Prince - For You

Today (April 7th) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the release of For You, the debut album of Minneapolis mega-musician Prince. At age 19, he composed, arranged and produced the entire album. He also played all the instruments on the record. It peaked at number 163 on the US Billboard Hot 200.

Hot Chocolate - Going Through the Motions

Welcome to another edition of Seventies Saturday. Today (April 6th) we want to wish a very happy sixty-sixth birthday to Tony Connor, the drummer for the UK R&B band Hot Chocolate.

In 1979, the group released Going Through the Motions, their fifth studio album. It charted at number 112 on the US Billboard Hot 200. The line-up at the time included Errol Brown (vocals), Connor (drums), Larry Ferguson (keyboards), Harvey Hensley (guitar), and Pat Olive (congas and bass).

Fastway - Fastway

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the self-titled debut album from the UK heavy metal band Fastway. The band was formed by guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke (formerly of Motörhead) and bassist Pete Way (formerly of UFO). They added drummer Jerry Shirley (formerly of Humble Pie) and singer Dave King. However, before they began recording 1983’s Fastway, Way abandoned the project; the group brought in session bassist Mick Feat to do the record.

Bonnie Tyler - Faster Than the Speed of Night

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the UK release of Faster Than the Speed of Night, the fifth studio album from Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler (the US release would follow in September of 1983). This Platinum seller was produced by Jim Steinman and was nominated for two American Music Awards (Favorite Rock/Pop Female Artist and Favorite Rock/Pop Single) and two Grammy Awards (Best Pop Vocal Performance Female and Best Rock Vocal Performance Female).

Roman Holliday - Roman Holliday EP

In the early 1980’s, the British band Roman Holliday formed. The line-up consisted of Steve Lambert (vocals), Brian Bonhomme (guitar and vocals), Simon Cohen (drums), Adrian York (piano), Jon Durno (bass), John Eacott (trumpet) and Rob Lambert (saxophone).

Before their first full album was released in the late Spring of 1983, the group put out a five song EP simply titled Roman Holliday; it peaked at number 142 on the US Billboard Hot 200. Today, we'll take a look at this one in honor of its thirtieth anniversary. Combining a mixture of pop and swing, they brought a lot of fun to the music scene.

Michael Bolton - Michael Bolton

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the self-titled studio album Michael Bolton. This Gold selling record, which peaked at number 89 on the US Billboard Hot 200, was the third studio album from the American singer. His first two, Michael Bolotin from 1975 and Everyday of My Life from 1976, were recorded under his birth name and garnered very little chart action.

Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes (30th anniversary)

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the debut album from Wisconsin's Violent Femmes.

If you missed reading this one in the early days of my blog, you can click here for my complete review of Violent Femmes.