Author Archives: Vinyl Connection
ALBUM COVER SPECIAL | ABACAB
The 1981 Genesis album abacab was released with four variants of the same basic cover design. GYMC – Grey/Yellow/Magenta/Cyan Cover CORG – Cyan/Orange/Red/Green Cover YRGG – Yellow/Red/Grey/Green Cover RBYG – Red/Blue/Yellow/Grey Cover Original design by Bill Smith. Feature image: 7″ single of “abacab”. abacab was a #1 album in the UK and France, top ten […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | AT THE MOVIES
There are four movie soundtrack LPs from 1974 in the Vinyl Connection collection. None are essential but each is interesting in its own way. * HARRY NILSSON — SON OF DRACULA The movie poster’s slug line was “The First Rock-and-Roll Dracula movie” and it teamed Harry Nilsson with mate Ringo Starr as a totally believable […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | #44 — #41
#44 QUEEN SHEER — HEART ATTACK If Queen II announced their arrival as an exciting rock band, Sheer Heart Attack was the band’s breakthrough. The irresistible single “Killer Queen” introduced the world to the theatrical camp of Freddie Mercury and propelled them up to #2 in the UK charts. There are still little progressive flourishes […]
ALBUM COVERS | IN THESE SHOES?
One of the prompts during a recent Instagram vinyl ‘challenge’ was In these shoes?, the title of an excellent Kirsty MacColl song. It was a difficult choice for Vinyl Connection, selecting just one cover. So I thought, why not share the other contenders? Please, walk 1.6km in my shoes. * And finally, three that have […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | #49 — #45
#49 JETHRO TULL — WARCHILD After Thick As A Brick and A Passion Play, some Jethro Tull fans were no doubt relieved that the band had moved back to standard song lengths and un-concept albums. Some of the songs do seem a little pedestrian, but the hits are irrefutable evidence that Ian Anderson and the […]
ALBUM COVERS | AMBIENT 1—4
Influenced by minimalist composition and his own explorations of less-is-more on 1975’s Discreet Music, Eno produced the hypnotic and hugely influential Ambient 1: Music For Airports in 1978. It was the beginning of a series of four ‘ambient’ albums linked visually by their cover art, and musically by the reflective, spacious atmospheres evoked by their […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | #54 — #50
#54 GRATEFUL DEAD — FROM THE MARS HOTEL Given their penchant for live albums, it was a forgivable error to assume From The Mars Hotel was another; perhaps a one night stand at a seedy spaced-themed Las Vegas bar? But no, this is a studio album. Although the single “U.S. Blues” failed to chart, From […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | FIVE MORE LIVE
Five more 1974 live albums, including two appearances by a British organist and two with ‘oblivion’ in the titles. What are the chances? * VELVET UNDERGROUND — 1969 Released in September 1974 when Lou Reed was a star (if that’s the right word), this rambling double-LP live album is really rather a delight for Velvet […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | #59 — #55
#59 DAN FOGELBERG — SOUVENIRS With Joe Walsh on guitars, Don Henley and Glen Frey guesting, plus backing vocals from Graham Nash, you could be forgiven for thinking Dan Fogelberg was a cut-price one-man Eagles. Except Souvenirs is no mark-down album, offering great songs in a melodic country-rock vein. This is an LP I taped […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | FIVE LIVE
Although several ‘in concert’ recordings have made it into the 74 FROM ’74 Countdown, there are lots that didn’t. Here are a handful. * BIRTHCONTROL — LIVE Almost a quintessential 70s prog rock band, Birthcontrol released this live double album to please their many German fans. It is energetic, with familiar songs getting extended treatments […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | #64 — #60
#64 STEVIE WONDER — FULFILLINGNESS’ FIRST FINALE Compared to the sharp-edged focus of Innervisions, FFF is a mellow affair. Working pretty much on his own, Wonder delivers a selection of fine songs which are broadly about relationships and the journey of connection. “Boogie on reggae woman” and “You ain’t done nothin’” are obvious standouts; surely […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | #69 — #65
#69 LOU REED — SALLY CAN’T DANCE Eternally suspicious of, well, everything actually, Lou Reed was not exactly overjoyed by the unexpected success of Sally Can’t Dance. His acidic comment ran thusly: “It seems like the less I’m involved with a record, the bigger a hit it becomes. If I weren’t on the record at […]
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