Bob & Doug McKenzie - The Great White North

Merry Christmas, eh?

On December 12th, 1981, The Great White North entered the Canadian album charts at number 3. Within a week, it rose to number 1 and remained there until January 23rd of 1982. Not a bad Christmas present for comedians Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, who portrayed the fictional Canadian television personalities “Bob and Doug McKenzie” on the sketch program SCTV.

The Sugarhill Gang - 8th Wonder

On November 24th of 1982, the American rap group the Sugarhill Gang released 8th Wonder, their second full length studio album. The album peaked at number 50 on the US Billboard Hot 200, number 44 in New Zealand, and number 15 on the US Billboard R&B charts. It also generated a pair of singles. Today, we will take a look at this record from Wonder Mike, Big Bank Hank and Master Gee as part of its thirtieth anniversary celebration.

The Blues Brothers (soundtrack)

Welcome to another edition of Soundtrack Sunday.

In June of 1980, comedians John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd took their characters from a Saturday Night Live musical sketch and spun them off into a full-length feature film. Directed by John Landis, The Blues Brothers told the story of Jake and Elwood Blues on “a mission from God” to save the Catholic orphanage they grew up in from being foreclosed. This led to a rollicking R&B road-trip with a number of amazing guest appearances from the pantheon of soul and blue music.

To go along with the film, the Blue Brothers released their second album as a soundtrack to the film. It was released on June 20th of 1980 and spent a total of nineteen weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 13. Today, we will give this one a spin on the virtual turntable.

DVD: Queen - Live In Budapest

On July 27th of 1986, British rock legends Queen performed at the Népstadion in Budapest, Hungary, becoming the first western act to perform in front of a stadium crowd behind the “Iron Curtain”. János Zsombolyai, one of the country’s leading cinematographers and directors, captured that landmark event on 35mm film.

Celebrating Robin and Maurice Gibb

Today (December 22nd) would have been the sixty-third birthday of brothers Robin and Maurice Gibb. Born thirty five minutes apart (Robin being the older of the twins), the two along with their older brother Barry would go on to make music for four decades as the Bee Gees.

DVD: Peter Gabriel - So (Classic Albums series)

2011 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the release Peter Gabriel’s fifth album So and it was featured that year on the Classic Albums documentary series that ran at the time. In October of 2012, the episode was released on DVD and Blu-Ray by Eagle Rock Entertainment.

While I was very familiar with the album (click here for my review of the album), there was a lot I did not know about the behind the scenes of this landmark record. I had the opportunity to review this DVD this week and thought I would share a few of my thoughts on it.

Poco - Ghost Town

September 20th of 1982 was the release date of Ghost Town, the seventeenth studio album from California southern-rock band Poco. The album barely cracked the US Billboard Hot 200, stalling at number 195. At this time, the band was made up of Paul Cotton (guitar and vocals), Rusty Young (guitar and vocals), Kim Bullard (keyboards), Steve Chapman (drums), Steve Forman (percussion) and Charlie Harrison (bass). Today, we will take a look at this one for its thirtieth anniversary.