A1 and D:REAM sum up 2020

Happy New Year

Cliff Richard - Reflections (1970) What The L?

This post has been up for about a week now and downloaded over 100 times, and I've been waiting for a comment on it, but so far nothing has appeared, so I'm adding this extra post. I based the cover on the Yugoslavian picture sleeve of his 1968 single 'Marianne', and I had to do quite a bit of tidying up, removing the name of the two songs on it and replacing them with the title of the album, and then trying to clean up the creases and faded parts of the cover. This took a while, and I was really pleased with the result, as I liked the concept and the picture that was used. About a week later I readied the post, uploaded the cover, gave it one last check over, and only then thought to myself, why are there two 'L's in Cliff!!!! This wasn't me, as here is the cover on Discogs, so it was sold like this, and now I know it I just can't un-see it, but did anyone else spot it?

Luckily I noticed it in time to add a corrected version to the folder, but how did I work so closely on this for about an hour and not see such a massive typo?

Fleetwood Mac - Kiln House (1970)

By the time that Fleetwood Mac came to record their fourth studio album, major upheavals had occurred which would affect the group for the rest of their career. The main one was that Peter Green left the band in May 1970, following an LSD experience in March during a tour of Germany, which changed his outlook on life so much that he left the band that he'd formed. The rest of the group decided to carry on as a four-piece, and started recording sessions for their next album, titled 'Kiln House', after the name of a converted Oast house in Hampshire where the band and their families lived for a six-month period in 1970. Although Jeremy Spencer sat out for the previous album 'Then Play On', he played a much more active role during these sessions, with his retro 1950's homages and parodies dominating the album, and because these have always been my least favourite songs from their live concerts and BBC sessions, it makes 'Kiln House' the album that I return to less than any other. To help out with the recordings, Christine Perfect contributed backing vocals, keyboards and painted the cover art, although she was not a full member of the band until shortly after the album's completion. A comment by swboy prompted me to do something about this (although not exactly as their suggestion, but hopefully along the right lines), and make 'Kiln House' a more palatable album to my ears, so we have to make a few assumptions first. As Jeremy Spencer had contributed very little to 'Then Play On', and left immediately after 'Kiln House', let's assume that he'd already left by the time the sessions started, and as Christine Perfect joined the band immediately after 'Kiln House', her official joining can be brought forward to before recording started rather than after. Peter Green left in May 1970, but in April he'd recorded two songs which were issued as a single the following month, and as happened quite often at that time, both sides of 'The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)' and the Green/Kirwan instrumental 'World In Harmony' could have been added to the next album. Also in May the band taped an otherwise un-recorded Green song 'Sandy Mary' for the BBC, with Danny Kirwan taking lead vocals, as well as recording one of his originals 'Only You'. As Christine Perfect was now a full member of the group, it's possible that she would have been granted a lead vocal to welcome her, and 'Down At The Crown' and 'Crazy About You (Can't Hold Out Much Longer)' were both recorded for the BBC in late 1970, with Kirwan and Perfect sharing the vocals on the former, so as they were never subsequently recorded in the studio they could be added to the tracklisting. If we then remove all of Jeremy Spencer's 50's pastiche songs and replace them with the BBC sessions and both sides of the May single we end up with a much more consistent album, which I think I will end up playing more than the original.   

Track listing

01 The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)
02 Station Man
03 Crazy About You (Can't Hold Out Much Longer)
04 World In Harmony
05 Sandy Mary
06 Jewel Eyed Judy
07 Earl Gray
08 Down At The Crown
09 Tell Me All The Things You Do
10 Only You

Welcome back

As the previous blog has been deleted for providing links to the albums I compiled, I'm reinstating it, but this time without the links, and instead I'm storing the music on Soulseek. This may take some time so bear with me. In many cases these albums can be made up by searching out the songs on Youtube while you are waiting. Alternately your can access the cached site by searching 'albumsiwishexisted november 2020' (or whatever month you want) and dropping down the tab on the right for 'cached', and hopefully you can search from there, and links are still live

Posts have now been reinstated in roughly the same order as they were originally posted, and I'll start storing the music on Soulseek from the most recent post backwards. With over 700 posts this is going to take quite a while, but new posts will be available at the time of the post. 

