May 2011 archives
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May 30, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1983
Sinead O’Connor, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got (1990) It felt so different when I heard Feel So Different. I was quite frightened by that sound at first; well, not frightened – but definitely on edge. But Nothing Compares 2 U was written by Prince so that – above all else – made it [...]Archive
May 30, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1984
Prince, Batman (1989) I’ll always name this as one of my favourite Prince albums. In fact it’s probably the Prince album I have listened to the most. And that’s because it was linked to the huge franchise that was Tim Burton’s Batman film, sure. I collected the bubblegum cards and I had this on [...]Archive
May 28, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1985
Pastor T.L. Barrett and the Youth For Christ Choir SINGS!, Like A Ship… (Without A Sail) (1971) I didn’t know about this album – I didn’t know about Pastor T.L. Barrett – a fascinating man – a preacher, fraudster, singer, wrangler, musicologist, criminal. Barrett recorded and self-released his Like A Ship…(Without A Sail) album in [...]Archive
May 27, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1986
Mick Jagger, Primitive Cool (1987) I first purchased this – when it was released – on cassette tape. I had recently learned all about The Rolling Stones from my older brother and folks. And then Mick Jagger released his new solo album. I had heard She’s The Boss – and liked the singles. I’ve got a [...]Archive
May 26, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1987
Paul McCartney, McCartney II (1980) I gave this album the full track-by-track over at my other blog just recently. So I won’t repeat a lot of that. This album used to fascinate me when I was young – when it was released. It’s due to this, Ram and Band On The Run – and later [...]Archive
May 25, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1988
Lionel Richie, Can’t Slow Down (1983) My love of Lionel Richie was first outed when I wrote this (a piece called I Love Lionel). Well, that was the first I was aware of outing myself as a fan, though it’s never been anything I’ve tried to hide. My interest in Lionel Richie comes from growing up [...]Archive
May 23, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1989
Foo Fighters, Medium Rare (2011)Released for Record Store Day 2011 this is a collection of covers – some of them already existing as B-sides and live favourites – here now on one LP as a limited edition. I bought this because I thought it was a nifty idea. I’m not a big Foo Fighters fan. I [...]Archive
May 23, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1990
Aerosmith, Toys In The Attic (1975) Okay, the impetus behind listening to this again – the first times I’ve listened right through to the album on vinyl actually – is because I’m nearing the end of Steven Tyler’s memoir (out June 11, New Zealand readers). It’s a pretty terrible book, poorly written and Tyler is [...]Archive
May 22, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1991
Joan Armatrading, Me Myself I (1980) I loved Drop The Pilot as a youngster. It was a big radio hit and I thought it was cool. This was probably the case – mostly – because mum and dad liked it and had a compilation album with the song on it that they would [...]Archive
May 21, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1992
Elvis Perkins, Elvis Perkins In Dearland (2009) Ash Wednesday was one of the nice-surprise finds of 2007 for me, reviewing. It arrived one day. I can’t even say that it looked interesting. But I played it. And liked it. When that happens you play albums again and again and you end up liking them more (if [...]Archive
May 21, 2011 by Simon Sweetman