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Welcome To Randy's Rodeo!
50 years of rock 'n' roll and all the music from whence it sprang. Whew! If you enjoy my website, please support me by clicking through and shopping at Amazon,iTunes,
and Sheet Music Plus - your purchases there benefit my work here. [read
more] |
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Still Sane After All These Years. I've just discovered that Carolyne Mas, my favorite lost hero of rock 'n' roll, reissued her three, long out-of-print Mercury albums through an indie label called Renaissance Records. What better time to write my appreciation of her under-appreciated music? [read & listen] |
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Silver And Gold. Collector's choice Real Gone Music has unleashed a near-perfect CD from power pop pioneers Artful Dodger. Called The Complete Columbia Recordings, it collects three albums on two discs. It's missing their fourth (and best) album, but those first three are pretty awesome, too! [learn more] |
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That's Amore! Dean Martin didn't quite make my list of the best love song singers, but his Italian Love Songs compilation is pretty great. This year, there's a new 3-LP edition on red, white, and green vinyl. How cool is that? [get it now] |
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Lenny Kaye Rises From The Dead. Just in time for All Hallow's Eve, the RockBeat label has collected no less than three discs of insanely rare garage rock in a rockin' box called Halloween Nuggets: Monster Sixties A Go-Go. I mean, I'm really into this stuff, and I haven't heard of 90% of these songs! [buy if you dare] |
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Yep, That Rocs! Halloween's just around the corner, and Yep Roc Records will play the first "trick" with Mondo Zombie Boogaloo, an all-new collection featuring three of our finest roots rockers - Los Straitjackets, Southern Culture On The Skids, and the Fleshtones. Buy one now or learn more about Halloween rock 'n' roll - before it's too late! [creep me out] |
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I Got The Boos. English label Document works under the radar, compiling American roots music that's fallen out of copyright in the European Union. The last few years they've released three volumes called Blues, Blues, Christmas. Now they've unleashed Blues, Blues, Hoodoo, Halloween, which does for ghosts, ghouls, and goblins what their previous volumes did for Santa. [buy or die] |
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More Slices of Bread. It's been an extraordinarily busy year for 70's soft rock icon Bread - and they haven't cut a record in decades! The latest releases include Just Like Yesterday: The Solo Anthology 1974-77 which compiles James Griffin's first two post-break-up solo albums, an Edsel 2-CD set compiling David Gates' first four solo albums, and Bread: A Sweet Surrender by Malcolm Searles, the first-ever biography of the band. [learn more] |
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Bread Rising. Few people know that the members of 70's band Bread were seasoned veterans of the music industry. Jimmy Griffin recorded extensively for Reprise in the early 60's, and his first solo album Summer
Holiday is finally available on CD (with plentiful bonus tracks). David Gates wrote a number of hits and produced dozens of sessions, many compiled on The Early Years 1962-1967. [learn more] |
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Motown Does Broadway. A new musical is opening on The Great White Way celebrating the achievements of America's most famous black-owned record label. Instead of a traditional cast album, Motown has (wisely, I'd argue) released a fine compilation called Motown: The Musical - The Classic Songs That Inspired The Broadway Show. [learn more] [shop now] |
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Lost In Austin. The Coffee Sergeants are far and away one of the best bands in my hometown of Austin, Texas - and have been for over 20 years. Why haven't you heard of them? Probably because they are content to play funky little clubs around town, purveying their unique and gentle brand of rootsy psychedelia - which is now available worldwide thanks to the miracle of technology. [heavy, man ] |
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I Want In. The legendary, quasi-debut LP by The Avengers is (after a virtual eternity in limbo) legally available on CD and MP3 through Water Records, a label fully sanctioned by the band. The new reissue is a 2-CD affair including the complete, original 12-track LP (disc 1) and a wealth of rarities (disc 2). Recommended beyond all possible description. [get avenged] |
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Satch, Redux. Recently, I've dug a lot deeper into the deep, deep catalog of Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, and I've written an article to match. Not many musicians can claim to be a true American icon, but "Pops" can. [read
more & listen] |
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Actor? Songwriter? Singer? Most people recognize
Hoyt Axton as the hapless dad in Gremlins, or as the man who wrote that
song about Jeremiah (a bullfrog). But, this amiable Oklahoman conducted a recording career that
spanned nearly thirty years. [learn more & listen] |
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I'm In Love With Emma Peel. The song, that is, not
the sultry heroine of the 60's TV show, The Avengers. This little-known
power pop gem by a long-forgotten band, The Allies, was a minor sensation
on Seattle radio and MTV. But, I'd never heard it till recently... [read
more & listen] |
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I Used To Be A Zombie. Keyboardist Rod Argent is remembered
mainly for his stint with the Zombies, but he sold more records with the 70's prog rock outfit
that bore his name. Argent is often considered a one-hit-wonder,
but there's more to them than "Hold Your Head Up." [read more & listen] |
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Goodbye Again. Revisit the gentle, spirited music
of dearly departed John Denver, including his prodigious Christmas catalog.
People forget how positively huge Denver was during the 70's, selling millions of records
before disco and punk swept him out to pasture. But, I haven't. [read
more & listen] |
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