Peter Frampton - ...and on guitar (1975)

Peter Kenneth Frampton was born on 22 April 1950, and first became interested in music when he was seven years old, having discovered his grandmother's banjolele in the attic, and teaching himself to play it, going on to later teach himself guitar and piano as well. His early influences were Cliff Richard & the Shadows, especially guitarist Hank Marvin, and American rockers Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran. By the age of 12 he was playing in The Little Ravens, while both he and David Bowie, who was three years older, were pupils at Bromley Technical School, where his father Owen Frampton was Bowie's art instructor. By the age of 14 he was playing with The Trubeats, followed by The Preachers, who were produced and managed by Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones. In 1966 he became a member of the Herd, where he was the lead guitarist and singer, and the band scored several British hit singles, at the same time as Frampton was named 'The Face of 1968' by teen magazine Rave. In 1969, while still only 18 years old, he joined with recently departed Small Faces guitarist Steve Marriott to form Humble Pie, going on to record one live and four studio albums with them, and while playing with Humble Pie he also did session recordings with other artists, including Harry Nilsson (and his alter ego Buck Earl for the 'I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City' single), John Entwistle, Andy Bown, Lon & Derrek Van Eaton and Suzi Quatro. Frampton left Humble Pie in 1971 and embarked on a solo career, with his debut album 'Wind Of Change' coming out in 1972, and featuring guest artists Ringo Starr and Billy Preston. This was followed by 'Frampton's Camel' in 1973, which featured Frampton working within a group project, then 'Something's Happening' in 1974, and 'Frampton' in 1975.

He had little commercial success with his early albums, but this all changed when he released his live album 'Frampton Comes Alive' in 1976, from which the hit singles 'Baby, I Love Your Way' and 'Show Me The Way' were extracted, and the album was on the Billboard 200 for 97 weeks, of which 55 were in the top 40, and 10 were at the top, becoming the best selling album of 1976. His following-up 'I'm In You' contained the hit title single and went platinum, but fell well short of expectations compared to its predecessor, with all subsequent releases being unfavourably compared to that high-point. Frampton suffered a near-fatal car accident in the Bahamas in 1978 which marked the end of this prolific period of his career, returning to the studio in 1979 to record the album 'Where I Should Be', and releasing records fairly regularly since then. Although his albums generally met with little commercial success, he achieved a brief, moderate comeback of sorts in 1986 with the release of his 'Premonition' album, and the single 'Lying' was a big hit on the mainstream rock charts. His heyday, though, was undoubtedly the early to mid 70's, not only with his own albums, but also with guest appearances on records by fellow artists. The Johnny Halliday track has an interesting story, as by the end of 1968 the original Small Faces were in the middle of breaking up, with Steve Marriott going on to form Humble Pie, and the rest of the band morphing into The Faces. In late December the group were asked to collaborate with French pop legend Johnny Halliday on an album that was to showcase his attempt at hard-rock, and Marriott dragged his chum Frampton along to the recording sessions. Marriott and Lane donated three songs to the project, two of which were later recorded by Humble Pie under different titles, so this track is something of a curiosity to start this showcase of Peter Frampton's guest appearances in the first half of the 1970's.

  

Track listing

01 Regarde Pour Moi (from 'Riviere Ouvre Ton Lit' by Johnny Halliday 1969)
02 Girl From Denver (from 'Don't Freak Me Out' by Jimmy Stevens 1972)
03 The Blues In England (from 'Feel Your Groove' by Ben Sidran 1971)
04 Open Your Eyes (from' Gone To My Head' by Andy Bown 1972)
05 Sweet Music (single by Lon & Derrek Van Eaton 1972)
06 Rolling Stone (single by Suzi Quatro 1972)
07 I Guess The Lord Must Be Tn New York City (single by Buck Earl 1972)
08 Perfection (from 'Painted Head' by Tim Hardin 1973)
09 Ten Little Friends (from 'Whistle Rymes' by John Entwistle 1972)
10 Life Goes On (from 'Essence To Essence' by Donovan 1973)
11 Celebration (from 'First Of The Big Bands' by Tony Ashton & Jon Lord 1974)
12 The Serf (from 'Everything Changes' by Leslie Duncan 1974)
13 Daybreak (from 'Son Of Dracula' by Harry Nilsson 1974)
14 Slow Down (from 'Get Off Of My Cloud' by Alexis Korner 1975)

