What Are You Listening To? January 2026

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T. Rex - The Slider (1972)

T. Rex - The Slider - album cover
 
Billy Joel - Streetlight Serenade (1974)

Billy Joel - Streetlife Serenade - album cover


A Billy Joel album that I always forget about - in fact some of the songs I was introduced from the live Songs in the Attic versions
Still a pretty good album that at times rocks hard and has a weary (sometimes angry) cynicism to it
 
The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967)

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Vinyl Spin of the Day.

The evil twin of Sgt. Pepper's holds up pretty well after all these years. Like SPLHCB, it ventured into experimental musical territory with suitably trippy art. For my Selective Vinyl Reacquisition Project, I was lucky enough to find a gorgeous first pressing of the American edition with the groovy lenticular cover.
 
Thursday's Playlist of the Year 1965
110 Songs of Splendor

Lots of Beatles, Beach Boys, Stones, Smokey & The Miracles, Four Tops, Supremes
The Who, The Kinks
Classic Dylan

But don't forget Herb Alpert's "Tijuana Taxi", Billy Joe Royal's "Down in the Boondocks, We Five's "You Were On My Mind", The Vogues "Five O'Clock World", and Gloria Jones's "Tainted Love"
 
CTA (California Transit Authority) - Sacred Ground (2013)

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I'm generally not much on legacy bands but drummer Danny Seraphine did a very creditable job of recreating the band from which he was unceremoniously booted. Sixteen years after leaving Chicago, Danny put together a new group with guitar and keyboard. For their "Take Me Back To Chicago" tour they added horns to recreate his former group's sound. None of the Chicago covers from those shows are included on this album, but the brass section and "Take Me Back To Chicago" are both present, making "Sacred Ground" far more enjoyable than it has any right to be.
 
Judy Collins - The 60's Singles (rec. 1964-69, Real Gone Music comp. 2025)

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A few years back, I completed a listening project for all of Judy's albums. So when Real Gone Music announced this new collection, at first I was underwhelmed. But when I learned that her singles occasionally used non-album material, I was hooked. The 60's Singles turned out to be quite revelatory. Not only are there new songs and significantly different mixes, but hearing her singles sequentially gave a different perspective on the glory years of her career. Clearly Jac Holzman envisioned her as Elektra's answer to Joni Mitchell in the folk-rock crossover sweepstakes. Judy's hit cover of "Both Sides Now" (included here) encouraged this way of thinking, to such an extent that the label tried again with Joni's "Chelsea Morning". That one died in the charts at #78 so it never appeared on an album but it's here for our consideration.

:5.0: on the Sam-O-Meter. Hot Rocks and Fazed Cookies indeed.
 
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