Author: Rudy

Milestones: Jobim and Carpenters

January 25 marks the birthday of the legendary Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist Antonio Carlos Jobim. Born in 1927, Jobim was instrumental in bringing Brazilian music and Bossa Nova to the ears of listeners around the world, and penned many tunes that defined the era. Jobim appeared on A&M via Creed Taylor’s CTi label by way of two albums, Wave and Tide, and appeared uncredited on the Brasil ’66 album Equinox.

Carpenters also made the news today in 1975 when their single “Please, Mr. Postman” topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The original version by The Marvelettes was the first #1 single for the fledgling Motown Records label, and this song, along with a handful of others, holds the distinction of reaching #1 performed by two different artists. “Venus” by Shocking Blue hit #1 in 1970, while Bananarama’s version reached the top in 1986. Grand Funk and Little Eva both took the Goffin-King tune “The Loco-Motion” to #1, and another composition of theirs, “Go Away Little Girl,” would reach #1 two times at the hands of Steve Lawrence and Donny Osmond.

Enter our Herb Alpert Signed CD Giveaway!

Two lucky winners will win a copy of the latest Herb Alpert CD, Come Fly With Me, signed personally by Herb Alpert and Lani Hall! To enter the giveaway and read the details, visit our forum. Contest ends on Feb. 21, 2016, so don’t delay!

Click here to jump over to our forum and enter the giveaway.

Today’s Milestones: Styx and Janet Jackson

January 19, 1981: The tenth studio album by Styx, Paradise Theater, is released, and would feature two singles: “The Best of Times” and “Too Much Time on my Hands.” The album was recorded at Pumpkin Studios by its owner, engineer/producer Gary Loizzo (formerly of American Breed) who unfortunately passed away within the past week.

January 19, 1991: Janet Jackson’s single “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” hits #1 on the Billboard chart, the fourth of her singles to do so. Like the others, this one was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Bonus: Herb Alpert makes a guest appearance on trumpet. This appears on the album Rhythm Nation 1814.

Album of the Week: “Hearts of Fortune” by Immaculate Fools

Immaculate Fools did not make much of an impression in the US, but their unique blend of alternative rock, folk and Celtic music made an impression in the UK, landing Hearts of Fortune at #65 on the UK albums chart. They would find even greater success in Germany and Spain, and eventually moved to Spain themselves.

The band consisted of brothers Kevin Weatherill (vocals, guitar, bass, harmonica) and Paul Weatherill (bass, backing vocals, percussion), and brothers Andy Ross (guitar) and Peter Ross (drums). The Ross brothers could boast of the late Ronnie Ross, a popular saxophonist (Matt Bianco, The Beatles “Savoy Truffle,” and others) as their father. The band would become a college radio favorite and remained popular in Spain, and remained together until 1997.

Join our discussion at the forum.

How to shop for vinyl

Back in November, Paragon Sight and Sound (Ann Arbor, MI) hosted Analog Night, which included a visit by Analog Planet/Stereophile vinyl journalist Michael Fremer, who I may have mentioned here in the recent past. Unfortunately I didn’t hear about it in time, but those who attended mentioned that it was an informative get-together.

Apparently Fremer had some time to visit another popular area attraction: Encore Records. Cool Cleveland caught up with him at the store, and he gave a few pointers on how he shops for used records. Turns out it’s nothing really too different than what those of us vinyl addicts do. I do many of the same things myself when I first set foot into an unfamiliar shop, which is similar to how my other vinyl hunting pals approach the task. I’m sure many of my fellow forum members do the same as well. We each have our own ways of doing it, but the basics remain. We scope out the shop to see how deep their selection is, we check titles we are familiar with to gauge prices, and we examine records closely for condition. A store with 40 ratty copies of Eagles Greatest Hits at $10 each is certainly not one I’ll remain at for long!

Here’s a glimpse of Fremer’s visit to Encore:

This is a store you can get lost in for a couple of hours. And I found it amusing that he located one of the bazillion copies of the Miles Davis You’re Under Arrest LPs that most record stores seem to be stuck with.

Pete Jolly’s A&M albums featured on All About Jazz

Pete Jolly’s three A&M albums (Herb Alpert Presents, Give A Damn, and Seasons) are featured in an article this week on All About Jazz. The article also gives a brief overview of the jazz role of A&M, including the CTi connection. Give it a read.

Here is “Windows of the World,” from Jolly’s album debut on A&M.