The Stranglers - Feline

Happy New Year and welcome to 2013. This year, we'll be focusing on the thirtieth anniversary of albums released in 1983 (a landmark year for me as it was the year I graduated from high school and started college). I hope I can discover a few new classic gems to add to my music library as I did last year.

Today (January 1st) back in 1983, the English rock band the Stranglers released Feline, its seventh studio album. The record charted at number 52 in Germany, 39 in the Netherlands, number 18 in New Zealand, number 16 in Norway and number 4 in the UK. The group's line-up at the time consisted of J.J. Burnel (bass, vocals), Jet Black (drums), Hugh Cornwell (guitar, vocals), and Dave Greenfield (keyboards, vocals).

1982 - 30th Anniversary Wrap Up

With the final day of the year upon us, I thought I would give a quick list recap of all the albums from 1982 that I reviewed for their thirtieth anniversaries this past year. How many albums was that exactly? Would you believe...248!!

Below is the full list, alphabetically, in case you missed any. Just take a title and use the Search function of the blog to find that particular review.

Ric Ocasek - Beatitude

Today (December 30th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Beatitude, the first solo album from American rocker Ric Ocasek, lead singer and primary songwriter for the Cars. Joining him on this 1982 record were Jules Shear, Stephen Hague, Greg Hawkes, Fuzzbee Morse, Stephen George and others.

Neil Young - Trans

Today (December 29th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Trans, the twelfth studio album from Canadian rocker Neil Young. This 192 release went to number 29 in the UK, number 23 in Australia, number 19 on the US Billboard Hot 200, number 10 in Canada, number 8 in New Zealand and number 6 in Sweden.

Young played guitar, bass and piano as well as did the lead vocals. On a bulk of the tracks, he also used a Vocoder to give his voice a more electronic sound. Joining him on the album were Nils Lofgren (guitar, piano, organ), Ben Keith (guitar), Bruce Palmer (bass), Ralph Molina (drums), Joe Lala (percussion), Frank Sampedro (guitar) and Billy Talbot (bass).

Favorite Things 2012 Edition

Even though the main focus of my blog has been music from decades back, I do have a few other things going on in my hobby circles. With the end of the year upon us, I thought I would take a few minutes to talk about some of the new things that I got into during 2012. Wherever applicable, I'll include some links if it sounds like stuff you want to check out too.

Let's take a look, in no particular order, at a few categories:

Sonic Youth - Sonic Youth

In March of 1982, the alternative rock band from New York City named Sonic Youth released their self-titled debut record. At the time, the group was made up of Kim Gordon (bass and vocals), Thurston Moore (guitar and vocals), Lee Ranaldo (guitar and vocals) and Richard Edson (drums). Edson left the band before their next recording a year later.

Because of its short length, less than twenty five minutes total, the 1987 cassette re-release basically gives you the album twice - once on each side. However, the song order on the second side went from last to first, a rather interesting way to go. That certainly saved on rewinding back in the day, if that was your music format of choice.

Let’s take a look at this debut as part of its thirtieth anniversary celebration.

Foghat - In the Mood for Something Rude

October of 1982 saw the release of In the Mood for Something Rude, the eleventh studio album from the British hard rock band Foghat. The band roster at the time consisted of Dave Peverett (rhythm guitar, vocals), Erik Cartwright (lead guitar), Nick Jameson (bass) and Roger Earl (drums).

The album, which went to number 162 on the US Billboard Hot 200, takes a group of R&B and country tunes by other artists and puts them through a blues-rock spin-cycle. Today, we will take a look at this record as part of its thirtieth anniversary celebration this year.