Roy Orbison:

Mystery Girl:(1989)

There has never been a singer like Roy Orbison. Never! Now, sure his earlier hits; Pretty Woman, Cryin' etc, are amazing, but this is a great later day album. And, a great album to go out on, as this was Orbison's last. I don't even want to write much about this record, I just want to listen to it. From the exquisite title track, penned by Bono, to one of my personal favorites, The Only One, written by Orbison and Mike Campbell, this album is a gem.

  

Okkervil River:

I Am Very Far:(2011)

The Silver Gymnasium:(2013)

The first time I recall hearing Okkervil River a friend of a friend said, I think you'll really like this band, and played me something off of The Stage Names, I think. Now, I've mentioned before in this blog, that the absolute worst way to introduce any music to me is by saying something to that effect. My brain, for whatever reason, just starts sticking its fingers in its ears and humming really loudly like, heck no. I'm just weird that way. Needless to say, I didn't care for this band upon that listen. Flash forward a few years, and I'm helping my wife research a project for a dialect class. We were finding songs with city names, and trying to analyze how people from different parts of the country sang those cities as a means for mapping dialect, or something like that. Anyway, the song Kansas City from the Okkervil River album, Don't Fall In Love With Everyone You See was one we ended up using, and I dug that song. Shortly there after, Silver Gymnasium came out, and I fell in love with that album. Which then led me back to I Am Very Far. There's my story of how I came to dig some Okkervil River stuff.

Ohio Players:

Honey:(1975)

This album might be one of the peaks of 70's R&B sexploitation, and with the exception of maybe the Beatles legend that Paul was dead, it carries one of the best urban legends. You know, the one where the model from the album cover was injured when the honey adhered to her skin, and caused some painful wounds, then when she came to the recording studio during the recording of Love Rollercoaster seeking money for damages the band stabbed her death, and that's how they got that blood curdling scream you hear in the background. Ah, Rock'n'Roll myth.  

The O'Jays:

Ship Ahoy:(1973)

Message in The Music:(1976)

Ah, the Philadelphia Sound. The more cosmopolitan brethren of the Motown and STAX sound. And no group exemplified this sound more than the O'Jays. Man, Gamble and Huff had a great thing going, music with killer grooves, and vocalists like the O'Jays to carry songs with serious social and political messages. Obviously, as a kid I heard O'Jays tracks on the radio, but I think I first became aware of who they were when they appeared on the Bob Dylan 30th anniversary tribute concert performing a show stopping rendition of Emotionally Yours. Then it was, "Oh, these are the guys who sang For The Love of Money. I get it now." 

  

Laura Nyro:

The First Songs...:(1969)

Nyro's first album was More Than A New Discovery (1967), this album is the 1969 reissue. As a kid I heard Wedding Bell Blues on the radio, catchy tune. I wondered who Bill was, and did he mind being called out on a popular song on the radio... This album also contains the song, And When I Die, but I preferred the Blood Sweat and Tears cover. Nyro was ahead of the game as a performing singer/songwriter, and a woman in the business in the 1960s. I was watching a documentary on Frank Zappa's label, Straight Records, and it was talking about the ill-fated attempt at Zappa producing Nyro. Turns out, he was a fan. But through over commitment, and general craziness, Nyro was left to flounder in the studio waiting on Zappa. Eventually another producer was brought in to finish the sessions. Nyro has such a strong esthetic, I can imagine she Zappa butting heads.

Gary Numan:

The Pleasure Principle:(1979)

I was not raised with much exposure to electronic music. Sure I heard the odd Bowie tune with Brian Eno's hand on it. Or a Talking Heads song, again, with Brian Eno's hand on it. But, I just didn't hear that much synth driven stuff. So as I started getting into music at thirteen, and started rummaging through thrift stores and garage sales for records, I picked up things I had no idea about. It was through these avenues that I discovered certain type of music. Electronic music being one of those. And it happened in a week's time. One day I came across a pair of Kraftwerk albums in the twenty-five cent bin, I'd heard of them, so I took these records home. Four days later I came across The Pleasure Principle. I seemed to vaguely remember the song, Cars. I picked it up out of the twenty-five cent bin, and took it home. To my surprise, I really dug all three of these records. In particular, the human element of Gary Numan's work. It was darker, but more human. Obviously, as I later learned, this was a hugely influential album. Go back, and listen to it again today, I'm sure you can pick out several groups that came after the 1979 release of this album that drew influence.

Don Nix:

Hobos, Heroes and Street Corner Clowns:(1973)

Don, who? Don't know the name? You're probably not alone, but you probably DO know his work. Don Nix started out playing sax in the Mar-Keys, who had early hits for Stax records. He then transitioned into production/writing/arranging work for Stax, working with artists like The Staple Singers and Freddie King. Outside the company he worked with Leon Russell, and George Harrison. Here on this '73 release are the gentle sounds of a seventies singer/songwriter album tempered with the Southern flavor Nix had helped cultivate throughout his career.