Elevation (Television) (LP 4107 - 4108)

Television  Marquee Moon (Vinyl, Elektra Records, 1977) *****  

Television  Television (CD, Capitol Records, 1992) **** 

Genre: New wave, alt rock

Places I remember: Sydney music shop, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: See No Evil 

Gear costume: Marquee Moon

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: Television are one of those seminal bands from the late seventies who forged a new, more cerebral way of rocking (along with Patti Smith and Talking Heads). Television were Tom Verlaine (vocals, guitar), Richard Lloyd (guitar), Billy Ficca (drums), and Fred Smith (bass - not to be confused with Fred 'Sonic' Smith - MC5 and Patti's husband).

Marquee Moon is their debut album. I asked my dad to get a copy of it while he was on a business trip to Sydney and he came through for me! I'd read a review of it in Sounds and it sounded like my sort of stuff.

I instantly loved it - all those spiky guitar lines by Verlaine and Lloyd, married to Tom's vocal delivery were a perfect combination. Nick Kent in NME said that the sound was 'vigorous, sophisticated, and innovative' and he wasn't wrong.

The band broke up after second album Adventure* in 1978 and then the four regrouped in 1992! The best thing that can be said of Television (the album) is that they still sound absolutely unique. It's a Television for the nineties - clever modern approaches to basic melodies and rhythms. I really like it but it's not even as commercially viable as Marquee Moon, so it fell on deaf ears unfortunately.

Where do they all belong? *I used to have a copy of Adventure on a cassette tape but didn't play it much and haven't bothered finding a CD version. It's biggest problem was that it followed Marquee Moon, so I should give it another shot.

Guiding star (Teenage Fanclub) (LP 4101- 4106)

Teenage Fanclub  Bandwagonesque (CD, Sony Music, 1991) *****  

Teenage Fanclub  Thirteen (CD, Sony Music, 1993) **** 

Teenage Fanclub  Grand Prix (CD, Sony Music, 1995) ***** 

Teenage Fanclub  Songs from Northern Britain (CD, Sony Music, 1997) ***** 

Teenage Fanclub  Howdy! (CD, Sony Music, 1995) ***** 

Teenage Fanclub  Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds - A Short Cut to Teenage Fanclub  (CD, Poolside, 2003) ***** 

Genre: Alt pop, power pop

Places I remember: HMV

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Ain't That Enough (Songs from Northern Britain)

Gear costume: The Concept (Bandwagonesque)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: Teenage Fanclub of Bandwagonesque vintage (their third album) are Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Gerard Love (vocals, bass),
Raymond McGinley (guitar, vocals), Brendan O'Hare (drums, vocals).

Bandwagonesque was big in the year of Nevermind - in fact some critics rated it higher than Nirvani's album. Its punkish power pop sound is that good (think The Stooges mixed with Matthew Sweet and Big Star). 

Thirteen continued the brilliant harmony driven power pop and although it took the lads an age to make, it still rocks and pops like a good'un. The guitars are a big part of the band's sound which is why I mention Matthew Sweet - I can imagine him singing these songs and his influences are similar (Neil Young, The Byrds, Big Star). 

Grand Prix was summed up in The Independent's review as a "breathtakingly superb (album) with finely honed dynamics, nagging harmonies and deceptively simple lyrics". That could be said of all these albums actually.

Songs from Northern Britain was no exception. That description certainly fits the single Ain't That Enough. It's a perfect pop song! The rest of the album features another great set of power pop treats.

Howdy! was their seventh studio album and the streak of superb power pop albums was maintained thanks to the combined talents of the band's three singer/songwriters - Gerard Love, Raymond McGinley, and Norman Blake. Joining them on this album are their latest drummer -Paul Quinn and Finlay MacDonald on keyboards.

AllMusic focused on the band's 'top-drawer craft, lovely three-part harmonies, delicately strummed guitars, and flawless arrangements'. It is a more understated effort but still unmistakenly Teenage Fanclub.

