Singles Released This Week Years Ago

 

Another week with charted singles, pop and rock songs from various decades for your pleasure

1983: Rolling Stones

1973: Billy Joel

1955: The Platters

1972: Thin Lizzy

1983: Simple Minds

1965: Fontella Bass

1970: Led Zeppelin

1971: T. Rex

1971: Cilla Black

1964: Them

1989: Tears For Fears and Oleta Adams

1989: Finbe Young Cannibals

1968: Dusty Springfield

1972: Carly Simon

1972: Lou Reed

David Jude Jolicoeur RIP

 

It was in 1989 when rap/hip-hop everyone talked about. Most people I knew talked about the so called gangster rap where boys from the hood and the the inner circle were going to get critical and chart access. It was also the time when De La Soul appeared on the scene with an album that changed a lot in listening to new African-American music. When the most artists in hip-hop tried to show us their bad habits De La Soul showed us the very different way. They came to my ears with their very own sound filled with samples from heavy bands like Led Zeppelin over Steely Dan to country to James Brown and funk. An album that opened my ears for something new and different. Trugoy/Jolicouer was the forming member of this fantastic and groundbreaking band and died last weekend much too early at the age of 54. Three Feet High And Rising is their legacy and still an album that works still after three decades.

Rest easy Trugoy

De La Soul - The Magic Number

De La Soul - Me Myself And I

De La Soul - This is a Recording 4 Living in a Fulltime Era

Trout

 

There were times when everyone told us that vinyl is going to die and the only media in the future is will be a compact disk. Like many others (and of course you could find less new records on vinyl) I started buying records on this format. I am thankful that times like this are over and nearly every new record will be released on vinyl as well. Sometimes good things come back. I found this track recently in my collection when I was sorting my CD-collection again. Neneh Cherry's second album Homebrew from 1992 is an underrated album because it is far away from the style the mass expected. A hybrid of jazz, hip-hop and rock music seldom made better. Trout is the best example that old fashioned music could be transformed into today's music. Based on the guitar lines of Steppenwolf's The Pusher and Led Zeppelin's When Levee Breaks Neneh collected it as a piece of her own. A forgotten classic.

Neneh Cherry and Michael Stipe - Trout

Monday's Long Song

Led Zeppelin were a British blues band that combined classic blues with heavy sounds. In the late 60's they made the blueprint of many other bands of this genre. I was introduced to this music in the 70's by older friends and I have to admit that they were the entry to many other music I used to listen to in these days. The band was filled with extraordinary artists on drums, bass, guitar and vocals and stamped this genre. This song is from an a compilation of BBC-sessions and other live appearances from the early 70's showing them at the peak of their music abilities.

Dazed And Confused

Twinkle Twinkle

It is a difficult time to continue the blog as I used to do during the last months. Just because there was a lot of work to do in my office in the daytime and some friends from Sri Lanka came to spent their holidays at my place. So I seldom find the time to write something on this pages. Anyway, there is a album out right now I listened often the recent days. Not the music I listen often to but this kind of country is the right thing for me. Margo Price is a Nashville based singer songwriter and she released her latest album That's How The Rumors Get Started a few days ago. Her songs are not stamped by the usual Nashville sound because she had much more influences in the music. Sometimes I can hear accords similar to Led Zeppelin. What makes her far better than others is her voice embossed by life and songs you only could write after hard times in your life. No wonder that John Prine recorded several duets with her.

Long Song On Tuesday

In 1997 BBC released a double-CD with the highlights of various sessions with British blues rock legends Led Zeppelin. They were at the peak of their musical career when these session was recorded in 1971. What makes this record worth to listen is the pure essence of their concerts with all of their little mistakes and not using overdubs. Dazed and Confused is regular a blues based rock song but when you give Jimmy Page the time for improvisations the result is just superb.

Kaiser Franz Josef

Over the weekend I listened to a few old AC/DC-records in tribute and they brought me back to my very youngest days and I grabbed out some other records by rock dinosaurs. While listening to Led Zeppelin once again I remembered Kaiser Franz  Josef, a band a friend recommended to me a few weeks ago. KFJ is an Austrian band playing classic hard rock and supported AC/DC a couple of years ago. Their music is a pure combination of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple transporting into now. Not the next big thing but worth to listen (not every day but sure sometimes, when you are in  the mood for music like this).

Does Anyone Remember Terry Reid?

It was decades back when Terry Reid appeared on the scene as a fantastic guitar player. He started his career at the age of 14 and impressed many popular musicians in the early 60's. Jimmy Page wanted him as a guitar player and singer after he left The Yardbirds to form another band. Sadly he denied this offer and Robert Plant got the job singing for Led Zeppelin. It was not the only fault in his career. He also signed a contract with Mickie Most who wanted to make him a balladeer. He didn't got out of his contract and had to earn his money as a side musician for many artists like Jackson Browne, UFO or Bonnie Raitt. Sadly his name is forgotten because many other artist that made hit records while he was trying to find his own way in music. I remembered him while I was sorting my albums during the last weeks and it is great to listen to him once again. One more forgotten giant of blues influenced rock music.

Terry Reid - Stay With Me Baby
Terry Reid - Seasons Of The Witch
Terry Reid - Bang Bang

And as a bonus 11 minutes of playing live in German TV back in 1969

Tuareg Rock

I am not a huge fan of world music but sometimes an artist appears with a new record that fascinates me and want me listen more. One of those is Tikounen by Kel Assouf. Their music is a mixture of ragging rock drums, cutting guitar riffs and chants. Their music is forceful filled with blues-rock licks, borrowing the sound of Led Zeppelin or stoner rock. But their sound is also dominated by a great rhythm section and pulsing basslines what makes their sound a bit like dancefloor. All this combined with Tamasheq sound of the Tuaregs makes this record worth listen to. Probably the best world music record this year so far.

Rainbow

These days Robert Plant, the voice of Led Zeppelin, released a new record. The release was announced  since a few weeks and since this time I try to get a listen to it. I don't know the reason why I look forward to a release of a 66 year old man that must have his best times behind. Probably for sentimental reasons or because he's a singer that impressed me sometimes. There must be reasons why he played Glastonbury this year - and the videos from his appearance wasn't worse. Anyway, here's his latest single. The guitar was borrowed by Tom Waits and the drums sounds a bit like Einstürzende Neubauten and Robert Plants voice fits to this steady rhythm. A classic if would be released 30 years before.



How he combines traditional Arabian music with a mystic sound you can see here:

Enjoy and have a good week my friends.