📜 Feature The May Vinyl Challenge

Harry said:

Lani took a long break to recover from an illness, but returned in the CD age with BRASIL NATIVO and continues to perform with Herb in his concerts and on some of the album tracks on his latter-day albums.

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I am so close to seeing them perform...I can hardly stand it

Nemily said:

The Eagles took a break in 1980. The first solo track I heard and liked in late ’82 from Henley was "Dirty Laundry"

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Always have liked that track! Steve Porcaro had a huge role on that song. He set up the gated Farfisa organ that plays throughout the song (synced to a cowbell rhythm, where all he had to do was hold the chords on the Farfisa), and also utilized a then-new sampling synthesizer (I forget which one) for all the effects at the end (telephone, teletype, the "warped" voices, etc.). I haven't been that familiar on anything Eagles-related but have always enjoyed Henley's recordings.

Rudy said:

Always have liked that track! Steve Porcaro had a huge role on that song. He set up the gated Farfisa organ that plays throughout the song (synced to a cowbell rhythm, where all he had to do was hold the chords on the Farfisa)

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more cowbell please

Obviously, I'm slipping behind here!

4-Album I'd take to Outer Space: Holst's The Planets by Tomita (John Williams's score for The Empire Strikes Back or the Soundtrack to 2001 get an honorable mention here).

5-Best Fifth Album: A no-brainer on this one -- Herb's Going Places takes this one for me.

6-Best and Worst: Oingo Boingo's three A&M/IRS LPs (and the IRS 10" Ep) and their first few for MCA are all top notch. Dark at the End of the Tunnel (the 3rd original for MCA) was a bit disappointing. But their next album, their final original album on Giant Records (confusingly titled Boingo when their second for MCA was titled Boi-Ngo). was a snooze fest and likely one of the most disappointing albums in my collection. I don't think I've ever played it again since the first spin after I bought it. The band was stripped of the one thing that made them so unique -- the horn section of Schneiderman, Sluggo and Turner (save for a guest shot on one forgettable track). Oddly enough my metal-head friends who hate Oingo Boingo LOVE this one but hate the rest. All in musical taste I guess! Fortunately Oingo Boingo returned to form for their farewell tour and the live recording that came from it, albeit, the quirkiness for which fans loved them was gone for the most part...
I'd give an honorable mention to The Cardigans whose first album was hip, catchy and fun. Their second album was dull, boring and not the least bit catchy or memorable. I remember seeing it in the cut out bins and used shops for nearly decade before (I assume) they finally migrated into the landfills of America. And unlike Oingo Boingo, they went from great to crap over the span of only two releases. Of course, I think these may not have existed on vinyl, so ixNay and the mention...

--Mr. Bill

14. Long Time No Spin | Random Pull.

For this one, I pulled out an A&M promo album for the group Head East from 1978. This album, called RADIO SAMPLER contains eight tracks from the group's prior three albums on A&M, and was released in conjunction with the next album, HEAD EAST. From working in classic rock radio, I was semi familiar with "Never Been Any Reason" and possibly "Love Me Tonight". If not, they are contained on a couple of A&M various artist compilations and I heard them there. The other tracks were all essentially new spins as I dubbed the album to digital. This one's apparently somewhat sought after as the prices on Discogs seem rather high. My copy is nearly pristine as it's likely never been played before.

I was at a loss for yesterday's entry. Some of the picks were too overused and obvious. Others I don't really consider solo artists or side projects, especially in jazz, as so many artists make their way around other groups that there's no real "main" group they were known for. The few I came up with were digital-only, so I passed. (I was trying to think of a musician that rarely ever made records on their own, where doing a solo recording was something they only did once in a few decades.) I might still think of someone eventually though--I can always catch up!

I'm almost leaning towards the first Mike + The Mechanics album--it was nothing like Rutherford's first two solo albums away from Genesis, and actually quite surprising in how modern, accessible and pop-oriented it was. (In fact, I think I'd heard the songs and the band name before finding out that "Mike" was Mike Rutherford.)

Today I'm just going to go randomly over to the shelves and see what I find (and try not to peek ).

Day 14. Long Time No Spin/Random Pull. Loggins and Messina – "The Best of Friends". I randomly pulled this one out, verbatim. It’s been more than two decades since I played this record. Maybe three! This was the Duo’s second to last compilation, their swan song compilation was The Best of Loggins & Messina.

Best of Friends is a hodgepodge of folk, rock, celtic and even a little calypso. This is a happy, easy listen. Hmm. I see a Kenny Loggins playlist in the very near future on my streamers. Maybe I will include a Bob James / Kenny Loggins collaboration

Session musicians on this album include Michael Omartian on piano. Omartian is enjoying a long career of session work including work on albums for Steely Dan and played/arranged the accordion for "Piano Man". On this LP, Omartian is the pianist on "Danny’s Song" and "Your Mama Don’t Dance".

