CONCRETE BLONDE Y LOS ILLEGALS - "Another 100 Years Of Solitude" (1997)

 

A lot of the music on this 1997 album by Concrete Blonde Y Los Illegals is easy going, but here's a song that really cooks! 

CONCRETE BLONDE Y LOS ILLEGALS - "Another 100 Years Of Solitude" 

ALPHONSO JOHNSON - "Moonshadows" (1976)

 

There were a lot of amazing bassists in the 1970's, and three of my favorites were Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorius and Alphonso Johnson!

Alphonso came out with this killer album titled "Moonshadows" in 1976.

I love this song. I wanted to use it as part of the music in a short film I made in 1977. That was never gonna happen, but some 40+ years later it worked out just fine as I finally finished the movie with  awesome music by John Sanders and New Power Soul.

  Too bad it's only had 44 views. You don't know what you're missing!

Stumps me for sure!! 

ALPHONSO JOHNSON - "Stump" 

OZOMATLI - "Cumbia De Los Muertos" (1998)

 

What can I tell you about Ozomatli that you don't already know?

This was their first album, it was self-titled and came out in 1998!

There are no barriers to their music, and that's all you really need to know!

OZOMATLI - "Cumbia De Los Muertos" 

THE FURYS - "Say Goodbye To The Black Sheep" (1978)

 

L.A.'s The Furys released this cool single in 1978. They have been kicking around ever since, but unfortunately I guess they were destined to be black sheep! 

THE FURYS - "Say Goodbye To The Black Sheep" 

 

RAUL DE SOUZA - "Colors" (1975)

 

This 1975 LP by Brazilian trombonist Raul De Souza is a masterpiece. It was produced by the best percussionist in the world, Airto Moreira, and it's just classy.

 

The great picture on the back of the record is simply Raul and his bone, and says it all!

RAUL DE SOUZA - "Nanã"

SUZANNE VEGA - "Frank & Ava" (2007)

 

Rich here to admit that despite my rumpled jeans and faded t-shirts, I do like glamour. It probably started either with seeing James Bond in his fitted tux, drinking and gambling and fighting Evil Doers without mussing his creases, or watching as each new transformation of The Beatles -- starting with their Pierre Cardin collarless suits on the Ed Sullivan Show and on through their Sgt. Pepper band uniforms. When I worked for a time as a high school student in Morris & Sons Clothing Store, I mistakenly thought some of that glamour might rub off on me. Sigh.

 

During their era, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner were two of the most glamourous people on the planet, and their on again/off again romance was the stuff of Hollywood legend, with their drunken fights and break-ups often making front page news. 

 

And when Suzanne Vega, the one-time waifish folk singer, wrote a song about Frank & Ava as a metaphor for a relationship of her own, it definitely caught my attention.

SUZANNE VEGA - "Frank & Ava"  

THE CITIZENS - "T.V. Woman" (1980)

 

The Citizens were an early 80's British band. They had one album and a couple of singles before calling it quits. Their first single from 1980 was titled "Satisfy The Citizens."

Here's the B side of that record, a song about a serious breakup! 

THE CITIZENS - "TV WOMAN"