Rockers

As Bruce Springsteen labored over the album that would become Born In The U.S.A., E Street Band tenor saxophonist Clarence Clemons took the opportunity to create this busman's holiday, fronting a septet he called The Red Bank Rockers. The group's lead singer was John "J.T." Bowen, a gruff-voiced shouter in the tradition of Wilson Pickett, and Clemons assembled such songwriters as Ellie Greenwich and Desmond Child to put together a set of neo-'60s R&B ravers. Also included was Springsteen's "Savin' Up," on which The Boss played rhythm guitar.

This is an album sampler disc for Crown City Rockers' The Day After Forever, highlighting five songs from the length that is full. This was released by Gold Dust Media.

Born Robert Lee Gray, Bobby grew up on a plantation in Winterville, Washington County, Mississippi. At the age of 7, he was put to work in the cotton fields. Everybody in the area worked on a cotton farm. Life was hard. Most people were poor, and Bobby was no exception. But cotton wasn’t the only thing Bobby began early. Living in such close proximity to the likes of BB King, Mississippi Slim and Bobby Bland, he was bitten by the blues bug. By age 11, he was frequenting juke joints. Bands would come from nearby Greenville to play in Winterville. If he could scrape together enough money, Bobby would go inside to see the show. If he didn’t have the money, he listened from outside, and dreamed of trading the cotton hoe for a microphone.

If you had to pick one album that best represents the pinnacle of the art of dub, you'd cull the candidates down pretty quickly to ten or 12, and it would get very difficult after that. Few would fault you for ending up with this one, though, which stands as perhaps the finest collaboration between two of instrumental reggae's leading lights: producer and melodica player Augustus Pablo and legendary dub pioneer King Tubby. Among other gems, this album offers its title track – a dub version of Jacob Miller's "Baby I Love You So" – which is widely regarded as the finest example of dub ever recorded.

Best of Rockers 'n' Ballads is the Scorpions 5th compilation album, released in 1989. The record features several rare or completely unreleased tracks: "Hey You", from the group's Animal Magnetism sessions; the re-recorded "long version" of "Is There Anybody There?"; and a cover ofThe Who's "I Can't Explain", which was also included on that same year's Stairway to Heaven/Highway to Hell charity compilation album. Best of Rockers 'n' Ballads reached platinum status in the USA.

Gold Star Rockers is not just another Eddie Cochran compilation: there are already plenty of those out there, ranging from single disc “Greatest Hits” to exhaustive summaries of his career as a featured musician. Instead, Gold Star Rockers is a lavish 3CD Various Artists set rounding up more than 100 tracks by artists associated with that supremely talented musician, whose early death robbed the music world of one of its most multi-faceted exponents. Dave Penny’s fascinating compilation takes its title from the historic Los Angeles studio, where many of the tracks were recorded.

Review by Timothy Monger
As the '70s came to a close, an emerging crew of female rock artists and bandleaders began to populate the airwaves. From the punk attitude of the Patti Smith Group and Chrissie Hynde's Pretenders to all-female guitar bands like the Go-Go's and the Bangles, these bold artists set out to ensure that women would no longer be marginalized or under-represented in the rock industry. She Rocks: The '80s Wave of Women Rockers collects 15 cuts from some of the '80s most inspiring women. Trailblazing singers with a unique style like Cyndi Lauper and Kirsty MacColl are featured here alongside bands led by strong frontwomen like the B-52s and 'Til Tuesday. These women set the stage for both equality and the high quality of women rockers who would follow their example in the coming decades.