The LP in my collection is Columbia, PC 34388, 1980 Reissue (initially released 1976), Pitman Pressing.

Pulled two. From the jazz shelves, John Klemmer's Arabesque. From the pop/rock/funk area, Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection.

Tomorrow is about the midpoint and is a "show your setup/collection" day, so we can skip that one for privacy reasons. I may do some sort of abstract (read: stupid) photo of part of the collection just to post something tomorrow but it's low priority. With a lot going on here, it's hard to find time to do much of anything.

Rudy said:

From the jazz shelves, John Klemmer's Arabesque.

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I own that on CD along with most of his ABC/MCA albums from the 70s on CD Klemmer was one of the first jazz artists I began collecting in the 80s to me it was a very different but Great kind of music I still enjoy listening to him even today

15. Halfway | Show us your system. As Rudy said, showing pictures of home collections or systems could be a bit of a security risk, so I thought about the "Halfway" term. What records say "halfway". First thing popped into my head was the old 70s hit "Half-Breed" by Cher. But I don't seem to own that one. I've got some gypsies, tramps, and thieves, though.

What about a half-speed mastered record? I have a couple of those. (Do two halves make a whole?) Both have a hole!





I remember buying the BEATLES FOR SALE sometime in the early 80s as I was trying to fill out my vinyl collection of all of the Beatles releases. I remember buying it in a place in the Philly suburbs known as Plastic Fantastic.

As for the Sergio Mendes disc, I'm not sure where I picked that up. It would have been in the late 90s though, and I did find it new and sealed. Best version of this record ever!

So there you go - half speed mastered.

Harry said:

15. Halfway | Show us your system. As Rudy said, showing pictures of home collections or systems could be a bit of a security risk, so I thought about the "Halfway" term. What records say "halfway". First thing popped into my head was the old 70s hit "Half-Breed" by Cher. But I don't seem to own that one. I've got some gypsies, tramps, and thieves, though.

What about a half-speed mastered record? I have a couple of those. (Do two halves make a whole?) Both have a hole!





I remember buying the BEATLES FOR SALE sometime in the early 80s as I was trying to fill out my vinyl collection of all of the Beatles releases. I remember buying it in a place in the Philly suburbs known as Plastic Fantastic.

As for the Sergio Mendes disc, I'm not sure where I picked that up. It would have been in the late 90s though, and I did find it new and sealed. Best version of this record ever!

So there you go - half speed mastered.

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Those would be interesting to hear especially the Brasil 66 one since everybody has said it rivals all vinyl. CD and Digital releases combined.i regret never having been able to obtain it let alone afford it. During its limited run

Many of those early MoFi records had questionable EQ applied to them. Like Year of the Cat, which boosts the upper and lower frequencies leaving a "deadness" in the midrange that I don't really like--it sucks the life out of it. Or Katy Lied, where it's really muffled (as I suspect they couldn't figure out how to cut the record cleanly). The Brasil 66 was good but many others are a crapshoot. Trick of the Tail is pretty good though, as is the Nat King Cole/George Shearing record (a bit bright but otherwise very nice).

Some cutting engineers have explained why half-speed mastering isn't a good thing, and what they say makes sense. I haven't had playback issues with mine, and I have to say that the most recent half-speed I bought was the ABKCO clear-vinyl edition of Hot Rocks. That, however, was cut from digital (probably DSD, or downsampled from DSD to high-res PCM...don't forget, Hot Rocks was released as an SACD back in the day by ABKCO).

Kevin explains it well here and he gives us the historical context behind half-speed mastering. The part at the very end about how half-speed can compromise lower frequencies is notable.

Rudy said:

Many of those early MoFi records had questionable EQ applied to them. Like Year of the Cat, which boosts the upper and lower frequencies leaving a "deadness" in the midrange that I don't really like--it sucks the life out of it. Or Katy Lied, where it's really muffled (as I suspect they couldn't figure out how to cut the record cleanly). The Brasil 66 was good but many others are a crapshoot. Trick of the Tail is pretty good though, as is the Nat King Cole/George Shearing record (a bit bright but otherwise very nice).

Some cutting engineers have explained why half-speed mastering isn't a good thing, and what they say makes sense. I haven't had playback issues with mine, and I have to say that the most recent half-speed I bought was the ABKCO clear-vinyl edition of Hot Rocks. That, however, was cut from digital (probably DSD, or downsampled from DSD to high-res PCM...don't forget, Hot Rocks was released as an SACD back in the day by ABKCO).

Kevin explains it well here and he gives us the historical context behind half-speed mastering. The part at the very end about how half-speed can compromise lower frequencies is notable.

