Enoch Light: "Future Sound Shock"

I am an unabashed fan of Enoch Light's experimental jazz-lounge-symphony sounds.  At the time he was playfully but seriously nudging the bounds of "acceptable" traditional combinations of instruments and genres.

This particular LP was released in 1973, and it features the gatefold cover style that Enoch Light "invented" to accommodate the liner notes he always wanted to include with his recordings.

Larry Norman: "In Another Land"

If you have not experienced Larry Norman's work, you owe it to yourself to find his recordings and indulge.

This LP was the third in an trilogy of concept albums.  It was released in 1976 and was preceded by "Only Visiting This Planet" and "So Long Ago the Garden."

I cannot even begin to explain the phenomenon that was Larry Norman. I strongly encourage you to read up on him.  HERE is a link to the Wikipedia article regarding this LP, and HERE is a surprisingly in depth article on Larry himself.

Wes Montgomery: "Goin' Out Of My Head"

Released in 1965, this was Wes Montgomery's twenty-eighth (28th) album.

He had more than 40 to his credit by the time he was taken by a heart attack in 1968.

Wes Montgomery was one of the greatest jazz guitarists of all time.  If you have not taken the time to give him a listen, you need to remedy that situation as soon as possible.

Really.

We Are The World

This LP, released in 1985, was irresistible for at least three reasons:

1. All proceeds went to charitable aid for crises in Africa.

2. The song itself was just simply and absolutely HUGE at the time.

3. The one-time only supergroup "USA for Africa" was such a ridiculously stunning gathering of superstars from virtually every genre of music it was a fabulously historical recording.  It is still utterly crazy to look at a list of the artists involved in this project.

For more details go HERE.

Sade: "Promise"

This is Sade's second LP, released in late 1985.

Includes the huge, delightful hit "The Sweetest Taboo."

I fell in love with Sade's fabulous voice and her band's playful jazz style the instant I first heard them, which was actually with a track from their first LP "Diamond Life" - "Smooth Operator."

For me, this is the type of music that can calm me and lift me up at the same time.

Chicago: "Chicago (Chicago II)"

This LP was released in January 1970 after the band had officially changed its name from "The Chicago Transit Authority" to simply "Chicago."

Technically, this album is titled just "Chicago" but it has come to be known retroactively as "Chicago II" although the band did not adopt the Roman Numeral LP naming convention it came to use until the release of "Chicago III."

The naming convention gets a little confusing with compilation, live, and "greatest hits" albums in the mix.  Also they randomly chose to give a few albums "normal" names; e.g., "Hot Streets" (LP #12) and "Night & Day Big Band" (#22).  In the '80s they strayed mostly from the Roman Numerals to regular arabic numbers for albums 13 - 19 (except for XIV), and #21 was named "Twenty 1."

At any rate, this second album was an immediate hit including such memorable tunes as "25 or 6 to 4" "Colour My World" and "Make Me Smile." 

The inner sleeve offers an interesting peek at the era.

And the LP included this photo poster for adorning teen bedroom walls (mine stayed in the jacket).

This LP was sent to a collector in Maryland.

The Chambers Brothers: "The Time Has Come"

"The Time Has Come" was The Chambers Brothers' third LP, released in 1967.

In 1968, they scored their first hit with "Time Has Come Today" - a unique, haunting anti-war song.

Read about The Chambers Brothers.

This LP went winging off to Spain.