The Majority - The Decca Years 1965-68 (Rev-Ola 2009) Flac & mp3

The Majority might be best remembered, or indeed primarily known, for recording a couple of songs penned by writers from much bigger groups that didn't release their own versions. Of the many British Invasion-era bands that never had a hit, however, the Majority had more staying power than most, releasing eight singles on Decca between 1965 and 1968. They never quite found a consistent stylistic direction or great material, however, before changing their name to Majority One in the late '60s.

Formed in Hull, England, as the Mustangs in the early '60s, they changed their name to the Majority around the time they moved to London in 1965. With more of an American pop/rock vocal harmony style than most British Invasion groups, they tried their hand at a variety of material over the next few years, most of it coming from outside songwriters. As a minor coup of sorts, for their second single, 1965's "A Little Bit of Sunlight," they managed to gain access to a Ray Davies composition that never found a place on a 1960s Kinks record (though a 1965 demo Davies cut with session men eventually found release). They also covered another Davies song, the Kinks' "Ring the Bells," on the B-side of their next single, though to be honest the Majority versions of both songs were not in the same league as the Davies-sung ones.

In search of chart material, the Majority also tried compositions written or co-written by such luminaries as John Carter, Twice as Much, and Chip Taylor. But they never hit a commercial or artistic gold mine, the production varying from the lush to straightforward mod-ish rock. One such effort in the latter vein, "One Third" (which like several of their better recordings faintly recalled the Zombies), did find a bigger audience decades later when it was included on the Nuggets, Vol. 2 box set of overlooked '60s British Invasion/early psychedelic-like rock from non-U.S. countries. Lead singer Barry Graham wrote "One Third," but his contributions to the group's recorded repertoire were limited to a couple B-sides.

The Majority's eighth and final single, "All Our Christmases," would generate another collectible for future British '60s rock aficionados to hunt down in subsequent decades, as it was written but not recorded by the Bee Gees. After some major lineup shuffles and work backing singer Barry Ryan in concert and in the studio, the Majority relocated to France, where they renamed themselves Majority One in 1969 and continued their recording career with a similar but more sophisticated musical approach. All of the tracks from the Majority's singles except one are on the CD compilation The Decca Years 1965-68.

Very good psychedelic pop band  who was completely underrated.
Enjoy
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Graham Gouldman - The Graham Gouldman Thing 1968 (1992 Edsel) Flac & mp3

Here is another odd review of Mr Unterberger:

Gouldman issued this solo album in 1968, featuring his own versions of the hits "For Your Love," "Bus Stop," and "No Milk Today" with eight other original tunes. The album blends pensive, acoustic-guitar driven compositions with light orchestral arrangements. It's a pleasant record, but ultimately does not measure up to the monster hit covers of his tunes. He's only an adequate singer, and the slower, more elaborately produced versions of "Bus Stop" and "For Your Love" are not nearly as good as the hard-charging renditions by the Yardbirds and Hollies. A decent curio, though, highlighted by "Pawnbroker" and "Upstairs Downstairs," which would have fit in well on the Hollies' 1966-1967 records.(''Richie'' Unterberger)

Rev-Ola back (more  nice)

.... .... sorry,... no words.
Okay i think the most of you know this album and the man who made it. That's enough to know about the album. I post it in flac now because i haven't seen it for a long time in flac all over the web.
But maybe i am just too lazy for a long search :-)

boring Edsel artwork back...

Have fun
Three cheers and a tiger!
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Glam/Power Pop - Hollywood Stars - Shine Like a Radio: The Great Lost 1974 Album (2013

While they never earned more than a tiny cult following outside their home state of California, the Hollywood Stars became heroes to glam and power pop fans with their tight, hooky, guitar-driven music, which emerged at a time when prog rock and singer/songwriters were dominating the rock scene. The Hollywood Stars sprung from a brainstorm by noted producer, songwriter, and idea man Kim Fowley, who decided in 1973 that rock & roll was ready for a new band that combined the energy and excitement of mid-'60s pop and rock with the crunchy guitars and attitude of hard rock; Fowley described his concept as a West Coast version of the New York Dolls, and he set out to find musicians who would fit the bill. Fowley's first recruit was drummer Terry Rae, who had been in the Palace Guard with Emitt Rhodes, drummed with Jamme, a psychedelic pop band whose sole album was produced by John Phillips, and was recording with the Flamin' Groovies when he got the call from Fowley. Setting out to find musicians who looked and sounded right for the gig, Fowley and Rae filled out the lineup with lead singer Scott Phares, lead guitarist Ruben de Fuentes, guitarist and vocalist Mark Anthony, and bassist Kevin Barnhill, and the new band took up a busy rehearsal schedule, with Fowley and Mars Bonfire contributing songs along with the members of the group.

