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Welcome To Randy's Rodeo!
Your consumer's guide to my record collection. If you enjoy my website, please support me by clicking through and shopping at Amazon, iTunes,
and Sheet Music Plus - your purchases there benefit my work here. [read
more] |
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Bread Rising. Few people know that the members of 70's icons Bread were seasoned veterans of the music industry. Jimmy Griffin recorded extensively for Reprise in the early 60's, and his album Summer
Holiday is finally available on CD (with plentiful bonus tracks). David Gates wrote a number of hits and produced dozens of sessions, many compiled on The Early Years 1962-1967. [learn more] |
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Motown Does Broadway. A new musical is opening on The Great White Way celebrating the achievements of America's most famous black-owned record label. Instead of a traditional cast album, Motown has (wisely, I'd argue) released a fine compilation called Motown: The Musical - The Classic Songs That Inspired The Broadway Show. [learn more] [shop now] |
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Lost In Austin. The Coffee Sergeants are far and away one of the best bands in my hometown of Austin, Texas - and have been for over 20 years. Why haven't you heard of them? Probably because they are content to play funky little clubs around town, purveying their unique and gentle brand of rootsy psychedelia - which is now available worldwide thanks to the miracle of technology. [heavy, man ] |
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I Want In. The legendary, quasi-debut LP by The Avengers is (after a virtual eternity in limbo) legally available on CD and MP3 through Water Records, a label fully sanctioned by the band. The new reissue is a 2-CD affair including the complete, original 12-track LP (disc 1) and a wealth of rarities (disc 2). Recommended beyond all possible description. [get avenged] |
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Satch, Redux. Recently, I've dug a lot deeper into the deep, deep catalog of Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, and I've written an article to match. Not many musicians can claim to be a true American icon, but "Pops" can. [read
more & listen] |
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Still Raving On. Power pop gods Artful Dodger are back - digitally, at least. The little American Beat label reissued their second LP, Honor Among Thieves (1976) a few years ago, and now Sony has made it available as an MP3 download. We can only hope there's more to come, especially the band's masterful swan song, Rave On (1980) - never issued on CD. [learn more] |
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Actor? Songwriter? Singer? Most people recognize
Hoyt Axton as the hapless dad in Gremlins, or as the man who wrote that
song about Jeremiah (a bullfrog). But, this amiable Oklahoman conducted a recording career that
spanned nearly thirty years. [learn more & listen] |
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I'm In Love With Emma Peel. The song, that is, not
the sultry heroine of the 60's TV show, The Avengers. This little-known
power pop gem by a long-forgotten band, The Allies, was a minor sensation
on Seattle radio and MTV. But, I'd never heard it till recently... [read
more & listen] |
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I Used To Be A Zombie. Keyboardist Rod Argent is remembered
mainly for his stint with the Zombies, but he sold more records with the 70's prog rock outfit
that bore his name. Argent is often considered a one-hit-wonder,
but there's more to them than "Hold Your Head Up." [read more & listen] |
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Goodbye Again. Revisit the gentle, spirited music
of dearly departed John Denver, including his prodigious Christmas catalog.
People forget how positively huge Denver was during the 70's, selling millions of records
before disco and punk swept him out to pasture. But, I haven't. [read
more & listen] |
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We Were Neighbors. When the Chi-Lites' lead singer,
Eugene Record, passed away, we lost one of soul's purest voices. On songs like "Oh
Girl," "Have You Seen Her," and "A Letter To Myself," Record's pure, strong,
unadorned tenor defined loneliness for a generation. [read more & listen] |
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The Courtney Love Of Country Music. Lynn
Anderson's antics have made her something of spectacle - for all the wrong reasons. But
this powerhouse has quite a legacy and a new Greatest
Hits CD that makes it plain. Learn more on my newly expanded page. [read
more & listen] |
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Baby, She Lied. Deborah Allen was one of the more
distinctive voices to emerge from Nashville in the 80's - and she wasn't hard on the eyes, either.
Like many singers of that era, she succumbed to her baser instincts, striving for pop glory
rather than artistic achievement. [read
more] |
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Pledging His Love. Our Johnny Ace page has been updated
in honor of Hip-O Select's long-overdue, sterling upgrade of his Memorial Album.
This primordial R'n'B crooner is a key link between the blues and soul music. Get to know him! read
more |
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The Perry Como Of Country Music. Eddy Arnold charted
140 country records spanning five decades, but he is best remembered for the maudlin pop sides
he waxed in the 60's. There is much more to "The Tennessee Plowboy" than that - take
a gander on my updated page. read more |
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