Gone Digital: Rhinoceros, Mavis Staples, Data, Nick Kamen, and Belouis Some
If it’s Tuesday, then it must be time for Gone Digital, our weekly look at five albums in Rhino’s digital catalog that you may not even realize were out there for your listening enjoyment. As ever, the types of music we’ll be covering will be all over the place, but that’s Rhino for you: we’re all about variety!
• Rhinoceros, RHINOCEROS (1968): A somewhat unique band, Rhinoceros didn’t come together organically but, rather, was assembled through auditions by their label, Elektra Records. Their first recording sessions were actually as the backing band for labelmate David Ackles’ self-titled album, but Rhinoceros’s self-titled LP came out the same year, and while it wasn’t the smash hit that Elektra had hoped for, it did earn considerable critical acclaim and spawned a couple of notable tunes, including “Apricot Brandy,” “I Will Serenade You,” and “You’re My Girl (I Don’t Want to Discuss It).”
• Mavis Staples, OH WHAT A FEELING (1979): Although she found her first fame through the work she did with her family as The Staples Singers, Miss Mavis kicked off a solo career in ’69 with a self-titled album and followed it the next year with ONLY FOR THE LONELY. It would be nine years before her next solo album, however, and when OH WHAT A FEELING arrived, it...was not a hit. That said, critics gushed over it, with Cashbox writing, “Mavis gave the Staple Singers that distinct, gritty vocal sound, and on OH WHAT A FEELING she proves just how versatile she is. She soars through a mixed bag of styles on the LP - disco, gospel, straight ahead R&B and gospel - and performs them all in flawless fashion.”
• Belouis Some, SOME PEOPLE (1985): His real name is Neville Keighley, but he found his chart success under this moniker, which led to two major dance hits – “Imagination” and the title track – that are both included on this LP.
• Data, ELEGANT MACHINERY (1985): This synthpop band was the brainchild of Georg Kajanus, the man behind the band Sailor. When that band broke up, Kajanus moved forward with this group, which issued three albums during their existence, this one being the third. Described as a “country and western-inspired electronica album, “ your mileage may vary, but just reading that phrase should be enough to at least inspire a quick listen just to find out what that amalgamation sounds like.
• Nick Kamen, NICK KAMEN (1987): The very definition of an ‘80s pop star (even if he extended his career into the ‘90s), Kamen’s self-titled debut album was also his most successful in his native UK, climbing to #34 on the UK Albums chart and spawning a top-5 single (“Each Time You Break My Heart”) and a top-20 single (“Loving You is Sweeter Than Ever”). In closing, it’s worth noting that Kamen’s first four albums are all in our digital catalog, since every one of them was a top-10 smash in Italy.
