Search Results for: "Graded on a Curve"

Graded on a Curve: Wilson Pickett,
Hey Jude

Remembering Wilson Pickett, born on this day in 1941. —Ed. Hear ye hear ye: I am going to begin this review of Alabama native son Wilson Pickett’s 1969 LP Hey Jude by stating right off that the title cut is one of the most phenomenal songs ever recorded, and is in fact so great I […]

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Graded on a Curve:
White Witch,
A Spiritual Greeting

Here’s a joke for ya: What do you call a glam rock band coming out of Florida in the early seventies? Deceased. Because as everybody knows Gator Country was Southern Rock territory, the natural-born stomping grounds of the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Outlaws and a slew of lesser lights. And if there was […]

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Graded on a Curve: Lightnin’ Hopkins,
Lightnin’ Hopkins

Remembering Lightnin’ Hopkins, born on this day in 1912. —Ed. Lightnin’ Sam Hopkins remains one of the crucial figures in the annals of the blues. By extension, he recorded a ton, and owning all his music will require diligence and a seriously long shelf. However, there are a few albums that are a must even […]

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Graded on a Curve:
Dredd Foole & The Din,
Songs in Heat

Mission of Burma were one of the best (and most abrasive) bands to emerge from post-punk Boston, and it’s a crying shame that their career was cut obscenely short in 1983 as a result of vocalist/ guitarist Roger Miller’s tinnitus. They left behind a 1981 EP and a 1982 full-length, and that would be all […]

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Graded on a Curve:
Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis with Shirley Scott, Cookin’ with Jaws and the Queen

Remembering Shirley Scott, born on this day in 1934. —Ed. Credited to tenor saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis with organist Shirley Scott, Craft Recordings’ 4LP/4CD/digital set Cookin’ with Jaws and the Queen: The Legendary Prestige Cookbook Albums offers 23 tracks cut during three 1958 sessions recorded by Rudy Van Gelder and first released as three separate […]

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Graded on a Curve:
Meiko Kaji,
Gincho Wataridori

Meiko Kaji is justly celebrated by fans of international genre cinema as the star of the 1973 film Lady Snowblood and its sequel from the next year. Alongside a sizeable filmography, she recorded an extensive body of work as a singer that amassed a dedicated following. The Wewantsounds label has been catering to her fanbase […]

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Graded on a Curve:
U2, Rattle and Hum

Celebrating Adam Clayton on his 64th birthday. —Ed. For the longest time I had no use for U2—they were too sanctimonious and self-righteous was my opinion, and Bono stuck me as a frustrated Sunday school teacher. But as the years passed they loosened up, Bono became less of a tight-ass, and I discovered I enjoyed […]

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Graded on a Curve: Samuel Prody,
Samuel Prody

As detailed in the booklet accompanying the Guerssen label’s new reissue of the sole LP by Samuel Prody, there’s an eventful backstory that precedes the formation of this obscure British band. Rather than recount it all here, it suffices to mention that this four-piece outfit grew out of Giant, a gigging group that briefly featured […]

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Graded on a Curve:
Raspberries,
Starting Over

Remembering Eric Carmen. —Ed. It’s a miracle that anyone survives adolescence. And I’m not talking about drugs or driving 110 mph while on drugs or any of the other healthy activities normal teens engage in—no, I’m talking about potentially lethal sperm build-up. Speaking just for myself, I was a lusus naturae of unsated lust, and […]

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Graded on a Curve: Hüsker Dü,
New Day Rising

Celebrating Greg Norton in advance of his 65th birthday tomorrow. —Ed. Hard and fast rules so let’s dispense with the long instrumental intro and get right down to the nitty-gritty; on 1985’s New Day Rising, St. Paul, Minnesota power trio Hüsker Dü permanently set themselves apart from the hardcore pack by leavening the genre’s speed […]

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Graded on a Curve:
Nino Gvilia,
Nicole / Overwhelmed
by the Unexplained

Fresh out from the always interesting Hive Mind Records is Nicole / Overwhelmed by the Unexplained, which places two EPs on one vinyl disc from Nino Gvilia, an artist described by the label as a singer-songwriter born in Poti near Lake Paliastomi in the country of Georgia. But in reality, Nino Gvilia is the wholly […]

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Graded on a Curve:
Blur, Parklife

Celebrating Graham Coxon in advance of his birthday tomorrow. —Ed. Today on the Wayback Machine… we return to the Battle of Britpop! In last week’s corner at The Vinyl District: Northern England standard-bearer and contender for the crown, Oasis’ (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?! In today’s corner: Southern England’s pride and glory, Blur’s Parklife! Let […]

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Graded on a Curve: Plainsong,
In Search of Amelia Earhart

The ghost of Amelia Earhart haunts us. That’s what happens when you’re history’s greatest vanishing act, and the most famous face to ever appear on a milk carton. When Earhart and navigator Frank Noonan took off from an airfield in Lae, New Guinea on July 2, 1937 everyone expected them to come back down, on […]

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Graded on a Curve:
Gary Numan,
The Pleasure Principle

Celebrating Gary Numan, born on this day in 1958. —Ed. I’ve never warmed up to synthesizers, and isn’t that the point? They’re supposed to sound steely cold and inhuman–they’re machines, for christ’s sake, and utterly incapable of that friendly human touch one associates with, say, Eddie Vedder or your local insurance agent. For this reason […]

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Graded on a Curve:
Stray Cats,
Built for Speed

The Stray Cats were the Sha Na Na of the MTV era. A rockabilly nostalgia act, and like most nostalgia acts they offered up a tame version of the music produced by the folks they were paying tribute to—Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Wanda Jackson, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Johnny Burnette—and the list […]

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