In addition to wanting to take a break from this site I also have other projects I’d like to work on. Projects that I put on hold when I started this site just about a year ago. Finally I can get back to those and I’m excited to bring those to fruition. So thanks for reading the site and I’ll catch you on the flip-side.

So what was so special about The Sugarhill Gang? What did they do that was so groundbreaking? They released a single in 1979 titled “Rappers Delight” and that’s about it. That single was the catalyst for the whole rap movement that followed in the eighties. Rappers Delight was the first rap single to be on the top forty in the US, it also charted in the UK, Canada and pretty much all over the western world. This seems like it was the beginning of it all but prior to Rappers Delight’s success rap existed. Rapping was taking place at various social events through out the seventies but what Sugarhill did was take the essence of what was primarily a live experience, polish it up and make it presentable to the masses.

The Sugarhill Gang was made up of three members, Wonder Mike, Master Gee and Big Bank Hank. Oddly enough they weren’t from the Bronx or Queens as one might think, they were from Englewood New Jersey, of all places. They were assembled by a producer that heard them rap in front of a crowd at a local funk concert. As stated earlier rap wasn’t taken too seriously at the time and the producer signed them up with the idea that he would be entertaining a short term musical fad. What happened when the single was released must have been a huge surprise because the song skyrocketed up the charts, especially for a “fad” song. There wasn’t even a single version of the song for sale in the US, if there was I’m sure sales would have been much better. Unfortunately for Sugarhill though the success didn’t last and they had to hand over the torch to the up and comers of the day like Run DMC and Grandmaster Flash. Sugarhill released a couple albums and a few more singles post Rapper’s Delight but nothing to much fanfare. They broke up in 1986. They’ve reunited various times through the years but nothing to make of it. Of their four album offering their first two are still pretty good.

1) Sugarhill Gang [1980]
2) 8th Wonder [1982]
3) Ain’t Nothin’ But A Party [1998]
4) Jump on It! [1999]

For anyone that isn’t familiar with vinyl records I’ll fill you in. There is a huge variety to vinyl and it can be confusing at times. They come in three primary speeds, 33, 45 and 78 rpm. This RPM speed relates to how many revolutions the turn table spins the record per minute. 33 and 45 are the more common speeds and care needs to be taken when purchasing a turntable if you want one that will play 78′s. In addition to the speed differences there are also size differences. In theory records can come in any size or shape as long as they fit on the turn table and are light enough to be spun, they’ll play. I’ve seen square records and even goofy shapes like rocket ships but the most common shape is a circle with varying widths, 7″, 10″ and 12″. They can also come in a limitless array of colors from solids to marbling effects to even having full color graphics. All of this is possible because vinyl records are made of a lump of vinyl, like a big ball and they have the sound information pressed onto them. It’s not a sterile high precision process like with compact discs, seeing vinyl records being made looks like much more of an artisan process. As you can imagine with all of these color and size options an artist can really personalize their release. And with all of this personalization comes collect-ability, something that is virtually non-existent with the current generation of media.

One of the biggest advantages of vinyl over the other popular medias of today is it’s low cost. Vinyl records are cheap to produce which makes them cheap to purchase as well. This low price point means that you’ll find vinyl records to be very popular among independent labels in addition to self produced albums, areas of the music industry where maintaining a low cost-to-market is a major concern. When I was a kid and I was really into punk rock music that was released on independent labels. As a result I have a big box of records that isn’t going anywhere simply because most of that music was never released on any other media. Many are prints of 1000 on small labels that only lasted a short while, the masters are long gone and all that’s left is the vinyl. This is still a common practice and small labels are still releasing vinyl today. Sure these same labels could just make home brewed cds and send them out but a home brewed cd doesn’t compare to a “real” vinyl record with a printed label and liner. The legitimacy that comes along with a vinyl record is a validation to a record label, no matter how small. In terms of value to the buyer I’d much rather have the vinyl then a half assed cdr with a hand written label. Heck, I can make my own cdr using the vinyl as a master whenever I like and this brings us to recording quality.