The compilation/ taster album Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds - A Short-Cut to Teenage Fanclub is worth including. It includes fourteen singles, four album tracks, and three new songs written for the album.

The AllMusic review is, as usual, a great summation: It's all here, from the messy Badfinger "tude" of "The Concept" to the Sweetheart of the Rodeo-era harmonies on "Ain't That Enough" and the stereo-panning of "Dumb Dumb Dumb." Despite the omission of some fan favorites like "God Knows It's True," at 21 tracks this is easily the best from the beatific sludge of A Catholic Education to the criminally neglected Howdy!.

Where do they all belong? I have lost touch with TF since Howdy! - it turned into So Long! Be up for more if I ever come across them.

Age of ascent (Kokoroko) (LP 4100)

Kokoroko  Could We Be More (Vinyl, Brownswood Records, 2022) ****  

Genre: Jazz fusion

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Something's Going On

Gear costume: Tojo

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: Kokoroko is a jazz fusion band led by Sheila Maurice-Grey (trumpet), Cassie Kinoshi (sax), Oscar Jerome (guitar), Onome Edgeworth (percussion), plus others, playing a fusion of jazz, funk and Ghanaian music. That brew equals jazz fusion in my world.

Could We Be More is their debut album. It's rather wonderful on a hot day in the summer holidays while you sit in the right spot to catch potential cool breezes.

Where do they all belong? This was a punt - it was in the under 30 dollar rack at JB Hi Fi. Now I'll be on the lookout for their second and latest album - Tuff Times Never Last, released a few months ago.

Secret world (Tears For Fears) (LP 4096 - 4099)

Tears For Fears  Secret World Live in Paris (CD, XIII Bis Records, 2006) ***  

Tears For Fears  Songs for a Nervous Planet (CD, Concord Records, 2024) ****

Tears For Fears  Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits '82 - '92) (CD, Mercury Records, 1992) *****

Tears For Fears  Saturnine Martial & Lunatic (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1996) ***

Genre: Pop rock, alt pop

Places I remember: Fopp, Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Advice for the Young at Heart (Tears Roll Down)

Gear costume: Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears Roll Down)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: Live is an interesting proposition for Tears For Fears. Their studio records are crafted together using a variety of instruments and overdubs so, how can they perform those songs on stage? Secret World is from a concert at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris during their 2005 world tour provides an answer... 

Which is - it's difficult and it's different in that the songs take on a rougher, more rugged personality in a live setting.  The live band is Roland (vocals, guitar), Curt (vocals, bass), Doug Petty (keyboards), Charlton Pettus (lead guitar), Nick D'Virgilio (drums). The guitars and keyboards carry the musical burden.

The three studio songs tacked on to the end of the CD show how glaring the split between studio and live is. So, it's nice to have this CD but it's of curiosity value for the most part.

Songs for a Nervous Planet is a double album of mostly live material from a concert at the FirstBank Amphitheater in Franklin, Tennessee on 11 July 2023, while on their Tipping Point World Tour. The album also includes some new studio tracks (my vinyl addition has five studio tracks but leaves off a couple of songs that are on the 2CD set).

This is a much better presentation of TFF songs with basically the same musicians as Secret World (a new drummer and the addition of three backing vocalists are the only changes). The new studio tracks are on side one and they are excellent, then the three sides live dives into The Tipping Point and past glories. It deserved to sell and it did - becoming a top ten album in the UK and elsewhere.

On to the compilations: Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits '82 - '92) collects all the hits and big moments from their first ten years together.

Saturnine Martial & Lunatic is a compilation covering roughly the same period as Tears Roll Down, but rather than hits, this is a collection of B sides and rare tracks. It's obviously inconsistent given that premise but it does include the non-LP U.K. hit single The Way You Are and a cover of David Bowie's Ashes to Ashes.

Where do they all belong? As I said in my previous post - I hope they are not done. I love what they create together.

