Hot Buttered Soul is the second studio album by American soul musician Isaac Hayes. Released in 1969, it is recognized as a landmark in soul music. Recorded with The Bar-Kays, the album features four lengthy tracks, including a 12-minute version of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David cover Walk On By (which peaked at #30) and an almost 19-minute long version of Jimmy Webb’s By the Time I Get to Phoenix (peaking at #37); both songs were edited significantly and released as a double A-side single in July 1969.
Hayes’ 1968 solo debut, Presenting Isaac Hayes, had been a poor seller for the Stax Records, and Hayes was about to return to his behind-the-scenes role as a producer and songwriter, when the label suddenly lost its entire back catalog after splitting with Atlantic Records in May 1968.
Stax executive Al Bell decided to release an almost-instant back catalog of 27 albums and 30 singles at once, and ordered all of Stax’s artists to record new material, encouraging some of Stax’s prominent creative staff, including Hayes and guitarist Steve Cropper, to record solo albums.
After feeling burned by the retail and creative flop of his first album, Hayes told Bell that he would not record a follow-up or any other album unless he was granted complete creative control. Since Bell had encouraged Hayes to record Presenting… in the first place, he readily agreed.
Tin Machine is the debut studio album by the Anglo-American hard rock band Tin Machine, released on May 22, 1989 through EMI America Records. The band consisted of the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, the American guitarist Reeves Gabrels and brothers Tony Fox and Hunt Sales on bass and drums, respectively, while Englishman Kevin Armstrong acted as an additional guitarist. The project was spearheaded by Bowie, who felt disconnected in his career by 1987 and looked to reinvent himself. After meeting Gabrels through his Glass Spider tour, the two agreed to work together and would collaborate frequently for the next decade. Bowie hired the Sales brothers, neither of whom he had worked with since the 1970s, after a meeting in Los Angeles, while English producer Tim Palmer was hired to co-produce.
The album was recorded in August 1988 in Montreux, Switzerland, and later in Nassau, Bahamas. The sessions were productive despite personality clashes among the members. The tracks were mostly recorded live in few takes, with Bowie improvising lyrics while standing at the microphone with lyrics discussing world issues and love. Tin Machine named themselves and the album after one of the tracks. Unlike Bowie’s previous backing bands, Tin Machine acted as a democratic unit, which was reflected in promotional interviews.
Upon release, the album peaked at #3 in the UK, although sales declined quickly. It was accompanied by three singles and a 13-minute long music video containing performances of the tracks. Like its supporting concert tour, Tin Machine received mixed reviews and continues to receive similar assessments from Bowie’s biographers, who mainly criticize the lyrics and lack of melodies. Nevertheless, some reviewers noted that the band were exploring grunge and alternative rock styles before those styles became popular. Tin Machine began recording a follow up album in late 1989 before Bowie embarked on the solo Sound + Vision tour. Bowie later rerecorded I Can’t Read during the sessions for his 1997 album Earthling.
Under the God is Tin Man’s first official single released in June 1989. It peaked at #51 in the UK and #4 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs and #8 on the Mainstream Rock charts.
Tin Machine was released as a single in September 1989, as a double A-side with a live cover of Bob Dylan’s Maggie’s Farm.
Prisoner of Love was their third single in October 1989.
1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?) is the debut studio album by British electronic band The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (the JAMs), later known as the KLF. 1987 was produced using extensive unauthorised samples that plagiarised a wide range of musical works, continuing a theme begun in the JAMs’ debut single All You Need is Love. These samples provided a deliberately provocative backdrop for beatbox rhythms and cryptic, political raps.
Shortly after an independent release in June 1987, the JAMs were ordered by the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society to destroy all unsold copies of the album, following a complaint from ABBA. In response, the JAMs disposed of many copies of 1987 in unorthodox, publicised ways. They also released a version of the album titled 1987 (The JAMs 45 Edits), stripped of all unauthorised samples to leave periods of protracted silence and so little audible content that it was formally classed as a 12 inch single.
