Pop & Rock News

A memorable name with an outstanding cover, Fuzzy Duck is a classic slice of underground London art rock and melodic psychedelia. Originally released on MAM in 1971, it’s truly a musical force of infectious riffs and fiery solos, sharp tempo changes, a tight rhythm section and heavy, Hammond-drenched grooves. With echoes of Spencer Davis Group, early Grand Funk and Vanilla Fudge, it comes on like a heavier Soft Machine or Caravan. No wonder Fuzzy Duck’s cult appeal has endured.

The album features Mick Hawksworth (Five Day Week Straw People, Andromeda) on bass, acoustic 12-string, electric cello and some of the vocal duties, and also Roy “Daze” Sharland (Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Spice) on organ and electric piano. Accompanying those two were Paul Francis on drums and percussion, and Grahame White on guitars and the rest of the vocals.

Originally released in an edition of 500, Fuzzy Duck became legendary all over the world through a holy trinity of scarcity, personnel and its sheer brilliance.

The album kicks off with a heavy, bass-fuelled, Hammond rocker titled “Time Will Be Your Doctor”. This is pure hard-edged blues rock, brilliantly played. Its drum break intro was sampled by DJ Premier for Gang Starr’s “Mostly Tha Voice” on 1994’s legendary Hard To Earn. And we can hear its personality all over Harvey and Thomas Bullock’s Map Of Africa.

Rollicking highlight “Mrs. Prout” follows. At nearly 7 minutes long, it incorporates more psych-leaning guitar and drawn-out keyboards à la Ray Manzarek with the band effortlessly switching from jazzy rhythm section to a progressive one. That magnificent instrumental jam that starts half-way and continues through to the end is a true wonder.

“Just Look Around You” is propulsive folk-rock with a soaring, proto power-pop chorus, backed by frenetic organ and heavy bass high in the rich, intoxicating mix. Back comes the heavy, strung-out psych to both close out side one with “Afternoon Out” and kick off side two with “More Than I Am”. Both tracks are improvisational winners that stylistically nod to the late sixties and “More Than I Am”’s guitar hook, catchy organ and memorable chorus would’ve surely made it a great single.

“Country Boy” quenches the thirst for rhythm and melody, only the lyrics and vibe are wonderfully creepy. The sudden cut of the groove and the drop into a more sinister tempo will make you stumble, before the band pick up speed and toss you back again into the opening jam, this time with a badass organ to ride you home. The final, fully fleshed out track is the majestic “In Our Time”, which oscillates between endless organ-driven boogie and heavenly, genuinely moving vocals. Just stunning.

Infamous instrumental cut “A Word from Big D” rounds out the album. Yes, that’s the band jamming with duck quack sound effects accompanying the music. “Ducking vocals” as the sleeve says. You know, just in case the whole “duck” theme had passed you by. It’s an appropriate closer for what sounds like an album that must have been *a lot* of fun to record. It’s definitely fun to listen to.

Mastered by Be With’s chief sound duck Simon Francis and cut with glee by the veteran Pete Norman, this reissue of Fuzzy Duck’s one-and-only LP sounds as mighty as it should. That unforgettable sleeve artwork has been carefully restored and the records pressed by the wonderful Record Industry in the Netherlands. Essential.

Reissue of this italo rarity from 1983. Comes with Flemming Dalum remixes!

Red Vinyl

Anlässlich des 20-jährigen Jubiläums des Albums «Elephant», eines der weltweit erfolgreichsten Alben der Rockgeschichte; veröffentlicht das Third Man Label eine limitierte farbige Vinyl-Edition mit einer rot und einer weiß marmorierten Platte an, die in der Third Man-Fabrik in Nashville gepresst wurde. Das Cover ist eine alternative Version des Originals mit Meg und Jack, die weiße Kleidung tragen, der Text auf der Rückseite ist als Prägung (embossed) gestaltet. Das Album enthält u.a. den größten Hit der Band und sicherlich einer der ikonischsten Songs der Rockgeschichte "Seven Nation Army", das durch die Chor-Coverversionen in allen Stadien der Welt in den letzten 20 Jahren populär geworden ist.

Born to Die" follows Lana's first single "Video Games" which began its life online in July accompanied by a video created by Lana. Since then "Video Games" has amassed over 8 million hits and on release has hit i-tunes #1 position in 9 countries including the UK, Australia, Holland and France and is currently #1 in Germany. Also a massive critical smash, it has recently been hailed as the #2 track of the year by Q Magazine, with Q Magazine also awarding her the "Best New Thing" award at the Q Awards.
"Born to Die" is a suitably noir follow up to "Video Games" and is coming with an incredible video conceived by Lana and Directed by Woodkid. A Remix EP will also be released, including mixes from Damon Albarn, Woodkid and Clams Casino.
"Born to Die" the album is a collection of tracks about which Lana says "The songs I've written are an homage to true love and a tribute to living life on the wild side." Album tracks include "Million Dollar Man", "Off to The Races", "Blue Jeans" and "Carmen".

The 1st Album is the gigantic debut studio album by German duo Modern Talking. The album peaked at number one in Germany, spending four weeks atop the chart and 18 weeks within the top 10. It sold more than eight million copies worldwide.

The album spawned two singles, with “You’re My Heart, You’re My Soul” topping the charts in Germany (where it spent four weeks at the top), Austria, Switzerland and Belgium, while charting inside the top five in France, Norway and Sweden. This song has about half a billion views on YouTube.