The validity of an audio format is it’s ability to replicate a given source. The accuracy of which a format can replicate a source or master is the meat and potatoes of the recording world. Through the years other elements have come to the forefront, durability, convenience, portability and cost. Vinyl records aren’t durable in the slightest, you have to watch what temperature they are stored it, they won’t survive a drop very well if at all and they scratch very easily. They aren’t the most convenient medium either, they are big and bulky and anyone with a large collection of them practicably has to have a room dedicated to storage. Portability is nonexistent with vinyl records, it’s comical to think of what a portable record player would look like. And cost? While vinyl records are cheap to make and buy a “quality” record player will set you back quite a bit more then a quality compact disc player. So while the media is cheap the equipment isn’t in the slightest. That leads us to the attribute I mentioned first, sound quality, the most important feature of a recording and this is where vinyl excels.

The inherent problem with digital music is storage size. It is a constant conflict between audio quality and how much space it takes up on the media, weather that be hard drive space or space on your ipod. The only way to make a bit of audio smaller is to truncate a part of it. This truncation is part of the process in creating compact discs and even more so in creating the various computer oriented audio files. Vinyl records do not suffer from this limitation. Vinyl based records are analogue in nature and contain a much larger sound wave then the digital formats which enable them to reproduce the most accurate sound playback of all consumer based media. There are drawbacks though because of the analogue nature of records they are prone to containing a high level of noise on playback. This noise is what has tainted the consumer’s view of vinyl as a whole and made them think vinyl records sound turdy. However on a high end sound system vinyl can be played back without noise and it’s full fidelity can be truly heard. So indeed vinyl is a paradox of being the cheapest medium but requiring some of the most expensive equipment to be fully enjoyed.

I’m not saying we should start a vinyl revival or anything. They are inconvenient as hell an to be honest I don’t break out my record player very often but then again maybe if I had one of those expensive setups I’d play them more. What I am saying is that vinyl does have a place, cassettes and 8 tracks are dead for real but vinyl continues on for some valid reasons. So don’t write off vinyl records. They are a fun way to listen to music and can be a nice departure from the demands of immediate satisfaction placed on mp3′s and compact discs. If you want to switch to the next song on a record you actually have to get up off your ass and move the needle. How’s that for analogue?

Raymond handpicked some of the best jazz musicians of the day to be in his band, regardless of race. Raymond had a completely different take on jazz then many of his predecessors. An element which was a major part of many jazz performance back then and even today, improvisation, was discouraged by Raymond. He allowed people to improvise during song writing sessions but once the song was finalized improvisation was off the table. Also unlike most big name headliners Raymond took the back seat when it came to solos and preferred to back his fellow members on piano, humbly stepping aside where he thought his abilities were bested by his colleges. A final element that really set Raymond Scott’s music apart from the rest is his use of themes, in some cases very descriptive themes. Many of Raymond’s songs have detailed titles like “New Year’s Eve in a Haunted House” or “Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals” these titles describe the scene you can expect to imagine while listening to the songs. A very interesting concept for it’s time. Most of Raymond’s music is purely instrumental so these scenes aren’t portrayed with lyrics but through very well thought out deliberate instrumentation. I happen to love Raymond’s take on jazz. It’s a departure from much of the other jazz that’s out there and quite refreshing.

In addition to his jazz playing Raymond Scott was also very active in the audio engineering field. After some years of playing in his band he eventually stepped off the stage completely and just wrote music for the band and thought of new ways to perfect it’s recordings. In time this love of audio engineering turned Raymond into a instrument inventor, primarily of electronic instruments. He was the forerunner of electronic instrument design and would mentor many of the big names we hear today in that field particularly Bob Moog but many others. Bob Moog who would himself go on to become a electronic instrument inventor perfecting on some of Raymond’s work and also pushing the industry in new directions. One particular instrument that Raymond worked on for his entire career, lifetime really, was called the Electronium. The idea was a instrument that could play music on the fly and completely at random. Kind of like a player piano that could even choose it’s own style, not bound to a single instrument sound or to a prescribed melody. A really unique idea, especially since he started work on the Electronium in the 50′s.

I’ve saved one of the more interesting things about Raymond Scott for last. You may not know this but chances are you are very familiar with many of his songs. In 1943 Warner Brothers purchased the rights to publish Raymond’s music. Anyone familiar with cartoons also knows that in 1943 Warner Brothers also owned and created Loony Tunes and Merrie Melodies, perhaps some of the most iconic cartoons ever created. When Warner bought the rights to publish Raymond’s music that meant that the creators of our beloved cartoons attained full access to Raymond’s catalog. Raymond’s thematic swing jazz fit in with the cartoons seamlessly and was used to score hundreds of WB’s cartoon shorts. Ironically through Raymond Scott’s career he didn’t write a single tune with the intention of being used by Warner they were all picked up after the fact. Pretty neat stuff.

