Neil Sedaka: Pure Gold

This is not what I had expected.  I had heard of Neil Sedaka but had no idea of what style of music he did.  Actually, I did have an idea and I thought it was more Neil Diamond for some reason.  And I think the album cover confirmed my thoughts.  And boy I was off.  This is some ’50’s bubblegum textbook sock hop stuff… from my mom’s library I am sure.  Pure Gold?  Not in my mind but obviously in others.  Looking on Wikipedia he’s sung tunes like “Calendar Girl” and “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do”.  Neither of which are on this Pure Gold album.

Not a horrible listen but really not that interested spinning this one again anytime soon.  Just not my style.

 

Neil Sedaka:  Pure Gold

1976 – RCA

Side One

1. Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen
2. The Diary
3. King Of Clowns
4. I Go Ape
5. Run Samson Run

Side Two

1. Look At The Rainbow
2. Stairway To Heaven
3. The Girl For Me
4. You Mean Everything To Me
5. You’re Knockin’ Me Out

Daryl Hall & John Oates: Big Bam Boom

Not sure how this album ended up in my library but it was kind of a fun random listen.  It’s in great condition but a super thin pressing, as I’m sure a lot of the pop albums of the mid-’80’s were.  The album cover is so thin you can hardly read the spine.  Anyway, side one opens up with something that I think is totally uncharacteristic for Hall & Oates.  Kind of techno mix of stuff.  A short track that leads into “Out of Touch” and “Method Of Modern Love”, two songs that I was familiar with.

Side two opens with “Going Thru The Motions” which is way funky and jazzy for what I was expecting.  As side two progressed it got overly 80’s synth-pop, more than I could appreciate.  Almost embarrassing enough that I wanted to close my windows so that the neighbors wouldn’t judge me.  Ha.

Like I said, this was a fun listen… mostly because the album was in such good condition and the tracks were clean and full of rich sound.  I’ve also been catching a few episodes of Live At Daryl’s House, a show that’s currently on TV, so it was good to get a bit of his early history.  If you’re unfamiliar with this show I would look it up.  He plays with some great artists like Joe Walsh, Darius Rucker, and even Billy Gibbons from the famed ZZ Top.

 

Daryl Hall & John Oates:  Big Bam Boom

October 12, 1984 – RCA Records

Side One

1. Dance On Your Knees
2. Out Of Touch
3. Method Of Modern Love
4. Bank On Your Love
5. Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid

Side Two

1. Going Thru The Motions
2. Cold Dark And Yesterday
3. All American Girl
4. Possession Obsession

Bay City Rollers: Greatest Hits

This one was a tough one for me to get through.  First of all, I have absolutely NO idea where the album came from.  Teen pop from the mid-70’s?  This would have been after my mom’s time and it was definitely before my time.  However, I do remember them as a band from that time.  I guess it just wasn’t my thing.

Anyway, I had high, well maybe not high, hopes that I might enjoy this one.  I was anticipating that song “Saturday Night” because of one of my favorite cheesy movies The Spirit of ’76, a must see in my book if you want to have some fun with the 70’s.  But “Saturday Night” was the last song on side two making me endure the entire album to get to the one.  It was not the greatest of journey’s.  I did kind of recognized the first song on side one, “I Only Want To Be With You”.  The rest of the album was totally lost on me.  And that’s about enough dialog on this one.

PS – Cover photo credits go to “16 Magazine, Inc.”

 

Bay City Rollers: Greatest Hits

1977 – Arista

Side 1

1. I Only Want To Be With You
2. Money Honey
3. Rock And Roll Love Letter
4. The Way I Feel Tonight
5. Yesterday’s Hero

Side 2

1. Dedication
2. Maybe I’m A Fool To Love You
3. You Made Me Believe In Magic
4. Don’t Stop The Music
5. Saturday Night