The Vinyl Countdown

Joni Mitchell, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter (1977)
Joni Mitchell does blackface on this album – or at least on the album cover. It’s not “musical blackface” at all, but it is musical genius – some of her most difficult, challenging and rewarding music is here. When I first heard it I really only loved a quarter of it. A sprawling double album. But as time has gone on it’s one of my favourites. Not quite up there with the two albums that directly precede it – but maybe my third-favourite, or a Top 5 for sure. Worth it for the band alone. As was the way with her 70s albums. But man, the songs. And that voice. And the reach – of both. Just amazing. Been revisiting this a lot lately. And marvelling. As is the only setting with Joni when she’s in full flight. That blackface though. I don’t think there’s ever been an apology. Apparently it’s all just character-play and therefore okay. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

Sample Track: Talk To Me

The Vinyl Countdown is a document of every LP I listen to, brand new discoveries and old-old favourites; extremely pre-loved, previously abandoned or with the shrink-wrap having just been removed it’s all here at The Vinyl Countdown

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September 23, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 48

Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska (1982)
I’ve been about as uninterested in Bruce Springsteen as can be lately – not regretting the years I was a fan or anything like that but just so wound up about it. He’s really a gurning clown. This has been on my mind a bit over the last couple of years basically. And then the Broadway show really gave me the shits. And all of the recent stuff. There’s not been an even halfway decent album in over a decade. And so I went back through the whole catalogue. I like bits and pieces from the first two when he was eager to find his way and bursting at the seams. I like some of the “classic” stuff you hear on the radio still or on the overplayed albums between 75-85 but really there are only two albums of his I actually like and want to hear more than once every now and then. And they are this record and Darkness On The Edge of Town. Darkness is actually the very best of him with his E-Street Band. And this one became the blueprint for sad-sack solo Bruce. So both are good options to carry. They’re about the only records of his I have now. Even sometimes I get the shits with Nebraska, like it’s more about what it symbolises and how it was a determined stripping down, a retreat. It actually doesn’t quite sit nicely together and it’s the rough hinges of it that arguably makes it what it is. That rawness just isn’t there anymore. It’s all sneering polish. And mostly garbage as a result. Like the big cover up is that stupid-ass grin. Read More »

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September 22, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 49

Blood, Sweat & Tears, Child Is Father To The Man (1968)
I’ve been on a big Blood, Sweat & Tears kick of late. I guess thinking about what a great drummer Bobby Colomby is and how crucial he is to their classic sound. That, and I’ve always been a fan. Not usually into the jazz-rock hybrids, get a bit bored with any sort of ‘big band’ approach after too long but seemed to forever keep coming back to BS&T. Maybe it’s because of the songs and all the great players that passed through the ranks. I have had this album for ages but only just noticed it’s the debut. Probably because I just assumed the self-titled album (which I’ve owned even longer) was the debut. What a band. What great songs. What a sound. I love this group – through cool and uncool (them and me) – I’ve been listening to them for 30 years now. Discovering them a full 20 years after they debuted of course. Brilliant, creepy cover on this one. Read More »

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September 21, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 50

Pink Floyd, The Wall (1979)
I’ve been a Pink Floyd fan forever. And sometimes I’ve been a tiny bit guarded about that. But usually what happens is I move to one end of the catalogue and just hang there – these days it’s the early stuff that pleases me most but it was definitely the 1980s material that pulled me in. This album and everything forward from there and the solo albums. After that it was through all the 70s records – which I still love. But this one is the one I fell out of love with. I wrote about that too. The first post in a series called Classic Albums I Can’t Ever Listen To Again – well if that’s not drawing a line in the sand. When I set the stereo up in a different configuration at the very start of this year it got me ordering my records anew. And I found my copy of this on vinyl – a bit scuffed, not worth selling or even giving away, but still playable. I decided to break my self-imposed rule and give it a whirl. I do, after all, have fond memories of becoming a Floyd fan as a young tween and teen. And in that moment it held up. I enjoyed it. I probably had a glass of red. And I was sitting down and laughing at the emo absurdity of the bad poetry of the lyrics. But it was seminal stuff – time and place stuff. And there are some great, great guitar solos on this album. That said I’m in no real rush to listen to it again anytime (too) soon. But I did remember that I used to have a giant, mega-sized wall-poster (lol) of the big bum judge from the final trial scene. It won on my bedroom wall in my house as a kid and then through several flats. Before it became too hard to deal with entirely. Read More »

