Last night a CD Saved My Life...

...Setting the record straight!

Although I'm an avid vinyl lover, I feel that the Compact Disc - alias the CD - has reveived a somewhat bad rap recently.
OK, so it's too (excuse the poor pun) compact, too plastic, too disposable...and obviously, the myth of it sounding better than vinyl has long since been retracted.  Nonetheless, a LOT of vinyl - especially much of the vinyl made during and after the late '70s, when it got noticeably thinner and less substantial due to the oil crisis, while all the alledged "advances in sound recording" were apparently no help at all! - sounds like s#*t as well.
Initially - and ultimately - what I've always liked about CD's, though, is the fact that they have a lot more SPACE for the MUSIC itself!  And music's the main point...right?
Now, I have in my collection a couple of thousand LP's, as well as a similar amount of CD's.  Once, a fellow vinyl enthusiast visited me and his first words were, literally and ever so distainfully, 'I had NO IDEA you had so many CD's!'
Hmm.
And it is exactly because of such sorry-ass snobbery that I feel the urge to sing the praises of certain exceptionally well-put together and satisfying CD comps...

Tommy James & The Shondells/"Anthology" (EMI-Roulette, 1990)

From the late '70s until the late '80s, Tommy James & the Shondells' - a '60s bubblegum/psych-pop group - three biggest hits were very widely covered.  "Mony Mony" (Billy Idol, Amazulu), "Crimson & Clover" (Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Keith Marshall) and "I Think We're Alone Now" (Lene Lovich, The Rubinoos, Tiffany) all became sizeable hits again on numerous occasions, which ensured the Shondells' name popping-up every now and again through the years.

After years (and decades) of merely single disc/LP collections being (barely) available on the market, in 1990 the time seemed ripe to compile the Shondells properly for the relatively recent CD format.  And so EMI unleashed this 27 track pop (near) perfection.  Only the routine "Louie Louie"-like dumbness of debut single "Hanky Panky" fails to please.  Otherwise it's an uninterrupted heavenly pop bliss all the way!

I propably haven't played any other CD - or record! - in my collection as much as I played this one during the early '90s when the rest of the world seemed preoccupied with something a lot less memorable and melodic (in my book) out of Seattle, WA. 

"Sugar on Sunday" (covered by The Clique), "I Think We're Alone Now", "Crystal Blue Persuasion", "Sweet Cherry Wine", "Crimson & Clover", et al - I sallute you!  Bubblegum isn't a dirty word.

 

The Rubionoos/"Everything You Always Wanted to Know About The Rubinoos But Were Afraid to Ask" (Sanctuary-Castle, 2007)(3CD)

In my humble opinion Californians The Rubinoos (still going strong, by the way) are one of the most underappreciated pop groups of all time!  A bold statement, I know, but one listen to this two disc (disc three is a live disc from 1978) anthology might be just enough to convince the sternest of music snobs of the Rubes' overall excellence.

The group came together as teenagers in the mid-'70s and quickly got signed to the eclectic roster of Matthew King Kaufman's burgeoning Beserkley Records label.

The appeal at first was strictly teen-age, but the boys' superb musical and vocalizing ability, as well as effortless Monkee/Beatle-like charisma was rather uncommon amongst other teenybop acts of the era.

An excellent 1977 cover of Tommy James & the Shondells' "I Think We're Alone Now" got them into the lower regions of the Billboard singles charts - as well as on Dick Clark's legendary long-running American Bandstand T.V. show.  The following year's "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", although now a bona-fide Power Pop classic, in 1978 it went practically nowhere.  

Beserkley's limited distrubutional and promotional abilities was always the Rubinoos' main obstacle for major league success, and when they finally - reduced to a two-some in the early '80s - scored a recording deal with Warner Bros., their time had long since come and gone.

By 2007, when this little gem of a CD set came along, they had been undeservedly anthologized on CD, so it was about bloody time!

Always with a keen eye for a good pop song - no matter what the source - the Rubinoos also always wore their influences on their collective sleeve.  From debut single "Gorilla" (a DeFranco Family original!) to the Eurythmics' "Thorn in My Side", via the Raspberries' "Drivin' Music" and the Beach Boys' "Heroes and Villains" - it's pure pop class all the way. 

Their self-penned originals ain't half bad either.  In a perfect world, "Leave My Heart Alone" and "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" - to name but two - should've been mega hits.





Manic Street Preachers/"National Treasures - The Complete Singles" (Sony-Columbia, 2011)

Love 'em or loathe 'em but the Manics are arguably one of the most reliable singles acts of the past twenty years.  And here are all thirty-eight of their singles lovingly compiled over 2-CD's.  The deluxe edition comes with a DVD containig all the promo videos as well as some alternate versions.  Needless to add perhaps, this package renders the patchy previous Greatest Hits collection "Forever Delayed" from 2002 completely and utterly redundant...not to mention several of their weaker long-players. 
"Everything Must Go" (1996) and "Send Away the Tigers" (2007) will always be essential, though.



Harlem Shuffle. Or, How I Got Into Soul Music.

In 1987 I had landed what I thought was the ultimate dream job.  It was with a company which ran a few record shops, released records by local acts, and, best of all, imported records.  Which of course meant that I could sample pretty much everything my insatiable music-hungry heart desired.  On top of that, 25% staff discount was nothing to sneeze at...
I was in my early 20's and my tastes were widening.  I was beginning to feel more open to several types of music which I hadn't been interested in before.  One of those styles was soul music. 
Mostly, I credit Paul Weller's post-Jam group The Style Council with installing that interest in me.  I had pretty much everything TSC ever released and I just loved them.  Live, they covered stuff like Curtis Mayfield's "Move on Up" and on record they wore their influences on their collective sleeve.  For instance, I later found out, one of their best album tracks, "Headstart for Happiness", borrowed heavily from the Chi-Lites.



Motown had also entered my life.  I fell for Smokey Robinson & the Miracles in a big way via the double "Anthology" LP.
Thus, you might say I was ripe for the next step into the realms of classic '60s soul music.  And a co-worker at the aforementioned record company unknowingly pushed my in that direction by one day non-chalantly commenting that this record, "Harlem Shuffle", had been "the best record we imported last year".  My curiousity was raised.
The previous year - 1986 - the Rolling Stones had made a useless record, "Dirty Work", and its lead-off single had been a little ditty called "Harlem Shuffle", a semi-obscure '60s soul tune by the long-forgotten duo of Bob & Earl.  And of course Charly Records, then the leading British re-issue label, had the bright idea to cash-in on the Stones' good choice of a bad cover version by (re)introducing the original version to the record buying public at large by compiling an LP of similiraily obscure soul classics a couple of decades old.

Besides, the '80s was the decade that the advertising industry, especially in Great Britain, awoke to the lucrative possibilities of featuring an "oldie" in a TV commercial.  Jackie Wilson had this way unexpectedly been brought into the upper regions of the singles charts.  So had Marvin Gaye, and Nina Simone.  And then there was a phenomenon called "Northern Soul", which for years had existed as an underground fad among a chosen few in the nightclubs of Britain, but was now floating up to the surface as a viable tastemaker -  although for years the Brits (and, indeed, the world) had been buying Northern Soul classics such as Soft Cell's cover of Gloria Jones', err, glorious "Tainted Love".



But to make a long story short, "Harlem Shuffle - Sixties Soul Classics" (Charly R&B LP, CRB 1139, 1986) was an absolute eye-opener for me.  Besides Bob & Earl's timeless title tune, other highlights include Brenton Wood's Top 2 ("Gimme a Little Sign" and "Oogum Boogum Song" - certainly NOT the novelty song it threatens to be), the Soul Survivors sole hit "Expressway to Your Heart", Barbara Lewis' very best Atlantic sides ("Hello Stranger" and "Baby I'm Yours"), The Capitols' "Cool Jerk", Mel & Tim's infectious "Backfield in Motion", and the Shades of Blue sweet "Oh How Happy" - to name but a few.

And since that fateful day I was introduced to this wondrous music via this great compilation I am here tipping my hat to, I've been hooked...