westcoastmusic

Michael Franks "The Dream - 1973/2011"

EU five CD anthology from the Smooth Jazz/Pop singer/songwriter Michael Franks. Together with Steely Dan, James Taylor and Christopher Cross, Michael Franks is one of the original sculptors of the West Coast/California sound. His musical alchemy is unique: Jazz, Pop, Funk, Bossa, Soft Rock and Fusion.

In 38 years and 18 albums, he has collaborated with the greatest Jazz and Pop musicians and has created some of the most memorable West Coast in the process. This box set offers the best of Franks' output on five CDs. The first four disc are separated into different themes.

The fifth CD contains the rare live recording from Michael Franks with Australian band Crossfire. This 73 track box set contains hits, fan favorites, rarities and so much more.

Rhino

Two Dakota's first albums reissued by Rock Candy...

DAKOTA’S DEBUT came out all guns blazing, sporting an AOR coat of armour and brandishing a much heavier, almost quasi pomp rock sound that invited comparison to the likes of Toto, Le Roux, Trillion and Styx. That they were great songwriters was an added bonus, making tracks such as ‘If It Takes All Night’, ‘Crazy Love’ and ‘Restless’ sound like hit singles in the making; a truly superlative slice of period perfect AOR.

DAKOTA’S ‘RUNAWAY’ marks a high point in mid eighties melodic AOR. Radio friendly yet aggressive enough to punch home a message, the album set the tone for years to come, laying the foundations for the likes of Survivor, Mr Mister, Bon Jovi and many more.

For more great reissues, visit RockCandyRecords.com!

 

Switch reissues at vinyl-masterpiece.com!

Bobby DeBarge (keyboards), Greg Williams (keyboards) and Jody Sims (drums) collaborated in the Ohio-based funk band White Heat in the early 70s. After recording an album in 1975 produced by Barry White, the trio left the band, enlisting Philip Ingram (vocals),Bobby and Tommy DeBarge (bass) and Eddie Fluellen (guitar) to form First Class.

Jermaine Jackson discovered the band and helped them to secure a contract with Motown Records and produced their first album titled Switch, for which they were renamed to Switch. The band’s dance-orientated brand of soul proved to be popular in clubs and discos, and they enjoyed three major hits in the late 70s, ‘There’ll Never Be’ (Top 10 R&B charts), ‘I Call Your Name’ and ‘Love Over And Over Again’. They were unable to break into the mainstream pop market however, and decreasing returns for their efforts led them to quit Motown in 1982.

Philip Ingram left and went on his own, followed by Bobby and Tommy DeBarge to join other members of their family group DeBarge. Percussionist/vocalist Renard Gallo and Gonzales Ozen and keyboardist Attala Zane Giles were their replacements. Meanwhile, Switch moved to the Total Experience label cutting the album “Am I still your boyfriend” and scored a belated UK hit with ‘Keeping Secrets’ in 1984.

Visit vinyl-masterpiece.com to listen to Switch albums and get your copy.

LODGIC "Nomadic Sands"

LODGIC was an American AOR group which consisted of some of the finest musicians from this musical genre including Mike and Billy Sherwood on vocals & keyboards and vocals & bass, and Jimmy Haun on guitars & vocals. They existed between 1977 and 1987.

Recorded in 1985, ‘Nomadic Sands’ was their only album being produced together with David Paich, Tom Knox and Steve Porcaro, and originally only released on vinyl on A&M Records. Next to the obvious influences by Yes and Toto, the band at the time also implemented sounds similar to the likes of Go West, Saga and Peter Gabriel. After the split of LODGIC, Michael & Billy Sherwood together with Guy Allison formed WORLD TRADE; later on the members appeared on many productions including albums by Yes, Unruly Child, The Doobie Brothers, YOSO, The Key, Sheryl Crow, Air Supply and Cher. Yesterrock with the help of Universal Music Germany now is re-releasing this sought after AOR gem for the first time on CD.

Visit Yesterrock website to get your copy of LODGIC and other great releases including Boulevard, Dare, etc...

The Strand will finally be released on cd!

The Strand was a Classy AOR band of L.A. formed by Moon (Rick) Calhoun (Lead vocals), Scott Shelly (Guitar), Dean Cortez (Bass), Peter Reilich (keyboards) and Kelly Shanahan (Drums). Their self titled LP was released in 1980 and produced by Toto's Jeff Porcaro.

Moon Calhoun later joined Michael Thompson Band and worked with Jeff Paris on their "Moon Over Paris" project.

The Strand will finally be re-released on cd, august 22nd by Rock Candy Records and it's a very good news!

King Of Hearts - St

The story of KOH by Bruce Gaitsch:

“In 1989 I was working closely with Alan Kovac, Richard Marx's manager at the time. He told me he was releasing a new Poco album and by the next summer the band would need an opening act for their tour. If I wanted to put a band together we could have a deal (he would manage us) and an opening spot on their tour. He knew Kelly Keagy from Night Ranger was available since they had just broken up. So we had our drummer vocalist. George Hawkins Jr. (Kenny Loggins, John Fogerty) joined after Timothy B. Schmit, who played bass and sang on the early King Of Hearts demos, left to rejoin the Eagles. So we had our bass player vocalist. At the time Richard Marx and myself produced the song “(Everybody's Gotta) Face The Music” with Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon on lead vocals for a movie called “Sing”. We were looking for a backing vocalist with a voice that was higher than Richard's, so Tommy Funderburk (Airplay, Boston, The Front) got the job and he delivered an impressive performance. I asked Tommy if he was interested in joining a band and so we had our lead singer and my main writing partner.Tommy and I had also been writing for his solo deal which didn't happen even after an amazing showcase at the Roxy in June.

Tim Pierce on guitar, Randy Jackson on bass, Mike Baird on drums, CJ Vanston on keys and myself. The band was set...we recorded the basic tracks at Capitol Records studio B with David Cole (Bob Seger, Richard Marx, Jamie Kyle) engineering, producing and mixing. We finished the recordings at my home studio Frantic. David mixed at Lion Share in Hollywood and the record was finished. Wally Traugott mastered the record at Tower Mastering...he mastered several vinyl pressings of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" as well as Boston's first two albums and most of Bob Seger's records. Then things started to get exceedingly difficult as personal problems between the band and management caused Alan Kovac to quit, so we lost our manager and Chrysalis who had paid for our recording and signed us based on Alan's involvement backed out of the deal and the record was never released. A year of hard work and deep emotional commitment was thrown away in a minute. I was furious. Kelly and George went on working with other acts touring and Night Ranger eventually got back together.

They both live nearby here in Nashville now and we have started a new band. The Emotional Rex. We are writing our new project now and will record it soon.Tommy Funderburk and I went on to re-record a lot of the record and some new songs and put it out as a duo in Japan, Europe and South Africa. We even played 2 shows with a makeshift band in Stockholm, Sweden. So now we get to re-release the original record and you all get to hear how great the project was.I hope you enjoy the music and can feel how intent we were on making a super high quality project.I still get chills from "King Of Hearts" as well as "Lovin' Arms"...

”King Of Hearts “1989” album is a prime example of great song writing and amazing musiciansship, in addtion to the great talents in the band “1989” includes songs co-written by Amy Sky and Chris Farren and it also features Jeffrey “CJ” Vanston (Richard Marx, Steve Lukather, Peter Cetera), Bill Champlin (Chicago) and the two (former) Eagles members Randy Meisner and Timothy B. Schmit.

After being shelved for almost a decade “1989” was first released in 1999 in Japan only. The Japanese edition is long out of print and has become a sought after item. With the current release through Avenue Of Allies all AOR and Westcoast fans will have the great chance to add the King Of Hearts debut album to their collections. The first pressing comes as a limited Special Edition in a jewel case with an individually numbered additional slipcase and an extensive booklet including lyrics, new liner notes by Bruce Gaitsch and previously unpublished pictures from the recording sessions.

(Words: Bruce Gaitsch & Gregor Klee)

Evie Sands "Suspended Animation"

Released on 27/06/11. As a writer her songs have been covered by Dionne Warwick, Barbara Streisand, Dobie Gray, Dusty Springfield, Frankie Valli, Gladys Knight, Arthur Prysock, The Manhattans, Cher/Greg Allman, Jose Feliciano, PhyllisHyman, Brenda & The Tabulations, The Persuasions, Ronnie Spector, Hot, Betty Everett and Karen Carpenter, Helen Reddy, Linda Clfford, June Pointer, The Weather Girls, Jet Brown, Ramona Brooks, and Shirley Bassey.

