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DO YOU WANNA DANCE (Album of the Day)
DO YOU WANNA DANCE? When Bobby Freeman posed that question in 1958, America answered in the affirmative; the single hit the Top 10 and would later be covered by artists including Cliff Richard, The Beach Boys and the Ramones. It's the title track to Freeman's debut LP, and the Jubilee collection shows the San Francisco high schooler to have been a precocious talent. The dozen songs balance surprisingly mature takes on such standards as “When You're Smiling” and “Ebb Tide” with more raucous originals like “Good Lovin' Is What I Need” and “Mardi Gras Rock.” Freeman passed away on this day in 2017, and DO YOU WANNA DANCE ensures he'll be remembered.
KIKO (Album of the Day)
The LA BAMBA soundtrack might have given Los Lobos a huge hit, but KIKO showed this band from East L.A. had no desire to join the oldies circuit. While it includes the requisite taut roots rockers (“That Train Don't Stop Here,” “Whiskey Trail”), the set is most impressive for its ambition, adding art rock and South African influences to an already-broad musical palette. Producer Mitchell Froom's dream-like soundscapes prove a perfect complement to the group's masterful singing and playing, and the 1993 collection is frequently cited as the band's best. All but a couple of the 16 inventive originals on KIKO were co-written by Louie Pérez, and we'll wish the drummer a happy birthday by cueing up one of Los Lobos' most popular albums.
MOJO (Album of the Day)
“It's blues-based. Some of the tunes are longer, more jammy kind of music,” noted Tom Petty of MOJO, his first record with The Heartbreakers in eight years. Cut in his Clubhouse studio in L.A. with minimal overdubbing, the 2010 Reprise collection may invite comparisons to the Dead or the Allmans - it sounds throughout like a band playing for its own enjoyment. Add Petty's solid songcraft (“I Should Have Known It,” “Good Enough,” “First Flash of Freedom”) to outstanding instrumental work and it couldn't miss; the album debuted at No.2 on the Billboard chart. The Heartbreakers really got their MOJO working on this set, and we'll give it another spin to wish guitarist/co-producer Mike Campbell a happy birthday.
CHICAGO IX: CHICAGO’S GREATEST HITS (Album of the Day)
Chicago is the first American band to release Top 40 albums in five successive decades, and it certainly seems like they've been making hits forever. When CHICAGO IX, the group's first best-of collection, started a five-week run atop the U.S. album chart in 1975 it was their fifth No.1 album. The collection culls 11 highlights from the band's first five years, including “25 Or 6 To 4,” “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is” and “Saturday In The Park.” While the Peter Cetera-led balladry of the next decade would bring Chicago even more Gold records, these are the hits that put Chicago on the musical map. We'll give CHICAGO IX: CHICAGO’S GREATEST HITS another spin now in honor of original guitarist Terry Kath's birthday.
KICK (Album of the Day)
Their fifth album, LISTEN LIKE THIEVES, had given INXS an international hit in “What You Need,” but that wasn't enough for the Australian sextet. As guitarist Kirk Pengilly put it, “we wanted an album where all the songs were possible singles,” and in KICK, they got what they needed. The Atlantic album included no less than four U.S. Top 10 singles: “New Sensation,” “Never Tear Us Apart,” “Devil Inside” and “Need You Tonight,” which became the band's first U.S. No.1 hit on this day in 1988. With a little help from producer Chris Thomas, INXS' potent mix of new wave, danceable funk and Stones-styled rock reached its peak here, and KICK went on to sell more than 6 million copies in America alone.
BLUE LIGHTS IN THE BASEMENT (Album of the Day)
Always a critical favorite, Roberta Flack had also become a commercial force by the time of her sixth studio album, BLUE LIGHTS IN THE BASEMENT. Accordingly, Atlantic lavished plenty of attention on the 1977 set, recruiting a legion of top instrumentalists (like Hugh McCracken, Ronnie Foster and Steve Gadd) well attuned to the performer's distinctive blend of R&B, jazz and singer-songwriter intimacy. Co-producer Gene McDaniels penned three of the ten tracks, including standouts “Why Don't You Move in with Me” and “25th of Last December,” but it was the Donny Hathaway duet “The Closer I Get to You” that scored on the singles chart, reaching #2. On the album chart, BLUE LIGHTS IN THE BASEMENT made the Top 10, and the richly romantic collection is a great way to warm up a cold evening.
MARQUEE MOON (Album of the Day)
Television helped turn CBGB into a punk mecca, but when it came time to cut their debut album - released on this day in 1977 - the quartet were anything but fast and furious. MARQUEE MOON was meticulously mapped out, and when the band entered the studio, they were so well-rehearsed that most songs were recorded in one or two takes. Which isn't to say that the collection is sterile; guitarists Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd bring a spirit of exploration that’s akin to the best jazz improvisation, even if the songs themselves - from opener “See No Evil” to “Prove It,” “Friction” and the near 10-minute title track - aren't far from garage rock. Championed by critics as one of the greatest albums of all time and currently part of Rhino’s High Fidelity series, MARQUEE MOON will shine forever.
CURTIS (Album of the Day)
Curtis Mayfield played a key role in the development of soul in the 1960s as a founder of The Impressions, infusing their music with spirituality and conscience. The singer-songwriter left the trio for a solo career in 1970, and his self-produced debut (released on his own Curtom Records label) boasts the same social awareness as his previous group while traversing tougher musical territory. Cut in Chicago, CURTIS serves up simmering funk and psychedelia on eight originals, including epic side openers "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" and "Move On Up." Seen through the eyes of one of R&B's greatest poets, CURTIS offered a look at “what's going on” in Black America during the Nixon years – though its compassion for all people makes the album timeless.
AWB (Album of the Day)
The band name may have been self-effacing, but these six white guys – from Scotland, no less – cut one of the funkiest records of the 1970s in AWB. Certainly some of the credit for the band's Atlantic Records debut goes to veteran R&B producer Arif Mardin, but one listen to the set's No.1 hit “Pick Up The Pieces” reveals some serious instrumental chops at work here. In Alan Gorrie and Hamish Stuart, the group also had a pair of talented vocalists, and the original material on this 1974 collection, including such tracks as “Person To Person” and “You Got It,” was tailor-made for dancefloors. Currently part of Rhino’s Quadio series, the chart-topping AVERAGE WHITE BAND now sounds better than ever.
TECHNIQUE (Album of the Day)
New Order started work on their fifth studio set, TECHNIQUE, on the island of Ibiza - which was then a center of acid house. While it was a natural fit for the quartet’s trademark dance-electronic sound, the 1989 collection also has strong rock and alternative pop currents coursing through it. Singles “Fine Time,” “Round & Round” and “Run” proved irresistible, and the album became New Order’s first to top the U.K. chart. “I think it catches a summer sound really brilliantly,” said bassist Peter Hook of the Gold-certified TECHNIQUE, and we’ll give it another spin now to wish Hooky a happy birthday.