Including Elvis Presley, Silverchair, Harem Scarem, Guru and Eruption amongst others.
This week we have several exciting releases that are in stores now:
Including the Elvis Presley 4LP-box 50 Gold Award Hits Vol. 1, which is just in time for the Elvis biopic. The boxset is available on gold & black marbled vinyl and includes a 20-page photo album. You may also run to the stores for the four Silverchair EPs, Tomorrow, Pure Massacre, Israel's Son and Shade. All four are available on coloured vinyl and include an insert.
In addition, Harem Scarem's self-titled debut album features several guest appearances and is available on crystal clear & gold marbled vinyl. Frank Farian founded the disco formation Eruption, who are best known for their #1 hit “One Way Ticket”. Their second studio album Leave A Light is available on light green coloured vinyl.
Finally, Guru's groundbreaking hip hop and jazz album Jazzmatazz 1 is back in stores on black vinyl, just like Spike by Elvis Costello.
“Israel's Son” is the 1995 third single released from their debut full-length album Frogstomp, which was released earlier the same year. The track was inspired by a TV documentary about wartime atrocities and seeks to criticise violence and war by portraying them in all their horror. The EP Israel's Son also includes three live tracks, “Blind”, “Leave Me Out” and “Undecided”, which were recorded at the Big Day Out festival in Melbourne.
After booking major successes with their first single from the Frogstomp album, “Tomorrow”, Silverchair released the second single “Pure Massacre” not long after. It was a successful follow-up to the first single, charting well in Australia, New Zealand and the US. According to interviews with lead singer and guitarist Daniel Johns, the song and its lyrics are inspired by the Bosnian War.
Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1, originally released in 1993, is one of the first albums to combine a live jazz band with hip hop production and rapping. Featuring Lonnie Liston Smith, Branford Marsalis, Ronny Jordan, Donald Byrd and Roy Ayers and vocalists like Carleen Anderson, N'Dea Davenport and French rapper MC Solaar have cooperated on this classic album.
Formed in 1969 as Silent Eruption, their members hailed from Ghana, Curaçao, Guyana and Jamaica. Precious Wilson, who joined Eruption in 1974, added an element to the band's sound that led to their international success. In 1979 Eruption released their second studio album Leave A Light, which contained their characteristic funky euro-disco sound. The first single release was a cover of Caston & Majors' “Leave A Light (I'll Keep A Light In My Window)”.
Spike is the twelfth studio album by Elvis Costello, which appeared after a two-year layoff. For this album he worked together with greats such as Paul McCartney, Roger McGuinn (The Byrds) and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. This collaboration resulted in an album chock-full of variety; soul, Broadway, rockabilly, pop. Its lead single and most notable hit “Veronica” peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and even #1 on the US Modern Rock charts.
The Australian rock band Silverchair released their debut EP Tomorrow in 1994, after winning a radio contest on Triple J. The extended play already became the band's big breakthrough. Its title single reached #1 on the Australian Single Chart and remained there for six consecutive weeks. After re-recording the songs, the band also started to book major successes internationally.
Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits Vol. 1 is a compilation box set by the King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley. This four-album set was originally released in 1970, as his 38th album. The set peaked at #45 on the Billboard 200 and was certified double Platinum not long after its release.
The title track of the EP Shade by Silverchair was also the fourth single from their full-length debut album Frogstomp. It was the only single by Silverchair that was not included in their 2000 compilation album The Best Of Volume 1. The EP also features a live version of “Israel's Son”, which was recorded at the Big Day Out festival in Melbourne.
Harem Scarem is the 1991 self-titled debut album from Canadian rockers Harem Scarem, which included two hit tracks: “Slowly Slipping Away” and “Honestly”. The album features guest appearances by Ray Coburn (Honeymoon Suite), Carl Dixon (Coney Hatch) and Paul MacAusland (Haywire). The opening track “Hard To Love” was co-written by songwriter Christopher Ward, who is best known as the co-writer of worldwide hit “Black Velvet” by Alannah Myles.
12-08-2022