Remembering John Bonham, born on this day in 1948. —Ed.

Few bands are in less need of an introduction than Led Zeppelin. For roughly a decade they reigned, helping to establish hard rock as a profitable genre as they trashed hotel rooms, gallivanted with groupies, and impacted heavy music right up to the nonce. Mothership is less of an intro than stardom’s inevitable career summary and exercise in remastering; it’s no substitute for their great albums, but it does glean two dozen selections from the corpus, many of them excellent, and spreads them across a pair of CDs or four 180gm LPs.

Anthologizing a onetime rock radio fixture and by extension youthful music hound’s rite of passage, it can seem Mothership’s contents generally resist commentary. And yet the notion of nothing left to say is simply a falsehood; love, hate, ambivalence, or indifference, no matter the viewpoint Led Zeppelin remain indisputably important, and on 20 days their oeuvre can be approached from 20 different if not wholly distinct angles, making these 24 tracks quite useful as an impetus for observations.

“Good Times Bad Times” and “Communication Breakdown” (their debut US single!) succinctly emphasize Zep’s crucial hand in the formulation of hard rock and do so without really highlighting the essential blues component in their personality. But don’t let’s get ahead of ourselves; the Jake Holmes-lift “Dazed and Confused” (a.k.a. Drum Fill 101) does illustrate their adeptness in swiping preexisting, and to put it politely, often unacknowledged sources.

So too does “Babe I’m Going to Leave You,” written by Anne Bredon (the version found on Joan Baez in Concert, Part 1 is reportedly the inspiration) and not traditional as it was credited for years (in fairness by Baez as well as Zep). It provides adequate early representation of the band’s folky aspects and rounds out Led Zeppelin’s entries rather nicely.

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If you’re of a certain age, the Sunday night of September 9th, 1956 is seared indelibly upon your memory, because it’s the night Elvis Presley first appeared on CBS Television’s The Ed Sullivan Show before 60 million viewers, changing your young life forever. If you’re of a younger age, the Sunday night of February 9, 1964 is the one you’ll never forget, because it’s the night The Beatles first appeared on CBS Television’s The Ed Sullivan Show before 63 million viewers, changing your young life forever.

But if you’re my age—which is to say you were born at the tail end of the Baby Boom—the Saturday morning (and by that I mean 1 AM) of April 9, 1976 is the moment that changed everything forever, because it’s the night Gary Wright appeared on CBS Television’s The Midnight Special. And just as was the case with Elvis and The Beatles, I wasn’t the only kid who would never be the same.

I would guesstimate that there were sixty-three other kids across the country who watched in awe as Wright, the American keyboardist who made his name in the English band Spooky Tooth, played his smash single “Dream Weaver” before cavorting across the stage with his portable keyboard as he “rocked out” to his other smash single “Love Is Alive.” And I would venture that all sixty-four of us wanted keyboards we could wear around our necks. Gary didn’t play a keytar that life-altering night but he was a keytar pioneer, and had he been playing one I dare say we’d all have gone out of our little minds.

I knew a visionary when I saw one. I may not have known that Wright had befriended and absorbed the Eastern religion of former Beatle George Harrison after playing keyboards on Harrison’s 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass, but you didn’t have to be a holy man to realize Gary was a sublimely spiritual being, one who had pierced the veil of Maya through means of pure keyboard karma. I too wanted to hop aboard the Dream Weaver train. I too wanted my very own astral plane. That wasn’t Gary Wright on stage that night—it was an avatar of Krishna. He wasn’t playing music—he was preaching an escape from samsara rebirth to the masses.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | July 26, 2024 sees the global reissue of The Police Synchronicity, released in multiple formats, including a 6-disc Limited Edition Deluxe Boxset containing 55 previously unreleased tracks, new liner notes and interviews, rare archive memorabilia, and unseen photographs. It’s a treasure trove for Police fans.

Synchronicity hit No.1 around the world, selling over 15 million globally (8.5 million sales of which were from the US alone). The No.1 hit single “Every Breath You Take” would go on to be the most played song in radio history, with more than 15 million plays.

The critical reception for Synchronicity was no less impressive: the album received five Grammy® Award nominations in 1984 and won three (Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, Song of the Year (“Every Breath You Take”) and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal). The album also received press acclaim and has since appeared in many lists, including #159 in Rolling Stone magazine’s Greatest 500 Albums of All Time.

This reissue has been three years in the making, created with the band’s involvement and endorsement. The accompanying 62-page boxset booklet contains extensive new liner notes written by acclaimed music journalist Jason Draper, who details the conception and infamous birth of arguably The Police’s masterpiece.

