Henry Gross - Release

This month marks the fortieth anniversary of Release, the fourth studio album from Brooklyn born singer-songwriter Henry Gross. Originally a founding member of Sha Na Na, Gross went solo in the early 1970's. This album went to number 64 on the US Billboard album chart, spending a total of twenty-eight weeks on the chart.

Public Image Ltd. - Album

Today (January 27th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Album, the fifth studio record from Public Image Ltd. This 1986 release hit number 95 in Canada, number 34 in New Zealand and number 14 in the UK. Here in the US, it spent sixteen weeks on the Billboard Album chart and rose only to number 114. When released in different formats, the title changed its name to "Cassette" and "Compact Disk".

David Bowie - Station To Station

A little less than two weeks ago (January 10th, 2016) all of us fans of music were saddened to hear of the passing of the legendary David Bowie. My Twitter feed was full of tributes to the 69 year old artist who had succumbed to cancer and moved on to the afterlife plane. Then again, he was always on another level entirely with his ever-changing, always-inspiring artistic talent. He will be greatly missed.

Styx - Paradise Theatre

Today (January 19th) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Paradise Theatre, the tenth studio album from Styx. This 1981 album spent sixty-one weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, including three weeks at the number 1 spot. It also reached number 30 in New Zealand, number 8 in the UK, number 6 in Sweden and number 5 in Norway.

Sheena Easton - Sheena Easton (35th anniversary)

Today (January 18th) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Sheena Easton's debut album Take My Time. In the US, it was released under the name Sheena Easton which spent thirty-eight weeks on the US Billboard Album chart and peaked at number 24.

For the full album review, click here.

For more from Sheena Easton, click here.

Nicolette Larson - Radioland

This month marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Radioland, the third studio album from Nicolette Larson. It spent twelve weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, reaching a peak spot of number 62.

Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive! (40th anniversary)

Today (January 6th) marks the fortieth anniversary of Peter Frampton's double-disk live album Frampton Comes Alive!. This landmark record spent a total of ninety-seven weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, ten weeks of that were spent at the number 1 spot.

For my full album review, click here.

For more from Frampton, click here.

Big 80's on 8 "Most Awesome Rad Party Songs"

This past weekend, as part of the New Year's festivities, Sirius XM's Big 80's on 8 changed up their weekly countdown show to present the Most Awesome Rad Party Songs from the decade. To ring out 2015 and usher in 2016, original MTV veejays Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn counted down the forty songs picked by the listeners.

I thought it would be fun for us to look at the list and for me to offer some commentary.

The Bangles - Different Light (30th anniversary)

Today (January 2nd) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Different Life, the second studio album from the Bangles. The record was the group’s best selling to date, having gone multi-Platinum a number of times over. It reached the number 2 spot on the US Billboard Album chart with a total chart run of eight-two weeks.

For my full review, click here.

For more from the Bangles, click here