Rock Evolution – The History of Rock & Roll - 1985 - (page 203)

OB1 said:
First pick is easy - I’ll save you the trouble Rob.

Rush: Xanadu - possibly the greatest epic rock track this side of Kashmir.
Click to expand...
I had nominated this for the Playlist thread, so I'll thank you for taking it this time around. A classic to continue on the successful release from 1976.

Lots to still choose from otherwise, so I'll go for a first time band nomination here along with the start of a movie franchise that for me was watched multiple times after initial release in a small "dollar theatre" with insanely long lines just over the state line in Elkton, MD. The first VCR in the US was released this year (JVC), but we wouldn't have one until the 1980's, so the budget showings of movies after their initial runs was the thing back then.

Seems only right in the age of AI that a track from this album about "the rise of the machine and the decline of man" and an iconic song from this blockbuster movie gets nominated. I am and was a big fan of both, especially the sound engineer from classic albums including the Beatles' Abbey Road and Let It Be, and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon who had formed his own band.

I loved the guest vocalists used on this an other albums (Peter Straker & Jaki Whitren featured on this track), which gave each song its own mood and variation on the album. From the first movie and the band's second album I Robot, 1977 was a breakthrough year for both.

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...."

"Main Title (Star Wars: A New Hope)" - John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra

"Some Other Time" - The Alan Parsons Project
 
Last edited:
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
I had nominated this for the Playlist thread, so I'll thank you for taking it this time around. A classic to continue on the successful release from 1976.

Lots to still choose from otherwise, so I'll go for a first time band nomination here along with the start of a movie franchise that for me was watched multiple times after initial release in a small "dollar theatre" with insanely long lines just over the state line in Elkton, MD. The first VCR in the US was released this year (JVC), but we wouldn't have one until the 1980's, so the budget showings of movies after their initial runs was the thing back then.

Seems only right in the age of AI that a track from this album about "the rise of the machine and the decline of man" and an iconic song from this blockbuster movie gets nominated. I am and was a big fan of both, especially the sound engineer from classic albums including the Beatles' Abbey Road and Let It Be, and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon who had formed his own band.

I loved the guest vocalists used on this an other albums (Peter Straker & Jaki Whitren featured on this track), which gave each song its own mood and variation on the album. From the first movie and the band's second album I Robot, 1977 was a breakthrough year for both.

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...."

"Main Title (Star Wars: A New Hope)" - John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra

"Some Other Time" - The Alan Parsons Project
Click to expand...
I was wondering when Star Wars would get a mention.

For reasons that will become clear, it's getting a mention in the 1978 write-up.
 
Mancitydoogle said:
Good Write up and choices.

1977 saw punk and new wave become a major staple of my musical diet.
Although I wasn’t a punk I loved the bands who could play and the new wave artists who had something new to say and I saw most of them live during that time.

1977 saw the release of a whole host of debut albums from artists I still enjoy today.
The Clash, became one of my favourite bands and i always preferred them to the Sex Pistols.They could all play and went on to make 5 great albums .Joe Strummer and Mick Jones went on to form other bands I liked.
‘LONDON’S BURNING’

My next 2 artists I was fortunate to see perform on the same bill, The Live Stiffs Tour’ Elvis Costello and Ian Dury along with Nick Lowe,Wreckless Eric and Larry Wallis.
Both released brilliant debut albums this year, bit of trivia ECs backing band was not the Attractions on this album but members of an American Country band Clover who would go on to become Huey Lewis and the News.

Ian Dury was previously in the pub rock band Kilburn and the High Roads.


‘LESS THAN ZERO’

‘SEX AND DRUGS AND ROCK & ROLL’

My final pick is an American band who although part of the New Wave CBGBs scene did not sound at all like other bands of that genre but more like 60s soul and Latin Rock.Fronted by the late great Willy Deville one of the few bands I went too see as a support band but the headliners weren’t bad either Dr Feelgood.

‘VENUS OF AVENUE D’

Another of my favourite new wave bands released their debut this year but sadly I never got to see them live.Talking Heads who I’m sure will get a nomination.
Click to expand...
Could you highlight the tracks you want please doogle?
It’s me not you btw :-)
 
RobMCFC said:
I was wondering when Star Wars would get a mention.

For reasons that will become clear, it's getting a mention in the 1978 write-up.
Click to expand...
If I had more picks, I would have included the John Williams classic so glad someone did. Mind, I still have two picks left but spolit for choice. It’s another year that’s I think I own over a 100 albums from, including the Star Wars soundtrack. Just bought the TESB one on cd.
 
OB1 said:
If I had more picks, I would have included the John Williams classic so glad someone did. Mind, I still have two picks left but spolit for choice. It’s another year that’s I think I own over a 100 albums from, including the Star Wars soundtrack. Just bought the TESB one on cd.
Click to expand...
Whilst I think there are classic mini-themes in all of the films, I think TESB just shades it with both The Imperial March and Yoda's Theme.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OB1
I’ll go with a Thin Lizzy track for my third pick, which I previously wrote about when reviewing “Live and Dangerous”.

