A few good times in my life
Another Tuesday and a look back at which singles were released. And, as always, without words, because the songs speak for themselves, even if they only allow a sentimental look at days gone by.
1985: Katrina and the Waves
1977: Steve Miller Band
1982: Roxy Music
1989: Cowboy Junkies
2006: Red Hot Chili Peppers
1985: Eurythmics
1968: Small Faces
1988: The Smithereens
1988: Tracy Chapman
From time to time I go online just to see what has happened musically on that day in the past. It's always amusing to see which basically unimportant events are mentioned on various sites. What makes it interesting for me is that albums or songs are mentioned that were released on a certain day. I'm often reminded to listen to them again or what memories I have of them. Here are some songs that were released years ago this week, with no direct connection between them. We'll see if this becomes a series.
Loggins and Messina were an American country-pop duo and became famous in the early-mid seventies with some great songs. I own only their live album On Stage from 1974 where this song is from. It shows how good the Westcoast sound could be in these days.
Joan Armatrading was in the early eighties one of the best opportunities to new wave and independent music. Blessed with a great voice and well arranged songs she had her time rightly.
Rockabilly returned with The Stray Cats and Dave Edmunds at the controls. The sound of this summer.
In 1981 Talking Heads released Remain In Light one of the best albums this year and this song is still great.
When we were young, we regularly went to a mountain hut in Austria as a football team for a long weekend in autumn. We could rarely decide on a style of music to play during the trip and decided that everyone should make a tape that didn't include punk, jazz or metal. The majority of my tape contained Pete Townshend's latest album. Rough Mix is one of these albums showing two great musicians doing their very own thing not looking for big success. Pete Townshend was the leading figure from The Who and Ronnie Lane bass player by Small Faces/Faces. Townshend asked Lane to produce this album but over time it became more of a joint album combining the influences of both groups. It goes without saying that there are no really bad songs on it. The basic mood is relaxed and many songs sound as if they were recorded around a campfire in the evening. Both artists wrote the best song from the autumn in their career and it ends with a superb version of a Don Williams song.
Tim Hardin was an American folk and blues songwriter and mostly known as the composer of hits other people had. His first albums from 1966 to 1969 contained so many classic songs like no other songwriter released in these days. His records were critically acclaimed and he reached his climate when he played at Woodstock festival. Like many others of this era he turned into drugs, got rid of them and fall back again and died in December 1980 on an overdose Heroin in Los Angeles. His legacy were a lot of songs about love and hope with intensive lyrics and melodies other would kill for. I played his record The Homecoming Concert the other days again and thought I should give him a place at this little place in the internet.
You can listen to his last album in full length and see that he was in a good condition for singing his songs live for the last time.
