Off The Wall

Although there have been countless compilations over the decades, The Very Best of the Jacksons could well be the most definitive. Split across two discs, disc one primarily features the early Mowtown days and the second, mainly their hits as the Jacksons (as opposed to Jackson 5) released on Epic. Often overshadowed by Michael's subsequent success as a solo artist, this anthology demonstrates why the Jacksons' perfect balance of pop and soul has endured when compared to one-time peers such as the Osmonds.

It is no exaggeration to call Little Walter the Jimi Hendrix of the electric harp: he redefined what the instrument was and what it could do, pushing the instrument so far into the future that his music still sounds modern decades after it was recorded. Little Walter wasn't the first musician to amplify the harmonica but he arguably was the first to make the harp sound electric, twisting twitching, vibrant runs out of his instrument; nearly stealing the show from Muddy Waters on his earliest Chess recordings; and so impressing Leonard Chess that he made Muddy keep Walter as his harpist even after Waters broke up his band. Chess also made Walter into his studio's house harpist and started to release Little Walter solo records with the instrumental "Juke" in 1952. "Juke" became a smash hit and turned Little Walter into a star, making him a steady presence on the '50s R&B charts.

Prog rock that’s epic and intimate… dense and hummable. Soaring vocals lead into quirky instrumentals going in unexpected directions. Every Waking Hour is not ashamed to say they play prog rock. Heck, they're proud of it. Guitarist Tim Kestle boasts, "We think prog is about epic songs, spooky moods and twisting instrumental passages, and that's where we live musically". Their debut CD "Writing on the Wall" is proof positive of this.
Kestle and keyboardist/drummer/vocalist Paul McLean have been collaborating on and off for more years than they are willing to admit. They were first drawn together by a mutual love of classic prog bands like Yes and Genesis as students back in the 1970's…