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This is a great video. Thanks. The only MOFI I own is Pretenders - Learning to Crawl (post #39) and I guess I lucked out as MOFI's go because the one I have sounds amazing. I usually keep the loudness around 7-8 on my amplifier, but on this record it sounds better on full. There is absolutely zero sibilance and zero surface noise. I would love to hear the Brasil 66.

Nemily said:

The only MOFI I own is Pretenders - Learning to Crawl (post #39) and I guess I lucked out as MOFI's go because the one I have sounds amazing.

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MoFi had a few different eras and I'm guessing the Pretenders is not part of the mid 70s to mid 80s run when JVC was cutting and pressing the records. They sort of faded into the background before they began releasing gold CDs, then the vinyl made a comeback and I think at that point they did away with the half speed mastering. The third version of MoFi is the current era as they are owned by Music Direct.

That must be what I have. The release date is 2012.

Nemily said:

That must be what I have. The release date is 2012.

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I just looked up their history--Music Direct purchased all the assets and intellectual property of MoFi in 2001, so your record is from the "modern" MoFi era.

And their reintroduction to the vinyl market prior to that was in 1993, under the original ownership. They introduced the Anadisq 200 series and utilized their GAIN system for mastering both analog and digital products.

Day 16. Sweet 16: Early Influences from the Formative Years.

What Now My Love. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. I still remember being entranced watching Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass on variety show appearances. By the time "What Now My Love" was released, it was their sixth album, but it was all new to me.

That warm, rich layering of brass. The marimba and vibes! Mariachi strings! Best of all, it was my awakening at a very young age to unpack that instruments can communicate and connect with me in the same vein that a human voice can. To this day I am still over the moon when I am listening to Herb Alpert & TJB. And "What Now My Love" is still my all-time favorite album. I know, crazy, right? Of all time!

I have two copies: SP 4114 Terre Haute Pressing and Sp 4114 Santa Maria Pressing



Deodato 2 CTI 6029 Engineer Rudy Van Gelder 1973 Jazz-Jazz Funk. By 1973, I was already into bands like Santana that were jazz influenced, but after hearing Deodato 2, I was a true appreciator of jazz and all of its’ origins and derivatives. I am still discovering and re-discovering great jazz, in large part thanks to this A&M Forum.

I can’t show you the actual Deodato 2 record because somehow Whirlwinds ended up in the jacket. I do have the D2 record, but it’s just a matter of finding the Whirlwinds jacket lol. For now. I listen to the UK Vocalion - CDSML 8532 Hybrid CD which its a double CD including another favorite, Prelude. This is a great CD in case anyone is looking for some Deodato.

Nemily said:

Day 16. Sweet 16: Early Influences from the Formative Years.

What Now My Love. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. I still remember being entranced watching Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass on variety show appearances. By the time "What Now My Love" was released, it was their sixth album, but it was all new to me.

That warm, rich layering of brass. The marimba and vibes! Mariachi strings! Best of all, it was my awakening at a very young age to unpack that instruments can communicate and connect with me in the same vein that a human voice can. To this day I am still over the moon when I am listening to Herb Alpert & TJB. And "What Now My Love" is still my all-time favorite album. I know, crazy, right? Of all time!

I have two copies: SP 4114 Terre Haute Pressing and Sp 4114 Santa Maria Pressing



Deodato 2 CTI 6029 Engineer Rudy Van Gelder 1973 Jazz-Jazz Funk. By 1973, I was already into bands like Santana that were jazz influenced, but after hearing Deodato 2, I was a true appreciator of jazz and all of its’ origins and derivatives. I am still discovering and re-discovering great jazz, in large part thanks to this A&M Forum.

I can’t show you the actual Deodato 2 record because somehow Whirlwinds ended up in the jacket. I do have the D2 record, but it’s just a matter of finding the Whirlwinds jacket lol. For now. I listen to the UK Vocalion - CDSML 8532 Hybrid CD which its a double CD including another favorite, Prelude. This is a great CD in case anyone is looking for some Deodato.

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You're not Crazy "What now my Love" along with Whipped cream was in my Mom's collection ( and eventually I got my copy). I agree with you about that album When I was 16 believe or not I finally scored my first Brasil 66 album which turned out to be their 1970 greatest hits as most of their albums appeared to be out of print except their Foursider and Maybe the first album but I wasn't sure at the time. But still I was criticized a lot as a teen for being musically backwards Everybody felt they had to be "Cool" although I liked some of the popular stuff in the 80s the older music I grew up listening to was and still is the foundation of my musical soundtrack. And I was also starting to get into Jazz more too.