Soon the band was regularly headlining Los Angeles' leading rock clubs, including the Troubadour and the Whisky A Go Go, and they scored a deal with Columbia Records. Before the band's debut album was released, however, the label discovered someone had charged studio time to the band's account without authorization, and the confusion led to the Hollywood Stars being dropped. The original lineup splintered, but a second edition of the group soon came together, with Anthony on lead vocals, de Fuentes on guitar, and Rae on drums alongside new members Steve DeLacy (guitar), Michael Rummans (bass), and Bobby Drier (percussion). The new edition of the Hollywood Stars was able to pick up where the previous lineup left off, and signed with Arista Records. However, by the time the Stars' album finally emerged in 1977, punk and new wave were on the rise in L.A., and the over-production of the album robbed the band of any hip cachet. The Hollywood Stars toured in support of the album opening for the Kinks, but between disappointing sales, poor promotion, and conflicting egos inside the group, the Stars were on their last legs by the time they arrived home, and by the end of 1977, the band broke up. In 1978, Ruben de Fuentes put together a third version of the Hollywood Stars with Rummans, Drier, singer Al Austin, and guitarist Bryce Mobray, but the more hard rock-oriented lineup attracted little interest and soon dissolved.

Over the years, the Hollywood Stars developed a cult following, especially among power pop fan intrigued by the press coverage the original band had received, and when blogger and superfan Robin Wills discovered that Terry Rae had a reel-to-reel copy of a rough mix of the unreleased album for Columbia, he arranged for it to be remastered and released. The album appeared under the title Shine Like a Radio: The Great Lost 1974 Album in 2013. Four years later, Blank Records released the band's version of "King of the Nighttime World" -- which became a huge hit for Kiss in 1976 -- as a limited-edition 7" that included two previously unreleased songs ("Too Hot to Handle" and "Habits") from 1975.(allmusic.com)

Great thanks to Robin Wills, the man who made possible the release of this long lost gem. Very nice album with a lot of really great songs. Highly recommended if you like Glam with a little Power Pop.
Have Fun
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Power Pop by Game Theory - Dead Center 1984 (2014 Omnivore) Expanded Edition (Flac & mp3)

After making their debut in 1982 with the self-produced and released album Blaze of Glory, Game Theory clearly wanted to aim for a more polished and professional sound on their next releases; for the 1983 EP Pointed Accounts of People You Know, leader Scott Miller took the band into a real studio (admittedly a modest one), and the 1984 EP Distortion found them working with an outside producer for the first time, Michael Quercio of paisley underground psychedelic heroes the Three O'Clock. The French indie label Lolita Records, then enamored of the paisley underground scene, licensed the two EPs and fashioned them into an album, Dead Center, making it the curious follow-up to Blaze of Glory, flown in from across the ocean to the group's homeland. While Dead Center doesn't cohere as an album as well as one might hope, the individual tracks shows that Game Theory were growing past the home-brewed sound of Blaze of Glory, and "Penny, Things Won't," "Metal and Glass Exact," and "Life in July" are smarter and better executed than nearly anything on BoG, while Quercio's production was a great complement to songs like "The Red Baron," "Nine Lives to Rigel Five," and "Shark Pretty" (the latter featuring a guitar solo from David Bowie sideman Earl Slick). And while Miller was clearly the leader of this band, bassist Fred Juhos, keyboardist Nan Becker, and drummer Dave Gill were more than capable accompanists who gave these songs the flavors they needed. One could certainly hear Game Theory's talent and potential on Blaze of Glory, but the material that formed Dead Center represented a major step forward for Miller and his group, and this music suggested they were maturing into the great smart pop band that would emerge on 1985's Real Nighttime.(allmusic.com)

Scott Miller shows here for the first time his skills and abilities as a pop songwriter for a whole album and showed in the direction where Game Theory would go in the future. To me a very good album.
Enjoy
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    You can buy the Game Theory albums here

Chris Bell - I Am The Cosmos mp3 files added

Like i yesterday in the Chris Bell post had promised here are the links for the Chris Bell in mp3. I added them in the Chris Bell Flac post from yesterday.
Cheers
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Cheap Trick - The Complete Epic Albums 13) Busted (1990) Flac