Kaleidoscope - A Dream For Julie (1971)

Having performed since 1963 under the name The Sidekicks, the band changed their name to The Key in November 1965, before settling on the name Kaleidoscope when they signed a deal with Fontana Records in January 1967. The group originally consisted of Eddy Pumer on guitar, Steve Clark on bass and flute, and Danny Bridgman on drums, and vocalist Peter Daltrey, who also played organ, and joined the band in March 1964. Most of their songs were Pumer/Daltrey originals, with their first single 'Flight From Ashiya'/'Holidaymaker' being released in September 1967, quickly followed by the band's debut album 'Tangerine Dream' four months later. The single got quite a bit of radio airplay but failed to reach the charts, and so a new single was released in 1968, with neither side of 'Jenny Artichoke'/'Just How Much You Are' being taken from the album, but despite being a particularly catchy number, it also failed to chart. Their second album 'Faintly Blowing' was released  in 1969, and this time the band’s sound was heavier, although the tracks still included psychedelic elements with notably fairy-tale lyrics, but once again it failed to reach the charts. After the failure of 'Faintly Blowing', they released two more singles which were songs by other writers and, after a radio session in BBC Maida Vale Studios, the band never again appeared as Kaleidoscope. By the end of the decade, with the failure of their last single 'Balloon' still hanging over them, the band moved on with their new manager, DJ David Symonds, and re-emerged with the same lime-up as Fairfield Parlour. Despite the fact that they were now being called a progressive rock band, their music didn’t change much and still included fairy-tale lyrics with psychedelic harmony vocal. The band’s first single as Fairfield Parlour was 'Bordeaux Rose', which was released in April 1970 on the legendary Vertigo label, and despite the fact that it got a considerable amount of radio airplay, it fared no better chart-wise than their previous incarnation. After releasing a couple more singles, the band issued the 'From Home To Home' album in August 1970, and at the same time as they were heavily involved in this, they were asked to record the theme tune for the Isle of Wight Festival, 'Let the World Wash In', and so as not to detract from the album release they recorded and released two songs under the name of I Luv Wight, although they did open the festival as Fairfield Parlour. 

The band’s second album was 'White Faced Lady', which they financed independently and recorded in Morgan Studios in London, but attempts at finding a record company to issue it failed and the album was shelved until 1991, when it was released under the name Kaleidoscope on their own label. Despite their lack of commercial success at the time, Kaleidoscope's reputation has grown enormously over the intervening years, and they are now acknowledged as one of the finest UK psychedelic bands of all time, with original copies of their poorly-selling albums changing hands for huge sums. As both bands had the same line-up, I'm combining them for this post, and as they released so many non-album songs under both band names, there is easily enough rare material to put together a stunning album, which both celebrates and enhances the reputation of a group that it took half a lifetime to be appreciated for the ground-breaking band that they were. Some of these songs were only ever played on Top Of The Pops, and therefore suffered that bane of music-lovers everywhere, the DJ talking over the intro, so I've painstakingly patched them so that we now have complete versions of the songs, and hopefully you can't spot the joins.    