Mad world (Tears For Fears) (LP 4089 - 4095)

Tears For Fears  The Hurting (CD, Mercury Records, 1983) *****  

Tears For Fears  Songs from the Big Chair (CD, Mercury Records, 1985) ***** 

Tears For Fears  Sowing the Seeds of Love (Vinyl and CD, Mercury/Fontana Records, 1989) *****

Tears For Fears  Elemental (CD, Mercury Records, 1993) **** 

Tears For Fears  Raoul and the Kings of Spain (CD, Epic Records, 1995) *** 

Tears For Fears  Everybody Loves a Happy Ending (CD, New Door Records, 2004) *****

Tears For Fears  The Tipping Point (Vinyl, Concord Records, 2022) ***** 

Genre: Alt pop, synth pop, pop, new wave 

Places I remember: Fopp, HMV, Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Sowing the Seeds of Love (STSOL)

Gear costume: Head Over Heels (SFTBC)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: I have written about their singles before, and that's a good place to start because the band first came to my attention via the big hits: Mad World; Shout; Everybody Wants To Rule the World. However, those hits gave a false impression back in the eighties. It took me a while to back track to their albums and figure out what they were on about.

Tears For Fears is a duo made up of Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. They took their name from a phrase in Arthur Janov's book Prisoners of Pain. Yes - that Arthur Janov, who also introduced his primal scream techniques to John and Yoko. 

The Hurting, their debut, was wildly successful on the back of three singles (Mad World, Change, Pale Shelter) - a number 1 album! Strange given the album is centred around Roland Orzabal's songs about childhood traumas and Janov's theories. Those traumas make for a serious piece of art but this is music, not an autobiography and the guys walk the tightrope brilliantly! Number 1 album remember.

Given its early eighties origins, the music may be inspired by artists like Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads and Joy Division, but Tears For Fears create their own sound. 

The Hurting, and second album Songs from the Big Chair have some extraordinary songs - even though the BIG eighties sound does come crashing through at times (Broken on SFTBC is an example).

Songs from the Big Chair expands on the sound of The Hurting and is more outgoing (according to Curt Smith) with a more pop rock sound. That said, there are still some beautiful prog rock passages in thoughtful songs like I Believe and Listen.

There were a number of successful singles from their second album which I wrote about in that previous post: Mothers Talk; Shout; Everybody Wants to Rule the World; Head Over Heels. 

Sowing the Seeds of Love is their third album and my third five star review. It's also my favourite Tears For Fears album, thanks to the rich Beatlesque approach. They still manage to sound like Tears For Fears though. Every song is a work of art - it's their masterpiece. Unfortunately, the album and tour also resulted in the pair splitting up for a spell.

Vocalist Oleta Adams is a revelation on the album's opening song - the amazing Woman in Chains. The rest of the album reaches similar peaks. It's remarkable.

Although Tears For Fears continued on through the nineties, it was Roland on his own with additional musicians. His first album was Elemental in 1993. It backs off from the dense Beatlesque I am The Walrus style and is more soulful, while still sounding like TFF. Roland was the chief writer and producer and co-vocalist with Curt, after all. 

Interestingly, Brian Wilson Sad sounds like 10CC doing The Beach Boys, the deliberately nasty Fish Out of water is targeted at Curt but he found it funny (which it is actually), and the best song for me is the closer Goodnight Song.

Raoul and the Kings of Spain was Roland's next (and final) solo/Tears For Fears album. It met with commercial indifference but it's not that bad (some of the lyrics are risible - it has to be said). The Beatlesque mid period has been abandoned by this point and a mainstream rock sound dominates. That doesn't mean it's a disappointment. I like the album, but he clearly needed help with the singing and the lyrics.

That help would eventually come in 2004 with a Curt/Roland reunion and the album Everybody Loves a Happy Ending. I love this album! It's unashamedly a pop album and a return to a Beatlesque hook-filled anthems and their old art pop excess stance. This album stands proudly next to Jellyfish, 10CC, ELO et al. It's a triumphant return to form, but not yet an ending, happy or otherwise, thank goodness.

