The Wolfman Howls Again - Mephisto's Rock Gems The Wolfman Howls Again - Mephisto's Rock Gems 50 years of Rock and Roll, laced with heavily intoxicating doses of Soul and Rythm and Blues. Blender mixed with Pop from 5 decades from all 5 continents. Some people call it the Articles
Pearl Jam - Black (1991)
2008-01-03 07:00:00 Pearl Jam rose from the ashes of Mother Love Bone to become the most popular American rock & roll band of the '90s. After vocalist Andrew Wood overdosed on heroin in 1990, guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament assembled a new band, bringing in Mike McCready on lead guitar and recording a demo with Soundgarden's Matt Cameron on drums. Thanks to future Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons, the... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Black , Pearl Jam , Pearl
The Supremes - The Happening (1967)
2008-01-02 09:00:00 The most successful black performers of the 1960s, the Supremes for a time rivaled even the Beatles in terms of red-hot commercial appeal, reeling off five number-one singles in a row at one point. Critical revisionism has tended to undervalue the Supremes' accomplishments, categorizing their work as more lightweight than the best soul stars' (or even the best Motown stars'), and viewing them as... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: The Supremes , The Happening
Pilot - January (1975)
2008-01-02 08:30:00 '70s soft-rockers Pilot originally formed in 1973 with its bandmembers (David Paton on bass and vocals; Billy Lyall on synthesizer, flute, and vocals; and Stuart Tosh on drums) all hailing from Scotland. The group added a few additional members along the way (including two chaps who were former members of teeny boppers the Bay City Rollers, plus session guitarist Ian Bairnson), before issuing... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: January
The Who - You Better You Bet (1981)
2008-01-02 08:00:00 Few bands in the history of rock & roll were riddled with as many contradictions as the Who. All four members had wildly different personalities, as their notoriously intense live performances demonstrated. The group was a whirlwind of activity, as the wild Keith Moon fell over his drum kit and Pete Townshend leaped into the air with his guitar, spinning his right hand in exaggerated windmills.... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...]
Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm (1994)
2008-01-02 07:00:00 Of all the major alternative rock bands of the early '90s, the Smashing Pumpkins were the group least influenced by traditional underground rock. Lead guitarist/songwriter Billy Corgan fashioned an amalgam of progressive rock, heavy metal, goth rock, psychedelia, and dream pop, creating a layered, powerful sound driven by swirling, distorted guitars. Corgan was wise enough to exploit his... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Mash
Major Lance - The Monkey Time (1963)
2008-01-01 09:00:00 Blessed with a warm, sweet voice, Major Lance was one of the leading figures of Chicago soul during the '60s and the top-selling artist for OKeh Records during the decade. Lance not only had a lovely voice, but his material was excellent. During the height of his success, the majority of his songs were written by Curtis Mayfield and produced by Carl Davis, and the pair developed a smooth,... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Monkey , Time
Timmy Thomas - You're the Song I've Always Wanted to Sing (1974)
2008-01-01 08:30:00 Timmy Thomas is notable for having been a major one-hit wonder with "Why Can't We Live Together?," a song distinguished by its stripped-down production -- soulful organ, played seemingly improvisationally over a rhythm from a primitive drum machine, with Thomas' impassioned vocals layered over both. The result was a 1973 hit for Thomas and for T.K. Records subsidiary Glades. While Thomas had... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Song , Sing , Wanted , Homa
Lake - On The Run (1976)
2008-01-01 08:25:00 Lake was a German rock music band that formed in the early 1970s under the name Tornados, changing their name to Lake in 1973. They mostly covered material by other bands in their early years, but released three singles, Come Down/We're Gonna Rock, King Of The Rock'n Roll Party, and Sailor. In 1975 they were joined by lead singer James Hopkins-Harrison, who gave them their signature sound for the... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Lake
Thompson Twins - Doctor! Doctor! (1984)
2008-01-01 08:00:00 The Thompson Twins -- who were neither a duo nor related, but simply named after the Tin Tin cartoon -- were one of the more popular synth-pop groups of the early MTV era, scoring a handful of hits before fading away into lite-funk obscurity. While many of their contemporaries indulged in stylish variations on Roxy Music or robotic electronic funk, the Thompson Twins were more pop-oriented, even... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Doctor
Scott Mckenzie - San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)
2007-11-20 09:00:00 McKenzie, born Philip Blondheim, began his career in a very clean-cut folk group called the Journeymen. After recording some solo work, he met up with former Journeyman and then-Mamas & the Papas member John Phillips, who co-wrote "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair )" with him. Its catchy melody and innocent, wide-eyed hippie altruism gave McKenzie a Top Five smash in... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Scott
Barry White - I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Babe (1973)
2007-11-20 08:30:00 Say the name Barry White and you'd be hard pressed to follow it with the name of any other recording artist with such a huge, cross-sectional following. He was at home appearing on Soul Train, guesting with a full band on The Today Show, and appearing in cartoon form in various episodes of The Simpsons. During the '70s, Dinah Shore devoted a full hour of her daily syndicated Dinah! show to White.... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Love , Babe , Barry White
Swing Out Sister - Breakout (1986)
2007-11-20 07:30:00 Although Swing Out Sister 's music is unashamedly commercial pop, their impeccable indie credentials (keyboardist Andy Connell and drummer Martin Jackson were formerly of A Certain Ratio and Magazine, and singer Corrine Drewery had no professional experience at all before joining), jazz-tinged arrangements, and knack for clever hooks move them closer to the indie dance territory of St. Etienne or... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...]