16. Sweet 16: Early Influences from the Formative Years. Actually, I'll go back to when I was 12. Up until this point, my records centered around 45s, many played on the old RCA 45 record changer. When that little record player began to die, I was given my late grandfather's suitcase record player. This more grownup record player played 45s and 33s, probably 78s as well. My album collection was quite small. I had a Chipmunk album or two, that Frankie Laine record mentioned above, a couple of Ferrante & Teicher albums, and a Tchaikovsky/Van Cliburn album (that were gifted to me because I was taking piano lessons).

At the end of 1962 and the start of 1963, a new game show debuted on NBC. It was called THE MATCH GAME. It aired at 4PM and was hosted by Gene Rayburn. This version of the show was a lot simpler and milder than what aired in the 70s when most of the questions were aimed to provide double entendres. Anyway this simple, early MATCH GAME had a theme song that just hit all of my buttons. It was Bert Kaempfert's "A Swingin' Safari".

To this day, when I hear this record, I still hear announcer Johnny Olson welcoming everyone to THE MATCH GAME.



I sent my parents on endless excursions to department and record stores trying to find this record. The best that they could come up with was Billy Vaughn's American version of the Kaempfert record, which actually charted here in the States when Kaempfert's failed to do so. I was reasonably happy with the new addition to my tiny album collection, but still yearned for the version I heard on TV. Most, to this day cannot tell the difference.

This album firmly planted in my brain that I liked instrumental music and would serve as a sort of pre-introduction to the soon-to-enter-my-life Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass.

It would take years and a number of throwaway radio station record library albums before I'd own the Bert Kaempfert version on a vinyl album. I now own a number of his hit packages and complations with the song on it, but today rely on an excellent CD comp for the track.

Harry said:

This album firmly planted in my brain that I liked instrumental music and would serve as a sort of pre-introduction to the soon-to-enter-my-life Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass.

It would take years and a number of throwaway radio station record library albums before I'd own the Bert Kaempfert version on a vinyl album. I now own a number of his hit packages and complations with the song on it, but today rely on an excellent CD comp for the track.

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I too have several Kaempfert CD s I got into him in the mid 80s just a few years after his untimely passing had he lived I believe he would have kept performing like James Last did ( another easy listening favorite among many)

Day 17. Celebrate the Maker: Label. Since day 17 of the May Vinyl Challenge leaves a little room for interpretation, I decided to celebrate retro record labels with an A&M connection, at least to a fair bit.

Scepter Records - founded from the sale of Britain’s Decca Records, Sceptors’ priority act was Dionne Warwick. Initially releasing a solo album with Kapp Records in 1965, Burt Bacharach signed with A&M in 1967 however it was at Scepter that Burt Bacharach came into prominence as a writer and producer (pictured Alfie – Dionne Warwick 1967)



CTI - In 1964, Creed Taylor supervised the creation of a folk music subsidiary named Verve Folkways which was later renamed Verve Forecast. Taylor left Verve in 1967 to form CTI Records, the Jazz Label for A&M Records (pictured CTI Summer Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl Live Two – various artists 1972)



Atco – Founded in 1955 now owned by Warner Brothers operating under Atlantic Records. One of Atlantic Records’ biggest acts was Yes. During the Fragile Tour in 1971, Rick Wakeman signed a 5-album year deal with A&M as a solo artist. Yes disbanded in 1981, however in 1983 Yes began reforming again under Atco Records (Pictured Yes – 90125 – 1983 and retro Atco I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You – The Bee Gees – 1968 )




This one is loosely connected, but I like the colors of the label. Uni Records – in 1967 Uni took over management of Kapp Records (Bacharach left Uni in 1967 and signed with A&M). Kapp Records, Decca and Uni folded into MCA Records in 1971 – Uni acts included Elton John, Neil Diamond and Olivia-Newton John. Olivia-Newton John was a close friend of Karen Carpenter of Carpenters, who were arguably A&M’s most successful act. (pictured Elton John – Your Song 1970)

17. Celebrate the Maker Producer | Label | Pressing. This seems like something we do on a daily basis around here, celebrating A&M Records. Of course the label is just an imprint these days, pretty much used for historical and retro releases by Universal. I'll use this opportunity to cover two of these "days". Back on the 15th, I used the "half" part of the description and didn't do anything with the "show us your system". Here, I will show my modest turntable playing one of the later "retro" A&M albums in my collection - this is the long-missing A&M/CTi release of J&K's STONEBONE in all of its red-vinyl prettyness.

Harry said:

Here, I will show my modest turntable playing one of the later "retro" A&M albums in my collection - this is the long-missing A&M/CTi release of J&K's STONEBONE in all of its red-vinyl prettiness.

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My second copy plays much cleaner than the first. I really wonder why they'd release something this rare on colored vinyl (especially knowing Universal's poor track record of pressing good vinyl).