Bruce Silver

After Neil Young left the California folk-rock band Buffalo Springfield in 1968, he slowly established himself as one of the most influential and idiosyncratic singer/songwriters of his generation. Young's body of work ranks second only to Bob Dylan in terms of depth, and he was able to sustain his critical reputation, as well as record sales, for a longer period of time than Dylan, partially because of his willfully perverse work ethic…

In the years after Elvis Presley but before the Beatles, Cliff Richard was the biggest thing in British rock & roll and in the years after the Beatles, he was never far from the top of the U.K. charts. Arriving in 1958, just a couple of years after skiffle swept across Britain, Richard was the first English singer to approximate the hip-shaking rebellion of American rock & roll with his 1958 debut single "Move It." A smash hit right out of the gate, "Move It" kicked off an astonishing five decades' worth of hits (his last time in the U.K. Top 10 was, as of this writing, in 2008, when "Thank You for a Lifetime" went to three).

Lace and Whiskey is the 10th studio album by Alice Cooper, released in May 1977. After many years of portraying a dark and sinister persona Alice Cooper decided to try something new and donned the persona of a heavy drinking comic PI named "Maurice Escargot" - a fictional character in the same vein as Inspector Clouseau. Cooper is pictured as Escargot on the back cover of Lace and Whiskey, which was still a rock-based album but was stylistically influenced by Cooper's love for 1940s and 1950s music.

Two CDs devoted to the Springfields is probably a bit much for casual fans. This set could likely have been trimmed to one 70-minute CD, leaving out "Silver Dollar," "Row Row Row" and some of the other lesser material from their first album, although it is strange in an enlightening way to hear Dusty singing the latter, a pre-World War I standard more suited to the likes of Ruth Etting. What's good is that none of the high spots are left out, including "Allentown Jail," the ethereal "Far Away Place," "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" (natch), the delightful "Little Boat" (the best of their international numbers), and the gorgeous, near-British beat style "Come On Home," where Dusty starts to show off some of the soulfulness that would later identify her voice. The notes are well detailed, and the mastering is flawless.

Samson’s career goes back to the mid-1970s London pub and club circuit, where early members included future Squeeze drummer Paul Gunn, and ex Zzebra bassist John McCoy. By 1977 the line-up had stabilised with future Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr, and ex- Steamhammer, Castle and Tiger Lily bassist Chris Aylmer. 1979 saw the release of their debut, “Survivors”, with John McCoy producing and playing bass, alongside fellow Gillan member Colin Towns on keyboards. The Heavy Metal Crusade” tour, with Samson supported by upcoming London band Iron Maiden as guests, alongside with Saxon, Angelwitch and the Nicky Moore Band, is renowned for being the start of what became known as the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (or NWOBHM for short). By July 1979, the band expanded to a four piece with the addition of vocalist Bruce Dickinson, then going under the stage name of Bruce Bruce. Over the following two years they released “Head On” and “Shock Tactics” to critical acclaim, touring with Rainbow, Robin Trower and Uriah Heep. Following a triumphant show at the 1981 Reading Festival , Bruce left for global success with Iron Maiden, joining ex-Samson drummer Clive Burr. Dickinson was replaced by ex-Hackensack and Tiger powerhouse vocalist Nicky Moore for a run of albums on Polydor records.

The following albums are included: Hawkwind, In Search of Space, Greasy Truckers’ Party (2CD) Doremi Fasol Latido, The Space Ritual Alive in Liverpool and London (2CD), Hall of the Mountain Grill, The 1999 Party (2CD) and this set also comes with a bonus disc collecting rare single mixes called Of Time and Stars – The Singles…