Heart Like a Wheel is the fifth solo studio album by Linda Ronstadt, released in November 1974. It was Ronstadt’s last album to be released by Capitol Records. At the time of its recording, Ronstadt had already moved to Asylum Records and released her first album there; due to contractual obligations, though, Heart Like a Wheel was released by Capitol.
Heart Like a Wheel reached the top of the Billboard 200, becoming her first number one album in the United States. The lead single a cover of Dee Dee Warwick’s You’re No Good peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. At the 18th Annual Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for Album of the Year, while her version of I Can’t Help It If I’m Still In Love With You won the award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.
Widely considered Ronstadt’s breakthrough album, it was selected by the Library of Congress to be inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2013.
You’re No Good is a song written by Clint Ballard Jr. in 1963 with production by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with You) is a song written and originally recorded by Hank Williams.
When Will I Be Loved was written by Phil Everly. Ronstadt’s version in 1975 peaked at #2.
It Doesn’t Matter Anymore was written by Paul Anka and recorded by Buddy Holly in 1958. Ronstadt’s version was the B-side to When Will I Be Loved and peaked at #20 on the Adult Contemporary chart, #47 on the Pop chart and #54 on the country chart in 1975.
Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes is the only album by American girl group the Ronettes (credited to “the Ronettes featuring Veronia”). Produced by Phil Spector and released in November 1964 through his label, Philles Records, the album collects the group’s singles from 1963–1964.
Be My Baby was released in August 1963. Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Spector, the song was the Ronettes’ biggest hit, reaching #2 in the U.S. and #4 in the UK. It is often ranked as among the best songs of the 1960s, and it is regarded by some as one of the greatest songs of all time. In 2006, the Library of Congress inducted Be My Baby into the United States National Recording Registry.
Do I Love You? is a song written by Spector, Pete Andreoli and Vini Poncia. It reached #11 on Cashbox’s “Top 50 in R&B Locations” on July 18, 1964, their fourth highest charting hit on a national R&B chart. It peaked at #34 on the U.S. Hot 100 on August 1, 1964, becoming the group’s fourth consecutive top forty hit on the chart. It also reached #35 in the UK and stayed on the chart for four weeks.
Walking in the Rain is a song written by Barry Mann, Spector and Cynthia Weil. It was originally recorded in 1964 peaking at #23. The song also reached #3 on the R&B chart in 1965.
Baby, I Love You is a song originally recorded in 1963 and written by Barry, Greenwich and Spector. Released in November 1963, the single reached #24 on both the Hot 100 and Cashbox charts, peaking at #11 in the UK.
(The Best Part of) Breakin’ Up is a song written by Spector, Andreoli and Poncia. It was released in April 1964 and was the group’s third consecutive top forty hit in the U.S. The single peaked at #39 in the U.S. and #43 in the UK.
Eire Apparent were a band from Northern Ireland, noted for launching the careers of Henry McCullough and Ernie Graham, and for having Jimi Hendrix play on, and produce, their only album.
The origins of the group stretch back to early ’60s Belfast band Tony & The Telstars, which featured lead guitarist Rod Demick (born Roderick Demick, 1947, Prestatyn, Flintshire, North Wales), drummer Davy Lutton (born William David Lutton, 1946, Belfast), lead vocalist and guitarist George O’Hara and bassist Chris Stewart (born Eric Christopher Stewart, 1946, Belfast, Co Antrim). During 1965, Demick departed to join local R’n’B group The Wheels and Stewart joined German-based Irish band The Stellas. Their replacements included guitarist David “Tiger” Taylor, bassist Mike Niblett (from The Stellas) and apprentice auto mechanic Ernie Graham (born Ernest Harold Graham, 14 June 1946, Belfast) on rhythm guitar and backing vocals.
