The Soundtrack of My Youth

Friday, March 31, 2006

Budgie - In for the Kill (1974)



Leo (God bless his soul!) was really hung up on the Welsh metal trio Budgie, and bought all of their early LPs, including this third album. Though I liked their often ripping, raw-edged music, I could never get used to lead singer Burke Shelley's off-tunish banshee voice.

Still, I must confess that the sheer sonic assault of 'In for the Kill', the band's heaviest and most enduring effort, has hardly dulled through the decades.

Argent - Circus (1975)



Argent's 1973 LP 'In Deep' saw much abuse on my turntable as it had three of my all-time favourite songs — 'God Gave Rock and Roll to You' and both parts of 'It's Only Money'. I also couldn't get enough of Rod Argent's Hammond organ work.

Although Moog, Mellotron, Rhodes and acoustic piano take precedence over the Hammond on many of the tracks, 'Circus' marks the band's proggiest and least predictable phase. Loads of jazz-inflected passages and dizzying solos make this the kind of mind-bending album hard-case progheads would dig to death.

Colosseum - Live (1971)



Colosseum was one of the best things to happen to jazz-rock in the '70s. Led by ace drummer Jon Hiseman, it was a band that favoured experimental rock over bland fusion, and attracted some of the best musicians in the UK (guitarist Gary Moore played in a more rock-oriented incarnation called Colosseum II in the late '70s).

This splendid 1971 live album, which is very much in a prog-rock vein and features the big-voiced Chris Farlow, has terrific contributions from Dave Greenslade (keyboards, vibes), Mark Clarke (bass, vocals), Dave "Clem" Clempson (guitar, vocals) and Dick Heckstall-Smith (saxophones).

Miles Davis - In a Silent Way (1969)



I went through quite a few vinyl copies of 'Kind of Blue' and 'In a Silent Way', the two Miles Davis albums that I've always cherished the most. I'd put them on the turntable at least twice a month, which worked out to more than 100 plays over five years — not good for LP life, so you had to alternate among a few copies.

This more or less marks Davis's first foray into fusion. Amazingly, it's also the most lyrical, atmospheric and mind-expanding of his jazz-rock recordings.

Fairport Convention - Unhalfbricking (1969)



Sandy Denny was a goddess to me — any woman who could sing her way into your heart via a shortwave radio had to be! Her song, 'Who Knows Where the Time Goes', featured on this third Fairport Convention album, is one of the finest ballads ever written. And she takes it to veritable musical heaven with her performance, which is nothing short of stunning.

This LP also features guitarist Richard Thompson who does some really tasteful work.

Lindisfarne - Dingly Dell (1972)



I was crazy about British folk (well, all varieties of British rock of the '70s, actually!) and Lindisfarne was right up there, at least for me, with Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Planxty and Steeleye Span.

The songs on this typically tuneful '70s folk-pop showcase are infectiously lilting (how can anything with mandolin embellishments not be lilting?). Listening to music like this always takes me back to those glorious old days of sweet innocence (well, not really!) and cleaner air (couldn't be truer!).

Kevin Coyne - Case History (1972)



Another fabulous figure in British rock whom I discovered through John Peel. Kevin Coyne, who at times recalls the intensity of Van Morrison in his prime, is a man who's had more than his share of torment and hell through the years; one of the strangest things to happen to him was being asked to replace Jim Morrison in the Doors after the singer's demise, which he flat out refused as he scorned commercial success!

A singer-songwriter who was fiercely faithful to his art, Coyne channelled the emotionalism of his struggle with his inner demons into much of his austere blues-inflected acoustic music. This long out-of-print 1972 debut LP on Peel's Dandelion label captures him at his most stark and soulful.

Robin Trower - Live! (1976)



Another guitarist I first heard on John Peel's show. The album being featured was 1976's 'Long Misty Days', and the thick, thundering Hendrixian tone of Trower's Strat thrilled me no end.

This live album demonstrates the kind of energy the guitarist was capable of generating when he was truly in his element. For a guy who doesn't sing — bassist James Dewar handles singing chores here — Trower sure knows how to make a lasting impression.

