579. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

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(June 2024) Episode 579 is SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES. This episode covers the Miracles’ recordings with and after Smokey, and his solo efforts. The Miracles were the first Motown act to make it big, a legend in their own right. Plus, as Berry Gordy’s right-hand man with his own numerous hit songwriting and production credits, Robinson’s fame involves so much music we consider classic.  That said, the music recorded by Smokey and the Miracles tended toward safer pop, without the edge or social consciousness of peers, taking them down a notch among Motown artists for me. You know how I love falsetto, and Smokey is one of the best. But it’s 100% for him, and I find falsetto is used best in contrast with lower range singing, as with The Temptations or Marvin Gaye.

Favorite joint album: A Pocketful of Miracles

Favorite Smokey album: A Quiet Storm

Favorite Miracles album: Renaissance

Favorite joint song: I Second That Emotion

Favorite Smokey song: Cruisin’

Favorite Miracles song: Love Machine

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: A complication of their hits is essential for any 60s R&B collection. For a deeper dive try the mid-70s Miracles cuts (after Smokey).

578. Acrimony

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(June 2024) Episode 578 is ACRIMONY, a band out Wales considered a pioneer of stoner metal in the UK. By now you know the reasons for my love for this subgenre. Acrimony combines the loud low fuzz with space rock elements, and at times delivers the deliciousness with a boogie not often associated with this music. Unfortunately, their approach didn’t catch on in the UK, and they broke up shortly after 1996’s Tumuli Shroomaroom, a masterwork of the subgenre.

Favourite album: Tumuli Shroomaroom

Favourite song:  Heavy Feather

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Strong recommendation for Tumuli Shroomaroom but also for the earlier EPs.

577. Manfred Mann

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(June 2024) Episode 577 is MANFRED MANN. Continuing my tour of British Invasion-era bands, I must clarify that this episode is about Manfred Mann the band, not group member Manfred Mann for whom the band was named over his objection, and went on to a solo career. Confusing I know. They got attention as an R&B outfit which, to my ear, is arguably second best among UK groups behind the Stones. Their early pop hit, however, the instantly recognizable “Do Wah Diddy Diddy,” was not indicative of that sound. But variety was also their mark, as band members brought their interest in jazz to the mix. This makes their albums more interesting but less consistent, and there’s the typical complicating overlap of UK and US releases. After 1966, a new singer and a new label meant a new direction. Their three late-1960s albums offer a more sophisticated sound and some baroque rock gems; I like this stuff best although critics rate the R&B recordings higher.   

Favourite album: Mighty Garvey!

Favourite song: The Mighty Quinn

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: I usually commend a greatest hits disc for such groups, but this might merit a deeper dive into the two periods to see which you prefer.

576. Venom

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(June 2024) Episode 576 is VENOM. They emerged late phase of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) and became influential in extreme metal and thrash metal. And their album Black Metal gave the name to that subgenre. Lots of album and song titles featuring “Satan,” “hell,” “devil,” and “death,” and headbanging riffs, as we would expect. But listening from a four-decade distance, it’s hard to separate their music from the metal clichés that they helped create. I prefer the sound on the later (21st century) albums with a cleaner production.

Favorite album: Metal Black

Favorite song:  A Good Day to Die

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: Metal fans will want to check out their first couple of albums to hear the influence, but I think there are better places to get your fix for thrash or black metal.

575. Paul Revere & the Raiders

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(June 2024) Episode 575 is PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS. I had long thought Paul Revere and the Raiders were a plastic contraption trying to ride the wave of the British Invasion, largely due to their Revolutionary War-era costumes. I was very wrong. They had their origins in Boise, Idaho, of all places, as an instrumental rock band, but were able to capitalize on the emerging popularity of guitar rock with a version of “Louie, Louie” as other Pacific Northwest bands were doing the same. This sound, led by the semi-snarling vocals of Mark Lindsay, helped define what we now call American garage rock. Moving to Los Angeles and absorbing its influences, the Raiders’ seven (!) albums recorded between 1966 and 1968 are all really good, with a fair number of original compositions (although their best songs tended to be written by others). They transitioned well into the 1970s with more earthy songs, before fading off into the nostalgia circuit. One knock on their status (for me) was frequent lineup changes, with Lindsay and the eponymous Paul Revere Dick being the only constants.

Favorite album: Midnight Ride

Favorite song: Kicks

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: A compilation of their hits will be good, but you can dig in further with any of those 1966-68 albums from Just Like Us to Something Happening.

