75 FROM ’75
SECOND INSTALMENT
#65—#61
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AC/DC — HIGH VOLTAGE
Acca Dacca’s debut radiates raw swagger and rambunctious energy. Tracks like “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” “Soul Stripper,” and “She’s Got Balls” fuse blues grit with punkish immediacy; it really feels like they’re having a blast. Produced by Harry Vanda and George Young, High Voltage captures the Young brothers’ tight, riff-driven power and Bon Scott’s larrikin charisma, setting the stage for decades of no-nonsense rock.
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PASSPORT — CROSS-COLLATERAL
The European jazz-rock music of Klaus Doldinger’s Passport has strong progressive rock tendencies that make it popular amongst fans of 70s prog. On this, their fifth studio album they really nailed that sound, with the keyboard work of Kristian Schultze on Fender Rhodes and Herr Doldinger on mellotron adding the creative sauce to the pudding. Of course the leader’s tenor sax is prominent too, and the rhythm section is tight and limber. Probably my favourite Passport LP.
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EAGLES — ONE OF THESE NIGHTS
The fourth studio album by the increasingly slick country-rockers yielded a #1 single (the title track) and two other US top ten hits (“Lyin’ Eyes” and “Take it to the limit”). But its enduring charm for this not-much-of-a-fan is Bernie Leadon’s instrumental “Journey of the Sorcerer”. Used—and re-used in a bewildering number of variants—for Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy, Leadon’s extended piece captures both the vastness of adventure and the ever-puzzled human element in a way that exemplifies cosmic-country.
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GILGAMESH — GILGAMESH
There are strong links between Canterbury based Gilgamesh and Hatfield And The North, both playing an intricate yet delicate progressive rock and sharing members. Due to the influence of pianist Alan Gowen, Gilgamesh have a strong jazz (or jazz-rock) component. Gowen is one of my favourite exponents of the electric piano, an instrument whose crystalline sound is not easy to warm up. Gowen succeeds with delightful regularity. Sadly, his recorded legacy is all too small. This album, like its cover, is full of wit and invention.
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WINGS — VENUS AND MARS
Paul McCartney could be forgiven for feeling that he’d done bands. Yet after the success of Band On The Run, he expanded that album’s trio and recorded the genial Venus And Mars. It touches all the McCartney bases: infectious rock anthems (“Rock Show”), music hall pastiche (“You gave me the answer”) a rolling retro-rock groover (“Magneto and Titanium Man”) and a chart-topping hit (“Listen to what the man says”). It’s all very accomplished and hummable. Good stickers and posters, too.
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NEXT: #60 — #51
vinylconnection.com.au 
Nice seeing some albums I’m aware of, including AC/DC’s “High Voltage”, Eagles’ “One of These Nights” and Wings’ “Venus and Mars.” I’ve also listened to some of Passport’s music, including “Homunculus,” the opening track from “Cross-Collateral,” which I featured in a previous Sunday post back in February 2022. Sounds like I should revisit that album! 🙂
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That’s one thing I enjoy with this project, the recognition of the familiar and curiosity about the unknown. Cheers, Christian.
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No one goes on the record for being an Eagles fan, it seems. Surprised to see AC/DC on your list! Kind of a dubious stain on your rug there innit. Never saw that cover; I think ours was different over here maybe? Decades of no-nonsense sounds about right.
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It’s really just the first two I enjoy for their cheeky exuberance. Oh, and Back in Black after Bon.
If you’re *really* curious about the different covers but same title, the answer is here (and probably only interesting to Acca Dacca fans!)
https://www.discrepancy-records.com.au/blog/our-blog/power-load/
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I love the playfulness of Gilgamesh, which stops it from becoming ponderous. There are plenty of inventive juxtapositions of supporting lines against the dominant melodic thrust and these add some tension without becoming discordant. It also allows the baton to pass between the players to develop the melodic theme in a satisfying way. ****
Thanks, Bruce, for refreshing the memory of this oldie.
Kind regards
DD
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Playful is a great word, DD. One you could apply to several of the Canterbury bands (I’m thinking Caravan, for example). Glad you enjoyed the reminder!
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Well, I’ll go on record and admit I’m an Eagles fan, albeit it the kind that doesn’t own any of their albums but enjoys their tunes when encountered. Interesting to see AC/DC referred to as Acca Dacca. Is that akin to McCartney being called Macca? (Speaking of which, Venus and Mars immediately brought to mind a book called Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus). Love the Gilgamesh album art, which appears to be a nod to the board game Chutes and Ladders…?
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Did you know that Snakes and Ladders first appeared in India in the second century CE. The game arrived in the UK in the 1890s. The cover is an amusing take on ‘Life on the road’.
I reckon everyone is a mild Eagles fan, JDB. It’s the nature of their anodyne country-tinged MOR rock, isn’t it? I have more albums than I’d care to reveal. 🤣
Aussies (sic) are suckers for knicknames and diminutives. It’s a national disease.
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Had no idea Snakes and Ladders was a thing 1) in India 2) so long ago! (What’s ‘Life On The Road’…?)
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Life on the road as a struggling rock band in the mid-70s!
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Interesting list, with obscurities (relatively) alongside mega-sellers. Eagles were a band you can’t dis-like, which is the best I can say about them (though my dad, of the Big Band era, loved them). I’ve always had a guilty pleasure with the catchy “Listen What the Man Said.” AC-DC’s first wasn’t released stateside, just a comp of their first two. Shocked to see Gilgamesh! Thought I was the only one! And I have to check out Passport, whom I’ve skirted around too long.
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Just wrote about early AC/DC for the day job.
https://www.discrepancy-records.com.au/blog/our-blog/power-load/
I like the association of the Eagles with the Big Band era. There was always something so smooth about the West Coast balladeers. Perhaps that’s why I enjoy Joe Walsh’s contributions!
Gilgamesh are rather wonderful, aren’t they?
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