In late 1965 Lutton, O’Hara, Niblett and Graham formed pop outfit The People along with former Them keyboard player Eric Wrixon. They contributed two songs to the February 1966 compilation album Ireland’s Greatest Sounds: Five Top Groups From Belfast’s Maritime Club. In mid-1966 a “browned-off” Eric Wrixon announced the band were moving to England: “We hope it’s forever… Nowhere, but nowhere, could be worse than Belfast.” At the time they were using a stand-in guitarist in place of O’Hara and hoping to recruit Billy Harrison (ex-Them). Very soon afterwards Wrixon defected to another Belfast group resident on the Blackpool scene, The Wheels. Meanwhile, Mike Niblett and Chris Stewart had each swapped places and returned to their original bands. Guitarist Henry McCullough (formerly of The Sky Rockets Showband and Gene and The Gents) from Portstewart in Northern Ireland teamed up with The People in early 1967 and they quickly developed a strong reputation on the Blackpool and then (briefly) the Dublin music scenes.
In 1967 the band moved to London and were signed by ex-Animal Chas Chandler and Mike Jeffery, who changed the band’s name to Eire Apparent – Jeffery wanted to exploit the Irish dimension and his wife came up with the new name.
Eire Apparent were briefly signed to Track Records, who also handled Chandler and Jeffery’s protégé Jimi Hendrix, and recorded one single, Follow Me/Here I Go Again, released in January 1968, before they left Track. Despite only having released the one single, Chandler and Jeffery sent them on tour to North America with headliners The Animals during February and March 1968. Things went well until, in Vancouver, Canada in mid February, McCullough was busted for possession of marijuana and sent back to Ireland, so guitarist Mick Cox (born Michael Charles Cox, 1943, Gillingham, Kent, died August 2008; formerly of The Alleykatz and The End) flew out to take his place in the band. By May McCullough had joined Sweeney’s Men in Ireland.
The new line-up continued to tour North America with the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Soft Machine, and held recording sessions in New York’s Record Plant studio with Hendrix in May (probably taping their next single Let Me Stay/Yes I Need Someone). The album Sunrise was mostly cut in late October 1968 in Los Angeles, with Jimi Hendrix producing. Hendrix also played on a number of tracks (including Yes I Need Someone and The Clown), whilst Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell and Robert Wyatt are also credited (Redding and Wyatt singing on 1026 and/or The Clown). The album was released on Buddah Records in the US and the UK in May 1969.
Cox was replaced by guitarist David “Tiger” Taylor in November 1968, shortly after the album was recorded. Taylor had already been a member of The People during 1965, and he co-wrote their Rock ‘N’ Roll Band single recorded in London in January 1969, again featuring Jimi Hendrix. This line up of Taylor, Graham, Stewart and Lutton then toured Europe with Hendrix and in April 1969 recorded the band’s only Peel Session. Guitarist Peter Tolson, who later joined the Pretty Things, is also cited as having replaced Taylor on this session. Guitarist Steve Jolly formerly of Sam Apple Pie later joined the band.
In May 1969, Beat Instrumental reported that they were recording tracks for a second Eire Apparent album (reportedly produced by Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt) but it never saw the light of day. In May 1970, hardly noticed by the public, the band broke up.
Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) is the debut studio album by the English rock band Happy Mondays. It was released in mid-April 1987 through Factory Records. After finalizing their line-up, the band began playing local venues in Manchester, toured with New Order, and released an EP and a single in 1985. Happy Mondays’ debut album was recorded at Fire House in London in December 1986, with producer John Cale. Halfway through the two weeks of sessions, they scrapped all recordings and started again. Cale and engineer Dave Young both did not understand the band members’ vision for the album, finding them difficult to work with. The band sought to incorporate funk rhythms with a “spacious, trippy” sound, and most of its songs were made up akin to stories featured on The Twilight Zone.
Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) received generally positive reviews from music critics, some liked Happy Mondays’ musicianship, while others were indifferent to Cale’s production. It sold 3,500 copies with its six months of release. Tart Tart was released as the lead single from the album in March 1987. It earned the band national exposure when its music video was played on Channel 4’s The Chart Show. Over the next five months, the band played various headlining shows and supporting slots for a number of bands. The most notable of these were two dates supporting New Order, one of which was an all-day benefit gig hosted by Factory Records. 24 Hour Party People was released as the album’s second single in October 1987.
