Squeeze - Squeeze 1978 (1997 Remaster A&M) Flac & mp3

It's hard to envision a scenario more nightmarish than the one that faced Squeeze when they headed into the studio to record their first album. Armed with a promising debut EP called Packet of Three, Squeeze signed with A&M and teamed the group with underground star John Cale, who helmed debuts by the Stooges and the Modern Lovers and would seemingly be a good fit as a producer (not to mention that the band took its name from Squeeze, the final album by Cale's Velvet Underground, albeit an album recorded long after he and Lou Reed had both left the band). He was anything but. Cale terrorized Squeeze, throwing out all of their existing material and insisting that they write new music on the spot, preferably songs that followed his half-baked idea of positioning the group as a bunch of "Gay Guys," after his suggested title for the album.

Despite the bodybuilder on the cover -- the one who presumably represents the bodybuilder on "Strong in Reason" -- and a very healthy dose of sex in the lyrics, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook didn't steer the band in that direction, but did push Squeeze to a tense, chaotic sound that brought them closer to punk than perhaps they actually were. Often, it's hard not to read that coiled nervous energy as a reaction to the impossible situation they were trapped within -- sometimes, this was to their benefit, as it gives "Sex Master" some true menace and invigorates the Motown bass bounce of "Remember What," but it also results in the band knocking out atonal, assaultive jumbles like "The Call" and the self-consciously strange instrumental "Wild Sewerage Tickles Brazil," both seemingly written to impress John Cale. They may have impressed Cale, but not A&M, who opted to add two Squeeze-produced tracks to the final album: the frenetic "Bang Bang" and "Take Me I'm Yours." Tellingly, these were the two songs here that truly hinted in the tight, sharp, and tuneful direction that they would soon follow and, not so coincidentally, they were the two singles pulled from the record.(Mr Erlewine, allmusic)

I don't shed a word about the review. On the album there are a lot things the band later used on many songs and albums. And in 1978 this was one of the better so called New Wave albums. And this is by far not their best album as we know, it is their first. Probably here were ten top 5 pop hits too little on the album for some people. Try it yourself

Enjoy Frank     Flac p1 & Flac p2    -   mp3@320

Various Artists - One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found Vol.3 (2005 Rhino) Flac & mp3@320

The third part of the wonderful Rhino series with 30 further titles of great songs performed by female artists of the sixties.

Enjoy!
          Frank        Flac p1 & Flac p2         mp3@320

Part Four! Various Artists - Decca Originals - The Freakbeat Scene (1998 Decca Records) Flac & mp3

Good Morning, Good Day or Good Evening Folks, you will not believe it but it's true. Here in the ''wild west'' :-) of Germany we have today 35 degrees Celsius in the shade. Every move is hard work, lol.

Okay all you music lovers here is part four of the Decca ''The Scene'' series. It is the Freakbeat volume. Like from all of the seven volumes i know from this series this one is also a very fine collection. I hope you will enjoy it and if your neighbours are dancers why not turn the volume to 10... ;-)

Have fun
              Frank       Flac p1 & Flac p2        mp3@320

Psychedelic Pop classic album by Paul Parrish - The Forest Of My Mind 1968 ( 2014 Now Sounds) Flac & mp3

Paul Parrish's debut is a bright, excellently produced LP filled with remarkable sunshine-dipped folk-pop songs along the lines of Donovan. Replete with flute, strings, and slight psychedelic effects, the album gets by on the strength of Parrish's songs, especially tracks like "English Sparrows," "Suzanne," and "Flowers in the Park."

Each track is ripe with rainbow-colored imagery and the requisite amount of forest/meadow scenarios. You'd want to dismiss it as merely kitsch if Parrish's vocals weren't so sweet and persuasive -- in the end, you're singing along and holding hands with whoever might be near.

Even the covers of the Beatles' "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" and the Holland-Dozier-Holland classic "I Can't Help Myself" fail to disappoint, and instead help put the album further into a detached yet pleasant, love-struck, and extremely wide-eyed version of psychedelic sunshine pop.(allmusic)

This is a fantastic album of psychedelic pop with soul and really great sounds.
Don't miss it and take a trip over the rainbow bridge  :-)
Enjoy
         Frank   Flac p1  &  Flac p2      mp3@320

Blackfoot Sue - Strangers 1977 (1995 Repertoire) Flac & mp3

Blackfoot Sue's album Strangers is the strongest of her three efforts. The album wasn't released in 1974 because of no success. Only a few singles were released till 1975. In 1977 the band call it quits.
It's a pity that the album wasn't released in 1974.