Track listing
                  
01 A Dream For Julie (single 1968) 
02 Jenny Artichoke (single 1968)
03 Just How Much You Are (b-side of 'Jenny Artichoke')
04 Balloon (single 1969)
05 Do It Again For Jeffrey (single 1969)
06 Jump In My Boat (from Top Of The Pops 1969)
07 Let The World Wash In (single as I Luv Wight 1970) 
08 Mediaeval Masquerade (b-side of 'Let The World Wash In')
09 Just Another Day (single as Fairfield Parlour 1970)
10 Caraminda (b-side of 'Just Another Day' single as Fairfield Parlour 1970)
11 Song For You (b-side of 'Just Another Day' single as Fairfield Parlour 1970)
12 I Am All The Animals (b-side of 'Just Another Day' single as Fairfield Parlour 1970)
13 Baby, Stay For Tonight (as Fairfield Parlour, previously unreleased)
14 Eye Witness (as Fairfield Parlour, from the soundtrack of the film 'Eyewitness' 1970) 
15 Long Way Down (as Fairfield Parlour, from Top Of The Pops 1971)
16 Diary Song (as Fairfield Parlour, from Top Of The Pops 1971)
17 The Matchseller (as Fairfield Parlour, from Top Of The Pops 1971)

Cliff Richard - Reflections (1970)

For the next collection of singles and b-sides we're looking at the years 1968 to 1970, and once again there are enough non-album tracks to put together a superb album. There were a few of the singles that I wasn't that familiar with, which was even better for me as it made it sound like an actual album rather than just a collection of random recordings. Nearly all of the songs made it this time, as there were only a couple that didn't really fit with the reflective mood of the album, hence the title.   

Track listing

01 Good Times (Better Times) (single 1969)
02 Occasional Rain (b-side of 'Good Times (Better Times)')
03 What's More (I Don't Need Her) (b-side of 'Don't Forget To Catch Me' 1968)
04 Mr. Nice (b-side of 'Marianne')
05 Marianne (single 1968)
06 Big Ship (single 1969)
07 She's Leaving You (b-side of 'Big Ship')
08 Throw Down A Line (single with Hank Marvin 1969) 
09 Reflections (b-side of 'Throw Down A Line')
10 With The Eyes Of A Child  (single 1969)
11 So Long (b-side of 'With The Eyes Of A Child')
12 The Joy Of Living (single with Hank Marvin 1970) 
13 I Ain't Got Time Anymore (single 1970) 
14 Monday Comes Too Soon (b-side of 'I Ain't Got Time Anymore')
15 Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha (single 1970)

Have A Swinging Christmas 2020

We need some cheering up after one of the worst years we've ever lived through, so as an alternative to the usual Christmas songs that we're inundated with, here's a selection of Christmas tunes from my favourite jazz artists. I've tried to go for the less obvious song choices, so no 'Jingle Bells' or 'Silent Night', although I have topped and tailed it with two different approaches to 'White Christmas'. Even if you're not that much into jazz then do give it a try as you'll probably find a few tracks that will appeal, and you never know, it might turn you on to a new genre of music that you hadn't appreciated before. The artists that I've chosen are among my all-time favourite jazz musicians, and although I'd loved to have included something by Thelonious Monk, he never recorded a Christmas tune, although he did write a couple, so Benny Green's version of his 'Christmas Wonderland' is a fine replacement.

Merry Christmas  

Track listing

01 White Christmas - Charlie Parker Quintet 
02 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Duke Pearson
03 The Christmas Song - Dexter Gordon Quartet
04 Winter Wonderland - Bobby Timmons
05 We Free Kings - Roland Kirk
06 Snowfall - Ahmad Jamal
07 Blue Christmas - Miles Davis
08 Christmas Blues - Ramsey Lewis Trio
09 Christmas Wonderland (Monk) - Benny Green
10 Winter Wonderland - Chet Baker
11 Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Bill Evans
12 Greensleeves - John Coltrane
13 Skating - Vince Guaraldi
14 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Jimmy Smith
15 White Christmas - Kenny Burrell

Curved Air - Thinking On The Floor (1976)

