Pretenders: Pretenders (1979)

We was a duet duet duet duet do it on the pavement
Oh maybe maybe I'm gonna have a baby
We was a duet oh we do it all night

- Precious, The Pretenders

The Pretenders are a pop/punk band crossed with new wave, with an infusion of -- dare I say it? -- the erotic. Perhaps that is my adolescent brain speaking here, but every time I heard Chrissie Hynde sing "But not me baby I'm too precious I had to fuck off," it really did something for me. And then there's this:

"I was a good time, yeah, I got pretty good
At changing tires upstairs bro
I shot my mouth off and you showed me what that hole was for" (Tattooed Love Boy)

If you don't know what "changing tires" means, just remember that tires are made of rubber. That might seem tame by today's standards, but back in '80, this was powerful stuff. I think I sprinted to the record store to pick up this record. This album also has two huge hits: Stop Your Sobbing (written by Ray Davies) and Brass in Pocket.

The debut record is a new wave, pop, punkish masterpiece, and definitely one of my favourite records of all time. I do like what Allmusic said about this record:

"It's a deep, rewarding record, whose primary virtue is its sheer energy. Pretenders moves faster and harder than most rock records, delivering an endless series of melodies, hooks, and infectious rhythms in its 12 songs. Few albums, let alone debuts, are ever this astonishingly addictive." [source]

And so began my adolescent crush of Chrissie Hynde, which persisted along side of my crushes on Joan Jett and Pat Benatar.

Elvis Presley: Love Letters from Elvis (1971)

Love Letters is the man's 14th record. From Wikipedia: "The album was critically panned upon release, and failed to crack the top 20 of the Billboard album charts but did reach No, 12 on the US Top Country Albums chart and No. 7 on the UK best-selling albums chart."

Evidently, the tracks were leftovers from a previous recording session. I am not even sure if I have ever listened to this. 

Elvis Presley: On Stage (1970)

I have an original Canadian pressing from 1970. From Wikipedia:

It was recorded between February 17 and 19, 1970 and August 22 and 25, 1969 at the International Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada. The album reached number 13 on both the Billboard 200 and country music charts. It was certified Gold on February 23, 1971, and Platinum on July 15, 1999, by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Country music charts! What? And, also: "Unlike the previous release, however, this album focused on songs that were not, at the time, associated with Elvis."

I m not sure that I have ever listened to this record. I am not even sure where I got it. How is this country music? 

Elvis Presley: Elvis' Gold Records, Vol. 2 (50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong) (1959)

Although originally released in 1959, I have a copy from 1978 that is still in shrink wrap. It's in excellent condition. I am not a huge Presley fan. My brother was a fan, though (but really only once Elvis died), and so we had lots of Elvis records, but then he gave them away or lost them or they were stolen. Who can say? Obviously, this record is a compilation.

About that title, Wikipedia says:

There has long been some confusion over the actual title of this album. The title is shown on the original record's labels as "Elvis' Gold Records, Vol. 2," with a comma and an abbreviation of "Volume", but on the jacket, it appears as "Elvis' Gold Records – Volume 2". The phrase "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong" does not appear on the labels on any of the original records, and it is the title of the records on the labels—not the jacket—that is usually given preference when conflicting titles appear on albums. Therefore, the phrase was not part of the original title of the album. Beginning no later than 1962, RCA Victor added "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong" to the labels of a few mono records and to the then newly released "electronically reprocessed stereo" records. The boasting on the label appears nearly exclusive to records manufactured at RCA Victor's Hollywood pressing plant; copies pressed at the other plants tended to use the proper title only. The '50,000,000' phrase remained there for several years, but by 1968, it was removed from the new orange RCA labels and was not found on any record labels for years afterward, but then it was added (again), this time to the compact disc releases of this album, where it has remained

There is not much else to say, really.