THE SWEET. GOLD. 20 SUPER HITS : Far and away the most successful of Britain glory bound Glam Rock bands on the international market was The Sweet. With hits supplied by the hit writing machine team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, they couldn't go wrong and they didn't. I got their first EP featuring the song 'Funny, Funny' and 'Co Co'. Both were ultra commercial hits with mass appeal which led me to buy their whole Greatest Hits album. I grabbed this CD when I came upon it. Favorites includes 'Poppy Joe', ‘Little Willy' and Wig Wam Bam'. Their later hits 'Blockbuster', 'Hellraiser' and 'Ballroom Blitz' was too loud for my liking although I quite like 'Ballroom Blitz'. I like their self composed 'Love Is Like Oxygen' too. There's also their version of 'Tom. Tom Turn Around' but I much prefer the version by New World. The hits waned when they left their songwriters and tried to produce their own materials which is of course, no match for those produced by Chinn / Chapman. DOP : 20th November 1993.
LET'S HAVE A PARTY - THE BEST OF MUD : Mud doesn't have as many hits as The Sweet but the hits that they do have are bona file smasher. More rock oriented than The Sweet, my favorites were 'Tiger Feet', 'The Secrets That You Keep', 'Moonshine Sally' and the evergreen Elvis styled Christmas favorite 'Lonely This Christmas'. I loved their version of oldies like 'Hippy Hippy Shake', 'Oh Boy', 'The End Of The World' and Diana'. Brought some much needed shine into those oldies. Another gift form my wife to be. DOP : 1st September 1996.
SMOKIE. THE COLLECTION : Of all the Nicky Chinn / Mike Chapman managed groups, Smokie is my favorites. Their acoustic music style coupled with Chris Norman stirring vocal made for a perfect marriage in music. Most would only know of 'Living Next Door To Alice' but man, I can tell you now and then there are a lot more to be enjoyed. 'If You Think You Know How To Love Me' is plain pop genius, 'Changing All The Times', I'll Meet You At Midnight'. Their later hits, 'Oh Carol', 'For A Few Dollars More', and their own 'Baby, It's You' and 'Mexican Girl’ were even better. After all these years, I still think Smokie was the cream of the crop of the groups in the 70s.
DOP : Unknown.
SMOKIE : CELEBRATION. 20 GREATEST HITS : This is a remake CD. Apart from the obvious hits, there are ' Mr. Tambourine Man', and an out of this world version of 'Take Good Care Of My Baby'. Still, I prefer the original rather than remakes. What's missing in both CDs is Chris Norman's wonderful duet with Suzi Quatro 'Stumbling In' which was a real bloody shame. I may have to buy another Smokie CD just for this song. I saw them once in concert. Frankly I couldn't t tell them apart from Adam. They could be any other bands playing the songs of Smokie. But they managed to recreated the Smokie sound and I left happy, and that's what count. DOP : Unknown.
SUZI QUATRO : THE WILD ONE : THE GREATEST HITS : Suzi Quatro, the first Lady of Rock. The one who inspired Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and all the future Lady In Rock. Initially I don't really like Suzi Quatro. I find her more style than substance. I only come to appreciate her when I bought her record. Rockers like 'Can The Can', '48 Crash', Daytona Demon' takes time to grow on you. The first time I really started listening was 'The Wild One' which have a catchy tune and 'She's In Love With You'. Three tracks that I genuinely like are ' I May Be Too Young', Tear Me Apart' and ‘The Race Is On'. I remember watching her in the TV series "Happy Days", with The Fonz. Still, I find her to be more an actress acting like a rock star than an true rock star. DOP : 21th September 1996.
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