The Small Faces - Itchycoo Park (1967)
2007-11-09 09:00:00 The Small Faces were the best English band never to hit it big in America. On this side of the Atlantic, all anybody remembers them for is their sole stateside hit, "Itchycoo Park ," which was hardly representative of their psychedelic sound, much less their full musical range -- but in England, the Small Faces were one of the most extraordinary and successful bands of the mid-'60s, serious... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...]
The Moody Blues - Question (1970)
2007-11-09 08:30:00 Although they're best known today for their lush, lyrically and musically profound (some would say bombastic) psychedelic-era albums, the Moody Blues started out as one of the better R&B-based combos of the British Invasion. The Moody Blues ' history began in Birmingham, England, where one of the more successful bands during that time was El Riot & the Rebels, co-founded by Ray Thomas (harmonica,... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Question
Bachman Turner Overdrive - Roll On Down The Highway (1974)
2007-11-09 08:00:00 Following his 1970 departure from the Guess Who, guitarist Randy Bachman recorded a solo album (Axe) and planned a project with ex-Nice keyboardist Keith Emerson (later canceled due to illness) before forming Bachman-Turner Overdrive in 1972. Originally called "Brave Belt," the metal group was comprised of singer/guitarist Bachman, fellow Guess Who alum Chad Allan, bassist C.F. "Fred" Turner, and... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Roll , Highway
Otis Redding & Carla Thomas - Tramp (1967)
2007-11-08 09:00:00 In the glorious decade and a half of sound that was Stax in the '60s and early '70s, Carla Thomas was the Queen of Memphis Soul. She was born in Memphis in 1942, and 18 years later she recorded a duet with her father Rufus Thomas, giving the fledgling Satellite label its first taste of success with the regional hit "Cause I Love You." As her 18th birthday drew nigh, she cut her first solo single,... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Homa
P.P. Arnold - The First Cut Is The Deepest (1967)
2007-11-08 08:45:00 A soul vocalist who came from a family of gospel singers, Pat (P.P.) Arnold began singing as a four-year-old. She got her start backing Bobby Day before being invited to join the Ikettes, backing Ike and Tina Turner. Arnold toured with them in the '60s, including one stint with the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger persuaded her to remain in London, and she later recorded for the Immediate label (then... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...]
Donna Hightower - This World Today Is A Mess (1972)
2007-11-08 08:30:00 "Little" Donna Hightower had a dynamic, big voice and made some fine shouting records for Decca and RPM in the '50s. Unfortunately, she never landed any hits, but that wasn't due to any lack of skill. She not only had range and power, but was equally compelling doing sentimental, soft ballads. She was backed by the orchestras of Horace Henderson and Maxwell Davis on the Decca and RPM material,... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: World , Today , Mess
Jim Gilstrap - Swing Your Daddy (1975)
2007-11-08 08:00:00 Prolific session singer Jim Gilstrap also recorded two albums of his own during the '70s, which blended his smooth soul crooning inclinations with subtly disco-tinged production. Gilstrap was born in Pittsburgh, TX, and grew up listening to blues and R&B, idolizing Bobby "Blue" Bland when he was younger. His family later moved to California, and after serving in the Vietnam War, Gilstrap set... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Daddy , Swing
Robin Gibb - Saved By The Bell (1969)
2007-11-06 09:00:00 Along with his twin brother Maurice Gibb and his brother Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb was the third member of the popular 70s and 80s band, the Bee Gees. Their albums have sold more than 100 million copies. In the more than 25 years that the band has been together they have recorded more than 25 albums and have had 8 singles reach #1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the U.S., 3 singles hit #1's in... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Bell
Joe Dolan - You're Such A Good Looking Woman (1970)
2007-11-06 08:30:00 The son of a bicycle-shop owner, Joe Dolan is one of the most successful vocalists in Ireland. The only Irish singer to reach the top ten in the 1960s, ?70s, ?80s and 90s, Dolan was a constant presence on the hit parade of the Emerald Isle. His many Irish hits include "I Love You More And More Everyday", "My Own Peculiar Way", "Aching Breaking Heart", "Pretty Brown Eyes", "Tar and Cement", "The... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Woman , Good
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Psychomodo (1974)
2007-11-06 08:00:00 Fronted by ex-journalist Steve Harley (born Steven Nice), Cockney Rebel first stirred in mid-1973 with the release of the epochal single "Sebastian." With a lineup selected as much for its classical versatility as its rock punch, but with little care for the orchestral conceits which marred other bands of that ilk, Cockney Rebel debuted with one of the most widely acclaimed albums of the year.... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...]
