Tag: John

AMPED™ FEATURED ALBUM OF THE WEEK: JOHN & YOKO: THE WEDDING ALBUM

I can only imagine (no pun intended) a Beatles fan spinning John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s THE WEDDING ALBUM for the first time. I mean, it most certainly isn’t THE WHITE ALBUM or ABBEY ROAD, is it? “Which cut is the single? Where are the hooks? Wait, never mind the hooks – where are the songs? And where on earth is the Rock ‘n’ Roll?” OK, so maybe fans weren’t exactly thinking those thoughts since THE WEDDING ALBUM was John and Yoko’s third release as a duo (and their first as a bona fide married couple) and their avant-garde recordings were certainly nothing new. Remember the UNFINISHED MUSIC NO. 1: TWO VIRGINS album featuring John and Yoko on the album cover in all of their nakedness? Then there was UNFINISHED MUSIC NO. 2: LIFE WITH THE LIONS, which featured a cover photo of John and Yoko in her hospital room shortly after a miscarriage. In essence, John and Yoko’s first three albums were far from light-hearted affairs. These were albums that expressed their emotions in unique ways – through experimental recordings. Yes, there were other artists who made avant-garde recordings… but they weren’t associated with the biggest Rock band in history!

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AMPED™ FEATURED ALBUM OF THE WEEK: INGRAM/NIGHT STALKERS

     
     NIGHT STALKERS, originally released in 1984, was Ingram’s third and final album. And before you jump to conclusions, this band of Ingram siblings was not related to Grammy-winning singer/songwriter James Ingram although there is a member of this act who goes by the named James/Jim! This album features the multi-talented former basketball player Norman AKA Butch Ingram (bass and trumpet) joined by his siblings James (vocals, keyboards, sax, flute), Barbara (vocals), Billy (guitar, bass, trombone), John (lead vocals, drums, tuba), Timmy (drums, percussion, trumpet) and Francis, Edith, and Virginia (vocals).  Unlike most other family bands at that time, Ingram was a self-contained unit – writing, arranging and producing their own material.

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An EXCLUSIVE Q&A with PETER BJÖRN AND JOHN’S Peter Morén

Swedish trio Peter Björn and John have created a musical universe that is constantly evolving. However, they’ve managed to retain their unique charm that made them press darlings a decade ago with “Young Folks”. What many didn’t realize is that that hit’s parent album, Writer’s Block, was the trio’s third in a career that has seen them stretch the boundaries of Pop music. While Top 40 radio’s Pop guidelines are pretty rigid, Peter Morén, Björn Yttling and John Eriksson treat them like elastic rubber bands, bending and twisting those guidelines into new and exciting aural avenues. They’ve even managed to carve out musical careers outside of PB&J while never lowering the quality control level on the albums they record together. And can you believe they even collaborated with Canadian hip hopster Drake a handful of years before he became a musical sensation?

Breakin’ Point, their first album in five years, finds PB&J offering up a collection of songs that are so instantly lovable that you’ll swear you’ve been in love with them for years. Every track on the album is a potential hit single – the melodies leap out and grab hold on the first spin. Their songwriting is based in classic ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s Pop/Rock, but the production, arrangements and inventiveness is thoroughly modern if not outright forward-thinking. They’ve sidestepped the experimental moodiness of some of their past albums and embraced their more playful side. This isn’t an album that tries to revisit their past glories – it creates new ones.

Stephen SPAZ Schnee was able to track down band member Peter Morén, who kindly took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions about Breakin’ Point, PB&J and more…

 

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