Spinning Today - What Are You Listening To Right Now? (Part 3)

[Macca]

[Rush2112]

So before we get to the who, first the how !

So you know those irritating emails offering the prize draw for an Amazon voucher if you complete thier survey, the ones you delete or spam or both ! Well for some strange reason I completed the survey and as I remember it was way more than the 5 minutes of my time they asked for ! Well suffice is to say I won a £100 Amazon voucher, so yes somebody does win !

Now the next part is even more strange, having dutifully let "she who must be obeyed' chose something first, a new kettle complete with blue neon illumination ! My aims were more straightforward so what music delights could I purchase.

So finally we get to the part you are all waiting for! Having put Rick Ashley's "Are We There Yet" in the basket and the remastered Gregson & Collister A Change In The Weather, what else could we add and for some bizarre reason I Googled, best female vocal albums and there in the top 20 was this artist and album, I vaguely recognised her name but the album rang no bells, so in true 80's record shop LP browsing tradition I looked at the cover and thought that looks interesting so let's take a punt ! Now I could have gone to Shazam or similar and checked out the tracks but what the hell let's live on the edge !

Well its Country/Folk/Rock/Blues, I guess, if labels are really a thing ! If you asked for someone who she has influenced I guess Sheryll Crow springs to mind although Crow is only eight years her junior so that doesn't really work !!

The album rolls along with a variety of genres clearlly influencing the songs ans there's not a bad track among them and I guess two of the stand outs are "Right On Time" and "Can't Let Go'

Given the album was number 98 in the 2020 Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of all Time and it won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1999 I have must have clearly been living in a cave at some point !

Thoroughly recommend to anyone who has nothing of this great artist ! To those who do, what should I get next of hers ?



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[Rush2112]

Next, well it's Rick of course, who is enjoying somewhat of a rebirth of late and of course there was his initial return to prominence following the 2007 Rickrolling mene and being voted Best Act Ever by Internet users in the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008.

Well this his 9th studio album is a far cry from his Scott, Atkin, Waterman days and his first album of new music since 2018's soul inspired Beautiful Life.

The album features Rick playing all the drum, guitar and bass parts and of course singing lead vocals and backing vocals along with some additional help from:

Dawn Joseph - backing vocals (1–4, 6, 7, 9, 11)

Lauren Johnson – backing vocals (1–4, 6, 7, 9, 11)

Rob Taggart – keyboards (1, 3, 8)

Lene Bausager – choir (1)

Tom Ashpitel – choir (1)

Katie Owens – choir (1)

Simon Mattacks – choir (1)

Peter Neill – choir (1)

James Knight – brass, saxophone (9)

Barnaby Dickinson – trombone (9)

George Hogg – trumpet (9)

Katy Cox – cello (12)

So if you didn't like the Rick of the 80's "Never Gonna Give You Up" era, then this album is definitely for you and if you loved Rick of the 80's then your gonna love this album too, because this is Rick of the 2020's and he's come of age !

Great song writing and superb vocals and if you get chance to go and see him live, you must, because he's a great performer and entertainer too !! "Never Gonna Stop" must surely be his mantra !



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[Rush2112]

To end, no vinyl today, but the last of the three Amazon voucher purchases, this album, Mischief and the more commercially successful Love Is A Strange Hotel are a must have in any collection. Collister's awsome vocals and Gregson's great writing, arranging, playing and production are just superb !