In 1969 violinist Darryl Way and keyboardists Francis Monkman formed Sisyphus, along with pianist Nick Simon, bassist Rob Martin and drummer Florian Pilkington-Miksa, and one early gig was to provide accompaniment for Galt McDermott's new play, 'Who The Murderer Was', at the Mercury Theatre in Notting Hill Gate. Mark Hanau, an aspiring band manager at the time, saw the show and decided he wanted to manage the group, installing aspiring folk singer Sonja Kristina as the vocalist, and changing their name to Curved Air, in a tribute to Terry Riley's classic album 'A Rainbow In Curved Air'. After a series of intensive rehearsals in Martin's family home in Gloucestershire, the band supported Black Sabbath on a well-received U.K. tour, and in 1970 they signed with Warner Bros., becoming the first British band on the company's roster. Their debut album 'Air Conditioning' was released in November, and was notable for being issued as the first commercially available picture disc LP in the UK, reaching number 8 in the UK Albums Chart. In 1971 the band released 'Back Street Luv' as a single, reaching number 4 in the UK Singles Chart, and becoming their most successful single. The imaginatively title 'The Second Album' peaked at number 11, but the non-album single 'Sarah's Concern' slipped by unnoticed. By the time of their third album 'Phantasmagoria' serious musical differences within the band had emerged, particularly between Way and Monkman, to the extent that the music on 'The Second Album' and 'Phantasmagoria' was split between Way on side A and Monkman on side B. Following the release of 'Phantasmagoria' the band split up, with Way forming Darryl Way's Wolf, Pilkington-Miksa joining Kiki Dee's band, and Monkman moving into session work, and later joining the supergroup Sky. Having retained a good working relationship, Sonja Kristina and Mike Wedgwood formed a new band with Kirby Gregory on electric guitar, Eddie Jobson on keyboards and violin, and Jim Russell on drums, and the second incarnation of Curved Air was born. While the band had much less friction than before, their sole album, 1973's 'Air Cut', failed to chart, and not long after its release Jobson was asked to replace Brian Eno in Roxy Music, and both Gregory and Russell also left to form Stretch, while Sonja Kristina recorded a demo tape for Warner Brothers, who ungratefully decided to terminate her contract. 

In 1974 Chrysalis sued the band, accusing them of breaking their contact, and that same year they had a huge unpaid VAT bill to pay, and so Kristina, Way, Monkman, and Pilkington-Miksa reunited for a three-week tour of the UK, adding Phil Kohn to provide bass duties, and the tour raised enough money to pay off the tax bill.  With their debts paid, Monkman and Pilkington-Miksa had no more reason to remain in the band, and so Curved Air broke up for the third time in as many years. However, Darryl Way wanted to continue Curved Air with Sonja Kristina, and so brought in two members of his previous band, guitarist Mick Jacques and drummer Stewart Copeland, and the new band employed the same classical and folk influences as the original incarnation, playing now classic Curved Air songs at their shows. Their studio efforts were another story, however, with the recording sessions for 1975's 'Midnight Wire' and 1976's 'Airborne' being expensive and highly stressful for everyone involved, and neither album had any chart success. Citing dissatisfaction with BTM Records' ability to support the band financially, Way left the group, and following one last single, a cover of 'Baby Please Don't Go', they broke up for the last time. Copeland went on to drum for The Police, and after maintaining the close personal relationship with Kristina that they'd formed while bandmates, they were married in 1982. Despite their tumultuous career, Curved Air produced some fantastic music, and 'Vivaldi' will always be one of my favourite progressive rock pieces, so this collection takes in non-album singles and b-sides, a couple of foreign language singles, and some BBC sessions, including an extremely rare John Peel session from 1970.   

Track listing

01 What Happens When You Blow Yourself Up (b-side of 'It Happened Today')
02 It Happened Today (single version 1970)
03 Thinking On The Floor (previously unreleased 1970)
04 Hide And Seek (John Peel session 1970)
05 Vivaldi (John Peel session 1970)
06 Screw (John Peel session 1970)
07 Maria Antoinette (French version 1972)
08 Sarah's Concern (single 1972)
09 Young Mother In Style (BBC session 1971)
10 Melinda (More Or Less) (Italian version 1972)
11 Baby Please Don't Go (single 1976)

Misty In Roots - Salvation (1981)