Stevie Wonder - Innervisions (1973)



I was never really into Stevie Wonder's soppier '80s ballads, but I didn't mind the grittier romantic stuff he turned out in the early '70s.

However, it's his innovative funk and soul that really brought a rush of blood to the head for me, like this amazing set. This is Wonder at his most galvanising, archly using synthesizers and other instruments to create a rich and organic bed of rhythmic and harmonic textures for a rip-roaring ride from start to end.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak (1976)



First heard selections from the album on John Peel's BBC World Service show. Leo, who was always into no-holds-barred hard-rocking stuff, bought the LP, so we shared it. What can I say, other than that it's the best damn studio album Thin Lizzy ever recorded!

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps (1979)



I've always loved 'Harvest' and 'After the Gold Rush', but this is the Neil Young album that really does it for me. It's about rock, it's about crock, it's about the futility of fame, it's about the nihilism of existence. And it rocks like hell!

Pat Metheny - New Chautauqua (1979)



I got into Pat Metheny through some cassettes I nicked from a friend (her name was Ca...), and just couldn't get enough of the first PMG album with Jaco Pastorius, 'Offramp' and 'Travels', the live album.

But this solo 1979 outing, which marked an artistic departure of sorts, is the one I feel has the guitarist's most compelling personal and meditative moments. Here's Metheny with just his guitars (electric 6- and 12-string, an acoustic and a 15-string harp guitar) and a bit of overdubbed electric bass. Sweet, subtle and sublime!

Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like a Wheel (1974)



Just before she became sickly sweet and erratic in her choice of songs, Linda Ronstadt recorded what's possibly her finest and most enduring album, 1974's 'Heart Like a Wheel'.

This is the perfect interpretive singer's showcase, featuring songs that seem tailor-made for Ronstadt's honeyed voice. I had a long love affair with this one... Still an old flame I can never resist.

Beck Bogert Appice - Beck Bogert Appice (1973)



A firm favourite of Leo's and mine for many years; I bought the LP shortly after it was released locally by CBS.

This drastically redefined the rock power trio concept, with Jeff Beck leading ex-Vanila Fudgers, bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, into otherworldly jamming territory. BBA's version of Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition' is so far-out you'd have to keep a grip on yourself to avoid freaking out totally!

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 4 Way Street (1974)



Another treasured LP (a double) in my collection during the '70s. '4 Way Street' is patchy and flawed but remains one of the most absorbing concert recordings of the era. The acoustic sides showcasing the solo work of David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young have their moments, but the electric sessions, with gloriously indulgent guitar solos, get you really stoked.

Rick Wakeman - Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1974)



Ah, this brings backs loads of good memories! We used to gather at my house now and again to blast it on my JVC quadraphonic system (we were already enjoying surround sound way back in the '70s, y'all!).

'Journey' may sound a bit dated and overwrought to some ears now, but it's the quintessential sound of narrative-based '70s symphonic rock.

Deep Purple - Machine Head (1972)



My late hometown buddy Bernard Leo was a big admirer of Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice. He was the only cop I knew who had two drum kits at home (or was it three?). Anyway, while our all-time favourite DP album was 'Made in Japan', we had many memorable blast parties with 'Machine Head'.

The Edgar Winter Group - They Only Come Out at Night (1972)



Disgusting cover, delightful music. Me and my buddies were big fans of the Winter brothers, Edgar and Johnny, in the early '70s, and even bigger fans of guitarist Rick Derringer (we named our headmaster R.D. Naidu after him), who produced and played on this wicked "let the good times roll" outing.

Lots of catchy songs, including 'Alta Mira' and the hits 'Free Ride' and 'Frankenstein'.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd (1973)



I loved the title and LP cover, and never stopped digging the music. Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of the few bands I turned my musically more knowledgeable buddy Elvin onto. This is "blaze till you faze" twin-guitar rock at its finest. While their blues-rock may be less subtle than that of their fellow Southerners the Allmans, LS knew the hybrid well enough to effectively twist and bend it.

