My Top Music Of The Week 3/26

Top singles indicated where applicable

1. Voyage - ABBA (2021) **13 weeks #1**

Don't Shut Me Down

2. Afflatus - The Polyphonic Spree (2021)

3. Together We're Heavy - The Polyphonic Spree (2004)

Hold Me Now

4. My Colouring Book - Agnetha Faltskog (2004)

If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind

5. Yes, It's True. - The Polyphonic Spree (2013)

You Don't Know Me

6. The Singles + - Mouth & MacNeal (Home edit of 2001 release)

How Do You Do?

7. Most Of All: The Best Of Deborah Harry (1999)

Backfired

8. 70's Mix - Various Artists (Home playlist)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnQBnNTT2mO59DCNnbLPh01oA0KKsgGYG

9. Magic: The Very Best Of Olivia Newton-John (2001)

Physical

10. In A Lifetime - Clannad (2020)

Theme From Harry's Game

My Top Music Of The Week 3/18

Top singles indicated where applicable

1. Retrospective 2002-2021 - The Polyphonic Spree (Home playlist) **1 week #1**

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnQBnNTT2mO6FTiUkZYjMH9JNJ7rsHRVj

Soldier Girl

2. The World Of Peters & Lee (1996)

Welcome Home

3. Banba - Clannad (1993)

Mystery Game

4. The Kick Inside - Kate Bush (1978)

Wuthering Heights

5. Brigade - Heart (1990)

All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You

6. Hotcakes - Carly Simon (1974)

Mockingbird (with James Taylor)

7. The Ultimate 5th Dimension (2003)

Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In

8. Greatest Hits - The Tourists (1997)

I Only Want To Be With You

9. ABBA--The Album: Deluxe Edition (2013)

Take A Chance On Me

10. The Very Best Of Kiki Dee (1994)

Don't Go Breaking My Heart (with Elton John)

11. The Rumour - Olivia Newton-John (1988)

The Rumour

12. Together/Farewell Album - The New Seekers (2019)

You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me

13. Songs From The Rocky Horror Picture Show Live - The Polyphonic Spree (NEW, 2013)

My Top Music Of The Week 2/28

1. Afflatus - The Polyphonic Spree (2021) **4 weeks #1**

2. Make Your Move - Captain & Tennille (1979)

The duo's first of two albums for Casablanca includes their #1 hit Do That To Me One More Time as well as the singles Happy Together (A Fantasy) and Love On A Shoestring.

3. Rock A Little - Stevie Nicks (1985)

Stevie's third solo album contains Talk To Me, I Can't Wait, and Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You?.

4. Heaven/Earth - The Free Design (1969)

I've been a fan of The Free Design since 2008 but don't seem to play them enough. I'm trying to do better. The version of Heaven/Earth I played on Spotify includes bonus solo tracks by Ellen Dedrick, Nature Boy and Settlement Boy, but omits the songs they recorded with Tony Mottola that were featured on the official reissue.

5. Remind 2.0 - Brotherhood Of Man (Home CD)

This is my expanded version of a 1997 compilation. I added Lightning Flash and Catch Me Catch Me If You Can.

6. Yes, It's True. - The Polyphonic Spree (2013)

7. Voyage - ABBA (2021)

8. The Farewell Album - Peters & Lee (1980)

9. You Could Be Born Again - The Free Design (1969)

Highlights from this album include covers of California Dreamin', The Windows Of The World, and Eleanor Rigby. The bonus tracks are from a Christmas single the group released with Close Your Mouth (It's Christmas) and Christmas Is The Day.

10. The Fragile Army - The Polyphonic Spree (2007)

11. KooKoo - Debbie Harry (1981)

Debbie's first post-Blondie album was produced by Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards of Chic. It contains the singles Backfired and The Jam Was Moving.

12. Cosmic Thing - The B-52's (1989)

The group's big comeback album includes Channel Z, Love Shack, Roam, and Deadbeat Club.