Musically, the sound of Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) has been described as mixing the punk-funk of ESG with the atmosphere of Joy Division. During their live performances, the members would unintentionally play songs for longer than necessary, as Ryder said they “could never get the timing right to end a song together.” As a result of this, he would have to freestyle lyrics over these extended versions; an unintended consequence of this meant new songs would evolve out of the freestyles. They would record the shows and work on material during practice sessions. The album’s title is partially the result of Little Mini. He visited them, took one look, and exclaimed: “Fucking hell, twenty-four hour party people, plastic people carnt smile a white out ….” The eventual full title consisted of various references: “Squirrel” is the nickname for Davis’ mother, “G-Man” alludes to Bez’s father being a cop, “Twenty Four Hour Party People” is a synonym for the band, and “Plastic Face” and “Carnt Smile” were two truncated Salford expressions meaning “miserable bastards.” Ryder considered the sentence a joke, before liking the sound of it as an album title, as the expression “[k]ind of summed the whole thing up.”
Men in Black: The Album is the soundtrack to the film Men in Black. It was released on July 1, 1997, distributed by Columbia Records and featured production from some of music’s top producers, such as Poke & Tone, Jermaine Dupri and The Ummah.
The album was a huge success, spending two consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200, as well as peaking at #2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and #3 on the Canadian Albums Chart. The RIAA certified the album 3× Platinum for shipments of over 3,000,000 copies in the United States.
Four singles were released from the album, Will Smith’s Men in Black and Just Cruisin, Nas’s Escobar ’97 and Jermaine Dupri and Snoop Dogg’s We Just Wanna Party with You. Except for the title song and the two Danny Elfman cues, none of the tracks on the album are in the film.
This soundtrack also marked the debuts of then-unknowns Alicia Keys and Destiny’s Child.
A Little Bit Longer is the third studio album by the American band the Jonas Brothers and their second album released on Hollywood Records. It was released on August 12, 2008. The album received generally favorable reviews, and four star reviews from Rolling Stone, AllMusic, and Blender. The album was preceded by three singles, Burnin’ Up, Lovebug and Tonight. The album was number 40 on Rolling Stone‘s Best 50 Albums of 2008. One of the songs from the album, Video Girl was also number 49 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008.
The title of the album, A Little Bit Longer, comes from their song of the same name, which Nick Jonas wrote about his feelings with having type 1 diabetes. The album artwork was released by Team Jonas, the Jonas Brothers’ official fan club, to fan club members via an e-mail newsletter on June 20, 2008.
A Little Bit Longer debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 selling 525,402 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album also debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Comprehensive Albums, Top Digital Albums, Top Internet Albums, and Tastemakers charts.
In its second week, the album remained at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 selling an additional 147,000 copies, making it the band’s fastest selling album to date. In its third week, it fell to #4 on the chart, selling another 80,000 copies. On October 17, 2008, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over a million copies in the United States. As of March 2015, the album has sold 2,082,000 million copies in the United States.
Burnin’ Up is the album’s first single and was officially released on June 19, 2008. peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the group’s first top five single in the U.S. and formerly their highest-charting song as a group until Sucker was released in 2019. The album’s second single Lovebug was revealed at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. It was officially released on September 30, 2008 It first peaked at #57 on the week ending November 9, 2008 before leaving five weeks later. On the week ending January 10, 2009, it reappeared and reached a new peak at #49. It has sold 857,000 copies in the U.S. It debuted at #84 on the Canadian Hot 100 and first peaked at #70 before falling off the chart and reappearing on the week ending January 10, 2009 at #45. The album’s final single Tonight peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart on August 7, 2008, the group’s second top ten single and third highest-charting single to date. The song also reached the top twenty in Canada.