Randy Newman - Sail Away (1972)



He may be famous now as the chief tunesmith on many recent hit animated features, but there was a time, especially in the early '70s, when Randy Newman was doing something more thought-provoking than cartoon soundtracks.

This 1972 classic is the best example of the West Coast singer-songwriter at his most acidic and perceptive, brilliantly treating hot-ticket issues like racism, repression and religious bigotry in lilting piano-driven songs with a strong New Orleans flavour. Satire has never sounded so sweet in song!

Pink Floyd - Wish Your Were Here (1975)



I'm probably in the minority, but I believe 'Dark Side of the Moon' is a bit overrated. It never made much of an impression on me the first time I heard it in the '70s (listening to the album, I often ended up scratching my head trying to figure out why it was so rabidly hyped!), and it doesn't impress me now.

I'll take 'Wish You Were Here' over it anytime, though my main reason for liking this space-rock showcase is Richard Wright's stratospheric synth solo on 'Welcome to the Machine'.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Stray - All in Your Mind



My friend Elvin Baptist, who was a year older than me (I was 15 then) and introduced me to loads of '60s and '70s "underground" bands, lent me the eponymous first album by this West London group whose members were barely out of their teens when it was released in 1970. It's "fill it up Joe" British acid rock that's kinda loose and lumbering, but so gloriously full of mood and space, thanks to echo chamber-style production.

The notorious Krays apparently tried to help Stray get their big break in their later years by twisting an arm here and breaking a leg there, but it didn't do diddly!

This 1997 two-pack offers their punky debut ('Stray', 1970) and third album ('Saturday Morning Pictures', 1971), plus the bonus track, 'Mama's Coming Home'. You'll find quite distinct echoes of Free and Black Sabbath in the music, but who was stealing from whom? Before you form your own conclusion, look at the release dates of these albums again!

Yes - Close to the Edge (1972)



My favourite Yes album. First heard it at the house of a Royal Australian Air Force serviceman named Kevin O'Loughlin (not sure if I spelled the name right) who was possibly the coolest deejay on Radio RAAF Butterworth (he used to play lots of blues and prog-rock stuff on his Friday night show and invited me over to the radio station when I wrote him a fan letter). Bought my copy of the LP the moment I had saved enough from school pocket money.

Has Rick Wakeman and Bill Bruford on it. End of story!

Little Feat - Sailin' Shoes (1972)



After hearing Linda Ronstadt's aching rendition of Lowell George's 'Willin'' on her bewitching 'Heart Like a Wheel' album (my copy of the LP mysteriously disappeared many moons ago!), I couldn't wait to listen to the original. However, when I finally heard it on this set, I was kinda disappointed.

While I couldn't really warm up to Little Feat's version of the song, I was absolutely bowled over by all the other tracks. This is the quintessential Southern California rock sound of the early '70s; lean, mean, supple and spry, it just makes you want to jump for joy. And Lowell George was one of the finest slide players to ever walk on Earth!

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

The Blue Nile - A Walk Across the Rooftoops (1984)



I was already a cynical office drone when I first heard this around 1985, but of its time as it was in terms of production values, there was something about 'A Walk Across the Rooftops' that evoked the delicious melancholia of '70s mind pop.

Purists might pooh-pooh at the electro-pop arrangements and the group's obsession with romantic fatalism, but they can't deny the moody majesty of the melodies and the languid charm of Paul Buchanan's emotive singing.

Supertramp - Breakfast in America (1979)



Couldn't really get into it initially as it sounded a bit too "poppy" compared with their earlier works. But it didn't take long for the songs to grow on me.

Interesting bit of info about the album from Wikipedia: 'The album was recorded in 1978 at The Village Recorders. Tensions between Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies started to come to the fore on this album. Rick didn't like the song Breakfast in America and he didn't want the album titled Breakfast in America and originally opted for either Working Title or Hello Stranger.

