The Monster of The Sea

100 Notable Books of 2020: The year’s notable fiction, poetry and nonfiction, selected by the editors of The New York Times Book Review .

The Return of the Songwriter-Hero: No need for a clock or a calendar; Steve Strauss ticks in much more expansive dimensions. Roughly 10 years after his success with “Just Like Love” the singer & composer now presents his new album: “Sea of Dreams”.

In the penultimate episode of his widely popular and critically acclaimed HBO series, Painting with John, its creator, John Lurie, sat in a Manhattan recording studio, working out musical parts for the show’s soundtrack. “After the illness started, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to do this again,” said Lurie.

93 track five disc clam shell box rounding up pretty much all of Bad Manners’ releases between 1980-85. Disc 1 is debut LP “Ska N B” which spent three months in the UK charts in 1980, peaking at No.34. Includes the hit singles ‘Ne-Ne Na-Na Na-Na Nu-Nu’ (No.28), ‘Lip Up Fatty’ (No.15) and ‘Special Brew’ (No.3). The second disc is the “Loonee Tunes” album which hit No.36 in the National Chart in 1980. This one contains the hit singles ‘Lorraine’ (No.21) and ‘Just A Feeling’ (No.13). 1981’s “Gosh It’s” album is what you’ll find on Disc 3. It reached No.18 in the UK charts helped by the inclusion of the hit singles ‘Can Can’ (No.3) and ‘Walking In The Sunshine’ (No.10). We’ve also added as a bonus the No.34 charting ‘Buona Sera’ single plus two tracks from the “Party Party” sound-track that are appearing on CD in the UK for the first time.