ALBUMS
- ELVIS COSTELLO: ARMED FORCES: NEW WAVE: 1979: 5+ OUT OF 5 STARS: VINYL: I keep going back and forth- what is the best Elvis album- This Years Model or Armed Forces? Or is it Imperial Bedroom? One thing I kind of miss are the days when I would get a new record and love it so much I would play it to death. Those Beatles and Elvis albums I would get and listen to over and over and over again for weeks.
- THE JAM: ALL MOD CONS: 1978: NEW WAVE: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: VINYL: The Jams third album. It was frustrating in the US -The Jam was a group I would read about in my rock mags but for the longest time their albums weren’t released in the US- It wasn’t until the early 80’s that I finally got my hands on a Jam album. It was worth the wait. Its always been a mystery to me why some British groups break it big in the US- and some don’t. Paul Weller may be the greatest artist who is huge in the UK but is a cult artist at best in the US.
- THE MOTELS: LITTLE ROBBERS: 1983: POP ROCK: 4 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: VINYL: This is the only Motels album I own and I think I picked it up for a couple dollars- I could take them or leave them but this is a pretty solid album. Album includes the Top 10 hit- “Suddenly Last Summer.”
- WARREN ZEVON: BAD LUCK STREAK AT DANCING SCHOOL: 1980: ROCK: 4 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: VINYL: While this album seemed like a disappointment at that time coming after the self-titled Warren Zevon and Excitable Boy- it’s not all that bad- it grew on me over the years.
- THE BLACK KEYS: THICKFREAKNESS: 2003: BLUES ROCK: 4 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: APPLE: Since I am seeing them in 6 weeks or I thought I would get better acquainted- I have their later albums but not the first few- love the guitar sounds and garage blues feel of the album. The first two albums didn’t make the Top 200 album chart but they were starting to gain some momentum.
- RICHIE HAVENS: RESUME: THE BEST OF RICHIE HAVENS: 1993: FOLK: 4 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: IPOD: I listened to this a month or so ago- but with it being the 10th anniversary of the start of Woodstock and Havens being the opening performer I thought I’d give it another listen. This always puts me in a pretty good mood- which isn’t a bad thing.
slicethelife 
This EC isn’t available at the L along with a couple of others, which is a shame. I may have to break down and buy it. Added The Jam to my list.
I think I told this story- my friend Helmet [not his real name just going with the theme…] and I had read about The Jam for a couple years but never heard them… one day he comes to the house and I told him- “Helmet- I got a Jam album yesterday”- and he lights up- I drop the needle on Donna Summer’s “Cold Love” with the long instrumental guitar playing at the start “This is great!” he says… then Donna starts singing and Helmet gets first a confused look then I start laughing and said “You like Donna Summer”– and all the sudden ‘I hate this.” I remind him of it every now and then.
lol. What are friends for but to pull pranks on.