Eight-X (33)

Hello, Eight-X again and i manage 3 vinyls with thusfar unseen artists here, meaning a lot of work. Oh well, plenty of coffee to go around. First up Jona Lewie, the meanest man in showbizz, the album here predates his big kitchen hit, yet it fits wonderfully well, thats why i added it here..in fact you'd have a heard time finding any of his Sonet work officially digitized....second up, Duran Duran they began their career as "a group of art school, experimental, post punk rockers", the band's quick rise to stardom, polished good looks, and embrace of the teen press, almost guaranteed disfavour from music critics. During the 1980s, Duran Duran were considered the quintessential manufactured, throw-away pop group. Well so much for the independent lemming music press. In fact the album here is proof they were much more than that, Rio is '80s, at its best. Its fusion of style and substance ensures that even 25 years after its release it remains as listenable and danceable as ever....Talk of style and substance, todays third show tried it, Paul Weller left the Jam to pursue all that, in 83 initially things went well but by the end of the decade the Style Council was no more. Here their first (mini) album contaaining their first singles, it was 25 years ago and we're at the start of another long hot summer..so be prepared...

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Jona Lewie - Gatecrasher (80 ^ 99mb)

Jona Lewie (John Lewis, 14 March 1947) he joined his first group, The Johnston City Jazz Band, while still at school in 1963, and started in the music industry as a session pianist. In 68, whilst studying sociology, he was a regular and popular face in the London's jazz and blues clubs. In 69 he joined Brett Marvin And The Thunderbolts who recorded the 'Gasolene'.album for United Artists Records In 1970 they went to Sonet, where they had their first hit 'Seaside Shuffle' under the pseudonym of Terry Dactyl and The Dinosaurs. It made No. 2 in the British charts and was a big hit across Europe, suggestions that it was a rip off from Mungo Jerry's big hit ,In The Summertime, can be layed aside as the track had been part of their reportoire before all that, in fact it's likely the other way around, as Mungo had been a backing act for the band.

In 1975 Brett Marvin And The Thunderbolts went their separate ways and Jona Lewie signed to Sonet as soloist and released a few singles. An early version of 'Hallelujah Europa' was rejected by the selection team of The Eurovision song contest. Then in 77 he was signed to Stiff records. Despite an appearance on the highly publicised "Be Stiff" tour, Jona remained largely unknown until 1980 when You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties broached the UK Top 20.

A follow-up release, Stop The Cavalry, reached Number 3 later that year when its nostalgic brass arrangement proved popular in the Christmas market. However, a subsequent album, Heart Skips A Beat, produced by Rupert Hine, failed to consolidate this success. A decade later in 93 he's released Optimistic, which went under in rave cultere, currently Jona has been busy recording a new album that will be released this year.

This compilation album released by Sonet consist of tracks recorded throughout the seventies by Jona Lewie - with Terry Dactyl and The Dinosaurs and as a solo artist - before he signed a record deal to Siff Records.



01 - The Swan (3:11)
02 - Piggyback Sue (2:38)
03 - Rockin' Yobs (2:17)
04 - Hallelujah Europa (Part 1 & 2) (9:36)
05 - Seaside Shuffle (2:29)

06 - Cherry Ring (2:18)
07 - On A Saturday Night (2:30)
08 - She Left I Died (2:54)
09 - Papa Don't Go (2:27)
10 - Come Away (Bate O Pe) (2:56)
11 - Custers Last Stand (3:16)
---Xs
12 - You'll always find me in the kitchen at parties (2:58)
13 - Yeah (0:06)

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Duran Duran - Rio (82 ^ 291mb)

John Taylor and Nick Rhodes formed Duran Duran in Birmingham, UK in 1978, naming the band after the villain "Dr. Durand Durand", in the science-fiction film, Barbarella. Their first singer was Stephen Duffy. Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor, and Simon Le Bon joined in the next year (Non of the 3 Taylors are related) . The group has never disbanded, but the line-up has changed to include guitarist Warren Cuccurullo from 1989 to 2001, and drummer Sterling Campbell from 1989 to 1991. The reunion of the original five members in the early 2000s created a stir among the band's fans and music media. Meanwhile Andy Taylor left the band in summer 2006, and London guitarist Dom Brown has been working with the band since.

By the end of 1980, Duran Duran had become popular within the burgeoning new romantic circuit in England and had secured a record contract with EMI. "Planet Earth," the band's first single, quickly rose to number 12 upon its spring 1981 release. Immediately, Duran Duran became the leaders of the new romantic movement, becoming media sensations in the British music and mainstream press. The girls on film video got banned but the single reached the top ten nevertheless. It launched their eponymous debut album, Duran Duran reached number three upon its release and stayed in the charts for 118 weeks.

The band quickly followed the album with Rio in the spring of 1982. Rio entered the charts at number two, and its singles -- "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Save a Prayer" -- became Top Ten hits. Duran Duran mania was in full swing across America, with "Is There Something I Should Know" reaching the Top Ten , they capitalized on their popularity by releasing Seven and the Ragged Tiger in time for 1983's holiday season. In November 84, Duran Duran released the non-LP single "Wild Boys," which reached number two in the U.K. and the U.S., where it was added to the live album Arena.

Early 1985 they completed the title track the Bond film A View to a Kill, subsequently the group went on hiatus. Andy and John Taylor formed the supergroup the Power Station with vocalist Robert Palmer releasing their eponymous debut album in the spring. The remaining members of Duran Duran -- Nick Rhodes, Simon LeBon, and Roger Taylor -- responded with their own side project, Arcadia, which released an album called So Red the Rose in the fall of 1985; the album launched the Top Ten hit "Election Day." Early in 1986, Roger Taylor took an extended sabbatical from the group, he never returned. Several months later, Andy Taylor also left, reducing Duran Duran to a trio.

