Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Mojo (2010)

"Mojo is the 12th studio album by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released on June 15, 2010 on CD and June 29 on Blu-ray. It was Petty's first album with the Heartbreakers in eight years."

    - Wikipedia

This was repressed in 2017, but I have a copy of the original pressing for 2010. Oddly the prices for each are similar. The reviews are all over the place, but I think this is a good record. I mean, it starts with a killer track:

Tom Petty: Highway Companion (2006)

I am the lucky owner of an original pressing from 2006. More than that, I paid $8.00 for a sealed copy! Wow. At the time I picked his up, this record was going for at least $80 to $100 on Discogs, and some were listed at even higher prices. I believe that current prices are similar. In 2017, the record was repressed and that record sells for far less. My copy has a slightly bent corner, from shelf wear, but I am not too upset about that. I really like this record. 

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers: Echo (1999/2017)

The original LP, released in 1999 is now a pricey record. The record was repressed in 2017, and I picked up a used copy for a good price. Resale prices for the repressing are creeping up. I think this is a pretty good record.

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers: She's The One - Songs And Music From The Motion Picture (1996/2017)

Though originally released in 1999 the first (and only, so far) vinyl release dropped in 2017. Surprise: I have never seen this film. Walls is likely the track you have heard, if you have heard any tracks from this record. 

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Into the Great Wide Open (1991)

I think every musical artist has considered the problems of following up a great record. How do you top or match a really fine LP? In this case, if you are the critic at Allmusic, you just pretend that Petty failed. But, that is selling this record short. Jeff Lynne came back to lend a hand and the results are really good, but perhaps not as good as FMF. Into the Great Wide Open is one of my favourite Petty tunes. I love Learning to Fly. Two Gunslingers is great too, as is The Dark of the Sun, All or Nothin', etc.

Among the long list of people Petty thanks, is--first and foremost--God. Really? Why include a thanks to a fictitious supernatural agent? People are so gullible.

Tom Petty: Full Moon Fever (1989)

What! A Tom Petty record without the Heartbreakers? I think I read that some of the Heartbreakers were heartbroken when this happened. Life is full of disappointments.

Full Moon Fever might be Tom's best record. The only song I do not care for is Alright for Now. The rest are all top-shelf tracks, including--arguably--Petty's best song, Free Fallin'. I've never been a big fan of ELO or Jeff Lynne, but this collaboration works amazingly well. Just reflect on what else is on this record: I Won't Back Down, Running Down a Dream, Love is Long Road, Yer So Bad, Feel a Whole Lot Better, etc., etc. It's almost a greatest hits record.

I wasn't really a Tom Petty fan when this record came out. In fact, I had forgotten about him, after having been infatuated with Damn the Torpedoes. After that record, I completely lost track of him. One day, I heard Free Fallin' and I was stopped dead in my tracks. It is one of those songs that just grabbed my attention. As soon as it was over, I wanted to here it again. I went on a quest to reconnect with Petty because I thought Free Fallin' was such a great song. I think that is is one of those songs that everyone who hears it will like, even if you are a classic rock guy, or a country music fan, or even a fan of indie rock. I'd really like to meet someone who does not like that song.

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Let Me Up I’ve Had Enough (1987)

This record sure got mixed reviews. I will say this: the cover is an abomination. It is absolutely horrible. Why this was cover ever allowed to see the light of day is beyond me. I hate to even look at it. It probably induced nightmares in many people. From a post about this record on Discogs:

It’s quite impossible to begin talking about this release without referencing one of the most uncomfortable album covers that ever existed, and then go onto think about the photographer needing to ask each member of the band to scream in front of the camera in order to create this uninspired feature. [source]

Anyway, I don't hate this record, but it is not in the top five. 

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Pack up the Plantation - Live! (1985)

 

This is a double live Tom Petty record that is petty good, though Allmusic awards it a measly 2.5 stars. 

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Make It Better (Forget About Me) (1985)

This 12" single contains two versions of the titular track, those being the Dance Mix and the Instrumental Mix, but here is the album version:

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Southern Accents (1985)

Check this out:

Occasionally, the songs work; "Rebels" and "Spike" are fine rockers, and "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "Make It Better (Forget About Me)" expand the Heartbreakers' sound nicely. But too often, the record is weighed down by its own ambitions. [source]

What does the last sentence mean?