The 1st Album is available as a limited edition of 2500 individually numbered copies on silver marbled vinyl and includes an insert.

Jimmy's 1982 Disco-Boogie anthem !!

Stankowski erzählt in seiner neuen „Flaschenpost“ vom kleinen und großen, vom guten und freien Leben, in dem sich Kinder wohlfühlen.

Mit seinem neuen Werk begibt er sich auf eine musikalische Vagabondage und einen Spaziergang durch die Welt mit einem poetischen kindlich-weisen Blick.
Und genau das ist es, was Kindern gerade jetzt so guttut, weil sie teilhaben an einer positiven Welt der Erwachsenen, die ihnen
Werte vermittelt, mit denen sie sich aufrichten können.
Johannes Stankowski ist damit ein Meister der entpädagogisierten Songs, die pädagogisch wertvoll sind.

The Rolling Stones have announced the release of 40th anniversary, expanded deluxe editions of their chart-topping, multi-platinum 1981 album Tattoo You, via Universal Music. The newly-remastered set, out on October 22, will be accompanied by no fewer than nine previously unreleased tracks from the era. '1CD: 11track remaster of album. 2CD Deluxe: 20 tracks over 2Cd's and also included is a 20 page booklet including an essay from Kevin Howlett & Jeff Slade. 1LP: 11 track remaster on 180g vinyl. 2LP Deluxe: Pressed on double 180g Black Vinyl in gatefold sleeve. 4CD+1LP Box: Includes 4 x CDS (CD1 - Remastered Album, CD2 - Bonus 9 Tracks + CD 3 & 4 - Still Life: Wembley Stadium 1982 + Tattoo You 12” Picture Disc + 124 Page Book + Lenticular Art. 5LP Boxset: Includes 5 x 180g Heavyweight Vinyl. (LP1 Brand New 2021 Remaster of Tattoo You, LP2 Lost & Found: 9 Previously Unreleased Tracks, LP3, 4 & 5 Still Life: Wembley Stadium 1982) + 124 page book & lenticular artwork. LIMITED EDITIONS. FIGURES SHARED OUT ONCE ALL ORDERS ARE IN AT DEADLINE.

Oriental Beat by Hanoi Rocks gets the redux treatment, officially mixed and revived from the original sessions, and released on March 17th on deluxe vinyl, CD and digital formats. The CD and vinyl come with the song lyrics, checked and approved by Michael Monroe. Dubbed the “re(al) mix”, this 40th anniversary edition was mixed by Petri Majuri at E-Studios in Finland in collaboration with the band. Vocalist Michael Monroe calls this release “the longest and slowest album project ever,” stating that “40 years in the making, it's not just a remix, but the REAL MIX supervised and approved by Hanoi Rocks”. Recorded in London, UK in 1981, for 200 pounds a day, Oriental Beat was made during the height of the British punk + New Wave movement, when the band was hanging out with everyone from Phil Lynott to the Damned. Hanoi Rocks’ original drummer Gyp Casino says of Oriental Beat that: “Back in the days we gave heart, soul and a bit of pain to make this record something else” but the sound of the album, originally released in 1982, did not match their efforts at the time. Bassist Sami Yaffa called it “the worst sounding album of our career” and Michael Monroe said that “the producer of the album didn’t have a clue what the band was about and his mix of the album was horribly wrong”. Oriental Beat’s original engineer Peter Wooliscroft, was not a rock producer, and according to Hanoi Rocks’ manager Richard Bishop he “tried to mix the album to sound like Spandau Ballet”. Released before the band could remix or rerecord it, as the label had run out of money, and the master tapes had gone missing, the band has always considered the original mix of Oriental Beat to be a “disaster”. With the tapes mysteriously showing up in the Universal vault recently, the band was finally able to mix and resequence the album the way they wanted it to sound. Oriental Beat is a defining masterpiece made when Hanoi Rocks was about to explode onto the world scene and written at the absolute peak of lead guitarist Andy McCoy’s creativity as a songwriter. Rhythm guitarist Nasty Suicide says “only now, with stripping it down to the bare essentials and tweaking it to bring out what was really laid down it became our dream come true! THIS is what it's all about” as this definitive edition of Oriental Beat now fully displays the ultimate arrogance and attitude which defined the band.

Runnin' Out of Fools is the sixth studio album by the American “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin, originally released in 1964 and arranged and conducted by Belford C. Hendricks. The album features cover versions of Dionne Warwick “Walk On By”, Betty Everett “The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)” and Mary Wells “My Guy” amongst others.
Runnin' Out of Fools is available as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on red coloured vinyl. It is housed in a deluxe, sturdy sleeve finished with a gloss laminate finish.

In 2018, the legendary Steve Miller Band’s Complete Albums Volume 1 (1968-1976) debuted as an unprecedented and acclaimed 9LP vinyl box set and individual 180-gram black vinyl LPs. Today, Steve Miller and Capitol/UMC are incredibly excited to announce plans for the May 24 global release of the collection’s second volume, presenting nine more Steve Miller Band studio albums in a new 180-gram vinyl box set called Complete Albums Volume 2 (1977-2011). Spanning the band’s multi-platinum 10th studio album, 1977’s Book of Dreams, through 2011’s Let Your Hair Down, the albums have all been remastered and are available now for preorder. Each album is also available for preorder as individual 180-gram black LPs to be released on the same date.