Because, seventeen years later (yes, 17) they were back with The Tipping Point. Six (yes, 6) singles were lifted from the album. That tells you how commercially viable this album is - chock full of catchy pop songs. The instrumentation has been scaled back throughout and that allows the songs to shine. Many of the songs are about the recent (in 2017) death of Roland's wife, Caroline - so it's a sober (not sombre) mood that exists throughout. Somehow, they manage to walk that tightrope. Yes, it was (another) triumphant return.   

Where do they all belong? Let's hope they continue the collaboration into the future - I need Tears For Fears music in my life. That's it for the studio albums, btw - onto the live ones and compilations next. 

Riding on a railroad (James Taylor) (LP 4083 - 4088)

James Taylor Carole King  In Intimate Performance (CD, Immortal Records, 2013) ****  

James Taylor  Feel the Moonshine (Vinyl, Let them eat vinyl, 2012) **  

James Taylor  13th May 1981 Atlanta Civic Hall CA (CD, Let them eat vinyl, 2010) ** 

James Taylor  Live (Vinyl, Let them eat vinyl, 2012) ***** 

James Taylor  Greatest Hits (Vinyl and CD, Warner Bros, 1976) ***** 

James Taylor  Greatest Hits 2 (CD, Columbia, 2000) ***** 

Genre: Soft rock, pop, folk rock

Places I remember: The Warehouse

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Up on the Roof (Live) 

Gear costume: Sun on the Moon (Live)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: The live albums are a crucial part of appreciating JT. He is relaxed and funny (pick it James!). He's also phenomenally talented.

James Taylor is joined by Carole King for In Intimate Performance. JT is recorded live and solo in London 1970 and then he joins Carole King in London 1971. Recording quality is superb, as are the performances. 

Feel the Moonshine is a 1976 FM radio broadcast from a concert in Pittsburgh. Although the packaging is pretty cool, the sound isn't brilliant, and the performance isn't one of JT's best. It's pretty much redundant given the quality of the next two albums in my list (actually nix that - it's especially so for Live).

James Taylor 13th May 1981 Atlanta Civic Hall CA is another FM broadcast. The problem is that they are not mixed well for CD - it's all a bit muddy - especially the vocals, although they sound fine on the radio, I'm picking.

Live is a double CD album and his first official live album. It's a compilation of the best versions from 14 shows during a 1992 tour but it plays like a continuous concert - just as I like it. 

Right from his self-effacing "Hi", you know you are in safe hands as he plays Sweet Baby James as the first song. From then on, it's a greatest hits live type of gig - so many great songs in his back pocket! The songs range from his debut album in 1968 (Something in the Way She Moves and Carolina in My Mind) to 1991. 

His inter-song introductions are great but sadly are edited on the Spotify version of this album - so do yourself a favour and go to the double album source (it was also released in a truncated one disc format as Best Live but the double is the superior format for once).

The two compilations reaffirm his genius for writing and/or performing hit singles. Most artists couldn't fill two albums with genuine hits but JT has no problem.

Volume 1 covers 1968 to 1976, although the two songs from James Taylor on Apple Records are re-recordings. It is JT's biggest selling record - a steady seller too. It's an excellent sampler of his work in the sixties and early seventies.

Volume 2 covers 1977 to the end of the nineties. - the Columbia years. There weren't as many hits as such in this period, but I know all of these songs and the inclusion of fan favourites through those years is a smart move. 

Both compilations provide an excellent picture of JT's talents.

Where do they all belong? I must remember not to be tempted by the sundry FM radio broadcasts albums again.

Carry me on my way (James Taylor) (LP 4079 - 4082)

James Taylor  October Road (CD, CBS Records, 2002) *** 

James Taylor  James Taylor at Christmas (CD, CBS Records, 2006) ***

James Taylor  Covers (CD, Hear Music, 2006) ***

James Taylor  Before This World (CD, Concord Records, 2015) ***

Genre: Folk rock, pop, soft rock

Places I remember: CD record club, JB Hi Fi, Starbucks

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: September Grass (October Road)

Gear costume: Wild Mountain Thyme (Before This World)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: Listening to a lot of James Taylor albums, as I am currently doing, has resulted in a few things become apparent. He didn't vary much over the decades, his vocals retain that warm smoothness without showing much wear and tear - he hasn't abused his vocal cords, his albums are mostly a couple of good songs and then some okay ones, and the pace of songs varies from slow to slower with an occasion jolting faster paced song.