'The album's front cover was designed by the late Mike Doud and depicted Kate Murtagh as a Statue of Libery figure holding a glass of orange juice instead of a torch and the background featured a city made from cornflake box, ashtray, cutlery (for the wharfs), eggboxes, vinegar, ketchup and mustard bottles, all spraypainted white. The twin World Trade Center towers appear and the plate of breakfast represents Battery Park where the Statten Island Ferry leaves from.'

Be-Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish (1976)



Another magical find at my regular record shop in Penang during the '70s. I used to listen to this as often as I could in my teenage years. It features some of the smartest British art-rock music of the era. The songs are catchy and witty, structurally and melodically sophisticated, and full of infectious drive.

Bill Nelson became one of my guitar gods after I heard his blazing fuzz-fed solo on 'Crying to the Sky'.

Tim Buckley - Blue Afternoon (1970)



There were some names that just had a magical hold on me when I was a teenager. Like Jackson Browne, Kevin Coyne, Peter Hammill, Kevin Ayers, Nick Drake, Roy Harper, Sandy Denny, John Martyn, David Bedford, Pete Sinfield, Roger Dean... and Tim Buckley.

I never really got to hear much of Buckley's music until later, but his early '70s albums, like 'Blue Afternoon' which radiates a stark, stunning dark beauty, never cease to stir the soul. This is mind-and-heart music that has the kind of a spooky, haunting quality which can transform your vision of life.

Keith Jarrett - The Koln Concert (1975)



Amazing how much expressive energy and spiritual joy a man with a gift for creating a majestic sound stream on the piano can communicate in one evening!

This was the first ECM album I bought, and being a double LP, and a European import at that, it cost a bundle (when you're still at school and living off your parents, anything costs a bundle!). The white cover necessitated the use of plastic wrapping, but I loved the pristine simplicity of the artwork as much I dug the seamless spontaneity of the sometimes deceptively spare but often sparkling and inspiring music.

Jarrett may have an annoying tendency to occasionally hum along while he's playing, but hardly a flaw is noticeable in his performance here. Just brilliant!

Monday, March 27, 2006

King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)





I saw this on the wall of my favourite record shop and was bedazed by the cover painting by artist/computer programmer Barry Godber who died in February 1970, shortly after the album's release. I had to have it, no matter what! (If you think the artwork looks disgustingly in-your-face on CD, wait till you see the LP!)

Anyway, to me, this is the best KC album ever, no arguments! Like a daring adventurer eager for new exploits, Robert Fripp leads the then-one-year-old band — Greg Lake (bass guitar, lead vocals), Ian McDonald (reeds, woodwind, vibes, keyboards, mellotron, vocals), Michael Giles (drums, percussion, vocals), Peter Sinfield (words and illumination) — through uncharted territory, both melodically and rhythmically, alternating moments of exhilarating fuzz-fed ferocity with stirring passages of melancholic majesty. This is prog-rock at its most stimulating; invested with as much cerebral energy as it is with visceral force.

Click here!

Tangerine Dream - Ricochet (1975)





The first Tangerine Dream album that I bought and heard also happens to be the only TD album I can listen to from start to end. Recorded live in France and the UK and featuring the classic lineup of Peter Baumann, Chris Franke and Edgar Froese, the two parts of 'Richocet' (one on each side of the LP and lasting more than 17 minutes) constitute space-synth music at its most sublime. This kind of stuff can only be created with massive banks of modular analogue sythesizers and sequencers.

If you prefer TD's symphonic side to their more commercial electro-rock, this is what you should fill your ears with.

Curved Air - Live at the BBC (released in 1995)



The first Curved Air LP I bought was 1975's 'Midnight Wire' which I found in the bargain bin at a shop in Wisma Central (Macalister Road), Penang along with several interesting rock, jazz and classical titles (if you must know, I also bought an RCA recording of Mozart's 'Clarinet Concerto in A major, K.622' featuring Benny Goodman).

I was hooked from the first track, and was particularly intrigued by lead singer Sonja Kristina's dramatic style (so weirdly operatic when you least expected it!) and Darryl Way's violin virtuosity. The album also featured future Police drummer Stewart Copeland who was married to Kristina at one stage.

