Elton John - Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player (1973) CD

Here is a distinct memory I have from the early days. My family had just moved from Phoenix, AZ to a suburb of Washington, D.C. I was in the 4th grade and I was getting use to a new school, new kids, new everything. It was a rainy day and we couldn't go out for recess so we stayed inside and one of the young teachers decided to play the radio or records (45s) and Crocodile Rock by Elton John was played. I loved the song! I do remember that I was familiar with the song before that moment but this may have been the first time that the song really registered for me for some reason. Hell, if I was in the 4th grade it would have been around 1973-1974. Maybe my first real introduction to Elton John that I can remember.

The school was Adelphi Elementary School in Adelphi, Maryland and my home room teacher was Ms Friedman. Ms. Friedman was a beautiful woman, with straight long-hair and glasses. It was the first school I had ever been in that actually had carpet! Memories. This album also has Daniel - which is also top-notch. By the way, Ms. Friedman sort of had that Danielle Heim look, that I just adore.

Elton John - Honky Chateau (1972) CD

More Elton from the early 70s. This album has Honky Cat and Rocket Man. Classic songs from Elton and the non-hits are also interesting to listen to for the first time. I am enjoying my tour through Elton's catalog,

Elton John - Madman across the Water (1971) CD

Elton was a significant subject in my pop music education since he was such staple of 70s radio. Radio was king back in the 70s. People would fight over what station was cool to listen to or what station played the best bands. I was an FM listener but my younger sister was more of a AM listener. Either way, Elton John was always present. It didn't matter if you liked AM or FM, Elton John was always represented. This is was not true of all artists.

Up until this last week, however,  I had never owned any Elton John releases since I heard most of Elton's hits on the radio 5x a day (or it seemed). I thought, "why buy the records when the songs are played all the time?" Well, most of you know the answer to that question. By not buying the records I missed out on all the great songs that were not "hits". Trust me, I missed on a lot because this record is full of great tracks.

What is surprising about collecting the CDs now is discovering just how early in the decade some of these hits came. For instance, both Tiny Dancer and Levon are on this album from 1971. I was about 8 years old when these came out! Yet, for some reason I thought that all of Elton's songs came from the "mid 70s". 

I am not going to bother to post links to Elton John songs since you have probably heard these a million times. I am enjoying this record a lot. This stuff never gets old or outdated.

Still Cool - s/t (1978 reissue) vinyl

Deeper Knowledge Records (DKR) has been repressing rare reggae LPs and tons of 45s for a few years now. This is a gem of a release since it is a slice of reggae music circa late 70s, which is about the time I first started seriously listening and collecting reggae music. I have never seen this record before but I would have definitely added this to my collection if it had been available since it is exactly the sound that attracted me to the music in the first place. The backing band is top notch with most of the musicians associated with the 12 Tribes of Israel - a form of Rastafari (e.g. Pablove Black, Bagga Walker, etc).  All in all, a must have for any serious fan of reggae music.

Check out this 12" version of a song from the album Crab In A Burrell  - In addition, here is a rare video of Still Cool doing another song from the album To Be Poor Is A Crime

Crucial!

The Move - Move (3 CD reissue)

I am very late to The Move. I found this band through the ELO/Jeff Lynne connection. Jeff Lynne of ELO fame was in a later version of the band. I was always aware of this band but I never took the time to listen to them.  I am not sure why.  People I respect have always raved about them. In addition, I have always read about how great Roy Wood was and to some extent, what an eccentric guy he was. In any event, I have always been intrigued. Within the last couple of years I bought a box set of them that was sort of a career retrospective. Here, however, is a proper reissue of their first album with a bunch of extras. Actually, enough extras to fill up 3 CDs worth.

There are some really nice songs on this CD and some of the best moments are really the extras like the radio performances or the unreleased tracks. However, in terms of the actual first album it is pretty good. I am glad I finally took the time to get to know this band.

Here is a nice video montage of Flowers in the Raine/ Blackberry Way/ Fire Brigade if you have never heard the Move before.

Rikk Agnew - All By Myself (1982) vinyl

This is for you Fullerton" is how this LP opens and we begin to hear the sounds of Orange County rock'n'roll with Rikk Agnew.

I am still finding used copies or, as in this case, reissued albums of records that my record store colleagues at Off The Record in San Diego played in the store.  While this is not the music that I was listening to or buying for myself, it is a record and a style of music that I must have absorbed during those days.  I know that Rikk played in another band out of Orange County (Fullerton) called The Adolescents.  I may need to pick up that album because I remember thinking it was good at the time. The funny thing is that many of those old "punk" Orange County bands were just good rock'n'roll bands. Here I am thinking of bands like Social Distortion and Agent Orange.  I am sure there are a lot more as well but I was not really into those bands at the time. Rikk plays all the instruments on this record hence the title. What does it sound like? It certainly is fast and it does have some of that surf element that I remember from the OC bands. This is good. It is just rock'n'roll!

OC Life

10

Tages - Go! The Complete Singles CD

I have always heard about Tages. A Swedish band. This collection organizes all of their 45s both the A and B sides. The music on the first disc spans the years from 1964 to 1967 and the second disc spans 1967-1968. The music ranges from beat music in the early 60s to more psychedelic music in the late 60s. From the CD itself:

During the 1960s, Tages were Sweden's hippest band, initially inspired by beat music and always developing, they leaned towards mod and, by 1968, were one of the era's most compelling psychedelic outfits. For the first time ever Go! Assembles their complete singles. Direct from the master tapes, each A and B side appears in mono as it was heard at the time. The band signed to Parlophone in 1967, but their earlier label Plating continued issuing singles - all these are compiled too. Issued for the first time are two previously unreleased alternative takes including a shelved version of the psychedelic classic Fantasy Island. With its illustrated booklet and exclusive interview with the band's Goran Lagerberg, Go! is the ultimate Tages collection.

 The beat sides are impressive and does have a Beatles feel but the real surprising part of this collection are the later psychedelic sides which are very good. Very melodic and would please anyone that is into exploring more Swedish beat/psychedelic music.

Try these for tastes of late 60s Tages

She's Having a Baby Now

To Be Free