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September 17, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 51

Mel Tormé, The Velvet Fog (1970)
So many crooners. So many good singers. Singing so many good songs. I got to Mel Tormé in the silliest of ways – but it’s one that is in keeping with my generation’s way of being introduced to things I guess. The TV show Night Court, a favourite features Tormé – as himself; he was the idol of the Judge Harry character. So I remember watching this and my mum explaining that Mel was cool – a great singer, the real deal. And that was that. I believed her. She’d introduced me to many of the great jazz and blues singers I was already digging so why doubt this fact. I didn’t. And I might have been one of the only kids around that was a Night Court fan and followed up on the Mel Tormé reference. That’s how it’s been ever since – see a name mentioned that you don’t know or you’re intrigued by the context so you follow up. I’ve been chasing pointless knowledge down rabbit holes ever since I guess. But I also found that Mel Tormé was more than just a decent crooner – he was a great arranger, producer and songwriter. He was also a pretty decent drummer – so much so that he wrote a pretty great book about Buddy Rich. They were chums. And I think Mel was a vocal influence and hero to Buddy just as Buddy was a drum influence and hero to Mel. That’s kinda cool, right? Read More »

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September 16, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 52

Neil Young, Tonight’s The Night (1975)
I guess I have about 10 favourite Neil Young albums – even albums of his that are pretty-much duds are sometimes on that list by the way. Such is my love for what he does and perhaps particularly the way he has gone about it. But one album I always have time for and always return to is Tonight’s The Night, for me it’s the grim reaper within his alleged “Doom Trilogy” (or Quadrology – now that Homegrown is finally out in the world). There’s some deep sadness and tiredness behind his eyes here and the songs are sometimes barely even there, borrowed – ripped off – from obvious sources. Then there are songs so deep, so beautiful, so utterly together and composed magnificently. That’s the Neil Young duality right there really – a precision mess, dependable and unpredictable. I think Tonight’s The Night was one of my first Young CDs – when I was buying the catalogue up the first time. And it was also one of my first Neil Young vinyl purchases. A reissue, sure. Not an original pressing or anything like that. But it has the songs on it. The ones that matter. Read More »

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September 15, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 53

Madonna, Papa Don’t Preach [Single] (1986)
When I was a kid and Madonna burst onto the scene I thought she was fantastic – and then very quickly grew self-conscious about that; I wasn’t meant to like her. So I didn’t really pursue fandom, never bought any of the records. But the big songs were inescapable. And just as well. So it was several years before I could admit to any sort of fandom really and it’s fairweather fandom probably. But I love the first three records and the hits collections and a couple of the later/mid-range things. Read More »

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September 14, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 54

Billy Joel, Uptown Girl [Single] (1983)
I hate Billy Joel. I have always been very clear on that. Music for music teachers. And stubborn boomers too. But just recently Billy Joel seems to be getting a second round (or third round, probably) of appreciation. This has been achieved primarily through the long gap since he made an album, having all but retired from songwriting a quarter-century ago. And then, as a bonus, he plays the hits. Goes out and gives good show. So people are into that of course. I used to be into Billy Joel. Probably because it was required listening in our house. Expected. My dad – particularly – was a big fan. He loved the An Innocent Man album particularly. The two songs on this single come from that album and were a big part of my childhood – which might be why I have retained this. I really don’t know – but I was pleased to see I have pruned my Billy Joel collection down to just this one single. Which I’ll no doubt get rid of with time. I’ve been thinking about Uptown Girl a bit lately – in a weird way. I’ve twice re-watched National Lampoon’s Vacation which was out the same year as Uptown Girl; both featuring Christie Brinkley in cameos – in the case of Joel’s video it was arguably his marriage proposal, in the case of the Vacation film it was good old fashioned sexism and creepiness. She’s there for no reason other than eye-candy. Anywhere, I’m pretty sure I’ve always hated the song Uptown Girl. And this was bought for 50c. Which might not have even been money well spent. Read More »

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September 13, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 55