This collection of live BBC recordings (1970 to 1976) features some of the band's best pieces, including strong performances of 'Midnight Wire' and 'Woman on a One Night Stand' from 'Midnight Wire', my all-time favourite CA album.

Steve Hillage – L (1976)



I first heard tracks from this album on John Peel's BBC World Service show and distinctly remember the revolutionary broadcaster describing Hillage as a "hippie guitarist".

Produced by Todd Rundgren whose band Utopia supports Hillage on most of the tracks, this is acid rock that gets pretty mind-bending on occasion and includes a trippy take of Donovan's 'Hurdy Gurdy Man'.

Roy Harper - Folkjokeopus (1969)



I first read about Roy Harper in NME (70 cents a pop in the '70s), and getting curiouser after listening to Led Zeppelin's 'Hats Off to Roy Harper' from the band's third album, made every effort to get a load of his music. It wasn't easy to come by, but thanks to the late great John Peel, I managed to catch some of his songs on the airwaves and was immediately fascinated by his voice which sounded like a gruffer version of John Lennon's.

Harper's most celebrated gig was as the vocalist for Pink Floyd on 'Have a Cigar' from 'Wish You Were Here', though it's his solo recordings dating back from the '60s that truly represent his artistry and genius as a singer-songwriter. This 1969 recording, featuring a crack band of top British sessionists, is one his finest. It amply displays his gift for verse and melody... BTW, you should check out his song 'Black Cloud of Islam' if you're in the mood for some potent contemporary-folk protest music.

Steely Dan - The Royal Scam (1976)



Any Steely Dan album is worth more than a spin, and 1976's 'The Royal Scam' is remarkable not only because of the strong songs but also for the searing solos by guitarist Larry Carlton, especially on the opener 'Kid Charlemagne'.

There're plenty of smart cosmic moments courtesy of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, and the rock-oriented drive on many of the tunes makes this one of Dan's grittier fuzz-fuelled efforts.

Fotheringay - Fotheringay (1970)



I've absolutely adored Sandy Denny as a singer since I first heard her with Fairport Convention on a BBC World Service broadcast (could be The John Peel Show) in the early '70s. No voice comes close to matching hers in terms of timbral grace, inflectional majesty and interpretive incisiveness.

Here she is, singing her heart out with compelling ardour, on the only studio album recorded by Fotheringay, the folk-rock group she formed with her beau at the time and husband-to-be, Australian guitarist Trevor Lucas, just after leaving Fairport. Magnificently recorded with an emphasis on natural acoustics, it's one of the high achievements of British folk-rock in the '70s.

Robert Fripp - Exposure (1979)



The King Crimson guitarist's first solo album is an unusual affair, in the sense that it's more about straight sonics than meandering "Frippertronics". Fripp actually takes a direct rock approach on the best tunes here, though there's nothing shabby about the quirkier compositions.

Guest vocalists Daryl Hall, Peter Gabriel, Terre Roche and Peter Hammill help to keep things strikingly varied, and while prog-rock fans will be somewhat disappointed by the lack of adventure (what, no KC-style noodling?), the music's mainly melody-driven, and hence, quite accessible.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Trilogy (1972)



I remember the excitement of bringing the LP home after a tiring trip to the island (Penang) and putting it on the turntable. But anticipation soon turned into apprehension as the needle started skipping on the first track. Although the other tracks played through, the disappointment of blowing $14 on a defective vinyl copy kept me awake the whole night.

Of course, the next chance I got, I had the dud swopped for a fresh copy (sealed, no less), and while it didn't get played as much as 'Brain Salad Surgery', this remained a favourite "blast till the neighbours bark" choice for many years.

Soft Machine - Seven (1973)



One of my favourite free jazz-exploring prog-rock bands, Soft Machine made many great albums, and 'Seven', like their most enduring efforts, has loads of stimulating "catch the wave" passages.

