Category Archives: Rock ‘n’ Roll

THE COUNT BISHOPS-THE COUNT BISHOPS.

The Count Bishops-The Count Bishops. Label: Chiswick. Format: LP. During 1977, a genre that has continued to divide opinion was at the peak of its popularity, punk. This anti music was championed by critics and cultural commentators who were willing to overlook that many of the musical charlatans within punk bands could barely play their …

Continue reading

NEW YORK CITY BLUES.

New York City Blues. Label: Ace Records. Format: CD. The golden age of blues in New York was between the forties and sixties. By then, many people had moved from the southeastern states and brought with them southern rural music. Soon, blues music was being heard in ballrooms, clubs, theatres and on the streets of …

Continue reading

LENNY KAYE PRESENTS LIGHTNING STRIKING.

Lenny Kaye Presents Lightning Striking.  Label: Ace Records. Format: 2CD. Versatile describes musician, composer and producer Lenny Kaye. Many music fans remember him as the guitarist in the Patti Smith Group. Lenny Kaye also worked with everyone from REM and James to Suzanne Vega and Kristin Hersh right through to Soul Asylum and even poet …

Continue reading

CULT CLASSIC: CARL PERKINS-ON TOP.

Cult Classic: Carl Perkins-On Top. By the time Carl Perkins signed to Sam Phillips’ Sun Records in 1954, he had already been a professional musician for eight years. His career began in 1946, when he was fourteen and still living in Tiptonville, Tennessee, where his parents worked as sharecroppers. Life was tough for Buck and …

Continue reading

BARRENCE WHITFIELD AND THE SAVAGES-1977-1987: THE FIRST TEN YEARS AND THREE ALBUMS.

Barrence Whitfield and The Savages-1977-1987: The First Ten Years and Three Albums, Barry White, who later found fame as the frontman for Barrence Whitfield and The Savages was born on June the ‘13th’ 1955, in Jacksonville, Florida, but his family moved to East Orange, in New Jersey when he was a child. That was where the Barry …

Continue reading

CULT CLASSIC: LITTLE RICHARD-THE SECOND COMING.

Cult Classic: Little Richard-The Second Coming. Little Richard, who passed away on the ‘9th’ of May 2020 aged eighty-seven, was a flamboyant showman, a strutting, preening peacock and musical pioneer, whose career was transformed when he released Tutti Frutti as a single in October 1955. It reached number two on the US R&B charts, sold two …

Continue reading

FAVORITE HIPPIES-NORTHERN  SKIES.

Favorite Hippies-Northern Skies. Release Date: ‘28th’ March 2020. Album Of The Week. Just over four years after the release of their critically acclaimed sophomore album Love is Hard in early 2016, Favorite Hippies,  who are one of the top Swedish alt-rock and Americana bands, returned with their much-anticipated and long-awaited third album Northern Skies. It’s …

Continue reading

MORE LONG-LOST HONKERS AND TWANGERS.

More Long-Lost Honkers and Twangers. Label: Ace Records.. Release Date: ’28th’ February 2020. Back in October 2013, Ace Records released the critically acclaimed  compilation Long-Lost Honkers and Twangers which featured twenty-six tracks from the Golden Age of Instrumental Rock ’N’ Roll . Since then, fans of instrumentals have awaited the followup to Long-Lost Honkers and …

Continue reading

CULT CLASSIC: STONEGROUND-FAMILY ALBUM.

Cult Classic: Stoneground- Family Album. By 1970, the San Francisco’s vibrant music scene was thriving. New bands were being formed all across the city. Many of these bands dreamed of being signed to record label and releasing an album.  For most bands, this remained a dream. However, for Stoneground,  this  dream became reality in 1971. …

Continue reading

BOPPIN’ BY THE BAYOU-FLIP, FLOP AND FLY.

Boppin’ By The Bayou-Flip, Flop and Fly. Label: Ace Records. Nowadays, the compilation market is without doubt, one of the most competitive in the music industry. Every week hundreds of compilations are released by labels in America, Europe and Britain. Some are released by major labels, while others are lovingly curated and released by smaller …

Continue reading

MAKE MINE MONDO!