Elvis Presley was recording one of Evie’s songs for an album but died and so vocally incomplete it was never released. Often named as one of Dusty Springfield’s favourite vocalists, Brooklyn-born brunette Evie Sands is one of the most highlyr egarded female singers of the 1960s Brill Building era, and also a respected favourite on the northern soul scene.

She released Suspended Animation in 1979 and is joined on the record by an impressive cast of musicians, while the singer herself plays keyboards: piano, Rhodes, clavinet, Elec.Piano throughout. Buzzy Feiten, Reggie McBride and James Gadson, Lee Ritenour, Richie Zito and Steve Lukather, Greg Phillinganes, Ian Underwood. And the backing vocalists included Bill Champlin, Bobby Kimball, and Tom Kelly,The Waters and the immortal Dusty Springfield.

Evie Sands's "Suspended Animation" is available at Cherryred.co.uk

Avenue of Allies new releases...

Avenue Of Allies will release five high quality albums to kick of the new series of high quality re-issues called “Avenue Of Allies Archives”. The first run of 1000 copies of each “Avenue Archives” CD comes as a Special Limited Edition in a jewel case with an additional numbered slipcase. The CDs include extensive booklets incl. lyrics, new liner notes by the artist, track-by-track musicians credits and if available exclusive bonus tracks. Volumes 1 to 5 are high profile AOR and Westcoast albums featuring am impressive line-up of musicians and song writers. All CDs are available for the first time outside of Japan.

King Of Hearts – 1989 (Avenue 1105 0025 – Avenue Archives Vol. 1)

The unreleased debut album from 1989. Songs in the Tim Feehan meets Richard Marx vein. King of Hearts are: Tommy Funderburk, Bruce Gaitsch, Kelly Keagy & George Hawkins, feat. Bill Champlin (Chicago), CJ Vanston (Richard Marx, Steve Lukather), and the Eagles members Timothy B. Schmit & Randy Meisner.

George & G. - So Much To Say (Avenue 1106 0026 – Avenue Archives Vol. 2) incl. 2 bonus tracks.

Originally released in 2006, George Grunwald's album is a Westcoast AOR dream coming true. Classic sound à la Toto and Chicago, feat. Bill Champlin, Joseph Williams, Jason Scheff, Warren Wiebe, Alex Ligertwood, David Garfield, Eric Marienthal, Lou Pardini and more.

David Roberts - All Dressed Up (Avenue 1107 0027 – Avenue Archives Vol. 3)

One of THE all-time Westcoast classics, recorded in 1982. Remastered sound and for the first time track-by-track musicians credits feat. Jeff Porcaro, Steve Lukather, Jay Graydon, David Foster, Greg Mathieson, Mike Porcaro, Paulinho Da Costa, Bill Champlin, Joe Chemay, Tom Kelly and many more.

David Roberts - Better Late Than Never (Avenue 1108 0028 – Avenue Archives Vol. 4)

The much-anticipated 2008 recording comeback of one of the great AOR song writers (Bad English, House Of Lords, Signal, Starship, Jimmy Barnes, Lee Aaron, Boulevard, Nielsen Pearson). Songs co-written with John Waite and Randy Goodrum. Feat. Michael Landau, Mike Baird, Luis Conte, Fred Mollin, Abraham laboriel Sr., Pat Coil, Shannon Forrest, Brent Mason and many more.

David Roberts - The Missing Years (Avenue 1109 0029 – Avenue Archives Vol. 5) incl. 2 bonus tracks.

15 newly remastered songs from David's archives. Feat. Stan Meissner, John Albani, Anthony Vanderburgh and Arnold Lanni.

Rock Candy releases 6 remastered Survivor albums!

The UK Record Label Rock Candy has reissued 6 Survivor's albums from the self titled one (with Kim Bassinger on the cover) to "Too Hot To Sleep". Newly remastered to exacting standards, these re-released versions are 24-bit remastering from original source tapes, contain bonus track, 4,000 word essay about the making of the albums, new interviews with band and additional photos spread out over a 16 page full colour booklet.

A good way to rediscover one of greatest band of the American AOR/Classic rock scene!

Rock Candy offers other great reissues, visit their site here!

Reissue of Farrenheit!

First time on CD for this 1987 release from Hard Rock trio led by Charlie Farren, best known as the lead singer for the Joe Perry Project. This, their only album, from 1987, has gotten rave reviews, claiming it to be of the best Rock albums of the 1980s.