Boogie Chitz

An arrogant Satan attempts to manifest one more hit vocal pop record before the decade is over and uses the goddaughters of Latin jazz vibraphonist Cal Tjader as his messengers; Genesis is a wonderful quick listen for the crate diggers.

Before Nick Cave became the legendary gothic grinch we continue to love to present day he was in a shrieking drug band with his college friends called The Birthday Party. They lasted five years but my God what a mess. On their way to the finish line they cranked out one final record called Junkyard - basically a giant musical temper tantrum crafted into a ten-track scuzzball masterpiece. One of the coolest albums of the 1980s.

Eric Clapton puts the theory that he is 'God' to the test by attempting the fulfillment of two prophecies: 1) become the coolest AMERICAN guitarist in the game and 2) nail his best friend's wife. He would succeed at both - and ruin quite a few lives in the process. But not OUR lives - no - we get one of the best double albums ever recorded. Our lives are even better because of his mania. Thanks Eric...I mean Derek.

For over twenty-five years The Verve has been designated as 'the band with the guy with the face that did Bitter Sweet Symphony.' But there is always more to discover. You see - there was an Enya before and after Orinoco Flow; the Baha Men were once Baha Boys; and The Verve's first album A Storm in Heaven is an absolute psychedelic guitar odyssey. Can't wait to get thru it so we can play a nip of Bitter Sweet Sympfff.

Analog Africa is granted access to the Radio Mogadishu archives by vault guardian Colonel Abshir Hashi Ali and commence compiling a mind-blowing collection of funky oddities from Somalia's Golden Age of Music.

The tireless Cheap Trick’s second album In Color is loved by classic rock fans, critics and music historians alike - but hated by the band. They thought the producer Tom Werman did them dirty - polishing up their sound behind their back - which he did. But too bad - it worked. Underrated classic released a year before this pairing of two oddballs and two hunks became big in Japan.

Zebby Tembo was the drummer for Zamrock legends Ngozi Family - very true - but he also wrote his own songs. My Ancestors was the first of two known Zebby solo albums - recorded in 1976 during the same time his main band was crushing faces and melting underpanties all over Lusaka. A bare bones stoner Zamrock classic.

It took a traumatic event for young Robin Pecknold to realize he possessed the gift of the Mangina Majestica. Only a few years later he turned that haunting memory into an unforgettable mangina band. Shore is Fleet Foxes at their catchiest and most tightly-tucked.

The Mac Attack's Mirage Tour concluded in October 1982 and the cranky gentle-rockers were clearly ready for a hiatus. While grandma-haired Lindsey Buckingham and the rest of the Mac sulked, Stevie Nicks made new friends and cranked out The Wild Heart - the energetic follow-up to Bella Donna. Stevie Nicks at her peak here - right before she quit coke and started wearing the Mrs. Doubtfire outfits.

An overlooked chestnut from 1970s New York City fixture Garland Jeffreys. Good guy and relentless overachiever facing challenges like - having a fanbase more famous than him and - the constant bullying from his best friend's older brother Roy. A solid neck-to-nut worth the time.

The Paisley Underground bands of Los Angeles were keeping garage rock revivalism on full blast out west in 1984. But on the east coast Monoman and Lyres were doing it alone in Boston. Heavy on passion, lite on precision - Lyres' debut LP On Fyre is a skipless stomper that was recorded in a flurry of single takes into one microphone - let us bask in the oneness of Monoman.

Not the brightest bulbs in the offseason tanning bed - but Jacksonville's 38 Special stumbled into genius by polishing up their southern rock frame for 1980s MTV consumption with album four - Wild-Eyed Southern Boys - butt rock for the BEDAZZLED jean short.