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Ocean Rain (Album of the Day)
“We wanted to make something conceptual with lush orchestration; not Mantovani, something with a twist. It's all pretty dark.” So said Echo & The Bunnymen guitarist Will Sergeant of the band's fourth studio collection, OCEAN RAIN. The 1984 Sire album is a bit of a departure from its post-punk/neo-psych predecessors; largely dispensing with synthesizers, the 35-piece accompaniment lures the Liverpool quartet into dramatic and melodic new territory. Highlights include “Silver” “Seven Seas” and Top Ten U.K. hit “The Killing Moon,” but this is the kind of darkly romantic work best experienced as a whole. Featuring a strong set of songs and impassioned performances, the moody and majestic OCEAN RAIN is cited by many fans as the group's high-water mark.
Giving You the Best That I Got (Album of the Day)
Released 30 years ago today, GIVING YOU THE BEST THAT I GOT solidified Anita Baker's status as one of the classiest and most successful artists in contemporary R&B. RAPTURE producer Michael J. Powell returned for this fine follow-up, providing appropriately lush settings for the singer's soul-pop balladry. Among the many highlights of the 1988 Elektra collection are “Just Because,” the Latin jazz-tinged “Good Enough,” “Good Love” and the Top 10 hit title track (the latter two songs are also co-written by Baker). The set was a success by any measure, topping the Billboard chart, earning three Grammys and selling more than three million copies. An ideal showcase for the songstress, GIVING YOU THE BEST THAT I GOT is one of the best Anita Baker albums you can get.
Keep on Rockin' (Album of the Day)
KEEP ON ROCKIN' was the fourth album from country-rock hitmakers Confederate Railroad, and its music lives up to its title. The 1998 collection was also the band's last for Atlantic Records, and it's a fiery finale, with such tracks as “Cowboy Cadillac,” the comedic “The Big One” and a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's “Simple Man” among the standouts. The Atlanta sextet sing and play their hearts out here, and are joined by several friends, including Steve Earle and Charlie Daniels on “Good Ol' Boy (Gettin' Tough).” As KEEP ON ROCKIN' celebrates its 20th anniversary, we'll tip our hat to the still-active Confederate Railroad.
Storefront Hitchcock (Album of the Day)
Released 20 years ago, STOREFRONT HITCHCOCK put Robyn Hitchcock in the fine company of Talking Heads and Neil Young as the subject of a Jonathan Demme concert film. The movie features the eccentric British singer-songwriter performing in a New York City store window (hence the title) to the delight of passersby, and the accompanying soundtrack is as weird and wonderful as you'd imagine. The songs include Hitchcock gems old and new (“Let's Go Thundering” and “Where Do You Go When You Die” are only available here) along with a cover of “The Wind Cries Mary,” with plenty of the surreal introductory monologues beloved by fans. The “unplugged” arrangements here showcase Robyn's deft guitar playing as well as his wit, making STOREFRONT HITCHCOCK one to ask for at your local record store.
SONG OF THE DAY - "If You Leave Me Now" (Album of the Day)
“If You Leave Me Now” stands as one of Chicago's most iconic recordings, but the Peter Cetera ballad wasn't initially seen as a sure-fire hit. “When Peter wrote this song, we gave it our all, even though we thought it wasn't anything special. Shows how little we knew," recalled the band's Robert Lamm. Written around the same time as CHICAGO VII's haunting “Wishing You Were Here,” the gentle love song was a bit of a departure for the group, which may have contributed to its success - it really stood out on radio playlists then jammed with disco, and topped the U.S. chart on this day in 1976. The platinum-certified “If You Leave Me Now” also became Chicago's first Grammy winner (for Best Pop Vocal Performance), and it's our Song of the Day.