And, then there's this, referenced in Wikipedia: "In the Los Angeles Review of Books, Connor Goodwin said the album is "deeply embedded in nostalgia for the Lost Cause." [source] I have to say that this never occurred to me. Can that really be true? 

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Long After Dark (1982)

In that epic four-hour documentary about Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (Runnin' Down a Dream, directed by Peter Bogdanovich), Tom referred to this record as a "tread-water album." In the same segment, Jimmy Iovine said: "After three records, your should shoot your producer." I think both statements are fair. This record is largely a step backwards, apart from You Got Lucky, and a couple of other tracks.

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Hard Promises (1981)

Two years after the brilliant Damn the Torpedoes, Petty released this fabulous record. Somehow, I have two copies of this record, one with the lyrics insert and one without. This release is an "MCA Masterphile Series" which was mastered at half-speed.

Some trivia from Wikipedia:

During the recording of the album, John Lennon was scheduled to be in the same studio at the same time. Petty was looking forward to meeting him when he came in. The meeting never occurred, as Lennon was murdered before the date of his planned visit to the studio. Petty and the band paid tribute to the slain former Beatle by etching "WE LOVE YOU J.L." in the runout deadwax on early U.S. and Canadian pressings of Hard Promises. [source]

My copies do not have that dedication in the dead wax.

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Here Comes My Girl (1979)

This is a 12"single from '79 with three tracks: Here Comes My Girl, Casa Dega, and Don't Bring me Down. 

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Damn the Torpedoes (1979)

If I had to make a list of top ten pure rock records (discounting new wave, goth, blues, etc.), this record would have to be on it. I think it's easy to underestimate the record today, but when it come out it was new, vibrant, dynamic, and different. The sound alone is amazing. I find it amusing that there were wome people who thought that Tom was a new wave guy.

My sister bought a copy of this record soon after it came out, and I remember sitting in her room listening to it on her crappy stereo system. Even then, I admit that it sounded good. This record had quite the impact, I have to think, even if you are sick of the tunes from so much overplay. Oddly, I disconnected with Tom after this record for ages.

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers: You're Gonna Get It! (1978)

The follow up the the debut is pretty good. Songs people might know are Too Much Ain't Enough, Listen to Her Heart, and I Need to Know. The album is deeper than that though, despite the review on Allmusic. I think this is a great record. Sure, it sounds like the first one, but it makes sense as a logical sequel. 

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (1976)

I sometimes write draft posts in advance, and this is one for which I had jotted some notes down over 4 years ago! And then, we got that awful news that Tom had died, and then that he was still alive, and, finally, that he had slipped away. That was truly devastating news.

Some who know me are often surprised to learn that I like Tom's music. I really do. I think he wrote some solid, honest, and unpretentious rock and roll songs. I could never say enough good things about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. And, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. I also admired his fight with the record label over album pricing.

Petty was another emotional death in a long line that includes Lou Reed, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Prince, Grant Hart, Walter Becker, and John Lennon, a senseless tragedy that still bothers me. I listened to Full Moon Fever after I got the news, and, yes, it made me very sad. There are so many aging rock stars, and I suppose that so many of these heroes of mine will depart over the next few years.

I recommend that everyone watch the four-hour documentary, Running Down a Dream. I would never have believed that a documentary that long would work, but it does.

What I originally wrote here in a draft post, months and months ago, was: I didn't know anything about Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers until I heard Damn the Torpedoes, a record my sister bought when it came out. I had to go backwards to find out what I had missed. I'd call it honest rock and roll, though some call it music of the heartland. I guess many would place Petty in the same crowd as Springsteen, Seeger, and maybe even John Mellencamp, although I think he is far better than Seger and Mellencamp. 

I find it interesting that the band was initially far bigger in the UK than in the US. I guess the same thing happened with Cheap Trick, who were huge in Japan before getting any recognition in the US. This record contains a bunch of great songs, like American Girl, Breakdown, Hometown Blues, Strangered in the Night, etc. It's great. I have a Canadian pressing (and a copy on CD).