Misty In Roots began life as a Southall-based British roots reggae band in the early 1970's, with their first album 'Live At The Counter Eurovision' appearing in 1979 and being a record full of Biblical Rastafarian songs. It was championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, helping to bring roots reggae to a white audience, and is regarded as one of the best live reggae albums of all time. At this early stage, the band was a collective with five lead singers and various musicians, though by the time of the second album the band had slimmed down to just three members, and along with Steel Pulse and Aswad, Misty in Roots were one of the most popular English reggae bands of the late 70's. They started out as the backing band for the late Nicky Thomas, who was one of Jamaica's most famous artists, and who had UK chart success with his 'Living In The Love Of The Common People'. By 1978 the band began to develop their own orthodox roots reggae sound, and their powerful lyrics were inspired by spiraling economic decline, a growing awareness of their African culture, and a spiritual awakening, at a time where the political situation in the U.K. was at a breaking point. Unemployment was affecting both black and white youths, and through this depression a new musical alliance was born, with young white youths turning to playing punk music, whilst at the same time identifying strongly with British reggae acts such as Misty In Roots, Steel Pulse and Aswad. Following the critical success of the live album, the band released a string of limited edition singles on their own People Unite label, such as 'Oh Wicked Man', 'See Them Ah Come', and 'Rich Man', often featuring extended takes on the 12" versions. The band’s second album 'Wise And Foolish' was released in 1982 and took on a more mellow, soulful tone, and in their determination to remain independent the band spent the next nine months in Zimbabwe and Zambia, re-discovering their roots. This resulted in their next two albums, 1983's 'Earth' and 1985's 'Musi-O-Tunya', being directly inspired by their experiences in Africa. In 1989 they signed to Kaz Records, and released the 'Forward' album to some success, but despite continuing to tour to appreciative crowds, this was to be their last record. As mentioned earlier, many of the singles they released were limited edition, non-album tracks, but as they were always the equal of anything from their long-players they cannot be ignored, and so I've collected them here, sometimes in extended form, or segued with the dub version, to highlight just why Misty In Roots are considered one of the best UK reggae bands of all time. 

Track listing

01 Six One Penny (single 1978)
02 Oh Wicked Man (single 1978)
03 See Them Ah Come (single 1979)
04 How Long Jah (b-side of 'See Them Ah Come')
05 Rich Man (single 1979, plus dub)
06 Salvation (b-side of 'Rich Man')
07 Zapatta, Viva Zapatta (single 1980, plus b-side)
08 Wandering Wanderer (single 1981)
09 Cry Out For Peace (b-side of 'Wandering Wanderer')

As this post has proved to be quite popular, here's a little bonus

The Police - Shadows In The Rain (1985)

After releasing a string of hugely successful singles and albums throughout the 80's, cracks began to show in The Police during the group's 1983 Shea Stadium concert, where Sting felt performing at the venue was his 'Everest', and he decided to leave the band and pursue a solo career. After the 'Synchronicity' tour ended in March 1984 the band went on hiatus while Sting recorded and toured his 1985 solo debut album, the jazz-influenced 'The Dream Of The Blue Turtles'. Stewart Copeland also had a project that he could turn to, and recorded and filmed 'The Rhythmatist', an album and film which was the result of his pilgrimage to Africa, where he recorded local drums and percussion, with more drums, percussion, other musical instruments and occasional lead vocals added later by Copeland. The previous year Andy Summers had rekindled his partnership with Robert Fripp, and released the second of their collaborative albums 'Bewitched', five of whose tracks were composed by Summers. He also recorded a couple of instrumentals for the 1984 film '2010: The Year We Made Contact', releasing them as a single, with 'To Hal And Back' as the b-side. In June 1986 the Police reconvened to play three concerts for the Amnesty International, and in July of that year they reunited in the studio to record a new album. However, Copeland broke his collarbone in a fall from a horse and was unable to play the drums, so the sessions were abandoned, and with a re-recording of 'Don't Stand So Close To Me' being released in October 1986 as their final single, the band finally called it a day later that year. As all three members of the band were actively recording during 1984 and 1985, we can take a stab at putting together their sixth album by taking tracks from their three solo projects of the time. Obviously Sting's album would sound most like The Police purely due to his vocals on the songs, and while Summers' and Copeland's contributions are mostly instrumentals, that wasn't unheard of on their previous records, and they slot in quite nicely between Sting's songs. I've just made a slight edit to Copeland's 'Serengeti Long Walk' to remove a spoken vocal part which didn't really fit with the rest of the tracks, and the cover is based on a superb painting by Aged Pixel.   

