gts013 “utopish”
Just over the fence.
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, his 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 running, the one that makes penicillin.
02-01 John Anderson – Olias Of Sunhillow 07 – Moon Ra, Chords, Song Of Search (1976)
— bought it unheard, on the strength of his name alone, 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 – A Farewell To Kings 102 – Xanadu (1977)
— my second Rush album, still the favorite.
04-01 JoAnn Campbell – All The Hits 01 – A Kookie Little Paradise (1962)
— a waterfall of soda. Apparently this paradise doesn’t have yellowjackets.
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, their communist government of the time thought “blues” was decadent.
05-02 Robert Tex Morton – Regal Zonophone G23278 – Big Rock Candy Mountain (1937)
— a hearty yodel, and there’s a lemonade springs! 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)
— a disc of Jimi Hendrix stuff, appropriately recorded in Seattle.
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, they’d spin up 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 a bonus track…
07-01 Liquid Trio Experiment – Spontaneous Combustion 13 – Disneyland Symphony (2007)
— the tragic kingdom.