THE MIGHTY CLOUDS OF JOY - 'TIME'

"Time" (Dave Crawford) - 3:18

OMG - I'd owned this LP for a decade and never gotten around to playing it. Sunday morning I was adding a photo of the LP to my BadCatRecords website and decided to give it a  spin.  Good thing the basement blinds were shut,or my neighbors would have seen a 60 year old white guy shaking his fat ass to this amazing tune. If you thought the Mighty Clouds of  Joy were just another pompous Gospel group,check this track out.  The best of Philadelphia International and secular moves ...

Check it out: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlZD3sjZUgg

THE MALIBOOZ -"CAUGHT A WAVE"

"Caught a Wave" (John Zambetti) - 3:43

I'll keep these comments real short - addictive, top-rank dreamy beach rock.  Imagine the best Brian Wilson song that Brian Wilson never wrote.

For anyone interested,YouTube has a promotional clip at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTgXusqo5jM

THE MAD LADS - "PASS THE WORD (THE WORD IS LOVE)"

"Pass the Word (The Word Is Love)" (John Gary Williams - William Brown - Dale Warren) - 6.04

Okay you can skip the first 2:46 of this one since it's nothing but mindless spoken word jive.   That said, if you get through the extended intro to the real song, you'll be rewarded with one of the best slices of  mid-'70s group soul you've ever heard.  Kicked along by a pounding piano riff, John Gary William's Gospel-soaked voices, and the group's silky smooth harmony vocals, this one built and built to the point  your turntable threatened to explode.

Check it out courtesy of YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiTYbrgKM3U

NILS LOFGREN - "VALENTINE"

"Valentine" (Nils Lofgren) - 4:28

I'm not a gigantic power ballad fan, but I'll make an exception for this tune.  One of the prettiest tunes Lofgren ever wrote and having Bruce Springsteen on vocals, makes it even sweeter. Plus,the lyrics are only mildly cringe worthy.

The tune was released as a single in the US (in the US it was issued by Rykodisc as a promotional CD single) and throughout the world in 7" and 12" formats. There's even a promotional video for it (standard,cheesy '80s vibe - seems like 50% of all MTV videos were filmed on the Bonneville Salt Flats), but in spite of the significant marketing efforts, the tune attracted little attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfdNjdWYgwU

THE ISLEY BROTHERS - "TELL ME WHEN YOU NEED ME AGAIN"

Tell Me When You Need Me Again (Parts 1 and 2) (Rudolph Isley - O'Kelly Isley - Ernie Isley  - Marvin Isley - Christopher Jasper) - 5:03  rating: ***** stars

Flashbook time - Brussels American High School class of '77 ...  

This was one of those albums that represent that special time in my life.  Yeah, most of my class was listening to Fleetwood Mac, or Journey (okay Mark Funk was listening to Robin Trower and all sorts of oddball sounds), but The Isley were the band that caught my ear.  And 'Tell Me When You Need Me Again' was amongst the cream of the Isleys' crop.  

The entire "Go For Your Guns" album was magical (I can't even begin to count the number of times I played it), but 'Tell Me When You Need It Again' managed to blend the very best of soul and hard rock into a five minute package.  Reflecting one of Ron Isley's most impressive vocals, Marvin Isley's fattttttt slap bass, Christopher Jasper's burping moog, Ernie Isley's Hendrix-inspired guitar, and a refrain as addictive as any Class 1 drug ...  what wasn't their to love about this one?

And if you haven't heard this track, here's a link to a YouTube clip: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSPwhpDqF3k&list=OLAK5uy_mvrBXNfhM_raXOkO2tbzeTDgOlNLln67k&index=3

HOLLIES - "GIVE ME TIME"

Give Me Time (Allan Clarke - Terry Sylvester) - 3:06  rating: ***** stars

In December 2019 I decided I would update all my BadCatRecords sales listings to include LP cover photos.  When I originally put my record collection online, I did it quickly, only putting up photos for the really expensive items. Anyhow, at the time I started to upload the images, I thought it might take me six months to finish the project.  Here I am a year later and I've done "A" through most of "H" and "N" through "S".

While adding "H" entries I discovered I owned a ton of albums by The Hollies.  While adding the LPphotos I started listening to some Hollies tunes and rediscovered what a great band these guys were.

Of of their 1975  Another Night" album, 'Give Me Time' simply captured that special Hollies sound.  Allan Clarke's instantly recognizable voice, those to-die-for-harmonies, coupled  a wonderful "Irish bar" melody made it a track that could have been a massive radio hit had anyone at the label, or on radio been paying attention.  And that damn hook sets it's hooks in your head and won't let go ...  "give me time, give me, give me time ..."

And for anyone who wants to check it out themselves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxIhQWbF49Y

CHRIS HILLMAN - "CLEAR SAILING"

Clear Sailin' (Chris Hillman - Richard Marx - Rick Roberts) - 4:31  rating: ***** stars

Chris Hillman's always struck me as having been The Byrd's forgotten secret ingredient. That didn't do him much good surrounded by the likes of Gene Clark, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, and Gram Parsons, but at least some of us noticed his talents.

His solo work is uniformly good, but to my ears mid-'70s  country-rock  quickly starts to suffer from a sounds-the-same  slickness.  That's certainly the case with much of 1977's "Clear Sailin'".   Luckily the title track is one of the exceptions.  Yeah, your life many not need another mid-tempo ballad, but this one has a beautiful melody and the lyrics are actually  rather  thought provoking.  Nice guitar solo from John Brennan.  

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