Phil goes all James Jamerson as his bass line brings in the Motownesque Dancing in the Moonlight. This is one of two Lizzy songs that I adore beyond words, not least because Phil’s words perfectly capture the experience of being a teenager in love:

“When I passed you in the doorway
Well, you took me with a glance
I should've took that last bus home
But I asked you for a dance
Now we go steady to the pictures
I always get chocolate stains on my pants
And my father, he's going crazy
He says I'm livin' in a trance”
 
My fourth pick is Starcastle: Fountains, which I consider worth the price of admission just for the opening section. Produced by Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker, I love how it sounds, the drum rolls are a thing of beauty.

I’ve seen them described a symphonic prog, which is at least half right. They are like Yes at their most grandiose on this track.

The band actually released two albums in 1977 and I nearly picked a track from the second more AORish album “Citadel”: “Shine on Brightly”, which is one of my playlist favourites but “Fountains” just won out, even though I think I had it included on one of the Playlist thread lists.
 
I'm going to harken back to a 1977 Christmas memory where two musical cassettes were gifted to my dad, one being the already well-mentioned chart topping Rumours, and the next one from an artist whose record company was about to drop him if this release wasn't a hit.

While I think back on it now, I guess the title of these albums would ironically be signs of things to come where a marriage wasn't going to make it, but I was only beginning to see inclinations of that as an 11 year old that year. The Stranger and "they just didn't count on the tears", indeed.

This album was this artist's fifth, and the first produced by Phil Ramone (no relation to Joey or the other lot). This album was a commercial breakthrough and later became Columbia's top selling album surpassing Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Waters from 1970.

This album release produced 5 singles that were all hits, but that's not the track from here that has stuck with me over the years. The good may die young, but there will be no movin' out as she's always a woman, and I'm no stranger to say I've liked this track just the way it is. However, we'll go deeper here on this 7 minute plus saga that was inspired by the second half of Abbey Road. This song tells a story, and has several musical changes packed into what it delivers, an honest and intimate observation on life in NYC in the 1970s. The romance, the day to day, the memories, the heartbreaks, and life afterwards. The music is top notch as the touring band was brought in on the prior album, and would be part of this and subsequent albums that also were successful hits. Special mention to Dominic Cortese who helps start the song off on accordion, and Richie Cannata who delivers some fantastic saxophones, flute, and clarinet to help along with the New Orleans jazz vibe afterwards. Often known as "the ballad of Brenda and Eddie" from that song segment, this non-single track is one I remember as an emerging teen on FM radio.

A bottle of red, a bottle of white, whatever kind of mood you're in tonight...

"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" - Billy Joel
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
I'm going to harken back to a 1977 Christmas memory where two musical cassettes were gifted to my dad, one being the already well-mentioned chart topping Rumours, and the next one from an artist whose record company was about to drop him if this release wasn't a hit.

While I think back on it now, I guess the title of these albums would ironically be signs of things to come where a marriage wasn't going to make it, but I was only beginning to see inclinations of that as an 11 year old that year. The Stranger and "they just didn't count on the tears", indeed.

This album was this artist's fifth, and the first produced by Phil Ramone (no relation to Joey or the other lot). This album was a commercial breakthrough and later became Columbia's top selling album surpassing Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Waters from 1970.

This album release produced 5 singles that were all hits, but that's not the track from here that has stuck with me over the years. The good may die young, but there will be no movin' out as she's always a woman, and I'm no stranger to say I've liked this track just the way it is. However, we'll go deeper here on this 7 minute plus saga that was inspired by the second half of Abbey Road. This song tells a story, and has several musical changes packed into what it delivers, an honest and intimate observation on life in NYC in the 1970s. The romance, the day to day, the memories, the heartbreaks, and life afterwards. The music is top notch as the touring band was brought in on the prior album, and would be part of this and subsequent albums that also were successful hits. Special mention to Dominic Cortese who helps start the song off on accordion, and Richie Cannata who delivers some fantastic saxophones, flute, and clarinet to help along with the New Orleans jazz vibe afterwards. Often known as "the ballad of Brenda and Eddie" from that song segment, this non-single track is one I remember as an emerging teen on FM radio.

A bottle of red, a bottle of white, whatever kind of mood you're in tonight...

"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" - Billy Joel
Click to expand...
That’s a great choice. “The Stranger” and “Only The Good Die Young” are also excellent as well.
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
I'm going to harken back to a 1977 Christmas memory where two musical cassettes were gifted to my dad, one being the already well-mentioned chart topping Rumours, and the next one from an artist whose record company was about to drop him if this release wasn't a hit.

While I think back on it now, I guess the title of these albums would ironically be signs of things to come where a marriage wasn't going to make it, but I was only beginning to see inclinations of that as an 11 year old that year. The Stranger and "they just didn't count on the tears", indeed.