THE ATLANTIC SINGLES COLLECTION 1967-1970 (Album of the Day)
When Aretha Franklin joined Atlantic Records in 1967, it was the beginning of an unprecedented run that would ultimately cement her place as one of the most influential singers of all time. Within the space of just three years, her name was almost never out of U.S Pop and R&B Top 20, garnering nine gold singles, three gold albums and three Grammy Awards. THE ATLANTIC SINGLES COLLECTION 1967-1970 spotlights this historic period in her career with 34 singles in chronological order. The new 2-disc set is stacked with many of Franklin's best-known songs, including such #1 R&B hits as "Respect" (also a Pop #1), "Baby I Love You," "Chain Of Fools" and "Think." Several of the songs on THE ATLANTIC SINGLES COLLECTION are covers that underscore Franklin's exceptional skill as an interpreter; among the highlights are titanic versions of Sam Cooke's "You Send Me," The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" and Dionne Warwick's "I Say A Little Prayer."
Close to the Edge (Deluxe Version) (Album of the Day)
Consisting of three epic recordings - “Siberian Khatru,” “And You and I” and the side-long title suite - CLOSE TO THE EDGE is among Yes' finest albums and a milestone of progressive rock, The 1972 collection was also the most demanding the U.K. quintet had yet recorded; drummer Bill Bruford came up with the title to describe where it had pushed the band, and he left the group shortly after the set's release. But the exhausting work paid off with some absolutely dazzling music and a Top 5 hit on both sides of the Atlantic (it would eventually be certified platinum by the R.I.A.A.). The Deluxe Version of CLOSE TO THE EDGE includes single edits of “America” and “Total Mass Retain” plus alternate versions of two album tracks, and we'll give it another spin now to wish Yes singer Jon Anderson a happy birthday.
SONG OF THE DAY - "Hungry Like the Wolf" (Album of the Day)
For one of Duran Duran's defining hits, “Hungry Like The Wolf” came together pretty effortlessly; with lyrics inspired by the children's fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood and a Roland keyboard synched to a drum machine, the band had the song nailed in one day. The track reached the Top 10 in the group's native U.K., but it wasn't doing much in America until the decision was made to shoot a video for it. EMI spent $200,000 to jet Duran Duran to the jungles of Sri Lanka, but it was worth every penny – MTV put “Hungry Like The Wolf” into heavy rotation, pushing both the single and the RIO album into the U.S. Top 10 (the video would later win a Grammy). Singer Simon Le Bon's 60th birthday is tomorrow, and to get an early start on the celebration the gold-certified “Hungry Like The Wolf” is our Song of the Day.
Blank Generation (40th Anniversary Edition) (Album of the Day)
Along with the Ramones, Television, Blondie and Talking Heads, Richard Hell & The Voidoids helped to define the early New York “first wave” punk scene, and the band's BLANK GENERATION is among the era's most significant records. The seminal 1977 Sire collection was received ecstatically by critics but got little mainstream recognition for decades, yet its place in music history is now secured by its image, its attitude and its blistering performances. A recent Deluxe Edition includes the remastered original album plus a second disc with previously unreleased alternate studio versions, out-of-print singles and more. Among the rarities on the BLANK GENERATION 2-CD set are versions of “Love Comes In Spurts” and the title track recorded at the group's live debut at CBGBs on this day in 1976.
Stunt (20th Anniversary Edition) (Album of the Day)
October marked Barenaked Ladies' 30th anniversary, and the band was recently inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame; capping this milestone year for the group is a special edition of their most successful album, STUNT. Their fourth studio collection, the Reprise set was originally released in July 1998, and peaked at #3 on the Billboard chart, reaching platinum status four times in both the U.S. and Canada. The album's first single, "One Week," hit #1 in the U.S. and earned the band a Grammy nomination, and other standout tracks include "It's All Been Done," "Call And Answer" and "Light Up My Room." The new STUNT: 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION adds three bonus songs along with a DVD that includes a 1999 documentary about the band's STUNT tour directed by long-time fan Jason Priestly.