A record that may have never hit the radio city it wished for in the title – but a classic that's gone onto have an undeniable influence on so many scenes and styles over the years! This sublime second set from Big Star is even leaner and more focused than the first – a record that has the group losing Chris Bell, yet still retaining a lot of his influence – while the main focus moves over to Alex Chilton, whose ability to sing and write is simply mindblowing! The tunes have these dark, melancholy moments that are unlike anything either Chilton or rock had given the world up to the time – and really almost feel much more like work from a decade later in terms of execution and production. There's no easy labels, no easy terms you could ever hope to ascribe to the record – and that's fine, because it stands majestically well on its own. Titles include "O My Soul", "Life Is White", "Way Out West", "You Get What You Deserve", "Mod Lang", "She's A Mover", "Morpha Girl", "I'm In Love With A Girl". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic greatest hits package from The Who – one that had almost as much life as any of their major full length albums, and a set that served to re-introduce new audiences to the group after the success of Tommy and Who's Next! Most of the tracks here predate those albums – pulled from the group's earliest years, and awash in mod rhythms, tight guitars, and lyrics that are quite edgey – even in the format of a two-minute pop tune. Titles include "Boris The Spider", "Happy Jack", "Pictures Of Lily", "My Generation", "The Seeker", "I Can't Explain", "The Kids Are Alright", "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere", "A Legal Matter", "Substitute", "I'm A Boy", and "Pinball Wizard". LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked Christmas album from Cyndi Lauper – recorded a bit after her big hits of the 80s, but still enough in that decade to have the right vintage feel for her voice! There's a few Christmas classics on the record, but there's also some original and unusual songs – which is always great with us – as our favorite sort of Christmas records are the ones where an artist really brings something new to the table! Titles include "Feels Like Christmas", "Three Ships", "In The Bleak Midwinter", "December Child", "Early Christmas Morning", "New Year's Baby", "Minnie & Santa", and "Christmas Conga". (Holiday Music, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Director John Hughes gave the world some pretty great movies back in the 80s – and in most of those movies, music was a very big part of the experience – as Hughes had a way of using just the right songs in just the right moments, and also helped get wider mainstream exposure for some of the hipper acts of the time! This package is a great tribute to the kinds of cuts that Hughes would use – some done especially for his films, most from other records but used in key scenes – in a package that collects together songs from films that include Some Kind Of Wonderful, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty In Pink, She's Having A Baby, Weird Science, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Planes Trains & Automobiles. 2LP version features 25 cuts in all – with titles that include "Do Anything (soundtrack version)" by Pete Shelly, "Eighties" by Killing Joke, "Full Of Love" by Dr Calculus, "Beat City" by Flowerpot Men, "She's Having A Baby" by Dave Wakeling, "I Go Crazy" by Flesh For Lulu, "Don't You Forget About Me" by Simple Minds, "If You Leave" by OMD, "This Woman's Work" by Kate Bush, "Oh Yeah" by Yellow, "Pretty In Pink" by Psychedelic Furs, "Brilliant Mind" by Furniture, "Six Days On The Road" by Steve Earle, "Crazy Love" by Bryan Ferry, "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby (soundtrack version)" by Kirsty MacColl, "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (inst)" by Dream Academy, "Tenderness" by General Public, "Bring On The Dancing Horses" by Echo & The Bunnymen, "Can't Help Falling In Love" by Lick The Tins, "Weird Science" by Oingo Boingo, "Left Of Center" by Suzanne Vega & Joe Jackson, and "If You Were Here" by Thompson Twins. LP, Vinyl record album

A record with a freaky sort of cover, but one that's got this very laidback, down to earth vibe – almost like a small funk combo taking on territory from 70s AOR, but serving things up with a much looser, easygoing sort of style! The vocals are great – blue-eyed soul, and compressed down into the instrumentation, which includes keyboards, guitar, and light strings – plus occasional flute and trumpet – all handled with this stripped-down vibe that almost makes you feel like you're sitting in with a big label act like America or Hall & Oates as they're cooking up some mellow soul tracks in the studio. Titles include "Rialto Winds", "Gift Of Life", "Peach Optimo", "Hanging On", "NyNy", "I Will Be", and "Too Yung". (Deep Funk, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic array of really cool songs – all written and recorded by Tom Dawes of The Cyrkle – as part of a big career as a jingle writer after his group cut a famous theme song for 7 Up! The music here is great – work from a time when jingles for TV and radio ads were like mini songs in and of themselves – often as catchy as anything on the charts, if not more so – so that the tunes you'd hear for a few short seconds would stick in your head all day long! If you dig sunshine pop, there's plenty to love here – and remember that the great Roger Nichols also gave the world a wonderful tune that was originally designed as a jingle. Some of the tracks here never made it to the TV screen, others are classics – and the set includes songs written for Windex, GI Joe, Alka Seltzer, Calgon, Stridex, Murine, Hartford Insurance, Thom McCann, Life Savers, Timex, Ford, and many others. (Sound Library, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A big moment for the British ska scene – and the soundtrack to a film that featured live work by nearly all of the big names at the time! The album features live work by artists who owed a lot to 2 Tone, but who'd even moved onto bigger fame by the film – but who are working here in a nice back-to-basics mode – and titles include live versions of "Concrete Jungle", "Man At C&A", and "Nite Klub" by The Specials; "Mirror In The Bathroom", "Big Shot", and "Ranking Full Stop" by The English Beat; "Inner London Violence" and "Lip Up Fatty" by Bad Manners; "Easy Life" by The Bodysnatchers; and "Razor Blade Alley" and "One Step Beyond" by Madness. LP, Vinyl record album

Rod Stewart steals from Jorge Ben – and gets the biggest hit of his career with "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy", this Brazilian funk-influenced disco tune that crossed over big! Also includes "Dirty Weekend", "The Best Days Of My Life", "Is That The Thanks I Get", "Attractive Female Wanted", "Last Summer", and "Scarred And Scared". LP, Vinyl record album

You won't find Joyce Street in the Country Music Hall Of Fame, but she's the kind of singer who definitely could have been huge, had she ever hit the big time – yet maybe one who's even more fascinating on this series of singles recorded for a variety of small labels in the 70s – all the kind of heartfelt, honest work that's very different than the arena-filling music of the outlaw generation! Joyce has a voice that recalls some of our favorite female country singers to emerge in the 60s, and hearing this work is like catching one of them before they were picked up by a major label – recording with a real since of sincerity that definitely does justice to her music. Titles include "Life Ain't Worth Livin", "Back Streets Of The City", "Love In My Heart", "California You're Slippin", "Mississippi Moonshine", "Woman Do Something Nice", and "That Man Of Mine". (Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A huge crossover hit for the Talking Heads – music released in conjunction with the great film of the same name, but with a unified vibe that made the whole thing way more than just another soundtrack! In many ways, the set's a part two to Little Creatures – delivered with the same sort of upfront charm, and ear for well-crafted tunes that really display the sharper songwriting skills of David Byrne in this period. Yet there's also some hints of the global elements that were always present in his music, and which would come more to the fore during the Luaka Bop years – used in more subtle ways here. Titles include the big hit "Wild Wild Life" – plus "People Like Us", "Puzzlin Evidence", "Love For Sale", "Radio Head", "Dream Operator", "City Of Dreams", "Hey Now", and "Papa Legba". LP, Vinyl record album

A big crossover classic for the champions of the Minneapolis scene – their first for Sire and featuring some of the greatest rock songs of the 80s, be it college radio, mainstream or any thing – greatness period! The sound is a bit more polished than the Twin Tone years, but there's no scrubbing out the shambling attitude, and truth be told, the more soul-searching material here is some of the best stuff they'd ever record. Includes the all time classics "Left Of The Dial" and "Hold My Life", plus "Little Mascara, Lay It Down Clown", "I'll Buy", "Kiss Me On The Bus", "Waitress In The Sky", "Swingin Party", and "Here Comes A Regular". LP, Vinyl record album

Glen returns to work with Jimmy Webb – the brilliant songwriter who gave Glen big hits with "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" and "Witchita Lineman" back in the 60s. By the time of this 1974 recording, Jimmy had been through a lot of life – and was actually writing songs that were even more honest and gripping than in earlier years. He'd also become a heck of an arranger – and even though that work was often lost on Jimmy's own albums, mostly because Jimmy wasn't much of a singer, it sounds great here, as Glen's vocals really open up Jimmy's songs like few other singers could manage at the time! Titles include "Just This One Time", "Ocean In His Eyes", "The Moon's A Harsh Mistress", "Adoration", "It's A Sin", "I Keep It Hid", and "You Might As Well Smile". A brilliant record – the kind of underground major label gem that makes you realize that the 70s wasn't such a bad time! LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Big Shot", "Zanzibar", "Rosalinda's Eyes", "Half A Mile Away", "Until The Night", "Honesty", and the huge hit "My Life". LP, Vinyl record album

Hard Meat are a group with a name that's a bit misleading – you might guess some sort of Spinal Tap-ish posturing hard rock act – but instead, these guys have a really moody kind of quality that mixes plenty of acoustic instrumentation in with some more progressive electric passages – all at a level that almost makes you feel like these guys started out as a folk group, but one who wanted to jam a lot more in the end! Guitar and vocals are handled by Mick Dolan – a superb instrumentalist, and a compelling singer – and the other two members of the group include Steve Dolan on bass and Mick Carless on drums and percussion – both players who use acoustic elements as much as their guitarist. The blend almost makes you feel as of Joe Boyd had decided to record a prog album for Island – and titles include "Universal Joint", "Run Shaker Life", "Through A Window", "Yesterday Today Tomorrow", and "Time Shows No Face". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice transition from the overwrought concept albums of mid 70s Kinks – and a shift into tighter, shorter, more condensed tunes that got the group firmly back on track! The concepts here are each confined to the space of a single tune – taking Ray and the group back to the best approaches of their initial 70s recordings – and coming up with a few really catchy numbers in the process! Titles include "Sleepwalker", "Sleepless Night", "Brother", "Full Moon", "Life Goes On", "Stormy Sky", and "Mr Big Man". LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool collection of tracks, pulled from the glory days of the jingle-oriented television ad – a time when artists like Ginny Redington would pen short little songs that were every bit as catchy as songs on the charts – to sell everything from hamburgers to soft drinks, bank services, and weight control! The tunes here are all from the vaults of Redington – and feature cool little tunes written for Coca Cola, Sprite, Canada Dry, Gino's, Minute Maid, and a number of other big brands in the 70s – some spare with just Ginny on vocals and a bit of keyboards, some with a fuller, richer style that uses more instrumentation and additional singers! The package is totally cool – and titles include "Coke Ads Life", "Open Wide America", "Plop Plop Fast Food", "Now We're Talkin Beer", "Oh Canada", "Women In Business", "The World's Best Fit", and "The Clean In Your Mouth". (Sound Library, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A well-remembered soundtrack from the 90s – mostly because of its use of work by some of the bigger alt-rock names of the time! Tracks include "Color Me Once" by Violent Femmes, "Dead Souls" by Nine Inch Nails, "Burn" by The Cure, "Golgotha Tenement Blues" by Machines Of Living Grace, "Big Empty" by Stone Temple Pilots, "Darkness" by Rage Against The Machine, "Ghostrider" by Rollins Band, "Milktoast" by Helmet, "Snakedriver" by Jesus & Mary Chain, and "After The Flesh" by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. (Soundtracks, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Groovy rock from Iran – 60s & 70s material that's got the raw and rumbling grittiness of some of best garage rock of the time and others that flirt with psychedelia – most with the Middle Eastern flourishes blended beautiful with western rock and beat sounds! Wonderful stuff all around, regional garage psych beat grooves ripe for discovery! aIncludes "Uncle Chainmaker" by Zangoleah, "Avenue Of Love", "Way To Life" by Kambiz, "Take Leila Away" by Tigers, "Bartender" by Big Boys, "Rain And Rain" a great cover of the Rolling Stones hit "Play With Fire" by Takkhalha, "Shirley" by Ojubeha and more. (Global Grooves, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Four incredible albums from Hammond legend Brian Auger – a key link between jazz and the headier sounds of the UK scene at the end of the 60s! First up is Open – one of the amazing early albums from the team of Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger – kind of a next-generation to the Brit beat group sound of the mid 60s – one that moves beyond simple R&B modes, to bring in more sophisticated soul and jazz touches! Driscoll's vocals are amazing – some of the boldest belted out in the British scene at the time – and Auger's Hammond work really cooks throughout – at a level that easily makes him one of the best UK organists to hit the scene, amidst some very heady company in the 60s. There's a few bluesy moments, but our favorites are the funky ones – especially the group's reading of "Season Of The Witch", which is tremendous. Other cuts include "In & Out", "Black Cat", "Goodbye Jungle Telegraph", and "Break It Up". Definitely What is a landmark batch of funky organ work that made big waves in both the rock and jazz worlds at the time! Auger's really stretching out here – getting past the simple R&B of his roots, and going into a bubbling funky style that's clearly touched by chromatic inspirations from Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith – both of whom are referenced by some of the song structures on the set. The album's filled with killer organ-based instrumentals – some lean and stripped down, others full and rich – and all of them coming across with a richly soulful sound that you'd hardly expect from a member of the British rock scene! Titles include "Day In The Life", "Red Beans", "Definitely What!", and his classic "Bumpin' On Sunset". Streetwise is filled great funky grooves by the legendary Trinity group – featuring excellent keyboard work by Brian Auger, recorded during the period when he was really beginning to stretch out a bit, and hit a much more open-ended kind of sound. Julie Driscoll is still on vocals, singing in her raw sound, but Brian's Trinity group gets a fair number of nice instrumental moments on the set – which are greatly appreciated! Titles include the classic and sample laden "Light My Fire", "Czechoslovakia", "Finally Found You Out", "In Search Of The Sun", "Ellis Island", "I've Got Life", and "Save The Country". Befour is the third album from Brian Auger & The Trinity – and the first to feature the group recording without vocals from Julie Driscoll! The sound here is just as soulful as before – a tight take on American soul jazz and funky soul of the 60s – pushed along by Auger's mighty work on the Hammond organ, and featuring (this time around) some male lead vocals, which seem to give the album an even deeper feel than earlier work! Auger's included some great covers of American tunes like "I Want To Take You Higher", "Listen Here", and "Maiden Voyage" – all redone with some great Brit beat group touches – and the album also features a great take on Faure's "Pavane", and Auger's own "Just You Just Me". (Jazz, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the crowning moments of Bill Nelson and Be Bop Deluxe – a set in which it seemed that everything the group was trying for really came together – in a mode that's both tuneful and timeless, and which – a bit like Sparks or 10CC – was slightly out of time with the rest of the rock scene in the 70s! There's a few surprisingly catchy numbers – of the sort that should have made the group even bigger on the international scene – but Nelson also manages to work in lots of keyboard magic, too – in that compressed approach to his prog inclinations, which was always the appeal of the group. The set's neither glam nor punk, nor prog or classic rock – very much its own sort of thing – with titles include "Fair Exchange", "Life In The Air Age", "Ships In The Night", "Crystal Gazing", "Blazing Apostles", and "Beauty Secrets". LP, Vinyl record album

New Skin for Leonard Cohen, who by 1974 was ready to start singing with a bit more flair, and do so over more textured arrangements – but still raw both emotionally and in the unglossy instrumentation! The core of the sound is still Cohen's voice, his words, and acoustic guitar – but this record brings in some ragged acoustic instrumentation and loose percussion, as well as some more layered strings, some winds, and backing vocals – Janis Ian among the vocalists. On later records, bigger productions would nearly choke the natural life out of Cohen's songs, but this is one of those totally great records where the change in sound would actually enhance the material in the studio – allowing for one of his best albums of the 70s. Titles include "Is This What You Wanted", "Chelsea Hotel #2", "Lover Lover Lover", "Field Commander Cohen", "Ther Is A War", "A Singer Must Die", "Leaving Greensleeves" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal album from the American underground of the late 70s – the debut of Pere Ubu, bursting forth from the Cleveland scene with a sound to challenge the greatness of anything coming from New York or LA at the time! The album's not exactly punk, not exactly art rock, but has strong elements of both – all wrapped around the unique conception of singer Dave Thomas, whose vocals are some of the oddest ever recorded! The tunes here are a lot more straightforward and upfront than some of Pere Ubu's later work – in a way that definitely makes the album their biggest favorite with new generations of indie rockers. But there's also still a fair number of more experimental touches too – odd sonic tricks and almost-abstract moments that were quite revolutionary for the time – especially from Cleveland! Titles include "Non Alignment Pact", "The Modern Dance", "Chinese Radiation", "Real World", "Life Stinks", "Over My Head", and "Humor Me". LP, Vinyl record album

Mellow magic from Kenny Rankin – an album that follows nicely from his Kenny Rankin album of a few years before, and which has a relatively similar approach! Like that one, Don Costa's at the helm – producing as well as arranging – and most instrumentation is from a core small combo that includes some great keyboard work from Wendy Haas, who warms up Kenny's sound a bit, but never in a too-smooth sort of way. A few tracks bring in some bigger strings, but still keep up the rasp and personal feel of Rankin's music – and titles include "Down The Backstairs Of My Life", "Woman Woman", "Lyin Eyes", "Strings", "After The Roses", and "What Matters Most". (Vocalists, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

The album that catapulted Dire Straits into the bigger mainstream – thanks in part to some heavy play on MTV, and the group's inventive use of the video format! Titles include "Brothers In Arms", "Walk Of Life", "The Man's Too Strong", "One World", "So Far Away", "Your Latest Trick", "Why Worry", "Ride Across The River", and "Money For Nothing". LP, Vinyl record album

Quite possibly the biggest early moment of US fame for Roxy Music – thanks to the classic "Love Is The Drug", which kicks off the album and is easily one of the group's best-known tunes of the 70s! The album tightens things up slightly from the sound of Country Life before – not as many dark corners, but still plenty of the offbeat styles that make these early Roxy Music albums so great – with none of the softer styles that took over during the early 80s years. Other tracks include "End Of The Line", "She Sells", "Could It Happen To Me", "Both Ends Burning", "Just Another High", and "Whirlwind". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the most compelling grooves the Talking Heads ever recorded – a set that sparkles with imaginative touches, and railroads forward on a wave of complicated rhythms! The sound is brilliant throughout – a genre-less approach that sheds the group's earlier art nerd aesthetic for one that's clearly influenced by late 70s funk and club – but takes that influence in a whole new direction! The whole thing's even fresher than some of the artier downtown moments that bubbled around at the time – as David Byrne and the group actually managed to cross over big with the record – hitting not only urban markets, but also getting some play from the classic rock crowd too. Brian Eno produced, and co-wrote the songs with the group – and some great Green World-esque electronics bubble through the mix, and hold the whole thing together beautifully. Titles include "Houses In Motion", "Once In A Lifetime", "The Great Curve", "Crosseyed & Painless", "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)", "Listening Wind", "Seen & Not Seen", and "The Overload". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the most compelling grooves the Talking Heads ever recorded – a set that sparkles with imaginative touches, and railroads forward on a wave of complicated rhythms! The sound is brilliant throughout – a genre-less approach that sheds the group's earlier art nerd aesthetic for one that's clearly influenced by late 70s funk and club – but takes that influence in a whole new direction! The whole thing's even fresher than some of the artier downtown moments that bubbled around at the time – as David Byrne and the group actually managed to cross over big with the record – hitting not only urban markets, but also getting some play from the classic rock crowd too. Brian Eno produced, and co-wrote the songs with the group – and some great Green World-esque electronics bubble through the mix, and hold the whole thing together beautifully. Titles include "Houses In Motion", "Once In A Lifetime", "The Great Curve", "Crosseyed & Painless", "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)", "Listening Wind", "Seen & Not Seen", and "The Overload". LP, Vinyl record album

An aptly-titled album, as it sprung the genius of The Association fully onto the world – and forever changed the rules for dreamy vocal pop music! The album's a wonderful blend of sweet harmonies, LA production, and the kind of slightly-trippy song stylings you already know from The Association's biggest hits. However, the album's also filled with great little songs that you probably haven't heard before – which makes it an even bigger treat, kind of like stumbling upon a treasure box of unheard musical gems that you've been looking for your entire life! Titles include "Songs In The Wind", "Memories Of You", "No Fair At All", "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies", and "Another Time Another Place". LP, Vinyl record album

New Order take a slightly sweeter turn for this mid 80s set – but still never lose the charm that won us from their first few records! There's a warmth here we might not have expected in the immediate post-Joy Division years – and a catchy tunefulness on some of the biggest crossover numbers on the set – yet, given the commercial dreck of the time, New Order are still way ahead of the pack – and from the perspective of these many years later, we're even more impressed at the way they manage to balance nascent pop sensibilities with some of the darker leanings of their roots. More than enough edgey guitar and moody basslines to please fans of the first two albums – on titles that include "Sunrise", "Elegia", "Love Vigilantes", "The Perfect Kiss", "Sub Culture", "Face Up", and "Sooner Than You Think". LP, Vinyl record album