Make Mine Mondo! Label: Ace Records. Nowadays, with a record number of albums being released and each and every week, independent and major labels spend a considerable part of their budget promoting their latest releases. However, it wasn’t always that way, and Lew Bedell the owner of Doré Records was reluctant to spend money promoting a …

Continue reading

FRODE HALTLI-AVANT FOLK.

Frode Haltli-Avant Folk. Label: Hubro Music. Release Date: ‘15th’ June 2018. Album Of The Week. Frode Haltli was born in Levanger, in the municipality of Trøndelag, on the ’15th’ of May 1975, and by the time he was seven, had already started to play the accordion. The young  Frode Haltli proved to be a prodigious …

Continue reading

BARRENCE WHITFIELD AND THE SAVAGES-DIG EVERYTHING! THE EARLY ROUNDER ALBUMS.

Barrence Whitfield and The Savages-Dig Everything! The Early Rounder Albums. Label: Ace Records. Barry White, who later found fame as the frontman for Barrence Whitfield and The Savages was born on June the ‘13th’ 1955, in Jacksonville, Florida, but his family moved to East Orange, in New Jersey when he was a child. That was …

Continue reading

TEEN BEAT VOLUME 6.

Teen Beat Volume 6. Label: Ace Records. When a new compilation series is launched, the compiler and record company always hope that this is the start of a long running and successful series. That was the case when Ace Records released Teen Beat-30 Great Rockin’ Instrumentals in September 1993. Nearly twenty-five years later, and Ace …

Continue reading

THE BEST REISSUES OF 2017-PART 2.

The Best Reissues Of 2017-Part 2. Cromwell-At The Gallop. Label: Got Kinda Lost Records. By 1975, Ireland had a vibrant music scene, and one of its rising stars Cromwell, was about to release its debut album, At The Gallop. It was an album guaranteed to get any party started, and feared an irresistible fusion of …

Continue reading

THE BEST REISSUES OF 2017-PART 3.

The Best Reissues Of 2017-Part 3. Erasmo Carlos-Sonhos E Memórias 1941-1972 Label: Light In The Attic Records. When Sonhos E Memórias 1941-1972 was released in 1972, this was the last instalment in a trio of albums that featured Erasmo Carlos at his creative zenith. His bubblegum beginnings seemed a long time ago, and he was …

Continue reading

SHA NA NA-FROM THE STREETS OF NEW YORK, HOT SOX AND SHA NA NOW.

Sha Na Na-From The Streets Of New York, Hot Sox and Sha Na Now. Label: BGO Records. By 1973, Sha Na Na had been together fourteen years, released four albums and played at the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair on Sunday, August the ‘17th’ 1969. That night, Sha Na Na played a barnstorming thirty-minute set in front …

Continue reading

HABIBI FUNK: AN ECLECTIC SELECTION OF MUSIC FROM THE ARAB WORLD.

Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World. Label: Habibi Funk Germany. Nowadays, hundreds of compilations are released by record companies all around the world, and with one click of a button music fans have access to an eclectic selection of music that forty years ago, wasn’t available to record buyers. Back …

Continue reading

CARL PERKINS-WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN’, KING OF ROCK, GREATEST HITS AND ON TOP.

Carl Perkins-Whole Lotta Shakin’, King Of Rock, Greatest Hits and On Top. Label: BGO Records. By the time Carl Perkins signed to Sam Phillips’ Sun Records in 1954, he had already been a professional musician for eight years. His career began in 1946, when Carl Perkins was fourteen, and still living in Tiptonville, Tennessee, where …

Continue reading

RED HOT BOPPERS-HMV VINYL EXCLUSIVE.

Red Hot Boppers-HMV Vinyl Exclusive. Label: Sun. Over the last few years, the resurgence of interest in vinyl has taken many within the music industry by surprise. Some went as far as say that the resurgence of interest in vinyl would be short-lived and was no more than a passing fad. How wrong they were. …

Continue reading