The Buttshakers Dream on

Combining the Sensational Alex Harvey Band's third and fourth albums, The Impossible Dream and Tomorrow Belongs To Me, offers perhaps the archetypal vision of Alex Harvey, as his long-nurtured alter-ego, the comic book hero Vambo, finally burst out of imagination to take on a life of his own on stages across the world. Yet what would become the group's most successful albums also stand as their patchiest.

Whoever thought that the surface obsession of glam rock never met the loopy idealism of the hippie movement – at least in the musical realm – has obviously never heard the appropriately titled The Impossible Dream. Recorded, again, appropriately, as the Age of Aquarius was in full transition to the age of the Spiders From Mars and, later, the me decade, The Impossible Dream manages to capture that cultural DMZ in an operatic blast of pub rock-based pomp without circumstance. Harvey is the bacchanalian ringleader, marshalling the Sensational Alex Harvey Band's considerable, flexible resources to the task at hand and providing a damn good listen in the process.

The great Grover Washington, Jr. Discovered, nurtured and produced Pieces of a Dream while they were teenage phenoms still in high school. Since then they have toured the world, sold over two million albums, scored both smooth jazz and R&B radio hits while garnering legions of dedicated fans! On Another Note is a funky, joyful musical celebration, filled with melodic grooves that have made Pieces of a Dream fan favorites. The 10 brilliant originals that run the gamut from 'in the pocket' R&B to sensuous smooth jazz jams are proof that Pieces of a Dream are at the top of their game!! Lead producer and founding member James Lloyd, who has been a go-to hit maker and accompanist for Mary J. Blige, Najee and others, shines here with such highlights as the funky "Kickin' And Screamin'" and the romantic ballad "Smooth Dreams." Additionally, co-founder Curtis Harmon's composition, the hard grooving "Real To Me," demonstrates why the "Pieces" sound is a unique crowd pleaser!

The music written by Enigma, Mike Oldfield, Tangerine Dream, The Doors, Phil Collins, Kate Bush, Pink Floyd. Themes from "Basic Instinct", "Twin Peaks", "The Bodyguard", "Terminator".

' Dayton was the home of Sun, a funk combo that showed a lot of promise in the beginning but didn't get nearly as far as it should have commercially. Some of Sun's material was excellent, much of it was merely competent. But the band's recording career got off to a fairly promising start with 1976's Live On, Dream On, which boasted the sweaty funk gem "Wanna Make Love." Unfortunately, many of the people who bought the single passed on this good-to-excellent LP, and that was a mistake because a lot of the other material is almost as strong.
Live On, Dream On (re-released as Wanna Make Love several months later) falls short of perfect, no doubt, it's one of the greatest funk albums ever! ' Alex.Henderson@allmusic.com