gts013 “utopish”
01-01 Nat Shilkret – Victor 22444 – Get Happy (1930)
— after Black Friday in 1929, record sales slumped hard. Tunes like this were the music biz trying to save their own ass.
01-02 Joey Ramone – Don’t Worry About Me 01 – What A Wonderful World (2002)
— released after his death, hard to one-up Louis Armstrong.
01-03 Jimmy Cliff – Jimmy Cliff 06 – Wonderful World, Beautiful People (1969)
— born James Chambers, debut album influenced lots of musicians, and created The Police out of thin air.
01-04 Talking Heads – Naked 05 – (Nothing But) Flowers (1988)
— nice, but hopefully they left one factory up, the one that makes penicillin.
02-01 John Anderson – Olias Of Sunhillow 07 – Moon Ra – Chords – Song Of Search (1976)
— bought it unheard, turned out to be one of prog’s best concept albums.
02-02 Betty Boop – Do Your Share
— at this point in the cartoon, Betty is running a hospital ward for injured animals.
03-01 The Fall – Code Selfish 20 – Legend Of Xanadu (1992)
— hey, it was either this or Olivia Newton John.
03-02 Rush – AFTK 102 – Xanadu (1977)
— second Rush album bought, still my favorite 40 years later.
04-01 JoAnn Campbell – All The Hits 01 – A Kookie Little Paradise (1962)
— a waterfall of soda. Apparently this paradise doesn’t have flies.
04-02 Our Plastic Dream – AJ 11411 – A Little Bit Of Shangrila (1967)
— rejoinder from the heart of psychedelia.
04-03 Eagles – Hotel California 06 – The Last Resort (1976)
— if you find a slice of heaven, don’t go telling everyone.
… and later at the Green Room After Party …
05-01 Modry Efekt & Jazzovy Orch – Nova Synteza2 05 – El Dorado (1974)
— had to change their name from Blues Efekt, communist government of the time thought it was decadent.
05-02 Robert Tex Morton – Regal Zonophone G23278 – Big Rock Candy Mountain (1937)
— a hearty yodel, and there’s a lemonade springs! Can’t believe almost forgot this one, thanks for the callup. Come to think of it, there’s another one missing this week, Candyland from the 1930’s. Shirley Temple maybe? Ah well, this ep will have a sequel some day.
05-03 Abba – ABBA 03 – Tropical Loveland (1975)
— no soft drink waterfalls here, just pink Swedes prone to sunburn.
05-04 Phil Brown – Jimi Project 09 – The La-Lah Land (2006)
— recorded in Seattle, appropriately.
05-05 Fheels – Lotus 01 – Lotusland (2022)
— not to be confused with Wonderland. Hearing a lot of influence here by Mars Volta.
05-06 Electric Light Orchestra – Eldorado 09-10 – Eldorado – Finale (1974)
— not many people like this album. Me does.
06-01 Donovan – Epic 5-10434 – Atlantis (1969)
— one of early FM radio’s famous bathroom songs, when the DJ had to take care of business at the lemonade hot springs. For #2, you needed Inna Gadda Da Vida or Alice’s Restaurant.
06-02 Hidria Spacefolk – Symbiosis 09 – Pangaia (2002)
— Norway’s answer to six months of Winter: long complicated songs!
06-03 Austin Lounge Lizards – Employee Of The Month 13 – The Other Shore (1998)
— bad thinking like this led Scythians to bury innocent horses to take them along.
06-04 Matisyahu – YOUTH 09 – Shalom-Salaam (2006)
— religion prevents him from playing shows on Saturdays.
06-05 New Riders Of The Purple Sage – NROTPS 07 – Garden Of Eden (1971)
— go looking, but maybe you’re already there.
06-06 Brotherhood Of Man – BOM 11 – United We Stand (1970)
— nowhere we’d rather be.
… and the bonus track …
07-01 Liquid Trio Experiment – Spontaneous Combustion 13 – Disneyland Symphony (2007)
— tragic kingdom.