Voodoo is the second studio album by American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist D’Angelo, released on January 25, 2000, through Virgin Records. D’Angelo recorded the album during 1998 and 1999 at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, with an extensive line-up of musicians associated with the Soulquarians musical collective. Produced primarily by the singer, Voodoo features a loose, groove-based funk sound and serves as a departure from the more conventional song structure of his debut album, Brown Sugar (1995). Its lyrics explore themes of spirituality, love, sexuality, maturation, and fatherhood.
Following heavy promotion and public anticipation, the album was met with commercial and critical success. It debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 320,000 copies in its first week, and spent 33 weeks on the chart. It was promoted with five singles, including the hit single Untitled (How Does It Feel), whose music video garnered D’Angelo mainstream attention and controversy. Upon its release, Voodoo received general acclaim from music critics and earned D’Angelo several accolades. It was named one of the year’s best albums by numerous publications.
D’Angelo promoted Voodoo with an international supporting tour in late 2000. While successful early on, the tour became plagued by concert cancellations and D’Angelo’s personal frustrations surrounding his sexualized public image from the album’s marketing. Voodoo has since been regarded by music writers as a creative milestone of the neo soul genre during its apex and has sold more than 1.7 million copies in the United States, being certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Following the success of his debut album Brown Sugar (1995), D’Angelo went into a four and a half year absence from the music scene and releasing solo work. After spending two years on tour promoting Brown Sugar, D’Angelo found himself stuck with writer’s block. On the setback, D’Angelo later stated “The thing about writer’s block is that you want to write so fucking bad, [but] the songs don’t come out that way. They come from life. So you’ve got to live to write.” In 1998, he was inspired to write music again after the birth of his first child, Michael, with fellow R&B singer and then-girlfriend Angie Stone. He also traveled back to the South, spending time in South Carolina and in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia, while reconnecting himself with the African-American musical history that had originally inspired him. Shortly after his son’s birth and the release of his first live album Live at the Jazz Cafe (1998) through EMI Records, he began preparation for the recording of songs for Voodoo. In several interviews after its release, he cited his son’s birth as an inspirational source and creative muse for him. A dedication to his son Michael and daughter Imani was included in the album’s liner notes, which were co-written by D’Angelo and writer/musician Saul Williams.
Devil’s Pie was released October 31, 1998, issued as a promotional single. The song was composed by D’Angelo and hip hop producer DJ Premier of the group Gang Starr. Devil’s Pie served as a departure for D’Angelo from the urban contemporary style of his previous commercially successful singles to the more experimental, “jam”-like sound that is predominant on Voodoo, as well as the use of sampling in his music. The song appeared on the soundtrack to the 1998 film Belly. DJ Premier originally made the track for Canibus but later offered it to D’Angelo after Canibus rejected the song.
Left & Right features guest vocals by hip hop duo Method Man & Redman who also co-wrote the song. It peaked at #70 on the Hot 100 and #18 on the R*B chart.
Untitled (How Does It Feel) was released on January 1, 2000, as a radio single. Written and produced by D’Angelo and Raphael Saadiq, the song was originally composed as a tribute to musician Prince. Untitled (How Does It Feel) contains a vintage style and sound similar to that of Prince’s early musical work. The song’s lyrics concern a man’s plea to his lover for sex. Untitled (How Does It Feel) proved to be the greatest chart success of the album’s five radio singles, as it peaked at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.
Send It On was released on March 25, 2000. D’Angelo wrote the song, with his brother Luther Archer and R&B singer Angie Stone, in 1998 at a recording studio in Virginia after the birth of his son. Send It On peaked at #33 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
D’Angelo covered the Roberta Flack #1 hit Feel Like Makin Love, released April 8, 2000. It was initially planned as a duet with R&B singer Lauryn Hill. Although tapes were sent via FedEx between the two, the collaboration was aborted and the song was instead recorded solo. As a single, Feel Like Makin’ Love only reached #109 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.