FLASHBACK - 1986

[RJhog (Admin)]

Well, I don't have any new music to offer up this week, so I thought I'd go with a flashback to 1986.  As a matter of fact, next week's AOTW is from 1986.  And as another matter of fact, the first 3 months of 2011 have been extrememly crappy where new releases are concerned, but that's about to change.  The next 2 months are looking pretty good.  But for now I have two albums for you here that don't get mentioned very much around CRB. Click on either album cover to listen.  I hope you enjoy them.

  

Robert Cray is an American Blues Guitarist from right here in Georgia (Columbus).  He's had quite a long, full career, but Strong Persuader is the only album that I own.  I bought it because I saw the video for Smoking Gun on MTV way back when and thought the song was killer.  I was right, and the rest of the album was pretty good as well.  I mixed singles (tracks 1 and 3) with album cuts because I don't think there will be a lot of familiarity here.

 

1. Smoking Gun

2. Guess I Showed Her

3. Right Next Door (Because Of Me)

4. Nothin' But A Woman

5. Foul Play

 

Third Stage is Boston's much anticipated (at the time) 3rd album.  It didn't disappoint, at least not chart-wise.  It was Number One on Billboard's Hot 100 and the single Amanda also reached number one (We're Ready actually reached number 9 and Can'tcha Say You Believe In Me/Still In Love reached number 20).  That's not a shabby performance at all, yet I very rarely hear anyone mention this album.  So I thought we should revisit a couple of hits and a couple of album cuts, but I did leave off Amanda since it's still played fairly regularly.

 

1. We're Ready

2. Cool The Engines

3. To Be A Man

4. I Think I Like It

5. Can'tcha Say (You Believe In Me)/Still In Love

[Scott]

Nice post, I own the Boston and have heard the Robert Cray several times but have failed top pick it up - will this listen force the purchase?  Stay tuned...

 

And I must say the banner is real nice!  A simple design concept works best most often

[scottdawg]

Robert Crays smoking gun is a nice song.  3rd stage by boston is a good album.  Amamda was the big hit, but a weak song to me.  We're ready and Chantcha say are very good songs...But cool the engines is a great song to me.  Love that unique sound that Tom S. gives off on this song.  This group could have been something really special..however, long stretches between albums killed any momentum they had....

[Niels (Mod)]

I got "Third stage" VERY cheap in 1990. Of course, I liked "Amanda", but the rest of the album, I was'nt THAT impressed , but I'm ready to give it another shot. I can't say, that I've heard of the other artist/album, but I'll listen tomorrow.

[Niels (Mod)]

"Strong Persuader" is okay, but nothing special. It made me think "Roll with it" by Steve Winwood from 1988. Like I said, it's okay, but not really my scene. He's got a good voice, though. "Guess I showed her" is a fine little track.

With "Third stage", I definetly got a "flashback" to 1990, because I don't think, I've heard those tunes since then. Again, it's okay, but I've never been much of a Boston-fan. Allthough, the songs were better, than I remembered them to be, especially the first 3 tracks.

[Jon]

I remember when that Robert Cray album came ou, it got a lot of airplay. Then he just disappeared from the radio. Kind weird.

 

As for Boston..I dunno. It's allright but seems a bit soft. I someteimes listen to it, but have to be in the mood. Except for "Cool The Engines", my favorite song off this album.