Pet Shop Boys: Introspective (1988)

Yes, this is another LP I picked up for $1.99 from a thrift shop. By the way, the Opportunities 12" single, from a few days back, was also from a thrift shop. I should call the band the Thrift Shop Boys. From Wikipedia:

The album was unusual in that it reversed the typical process by which pop/dance acts released singles. Instead of releasing an album of regular-length (3–5-minute) songs, then releasing lengthy remixes of those songs on subsequent singles, Introspective was released as an LP consisting of songs that all lasted six minutes or more. Tracks released as singles like "Always on My Mind" and "Domino Dancing" had been issued as shorter, more radio-friendly mixes prior to the album. None was released as a radio single in the same form as it appeared on the album. It was also the case for the two other singles "Left to My Own Devices" and "It's Alright". [source]

The songs are all very long. This is a pretty good record. 

Pet Shop Boys: Actually (1987)

This record is entitled Actually or Pet Shop Boys, actually. I actually couldn't tell you which is right. I found this one in a thrift shop for $1.99 as well. There were some big hits from this record, like It's a Sin, What Have I Done to Deserve This?, Rent, and Heart. It's not bad, in a pop kind of way. 

Pet Shop Boys: Please (1986)

The first time I head West End Girls, I was dismayed, even horrified, especially since so many of my friends loved the song. I hated it. I thought it was disco reborn in 1986. Hadn't we had enough disco to last a lifetime by then? The answer is yes.

One day, many, many, many years later, I stopped into a thrift shop and found a minty-fresh copy of the LP sitting in the bin. I paid my $1.99 for it and left. My opinion of the track had mellowd over the years, and now I don't mind it. It's far better than I remembered. It's still not top-shelf music for me, but I can honestly say that I like the track.

Other popular tracks from album are the afore-mentioned Opportunities, plus Love Comes Quickly and Suburbia.

Pet Shop Boys: Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money) (1985)

There are three tracks in this 12" single:

Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money) (Double Your Money Mix) (Extended Version) 

In The Night 

Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money) (Short Version)

When this came out, I was not a fan. I kind of hated this band. 

Perth County Conspiracy [Perth County Conspiracy (does not exist)]: Rumour (1973)

From Discogs, who took it from Wikipedia: 

"Perth County Conspiracy, also known as 'Perth County Conspiracy (does not exist)' was a Canadian folk music group established in 1969 and active during the 1970s comprised of roughly 30 members who lived on a commune near Stratford, Ontario. The core musical members (originally Cedric Smith, Terry Jones, Richard Keelan, Michael Butler, and Michael McConkey but members would come and go over time) would continue performing and touring during planting and harvesting seasons. Their music is characterised by its message-oriented lyrics and unconventional arrangements."

I found this record on the side of the road a few years ago. It was in a record-sized milk crate along with two or three unremarkable records. It's kind of a strange package, with inserts, rather than a full jacket, but I have seen other photos showing a real jacket. Mine has a smallish insert. as seen in the photo above, along with a sheet listing toys for sale with prices, with this address:

G.M.T. Toys, c/o James Cairns, R.R. #3 Embro, Ontario, Canada

A beaver will run you $3, while a northern dump truck is $10. The rocking horse with felt on the head is $33.00. "All toys shown here are constructed of white pine and hardwood dowels."

The other insert in my copy has an essay with thanks given to Milton Acorn, Michael Ondaatje, and Woody Guthrie, I assume because they share some of the songwriting credits. Now that's an odd but interesting collection of people. I have books by Milton and Michael on my shelves. 

It also encourages people to send inquiries to Box 173 Stratford, Ontario.

This is a very strange record, The RarestRecords Youtube channel (video link below) says this about the record.

Here is a real gem for collectors of `Acid Folk` a privately pressed LP by Canadian Folk band `The Perth County Conspiracy Does Not Exist` released after they left Columbia and decided to go it alone pressing up their own records (not sure how many were pressed but they came with a hand printed picture taped on the front and various hand made inserts so logic would say not many). The music is very reminiscent of the Incredible String Band and is interspersed with little sketches (very 1960`s hippie) sounds great to my ears. Hard to value as copies have sold for all sorts of strange prices recently (£40 - £140).

The value is weird. When I found this LP, there were copies for sale on Discogs for $300+. Prices now range from about $20 to $265, but it seems you would need to spend $50 plus shipping to get a copy in good shape. An original pressing of the band's first record will cost you big time. 

