Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Election Analysis Mix

With just 8 hours left to vote, just 8 votes separates first and second place in our Band of the Month Poll.  If you haven't voted, the poll is over on the left sidebar.  Just make your selection and click on the appropriate box and hit the Vote button.


We have 5 classic tracks to present today so let's get to it.



 Sometime back, Rolling Stone came out with one of their Best Albums of all time lists, and I perused that list and began acquiring some of  the albums which struck my fancy.  By this time, I was familiar with Richard Thompson, but didn't know much about his lengthy career.  Ryko reissued a bunch of Richard and Linda Thompson stuff, and I picked up this album along with the also excellent, Shoot Out the Lights. First up on my shuffle today, is the title track - I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight - which is one of my favorites songs of all time.  To find out more about the album just click on the album cover above.



 I have often said, in a perfectly just world, this album would have gone multi-platinum and Marshall Crenshaw would be the biggest name on the planet.  His catalog which began with this eponymous album includes some of the of the purest pop music of all time.  Someday, Someway is one of his most well known songs.  Since, it is not a perfectly just world, I will continue to write and speak about Marshall Crenshaw and his brilliant career.  If you're already a fan, drag out your old vinyl, cassette or CD or fire up your MP3 player and give a listen.  If you're not yet a fan, start your Marshall Crenshaw collection by checking out his debut by clicking the link above.




I was 12 years old in 1978, and still a few years away from having my life changed by rock 'n' roll. But in retrospect the Starburst 2 Record Set pictured above may have foreshadowed my future as a super fan of music. Here is a rundown of the music contained on these two slabs of vinyl.

Starburst (K-Tel, 1978)

Record One / Side One:
Shadow Dancing - Andy Gibb
Hot Child In The City - Nick Guilder
Shame - Evelyn 'Champagne' King
Boogie Nights - Heatwave
Every Kinda People - Robert Palmer
Record One / Side Two:
It's A Heartache - Bonnie Tyler
Handy Man - James Taylor
Emotion - Samantha Sang
Smoke From A Distant Fire - The Sanford/Townsed Band
Record Two / Side One:
Two Out of Three Ain't Band - Meat Loaf
My Angel Baby - Toby Beau
Too Much, Too Little, Too Late - Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams
I'm Not Goona Let It Bother Me Tonight - Atlanta Rhythm Section

Record Two / Side Two:
Dance With Me - Peter Brown
You & I - Rick James Stone Band
Get Off - Foxy
I Can't Stand the Rain - Eruption
Baby Hold On - Eddie Money

There were a few songs that my younger self dug,  but for whatever reason the Nick Gilder song, Hot Child in the City stuck with me. The driving guitar, the falsetto voice, the risque lyrics and the androgynous picture of Nick Gilder on the record jacket... To an impressionable kid from a small college town in Tennessee, this was a new world.  I still love the song today....  I can't tell you where you can find a copy of Starburst, but if you want to check out The Best of Nick Gilder click on the album cover above.

 A few years after I bought the Starburst album, a new cable television channel burst on the scene.  Yes, kids, what you've been told is true - at one time MTV stood for Music Television.  In those days, music videos were pretty rare.  Newer bands were more likely to make a video than established artists.  As a result, I got introduced to a whole slew of bands I'm not sure if I would ever been exposed to if it weren't for MTV. Love Plus One was one of  those songs that got in my head. Looking back, it's a slightly cheesy bit of 80s pop candy, but when I first saw the video, it was something fresh and new.   You can revel in the majesty that is Haircut 100 by clicking on the album cover above to read more about the Deluxe Edition of Pelican West which contains, Love Plus One.

I don't have a big story to go with Little Bribes by Death Cab for Cutie.  Just to say, I really love this song.  Check out The Open Door EP by clicking on the album cover above.


_____________________________________
Affiliated Links: