A few good times in my life
Another eclectic journey through decades of chart hits and long time not played songs for your pleasure.
1976: Stevie Wonder
1965: Crispian St. Peters
1976: Flamin Groovies
1982: The Kinks
1984: Tears For Fears
1964: The Righteous Brothers
1966: The Monkees
1975: Bob Dylan
1975: Blues Brothers
1980: The Clash
1978: The Records
We begin today's tour of the houses with a band that has unfortunately been unjustly forgotten and wasan s not appreciated enough in their heyday. In 1965 Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan formed Flamin' Groovies in San Francisco with their own interpretation of Rock 'n' Roll. Unfortunately, their first two albums at the end of the sixties did not capture the spirit of the times, when sprawling guitar jams were all the rage. For me they were more punk than many others at this time and idols of power-pop. This guitar gem is from their second album Flamingo.
In 1992, three rappers set out to turn hip hop upside down. Two of them were of Irish descent and decided to incorporate this identity into their sound. It was also remarkable that all the members of House Of Pain were white, showing their colleagues that they too could make formidable music.
Finally, some country rock from Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, an almost forgotten band who covered Kenny Loggins' song on their third album.
If we talk about pub rock and I have recently written about Nick Lowe, the name Dave Edmunds cannot be remained unmentioned. Dave Edmunds is a Welsh guitarist, singer and producer. Although he was named with pub rock and New Wave his natural leaning has always been leaning to 50s style an rock and roll. He's became known in the late 60s with his band Love Sculpture as he scored a hit by a cover from Khachaturian's Sabre Dance as a high speed-crazed rock number. He was always torn backwards and I know him as a type that was born 30 years too late. His next project was to make an album that would have a Phil Spector-sound. Subtle as a Flying Mallet could be a record that was produced by Phil Spector. Most of the instruments were played by Dave Edmunds and it is still a superb record. After this record he became linked with the pub rock movement in the early 1970s, producing Brinsley Schwarz, Ducks Deluxe and The Flamin' Groovies. One of his trademarks was using a stripped down, grittier sound mostly reduced to a leading guitar. In this time he started his collaboration with Nick Lowe and their band Rockpile. Until the 1980s they couldn't act as a band because they signed to different companies. Also the line-up on their solo records were nearly the same over the years. Dave Edmunds had several hits through the 1980s covering songs from Elvis Costello, Graham Parker and Nick Lowe. In the 1980s he produced acts carrying his musical influences into today like King Kurt and The Stray Cats.