Enjoy
         Frank       Flac p1  & Flac p2       mp3@320

Blackfoot Sue - Nothing To Hide 1973 (1995 Repertoire) Flac & mp3

Blackfoot Sue was a British pop/rock group of the 1970s whose members were Tom Farmer (b.1952 03 02, Birmingham, England) (bass, keyboards, vocals), his twin brother Dave Farmer (b.1952 03 02, Birmingham, England) (drums), Eddie Galga (b.1951 09 04, Birmingham, England) (guitar, keyboards), and Alan Jones (b.1950 01 05, Birmingham, England) (guitar, vocals). Their "Standing in the Road" was a U.K. Top Ten hit in 1972, but they were written off as a teen sensation and broke up in 1977.( allmusic.com)

Blackfoot Sue have done some very fine songs in their career and i think the band was completely misunderstood by the critics. I will post ''Strangers'' later or tomorrow, too.

Enjoy
         Frank             Flac p1 & Flac p2     mp3@320

 

Pop Legends Mariani & Easter: DM3 - Dig It The Most (1997 Bomp Records) Flac & mp3@320

Mitch Easter produced most of the 20 tracks assembled for this release, which mines the currents of classic power-pop with its tightly constructed, harmony-heavy songs. The mood is perennially upbeat, with occasional imaginative folk-rock or psychedelic twists. It doesn't break new ground, but power-pop is itself such a self-consciously classicist form that it might be unreasonable to expect anything more of a 1990s band devoted to the style. It's energetically, confidently performed, and bound to please Yellow Pills subscribers, which for acts such as these is probably reward enough(allmusic)

Power Pop Legends Dom Mariani and Mitch Easter worked together in 1997. The result is '' Dig It The Most'', an classical Dom Mariani effort. The straight forward rockers and poppers shows Mariani and band in best shape. In songs like ''Something heavy'' or ''Fair Weather Friend'' the influence of Easter is good to hear.
Here are a lot of songs who are really great. Sometimes i thought in the past it was a matter of course for the audition that Mariani did strong albums. I am not sure if the work from Mariani is really appreciated by the audition  how he and his work it have deserved. Howoever, this is a very fine work and i highly recommend it.

Cheers
           Frank       Flac p1 & Flac p2 & Flac p3    -  mp3@320

Female Pop/Power Pop from Norway! Cocktail Slippers - People Talk 2014

Cocktail Slippers is a five-piece, all-female rock band from Oslo, Norway. Current band members are: Hope (vocals), Rocket Queen (guitar), Piper (keyboard/organ), Bella Donna (drums) and Sugar Cane (bass). Cocktail Slippers was formed in 2001 and has since released three studio albums and two Christmas singles. They are known for their entertaining live rock ′n roll performances and have played alongside artists such as Nancy Sinatra, Crowded House, Elvis Costello and The Strokes. The band is continuously touring Europe and the USA.

Background

In early 2001, Cocktail Slippers was formed out of another all-female band called the Barbarellas. Bass-player Sugar Cane was one of the original members of the Barbarellas. Rocket Queen and Modesty Blaze joined after the then-guitar and keyboard players left. Eventually, the Barbarellas split up in 2000, but Sugar Cane, Modesty Blaze and Rocket Queen hooked up with a new drummer to continue the project. Shortly after it was decided that it would be better to rename the band. The new name was Cocktail Slippers, although the Cocktail Slippers is also commonly used as a reference. The band recorded their first album, Rock It! in early spring 2001 with Modesty Blaze (formerly known as Lisa Farfisa) on vocals and keyboard, Rocket Queen on vocals and guitar, Sugar Cane on bass and Tammy Lee Sticks on drums. Later that year, the album Rock It! was released on the Norwegian label MTG Records.
In 2004 the band recorded their follow-up album Mastermind, which was also released on MTG Records. In the same year, a cover of Wham!'s "Last Christmas" was released as a limited edition CD single. The song was made available as a digital download in 2009.
In 2007, Cocktail Slippers was signed by Steven Van Zandt (also known as'"Little Steven") on his label Wicked Cool Records. In 2009 Cocktail Slippers recorded and released their third studio album Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. The album was produced by the band together with Steven Van Zandt and co-produced by Jean Beauviour (known for producing Kiss, Blondie, and The Ramones). The album features 12 tracks, although the USA vinyl release includes 2 bonus tracks as well. Besides own material, the album features two cover songs: Lesley Gore's "She's a Fool" and Connie Francis's "Don't Ever Leave Me".
The record also holds two songs written by Little Steven—"Saint Valentine's Day Massacre" and "Heard You Got A Thing For Me". The album received positive reviews worldwide with respected critics such as Rolling Stone magazine's David Fricke describing the band as "Norwegian Devil Dolls" that "sing their you-done-me-wrong songs with avenging-angel-army-harmonies". Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad called the women "Norwegian Rock Heroins" that "pick up where Blondie left off".
Cocktail Slippers was submitted to one of the largest musicfestivals in the USA—South by Southwest both in 2010 and 2011. They performed at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park, London in the summer of 2012.
Cocktail Slippers was featured in the episode "The Flamingo" in the Norwegian/American mafia comedy Lilyhammer.

