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THE PARTY’S OVER (Album of the Day)
For U.K. New Wave faves Talk Talk, the party was just beginning with THE PARTY’S OVER. The London quartet's 1982 debut was helmed by Duran Duran producer Colin Thurston, and while the two groups earned frequent comparisons, Mark Hollis' vocals and his songs' rich emotional terrain were distinctive even at this early stage. “Mirror Man,” “Today” and “Talk Talk” were the singles but superb musicianship and inventive arrangements ensure that quality remains high across this set. Any fan of sophisticated synth-pop will love THE PARTY’S OVER, and we'll give the album a spin to start the birthday party for Talk Talk bassist Paul Webb, born on this day in 1962.
FAIR WARNING (Album of the Day)
Van Halen's 4th studio album for Warner Bros., FAIR WARNING, displays a darker side of the legendary hard rock quartet. While it's produced by old hand Ted Templeman and includes the usual radio-friendly singles (“Unchained,” “So This Is Love?”), the 1981 collection sees Eddie Van Halen's guitar work becoming more complex and involved, and frontman David Lee Roth's lyrics becoming tougher and grittier (as titles like "Mean Street" and "Dirty Movies" suggest). It was a focused attack that said “the party's over,” though even with its serious tone, it still made the Top 10 and sold more than 2 million copies. Allmusic said FAIR WARNING “showcases the coiled power of Van Halen better than any other album,” and we'll crank it up now in honor of Eddie Van Halen's birthday.
TROUBLE IN SHANGRI-LA (Album of the Day)
TROUBLE IN SHANGRI-LA arrived in stores almost seven years after Stevie Nicks' previous solo set, a delay party due to Fleetwood Mac commitments. The band's 1997 reunion provides the subtext for “Fall from Grace” (“Planets of the Universe,” one of three '70s-era songs here, is also Mac-inspired) but the baker's dozen cuts on the 2001 collection cover a lot of emotional ground beyond that. Nicks is joined in the studio by many famous friends, including Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Maines of Dixie Chicks, a couple of the Heartbreakers and Sheryl Crow, who also co-produced several tracks. A Top 10, Gold-certified hit, TROUBLE IN SHANGRI-LA is part of Rhino's Start Your Ear Off Right campaign this January.
WARREN ZEVON (Album of the Day)
By the time Warren Zevon cut his self-titled major label debut in 1976, the performer had a decade in the music business under his belt. The years of experience and associations paid off handsomely on WARREN ZEVON, which boasts a superb set of songs and all-star support from the likes of producer Jackson Browne and members of Fleetwood Mac, The Beach Boys and Eagles. The collection's 11 sardonic originals include “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead,” “Hasten Down The Wind,” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” and “Carmelita” (the latter three all covered by Linda Ronstadt), and bristle with biting wit. Warren Zevon was born on this day in 1947, and his eponymous Asylum album shows one of SoCal's darkest singer-songwriters in a very flattering light.
DO YOU WANNA DANCE (Album of the Day)
DO YOU WANNA DANCE? When Bobby Freeman posed that question in 1958, America answered in the affirmative; the single hit the Top 10 and would later be covered by artists including Cliff Richard, The Beach Boys and the Ramones. It's the title track to Freeman's debut LP, and the Jubilee collection shows the San Francisco high schooler to have been a precocious talent. The dozen songs balance surprisingly mature takes on such standards as “When You're Smiling” and “Ebb Tide” with more raucous originals like “Good Lovin' Is What I Need” and “Mardi Gras Rock.” Freeman passed away on this day in 2017, and DO YOU WANNA DANCE ensures he'll be remembered.
KIKO (Album of the Day)
The LA BAMBA soundtrack might have given Los Lobos a huge hit, but KIKO showed this band from East L.A. had no desire to join the oldies circuit. While it includes the requisite taut roots rockers (“That Train Don't Stop Here,” “Whiskey Trail”), the set is most impressive for its ambition, adding art rock and South African influences to an already-broad musical palette. Producer Mitchell Froom's dream-like soundscapes prove a perfect complement to the group's masterful singing and playing, and the 1993 collection is frequently cited as the band's best. All but a couple of the 16 inventive originals on KIKO were co-written by Louie Pérez, and we'll wish the drummer a happy birthday by cueing up one of Los Lobos' most popular albums.
MOJO (Album of the Day)
“It's blues-based. Some of the tunes are longer, more jammy kind of music,” noted Tom Petty of MOJO, his first record with The Heartbreakers in eight years. Cut in his Clubhouse studio in L.A. with minimal overdubbing, the 2010 Reprise collection may invite comparisons to the Dead or the Allmans - it sounds throughout like a band playing for its own enjoyment. Add Petty's solid songcraft (“I Should Have Known It,” “Good Enough,” “First Flash of Freedom”) to outstanding instrumental work and it couldn't miss; the album debuted at No.2 on the Billboard chart. The Heartbreakers really got their MOJO working on this set, and we'll give it another spin to wish guitarist/co-producer Mike Campbell a happy birthday.
CHICAGO IX: CHICAGO’S GREATEST HITS (Album of the Day)
Chicago is the first American band to release Top 40 albums in five successive decades, and it certainly seems like they've been making hits forever. When CHICAGO IX, the group's first best-of collection, started a five-week run atop the U.S. album chart in 1975 it was their fifth No.1 album. The collection culls 11 highlights from the band's first five years, including “25 Or 6 To 4,” “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is” and “Saturday In The Park.” While the Peter Cetera-led balladry of the next decade would bring Chicago even more Gold records, these are the hits that put Chicago on the musical map. We'll give CHICAGO IX: CHICAGO’S GREATEST HITS another spin now in honor of original guitarist Terry Kath's birthday.
KICK (Album of the Day)
Their fifth album, LISTEN LIKE THIEVES, had given INXS an international hit in “What You Need,” but that wasn't enough for the Australian sextet. As guitarist Kirk Pengilly put it, “we wanted an album where all the songs were possible singles,” and in KICK, they got what they needed. The Atlantic album included no less than four U.S. Top 10 singles: “New Sensation,” “Never Tear Us Apart,” “Devil Inside” and “Need You Tonight,” which became the band's first U.S. No.1 hit on this day in 1988. With a little help from producer Chris Thomas, INXS' potent mix of new wave, danceable funk and Stones-styled rock reached its peak here, and KICK went on to sell more than 6 million copies in America alone.
BLUE LIGHTS IN THE BASEMENT (Album of the Day)
Always a critical favorite, Roberta Flack had also become a commercial force by the time of her sixth studio album, BLUE LIGHTS IN THE BASEMENT. Accordingly, Atlantic lavished plenty of attention on the 1977 set, recruiting a legion of top instrumentalists (like Hugh McCracken, Ronnie Foster and Steve Gadd) well attuned to the performer's distinctive blend of R&B, jazz and singer-songwriter intimacy. Co-producer Gene McDaniels penned three of the ten tracks, including standouts “Why Don't You Move in with Me” and “25th of Last December,” but it was the Donny Hathaway duet “The Closer I Get to You” that scored on the singles chart, reaching #2. On the album chart, BLUE LIGHTS IN THE BASEMENT made the Top 10, and the richly romantic collection is a great way to warm up a cold evening.