Red Rider - Neruda

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Neruda, the third studio album from the Canadian rock band Red Rider. Like the previous two albums, this one too went Platinum in Canada, selling move than 100,000 copies. It also reached number 66 on the US Billboard Hot 200.

Tom Cochrane was the band's lead singer as well as songwriter and guitarist. Rob Baker was on drums and Ken Greer was on guitars and vocals. Jeff Jones played bass and Steve Sexton played keyboards.

The Wiz (soundtrack)

Welcome to another edition of Soundtrack Sunday.

On October 24th, 1978, a big budget Hollywood musical adaptation of popular Broadway musical The Wiz rolled into movie theatres. This urbanized-retelling of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz starred Diana Ross (as Dorothy), Michael Jackson (as the Scarecrow), Nipsey Russell (as the Tin Man), Ted Ross (as the Cowardly Lion), Mabel King (as Evilene, the Wicked Witch of the West), Lena Horne (as Glinda, the Good Witch of the South) and Richard Pryor (as the Wizard).

A few weeks prior, on September 18th, the double-record soundtrack album was released. This record went to number 40 on the US Billboard Hot 200 and number 33 on the Billboard R&B charts. Today, we will give it a listen.

Supertramp - Breakfast in America

Welcome to another edition of Seventies Saturday.

On March 29th, 1979, the British rock group Supertramp released Breakfast in America, their sixth studio album. This was the group’s best selling album ever, going Diamond in Canada, Platinum in the UK, and four-times Platinum in the US. Chart-wise, it hit number 3 in Italy and the UK, number 2 in Japan and Sweden, and number 1 in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and on the US Billboard Hot 200.

While nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, it did win Best Recording Package and Best Engineered Album Non-Classical.

Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (30th anniversary)

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) was the second studio album from the Eurythmics. While released on January 21st of 1983 in the US, today (January 4th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the album's release in the duo's native UK.

Click here for my full review of the album.

Katrina and the Waves - Walking on Sunshine (30th anniversary)

This month is the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Walking on Sunshine, the debut album of Katrina and the Waves.

Click here for my full review of the album.

Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson - Poncho & Lefty

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Pancho & Lefty, the chart-topping 1983 country album from Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. It went to number 1 on the US Billboard Country charts and crossed over to number 37 on the US Billboard Hot 200 as well. It also generated a pair of hit singles.

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).