This album was this artist's fifth, and the first produced by Phil Ramone (no relation to Joey or the other lot). This album was a commercial breakthrough and later became Columbia's top selling album surpassing Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Waters from 1970.

This album release produced 5 singles that were all hits, but that's not the track from here that has stuck with me over the years. The good may die young, but there will be no movin' out as she's always a woman, and I'm no stranger to say I've liked this track just the way it is. However, we'll go deeper here on this 7 minute plus saga that was inspired by the second half of Abbey Road. This song tells a story, and has several musical changes packed into what it delivers, an honest and intimate observation on life in NYC in the 1970s. The romance, the day to day, the memories, the heartbreaks, and life afterwards. The music is top notch as the touring band was brought in on the prior album, and would be part of this and subsequent albums that also were successful hits. Special mention to Dominic Cortese who helps start the song off on accordion, and Richie Cannata who delivers some fantastic saxophones, flute, and clarinet to help along with the New Orleans jazz vibe afterwards. Often known as "the ballad of Brenda and Eddie" from that song segment, this non-single track is one I remember as an emerging teen on FM radio.

A bottle of red, a bottle of white, whatever kind of mood you're in tonight...

"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" - Billy Joel
Click to expand...
A great song from a great album.
 
OB1 said:
My fourth pick is Starcastle: Fountains, which I consider worth the price of admission just for the opening section. Produced by Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker, I love how it sounds, the drum rolls are a thing of beauty.

I’ve seen them described a symphonic prog, which is at least half right. They are like Yes at their most grandiose on this track.

The band actually released two albums in 1977 and I nearly picked a track from the second more AORish album “Citadel”: “Shine on Brightly”, which is one of my playlist favourites but “Fountains” just won out, even though I think I had it included on one of the Playlist thread lists.
Click to expand...
Excellent choice my liege.
“Fountains” is my favourite Starcastle track and very reminiscent of Yes.
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
I'm going to harken back to a 1977 Christmas memory where two musical cassettes were gifted to my dad, one being the already well-mentioned chart topping Rumours, and the next one from an artist whose record company was about to drop him if this release wasn't a hit.

While I think back on it now, I guess the title of these albums would ironically be signs of things to come where a marriage wasn't going to make it, but I was only beginning to see inclinations of that as an 11 year old that year. The Stranger and "they just didn't count on the tears", indeed.

This album was this artist's fifth, and the first produced by Phil Ramone (no relation to Joey or the other lot). This album was a commercial breakthrough and later became Columbia's top selling album surpassing Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Waters from 1970.

This album release produced 5 singles that were all hits, but that's not the track from here that has stuck with me over the years. The good may die young, but there will be no movin' out as she's always a woman, and I'm no stranger to say I've liked this track just the way it is. However, we'll go deeper here on this 7 minute plus saga that was inspired by the second half of Abbey Road. This song tells a story, and has several musical changes packed into what it delivers, an honest and intimate observation on life in NYC in the 1970s. The romance, the day to day, the memories, the heartbreaks, and life afterwards. The music is top notch as the touring band was brought in on the prior album, and would be part of this and subsequent albums that also were successful hits. Special mention to Dominic Cortese who helps start the song off on accordion, and Richie Cannata who delivers some fantastic saxophones, flute, and clarinet to help along with the New Orleans jazz vibe afterwards. Often known as "the ballad of Brenda and Eddie" from that song segment, this non-single track is one I remember as an emerging teen on FM radio.

A bottle of red, a bottle of white, whatever kind of mood you're in tonight...

"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" - Billy Joel
Click to expand...
I have to confess I am not a big Billy Joel fan albeit his longevity and concert experience clearly defines him and his music that cannot be overlooked.

He rates this as one of his favorites and while I know its trite and easy on my behalf I have to agree along with Allentown and She's Got a Way they are songs I can listen to time and again with much enjoyment and emotion.
 
mancity111 said:
I have to confess I am not a big Billy Joel fan albeit his longevity and concert experience clearly defines him and his music that cannot be overlooked.

He rates this as one of his favorites and while I know its trite and easy on my behalf I have to agree along with Allentown and She's Got a Way they are songs I can listen to time and again with much enjoyment and emotion.
Click to expand...
"Allentown" is another great track.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OB1
I will add the following at the risk of breaking protocol.

No More Heroes - The Stranglers

Protein has already listed a track on this much underrated album IMO their best work in a massive catalogue of punk that works.

The keyboard riff , satire without soapboxing and energy in sync with the rest of the album means this album deserves two tracks on the playlist and IMO is what punk at its best is all about.

Long live The Stranglers and that they will.
 
OB1 said:
Birdland was the obvious choice :(
Click to expand...

You're not wrong and probably the choices should represent the year rather than a personal favourite, and Birdland wins hands down on that. In my defence I can currently get a bottle of wine for €15 in a supermarket that would cost me at least twice as much at home so the booze is probably clouding my judgement.

Anyway my third pick contains one of my favourite opening lines. From a fantastic album.

John Martyn - Couldn't Love You More
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top