The Byrds -- Turn! Turn! Turn!

  Maybe not the best Byrds release, but Turn! Turn! Turn! serves as a quintessential example of folk style rock music ... but it goes deeper than that, all because of the 12 string Rickenbacker guitar, which makes a great effect for the music, follow that up with the heavy vocal harmonizing and you've got yourself a lush, smooth, influential record.  These Byrds take off to even further musical reaches as they go on, but these early records tell us where they are from.

Roy Orbison -- All-Time Greatest Hits

  Without question Roy Orbison is one of the most unique Rock 'n' Roll persona's of All-Time.  The great thing is that he didn't have to use shock or glamour, no, Roy was purely himself with the enigmatic voice!  The double album set features 20 Orbison hit numbers, here's the quick synopsis: flamenco beat driven, orchestral, operatic rockabilly -- does that even make sense??   The music has a dark desperation, filled with loneliness and wonder, making In Dreams perfect for Lynch's Blue Velvet.  My personal favorites are the rockabillied, Uptown, Dream Baby and somewhat Dylanesque Candy Man.  Roy Orbison is a must hear for every music lover, there will never be another one like him, so whether you love it or hate it, you can't help but appreciate it!

Isley Brothers -- Soul Shout!

  For starters Soul Shout isn't an official Isley Brothers release.  This album is a compilation from bargain basement label Pickwick.  They basically reissued a bunch of old tracks at a low price while the groups are still in the charts.  Soul Shout ain't bad, as an album!  It features the super mega hit Twist and Shout, which is fine and good to hear, but the numbers to write home about are The Snake and especially Right Now.  The Snake is a danceable swingin' doo wop number, while Right Now is a jazzy, soulful full blown emotional vocal demonstration, almost like letting their fans know that they aren't just a one hit wonder, but a Soul Shoutin' force to be reckoned with -- meaning get yourself some Isley's RIGHT NOW!

Toots & the Maytals -- Funky Kingston

   As far as I'm concerned Funky Kingston is one of the best records to come out of the whole Reggae scene.  Now there is one little problem I have with, maybe not this record, but rather Jamaican music.  Many of us put on our Reggae hats in the summer while doing yuppie seasonal activities, enjoying our luxuries, thinking isn't this the greatest music to, for example, lounge in a pool on air mattress or sit on a dock with friends enjoying drinks?  And it is, isn't it?  But i can't help feeling guilty thinking of who and what this music was actually made for.  Just look at the cover of this record, ahh their smiling faces, but what's in the background, that's the shanty town, where living is hard, and albums like these can make life a little easier for all it's inhabitants.  Lets all think twice when playing one of Jamaica's finest! 

The Tremeloes -- Here Comes My Baby

  From what I've learnt, these guys have made a career out of covering songs, which isn't that bad, unless you just make it sound like the real version, but that seems to be the Tremeloes way!  This album was awful -- BIG TIME!!!!  These guys just seem to be riding on the coat tails of  60's swinging London, copy-catting good groups, trying to cash in, and seemed to have forgotten what the music was all about!  One song is kinda Kinksy, the other like the Beatles, ohhh is that the bad side of Cream a la Wrapping Paper I hear -- unfortunately yes!  The title track, a Cat Stevens cover no less, and who the hell calls their album someone else's tune the same year the original comes out (argh this band is stoopid, anyway), is a good rendition of the song, fools you into thinking it is the song, but no dice it's the Tremeloes!  In the end this wanna be garage band can stuff their Muppet sounding falsettos, and s%#*ty use of fuzz guitar, you know where, because this baby is GONE .... P.S. are those wigs -- nerds!

Joey Dee & his Starliters -- Doin' The Twist

  For those of you who don't know, the Peppermint Lounge was a legendary New York nightspot, where you'd find celebrities, royalty, intellectuals, local night owls, and whoever else, cracking down class structures and mores by twisting away together, reminiscent of Warhol's, Fantastic Exploding Inevitable, no art or psychedelic light show, but the ability to bring in a highly mixed crowd in one place night after night ... these guys were on to something.  Now as to why they get thrown in with the oldies style skiffle groups, I have no clue, because this record is wild, it'd be better compared to the Kingsmen and the Sonics, the songs are loud, fast, loose and noisy, bashed out mostly cover versions of rock 'n' roll staples.  EVERYONE put on your dancin' shoe and start doin' the Peppermint Twist!!

Stevie Wonder -- Innervisions

  Stevie Wonder's sixteenth, yeah that's right I said sixteenth record, is probably his best!  The album is a mix of ballad and funk numbers and is one smooth operator that is definitely in the vein of Marvin Gaye's What's Going on.   By far the greatest song on this record is the super chart topper Higher Ground, I just can't get enough of this funk jivin' mega track with great lyrics and is damn catchy.  Could someone please tell me if the piano bit on Don't You Worry Bout' A Thing is the one used on Sex and The City??  I liked the song, but every time that intro, I can't escape thinking about those ditz queens talking like valley girls about how their lives are soooo complicated!  All good things aside, this album does have a couple of flaws, nothing too serious, but still they're there, I'm talking about the drastically dated synthesizer solo's that pop out from time to time, yeah I know it might have been very ground breaking at the time, but I ain't diggin' it.  The second is the slightly awkward opening track Too High (maybe that was the problem, he he, not funny!) it reminded me of the jazz-outs from Songs In The Key Of Life.  But who cares this record is thoughtful, smart and innovative.  Close your eyes, open your mind, let the needle hit the wax and have yourself an Innervision!