Sandro Perri: Tiny Mirrors (2007)

 

This is Sandro's first solo LP, and I like it. It's a mellow outing, but cool. 

Pere Ubu: The Long Goodbye (2019)

Discogs says this, which I did not know when I bought the record: "Limited to 1,000 copies. First 100 copies contain signed postcard." My copy does not have a signed postcard. Allmusic says this:

"From beginning to end, The Long Goodbye is pure Pere Ubu: surprising, unexpectedly tender, and above all, thought-provoking. Even by their standards, this is a wild and challenging album -- coming full circle rarely sounds this exhilarating." [source]

Pere Ubu: 20 Years In A Montana Missile Silo (2017)

Can I just say awesome and leave it at that? Honestly, apart from a few tunes here and there, I generalyl love everything the band has done. 

Pere Ubu: Cloudland (1989)

This record contains a genuine and honest-to-god hit song! And, there was a Canadian pressing, which I have. From Allmusic:

In a press handout that accompanied the original release of Pere Ubu's Cloudland, David Thomas quipped "We'd never been asked to write a pop record before. I guess it never occurred to anyone." Given the sonic Dadaism of much of Pere Ubu's work, what's most startling is not that it took so long for someone to suggest they make a pop record but that they were able to comply so successfully. [source]

That's kind of hilarious. 

Pere Ubu: The Tenement Year (1988)

This release did get a Canadian pressing!

Wikipedia:

The Tenement Year is the sixth studio album by American rock band Pere Ubu, and their first album after reuniting following their 1982 break-up. 'Classic lineup' members Tony Maimoneand Allen Ravenstine, along with fellow Cleveland scenester Jim Jones and Henry Cow percussionist Chris Cutler found themselves playing with David Thomas for his 1987 album Blame the Messenger, and, discovering they sounded much like Pere Ubu, began incorporating a few Ubu numbers while touring for that album. Eventually, an official reunion was pursued, original drummer Scott Krauss was contacted, and thus the new lineup was completed and the old mantle assumed. The Tenement Year found the group veering in a loose, freewheeling, and decidedly more pop-oriented direction than in the past, though the pop leanings would become even more pronounced on subsequent albums.

What can I say? I love it. 

Pere Ubu: The Art of Walking (1980)

This LP received no domestic release in Canada either, so I have a US pressing from 1980. How Allmusic could have awarded this record only 3 stars is beyond me. From Wikipedia:

Mayo Thompson of The Red Krayola joined as guitarist for this album and slanted the proceedings further towards deconstruction and abstraction, and away from the primal rock that former guitarist Tom Herman had facilitated.

I like it.

Pere Ubu: New Picnic Time (1979)

The LP was not released in Canada in any format, and it wasn't released in the USA until 1999 (on CD). I think Dub Housing must have freaked the record company out, so there wasn't another domestic release in Canada until The Tenement Years in 1988. On the downside, there's Jehovah's Kingdom Comes, David's calling to the Jehovah's. What? At least it wasn't Scientology, but they are both phoney, like all religions. That track is fantastic, but the message is bullshit. 

All of the tracks are great. By the way, my copy is from The Netherlands.

Pere Ubu: Dub Housing (1978)

"Released in 1978 by Chrysalis Records, the album is now regarded as one of their best, described by Trouser Press as "simply one of the most important post-punk recordings."[source] 

Wikipedia:

To define their music, Pere Ubu coined the term avant-garage to reflect interest in both experimental avant-garde music (especially musique concrète) and raw, direct blues-influenced garage rock. Thomas has stated the term is "a joke invented to have something to give journalists when they yelp for a neat sound bite or pigeonhole".[10] Their music has been called art-punk and post-punk.[11][12] Their songs imagined 1950s and 1960s garage rock and surf music archetypes as seen in a distorting funhouse mirror, emphasising the music's angst, loneliness and lyrical paranoia. Sometimes sounding like a demented nursery rhyme sing-along, this already bizarre blend was overlaid with Ravenstine's ominous EML synthesizer effects and tape looped sounds of mundane conversation, ringing telephones or steam whistles. Their propulsive rhythmic pulse was similar to Krautrock, but Thomas's yelping, howling, desperate singing was and still is peculiar when compared to most other rock and roll singers.

