Headcharger Wake up And Run

There was a time when swing-oriented jazz, R&B and blues overlapped to form an accessible yet intelligent style of music. In the late '40s Louis Jordan, Charles Brown and Amos Milburn were popular figures and Floyd Dixon (although a bit in their shadow) was not far behind. When rock & roll suddenly took over pop music in the mid-'50s, the middle-aged black performers were tossed off the charts in favor of their younger white imitators and work began to become scarce. Fortunately Floyd Dixon survived the lean years and, as with Charles Brown, he made a "comeback." This CD is a definitive Floyd Dixon release, mixing together older hits (including his signature tune "Hey, Bartender") with newer originals; all 16 selections were written or co-composed by Dixon.

The second half of the '90s was difficult for the Cranberries, not just because of changing fashions, but because the group embraced both a social consciousness and a prog rock infatuation, crystallized by the Storm Thorgerson cover of Bury the Hatchet. Thorgerson has been retained for their fifth effort, Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, but the group has hardly pursued the indulgent tendencies of their previous collaboration with him – instead, they've re-teamed with producer Stephen Street and come up with an album that's as reminiscent of their debut as anything they've done since. So, even if it's wrapped in new clothing, this is essentially a return to basics, and it's a welcome one, since it's melodic, stately, and somber – perhaps not with the post-Sundays grace of "Linger," but with a dogged sense of decorum that keeps not just the group's musical excesses in check, but also O'Riordan's political polemics (although she still sneaks in cringe-inducing lines like "Looks like we've screwed up the ozone layer/I wonder if the politicians care").

Del Shannon - Home and Away: The Complete Recordings 1960-1970 (2004) {8-CD Box, Bear Family Records BCD 15925 HL}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.82 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.27 Gb
Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1960-70, 2004 Bear Family Records | BCD 15925 HL}
Pop / AM Pop / Rock & Roll / Oldies / Early Pop / Teen Idols

One of the greatest and most original rock 'n' roll stars of the early 1960s, Del Shannon was also one of the few to not only triumph in the face of the British Invasion, but grow artistically and professionally. He is lauded now as the godfather of Power Pop. His astonishing vocal range combined with Max Crook’s Musitron made one of the most unique and easily identifiable sounds in all popular music. In addition, Del Shannon wrote several of the era’s classics, exploring themes that would recur in his work: loss, alienation, and abandonment.

One of the myriad of hard rock bands to form during the '80s, Tennessee's Every Mother's Nightmare, despite strong label support, was also one of the bands of the genre to be swept aside by the alternative rock acts of the early '90s. Formed in 1987 by lead singer Rick Ruhl and guitarist Steve Malone, they added bassist Mark McMurtry and drummer Jim Phipps to flesh out their lineup and became a successful draw in the clubs of Nashville and Memphis…