Merry Christmas (or your choice of denominational festivity) to my readers!
'Tis the season of giving, and the gifts of music were abundant. I gave some music and I received some music. And music-related books were also under the Christmas tree.
Yesterday morning, I cashed in an online record store gift card as I ordered Highway to Hell by AC/DC. A blast from the past that'll shake the foundations with its newly-remastered sound - on vinyl. Looking forward to that.
A couple of cool biographies in book form found their way to me, too. Both are autobiographies; the first is Confess, by Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, and the second is Monsters of River and Rock: My Life as Iron Maiden's Compulsive Angler, by guitarist Adrian Smith. Confess is a completely candid life story by the legendary metal vocalist. I immediately jumped into that book, and have made a healthy dent in it. Smith's book is an oddity, to be sure, but I'm game... it's his story of life as an avid sport fisherman... while conducting his career with heavy metal icons Iron Maiden. Should be entertaining.
With some early arrival gift cash, I ordered and received a handful of gently used vintage albums. Two of these I've ticked off my very short "record wish list". Here they all are:
Partridge Family, Up to Date, from 1971... I have a soft spot for this TV show-inspired pop band. I now have their first three - best- albums. Loads of catchy, timeless bubblegum music.
Linda Ronstadt, Heart Like a Wheel, 1974... considered perhaps her best, sort of soft country-rock. She mostly covers others' songs, but her beautiful voice makes them all her own.
Monkees, The Birds, The Bees, and The Monkees, 1968... what can I say? My pop-rock music fixation all began with the Monkees. This album completes my early "classic" Monkees LP set.
Eagles, On the Border, 1974... the same year some Eagles backed up Ronstadt on her album, they cut their own seminal record, including hits like Already Gone and Best of My Love. Primo!
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I did mention this in a previous post, but an early Christmas gift to myself was the new Kylie Minogue album Disco. I pre-ordered this months ago, and my initial sceptical thoughts on the advance single were dashed when I finally heard the whole thing. On vinyl, Disco really soars... it's got that old-school 70's dance-floor-style sound and vibe, with a healthy dash of Kylie's own brand of modern "disco". All very fun and buoyant and expertly crafted. Can you tell I kinda like this album?
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Then there was that 12-record haul I scored when an acquaintance offered me a bunch of stuff he didn't want in his collection any more. You can see my comments on those here.
Oh, and last but not least... well, this had nothing to do with Christmas, but it arrived just in time: I won a cool music and record-related t-shirt in an online contest. It was a prize giveaway for Channel33RPM on Youtube (a very cool music and vinyl channel - check it out!), and I was one of the two winners out of hundreds of entries. Yay! I got my pick of the channel's merchandise tees, so I chose one that reflected both my love of a certain music genre and my record collecting past-time. Here's a pic:
Happy holidays, music fans!
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