Analog recordings are warm, rich, and comforting and while I can appreciate the convenience of CD's, there's something about their stripped, clinically clean, and overcompressed sound that leaves a person cold. Besides, how can you fully appreciate cover art and graphics when you're viewing it on something that fits in your pocket?
Here are some LPs which may have slipped through the cracks or just don't quite get the attention they deserve.
"Mondo Deco" - The Quick (1976)
After The Runaways grew disenchanted and distanced themselves from their Lothario-like manager Kim Fowley, Fowley didn't sit around gathering dust and/or cobwebs, quickly moving on to his next group of pubescent kids armed with guitars, bass, drums, amps, shag haircuts, and a dream - The Young Republicans - whom he rechristened The Quick.
Now considered legendary in some circles, the band is probably better known for the groups its members went on to (Rembrandts, Cruzados, Three O'Clock, Weirdos) rather than this terrific little gem, which stylistically resides in that black hole between Anglo glam and new wavy power pop.
Comparisons to Sparks are inevitable in light of the fact that vocalist Danny Wilde (later of Rembrandts and "Friends" theme song fame) chirps like an adolescent Russel Mael on helium (is that redundant?) and "Mondo Deco" was produced by ex-Sparks guitarist Earle Mankey. Although sleepy-eyed guitarist Steven Hufsteter's songs lack the skewed pop smarts and wiseguy wordplay of the Mael brothers, "Mondo Deco" shouldn't be so quickly dismissed.
Sure their cover of The Four Seasons' "Rag Doll" is cute, but songs like "No No Girl," "Hillary," and, especially, "Hi Lo" are coated with thick wads of goo and full of more hooks than a tackle box, all targeted for your frontal lobe.
"Stomp Your Hands Clap Your Feet" - Slade (1974)
Slade's "Sladest" album back cover depicts the band in all of its platformed and tartaned glory, playing on a low-slung stage over in England, probably in some place with the words "free trade," "Polytechnic," "Odeon," or "pool" in its name. As great an album as "Sladest" is, it's a hits compilation tailored for the U.S. market.
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