With hardly a trace of facile fusion — the exquisitely atmospheric keyboard-bass piece 'Carol Ann', which induced many a contemplative moment in my younger years, is the closest thing to smooth jazz here — this is unadulterated jazz-rock for the head and heart.

Caravan - For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night



Not exactly the band's most accessible album — that distinction belongs to 'Cunning Stunts' (1975) — but this wickedly titled 1972 set has plenty of enticing pastoral prog-rock (the famous Canterbury sound) and silky jazz-inflected passages.

If you like this kind of music, check out their 1972's album 'Waterloo Lily' which, in my estimation, contains their finest compositions.

Donald Fagen - The Nightfly (1982)



I've been a huge Steely Dan fan since the early '70s, wearing out the grooves of such early classics as 'Countdown to Ecstasy' and 'Pretzel Logic' through glorious overplay. So, when Dan's main man Donald Fagen came out with his solo album in the early '80s, I went out and bought a US-pressed copy of the LP... no, make that two!

This is what sophisticated pop should sound like — smart, soulful, slick in just the right way — and more than two decades after its release, it sounds fresher and bouncier than the pulp pop churned out by the super-greedy Big Music Factory (hey, shouldn't they move production to China like everybody else to cut costs or something?).

Joni Mitchell - Hejira (1976)



The finest moment of 'Hejira', one of Joni Mitchell's most enduring '70s recordings, comes via the final track, 'Refuge of the Roads', a song that can induce cosmic bliss when listened to in a state of languid repose.

Mitchell does go to extremes at times with her stream-of-consciousness verbalising, but there's poise and grace in her delivery, and passion and power in the often spare and elegant jazz-tinged music. The late great Jaco Pastorius does some of his most lyrical, tasteful and surprisingly restrained fretless bass playing here.

Allman Brothers Band - Fillmore Concerts (1971)



The greatest live rock album of all time? Possibly, though some would argue that the Allman Brothers Band's 'At Fillmore East' is a bit overpraised. Anyway, this is blues-rock (or Southern rock, if you're a stickler for regional pigeonholing) at its finest, played with a infectious blistering energy that's sure to leave you dazed and drained but totally delirious. This expanded CD reissue, retitled 'The Fillmore Concerts', isn't as tightly focused as the original double-LP version (my copy's been nicked by my vinyl-junkie buddy CMK), but you're getting it free so don't complain!

Shakti - A Handful of Beauty (1977)





I got my first taste of Shakti, John McLaughlin's late '70s acoustic Indo-fusion outfit featuring L. Shankar (violin), Zakir Hussain (tabla) and T.H. Vinayakram (ghatam, mridangam), via their first album 'Shakti with John McLaughlin' which was recorded live.

While 'Handful of Beauty', the followup, is less organic-sounding than the debut, it still has plenty of fiery and inspired call-and-response displays by McLaughlin and Shankar.

Nick Drake - Pink Moon (1972)





The first time I heard it, I was 15 and full of angst and existential dread. Although the final album by the tormented English musical genius who would not live beyond the age of 26 was unrelentingly gloom-ridden, it was just the sort of music I needed for wallowing alone in strangely sweet cosmic misery.

I still have the Island LP — a '70s British pressing I bought at a Penang shop called Rockxy (sic) Music (Wisma Central, Macalister Road) run by a cool Chinese hippie dude with an encyclopaedic knowledge of rock — though it's the CD from the 'Fruit Tree' box set that gets played most of the time.

Clueless "cooligans" who might have discovered Nick Drake via the fatuous VW ad that cheapened his art are probably too dense to get any of it!

Starcastle - Starcastle (1976)





I first heard selections from Starcastle's debut album, including the entrancing 'Lady Of The Lake', on a shortwave VOA broadcast in the late '70s. The band's smoother-than-Yes sound — grand vocal harmonies, flavorsome Moog runs, skirling, sweetly sustained guitar solos — intrigued me, but I never really got around to listening to the album in its entirety. Thanks to some free-giving soul, I can finally enjoy this undervalued prog-rock showcase in full.