Surely, Cheap Trick didn’t intend for the title of Busted, their 1990 sequel to their surprise 1988 commercial comeback Lap of Luxury, to be as prophetic as that of its predecessor, but this vacant, radio-ready rocker finds the group at an unquestionable nadir. It’s not just the sound -- although the shimmering skyscraper production admittedly does the group no favors, neutering Roy Wood’s “Rock N Roll Tonight,” turning its swing into a stiff martial march -- it’s the paucity of material that is so dispiriting, the group either turning in pastiches of their trademarks or surrendering completely to the whims of studio hacks, whose tunefulness eclipses that of Nielsen and Zander, this time around. Like The Doctor before it -- the only album to rival this as the band’s worst -- Busted captures every bad sonic hallmark of its year; it’s as cavernous as that 1986 disaster, thanks in large part to the gargantuan rhythm section, but at least it’s warmer and less reliant on cold synths than that garish misfire, which does make it an easier listen. Even so, the pounding arena rock of Busted remains a bumpy ride because the hollow sound only magnifies the hollowness of the band’s songs.(allmusic.com)

That's it. After Busted  the Epic chapter was over in 1990.
I hope you or you...or maybe you had a little fun with the Epic Series. I think everyone have it's favorites from the Trick catalogue. In this sense
Cheers
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Cheap Trick - The Complete Epic Albums 12) - Lap of Luxury (1988)

Cheap Trick's comeback album is by no means a return to the creativity and vitality of their glory days. But even though Lap of Luxury is largely formulaic, the band's strongest collection of material in some time fills that late-'80s pop-metal formula quite well. Combining grandly romantic power ballads ("Ghost Town") with catchy hard rockers ("Never Had a Lot to Lose"), Lap of Luxury consistently delivers strong hooks and well-crafted songs, proving that Cheap Trick were still capable of outdoing many of the bands they helped inspire. The album produced two Top Five singles in a cover of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" and the band's first number one hit, "The Flame."(allmusic.com)

Comeback album for eight years painful missing (to me) Tom Petersson. Anyway the band needed more time to get back to nearly old strength. And this time lays back then in the future. They had two top five singles but The Flame was just a ballad like many others. But as i say their time came a few years later again...(imho) :-)

Cheers
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Cheap Trick - The Complete Epic Albums - 11) The Doctor (1986) Flac

If any one record sums up all the ludicrous indulgence of ‘80s record-making it’s The Doctor, Cheap Trick’s utterly botched ninth album. The band managed to navigate new wave with the assistance of Todd Rundgren, and even scored a slick AOR hit in 1985 with “Tonight It’s You,” but all their commercial instincts soured on The Doctor just as Rick Nielsen entered into a significant songwriting slump. Of the two problems, the former is the hardest to bear, as the very sound of The Doctor is egregiously unpleasant. Cluttered with cacophonic electronic drums and clanking with cheap overdriven synths, the record is cavernous and hollow, every instrument echoing endlessly in a fathomless digital stage. As sonic archaeology, this holds some interest, as it contains every bad record production idea of the mid-‘80s -- it’s as garish and ugly as its record cover -- but even then the relentless march is wearying, as it's married to an exceedingly weak set of songs. Whenever Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander have a good idea -- the cheerful sleaze of “Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere),” the slow grind of “Take Me to The Top” -- the song is bludgeoned by Tony Platt’s production, making The Doctor a memorably unpleasant album.(allmusic. com)

Enjoy it,
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Fotomaker - Vis' A' Vis' 1978 (2005 Wounded Bird) Flac & mp3

After the first very well received album by critics and the audience the band released the Vis' A' Vis' album in 1978.It was not the success the band had expected. It have not the complete strength of the first album but anyway it is an album with some good songs on it.

Enjoy,
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Thanks to Javier for this contribution!

At Request: Game Theory - Real Nighttime (1985) (2015 Omnivore) Flac

Released in 1985, Real Nighttime wasn't Game Theory's first album -- they'd self-released the home-recorded Blaze of Glory in 1982, and a pair of EPs had been fashioned into the 1984 LP Dead Center -- but it was the first record that truly fulfilled Scott Miller's ideas and ambitions for his music. With Real Nighttime, Miller and his bandmates had a bigger budget to work with, as well as a talented and sympatico producer, Mitch Easter, who tightened up the music and helped Miller work out the angles of his sweet-and-noisy smart pop. While Easter's studiocraft helped Game Theory improve their game, Real Nighttime more importantly contained the best and most cohesive set of songs Miller had written to date, and this loose song cycle following a young man's journey from romantic bliss ("24") to soul-crushing disappointment ("I Turned Her Away") plays like the indie pop answer to Pet Sounds. Like that album, Real Nighttime gave Game Theory a great canvas for experimentation; the ominous clouds of slide guitar on their cover of Alex Chilton's "You Can't Have Me," the caffeinated guitars and drums of "Friend of the Family," and the interplay of fuzztone and Farfisa on "Rayon Drive" showed Game Theory were learning new ways to color their surroundings, especially as the more aggressive numbers turned around quieter pieces like "If and When It Falls Apart" and "I Mean It This Time." And while Miller was clearly the leader of this band, the outstanding percussion work from Dave Gill, the evocative keyboards from Nan Becker, and the solid, propulsive bass of Fred Juhos played an invaluable role in making these songs work. Game Theory made good records right out of the starting gate, but Real Nighttime was where they proved they could make truly great ones, and it's not just one of the band's finest works, it's a watershed work in '80s paisley underground pop.(allmusic.com)

