SCOTT's HIDDEN TREASURES #57 - Something Old Something New

SHT has been missing the last couple of weeks due to vacations and work load. But I'm thinking of ways to make this list more accessible, more appealing. I thought I would step back and establish a new starting point, a firm grounding if you will, by looking back at songs that changed the way I listen to music, songs that established my tastes and changed my opinions.

The most obvious change is that I’ve scaled back to 5 songs for two reasons. 1) To make sure I can deliver this weekly given my new schedule, and 2) I think this makes the playlist more accessible to everyone on here. We shall see...

Anyway, let’s re-start with this list and go forward....

PLAYTLIST VITALS ...

LENGTH: 22 minutes 29 seconds
LINK: http://www.podsnack.com/playlists/344af2e422bdae1c2e541137ba937613

TITLE: Crystal Blue Persuasion
BAND: Tommy James and the Shondells
ALBUM: The Best of Tommy James and the Shondells
YEAR: 1969
LENGTH: 4:05
DID YOU KNOW: The title of the song came to James while he was reading The Bible's Book of Revelation, according to James in a 1985 interview in Hitch magazine: "I took the title from the Book of Revelation in the Bible, reading about the New Jerusalem. The words jumped out at me, and they're not together; they're spread out over three or four verses.

My earliest recollection of music is playing around with my Dads stereo. A big huge console that took up half of a wall. When you flipped it open it had a place to store records, turntable, radio and an 8 track player. The record collection consisted of Tennessee Ernie Ford, Eddie Arnold, Herb Alpert, and Lynn Anderson (why I remember all of those is another story). When my oldest brother played his Tommy James Greatest Hits album on it one day, I was mesmerized by Crimson and Clover and this track. I wore it out and he was PO'd at me. I think I still owe him a copy of this record. I don’t know much about Tommy James other than his greatest hits, but I will be eternally grateful for them.

TITLE: Monday Morning
BAND: Fleetwood Mac
ALBUM: Fleetwood Mac
YEAR: 1975
LENGTH: 2:48
DID YOU KNOW: Both "Rhiannon" and "Monday Morning" were written during the Buckingham Nicks days, though only performed live. The early version of Rhiannon was played much faster, in what was described by one reviewer of the time as a 'polka' style.

Seminole moment #2 comes from my best friend’s sisters stereo. It was a brand new unit, made of all sorts of components and it sat in a cool glass rack. But the best part was the freakishly huge speakers in the corners of the room. We sat back and this tune came on! Got to get some peace in my mind indeed! My quest for my personal rock and roll collection was now in full swing. This and Night Moves were my first ever purchases shortly thereafter...

TITLE: Flaming Youth
BAND: KISS
ALBUM: Destroyer
YEAR: 1976
LENGTH:
DID YOU KNOW: Destroyer is the first Kiss album to prominently feature outside musicians, such as members of the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra. However, one musician was not credited: Dick Wagner, from Alice Cooper's band, replaced Ace Frehley on tracks such as "Sweet Pain" (as Frehley did not want to interrupt a card game he was playing during recording sessions for the song) and even on a song that Frehley himself co-wrote, "Flaming Youth".

In 6th grade I had some friends who packed lunch boxes plastered with KISS Army stickers. Typical KISS fan story really, they were laughed at and teased. But I was interested in what they were, so we hung out one day in their room. It was plastered with KISS posters. Anyone remember the one with KISS at the top of the Empire State building? Coolest thing I’ve ever seen up to that point! Beth was on the radio, but I didn’t get that. Then Flaming Youth interrupted my staring at the poster and that was it. I was part of the KISS Army. Sorry Jon, I'm a KISS fan!

TITLE: Serpentine Fire
BAND: Earth Wind and Fire
ALBUM: All 'N All
YEAR: 1977
LENGTH: 3:50
DID YOU KNOW: The band's concerts during this time were loaded with pyrotechnics, magic, laser lights, flying pyramids, levitating guitarists and elaborate production tricks, that included the entire group ascending in a pyramid and a disappearing act, which saw EWF literally vanishing from sight. Magician Doug Henning directed many of their tours throughout the 1970s with his young assistant, David Copperfield.

I've made no secret of my love for EWF, but I purposely leave them off my playlists because I think maybe they don’t have a place on a site like this, and maybe that’s true, but for this list they have a prominent place, because this band changed my thinking about what music could be. My friends Dad had the best sounding stereo I’ve ever heard, even to this day. I swear you could hear the pick hitting the strings on the guitar it was so clear. Anyway, his older brother plays Stanley Clarke and EWF all the time, so every time were there were hearing this band. Then he brought home this "new" EWF, and the needle hit this track and all was well in my ever expanding understanding of music and rock and roll.