I admit that I missed the origins of Pere Ubu. I am too young, and it took me a while to find them, but I am glad I did. They rank highly in my list of favourite acts. 

Pere Ubu: The Modern Dance (1978)

I find it difficult to find the words to describe how much I love this record. I guess you get it or you don't. To me, Pere Ubu might be the best American band ever. 

Pere Ubu: Datapanik In The Year Zero (1978)

I can not overstate just how awesome and groundbreaking this record is. It's phenomenal.

From Discogs:

An early anthology containing several tracks from the band's first four singles--except for "Untitled", an early version of "The Modern Dance" that was previously unreleased. (As for the songs not on this compilation, "The Modern Dance" and "Street Waves" were included on the "Modern Dance" album, while "Final Solution" and "My Dark Ages" wouldn't be reissued until 1980.) "Heart of Darkness" is edited for time.

The brief ascription fro Allmusic says this about Pere Ubu:

Influential art punk band whose experimental sound harnessed self-destructing melodies, scattershot rhythms, and industrial-strength dissonance.

Pennies From Heaven: The Original Motion Picture Sound Track (1981)

I have been working from home for eight weeks during this COVID-19 pandemic. I neglected this blog, which is OK because no one reads it anyway.

Curiously, the album jacket breaks the word soundtrack into two words. I have seen both, but I think that soundtrack is used more frequently. I have not seen this film. About this sound tracks, Allmusic says only this:

Original recordings from the '20s and '30s by Bing Crosby, Helen Kane, Fred Astaire, Rudy Vallée, and others formed the soundtrack to this Steve Martin/Bernadette Peters film. A collection of timeless show tunes, this album is sadly out of print.

It's fairly enjoyable. That's all I will say.

Payola$ [Payolas]: No Stranger to Danger (1982)

Eyes of a Stranger was a huge hit, at least in Canada. I still like that song. This is a very good record. You should check out the whole record, if you don't know it.

Mr. Partridge [Andy Partridge]: Take Away / The Lure of Salvage (1980)

Take Away / The Lure of Salvage is a solo LP by Andy Partridge from XTC. To be fair, the Wikipedia relates that Partridge did not consider this to be a solo effort, because it consists of dub remixes of XTC tracks. The record is described as minimal, dub, and experimental. Wikipedia adds this: "Virgin rejected his request to issue it under the XTC banner as it would have counted toward their record contract." The back of the record says this:

"This used to be some XTC records. It is now a collection of tracks that have been electronically processed/shattered and layered with other sounds or lyrical pieces. All initial sound by XTC."

 I really like this record.

Graham Parker And The Shot: Steady Nerves (1985)

This record is credited to Graham Parker and the Shot. I will have to mention that GP referred to this record as his worst record, saying that it was "bloody terrible." Maybe that's why I haven't listened to this in ages.

Graham Parker and the Rumour: High Times - The Best of Graham Parker and the Rumour (1979)

Again, Discogs breaks up Graham Parker releases into a bunch of useless categories. Please, get a uniform entry for Graham Parker and aggregate all of his work under that entry! Here we have Graham Parker and the Rumour, which is different from Graham Parker and the Shot, Graham Parker and the Fact, Graham Parker and the Latest Clowns, Graham Parker and the Small Clubs, Graham Parker and the Twang Three, and Graham Parker! All are listed under different headings!

Anyway, this collection was released in 1979 in Australia, Japan, and New Zealand, and in 1980 in Canada. Bizarrely, they have separate entries in Discogs. Parker is massively underrated. He should have been much bigger.

The Parachute Club: The Parachute Club (1983)

This is a record I probably should not own. It was either free or a very cheap find, and I am not even certain that I have ever listened to it.

Despite the fact that this was a very popular record in Canada, it was never released on CD. It was released here on cassette and vinyl. It also had vinyl releases in Greece, Italy, and Yugoslavia.

The video has some recognizable Toronto scenes.

Panda Bear: Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper (2015)

Panda Bear is really Noah Benjamin Lennox, who is also a member of Animal Collective. This is his fifth record.

The lyrical themes of the album center around personal growth, although Lennox wanted to discuss issues on a larger scale because he wanted to avoid "self-obsession or narcissism". The drum programming on Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper was influenced by 1990s hip-hop. Specifically, Lennox cited Dust Brothers, Q-Tip, A Tribe Called Quest, Pete Rock, DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, and J Dilla as influences.

