” A number of the songs were covers – “Money Changes Everything” by The Brains, “When You Were Mine” by Prince, “All Through The Night” by Jules Shear, and…
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Various Artists, The Best of Music and Rhythm, 1983 on PVC Records
Shortened single-LP version (there’s a 2xLP version as well, PVC 201) of a record released to commemorate and benefit the WOMAD festival (World of Music and Dance). Peter Gabriel founded WOMAD as an organization in 1980 and the 1982 festival was the first. The festival for which this LP serves as a benefit was held…
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Randy Newman, Little Criminals, 1977 on Warner Bros
Randy Newman’s fifth studio LP and his highest charting, in part due to “Short People,” which was also a hit single. Produced by Lenny Waronker and Russ Titelman, with supporting players including Waddy Wachtel, Joe Walsh, Glen Frey, J.D. Souther, Tim Schmit, Klaus Voorman, Jim Keltner, Willie Weeks, and even Ry Cooder on mandola on…
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U2, Give Me One Last Chance, 2023 on Dear Boss.
Bootleg of U2 live in Glen Helen Regional Park, San Bernadino CA, on May 30th 1983. Dear Boss. (apparently the period is part of the label name) is a new label reissuing things that were broadcast, which means under EU law are out of copyright at this point. Not sure if this was technically an…
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The Replacements, Let It Be, 1984 on Twin/Tone
Third full length album for The Replacements, following Hootenanny. Recorded at Blackberry Way after using a warehouse in Brooklyn Center for that record. Produced by Steve Fjelstad, Peter Jesperson, and Paul Westerberg. Definitely one of my favorites – with the sublime (“Androgynous,” “Unsatisfied”) and the ridiculous (“Gary’s Got a Boner”) and a cover of Kiss’…
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The Replacements, Hootenanny, 1983 on Twin/Tone
Sophomore album from Minneapolis favorite sons The Replacements. A wonderfully messy record that’s sort of all over the place (rockabilly, blues, country and punk) but still works. The transition from the wistful “Within Your Reach” ( “I can’t live without your touch / die within your reach”) to the surf-punk of “Buck Hill” sort of…
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The English Beat, What is Beat?, 1983 on I.R.S. Records
This is the North American version of this release (as evidenced by the “English”) which collected a number of singles, remixes, and live tracks as well as a number of tracks from the first three English Beat albums, serving as a kind of “best of” in the US. There’s a 2xLP version with a different…
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The Waterboys, This is the Sea, 1985 on Ensign / Chrysalis
This was the third studio album from The Waterboys, produced by Mike Scott and Karl Wallinger with John Brand and Mick Glossop. Includes one of my favorite Waterboys songs “The Whole of the Moon” but the entire album is wonderful. It’s a bit hard to see in the photos but the Waterboys emblem / logo…
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Talking Heads, Speaking in Tongues, 1983 on Sire
This was the fifth Talking Heads LP, produced by Talking Heads themselves rather than Brian Eno. It was the tour for this album which became Stop Making Sense, including their only US top 10 hit “Burning Down The House.” What a killer album. In addition to “Burning Down The House” you’ve got “Making Flippy Floppy,”…
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Bauhaus, In The Flat Field, 1980 on 4AD
Debut album from Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, David Jay, and Kevin Haskins aka Bauhaus. Bauhaus and its many spinoffs (Tones on Tail, Love and Rockets, Dali’s Car) are among my favorite musical lineages. They’d released “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” as a single in 1979 on Small Wonder records, but this debut came out on 4AD which…
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The Replacements, Tim, 1985 on Sire
This was The Replacements’ fourth studio LP and their first on major label Sire as opposed to Twin/Tone. It was also the last with Bob Stinson. It’s one of my favorite albums of all time: “Kiss Me On The Bus,” “Waitress in the Sky,” “Bastards of Young,” “Swingin Party,” and “Here Comes a Regular” are…
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The English Beat, Special Beat Service, 1982 on IRS
On this release the spine uses the name “The Beat” but uses “The English Beat” on the cover and labels so as not to conflict with Paul Collin’s The Beat. This was their third LP and last under the original configuration – they’d show up later as The Beat featuring Ranking Roger and then The…
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The Replacements, “Stink”, 1982 on Twin/Tone
This EP aka The Replacements – Stink (“Kids Don’t Follow” Plus Seven) came out in 1982, following the release of Sorry Ma. I always thought it was their first release. Opens with the infamous “This is the Minneapolis Police, the party’s over . . . if you all just grab your stuff and leave there…
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Billy Bragg, Help Save The Youth of America (Live and Dubious), 1988 on Elektra
Billy Bragg live six song EP released to encourage US youth to vote in the 1988 presidential election. Includes “Chile, Your Waters Run Red Through Soweto” (written by Bernice Johnson Reagon of Sweet Honey in the Rock) and “There is Power In a Union.” Remember, when you elect a President, you are electing President for…
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The Special AKA, In The Studio, 1984 on Chrysalis / 2 Tone
This was the third album from The Specials, and the only LP under the name Special AKA (early on the band had used The Special A.K.A. as well). The lineup changed quite a bit from the original Specials, after the departure of Neville Staple, Terry Hall, and Lynval Golding (who would form Fun Boy Three).…
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The Police, Zenyatta Mondatta, 1980 on A&M
Third album in the brilliant opening set of LPs from Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers. Side one opens with “Don’t Stand So Close To Me,” “Driven To Tears,” and “When The World is Running Down, You Make The Best of What’s Still Around” – what a sequence! There’s such a tight and interesting rhythm…
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Los Lobos, By the Light of the Moon, 1987 on Slash Records
Los Lobos’ follow on record to How Will The Wolf Survive?. which was produced by T-Bone Burnett. I love the Slash! records catalog from the 80s – great Americana tinged but contemporary music – and this is no exception. My copy—via Slipped Disc at a record fair at Mill No. 5—is an Allied pressing from…