TITLE: Its A Long Way There
BAND: Little River Band
ALBUM: Little River Band
YEAR: 1975
LENGTH: 8:44
DID YOU KNOW: In Australian terms, the original lineup of LRB can be considered a "supergroup". Glenn Shorrock had been the lead singer of leading Australian 1960s pop band The Twilights and highly regarded early 1970s country rock band Axiom. Beeb Birtles had been the bassist in the popular 1960s band Zoot (which launched the career of singer-guitarist Rick Springfield), and Goble had led Adelaide folk rock group Allison Gros before forming the harmony-country-rock band Mississippi, which had enjoyed some chart success in Australia

My sister was infatuated with this band, it’s all she listened to and so by association me to. But it wasn’t the repetition of hearing them that stuck with me, it was the geetar in this song. Still one of my top 5 songs ever. And for their pop-savviness, LRB was really very talented and an extremely technical band, it was the lesson I learned by digging deeper into this song

Song’s that are still important to me today...

So there's the baseline going forward, I know I double dipped on a couple tracks but isnt it important to stop, reconnect with what got you here?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jon on August 21, 2011 at 8:29am

What's wrong with posting EWF? I see no problem with that. As a matter of fact, I've been waiting to pull the trigger on some EWF but keep getting sidetracked. A couple weeks ago I had a couple albums in my Amazon cart, but went with a couple from Loggins & Messina instead. Blame that on Deep Tracks (or whatever it is) on Sirrus. I heard a song called "Same Old Wine" and just had to get me some L & M albums. So, I did. But still, EWP is still on my list and I will be picking up a couple albums soon. If anyone doesn't like the fact you posted something from EWF, ust send 'em to me and I'll take care of that problem.

Now onto business...yeah, the old stereos and how great they sounded. Wouldn't it be fun to go back with your current car to your high school and show off your stereo now? You think it sounded great back then, but imagine the amazement in the faces of those listening. You would be king, king of the world I say! Maybe it's just me, but I'm tellin' ya, when that guy played "Lonely Is The Night" on his new car stereo back in '81, we thought it sounded friggin' GREAT. And it was a cassette to boot.

I still have huge speakers in the basement. They're not hooked up to anything, but I just can't let 'em go....

Anyways, except for that one song, everything here was cool by me!

That is a fun idea to go back and make a playlist of your first few albums, no matter what they might be...

Hmm....

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Permalink Reply by Scott on August 21, 2011 at 8:38am

Thanks! I knew you wouldnt care for the one rtrack, but I had to include it. Funny, now when I get into the KISS section of my collection I think of you. Ironic?

And double thanks for the EWF endorsement. Which releases are in your wish list? I have pretty much all of them with the exception of their very first 2 and Illumination which I foudn to be too hip-hoppy for me.

I hoped that some woudl go back and make that playlist and post here... We shall see, but its one of the outcomes of this list that I would really enjoy reading about...

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Permalink Reply by Jon on August 21, 2011 at 8:52am

The two I had in my cart were "That's The Way Of The World" and "Spirit". I was also on the fence on whether to get the actual albums or to go the route of the greatest hit disc(s).

Thinking of me whenever Kiss comes up? Aww, shucks!

That list would be interesting. My first purchases would have been a soundtrack and something from a well-known artist (think finger-painting, I've brought this up before). Also had some of my parents old albums and one of those sticks in my mind as well as a couple 8-tracks (soundtracks again), one which I bought and one which I got from the parents when they came back from vacation. After that one album from that well known artist, things went to hell and made me what I am today.

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Permalink Reply by RJhog (Admin) on August 21, 2011 at 12:04pm

To butt in on this conversation, I think that playlist should be from the first musical memories, not necessarily the first music purchases, although to include those would be cool as well. My sister had an old home made 8track tape that had If You Wanna Get To Heaven, which I think Scott may have posted at some point earlier. It also had a BTO song (Taking Care Of Business), and a Chicago song that for some reason the name escapes me, but partial lyrics are "Give me your own special smile, promise you'll never leave me". Just You N Me may be the title.

I'd also have to include something from Bad Co.'s Run With The Pack, maybe something from an old Hee Haw show that I watched with my Father, and a song by Johnny Rodriguez called That's The Way Love Goes. Actually, my list may be a little too country for you guys.

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Permalink Reply by Jon on August 21, 2011 at 12:09pm

So what if it is? Hell, you wanna go that route, I remember "Convoy" by C.W. McCall being played on the country station I listened to and it brings back memories to this day. Even though the song kinda sucks.

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Permalink Reply by RJhog (Admin) on August 21, 2011 at 2:12pm

I can do you one better! My parents had one of those old greatest hits by K-Tel records back in the day, but the catch was that the big hits were done by studio cover bands. You know, a really crap-ass record. Guess what two of the songs were? Convoy and Rock And Roll All Nite. I think they still have it. I'm headed over there shortly, I think I shall look for it.