The opening track, "Sequential Circuits", is a neo-psychedelia song that was described as "swirling" and "a[s] pure as a babbling brook". "Tropic of Cancer" contains a harp sample from the Nutcracker suite and its lyrics concern the death of Panda Bear's father. His vocal harmonies on the song were compared to those of The Beach Boys. [source]

The set is pressed on two 150g records. I like this record.

Pan American: Cloud Room, Glass Room (2013)

I have quite a few releases from Kranky, but most are on CD. These include Labradford, Windy and Carl, and others. It's a really great record label, and I think I would like anything they released. This record from Pan American is simply sublime.

Robert Palmer: Heavy Nova (1988)

Confession time: I am not sure that I have played this record more than once or twice, and certainly not in years. I'm not even sure that I have committed the songs to memory, beyond Simply Irresistible. This is perhaps odd, because this was Palmer's most successful record. I think, by 1988, I was listening to far different music.

Wikpedia notes: "The name Heavy Nova derives from Palmer's love of both heavy metal and bossa nova rhythms." I had no idea.

After this record, I disconnected from Palmer, and really only paid attention when I heard of his premature death in 2003. Apparently, there were five studio albums that followed Heavy Nova, along with some live releases, and some compilations. I had no idea, and I have never heard any of it. By the way, I do not own any Robert Palmer music on CD.

Robert Palmer: Riptide (1985)

I was a little surprised when Pete, my friend in residence, professed his positive opinion of this record. It just didn't seem to fit with the other music he liked. I could always count on hm to offer nearly never-ending suggestions of what to listen to next, but I was puzzled, but them I realized that he liked the new wave sound of Clues, which led him to Riptide. The records sound totally different, but at least it made sense.

This LP followed the huge Power Station record. Palmer was the lead vocalist, in case you were not aware. I liked this record instantly (my first copy was on cassette). I listened to this LP recently, and it reminded me of how much I like it. Even the Allmusic reviewer liked it, and awarded it 4.5 stars.

I was greatly pleased to see Palmer achieve some true fame. On the other hand, in later years, I was increasingly dismayed that many people only knew Palmer from the track Addicted to Love and Simply Irresistible, from the next LP. Worse, some dismissed him as a misogynist because of those two videos, and also the video for I Didn't Mean to Turn You On. Maybe he was, but the videos undermined the music, in my opinion. Imagine listening to Addicted to Love without associating it with that video.

Robert Palmer: Pride (1983)

I lost track of Palmer for a while after Clues, so this is a record I had to come back to, and for that reason, it never really said much to me. I guess I am just indifferent to this one, apart from You are in My System, which I think is a great track that sounds like it should have been on Clues. The album cover sucks, IMHO.

Robert Palmer: Maybe It’s Live (1981)

Maybe It’s Live contains six live tracks and some new studio tracks, the most popular of which is Some Guys Have all the Luck, a tune that Rod Stewart later covered, but not as well. I also own a promo copy of this record, packaged in a plain brown cardboard sleeve.

Robert Palmer: Clues (1980)

Clues has always struck me as the record in which Palmer shifted from blued-eyed soul to new wave. He even added synthesizers. There were two big hits on this LP: Looking for Clues and the Johnny and Mary. The real surprise for me is the cover of Gary Numan's I Dream of Wires, which features Numan himself on keyboards.

Sadly, the record is only thirty minutes in length. Despite that, I rank it in my top three Palmer records.

Robert Palmer: Secrets (1979)

Secrets was the first Robert Palmer record I ever owned. I picked it up because I liked the lead-off single, Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor Doctor), a tune he did not write. I discovered that there were far better tracks on the record. I sold my copy at a lawn sale one year ages ago (along with a number of Robert Palmer 12" singles), when I decided to divest myself of some records. Later, I found a mintish copy in a dollar bin somewhere and decided to bring it back into my collection.

My favourite track on this record is What's it Take?, a Palmer original. There's some great rhythm and percussion in that tune. I also love Jealous. I think there are better Palmer records, but this is not too bad.

