Forever Amber - The Love Cycle (1969) mp3@320

Forever Amber must have worn out the grooves on their copy of the Zombies' Odessey and Oracle. Their rare 1969 LP, The Love Cycle, emulated the late-period Zombies rather well with its classically influenced melodies and careful harmonies. Although the material isn't quite as good, and the production and execution not as accomplished, it is a good record. It was reissued on CD in the '90s, although the re-releases are themselves hard to find in the U.S.(allmusic.com)

Enjoy
         SB1  mp3@320

Fingerprintz - Distinguishing Marks (1980) Vinyl mp3@320

Now sadly relegated to footnote status, England's Fingerprintz were one of the few bands that lent credibility to the marketing-inspired expression "new wave." Formed by Scottish-born singer/guitarist Jimmie O'Neill in 1978, the 'Printz slowed down punk's careening guitar rock, adding clever, rhythmic twists and turns, and offering up deftly written stories about lust, angst, and urban desolation. The problem was finding an audience; the music was certainly spot-on, but one can only guess as to what kept hordes of people away. Certainly it wasn't the quality of their recorded work, which, despite occasional concessions to slick production, is mostly smart and insightful. Perhaps it was simply a matter of being out of step with the zeitgeist or simply not getting a break. O'Neill decided to call it a day after the third and final 'Printz record, Beat Noir, in 1981. However, the story has a sort of happy ending: O'Neill and fellow 'Printz guitarist Cha Burns formed the Silencers in 1987, a band that reaped much greater commercial success than did the 'Printz. Ironically, the Silencers' records weren't nearly as good as that of Fingerprintz. All three Fingerprintz records are long out of print, which is a thinly veiled recommendation for someone to compile a CD anthology.(allmusic.com)

 With producer Nick Garvey (ex-Ducks Deluxe and Motors) leading the way, Distinguishing Marks has all the rough edges smoothed away, but not so much as to have a negative impact on the music. O'Neill's songs are still loaded with dark emotional undercurrents and melodramatic narratives, but they aren't self-pitying, narcissistic exercises. In fact, this LP marked a maturational process that continued with their third and last record. Still, no record better sums up the excellence of Fingerprintz better than this one.(allmusic.com)

I just stumbled over this in my chaos and thought it's nice to post it. Haven't heard it for a long time. I think this have more new wave and post punk style. Enjoy it.
Gruezi
          Frank  mp3@320

Fotomaker - Fotomaker (1978) 2005 mp3

Fotomaker had a pretty impressive pedigree. Guitarist/vocalist Wally Bryson came from power pop gods the Raspberries, and bassist Gene Cornish and drummer Dino Danelli were founding members of the Rascals. The other two bandmembers, guitarist/vocalist Lex Marchesi and keyboardist/vocalist Frankie Vinci, were no slouches either, as the two of them were responsible for most of the songwriting and singing on the band's fine 1978 debut. The record is very much in the power pop vein with walls of guitars, Beatlesque vocal harmonies, and big hooks. Unsurprisingly, they sound very much like the Raspberries, lacking that band's grandeur but replacing it with an easygoing charm.
Their classic song, "Where Have You Been All My Life," is easily a match for the Raspberries' best. It is the kind of song that guitars were invented for, and will be going around your head for hours after you hear it. The rest of the album can't match it but there are some fine songs, like "Can I Please Have Some More," the very Todd Rundgren-sounding "Two Can Make It Work," the power ballad "All These Years," and "Pain." There is a subtle soft rock undercurrent to many of the tunes that may put off rockers who prefer a harder edge, but it actually gives the record some texture. Fotomaker may not be the lost classic that one might hope for, but it is a fine pop record with a fair amount of power and some very fine songs.

Very nice pop record by Fotomaker. The names of the members guaranteed for big pop. Fotomaker had to further albums but this is her finest effort. Have fun!
Cheers
           Frank  mp3@vbr~280

Radio Stars - Somewhere There's A Place for Us (2005) mp3

With two albums and a boatload of deleted 45s to their name, Radio Stars always merited far more consideration from the archivists than the earlier Two Minutes Mr. Smith collection allowed them -- and Somewhere There's a Place for Us delivers in fine style. The 29 tracks include each of the band's 45s, a clutch of their better B-sides, and no less than seven unreleased cuts, including one ("Dear Prudence") that dates from the last days of their earlier incarnation as Jet, and two ("My Mother Said" and "The Ghost of Desperate Dan") that hail from an early-'80s reunion of founding members Andy Ellison and Martin Gordon. The remainder of the album, however, is nothing if not unpredictable. The vast majority of the Songs for Swinging Lovers debut album is here, together with enough of the sophomore Holiday Album to make one regret never having held onto the original vinyl, while the highlights that scream out of nowhere include so many all-time punky-playtime masterpieces that even the most familiar titles ("No Russians in Russia," "Dirty Pictures," "Beast of Barnsley," "Nervous Wreck") pale in the face of "From a Rabbit" -- essential listening for every body-building hulk who's ever kicked sand in your face -- and "Johnny Mekon," the story of the greatest rock star you've ever felt desperately sorry for. Add entertainingly voluminous liner notes from the bandmembers themselves, and the distinct possibility that at least half of this album will be stuck in your head for weeks to come, and Radio Stars emerge from the mists of time as memorably as the Greek restaurant whose poorly translated menu inspired "Macaroni and Mice." Bowels stuffed with spleen notwithstanding, of course. (allmusic.com)

Radio Stars was a punk/power pop band from the mid to the late '70. Andy Ellison played in the sixties together with Marc Bolan in the folk-psych-pop band John's Children. This is a fine collection of the Radio Stars work from 1977 - 1979. Viel Spass!
Cheers
           Frank  mp3@320

The mp3 Beatles! Love mp3@320

Hello Folks and all friends of the mp3 format, like i yesterday said here is the mp3@320 post of the ''Love'' album. Have fun and enjoy!
Kind regards
                    Frank  mp3@320