Below is not a full discography, Raymond Scott’s music has been released in various forms over the years and becuase of the randomness of his releases I’m only going to list the albums that you have a chance of finding. I have “Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights” and it’s great…

1) This Time With Strings [1957]
2) The Secret 7: The Unexpected [1960]
3) Soothing Sounds for Baby Vols. 1-3 [1963]
4) The Raymond Scott Project: Vol. 1: Powerhouse [1991]
5) Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights [1992]
6) Manhattan Research Inc. [2000]
7) Microphone Music [2002]
8) Ectoplasm [2008]

Pat Benatar was born in Brooklyn New York in 1953. At the age of three she moved to Lindenhurst, New York where she would remain until college. Patti showed an early interest in music and her parents encouraged her to pursue vocals, particularly classical vocals. She was raised in a strict household where rock music was not allowed however her parents eagerly encouraged her to be active in many other types of music, symphonies, opera and theater especially, pretty much anything but rock. Anyone with an once of psychology knows what happened next as kids tend to gravitate towards the forbidden fruit. Patti would listen to rock wherever she could, at friends’ houses and even by sneaking some listening at home on her portable radio. Despite Patti’s rock interests though she stayed the course with the classic track for most of her teenage years. She did so well in fact that she was accepted into Juilliard, a prominent North Eastern musical school. This is where Patti’s story get’s tricky. She rejected Juilliard in favor of pursuing a rather hum drum career in health education at the state college. I bet there were much heated debates over that one at the Benatar household but Patti just wasn’t interested in spending her life in the classical realm. Things didn’t work out in the State school and Patti dropped out to marry her high school sweetheart. They moved to Virginia where Patti became a bank teller. She couldn’t resist the call of the lime light though and after as short while to became a singing waitress at a 50′s style restaurant. Things snowballed from one job to another and before she knew it she was living back in NYC and singing in night clubs there, this led to her being signed to a label and within the release of a couple albums her climb to fame was complete.

After learning about Pat Benatar’s background and observing her style overall it’s clear what region she is from. Having grown up in the shadow of NYC myself I notice certain people seem to echo that region more then others and she is a clear cut example. Emphasized especially because of her rock vocals. Her vocals are powerful, she doesn’t hold back. Her songs tend to be for the women scorned songs about heartbreak and picking up the pieces after an relationship has gone awry. Don’t get me wrong, there are some genuine love songs in there too but what female pop artist doesn’t have those? Looking over her discography I’d suggest starting with her 1980 release, “Crimes of Passion”. It was her breakthrough album and definitely one of her best. Of course you could also just get a greatest hits type-deal and take it from there.

1) In the Heat of the Night [1979]
2) Crimes of Passion [1980]
3) Precious Time [1981]
4) Get Nervous [1982]
5) Live from Earth [1983]
6) Tropico [1984]
7) Seven the Hard Way [1985]
8) Wide Awake in Dreamland [1988]
9) True Love [1991]
10) Gravity’s Rainbow [1993]
11) Innamorata [1997]
12) Go [2003]

CCR was a four piece, John Fogerty on vocals, Tom Fogerty on guitar, Stu Cook on bass and Doug Clifford on the drums. Despite John and Tom being brothers the band was originally formed around John, Stu and Doug. Tom, John’s older brother, was a vocalist or performed with various acts and was even backed by his little brother’s band from time to time. This early version of CCR was called The Blue Velvets but it wouldn’t last long. Shortly after they were signed to Fantasy and released their first album Tom joined up. Despite Tom’s vocal experience he took the role of guitarist admittingly stepping aside because he felt his brother had the better voice. This lineup would remain unchanged until five years later when inter-band fighting would force Tom out. The band would live on as a three piece for a short while before imploding on itself and disappearing forever. Tom died in the early nineties but you still hear of the other members from time to time. Mostly little side projects, nothing really of note.

I remembered back when I was really young there was a toy called the Pocket Rocker. I never owned a Pocket Rocker but it was some kind of music player for children that had it’s own proprietary tapes. The commercial was loop on television ad infinitum. It was just some piece of garbage marketed to kids, nothing of note, but the commercial itself had a version of a CCR song in it, the song was “Down on the Corner” and the lyrics went “Down on the corner out in the street Pocket Rockers are playing feel the music feel the beat”. It’s been probably 25 years since I’ve heard that song but damned if doesn’t get in my head every time I hear CCR. I don’t know what it is, it’s like musical cocaine.