Robert Palmer: Double Fun (1978)

Robert looks he is living every man's dream on the cover of this LP. He died young, at age 54. That was sad, but that's what heavy smoking does to a body.

I think there are three cover versions on this record. I have no idea what inspired Palmer to do a rendition of the Kinks' You Really Got Me. That's a total fail, in my books.

I like this record. 

Robert Palmer: Some People Can Do What They Like (1976)

I don't know if Robert had a reputation as a player, but one just gets the sense that he was. Following that great cover image for Pressure Drop, he appears here with Playboy's Playmate of the month for April 1976. They are playing strip poker. That's a win-win, if you ask me. It looked like he was having a good time all of the time, but smoking too much.

Palmer wrote only two of these songs, plus he co-wrote another with his old pal from Vinegar Joe.

Robert Palmer: Pressure Drop (1975)

The adolescent boy in me simply loved this record jack, both front and especially back. After this record, Palmer moved to Nassau. I wish I had done that.

Again, Palmer wrote just over half of these tunes. On balance this is a really smooth and soulful record.

Robert Palmer: Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley (1974)

"The career of blue-eyed soul singer Robert Palmer was a study in style versus substance. While the performer's earliest work won praise for its skillful assimilation of rock, R&B, and reggae sounds, his records typically sold poorly, and he achieved his greatest notoriety as an impeccably dressed lounge lizard. By the mid-'80s, however, Palmer became a star, although his popularity owed less to the strength of his material than to his infamous music videos: taking their cue from the singer's suave presence, Palmer's clips established him as a dapper, suit-and-tie lady's man who performed his songs backed by a band comprised of leggy models, much to the delight of viewers who made him one of MTV's biggest success stories. " [source]

And so begins Allmusic's biography of the late Robert Palmer. I will have to dissent, for I have always loved Palmer's music, even when it reached its misogynistic fever pitch in the Addicted to Love and Simply Irresistible videos. Wikipedia's introduction is far more charitable: "He was known for his distinctive, soulful voice, eclectic mix of musical styles on his albums, combining soul, jazz, rock, pop, reggae, blues, and sartorial acumen." [source] 

I first heard Palmer singing Bad Case of Loving (Doctor Doctor) -- one of a number of songs he recorded but didn't write -- on the radio in my dad's car, I think. But, that song was from a later record. He wrote just over half of the songs on Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley, and he did a fabulous job in arranging.

Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley begins with a excellent trio of tunes that all run seamlessly together and introduce a really funky and soulful album. I find it a shame that most people know him for Addicted to Love. I'm willing to bet, also, that most people are unfamiliar with his work with Vinegar Joe, with whom he made two records in 1971 and 1972.

I have a Canadian pressing of this record.

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark [OMD]: Architecture & Morality, the Singles (2021)

This was a difficult cover to photograph. It's like taking a photo of a mirror. sadly the cover material seems a bit weak, and it had bruised corners and some creases on the back when it arrived in the mail from the UK. This one, I think, was sold only from the band's shop. 

The cover spells out the band name name with the conjoined oe (œ) like, Manœuvres. I am not sure if this has opened before. I suppose I should really go have a look.

From superdeluxeedition.com

"To mark the records’s 40th anniversary, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark will release the three singles from 1981’s Architecture & Morality together on one album, along with associated tracks: unreleased demos, studio sessions and live performances."

Some notes from Discogs: 

Format:
Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Burgundy
Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Red
Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Purple

Issued in a tri-fold gatefold sleeve with inner sleeves matching the original release artwork. Disc 1 is burgundy. Disc 2 is red. Disc 3 is purple.
Limited edition of 2000 copies

The tracks are:

Souvenir
Motion & Heart (Amazon Version)
Sacred Heart
Souvenir (Demo)
Choir Song (Rough Mix)
Motion & Heart (Live at Drury Lane, 1981)
Joan Of Arc
The Romance Of The Telescope (Unfinished)
Joan Of Arc (Live at Drury Lane, 1981)
Joan Of Arc (Rough Mix)
New Song (Georgia Demo)
She’s Leaving (Demo)
Maid of Orleans (The Waltz Joan of Arc)
Navigation
Sealand (Demo)
Submarines
Maid of Orleans (Demo)
Joan Of Arc (Maid of Orleans) (Live at Drury Lane, 1981)

This sounds familiar, yet different: