Back To The Future (soundtrack) (30th anniversary)

Today (July 8th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the soundtrack from Back To The Future. The record spent thirty-two weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 12.

For my full review, click here.

Lindsey Buckingham - Go Insane

Today (July 3rd) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Go Insane, the second solo album from Lindsey Buckingham. The record spent sixteen weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 45. It also went to number 33 in Sweden.

Christine McVie - Christine McVie

Today (January 27th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Christine McVie, the self-titled solo album from the Fleetwood Mac singer. The 1984 release went to number 58 on the UK charts and number 26 on the US Billboard Album chart. It was her first and only solo album in the 80's; her previous solo effort was 1970's Christine Perfect.

National Lampoon’s Vacation (soundtrack)

Welcome to another edition of Soundtrack Sunday.

This week marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the movie National Lampoon’s Vacation, the hilarious cross-country family road trip tale that introduced us to the Griswold family. Written by John Hughes and directed by Harold Ramis, it starred Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron, Randy Quaid, and Imogene Coca. Also making appearances were John Candy, Jane Krakowski and super-model Christie Brinkley.

Randy Newman - Trouble In Paradise

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Trouble in Paradise, the seventh studio album from singer-songwriter Randy Newman. It climbed to number 64 on the US Billboard Hot 200 chart. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at number 67 on its list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 80's.

Newman had a number of guest performers on the record. Appearing on vocals are Lindsey Buckingham, Don Henley, Rickie Lee Jones, Christine McVie, Linda Ronstadt, Bob Seger, Wendy Waldman and Jennifer Warnes. On the music side, the record also featured Steve Lukather and Jeff Porcaro of Toto, Waddy Wachtel and many more.

Lindsey Buckingham - Law and Order

Happy sixty-third birthday today (October 3rd) to American singer-songwriter and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. This Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was ranked in Rolling Stone magazine’s 2011 list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

In 1981, while still working with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham released his first solo album Law and Order. He composed eight of the eleven tracks and played numerous instruments (guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, percussion) on the record. It rose to number 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and generated a hit single.

Linda Ronstadt - Get Closer

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Get Closer, the eleventh studio album from singer-songwriter Linda Ronstadt. This September of 1982 release went to number 48 in Canada, number 29 in Japan and number 26 in Australia. In the US, the album hit number 31 on the Billboard Hot 200 and number 19 on the Billboard Country charts, achieving a Gold sales certification.

Warren Zevon - The Envoy

Today (July 16th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of The Envoy, the fifth studio album from the American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. After strong showings on the charts for his previous two albums (both top 20), this one showed a remarked slide in public favor. It only got as far as number 93 on the US Billboard Hot 200.

Zevon has help from a number of musicians on the record, including vocal harmonies from Don Henley (tracks one and five), Lindsey Buckingham (track two), J.D. Souther (tracks six and eight) and Graham Nash (track eight). His band for the album included Waddy Wachtel (guitar, percussion), David Landau (guitar), Leland Sklar (bass) and Jeff Porcaro (drums).

Fleetwood Mac - Mirage

Today (June 23rd) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the thirteenth studio album by Fleetwood Mac. After a year long hiatus following their Tusk tour during which both Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham put out solo records, the band released Mirage in 1982.

The record sales topped two million units alone in the US and a million in the UK. Chart-wise, the album went to number 12 in Germany, number 10 in Sweden, number 5 in both the France and the UK, number 4 in Canada, and number 2 in Australia. In the US, it spent five weeks at the number 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 200.

Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac

Welcome to another edition of Seventies Saturday, and also a happy sixty-sixth birthday to bassist John McVie.

By 1975, the British-American band Fleetwood Mac had already been making records for eight years. Their tenth studio album Fleetwood Mac was a breakthrough record for them in a number of ways. It was their first album to go multi-Platinum and their first number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 200 album charts (after being on the charts for nearly a year). It was also their first album to feature Lindsey Buckingham on guitar and Stevie Nicks on vocals; the couple brought a lot to the band including writing six of the eleven tracks here (with Christine McVie involved in writing four solo herself).

DVD: Lindsey Buckingham - Songs From the Small Machine (Live in LA)

American singer/guitarist/composer Lindsey Buckingham has enjoyed a successful career for nearly four decades, both as a member of Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. In September of 2011, he released his sixth solo album Seeds We Sow on his own label. In April of 2011, he filmed a concert in support of that album at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills; this month that show has been released on DVD and Blu-ray.

Having the opportunity to review this two-disk package this week, I thought I would share my thoughts with you all.

Back to the Future (soundtrack)

Welcome to another edition of Soundtrack Sunday.

It was the summer of 1985 and I was working my college co-op job in Randolph, NJ. I spent a lot of my weekends at the local movie complex at the mall in Dover. One of the biggest films was the fantasy comedy-adventure Back to the Future starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. Little did I know then that this was the opening volley of a trio of films that would become all-time favorites of mine.