574. William Grant Still

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(May 2024) Episode 574 is WILLIAM GRANT STILL, sometimes known as the “Dean of African-American composers. He wrote in an array of forms, including symphonies, ballets, operas, choral works, solo works and chamber music, in the middle part of the 20th century. His jazz-influenced style is similar to his American contemporaries Gershwin and Copeland which, while not my favorite, is distinctively evocative of the period. Still put forth political and racial themes – titles like “And They Lynched Him on A Tree” and “The Colored Soldiers Who Died for Democracy” are not subtle – which give his works added interest and historical context. Still’s distinctions as an African American include the first to conduct a major U.S. orchestra, the first to have his works performed by major American orchestras and opera companies, and the first to have an opera performed on national television.

Favorite piece: Symphony No. 4 “Autochthonous”

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: Even if you’re not a fan of the sound of that period he is worth checking out.

573. Bessie Smith

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(May 2024) Episode 573 is BESSIE SMITH. She is known as “Empress of the Blues” for being the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. Her vocal delivery over piano and jazz ensemble arrangements has come to be known as vaudeville or classic blues, to distinguish from the guitar-based styles. We are lucky to have a good set of recordings, despite their vintage, that provide a good appreciation of her powerful voice.

Favorite song: Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: There are several compilations out there; all good.

572. XTC

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Episode 572 is XTC. As mentioned, I’ve enjoyed getting into the stuff that burst of the late-70s UK post-punk scene. Unlike others, XTC did not start out as a punk band, but they slid right into the emerging sound with an angular rhythmic attack and bouncy vocals. Their beats crept up to the edge of, but never got to, ska, giving echoes of Madness. At times their boisterous vocal style evokes Adam Ant, with a bit of Joe Jackson. Like contemporaries the Stranglers and Wire, XTC endured for years, creatively adapting their sound and style, while avoiding the sinkhole of 80s synths and gated drums. The early albums are their distinctive best, but my favorite thing they did was two records posing as a late-60s British psychedelic band, the Dukes of Stratosphear – spot-on homage to my most cherished of subgenres.

Favourite album (XTC): Black Sea

Favourite album overall: Chips from the Chocolate Fireball, the combined disc of the two Dukes of Stratosphear recordings

Favourite song: Generals and Majors

Song that is so familiar that I know from somewhere but I cannot remember where I know it from: Dear God

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: The Dukes albums for sure (that’s just me), but for the core sound, White Music, Drums and Wires, and Black Sea.

571. The Hollies

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(May 2024) Episode 571 of the is THE HOLLIES. I have tended to discount British Invasion bands that were not among the Big Four, as but in the recent episode on Dave Clark Five, I realize my mistake with The Hollies too. I was surprisingly pleased to learn they are far more than the familiar handful of hit singles and for being launching pad for Graham Nash. Their best and most distinctive feature is the top-notch harmonies. Their arc is a familiar one: initial albums featuring R&B covers; blossoming when they start recording original material, including the obligatory 1967 psychedelic album; flowing into the 1970s with power pop and soft rock, enjoyable but not as good as before Nash left; then a slide into blah in the late 1970s, 1980s and 2010s. They always stayed on the lighter side of pop-rock, never getting adventurous like their more famous peers. And they’re still around today with two original members, and two others still alive but not with the group.

Favourite album: Evolution

Favourite song: Bus Stop

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: The four albums from Would You Believe (1966) to Butterfly (1967), although you’ll also want a greatest hits disc to capture Bus Stop, Dear Eloise, Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress, and The Air That I Breathe.*

* Fun fact: As noted in my Connections page, the chords from the verses in “The Air That I Breathe” (1972) were lifted by Radiohead into “Creep” (1992), and later used by Lana Del Ray in “Get Free” (2017) and in the title song “Red Swan” from the third season (2018) of the anime series “Attack on Titan.”

570. Catherine Lamb

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(May 2024) Episode 570 is CATHERINE LAMB, a contemporary composer of sound. Her compositions explore the harmonic spaces between conventional notes, liminal tones and textures, aural shapes. Her sheet music consists not of standard notes but of geometric shapes, not unlike those of George Crumb. It sounds like liquid mathematics, and I marvel at the vision inside Lamb’s mind. I find this music mesmerizing and fascinating.

Favorite piece (solo/duo): Prisma Interius VII

Favorite piece (ensemble): String Quartet

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: It’s not for everyone, but I really like this kind of stuff.