Late in 1986, the band released Notorious, their first album in nearly three years. While it was relatively successful, going platinum in the U.S. and generating a Top Ten hit with the title track, it was noticeably less popular than their earlier records. For the remainder of the decade, Duran Duran's popularity continually declined, with 1988's Big Thing producing "I Don't Want Your Love," their last Top Ten single for five years. In 1993, the band returned from a prolonged hiatus with [The Wedding Album, a mature record that spawned Top Ten hits "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone". The record restored their commercial status, and earned them some of their best reviews of their career. The group followed the album with one of their poorest-received efforts, 1995's all-covers Thank You.John Taylor left the band to pursue a solo career, Medazzaland, the Thank You follow-up, was released in 1997 but failed to produce any major hits. 2000's Pop Trash suffered a similar fate.

In 2000, John Taylor approached Le Bon and Rhodes with a proposal to re-form Duran Duran's classic line-up. They agreed, and after completing the Pop Trash tour fired Cuccurullo by letter, to fulfill contractual obligations, Cuccurullo played three Duran Duran concerts in Japan in August 2001, ending his tenure in the band. Throughout 2001, 2002 and 2003, the band worked on writing new material. It proved difficult to find a record label willing to gamble on the band's comeback, so Duran Duran went on tour to prove the drawing power of the reunited band. The response of the fans and the media exceeded everyone’s expectations. Finally, with more than thirty-five songs completed, the band signed a four-album contract with Epic Records in June, and completed the new album, now entitled Astronaut, with producer Don Gilmore.

In early 2006, Duran Duran covered John Lennon's song "Instant Karma" for the Make Some Noise campaign sponsored by Amnesty International, and performed at two high profile events — the Nobel Prize Awards and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. October 2006, Andy Taylor parted ways with Duran Duran for the second time. Dominic Brown, who had previously toured with the band, took over guitar duties and has been performing with them since. After Taylor's departure, the band scrapped the Reportage album and wrote and recorded Red Carpet Massacre, it again displayed Duran Duran's instantly recognised blend of vulnerability and defiance, crystal pure perfection of production, skilled performance and delivery, in short it was well recieved again, after 14 years of doubt. In July, the band performed twice at the massive Wembley Stadium, at the Concert for Diana and at Live Earth concert, London. As of May 2008, they are on the US leg of their 2008 world tour.



01 - Rio (5:29)
02 - My Own Way (4:46)
03 - Lonely In Your Nightmare (3:46)
04 - Hungry Like The Wolf 3:37)
05 - Hold Back The Rain (3:54)

06 - New Religion (5:27)
07 - Last Chance On The Stairway (4:15)
08 - Save A Prayer (5:29)
09 - The Chauffeur (5:02)

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Style Council, The - Introducing (83 flac 193mb)

Guitarist/vocalist Paul Weller broke up the Jam, the most popular British band of the early '80s, at the height of their success in 1982 because he was dissatisfied with their musical direction. Weller wanted to incorporate more elements of soul, R&B, and jazz into his songwriting, which is something he felt his punk-oriented bandmates were incapable of performing. In order to pursue this musical direction, he teamed up in 1983 with keyboardist Mick Talbot, a former member of the mod revival band the Merton Parkas. The permanent lineup grew to include drummer Steve White and Weller's then-wife, vocalist Dee C. Lee. Other artists such as Tracie Young and Tracey Thorn also collaborated with the group.

The band's early singles showed a diversity of musical styles. "Speak Like a Child" (with its loud soul-influenced style), the extended funk of "Money-Go-Round", and the haunting synth-ballad "Long Hot Summer" all featured Talbot on keyboards and organ. Near the end of 1983, these singles were compiled on Introducing The Style Council, a mini-album initially released in Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States only. The Dutch version was heavily imported to the United Kingdom.

The Style Council released their first full-length album, Cafe Bleu, in March of 1984; two months later, a resequenced version of the record, retitled My Ever Changing Moods, was released in America. It was their most successful album, peaking at number five in the U.K. and number 56 in the U.S. In the summer of 1985, the Style Council had another U.K. Top Ten hit with "The Walls Come Tumbling Down." The single was taken from Our Favourite Shop, which reached number one on the U.K. charts; the record was released as Internationalists in the U.S.

In 1986, the band released a live album, Home and Abroad, and, in 1987, the album The Cost of Loving was launched, followed later in the year by the upbeat non-album single "Wanted", which reached #20 in the United Kingdom. However, by the time Confessions of a Pop Group was released a year later, the group's popularity had largely evaporated. A greatest hits album, appropriately called The Singular Adventures of The Style Council, was released internationally in 1989; it included the non-album single "Promised Land", which had reached #27 in the United Kingdom earlier that year.

The Style Council broke up in 1989, after recording a house album (Modernism: A New Decade) that was rejected by their record label, Polydor . However, the entire album was released in 1998, both independently and in a 5-CD boxset, The Complete Adventures Of The Style Council). Paul Weller and Mick Talbot officially broke up the Style Council in 1990. In 1991, Weller launched a solo career which would return him to popular and critical favor in the mid-'90s, while Talbot continued to play, both with Weller and as a solo musician.



01 - Long Hot Summer (6:57)
02 - Headstart For Happiness (2:49)
03 - Speak Like A Child (3:14)

04 - Long Hot Summer (Club Mix) (6:51)
05 - The Paris Match (3:42)
06 - Mick's Up (3:07)
07 - Money-Go-Round (Club Mix) (7:37)

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