05/20/07
AMERICAN BEAT
IAN HUNTER/All of the Good Ones are Taken: And the digital conversion is complete as the only Hunter album never to make it to cd finally crosses over. It was the early 80s and the old glammers were competing with the new wave hair cut crews rumbling on the playing field of MTV. In an effort to stack the deck, Hunter trotted out Clarence Clemons as the Boss was cruising Nebraska at the time. A nice, high octane rock set that showed well on the various charts but also showed there was a changing of the guard a foot. His old fans will dig it along side his recent works.
24022
BRIAN SETZER/Knife Feels Like Justice-Live Nude Guitars: The Stray Cats ran their course and Setzer set off on the first of his reinventions crafting himself as a quasi-roots rocker in a post rockabilly mode. With “Guitars” making it’s cd debut, the retro stylist checked in with some nice late 80’s post new wave rock. Everybody was looking for a handle back then and this was his send off before retrofitting himself as a swing revivalist. Fun stuff that genre and Setzer fans will welcome as there’s a lack of anything like it out there.
24012
MR. BIG/Live at the Hard Rock: AOR radio faves in the early 90’s, they had turntable hits in the pre-Soundscan era but never had the sales to match. This live greatest hits has never had a US release and the fans that kept them in their hearts now have that keepsake that other fans get to enjoy for their fave, cult acts. A well pedigreed crew that knew how to apply the right moves, this is some well crafted, prepackaged rock from a recent, earlier time.
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NILS LOFGREN/Wonderland: The underachiever you were always pulling for, this was Lofgren’s last solo set before joining up with Springsteen, and consciously or not, it plays like an audition for the guitar job. Lofgren was a bread and butter act despite his stellar associations, and that was something that was right for the times. His most polished and joyful solo set, it has oddly never been on cd before and makes a nice compliment to the live limited edition set recently released. A hard cat to find fault with, this is still a tasty outing 25 years later.
24202
DAVID JOHANSEN/In Style: Yet to find fame and fortune as Buster Poindexter, Johansen broke off from New York Dolls and melded several styles together to let old fans know he was still him but to try to bring in some new fans as well. Enlisting help from old touring mates from Mott (Hunter and Ronson), Johansen tried to beat the 1979 blahs that were killing the record biz. A stylish record that had New York written across it in big letters, the rest of the country just wasn’t ready but everyone involved was ready, willing and able to step up and do the right thing. A nice curio from another time zone.
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Volume 30/Number 201
May 20, 2007
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
(c)2007 Midwest Record