After I listen to each album for Vinyl Hour, I input it into Discogs. I don't think I've heard of CLZ - I'll have to check it out just out of curiousity.
This one was huge, Alex! I was 16, and in Sept '71, beginning my junior year in high school (in Houston). As most FR&B readers know by now, Dad was in local radio, and brought home Warner Bros/Reprise promo LPs home on a weekly basis! So, by "Electric Warrior," I was well-primed by having heard their self-titled Warner debut the previous December! And, "E.W." gave me an eager runway for the summer '72 release of Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust"!
I was feeling a real kinship with what the rock press I was reading, voraciously, was calling "glitter," "glam rock," etc! Plus, I was working through my own personal wonderings, too, so the androgyny surrounding this new "glam rock" was becoming really attractive to me...so similar artists and music was becoming my new, quick go-to (Sparks, Roxy Music, Iggy, Alice, et al)!
My favorites, here, were yours, as well, Alex, but, I really glommed onto "Rip Off"! My post-adolescent wild imagination went nuts with such lyrics as "Bleached on the beach, I wanna tickle your peach, it's a Rip Off!" I then looked up, somewhere, what "rip off" may have been a euphemism for! I couldn't stop playing it!!😱I'll leave that here, lest we get raided! Thanks, Alex!
Very cool that your father brought home all those great records that you could listen to! And that the album came to mean so much for you. The sexual vibes in many of ‘Electric Warrior’s’ tracks certainly are a lot of fun.
Especially to a curious, wondering, and questioning 16-year-old....and, in 1971!
Since seeing The Beatles on "Ed Sullivan" in '64 (at 8 yrs old!), Dad started bringing home Capitol promos, too, and I'd occasionally see Columbia releases, as well! Dad was a jazz fiend, so he kept all the jazz, and with a slightly older brother (who couldn't care less about music!), this vinyl largesse was gloriously all mine!!
When I got into radio, myself, a few short years later, I began to score my OWN promos! My growing up with NOT having AM radio being my only source of new music is a major part of what fills out FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE!
Yes, that album would be wonderful for a questioning 16 year old for sure.
And having access to such great music beyond AM radio a treasure trove to draw from in your career and Front Row & Backstage.
Very cool that you got jazz records as well. Before he passed, my uncle gave me his classic jazz vinyl collection which is loaded with iconic records. I'm slowly making my way through them. I've thought about maybe posting about them when I'm done Vinyl Hour, but we'll see. If I did, I wouldn't write essay reviews as I do with Vinyl Hour as I don't know the albums intricately.
And, good on you for having received those jazz albums, Alex!
I wholeheartedly endorse you transitioning to take advantage of YOUR jazz largesse, and writing about those albums as you feel comfortable...even if you include a brief preface, on each, like what you stated above....let your readers know your pieces would be, for all intents and purposes, a relatively new reflection, not a regular drill-down like what we've come to love and expect from your rock-centric "Vinyl Hour" heretofore!
As for Dad, he was the jazz fiend (he had amassed 20,000 jazz LPs and 78s during our time growing up!), and kept the jazz promos he brought home....I certainly didn't care, as in love as I was with my new rock gifts flowing in! Now, on occasion, I'd go into the den and join him in listening to this or that new jazz LP on his "Vic", or pull out an album at random when I got curious, as in: "Gee, I wonder who this M-M-Miles D-Davis guy is!"!!
Embrace your jazz pile, Alex! In fact, take a cue from Dave Edmunds' Rockpile, and name that new lane, Alex O'Brien's Jazzpile!💪😁👍💿🎵
You're most welcome, Alex! I would tell folks, growing up, that it's a wonder, surrounded by that many albums, how my brother and I avoided contracting PVC-poisoning!!🤣
God damn, what a record! 10/10. Also LOVE its follow-up, The Slider.
Yes, both albums so fabulous!
See my comment below, Andrew, for the of-the-day influence (as a teen) this (and "Slider," which I didn't mention, but coulda/shoulda!) had on me!
Such a groundbreaker and a sad loss.
Yes a very sad and tragic loss.
Would you expect less from a Metal Guru?