As you see in the wiki description the band is together since 2001. I think there is no need to mention these women can play. They are together around 15 years at the time this album was recorded. In the today's music scene the ladys all can play, believe me.
The band plays a mix of pop, power pop, new wave here on ''People Talk''. Naturally if you play Power Pop in a woman band it's hard to ignore The Go Go's, The Bangles and/or Blondie. But i think that's not what the band want. You hear on the album how much they love their role models and it have a positive impact on their music. Catchy melodies over fine chord progressions with powerful polyphonic vocals make the album to a real ear catcher in the kind of the mentioned bands.
Play loud
               Frank        Flac p1  & Flac p2       - mp3@320

Various Artists - One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found Vol.1 (2005 Rhino) Flac & mp3@320

Here comes Vol.1. Hope you enjoyed the yesterday volume and takes this, too.
Tomorrow the next volume will follow.

Viel Spass
                 Frank           Flac p1 & Flac p2        mp3@320

Part Three! Various Artists - Decca Originals - The Northern Soul Scene 1998 (Decca Records) Flac & mp3

Good morning Folks, in Germany people say ''He's stood up with the wrong leg'' and that means someone is in a very bad mood. That's how i feel today. Midges prick all over my body this night. Can't get enough sleep due to the midges. Sometimes life is hard, lol. The reason why i tell you this is that i thought how i can i improve my mood and i took a shower and i listened to an old northern soul sampler. And now i sit here and decided to post next the northern soul scene volume. Sometimes life is easy :-) . I stop now this small talk and here are the links.

  Flac p1  & Flac p2         mp3@320

Have fun
               Frank

America - The Definitive America (2001 Rhino, Warner Bros.) Flac & mp3@320

The trio America (vocalists/guitarists Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley, and Dan Peek) approximated the 1970s California pop folk sound so well that when their first single "A Horse With No Name" appeared on the radio waves in the fall of 1972, many listeners assumed it was a song by Neil Young. Ironically, "Horse" knocked Young's own "Heart of Gold" out of the Number One slot that year and jump-started America's career as a sort of lighter and less-filling version of Crosby, Stills Nash & Young. All three members of the group were competent and accessible songwriters, and their easy harmonies brought America several big hits throughout the '70s, including two produced by Beatles-producer George Martin, "Tin Man" and "Lonely People."

Peek left at the end of the decade, leaving America as a duo, and they managed one more radio hit, "You Can Do Magic" in 1982. All of these are included on this collection, along with "Ventura Highway," "Muskrat Love," "Sister Golden Hair" and key album tracks.(allmusic.com)

No need to say something about these big sellers of the seventies. Real good songwriters by the way...And who don't like America from time to time. Be honest to yourself :-)
Real good band with great songs.
Have fun
               Frank  Flac p1 & Flac p2 & Flac p3         mp3 p1      mp3 p2

The Uncle Devil Show - A Terrible Beauty (2004 Compass Records) Flac & mp3

On the initial pressings of the Uncle Devil Show's debut A Terrible Beauty, there was a sticker attached to the cover, informing all curious consumers that this is the "new project from Del Amitri vocalist/frontman Justin Currie!" This is needed, since Currie and his colleagues -- singer/songwriter Kevin McDermott and Simple Minds drummer Jim McDermott -- all take pseudonyms for this trio, all for no discernible purpose. That is, there's no purpose unless the alter egos allow all the three to indulge in a spot of adolescent wish fulfillment, an aural midlife crisis where the trio returns to the pop they loved as kids and starts cracking jokes, ranging from the silly to the profane. A Terrible Beauty earns its parental advisory sticker, too, since it seems like the group swears on every other track, but it's also a little strange to have it there, since it's difficult to believe that there are any teenagers out there who want to hear middle-aged guys in leather pants singing Beatlesque power pop. That said, the sensibility of the Uncle Devil Show is closer to that of Mad Magazine (or perhaps more accurately, Cracked Magazine), so any kid who does hear it will certainly get a chuckle out of some of the goofy jokes, but given the points of reference -- Gilbert O'Sullivan, Ricardo Montalban, Desperate Dan, musical allusions to "Hotel California" ("Strange Umbrella") and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" ("Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker"), a cover of Helen Reddy's "Angie Baby" -- it's much more likely that this will resonate with listeners who have grown up with Del Amitri and are also pining for those young and innocent days. If you share their sense of humor and nostalgia, the Uncle Devil Show can be a gleeful, entertaining excursion into candy-coated pop, filled with sweet, memorable hooks. If you don't share their perspective, the popcraft is still enjoyable, even if the humor keeps you at an emotional distance. Either way, A Terrible Beauty is a sparking, tuneful, cheerful pop record that's nearly as much fun as it was intended to be -- more fun than most latter-day Del Amitri albums, to be sure -- and is either a fun one-off project or a promising start for the Uncle Devil Show.

Some Songs here are stronger than the best things of Del Amitri. At least on the same level.

Very strong effort.

Have fun

             Frank

Flac p1 & Flac p2 - mp3@320