Desert Island Albums
Jul 21
THE HOT 100 CLASSIC ROCK ALBUMS I’ve compiled a list of the top 100 CLASSIC ROCK albums which some of which have been featured as album of he month on the ROCK-IT With the Artist-Cat radio show – on Sydney’s triplehfm. I play these start to finish ‘unabridged’ and additional plays will be featured as part of specials from time to time. So the criteria here is simply that you can play the album end to end and there isn’t a bad track on it – if you were stuck on a desert island, these would be the albums you’d be happy to play time and time again and still be enjoying them years later. So here goes – here is the HOT 100. Commentary on the list is welcome, but there were strict criteria in compiling this. Firstly, we do have standards, so no punk or disco will be added. Secondly, we have standards, so the musicians have to be able to actually play their instruments and the singers have to be able to sing – no shallow gloss, which probably wipes out anything that appeared on the likes of ‘Idol’ for a start… Finally, we have standards, so anything which is droning and miserable sounding (like Radiohead) will be excluded. With all this in mind here are the “Desert Island Albums” which will be featured on the show. Check out Facebook or the “ROCK IT with the ARTIST-CAT” blog for dates when these will be played. The Hot 100 … (subject to change). 1. The Dark Side of the Moon – Pink Floyd [Played]. The ultimate in prog rock. This album stayed on the top 100 billboard albums chart for over 10 years – enough said. If you haven’t heard it – get yourself a record (or DVD audio) player, crank it up and close your eyes. 2. Hotel California – the Eagles [Played]. From the haunting opening riff and guitarist Don Felder’s incredible guitar solo on the title track, through to the beautifully tragic ‘Last Resort’, this masterpiece is the Eagles at their absolute zenith. If you could only buy one Eagles album, this is it …! 3. Déjà vu – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young [Played]. This seminal supergroup only ever produced one studio album together, but as they say – the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. A must have in any serious music...
Joe Walsh – Rocky Mountain Way 2010
Jul 10
Joe Walsh has had a long musical career spanning over 40 years. Hailing from Wichita Kansas, Joe attended Kent State University in the 1960s and it was during this era that he formed what would eventually become the James Gang. James Gang were moderately successful and released several albums, the most successful being ‘Rides Again’. After the demise of the ‘Gang’ Joe forged a solo career, with a backing band known as “Barnstorm” and it was during this time that classic tracks such as ‘Rocky Mountain Way’ and ‘Turn to Stone’ were penned. Joe’s solo career hit a peak in the mid-70s and cumulated in a live album recorded as part of the ‘Don Kirshner Rock Concert’ series aired in 1975. The LP released was ‘You Can’t Argue With A Sick Mind” and featured a stellar backing band including: Jay Ferguson (Spirit / Jo Jo Gunne), Don Felder (Eagles), David Mason (Traffic) and highly sought after session drummer Joe Vitale [a long time friend of Walsh’s]. A very successful album “but Seriously Folks” followed. In 1976 Joe joined the Eagles and along with songwriter Don Felder played the classic “Hotel California” solo, which is now entrenched in music history. He also wrote all the music to ‘Life In the Fast Lane’ and the Felder/Walsh dual guitar partnership was cemented. During this period Joe sought nomination as an independent candidate for congress, but was knocked back due to being under-aged. There are still some “Joe Walsh For President” stickers about if you look hard enough (I still have one). The Eagles parted ways for 14 years in 1980 and Joe resumed his solo career, with mixed results. The highlights of Joe’s post-Eagles work was probably his time down under where he played with New Zealand band “Herbs” and later “The Party Boys” (a band founded by Kevin Borich and Paul Christie). They recorded several albums, including a great live LP in Melbourne 1989. Joe lived in New Zealand for some years and I met him in 1988 during his time there. The Eagles reformed in 1994 and a newly sober Joe was ready to take the world by storm. The “Hell Freezes Over” era was extremely successful for the Eagles, but little new material surfaced from the band. It would not be until 2007 that the Eagles would release a full album of new material – but alas the...