In case I forget again, Steel Breeze is the name of a band that I've been trying to locate for about 20 years now ... I fell in love with the New Wave hit "You Don't Want Me Anymore" after seeing them on TV back in the day. I could have sworn the title was "You Don't Love Me Anymore" and the spelling was more traditional. I've also managed to forget where I caught them on TV ... thought it was the ABC late night show Friday's, but apparently not. My quest is now at an end and one CD of New Wave heaven is on its way to my address. All's well that ends well ... now excuse me while I go wet myself.
Steel Breeze: Unearthed & Procured
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OK, four can play at this game.
So Greg once again prognosticates on a musical performance album from the recent past that (according to him) charted in the top 40 somewhere but of which NOT ONE OF THE REST OF US has ever heard. I hereby insist and demand that the rest of the Clown Car Contingent pony up with a review/mention of a name act's album that one could bet that the rest of the Car can't dredge up any recollection thereof.
Now, the act must be knowable (national) and popular, which would disqualify Uber's recording of "Love Them from FROM JUSTIN TO KELLY", Ulysses' double album performance on multitracked electric zither of the Go-Go's catalog and my Sousa band arrangement of incidental music from Twin Peaks.
MY CONTRIBUTION:
David Crosby / If I Could Only Remember My Name (1971)
The seminal west coast jam session album and first solo effort of the CSN&Y veteran, this effort from Crosby is varied and strong. There's the expected protest number, "What Are Their Names", but that's the only foray into what I can never resist terming "mere" politics. Also included is the choral tapestry "Orleans", a rearrangement of the French traditional piece. We progress to "Cowboy Movie", an amazing feat of somehow getting a hippie band to conjure images of gritty old-west train robbery and hideout cabin paranoia. The album ends with "Laughing", a bass-heavy folk piece (not a contradiction in this case) that features a stratospheric-octave background accompaniment from guest Joni Mitchell.
She's not the only guest artist; enough people from the San Francisco scene of the previous five years prompted at least one critic to dub this album's support gang "the Grateful Airplane", since most of the Dead and the Kantner/Slick organization showed up. Neil Young participated and a pre-mogul David Geffen was there for technical and artist support. This album has been out on CD for a few years and is essential for rock fans interested in the era these artists typify.