I’m not terribly qualified to discuss Creedence Clearwater Revival’s discography but in reading about their releases I think it’s safe to say that any of their first four releases are good places to start. I’d probably pickup their second one “Bayou County” first. I think at the time of their second release they were just hitting their stride in terms of excellent song writing.

1) Creedence Clearwater Revival [1968]
2) Bayou Country [1969]
3) Green River [1969]
4) Willy and the Poor Boys [1969]
5) Cosmo’s Factory [1970]
6) Pendulum [1970]

Musically Jawbreaker pushed the limits of what was being done with punk rock music up until that time. Many of their songs were long and complicated, not just 3 minute jaunts about hating their job, these were eight minute interludes of raw emotion, typically gloomy emotion. Good stuff to listen to when you’re bummed. At least that’s the case with their first two albums. The band was forced to take a break in 1993 because Blake suffered damage to his throat(cancer?) and needed an operation. When the band reunited after Blake’s operation they were not the same. On their first album after his operation, “24 Hour Revenge Therapy”, Blake sang much different and their song structure had changed accordingly. Gone was his raspy gravelly voice and it was replaced by a more common traditional voice, with the song lengths and subjects also becoming slightly more traditional. I actually really enjoy his voice after the operation better then before and “24 Hour” is my favorite Jawbreaker album. I like their first two a great deal too and if I’m picking out a Jawbreaker album to bring in the car it’s usually a toss up between the first three.

I have plenty of Jawbreaker memories. My buddies had a band in high school that played around at many of the local venues, VFW’s and Elk’s Lodges mostly. That doesn’t sound like much but that’s plenty of venue for some budding young musicians. They never had an album or anything, I think they might have had a cassette demo that they distributed but that’s as far as it got. Anyway, after a year or so they got a little following and it was fun to go to their shows. At one such event a band opened for them, a handful of fellows I didn’t know very well, but this band played mostly just Jawbreaker covers. At the time Jawbreaker was very active and well known among the little punkers I hung around with so covering them wasn’t a terribly creative thing to do. You know what I did? I booed them. Yep, the little bastard I was I booed them. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Jawbreaker, in fact it was the opposite, I liked Jawbreaker too much to see their music represented in such a fasion. While they didn’t seem to pay any mind to my vocal protests to their song selection it still wasn’t a very nice thing for me to do. So nameless band, I’m sorry for booing you some seventeen years ago at a Elks Lodge somewhere in Morris County New Jersey.

1) Unfun [1990]
2) Bivouac [1992]
3) 24 Hour Revenge Therapy [1994]
4) Dear You [1995]

Born in 1924 in East Durham, New York Blossom grew up in the shadow of New York City. It must have been a glimmer in her eye from an early age to make it big in NYC. She moved to NYC shortly after graduating high school. After performing regularly there for around ten years she moved on to Paris France for a few years then returned. Paris also had a thriving jazz community, perhaps more so then any other European city at the time. Spending time there gave Blossom a unique take on the music and also allowed her to try things on new audiences. Her big break came after she returned to NYC when she did a radio ad for Hires Root Beer. This musical ad did was received really well and led to a Blossom Dearie album titled “Blossom Dearie Sings Rootin’ Songs” which she recorded for the beverage company. This album was distributed solely through Hires by way of a dollar and a proof of purchase. How’s that for a collectors item?

I gotta be honest I didn’t realize until I was doing research for this article that Blossom had quite so many albums. Simply said she has a shitload of albums. Not including her work with other artists, of which she did much, Blossom Dearie released something to the tune of thirty albums, I’ll list them below just so you can see the craziness. Of all of her albums I am familiar with one, “Once Upon a Summertime”, it really is a fantastic album when I initially listened to it I assumed it was a greatest hits but no, it’s just one of her typical releases. I’d strongly recommend it as a starting point.