My Top Music Of The Week 2/20

1. Afflatus - The Polyphonic Spree (2021) **3 weeks #1**

2. Love Songs - Carpenters (1999)

This is a compilation I've never owned but played on Spotify for Valentine's Day this week. It contains 20 tracks including two of the duo's #1 hits, (They Long To Be) Close To You and Top Of The World. There's also the 1977 outtake You're The One, previously released on Lovelines in 1989.

3. Retrospective 2002-2021 - The Polyphonic Spree (Home playlist)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnQBnNTT2mO6FTiUkZYjMH9JNJ7rsHRVj

4. 10 Best - Melissa Manchester (Home CD)

I derived the songs for this disc from Melissa's 1997 compilation, The Essence Of Melissa Manchester. It contains her Top 10 hits Midnight Blue and You Should Hear How She Talks About You as well as Lovers After All, a duet with Peabo Bryson.

5. Voyage - ABBA (2021)

6. Favorites - Juice Newton (Home playlist)

This is made up of mostly songs from Juice's breakthrough albums Juice (1981) and Quiet Lies (1982). Her Top 10 hits Angel Of The Morning, Queen Of Hearts, The Sweetest Thing, and Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me are present here. A few later releases round it out such as Both To Each Other (Friends And Lovers) with Eddie Rabbitt.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7AZRFzN56ut7eCHSgVtfuD

7. Together We're Heavy - The Polyphonic Spree (2004)

8. Love Songs - Heart (2006)

This is the other album I played on Valentine's Day. Live versions of the group's hits Magic Man, These Dreams, and Alone are included as well as a cover of Elton John's Love Song.

9. The Very Best Of Eve Graham & The New Seekers (Home CD)

10. Gold - Olivia Newton-John (2005)

This 2-CD set is probably the most comprehensive collection representing Olivia's career starting with If Not For You and ending with her 1998 version I Honestly Love You with Babyface.

11. Anthology - Kim Carnes (Home playlist)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnQBnNTT2mO5_-b0XT9LsyDUNGRQJ0Uih

12. Duets - Linda Ronstadt (2014)

Linda's hits Don't Know Much and All My Life (with Aaron Neville) and Somewhere Out There (with James Ingram) highlight this compilation. There are also two songs, The New Partner Waltz (with Carl Jackson) and Pretty Bird (with Laurie Lewis) which I'd never heard before.

My Top Music Of The Week 2/12

1. Afflatus - The Polyphonic Spree (2021) **2 weeks #1**

According to their video for The Spirit Of Radio (Rush cover), the group recorded this album in twelve hours.

2. Retrospective 2003-2021 - The Polyphonic Spree (NEW; Home playlist)

I decided to put together a career-spanning playlist for the group. It's made up of all of their singles, the full EP of Wait (2006), and all of their official videos from Afflatus.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnQBnNTT2mO6FTiUkZYjMH9JNJ7rsHRVj

3. The Best Of Roberta Flack 1971-1991 (Home CD)

This is my expanded version of The Best Of Roberta Flack from 1981. I added Making Love, Tonight I Celebrate My Love (with Peabo Bryson), and Set The Night To Music (with Maxi Priest).

4. Lush Life - Linda Ronstadt with Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra (1984)

Linda's second album with Riddle includes the singles Skylark and When I Fall In Love.

5. Panic Of Girls - Blondie (2011)

6. Voyage - ABBA (2021)

7. Together We're Heavy - The Polyphonic Spree (2004)

8. Nursery Cryme - Genesis (1971)

This was the group's first album with Phil Collins who sings lead on For Absent Friends. It was also the first with Steve Hackett on guitar until his departure in 1977.

9. A&M Gold Series - Captain & Tennille (1986)

10. We Too Are One - Eurythmics (1989)

Don't Ask Me Why, The King And Queen Of America, Angel, and Revival were the singles from the duo's last album for ten years.

My Top Music Of The Week 2/5

 

1. Afflatus - The Polyphonic Spree (2021) **1 week #1**

After coming in and stalling at #2 for five weeks, Afflatus has become my #1 album this week. This is a great album of covers and I thought it was time.

