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Private Dancer (Album of the Day)
Tina Turner's PRIVATE DANCER spurred one of pop's greatest comebacks – or perhaps “coming out” is a more appropriate description for the set that once and for all pulled the performer from the shadow of ex-husband Ike Turner. As inspiring as its backstory of female empowerment is, the collection's huge success (it was certified 5x Platinum in the U.S. alone) was all about the music. The album shows Turner embracing slicker production without sacrificing any of her passion as a singer, and it includes such Top 40 hits as “Better Be Good To Me,” “Let's Stay Together,” the title track and “What's Love Got to Do With It,” which topped the Billboard singles chart on this day in 1984. A year later those songs earned four Grammy Awards, and PRIVATE DANCER has been hailed by such outlets as Rolling Stone, VH1 and Slant as one of the greatest albums of the 1980s.
Hatful of Hollow (Album of the Day)
The Smiths' self-titled debut had been in shops for less than a year when this odds-and-sods collection of single sides and radio recordings was released. Yet HATFUL OF HOLLOW is hardly a cash-in or stop-gap release; its 16 tracks underline the remarkable burst of creativity with which the Manchester quartet launched its career. Though not included on the band's proper studio sets, “William, It Was Really Nothing,” “Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now” and “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” are nothing short of essential, and the BBC takes of songs like “What Difference Does It Make” or “This Charming Man” (cut for John Peel, who was born on this day in 1939) equal, if not surpass, the LP versions. The Smiths aspired to be both a great singles and a great album band, and with HATFUL OF HOLLOW they proved equal to the task.
Shakedown Street (Album of the Day)
“Shakedown Street” was performed live for the first time on this day in 1978, and the song would provide the title for the final Grateful Dead album of the 1970s. The Arista collection paired the group with another acclaimed California rocker: Little Feat's Lowell George, who served as co-producer. This would also be the final Dead album to feature the Godchaux husband-and-wife team, and Donna Jean made the most of it, singing beautifully on “France” and her own “From the Heart of Me.” From the Garcia-Hunter title track (which flirted with disco) to such future concert staples as “Fire on the Mountain” and “I Need a Miracle,” these 10 songs cover plenty of stylistic ground, and SHAKEDOWN STREET showcases a great band still eager to shake things up.
Core (Album of the Day)
Stone Temple Pilots won MTV's Best New Artist award on this day in 1993 thanks to their raucous debut CORE. A breakout success, the album peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts, dominated radio waves with hits like “Sex Type Thing” and “Wicked Garden,” and has been certified 8x Platinum by the RIAA. The band also took home the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for their smash single “Plush” - though this collection is much more than the sum of its parts. “We wanted to create a vibe which would run right through the whole album,” noted bassist Robert DeLeo of the Brendan O'Brien-produced set, and CORE remains a touchstone of 1990s alternative rock.
Circles (Album of the Day)
Born Malcolm James McCormick, Mac Miller was poised for great things before his untimely death on this day in 2018. The Pittsburgh rapper was gearing up for a tour in support of his acclaimed SWIMMING album and was in the middle of sessions for a follow-up, which was released posthumously. Mac had intended CIRCLES as a companion piece to the preceding set and producer Jon Brion brought the project to remarkable fruition. Singing as well as rapping, Miller brings a broad musical vision to the collection (which includes an Arthur Lee cover, of all things), and if his lyrics are frank about his substance abuse struggles, they are also touched with hard-won wisdom. Singles “Good News” and “Blue World” were both Top 40 hits and CIRCLES reached #3 on the Billboard 200, the performer's highest album chart debut.
Year of the Cat (Album of the Day)
Though he had more than a decade under his belt as a singer-songwriter, 1976 could well be called the year of Al Stewart given his commercial breakthrough. “When I finished YEAR OF THE CAT, I thought: ‘If this isn't a hit, then I can't make a hit,” he once recalled. “We finally got the formula exactly right.” Along with Stewart's appealing melodies and nuanced narratives, Alan Parsons' luxuriant production was a key part of that formula, elevating the Top 10 title track and such fine originals as “On The Border” and historical portrait “Lord Grenville.” The Platinum-certified collection is generally acknowledged as the Scottish performer's masterpiece, and we'll cue up YEAR OF THE CAT again to wish Al Stewart a happy birthday.
Scoundrel Days (Album of the Day)
Norway's a-ha surely owed much of its popularity to MTV, but a closer listen to the group's albums makes clear that its music was worthy of that success. The 1986 set SCOUNDREL DAYS, the trio's second longplayer, takes the melodic synth-pop of their debut in a darker but equally satisfying direction. While producer Alan Tarney is back behind the boards, such strong originals as “Cry Wolf,” “Manhattan Skyline” and “The Swing of Things” show the trio had more than just love songs on their minds. A big international hit, SCOUNDREL DAYS sold more than 6 million copies worldwide, and we'll give the collection another spin to wish guitarist Pal Waaktaar a happy birthday.
Fever (Album of the Day)
Kylie Minogue's knack for self-reinvention and ability to anticipate the pop zeitgeist is surely on a par with that of Madonna. More than a decade after she first reached the Top 10 (with a cover of “The Loco-Motion”), Minogue returned to U.S. record stores with FEVER. Clearly the Australian performer spent her time away polishing her craft - with a small army of top producers at work, the collection boasts a gleaming studio sheen and 14 energetic dance-pop tracks. Among the singles are “In Your Eyes,” “Love at First Sight,” the Grammy winning “Come into My World” and signature song “Can't Get You Out of My Head,” which was released on this day in 2001. Coupled with a massive supporting tour, FEVER became quite contagious, surpassing Platinum status to become Kylie Minogue's most successful album to date.
Kettle Whistle (Album of the Day)
When L.A. alternative rockers Jane's Addiction returned to performing for their 1997 “Relapse” tour, Warner Bros. marked the occasion with the release of KETTLE WHISTLE. An odds & sods-style compilation of demos, live and rare cuts, the 15-song set includes two new recordings: “So What!” and the title track (both of which feature Flea on bass). But most of this material hails from the group's late-'80s heyday, with alternate versions of such classics as “Been Caught Stealing” and “Mountain Song” joined by more than 20 minutes of a Hollywood Palladium concert that shows why the band remains legendary. We'll wish drummer Stephen Perkins a happy birthday with another spin of the gold-certified KETTLE WHISTLE.
Kellyoke (Album of the Day)
When Kelly Clarkson won the inaugural American Idol competition twenty years ago, it was only the first victory for the Texas-born vocalist. On this day in 2019, The Kelly Clarkson Show premiered on TV and the variety talk program has earned more than a dozen Daytime Emmy Awards. Most episodes include a cover song performed by Clarkson, and that popular feature provided the inspiration for the new KELLYOKE. The six tracks on the Atlantic EP range from classic country (Roy Orbison's “Blue Bayou”) to R&B (Whitney Houston's “Queen of the Night”) to contemporary indie pop (Billie Eilish's “Happier Than Ever”). KELLYOKE offers an irresistible taste of the versatility that made Kelly Clarkson a star.