SCOTTS HIDDEN TREASURES #30

Hidden Treasures turns 30 this week. Does this mean the list has finally reached a mature state? In 'The Myth of Sisyphus' the French existentialist Albert Camus comments that the age of 30 is a crucial period in the life of a man, for at that age he gains a new awareness of the meaning of time.

Well Albert, let’s expand on that assertion and see if this list bears out some truths based on that.

So with a keen awareness of time and a self-imposed mature nature, this SHT list will test the urgency and awareness of time by focusing on the first track of an album. You know, Side 1 Track 1, your first impression of the brand new record you just purchased. This crucial track dictated the time you would invest in the album. See the tie in now? (I know I'm reaching a bit, but its been fun)

Track 1 was an indicator of the music to come, pratically assuring that your new musical investment was worth it or not. If it was bad there was always the hope that the first track of Side 2 would atone for the sins of side 1. That hope of side 2 redeeming a bad opening track no longer exists with the appearance of CD's, so bands nowadays have one shot to capture our attention.

Let’s unwrap the album, pull out the inner sleeve and carefully place the proverbial stylus on this week’s list...

TITLE: Play The Game Tonight
BAND: Kansas
ALBUM: Vinyl Confessions
YEAR: 1982
Is it worth the time? Is it worth the price? This track is what caused me to think about this. Now here’s an album from a band in transition. New lead singer, new sound, what to expect? Is it wrong, is it right? I thought this was a great opening track, and real primer for the new sounds that followed. Vinyl Confessions while not a 100% top to bottom killer album is a strong effort by a band that found itself adopting change.

TITLE: One Night Love Affair
BAND: Bryan Adams
ALBUM: Reckless
YEAR: 1984
No Bryan Adams album has a better opener, before or since! And though this is a great opening track it never hit the charts, which makes it even better now. The writing style Adams used on this album was re-used on several other artists’ projects. Most notably (at least for me) was the Roger Daltrey 'Under A Raging Moon' release.

TITLE: The Doctor
BAND: The Doobie Brothers
ALBUM: Cycles
YEAR: 1989
The original Doobie Brothers reunited and this was their studio effort. The title track really lit up the FM airwaves for a while and drove them to renewed success. I still like Tom Johnston’s voice, can you say "underrated"? So good! Vocally this band has always harmonized with the best of them, and it was so nice to put the needle down and here their guitar driven sound return!

TITLE: Shakin'
BAND: Eddie Money
ALBUM: No Control
YEAR: 1983
This was a hit song with a hit video on Mtv. Eddies a little rough to watch on videos, but live in concert? Pure magic! One of the best I've ever seen. Now back to this track. Poppin' this in the car stereo, rolling the windows down, cranking the volume and cruising, if this the was the track the car next to you heard, then you always got a look and thumbs way up!

TITLE: Second Hand News
BAND: Fleetwood Mac
ALBUM: Rumors
YEAR: 1977
So it was second hand news that ushered in one of rocks most beloved albums. Who knew at first listen that this was a band in turmoil and this was the story of their personal breakups. Cool track nonetheless, one that foreshadows a lot of what we would be hearing stylistically from Buckingham for years to come...

TITLE: Do Me Right
BAND: Giuffria
ALBUM: Giuffria
YEAR: 1984
I had worn out my brothers "White Hot" album from the band Angel. I was so into their image and that of Greg Guiffria who stood out spectacularly in that band that when this band debuted it was a no brainer. Popped this sucker on the turntable and was most pleased to hear his keyboard styling lead off.

TITLE: Love Too Good
BAND: Jefferson Starship
ALBUM: Earth
YEAR: 1978
By now most of you who read this know that I'm a Katner/Slick/Balin fan. Don’t confuse this version of Jefferson Starship with that of the Mickey Thomas led version. Two different bands! Red Octopus and Spitfire play prominent roles in my catalog, so when Earth came out it was an automatic, and there was no let down. Perfect melodic rock and killer musicianship, if you’re not into the vocal style; keep listening, the last 2:40 of the track ends with a great jam using several keyboard styles!

TITLE: New Song
BAND: The Who
ALBUM: Who Are You
YEAR: 1978
There’s so much going on this album and it can be summarized in this track! Complicated, new styles and old styles merged into one. I later learned that this album also attempted to resurrect some of the same Lifehouse music that influenced the Who’s Next release.

TITLE: Thunder And Lightning
BAND: Gamma
ALBUM: Gamma 1
YEAR: 1979
When you buy an album because it has a cool cover, then the first track better be good or else the disappointment is magnified! In this case I knew this was a Montrose led band so the risk was a bit less, but I'm going for dramatic effect, so hang in there... If it sucked you failed miserably, but you could always move it the back of the collection and never tell anyone, but... if it rocked you just made a huge discovery that everyone needed to hear about!

TITLE: Tarot Woman
BAND: Rainbow
ALBUM: Rising
YEAR: 1976
Since 1976 has been in the minds of those on this site, we'll end with a real strong track from that era. What were your thoughts when this came on for the first time? Was it the first time you'd ever heard of Tony Carey? Cozy Powell? They became heroes instantly if it was...

HERES YOUR LINK...

http://www.podsnack.com/playlists/27414e2a7362928584a9cb094a235613

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Permalink Reply by RJhog (Admin) on January 25, 2011 at 9:26am

Alright, I finally got to SHT # 30 this morning. First off, I was much more familiar with the first half of the playlist than I was with the second half. I've heard everything in the first half. I love Second Hand News by FM, especially Stevie Nicks backing vocals. But my favorite here is Shakin' by EM. This song puts me in 11th grade, riding to and from school with my friend Daryll. He had an awesome Chevelle and everyday we'd leave school with that song blasting. What a great memory.

The only song I'm familiar with in the second half is New Song by The Who. I liked everything, but my favorite of the unknowns would be the Gamma track. The guitar solo was excellent as was the song.

Nice list Scott. Keep the great ideas coming...