Track listing

01 Shadows In The Rain (Sting)
02 Franco (Copeland)
03 We Work The Black Seam (Sting)
04 Parade (Summers)
05 Another Day (Sting)
06 Gong Rock (Copeland)
07 To Hal And Back (Summers)
08 If You Love Somebody Set Them Free (Sting)
09 Bewitched (Summers)
10 Serengeti Long Walk (Copeland)
11 Fortress Around Your Heart (Sting)

Steve Hackett - ...and on guitar (2020)

Stephen Richard Hackett was born on 12 February 1950 in Pimlico, London, just one day before his future Genesis band-mate Peter Gabriel. He grew up having access to various musical instruments, such as the harmonica and recorder, but he didn't develop an interest in the guitar until the age of 12 when he started playing single notes. By 14, he was learning chords and experimenting with chord progressions, although he never received any formal training. His first professional playing experience came as a member of Canterbury Glass, where he played on 'Prologue' on their album 'Sacred Scenes And Characters', which was recorded in 1968 but didn't receive a release until 2007. He also played with Heel Pier and Sarabande, and all three bands performed rock with progressive elements. He joined Quiet World in 1970, which featured his brother John on flute, and he used his time with the group to gain experience in a recording studio, playing on their only studio album 'The Road'. In December 1970 Hackett placed an advertisement in Melody Maker in his search for a new band, and he received a response from the lead singer of Genesis, Peter Gabriel, as the band had just lost founding guitarist Anthony Phillips and so were seeking a new, permanent replacement. Hackett got the job, and played his first gig with them on 24 January 1971, and it wasn't long before the band were recording their new album 'Nursery Cryme', which was Hackett's first taste of recording with Genesis. He helped shape the group's sound by strongly encouraging them to incorporate a Mellotron into the songs, and his guitar work is prominently featured through solos on 'The Musical Box', 'The Return Of The Giant Hogweed', and 'The Fountain Of Salmacis'. For the next four years Hackett was an integral part of Genesis, but by 1975 he wanted to show what he could do on his own, and recorded his first solo album 'Voyage Of The Acolyte', before resuming work with Genesis and recording his final albums with them, 1976's 'A Trick Of The Tail' and 'Wind And Wuthering'. He had grown increasingly constricted by his lack of freedom and level of input and was insistent that more of his material be included on the albums, but was rebuffed, and so he left the group. His solo career proper commenced with 1978's 'Please Don't Touch!', and he's released over two dozen albums since then. With such a workload, as well as being part of bands Box Of Frogs and GTR, his guest appearances on other artist's records have been quite sparse, perhaps one every couple of years, but when they happened they gave the track that extra bit of magic, and so it's certainly worth seeking them out and collecting the best of them for this double disc set.

Track listing

Disc One
01 Prologue (from 'Sacred Scenes And Characters' by Canterbury Glass 1968)
02 Knights (Reprise) (from 'Two Sides Of Peter Banks' by Peter Banks 1973)
03 The Wind In The Willows (from 'Wind In The Willows' by Eddie Hardin & Zak Starkey 1985)
04 Voo De Coracao (from 'Voo De Coracao' by Ritchie 1983)
05 A Life In Movies (from 'Guitar Speak III' 1991) 
06 Face In The Mirror (from 'Gallery Of Dreams' by Gandalf 1993)
07 All Grown Up (from 'Arkangel' by John Wetton 1998)
08 Singing Deep Mountain (from 'Emergent' by Gordian Knot 2002)
09 Remainder The Black Dog (from 'Grace For Drowning' by Steven Wilson 2011)