True indeed!
Definitely need to add TRex to the collection!
Yes, it would be a welcome addition I'm sure.
Quick question, tangentially related - what app do you use to track your collection? I am using CLZ, but would love to hear what others use.
After I listen to each album for Vinyl Hour, I input it into Discogs. I don't think I've heard of CLZ - I'll have to check it out just out of curiousity.
This one was huge, Alex! I was 16, and in Sept '71, beginning my junior year in high school (in Houston). As most FR&B readers know by now, Dad was in local radio, and brought home Warner Bros/Reprise promo LPs home on a weekly basis! So, by "Electric Warrior," I was well-primed by having heard their self-titled Warner debut the previous December! And, "E.W." gave me an eager runway for the summer '72 release of Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust"!
I was feeling a real kinship with what the rock press I was reading, voraciously, was calling "glitter," "glam rock," etc! Plus, I was working through my own personal wonderings, too, so the androgyny surrounding this new "glam rock" was becoming really attractive to me...so similar artists and music was becoming my new, quick go-to (Sparks, Roxy Music, Iggy, Alice, et al)!
My favorites, here, were yours, as well, Alex, but, I really glommed onto "Rip Off"! My post-adolescent wild imagination went nuts with such lyrics as "Bleached on the beach, I wanna tickle your peach, it's a Rip Off!" I then looked up, somewhere, what "rip off" may have been a euphemism for! I couldn't stop playing it!!😱I'll leave that here, lest we get raided! Thanks, Alex!
Very cool that your father brought home all those great records that you could listen to! And that the album came to mean so much for you. The sexual vibes in many of ‘Electric Warrior’s’ tracks certainly are a lot of fun.
Especially to a curious, wondering, and questioning 16-year-old....and, in 1971!
Since seeing The Beatles on "Ed Sullivan" in '64 (at 8 yrs old!), Dad started bringing home Capitol promos, too, and I'd occasionally see Columbia releases, as well! Dad was a jazz fiend, so he kept all the jazz, and with a slightly older brother (who couldn't care less about music!), this vinyl largesse was gloriously all mine!!
When I got into radio, myself, a few short years later, I began to score my OWN promos! My growing up with NOT having AM radio being my only source of new music is a major part of what fills out FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE!
Yes, that album would be wonderful for a questioning 16 year old for sure.
And having access to such great music beyond AM radio a treasure trove to draw from in your career and Front Row & Backstage.
Very cool that you got jazz records as well. Before he passed, my uncle gave me his classic jazz vinyl collection which is loaded with iconic records. I'm slowly making my way through them. I've thought about maybe posting about them when I'm done Vinyl Hour, but we'll see. If I did, I wouldn't write essay reviews as I do with Vinyl Hour as I don't know the albums intricately.
And, good on you for having received those jazz albums, Alex!
I wholeheartedly endorse you transitioning to take advantage of YOUR jazz largesse, and writing about those albums as you feel comfortable...even if you include a brief preface, on each, like what you stated above....let your readers know your pieces would be, for all intents and purposes, a relatively new reflection, not a regular drill-down like what we've come to love and expect from your rock-centric "Vinyl Hour" heretofore!
As for Dad, he was the jazz fiend (he had amassed 20,000 jazz LPs and 78s during our time growing up!), and kept the jazz promos he brought home....I certainly didn't care, as in love as I was with my new rock gifts flowing in! Now, on occasion, I'd go into the den and join him in listening to this or that new jazz LP on his "Vic", or pull out an album at random when I got curious, as in: "Gee, I wonder who this M-M-Miles D-Davis guy is!"!!
Embrace your jazz pile, Alex! In fact, take a cue from Dave Edmunds' Rockpile, and name that new lane, Alex O'Brien's Jazzpile!💪😁👍💿🎵
Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions! They are very helpful.
Wow, 20,000-that's a big pile of jazz! My uncle's collection is a modest 250 or so. He does have lots of Mile Davis, which I of course love.
You're most welcome, Alex! I would tell folks, growing up, that it's a wonder, surrounded by that many albums, how my brother and I avoided contracting PVC-poisoning!!🤣