Popcorn Mania 8: Work It Out!

And the corn keeps a-poppin'! I think this one is more rare than the others. About the sub-title... I noticed a theme amongst half (or more) of the tracks. I enjoy play-on-words/phrases (polysemous or ambiguous, whichever word you prefer) and there you have it. 20 popcorn favorites from the sixties. And before I forget - my two big favs are The Untouchables' "Lovely Dee," and Timi Yuro's "What's a Matter Baby." The latter isn't rare but the former is because... I haven't heard it before! I LOVE IT! Enjoy!

Progressive Epicness! Rare 70s Colossal Gems

10 tracks! And they are epic! 10 awesome melodic prog rockers. Bands from the US (Gypsy), UK (Druid, Rare Bird), Switzerland (Krokodil), Netherlands (Finch, Alquin), Germany (Sunbirds, Volker Kriegel, Virus), and Australia (Sebastian Hardie). Enjoy!

Sweet Psych-Pop's Garage: 1967

Psych-pop, garage, & other classic delights. I spent more time coming up with the title than the mix itself. I usually come up with titles quicker than a whim, hence my often infantile and inept previous mix titles. After an exhaustive amount of wasted time, I came up with the simple, yawn-inducing title. I don't like it. The music however, a different story... 20 awesome tracks with about half (possibly) rare to the casual listener. Big, BIG favs in Mugwump Establishment's "I Can't Keep from Cryin'" (track 3), Uncle Sam & The War Machine's "Hold On" (track 10), and The Attack's "We Don't Know" (track 4). They're all good. Enjoy!

P.S. I may not like the mix title, but I still chuckle at the cover.

More '50s Boppin' Stompin' Swingin' Jumpin' Oldies!

Plenty of jump blues, a big genre fav. A couple of big-time favorite artists included too - Bill Haley & His Comets with "The Saints Rock and Roll" and Wynonie Harris' "Just Like Two Drops of Water." Other favs - Joe Weaver's "It Must Be Love," Tiny Bradshaw's "Breaking Up the House" and The Deep River Boys' awesome track, "You're Not Too Ol' (To Rock and Roll)." They're all good. Enjoy!

Rockin' Heavy, Hard & Steady 3: Even More 70s Hard Rock Unsung Scorchers

80 minutes of unsung tracks. I'd say out of the 16 tracks, more than a dozen would be rare to the casual hard rock fan. Check out the lengthy epic track by Japanese band Bow Wow. Also, solid rockers from New York's Stark Naked, Canada's Warpig, Liverpool's (UK) Marseille, Texas' 4th Cekcion, and others. Crank it up, and enjoy!

Note: Track 3 on original 45 label has the band listed as Blitzkreig. I've read somewhere that it was spelled in error. I'm not even sure now if that is correct. I have it tagged Blitzkrieg, so I must have been convinced enough for the change.

Popcorn Mania 7: Double Dippin' Sixties

20 more rare sixties (1960-66) tracks by 10 artists, hence the name of compilation. Favorite? I'll go with the first track - Sonny Knight's "Saving My Love." Enjoy!

The Pretty Side of Progressive Rock II

I should have named this mix "The Emotional Side..." but it's not a stretch. I find beauty in it all, but understand if  "Pretty" is not the best adjective to warrant the set.

With that aside, this is a great mix. Plenty of 70s rare & unsung gems. Can's "Mary, Mary, So Contrary" is a big, big fav. It's also my favorite Can track. Eduardo Bort's "Hacia las estrellas" and Gypsy's "Blind Man" are a couple of more big, big favs.

Sixteen tracks in all. Enjoy!

Music Power! 1974 [U.S. Edition]

 22 Original Hits, 22 Original Stars

And now the US version. Not one repeated track between the two editions. There are a few repeat artists, but still a bonus regardless. And speaking of a bonus, also included the lengthy album version of Barry White's "I've Got So Much to Give." 22 23 tracks in all. Enjoy!

Music Power! 1974 [Canadian Edition]

22 Original Hits, 22 Original Stars

Remember K-Tel records? I do believe this was my first K-Tel album purchase, waaaay back in '74. I don't think I played it all that often, compared to the other K-Tels I owned.

Many of the tracks are remastered and as usual, normalization (does not decode/re-encode original file whatsoever) ergo eliminated brickwalled audio output. Enjoy!

Note: Love Unlimited Orchestra's "Love Theme" is the album version, not the single. It's a half-minute longer. The longer the better.

Awesome Downtime 18: Summers

And awesome it is. Soulwanderer's "Laughter" is a big, BIG fav. Blue Wednesday's "Birds Eye View," Future Loop Foundation's "Live at the Apollo," møndberg's "You Sparkled Like Silver," and Vanilla's "Remember" are a few others. AND, this mix includes one of my ultimate favorite songs of all time: Lemon Jelly's "Closer." It's usually in my top 5. Some days it's number one. Enjoy!

Popcorn Mania 6: Cool Breeze! 1960-1966

More rare popcorn tracks. Well, I don't know how rare but I've never heard them on the radio before. My big fav is Pat Clayton's "I Said No." I love it when she growls her voice. Other favs include Baby Washington's "Run My Heart," Big Maybelle's "Cold Cold Heart," and Debbie Dovale's "I'm My Own Doctor." They're all good. Enjoy!

Note: While listening to the tracks, I noticed Jericho Brown's "Bluebird" may not be considered popcorn. I still kept it in, and set it as the last track.