Here we are, celebrating a month of sharing good music! I would like to thank everyone that has taken the time to stop by and check out what’s going on!
Now, let’s get down to the nitty gritty! Cassettes, I will admit (as should anyone) are vintage/retro/out-dated technology. They don’t make cars with tape decks anymore. They don’t sell as many Walk-Mans as they used to. Despite superior analog playback, cassettes don’t last forever – or so we would think!
The title of the oldest cassette in my collection is a two way tie that belongs to both Kiss’ first album and a compilation of hits from Les Paul and Mary Ford entitled The World is Still Waiting for the Sunrise, both of which were released in 1974.
The older material belongs obviously to Les Paul and Mary Ford who parted ways via divorce in ’65. This material combines the sultry vocal styling of Mary Ford, who has one of the most gifted and pleasing voices of the 20th century, with Les Paul’s virtuoso level guitar playing. I mean, this guy was playing guitar so well in the ’50’s that it would make Eddie Van Halen blush! It’s a beautiful combination of jazz, pop, and pure human expression. I would suggest that any fan of music check out the title track or perhaps the classic, How High the Moon.
As for KISS’ debut album, many people are just purely opposed to KISS for reasons usually unrelated to their music, which they’ve heard little of considering they have 30+ albums. The record (or tape in this case) kicks off with a bang from Strutter and closes out in a major way with Black Diamond, both songs being better examples of their catalog. In my personal opinion, this album is a solid 9/10. There are no truly terrible songs on this album, however, there is one song that I do consider to be a scar – a cover of Kissin’ Time. Management insisted that the band needed a hit song and figured that this cover would help them gain some radio play. I believe that this attitude of pandering was sewn into the fabric of KISS at this time and contributed to their over commercialization. Every other track is listenable and this album is more or less a ‘greatest hits’.
Find these albums on any format you can and enjoy them fully. I promise you a good time!
Respect,
Derek/CTEP/O’KNC
Cassette Tape Exchange Program 