Cat Stevens, Teaser and The Firecat (1971)
My copy of this album has always seemed curious to me – not quite real, not official. It took me finally committing to listing the lot on Discogs to find out that my version is in fact an ‘unofficial’ version made in Taiwan. I care only about whether I’m getting the songs with music – I don’t try to get special pressings or first editions or anything like that. This was the one that was in the record store and appealed to me on the day. I have a funny history with Cat Stevens, his greatest hits are in my head forever I think. Which has meant that I’ve taken time out from his albums but when I do return to them I’m simply amazed by that run of records from 1970-1972 in particular, four albums, one a year that includes this one right in the middle. This one includes a few of his best known songs including a couple that probably should be on any of the hits compilations but aren’t always. What a strange, rare talent he was. The songs – the very best of them – still cut very deep. Long after first listens. I’m glad to have this and a couple of the other classic albums from his early – great – run. Read More »

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September 11, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 56

The Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed (1969)
We had this amazing journey around the South Island when I was about 8 or 9 and it was soundtracked by The Rolling Stones. Almost nothing else. My brother had gone in deep for the Stones and it was a massive nostalgia-kick for my folks. I had no say, but I was wide-eared and wide-eyed and fucking into it. And it was an education. There were snippets of songs I recognised from ad-jingles and tunes from TV shows and films and just those monumental hits that you assumed – as a kid growing up in the 80s – were simply always there. And shortly after that Greatest Hits introduction my bro bought this album. So it was one of the very first original records by the Stones I heard. And I’ve always loved it. For years I had a sealed copy on vinyl – I had a full crate of sealed records. You visited and got to look through and pick the one album you wanted to open and hear. My version of a cellar. You – the guest – got to choose what we would drink. Then we had a kid and the practicality (and expense) of a crate of records sealed and there for boozy visits just became a nonsense. So bit by bit I opened them up and enjoyed them. Records are to be played after all. And I can’t remember who chose Let It Bleed but it was one of the early ones in the Record Crate Game. I think – from distant memory – it was a good school friend that was staying with us for a weekend. I certainly enjoyed it at the time and now many times since. For this has always been one of my favourite Stones albums. And even when I got through big periods of never really listening to the band this album is one of the ones I always feel like. It’s one of their very best. Read More »

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September 10, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 57

Talking Heads, Little Creatures (1985)
I’ve been on a big-time Talking Heads kick of late. I sorta think that I always am actually – but I enjoyed Chris Frantz’ book and that had me running through the catalogue and all the odds and sods and solo albums and side-projects (again). I love everything by Talking Heads. I have, er, Remained In Love with the band and its music – all of it. And the second-half of the career, the “commercial” albums, that was actually my introduction. The big radio hits were hitting big on the radio when I was a kid. And I was wide-eyed and in awe of them all. My jaw on the ground I sometimes found with these strange phrases, the mercurial energy and mood-swings of the music. Just perfect. So even though I can see how ageless and vital the first four records are I have a lot of love still for the other four studio albums. And this one is no doubt their commercial peak. Which was made a turn-off to the cool punks that had grown up with the band. But if you listen in for the deeper cuts and album tracks there’s much to dig here still. And this isn’t me making a case for it as the best, or better than any others, it might ultimately be my least favourite of all the Heads’ albums – but I still love it. That’s just how good their catalogue was. And is. My record is old and thin – that worn-down sound of much-loved, over-played records from the 1980s. Cheap in quality and you can almost now see it fading away with each spin. But I’ll replace it one day since I can’t imagine never owning the entire catalogue. Read More »

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September 10, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 58

Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy (1973)
The best Led Zeppelin album is usually whichever one I’m listening to. But in recent years I enjoy going deeper into the catalogue and further down the timeline, the first four – obviously magical, but played out a little for me. The last few are brilliant – and they peaked right in the middle. Consider this one then the start of their peak. The darkness not yet set in but the ability to explore and experiment – funk, acoustic, blues, rock, it’s a melting pot. And they nail almost all of it. And every time. So many highlights on this record that in some ways it plays out now like its own greatest hits. Remarkable. The Song Remains The Same, The Rain Song, Over The Hills And Far Away, No Quarter – absolutely knocking it out of the park. Hey and I even love D’yer Mak’er – daft pun and all. Get fucked! Read More »