Tim Brough's Black Leather Bookshelf

Platinum Roots
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Motley Crue started life as glam-metal before morphing into hard rocking, and "Tattoos and Tequila" is front-man Vince Neil's tribute to the bands and songs that helped formulate his contributions to the band, While it's not terribly inspiring or all that original, it is in good fun and Neil acquits himself just fine. It's also a pretty interesting look into the guy's pysche; just what was he listening to while he was dreaming little rock star dreams?

Some of the choices are obvious. I'd easily guessed Scorpions and Aerosmith, and perhaps Elton John's "The B---- is Back" given Elton's omnipresence on seventies radio. A bit more interesting are Sweet ("Ac/Dc") and a selection from the first Cheap Trick album, "He's a Whore." Then you get the oddballs. I wouldn't have pegged Vince for a fan of Elvis or Creedence Clearwater Revival, but they both turn up with "Viva Las Vegas" and "Who'll Stop The Rain," respectively. And how about them Sex Pistols?

As to the performances, they are spotty. He's got a basic three piece combo backing him for the bulk of the disc, and they bludgeon their way through just about everything here. Drums are pumped to arena boom levels and the drenching of reverb over everything (especially Vince's vocals) doesn't allow the songs much room to breathe. The couple moments of subtlety ("Who'll Stop The Rain" and new song - one of two fresh cuts - "Another Bad Day") unmask the fact that Vince isn't much of a singer these days, which is why he blasts his way through most of the CD. Frankly, the CCR track is painful to listen to.

But this is Vince Neil we're dealing with here. If you were expecting "Sgt Pepper," you were gonna get snookered anyway. "Tattoos and Tequila" is Neil have a good laugh with a night of oldies at the local pub. It's also tied into a book and Vince's own brand of Tequila, so it's just one prong in a three point marketing strategy. He's not taking it all that seriously (I have a hard time listening to him trying to snarl like Johnny Rotten on "No Feelings" without imagining him cracking up), so take "Tattoos and Tequila" for what it is; a bit of a lark and a savvy piece of salesmanship. To assume more would be exaggerating your expectations.

The Best of the Available Donna Summer Collections
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The passing of Donna Summer has given her work a much needed critical review, with mention now of finally inducting her into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after many years of snubs. This double CD "Gold" collection is a great overview of her multifaceted and multiple label career, hitting time with all three major labels as well as additional latter singles. The glory days of Casablanca take up all if disc one, the her resurgence on Geffen and comeback on Mercury, finalized by the surprising return to the top ten on Atlantic.

Granted, her pairing with Georgio Morodor gave her that first taste of success with the orgasmo-"Love To Love You Baby," but you can also see that she was on Casablanca's hit-making treadmill for the first few songs. Summer was blessed with a choirgirl voice, which makes the mediocrity of "Could This Be The Magic" or "Love's Unkind" bearable, yet it was when both Summer and Morodor made a quantum leap in style that the duo hit stride. Morodor's electronic pulse and Summer's coo made "I Feel Love" a song that was decades ahead of the curve, and from that point on, the hits kept coming.

Summer and Morodor tweaked the conventions of disco in ways that made Summer's diva-tendencies sparkle, like the ballad-intro to the dynamic "Last Dance," or the inventive recasting of McArthur Park" into a plaintive dance-floor wail. They were also among the first to fuse rock to their thumpes, with Steely Dan/Doobie Brothers Jeff Baxter laying down that burning solo that made "Bad Girls/Hit Stuff" irresistible. And how could anyone fight off the dynamic pairing of Summer and the other reigning 70's diva, Barbara Streisand on "No More Tears"?

However, this was about the time Casablanca collapsed under it's own weight, and Summer became one of the first artists to sign with the fledgling Geffen label (whose company at the time included John Lennon and Elton John). Disco was in its death throes, and Summer knew it. Disc Two begins with a turn towards danceable pop. It also marked a cold spell for Summer, as only "The Wanderer" and "Love Is In Control" made the top ten after a string of continuous big hits. Some of the material holds up quite well, like her version of "State of Independence" and the Quincy Jones helmed material. Still, things looked like Summer was going to fade like so many of the other 70's disco mavens.

However, Mercury Records claimed that a contract dispute following the collapse of Casablanca meant they were owed an album. Rather than phone in a quickie, Summer responded by turning in "She Works Hard For the Money," driving her back to the dance-floors and into the top ten once again. The follow-up single with one-hit Wonders Musical Youth ("Unconditional Love") is also a winner. Momentum back in her corner, she made another run at Adult Contemporary pop with Geffen that gave a great single (written by Brenda Russell) "Dinner With Gershwin" and a fine version of "There Goes My Baby." But it looked like diminishing returns were coming back to haunt her.

That is, until the pop production powerhouse of Stock Aitken Waterman convinced Summer to hook up. Having established a sound with hits by Kylie Minogue and Rick Astley, SAW set Summer up with "This Time I Know It's For Real," and lightning hit one more time. The titular album and the follow-up, "Mistaken Identity" are criminally out of print, as are the Geffen sets, which makes the second disc the best place to get some under appreciated songs. of the rest, "Carry On" is a deliciously retro-reteam with Morodor, while "You're So Beautiful" has a deep vibe to it. There's also "Dream-Alot's theme" recorded specially for "The Journey" but missing is "The Power Of One" from Pokemon. All around, though, this is as good as it will get until the inevitable reissue of the OOP albums with bonus tracks and remastering takes place.



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Brought to us by that French lighting company that paints buildings in light. This time, they've created a virtual pinball machine that works, and is played on the side of a building. People are actually working the flippers.

Ah! Bowakawa pousse, pousse!
4 Out Of 4 Stars

Coming out from his infamous "Lost Weekend" period in Los Angeles, John Lennon returned to New York with a batch of songs and renewed focus. From that wellspring came "Walls and Bridges," Lennon's first album to contain a solo number one single. I know a lot of Lennon fans characterize this album as one of Lennon's weaker albums; I happen to have a certain nostalgic love for it.

After all, Lennon had befriended Elton John and Elton famously bet Lennon that "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" would be a chart-topper. This being 1974, Elton was at one of his peak periods and it's his piano and backing vocals that propelled the song. Lennon lost the bet and the payoff was to be a guest at Elton's Madison Square Garden show, which infamously was Lennon's last live appearance and the duo performing "I Saw Her Standing There" eventually appear as the B-Side to Elton's "Philadelphia Freedom." The album also contains the one time John and his son Julian appeared together on record, as Julian plays drums with his dad as the album closes on the oldie "Ya Ya" (which John eventually recorded for inclusion of the "Rock 'n' Roll" album).

Even with these touching moments, Lennon had compiled some wonderful songs. "Number 9 Dream" is a mystical, hallucinatory dream diary where Lennon took words and thoughts from dreams and formed them into a nugget of psychedelia. "Scared," which opens with a lone wolf howl, is emotionally naked and can't be seen without the backdrop of his separation from Yoko. Nor can the stark "Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out," which also bares its soul in a Dylanesque manner.

"Walls and Bridges" was the final album of original material from Lennon until "Double Fantasy" with Yoko six years later. While it was the last of Lennon's solo written albums, it often lost. With such open and autobiographical songs as "Going Down on Love," the bitter "Steel and Glass" (allegedly written about Lennon's disgust with Allan Klein) and even the jubilation of "Whatever Gets You Through The Night," it deserves better.

Day 21. A song that you listen to when you’re happy.




Day 22. A song that you listen to when you’re sad.



Elton John at his most ambitious; shades of Gershwin, gets me every time.