Mr Melody: Six Essential Albums

    Mr Melody (Martin)  
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Name: Martin
Email: martini64@optushome.com.au
Location: Austrailia
 
1. Starting Over The Raspberries
2. Shades In Bed The Records
3. Tounge Twister The Shoes
4. Spilt Milk Jellyfish
5. Pet Sounds Beach Boys
6. Shake Some ActionFlamin' Groovies

Comments:

Starting Over - The Raspberries:
Absolutely perfect in everyway with a huge glimmering production. Mr Carmen and cohorts wear their influences on their collective sleeve, but boy do they wear them well. Every track is an ode to one of the precursors of PowerPop; be it the Who, Beatles, Beach Boys; whilst in the process distilling a new breed of classic pop which would go on to leave its mark on the hearts of thousands. Thank you Messer's Carmen,Bryson,McCarl, McBride, Smalley & Bonfanti.

Shades In Bed - The Records
This is my favourite band of all time. Once again a huge production number, courtesy of Mutt "Mr Shania Twain" Lange. I'm still hearing new things inside that lushness after 23 years.The songs are all classics ... "Teenarama" must be the all-time best ever 3 min pop single, Starry Eyes shimmers where no others have shimmered before and is infectious as hell.... "Another Star"....we all grew up in front of that mirror...Harmonies everywhere, hooks to kill for ....and for the lucky ones that got the version with the 4 track 12'' of their fave covers, there's a scintillating reading of Blue Ash's "Have You Seen Her"... a classic in its own right.

Tongue Twister - The Shoes
Illinois finest produced a tight set of catchy 3 minute pop songs on this, their 3rd release on a major label.
Layered harmonies and interesting guitar parts wrapped around 12 gloriously catchy toons set this apart from an impeccable body of work...true pioneers.

Spilt Milk - Jelly Fish
A much more layered affair than their previous effort, as well as much more ambitious. This line up allowed the band to stretch out more, and the lavish production allowed them to indulge themselves in their influences from Queen style multi tracked harmonies, to Pet Sounds instrumentation and .....simply a masterpiece.

Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
What can I say that hasn't been said before about this album......Masterful?

Shake Some Action - Flamin Groovies
A simple production "a la Mersey" on this one.....just let the songs do the talking. Dave Edmunds was able to trim the excess off these heavyweights and produce an album of ringing pop classics from the Rock & Roll heartland.... a bona fide classic in the title track, to You Tore Me Down and I Can't Hide (everyone should try singing this one to their girlfriends at least once)

Starting Over The Raspberries (1974)
1. Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)
2. Play On
3. Party's Over
4. I Don't Know What I Want
5. Rose Coloured Glasses
6. All Though the Night
7. Cruisin' Music
8. I Can Hardly Believe You're Mine
9. Cry
10. Hands on You
21. Starting Over

Shades In Bed The Records (1979)

1. Girl
2. Teenarama
3. Girls That Don't Exist
4. Starry Eyes
5. Up All Night
6. All Messed Up & Ready To Go
7. Insomnia
8. Affection Rejected
9. The Phone
10. Another Star

Bonus EP
Abracadabra (Have You Seen Her)
See My Friends
1984
Have See Your Mother Baby
In the UK the first 10,000 copies contained a free 12" EP containing covers of these classics, by Blue Ash, The Kinks, Spirit and The Stones:

 
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Tounge Twister The Shoes
 (1981)

 1. Your Imagination
2. Burned Out Love
3. The Things You Do
4. Only In My Sleep
5. Karen
6. She Satisfies
7. Girls Of Today
8. Hopin' She's The One
9. When It Hits
10. Yes Or No
11. Found A Girl
12. Hate To Run
 		Spilt Milk Jellyfish (1993)

1. Hush
2. Joining A Fan Club
3. Sebrina Paste and Plato
4. New Mistake
5. Glutton of Sympathy
6. The Ghost at Number One
7. Bye Bye Bye
8. All is Forgiven
9. Russian Hill
10. He's My Best Friend
11. Too Much, Too Little, Too Late
12. Brighter Day
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Pet Sounds Beach Boys (1966)
1. Wouldn't It Be Nice
2. You Still Believe in Me
3. That's Not Me
4. Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
5. I'm Waiting For the Day
6. Let's Go Away For a While
7. Sloop John B
8. God Only Knows
9. I Know There's An Answer
10. Here Today
11. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
12. Pet Sounds
13. Caroline No		 Shake Some Action Flamin' Groovies (1976)

1. Shake Some Action
2. Sometimes
3. Yes It's True
4. St. Louis Blues
5. You Tore Me Down
6. Please Please Girl
7. Let The Boy Rock 'N' Roll
8. Don't You Lie To Me
9. She Said Yeah
10. I'll Cry Alone
11. Misery
12. I Saw Her
13. Teenage Confidential
14. I Can't Hide