Late Great Planet Earth

Their union in the Boneshakers was fairly short-lived, but together guitarist/songwriter Randy Jacobs and vocalist Sweet Pea Atkinson put together two powerful, rockin' funk and soul albums and entertained some lucky audiences who became Boneshakers themselves on dance floors across the U.S. Atkinson was born in Oberlin, OH. After working 14 years as a Chrysler assembly line worker, he left his job to pursue a music career, singing for such Detroit R&B groups as the Exquisites and Energy. While with Energy, he worked with Detroit producer Don Was (then unknown). He has also sung with industry heavyweights Elton John, Lyle Lovett, Bonnie Raitt, Neil Diamond, and Brian Wilson.

Duran Duran - The Singles 81-85 (2009) [3CD] {EMI Records}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.37 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 443 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 111 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2009 EMI Records | 5099968431723
Pop / New Wave / New Romantic / Synth Pop

This triple box features all 13 singles released during their first four years including seven inch single mixes, extended mixes and b-sides. Features the hits 'Rio', 'Hungry Like The Wolf', 'The Wild Boys', 'Girls On Film', 'Save A Prayer', 'Is There Something I Should Know', 'The Reflex' and many more. Even if you already own 'Decade' or 'Greatest' this compilation is still worth getting, since it contains so many great remixed/extended versions of classic Duran tracks. I particularly like the 'night versions' (shouldn't that be 'nite versions'?) of the 'Duran Duran' and 'Rio' singles, which I much prefer to the 'dance mixes' of the later singles (I'm sure I read somewhere that in the early days, the band would actually re-record the extended versions of their singles from scratch).

A quick internet search brings up some extraordinary footage of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry producing a session at the Black Ark. Taken from the film ‘Roots, Rock, Reggae’, directed by Jeremy Marre, the sequence shows Junior Murvin collaborating with members of the Congos and the Heptones on a song improvised on the spot for the film crew. Before the vocals are recorded, the Upsetters lay down the backing track. The musical director of the session is the afro-haired bass player, Boris Gardiner; unusually, it is he who counts in the band to start each take. After a long conversation with Boris a few years back, I asked Lee about his contribution to the Black Ark sound.

Not many true guitar gods have walked this earth. In the hands of these rare beings, the guitar is more than a six stringed musical instrument; it is a source of immense power, a weapon of mass destruction, a light saber, the most magical of wands, capable of removing a groupy’s panties with a single note…