Disc Two
01 12 (from '?' by Neal Morse 2006)  
02 Living From The Inside Out (from 'Sitting On The Top Of Time' by Jim McCarty 2009)
03 Moon Song (from 'Dirty & Beautiful Vol. 1' by Gary Husband 2010)   
04 The Parting (from 'The Theory Of Everything' by Ayreon 2013)
05 Old Man Of The Sea (from 'The Ghosts Of Propyat' by Steve Rothery 2014)
06 Man And The Machine (from 'Citizen' by Billy Sherwood 2015) 
07 Covid Nights (from 'Isolation' by The Backstage 2020)
08 What Have You Done (from 'The Bride Said No' by Nad Sylvan 2017)  

Thanks to Stenn for helping put this one together.

Norman Cook - The Finest Ingredients (1997)

It's always amazed me that the seemingly quiet and inoffensive bassist with The Housemartins could reinvent himself to become the 90's dance phenomenon that was Fatboy Slim, but this is exactly what Norman Cook did after he left the Hull popsters and looked for a new direction to pursue in his musical career. It wasn't a sudden change, as he'd been DJing for quite a time while he was still a member of the band, generally taking his record box to parties and taking charge of the decks, but it was when he started to make his own mixes that he began to be taken seriously by the dance scene. His first effort was released in 1986 under the name of DJ Mega-Mix Vol. 1, and I loved it before I even know he was involved, including it on my own compilation of dance tracks taped from the John Peel show, which I called 'House Breaking', and which I've already posted. This was followed by a remix of Eric B & Rakim's 'I Know You Got Soul' with Danny D under the name of Double Trouble, which was the start a long career of releasing records under a bewildering array of pseudonyms. After the success of the Double Trouble remix, Cook released another remix, this time of Frankie Z's 'It Began In Africa', and by 1990 he was part of the loose collective which operated under the name of Beats International, including friends M.C. Wildski and vocalist Lindy Layton, and they hit the charts with their 'Dub Be Good To Me' single. After a couple of albums with the band, he formed Freak Power with horn player Ashley Slater, and charted again with their 'Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out' single, and this was followed by a number of records which were released under a variety of names, such as Pizzaman, The Mighty Dub Katz, Sunny Side Up, Yum Yum Head Food, and The Cheeky Boy. For the Sunny Side up release, Cook took his production of the b-side of 'Passion' by The Pleased Wimmin and retitled it 'Manna' for inclusion on the compilation album from his Southern Fried Records label, which is also where you can find the Yum Yum Head Food track. The one-off Cheeky Boy single samples 'Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)' by the Jacksons with an acapella refrain of 'Hope...cause I've learned to cope', and which I first heard as 'Hope...cause I'm wearing a coat'. (you'll never un-hear that now!). This track was also released as 'Hope Part 3' under yet another pseudonym of Chemistry, as the b-side of the single 'Let Love Rule'. The Fonk Train single contains samples of 'Get On The Funktrain' by Giorgio Moroder, 'Save Me' by Aretha Franklin, and 'Instant Groove' by King Curtis, and was produced by Pizzaman, but by now I think we all know that both artist and producer are in fact Cook. Rather than just upload these tracks as an album, I couldn't resist making my own mega-mix of them, so here is one 77-minute dance spectacular from the erstwhile bass-player of The Housemartins. 

 

Track listing

01 The Finest Ingredients 

includes The Finest Ingredients (as Norman Cook 1986) / I Know You Got Soul (as Double Trouble 1988) / Blame It On The Bassline (with M. C. Wildski 1990) / It Began In Africa (as The Urban Allstars 1988) / Dub Be Good To Me (with Beats International 1990) / Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out (with Freak Power 1993) / Trippin' On Sunshine (as Pizzaman 1993) / Manna (as Sunny Side Up 1995) / It's Just A Groove (as The Mighty Dub Katz 1995) / Bird Of Prey (as Yum Yum Head Food 1995) / Hope Your Body (as Cheeky Boy 1995) / The Fonk Train (as The Feelgood Factor 1996) / Comma (as Son Of Cheeky Boy 1997)