SUZANNE VEGA - "Frank & Ava" (2007)

 

Rich here to admit that despite my rumpled jeans and faded t-shirts, I do like glamour. It probably started either with seeing James Bond in his fitted tux, drinking and gambling and fighting Evil Doers without mussing his creases, or watching as each new transformation of The Beatles -- starting with their Pierre Cardin collarless suits on the Ed Sullivan Show and on through their Sgt. Pepper band uniforms. When I worked for a time as a high school student in Morris & Sons Clothing Store, I mistakenly thought some of that glamour might rub off on me. Sigh.

 

During their era, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner were two of the most glamourous people on the planet, and their on again/off again romance was the stuff of Hollywood legend, with their drunken fights and break-ups often making front page news. 

 

And when Suzanne Vega, the one-time waifish folk singer, wrote a song about Frank & Ava as a metaphor for a relationship of her own, it definitely caught my attention.

SUZANNE VEGA - "Frank & Ava"  

THE CITIZENS - "T.V. Woman" (1980)

 

The Citizens were an early 80's British band. They had one album and a couple of singles before calling it quits. Their first single from 1980 was titled "Satisfy The Citizens."

Here's the B side of that record, a song about a serious breakup! 

THE CITIZENS - "TV WOMAN" 

APRIL MARCH - "Chrominance Decoder" (1999)

 

Elinor Lanman Blake, aka April March was born in New York, but she has a strong connection to France and sometimes sings in both languages.

The name April March is also the name of a Canadian rock band, a dancer, and a novel. 

An extremely talented woman with a great sense of humor, she is also a professional writer, animator, and illustrator, and has also used the moniker April Shitbird when recording.

Her release titled "Chrominance Decoder" came out in 1999, and here's the second very cool track from that album!

APRIL MARCH - "Sugar" 

JEFF BECK - "Blow By Blow" (1975)

 

It was 1975 when Jeff Beck came out with his album "Blow By Blow." It made it to #4 on The Billboard Charts which was quite phenomenal for a rock instrumental album. In 1970 Miles Davis made the charts with his jazz/rock album "Bitch's Brew," but the music on that album was no way near as accessible as what Jeff Beck came up with.

It was fun, it was cool, it was unusual, and one of the best instrumental albums ever made!

JEFF BECK - "Freeway Jam" 

REUBEN WILSON - "Set Us Free" (1971)

 

This 1971 Blue Note LP by organist Reuben Wilson titled "Set Us Free" is basically incredible. These aren't songs, they're musical adventures, and you never know where Reuben and his all-star crew are going to take you from one song to the next!

Let me just say it this way!

REUBEN WILSON - "Right On With This Mess" 

THE SONS OF CHAMPLIN - "Loosen Up Naturally" (1969)

 

When you think about 1969 San Francisco Haight Ashbury psychedelic hippie bands, the names that immediately come to mind are Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Big Brother And The Holding Company, but there were so many more bands than that, and one of them was The Sons Of Champlin.

Unlike the more prominent groups, The Sons Of Champlin featured a horn section, but they never got the recognition or the kudus that bands in a different part of the country, like Blood, Sweat, & Tears, or Chicago Transit Authority, aka Chicago, received.

As fate would have it, Bill Champlin, the singer for The Sons Of Champlin ended up being the lead vocalist for Chicago in 1981 for three decades.

THE SONS OF CHAMPLIN - "1982-A" 

WALTER BECKER - "11 Tracks Of Whack" (1994)

 

Before he passed away in 2017, I was lucky enough to see Steely Dan "Live' in Las Vegas at The Palms Theater, and I think it was one of the best concerts I have ever been to, and one of the highlights of the show was Walter Becker's monologue and introduction to one song, and it was at that moment I realized how important he was to Steely Dan's music!

Walter Becker was a very talented and creative musician and here's just one song that will prove it from his 1994 solo album titled "11 Tracks Of Whack."

WALTER BECKER - "My Waterloo"