Every weekday between 1 and 5pm we play tracks from our #spotlightartist. They’re an artist with a body of work which has stood the test of time. We’ll play the hits – but also some deep cuts. Listen ad-free through New Zealand via @tunein at https://goo.gl/VL6m3N
A band so melodic and talented they attracted the great Beatles producer George Martin to work with them, America exemplified early 1970s smooth breezy sounds. Meeting as Air Force personnel in London, the band released their self titled first album in 1971. After its re-release in 1972 with smash hit “Horse With No Name” added this album hit number 1 in the US and was a worldwide phenomenon.
They had a string of successful albums (Homecoming, Hat Trick, Holiday, Hearts) through to 1977 when Dan Peek left the band. Although some of their songs have been susceptible to overplaying through the years (anyone who listened to Classic Hits (New Zealand) in the 1990s and 2000s might be in this camp) after a break we can appreciate these exquisitely crafted songs. We’ll enjoy the hits but also some lesser known tracks this week.
The Guardian described it as a parade of EMO-Pop Pizzazz. This certainly is a professional job, theatrical with great layers of great instrumentation, good melodies and wordy lyrics. We’ve been playing the infectious “High Hopes” for a while but you’ll enjoy the rest of the tracks, especially the awesome “Amen (Saturday Night)”. Check out the video – must have been a lot of fun!
Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess
Martin Garrix – Ocean ft Khalid
Noah Kahan – Come Down
Alessia Cara – Growing Pains
Khalid – Stay
Music writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine who wrote many of the articles in the influential All Music Guide (my musical bible in the 1990s) said “What the Beatles were to the ’60s, Led Zeppelin were to the ’70s: a band so successful and innovative they wound up creating the prism through which their entire epoch was seen.” A few words can’t really sum up the legacy of this band, one who surround themselves with influences ranging from blues and folk-rock to psychedelia. Although they might have been the greatest of heavy rock musicians, much of their output transcended that genre. We’ll let the music speak for itself this week as we sample well known and less common tracks from their first album in 1969 through to 1979’s In Through the Out Door.
We’ve been playing the single which gave this album its name for a couple of months now, and the record lives up to the success of that single (still in the Top Ten in most places). After a break of three years (this is their third album) the pop-punk band have embraced a more straightforward sound with plenty of 80s synth influence. Youngblood is unarguably an excellent track but there are plenty of other gems here. Listen out for “Valentine” for example, brilliant sub twenty one pilots pop, complete with staccato delivery in the chorus and dabbing synth. Looking forward to checking out this brilliant pop record from the Aussie foursome.
Lily Allen – Lost My Mind
Amy Shark – Don’t Turn Around
Lykke Li – Last Piece
Ruel – Younger
Sugarland – Babe ft. Taylor Swift
Our spotlight artist this week, sadly departed last year, had a stellar career stretching back to the 1970s. From early bands Epic and Mudcrutch, by the end of 1976 he had released his first album with the Heartbreakers. It did respectably in the charts, with single “Breakdown” hitting the top 40 – it also yielded signature song “American Girl”. For me it was their third album Damn The Torpedoes which marked their creative blossoming. Every track a great listen, it sold over 3 million copies in the US and hit number 2 on the Billboard charts.
Ben Howard – There’s Your Man
Peter Yorn & Scarlett Johansson – Iguana Bird
Mallrat – Groceries
Maroon 5 – Girl Like You ft Cardi B
Flight Facilities – All Your Love ft. Justin Tebbutt