Can't say anything about the album because to me nearly everything what Scott Miller with his musicians did back then, is great for me. Also Real Nighttime. Wonderful wave arrangements with enough power pop in the songs. Maybe in the eighties Miller was the most modern pop musician in power pop style. No other understand like Miller to blend parts of the common power pop with the new pop styles of the time back in the early till mid eighties (Costello was more in new wave at that time like many others). The pop music lost an important influence with his untimely death.
Hope you will enjoy
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Rachel Sweet - B.A.B.Y.; The Best Of Rachel Sweet (2001) Flac and mp3

It's very easy to remember Rachel Sweet as little more than a juvenile novelty within the Stiff Records canon, one more in a long line of headline-grabbing oddities who vanished from the radar around the same time as people stopped caring what the label itself was up to. To do so, however, serves up a dreadful injustice, to Sweet of course, but also to anyone who actually sits down to listen to Sweet's Stiff Records output and discovers there a treasure trove of excellence.

Her Fool Around debut album, in particular, was a masterpiece, a country-new wave hybrid a decade ahead of its time, and littered with some sensational performances -- "Who Does Lisa Like" is only the most obvious, the almost shockingly mature "Wildwood Saloon" only the most surprising. Of course there were a few obligatory bubblegum boppers in there, but when the novelty factor gets too grating, it's the songs ("Cuckoo Clock," "Girl with a Synthesizer") that jar, not the singer. Sweet's second album, Protect the Innocent, was less enthralling, although a lovely cover of the Velvet Underground's "New Age" and a strange take on the Damned's "New Rose" both thrill, while Sweet also unleashed a positively beautiful take on the oldie "I Go to Pieces."

All of which lines B.A.B.Y. up as an excellent collection, and a fitting tribute to a singer who should never have been allowed to fade away as she did. At her best, she really was one of the best.(allmusic.com.)

Rachel Sweet was great in the four years from 1978 till 1982. I must confess that i don't know later stuff ( i.e. the album ''The Look'' , released without calling her name on the album).

If you don't know Rachel Sweet give her a try.

Cheers  SB1   New Flac link           mp3@320

The Hollies At Abbey Road 1973 - 1989 (Remastered 1998) Flac

If this 20-song, 78-minute compilation is less compelling than its two predecessors, it's only because it represents a period in the Hollies' history in which the group lost its decade-long grip on the pop charts, even as they retained their fan base. The producers have interspersed the key hits and B-sides with what they regard as important album tracks and throw in a handful of previously unissued songs for a good cross-section of what is probably, for many of us, the least familiar period in the group's history of recording. The first track, "The Day That Curly Billy Shot Down Crazy Sam McGee," was an attempt to emulate the sound of their earlier hit "Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)," which succeeded only part way, reaching the Top 30 in England. "Transatlantic Westbound Jet," a rare Bobby Elliott/Terry Sylvester collaboration, in this version featuring Allan Clarke on lead vocals, and the bouncy (and previously unissued) rocker "Iceberg" lead us to the group's last major international hit, "The Air That I Breathe."

The album and B-side tracks that follow are enjoyable enough, the Calypso-flavored "Layin' to the Music" being the best of the cuts leading into "4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy)," which is followed by a delightful rumba-style rock number, "Come Down to the Shore," which sees its first release on this CD, although they never succeeded remotely the way "The Air That I Breathe" did. Another superb (and previously lost) outtake, "Samuel," makes its debut here as well, featuring some newly-recorded Tony Hicks guitar parts. An unusually large portion of the rest of the disc is devoted to tracks off of the Five Three One-Double Seven O Four album from 1979, but these pale next to the radiant harmonies and overall exuberance of the group's 1981 reunion with co-founder Graham Nash on "Take My Love and Run," which deserved a lot more chart action than it ever saw. As late as the mid-1980s, as this compilation shows, the group was creating brilliant pop/rock, and it's worth getting to "Too Many Hearts Get Broken," "Find Me a Family," and "No Rules." The sound is state of the art, and the annotation is informative and entertaining.

The first Hollies - At Abbey Road 1963 - 1966 you will also find here on the blog.
Enjoy
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