1) Blossom Dearie Plays “April in Paris” [1956]
2) Blossom Dearie [1957]
3) Give Him the Ooh-La-La [1957]
4) Once Upon a Summertime [1958]
5) Blossom Dearie Sings Comden and Green [1959]
6) Soubrette Sings Broadway Hit Songs [1960]
7) My Gentleman Friend [1961]
8) Blossom Dearie Sings Rootin’ Songs [1963]
9) May I Come In? [1964]
10) Blossom Time at Ronnie Scott’s [1966] *live
11) Sweet Blossom Dearie [1967] *live
12) Soon It’s Gonna Rain [1967]
13) That’s Just the Way I Want to Be [1970]
14) Blossom Dearie Sings [1974]
15) 1975: From The Meticulous to the Sublime [1975]
16) My New Celebrity is You [1976]
17) Winchester in Apple Blossom Time [1977]
18) Needlepoint Magic [1979] *live
19) Simply [1983]
20) Positively [1983]
21) Et Tu, Bruce [1984] *live
22) Chez Wahlberg: Part One [1985]
23) Songs of Chelsea [1987]
24) Tweedledum & Tweedledee -Two People Who Resemble Each Other, in this Case Musically- [1991] *with Mike Renzi
25) Christmas Spice So Very Nice [1991] *with Mike Renzi
26) Our Favorite Songs (1996) *greatest hits
27) I’m Hip (1998) *greatest hits
28) Blossom’s Planet [2000]
29) It’s All Right to Be Afraid [2003] *single

When I think of Talking Heads I remember the first time I consciously listened to them. A childhood friend of mine’s parents had recently become divorced. In the breakup his dad moved away and his mom bought a condo with the money from the settlement. It was kind of sad going there because his parents had a really nice thing going, in terms of their house and all that. The condo seemed like a big step down for his mom but she seemed chipper about it, never a frown on her face. She had her own career and her own activities to focus on so her life was moving on. Often times when I’d arrive at his house his mom would let me in and while I was waiting for my buddy to greet me I’d hang out with his mom for a short while. Quite a few times this slightly awkward moment was scored by the Talking Heads being played on her home audio system. It seemed to fit the mood perfectly, in a good way.

Talking Heads left their mark on many facets of the rock world. They were one of the first “alternative” rock groups to truly establish a niche for themselves. Their song writing was completely original, their instruments, vocals and the way they picked and chose from other genres create a situation where on first the listen to a Talking Heads album you can never be quite sure what the next song is going to sound like. I absolutely love David Byrne’s vocals they are my favorite part of the band. It’s crazy too just how strong of an impact they’ve had on future generations of music. A couple of examples, the popular present day band known as Radiohead actually lifted their band name from a Talking Heads song; the hippy band Phish has covered entire Talking Heads albums live, truly a testament to their respect for the band both of these bands are major major bands with huge followings, both considered present day trailblazers at what they do, yet they don’t hesitate to shine the spotlight back on their forefather, Talking Heads.

Talking Heads released eight full length albums while they were together. I gotta say they are pretty consistent although if I were picking up a first one I’d probably go with one if the first five. Or you could also get a greatest hits type deal, those are great starting points to get a feel for a band.

1) Talking Heads: 77 [1977]
2) More Songs About Buildings and Food [1978]
3) Fear of Music [1979]
4) Remain in Light [1980]
5) Speaking in Tongues [1983]
6) Little Creatures [1985]
7) True Stories [1986]
8) Naked [1988]

Jungle Brothers had three members Mike Gee, Sammy B and Afrika Baby Bam. While they have never had officially broken up there have been no new studio albums since 2002, with all subsequent releases post 2002 being remixes and greatest hits type-deals. By all accounts it looks like there was a falling out with Afrika Baby Bam and it’s unlikely that any more new material will ever come from the original lineup of the Jungle Brothers. While that is sad I not a big fan of their later releases so for me their departure for the active hip hop community isn’t a huge loss.

Over the course of 14 years the JBs managed to put out six albums. My favorite by far is their second album “Done by the Forces of Nature”. I also enjoy their first album quite a bit. I find that their later albums, starting with their 1993 release “J Beez With the Remedy” are lacking something that their first two have. It’s like they started taking themselves too seriously. Their first two albums are playful and fun to listen to to, even comical at times. About 90% of hip hop acts play the serious angle what really set the JB’s apart for me was their playfulness and eagerness to step outside side of the popular hip hop formula.

1) Straight out the Jungle [1988]
2) Done by the Forces of Nature [1989]
3) J Beez Wit the Remedy [1993]
4) Raw Deluxe [1997]
5) V.I.P. [2000]
6) All That We Do [2002]