Aor Dreaming Of L.a (2003) [remastered 2012]

AOR is a band name I have heard bantered about in social media circles but not one that I had the opportunity to check out. Little did I know that the album I decided to review would be their 23rd (!) release. They’ve only been around since the turn of the century. One album per year is quite prolific. A quick read of the promo material shows me what I had been missing all this time. Founding guitarist/keyboardist Frédéric Slama has played with some impressive musicians ranging from Steve Lukather, Steve Overland, Jeff Scott Soto, and many others. A real “who’s who” of the melodic rock world. I could not wait to check out what this record had in store for me.

Donna Summer's contribution to Universal's mid-priced 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection series is a decent, concise look at the queen of disco's career, including such natural choices as "Love to Love You Baby," "I Feel Love," "Bad Girls," "Hot Stuff," and "On the Radio," as well as early-'80s hits like "She Works Hard for the Money" and "Love Is in Control." 1995's Endless Summer remains the best single-disc introduction, since it covers more territory, presents a more rounded look, and includes many other singles that charted, but this works perfectly for those who want to stick to the basics.

Formed in 1969 in the lace city of Nottingham, England - Paper Lace were just one of hundreds of bands looking for the big time. Their big break came in 1974, when after winning the nationwide talent show "Opportunity Knocks", they were spotted by the songwriting team of Mitch Murray & Peter Callander. The first single "Billy - Don't Be A Hero" topped the U.K. charts for 3 weeks in March 1974. The follow up single,"The Night Chicago Died" hit the number one slot on both the U.S.& Canadian charts [#3 in the U.K]. An album - " Paper Lace and Other Bits of Material" followed. The 3rd. single release "The Black Eyed Boys" narrowly missed the U.K. top 10 [#11]. In 1978 Paper Lace had a top 20 version of "We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands" in conjunction with local football team Nottingham Forest F.C.