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Celebrating Lenny Davidson on his 80th birthday. —Ed.

The Dave Clark Five may be one of the most underrated groups of the British Invasion. While it was one of the many groups from the era who faded away after its hit success in the early and mid-’60s, they scored many hits and their music holds up extremely well.

The group had eight top ten hits in the UK and the US, and one number one in the UK and the US. Unlike most of the artists who hailed from the original British Invasion, the group was not from Liverpool, but was instead from Tottenham, in North London. The group’s powerful sound was led by Clark on drums and keyboardist Mike Smith, and also sometimes included honking brass from Denis Payton. The other two original members were Rick Huxley and Lenny Davidson. The group was most well-known for its hits “Glad All Over,” “Bits and Pieces,” “Anyway You Want It,” “Because,” and its powerhouse cover of “Do You Love Me,” but also for such singles as “Catch Us If You Can,” “Having A Wild Weekend,” and “Over and Over.”

Dave Clark has been an attentive curator of the group’s legacy and the last few years have seen a number of excellent reissues. The latest reissue is All The Hits: The 7″ Collection. The box set includes 10 seven-inch, 45 RPM releases. Rather than duplicating UK or US singles from the 1960s, these 10 records are reconfigured “double-A” sides, with newly conceived picture sleeve cover art and labels that are new BMG labels of various colors. The music was remastered at Abbey Road by Miles Showell under the supervision of Dave Clark in 2019. As can be expected, the sound quality is superb and listening to these dazzling British Invasion hits on 45-RPM, seven-inch vinyl is the way to go.

In some cases, this box set goes against the way more and more reissues are formatted. Typically, new mixes of original albums or individual tracks are presented, along with B-sides, outtakes, demos, and various studio takes. Also, album jackets, gatefolds, inner sleeves, labels, and original extras usually are preserved with great attention to detail, or in some cases are augmented with additional new materials and lavish books.

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Formed in New York City by four North Carolinians, The dB’s, consisting of singer-guitarist-songwriters Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple, bassist Gene Holder, and drummer Will Rigby, set a high standard for power pop in the 1980s. In so doing they helped to set the template for the decade’s college rock upsurge. Their excellent debut Stands for DeciBels sees reissue June 14 via Propeller Sound Recordings. Amazingly, this remastered edition is the first time the set has been released on vinyl in the United States.

That The dB’s couldn’t get a US record deal until Like This, their third LP, was released in 1984 by Bearsville, is considered by many to be a stumper. Scratching noggins, the question is posed: how could a band this catchy, energetic, and resistant to cliché be ignored in the land that nurtured them, and not once but twice, as their sophomore album Repercussion (also released in 1981 by Albion) was also an import only affair in the USA (notably, prior to the release of Like This, Chris Stamey had exited the dB’s).

It’s pretty clear in retrospect that by 1981 The dB’s were moving rapidly in a direction opposite from prevailing trends in their home country (and to a lesser extent, the UK and Europe). It’s been said that the 1960s didn’t definitively become the ’60s until The Beatles made their international splash (others have dated it to the emergence of The Beach Boys). The point where the ’70s are firmly established is hazier, but it did take a few years. In the ’80s, the change came hard and fast.

By 1981 punk had been firmly rejected in commercial terms. Disco had made its exit. New wave was slowly developing into synth pop. Hard rock sounded different. R&B sounded different. And the changes were coming so fast that throwback tendencies had sprung up, a few even commercially successful. But if intrinsically rooted in power pop (Stamey having played with Alex Chilton in NYC in 1977 and with Mitch Easter in The Sneakers), The dB’s were forward thinking rather than retro minded.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | “Trevor Tanner’s songs scraped away at the surface of suburban normality to uncover the darkness beneath, and he knew how to deliver a bombastic powerchord and reverb drenched riff.” —Q Magazine

The Bolshoi were different. Their songs were dark and subversive, sufficient evidence for many critics to corral them under the “Gothic” banner at the time of their debut album Friends—but they really only “flirted” with Goth. They oozed dark, pensive lyrics supported with inventive pop-goth guitar making them nearly impossible to categorize.

We are excited to reissue their 1986 full-length debut album Friends (or Fiends) on July 12th. Out of print for at least 30 years, this pressing is on white vinyl. Upon release, Friends reached the top of the Alternative charts, and the album’s first single “Away” hit #1 on the CMJ charts. There were a ton of amazing reviews for the album that featured critics trying desperately to categorize their music.

The suburban surrealism of the lyrics was rooted in the stories of characters on the fringes of society rather than brooding romantics, with an undercurrent of boredom, inadequacy, and violence. Not the usual themes for pop success!