Love Affair - Rainbow Valley (1968)
2007-11-05 09:00:00 Love Affair was one of the great, all-too-unheralded pop bands of the late '60s in Britain, not a million miles in approach from the Small Faces -- and in Steve Ellis they had a soulful belter who was close to the genius of Steve Marriott. "Everlasting Love" was the big hit, a wonderful slice of music that crossed and recrossed the line between soul and pop, and which still stands proudly after... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Love , Rainbow , Valley , Rainbo
Olivia Newton-John - If You Love Me (Let Me Know) (1974)
2007-11-05 08:30:00 Olivia Newton -John skillfully made the transition from popular country-pop singer to popular mainstream soft rock singer, becoming one of the most successful vocalists of the '70s in the process. The transition itself wasn't much of a stretch -- her early-'70s hits "I Honestly Love You" and "Have You Never Been Mellow" were country only in the loosest sense -- yet the extent of her success in... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Olivia , Olivia Newton-John
Lowell George - Cheek to cheek (1979)
2007-11-05 08:00:00 As Little Feat was disbanding in late 1978, their lead guitarist/songwriter Lowell George recorded a solo album, Thanks I'll Eat It Here, that sounded as loose and funky as the band in their prime. After its release the following year, he set out on tour to support the album. Sadly, George died of a heart attack while on the road; he left behind a body of gritty, eclectic, and funky rock & roll.... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Well
The Rattles - The Witch (1970)
2007-10-31 21:45:00 One of the most successful, and certainly one of the most prolific, German rock groups of the '60s, the Rattles enjoyed reasonable success in their native land without making much of an impression elsewhere (though some of their material was released in other countries). Starting out in the same Star Club-based Hamburg scene as the Liverpool groups of the early '60s, their early repertoire was... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Witch
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Red Right Hand (1994)
2007-10-31 21:00:00 After goth pioneers the Birthday Party called it quits in 1983, singer/songwriter Nick Cave assembled the Bad Seed s, a post-punk supergroup featuring former Birthday Party guitarist Mick Harvey on drums, ex-Magazine bassist Barry Adamson, and Einstürzende Neubauten guitarist Blixa Bargeld. With the Bad Seeds , Cave continued to explore his obsessions with religion, death, love, America, and... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Hand , Nick Cave
TV Slim - Flat Foot Sam (1957)
2007-10-30 09:00:00 Oscar "TV Slim " Wills's hilarious tale of a sad sack named "Flat Foot Sam" briefly made him a bankable name in 1957. Sam's ongoing saga lasted longer than Slim's minute or two in the spotlight, but that didn't stop him from recording throughout the 1960s. Influenced by DeFord Bailey and both Sonny Boy Williamsons on harp and Guitar Slim on axe while living in Houston, Wills sold one of his early... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...]
Petula Clark - La Nuit N'en Finit Plus (1963)
2007-10-30 08:30:00 The most commercially successful female singer in British chart history, Petula Clar k was born November 15, 1932 in Epsom, England. Trained to sing by her soprano mother, Clark embarked on a stage career at the age of seven; soon she was a fixture on British radio programs, and began hosting her own regular show Pet's Parlour -- a series spotlighting patriotic songs designed to boost the morale... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Nuit
Uriah Heep - Easy Livin` (1972)
More articles from this author:2007-10-30 08:00:00 Uriah Heep's by-the-books progressive heavy metal made the British band one of the most popular hard rock groups of the early '70s. Formed by vocalist David Byron and guitarist Mick Box in the late '60s, the group went through an astonishing number of members over the next two decades -- nearly 30 different musicians passed through the band over the years. Byron and Box were members of the... [Please Visit the blog for the full post...] More About: Easy , Uriah 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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