Dion and the Belmonts was a leading American vocal group of the late 1950s. The group formed when Dion DiMucci, lead singer, joined The Belmonts - Carlo Mastrangelo, baritone, Freddie Milano, second tenor, and Angelo D'Aleo, first tenor, in late 1957. In October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. The Belmonts also continued to release records, but with less success. Dion and the Belmonts reunited in 1966 for the unsuccessful album Together Again on ABC Records, and again in 1972 for a one-off show at Madison Square Garden, recorded and released as a live album. 01 - I Wonder Why 02 - A Teenager In Love 03 - The Wanderer 04 - No One Knows 05 - Ruby Baby 06 - Drip Drop 07 - That's My Desire 08 - Where Or When 09 - Runaround Sue 10 - Little Diane LINK
McLuhan was a US prog rock/jazz fussion band of the east coast. McLuhan was a concept and a mixed-media group where no particular musical venue or style would necessarily prevail. The creator of the idea was David Wright who composed most of the music and wrote the lyrics on their only album. The idea was to try different things in performances including special sound effects such as baby's crying, various weird instruments, background sounds, playing old movies during their performance ("Monster Bride" was actually Bride of Frankenstein and in live performance they would turn on the movie at the point where the 20th Century Fox theme is played). The medium was the message, not the content. Labels didn't matter. The Wise-Fools Pub on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago hired McLuhan to perform every Monday night and they developed a small local following. Their performance got really tight, and eventually led to a record contract. McLuhan only was together for about 1 to 1 ½ years, and they never had a live performance promoting their album... since the very last thing they did was produce Anomaly. It got some obscure radio play but was "dead" as far as the band knew. Anomaly's concept and ideas sound advanced for its time of release (1970). Uniquely American art-rock in a brassy and groovy kind of way. Over the years its become cult album. David Wright - Trumpet/Vocals, Paul Cohn - Flute/Clarinet/Sax, Neal Rosner - Bass/Vocals, John Mahoney - Drums/Vocals, Micahael Linn - Drums, Dennis Stoney Philips - Guitar/Vocals and Tom (Tojza) Laney - Organ/Piano. Bobby Christian-Timpani, xylophone and chimes on Bride and Brief Message 01 - The Monster Bride 02 - Spiders (In Neil's Basement) 03 - Witches Theme And Dance 04 - A Brief Message From Your Local Media I) The Garden II) The Assembly Line III) Electric Man IV) Question LINK
Little info about this British heavy folk rock band. Kevin Fogarty, guitar, Brent Forbes, bass, Conrad Isadore, drums, Norman Leppard, woodwind, Alan Marshall, guitar, vocals, harmonica and Bobby Sass, guitar, vocals. A little known album whose participants were better known for session work. Brent Forbes, who was in Locust in the mid-seventies, also worked for Bob Pegg and The Surprise Sisters; Norman Leppard played with Aynsley Dunbar and Alan Marshall, who was in Zebra in the mid-seventies, played for Pete Bardens. Conrad Isadore was most prolific of all, cropping up on several other artists albums. 01 - Don't Listen To Me 02 - Cautiously 03 - Stop Pulling And Pushing Me 04 - Near The Bone 05 - Run, Shaker Life LINK
Gravy Train were a progressive rock group from Lancashire, England, formed by vocalist and guitarist Norman Barratt in 1970. Together with J.D. Hughes (keyboards, vocals, wind), Lester Williams (bass, vocals) and Barry Davenport (drums) they recorded four studio albums. The first two were released on the Vertigo label, and the latter two by Dawn Records. The band was dissolved in 1974. Little is known what happened with its members except for Barratt, who appeared in Mandalaband for their second and final album in 1978. He went on to found the Barratt Band, which recorded albums in the early 1980s. Gravy Train from 1970 is the debut album of the band. 01 - The New One 02 - Dedication To Sid 03 - Coast Road 04 - Enterprise 05 - Think Of Life 06 - Earl Of Pocket Nook LINK
After their 1971 debut album failed to register a blip in the marketplace, Chicago sextet String Cheese promptly faded away. Their failure is woeful, because with proper backing and encouragement, they could have been the next It's A Beautiful Day. Like that San Francisco band, String Cheese's sound was steeped in sparkling hippie subject matter, strongly delivered by chanteuse Sally Smaller and aided by the electric violin of Gregory Bloch. Unfortunately, their debut album was also their last. John Maggi / Drums, Gregory Bloch / Electric Violin, Louis Constantino / Bass, William Dalton / Organ, Piano, Celeste, Guitar, Harpsichord, Keyboards, Sitar, Orator, Sally Smaller / Vocals and Larry Wendelken / 12-String Guitar, Vocals. 01 - For Now 02 - Crystal 03 - We Share 04 - Here Am I 05 - Empty Streets 06 - Forage 07 - Soul Of Man 08 - Certain Kind Of Day 09 - Woke Up This Morning-Coming LINK
Little info about this psych rock band from New york, and their only release, produced by Rick Shorter, (500 copies). COLLEEN PETERSON lead vocal, STEVEN GREEN drums, STEVEN HODGETTS tenor sax, PATRICK KARWAN lead & rhythm guitar , lead vocal & vibes, GARY KING alto sax, STEVEN KORAB bass, KEVIN LAGER trumpet,conga & screams, STEVEN MORTKOWITZ piano,harpsichord & vocal and FRANK YANNI JR organ, sticks & screams 01 - Today's Promises 02 - Bluesday Morning 03 - He Can't Bring You 04 - First Grade Reader 05 - Feelin' It 06 - How Can I 07 - Magic LINK