2. Archive 1967-75 - Genesis (1998)

This is a 4-CD box set chronicling the group's career with Peter Gabriel as lead singer. It's predominantly live recordings including the album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway in its entirety, though there are also demos and B-sides.

3. Best Of Berlin 1979-1988 (1988)

The group's Top 40 hits No More Words and Take My Breath Away are featured as well as the rare first single, Matter Of Time, and two bonus tracks, Blowin' Sky High and a re-recording of For All Tomorrows Lies.

4. Yes, It's True - The Polyphonic Spree (2013)

5. The Collection - Rita Coolidge (1995)

This import contains Rita's Top 10 hits (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher and We're All Alone as well as All Time High from the James Bond film Octopussy. The highlight for me is her 1971 rendition of Seven Bridges Road, later a hit for the Eagles.

6. Heart (1985)

Heart's only #1 album includes their first #1 single These Dreams as well as the Top 10 hits What About Love, Never, and Nothing At All.

7. Hello Big Man - Carly Simon (1983)

This was Carly's third (and last) album for Warner Brothers. It contains the single You Know What To Do. She explores a reggae sound with a cover of Bob Marley's Is This Love as well as the originals Such A Good Boy and Floundering.

8. Voyage - ABBA (2021)

9. Trespass - Genesis (1970)

The group's second album was their premiere foray into progressive rock. The Knife was a standard for them.

10. The Essential Collection 1965-1997 - Carpenters (2002)

11. Blondie 4(0) Ever: Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux/Ghosts Of Download (2014)

12. Keeping Our Love Warm - Captain & Tennille (1980)

This was the duo's second (and last) album for Casablanca. It includes the single This Is Not The First Time, a re-recording of Gentle Stranger, and covers of Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do) and Since I Fell For You.

My Top Music Of The Week 1/29

1. Voyage - ABBA (2021) **12 weeks #1**

As of this week, ABBA have my second longest-running #1 since I started my list online in 2006. The 2007 issue of The Groop (first released in 1969) has been #1 longer at 24 weeks. Stay tuned.

2. Afflatus - The Polyphonic Spree (2021)

3. Audio CD - ABBA (Fan CD set)

4. Lovely - The Primitives (1988)

This was the group's debut album which contains the singles Out Of Reach, Way Behind Me, and Crash.

5. The Essential Collection 1965-1997 - Carpenters (2002)

This 4-CD collection is an expansion of the duo's 1991 box set From The Top.

6. What A Life! - Divinyls (1985)

Divinyls' second album includes the singles Casual Encounter, In My Life, Good Die Young, Sleeping Beauty, Pleasure and Pain, and Heart Telegraph.

7. 50 Words For Snow - Kate Bush (2011)

This was the second of two albums Kate released in 2011. It's a winter-themed album with appearances by Elton John, Stephen Fry, and Kate's son Albert McIntosh.

8. All Fired Up: The Very Best Of Pat Benatar (1994)

This 2-CD set covers Pat's career up to 1993. It contains single edits she and husband Neil Giraldo would later pan on Sychronistic Wanderings: Recorded Anthlogy 1979-1999.

9. The Essential 5th Dimension (2011)

This collection is almost identical the group's 1997 release Up-Up And Away: The Definitive Collection from 1997 with substitutions made on the first disc, covering their 60's work.

10. The Beginning Stages Of The Polyphonic Spree (2003)

Since the release of Afflatus last year, I've been back-tracking through the group's catalog. This, their debut album, is great with the exception of the last track A Long Day. It's nearly 40 minutes of psychedelic chords that I personally find hard to sit through, hence the low rank.

11. Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like The Wind - Linda Ronstadt featuring Aaron Neville (1989)

This album has Aaron singing with Linda on four of its twelve tracks including the singles Don't Know Much, All My Life, and When Something Is Wrong With My Baby.

12. Testify To Love: The Very Best Of Avalon (2003)

This was the first compilation released by the Contemporary Christian group. It contains personal favorites Give It Up, Take You At Your Word, Can't Live A Day, and the title track.