Based in London, the band consisted of Trevor Tanner (lead vocals, guitar), Nick Chown (bass), Jan Kalicki (drums), and Paul Clark (keyboards). With powerful live shows The Bolshoi built a substantial following before disbanding in 1988.

The Rolling Stones are wrapping up their Hackney Diamonds US run. It’s yet another successful tour in the books. It’s uncertain whether any of the shows from this tour will be released on any audio or video formats. Regardless, there’s no shortage of live vinyl albums, CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays of past tours from the group.

For decades, the band has put out live releases from far in the past and some from very recent tours. There have been live releases from intimate clubs and even huge stadiums. Since Bill Wyman left the group in January of 1993, there have been many releases and now since the passing of Charlie Watts in August of 2021, there have been others.

While Steve Jordan has filled in admirably for Watts, being able to get a new live Stones release from the band when Watts was still in the group is more than welcome. Getting one from a concert hall is even better. Such is the case with this new release recoded at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. It is actually another official bootleg release, from a series that began in 2011 and now includes 24 releases, with three that are part of the From the Vault Collection. Prior to the series, there were 10 live Stones albums and concurrently with these official bootlegs, another three live albums. The vinyl version of this release is a real winner with 20 songs spread out over three albums.

From tour to tour there are set lists that include certain staples, but the songs performed for a given tour that were added or dropped are what make these official bootleg live releases so much fun. Some of the more interesting choices here are “Hand of Fate” (Black and Blue), “Dance Part 1” (Emotional Rescue), “Stray Cat Blues” (Beggars Banquet), and a cover of “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” with guest Solomon Burke adding vocals.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | The second in a series of half speed mastered studio albums from Pete Townshend, All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes and White City (A Novel) have been released.

These limited-edition black vinyl versions have been mastered by long-time Who engineer Jon Astley and cut for vinyl by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios with a half-speed mastering technique which produces a superior vinyl cut and are packaged in original sleeves with obi strips and certificates of authenticity.

Initially released in June 1982, All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes was Pete Townshend’s third solo album and contained two singles “Uniforms (Corp d’Esprit)” as well as “Somebody Saved Me” a song The Who had recorded for their 1981 album Face Dances, The Who version didn’t appear until 1997. The track “The Sea Refuses No River” has since been singled out as one of Townshend’s most underrated songs.

Chris Thomas produced the album, featuring Simon Philips on drums and Jody Linscott on percussion, who would later perform with The Who. Promo videos were made for seven tracks from the album (“Prelude,” “Face Dances Pt 2,” “Communication,” “Uniforms,” “Stardom In Acton,” “Exquisitely Bored,” and an alternate version of “Slit Skirts”) by renowned photographers Davies & Starr (Chalkie Davies and his then-wife Carol Starr) and released on VHS. Pete didn’t get to play the album live as three months after its release, The Who’s “It’s Hard” appeared, and the band undertook their farewell tour.

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With his new album Next Year’s Ghost, Zachary Cale has solidified his position amongst the top rank of contemporary singer-songwriters. Taking shape during the COVID pandemic, the record also illuminates Cale’s versatility, as it shifts the instrumental focus to keyboards for the first time. Offering consistently robust songs and finding the composer in strong voice, the set is available now on vinyl and digital through ORG Music.

Learning that Zachary Cale essentially taught himself how to play piano during the COVID shutdown, and then, after he’d sharpened his abilities and (assumedly) raised his confidence, wrote the eight songs that shape Next Year’s Ghost, makes an already considerable achievement doubly impressive. A couple blind listens to the record left no inkling that Cale was a recent learner of the keys; instead, he sounded like he’d been adept for years and had simply chosen to complete his most recent batch of songs with the instrument.

Piano appealingly deepens the aura of the singer-songwriter that has long enveloped Cale’s work. Opener “Heart of Tin” leaves the impression of an artist who sat at the bench and formulated the melody across hours, days and weeks; Turns out, as Cale learned play, initially just engaging in a therapeutic act during a highly stressful time to be alive, patient song construction is exactly what happened.

Cale’s fundamental strength is songwriting, but his extensive discography thrives on how those compositions are realized; mid-way through “Heart of Tin,” the accompanying musicians shift into full-band gear, a long-established maneuver that avoids sounding stale through the inspired execution. Along with Cale, the core band features Shahzad Ismaily (Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog) on bass, Korg, Arp and mellotron, Uriah Theriault (Okkervil River) on electric guitar, and Jeremy Gustin (Woodsy Pride) on drums and percussion.

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