October Road certainly conforms to all those JT tropes. Best song is the first - September Grass, followed by second song - October Road. The rest is JT on his usual course. Hard to argue with him, he's earned the right.

The Christmas album is a no-brainer and amazing that he hasn't thought of this before given Michael Bublé's success in this genre. The AllMusic critic sums this one up well - James Taylor's brilliantly titled James Taylor at Christmas is about as inoffensive a collection of seasonal classics as one could hope for. The legendary singer/songwriter's warm voice is the perfect vessel for "Winter Wonderland," "Jingle Bells," and the "Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" because it makes absolutely no impression on the listener.

It's all done in good taste with soft rock/gentle jazz chill sounds. Easy to put on while dressing the tree or eating Christmas pudding.

The covers album - also brilliantly titled - Covers, done for Starbucks, works when JT tackles songs by fellow singer-songwriters but not so successful when he has a go at rock'n'roll classics in a non-rock'n'roll fashion. That means a boomer generation thumbs up for Wichita Lineman, Shiver Me Timbers and Suzanne.

My final studio album is 2015's Before This world. It came out 13 years after October Road and was commercially successful - reaching #1 on the Billboard charts. It's a good JT album - cozy, but not too cozy (like the Christmas album). Ironically, my highlight is a cover - Wild Mountain Thyme.

Where do they all belong? I won't be looking to plug gaps in my collection so no American Standard - his album of covers from 2020. Next up in the JT collection: live albums and compilations.

Summer's here (James Taylor) (LP 4075 - 4078)

James Taylor  Dad Loves His Work (CD, Columbia Records, 1981) ***  

James Taylor  That's Why I'm Here (Vinyl and CD, Columbia Records, 1985) ****  

James Taylor  Never Die Young (CD, Columbia Records, 1988) ***  

James Taylor  Hourglass (CD, Columbia Records, 1997) ***  

Genre: Folk rock, pop

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, Real Groovy Records, The Warehouse, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: That's Why I'm Here

Gear costume: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (That's Why I'm Here), Sun on the Moon (Never Die Young)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: At the start of the eighties Carly and James' relationship was in trouble. Carly's ultimatum to be more of a house husband/father resulted in the end of their eleven-year-old marriage. Sadly, James couldn't/ wouldn't give up the work.

Dad Loves His Work emerged out of that period. Her Town Too (a duet with JD Souther) and Stand and Fight were the two best songs on the follow up to Flag (which I don't own). It was another patchy album overall. With every new release I was hoping for another album like Sweet Baby James, One Man Dog or JT.

Thankfully, the next one was like those three. That's Why I'm Here became my go-to JT album during the eighties. Aside from Mona (another 'funny' song about a pig), and maybe the cover of Everyday (too laid back?) each song was a joy to listen to - especially the title song.

After a shaky start with Dad Loves is Work, JT was doing well in the eighties with his next two. Still, three albums in ten years wasn't many, given he released eight in the seventies. Never Die Young is another strong album, without being a killer album. There were no killer singles either, but Sun on the Moon and Sweet Potato Pie are bang on the money!

JT avoids all of the eighties production ticks and just keeps doing what he does - to good effect for the most part.

The nineties were even quieter - only two studio albums. I don't have the first one (New Moon Shine) so Hourglass is next. It's quite an introspective album, as JT examines past events and memories. Along the way he writes about his relationship with his second wife Kathryn Walker (coincidentally it also lasted eleven years - 1985 to 96). It's another inconsistent album - some great songs and some lesser material.

Where do they all belong? Next up - studio albums from the new millennium.