Radio-Friendly Pop

A lot of great music got played on the radio, and we don’t hold that against them.

Duran Duran – Rio

More Duran Duran

  • Here is a superb British EMI import pressing (one of only a handful of copies to hit the site in sixteen months) with two solid Double Plus (A++) sides
  • Forget the dubby domestic LPs with their boosted mids – this is the way the album is supposed to sound, and the difference is not a small one
  • This kind of record often shows up from overseas in beat-to-death shape – few survived, and that reality is compounded by the fact that even fewer record dealers know how to properly grade their records (hence our prices)
  • 4 1/2 stars: “The original Duran Duran’s high point, and just as likely the band’s as a whole, its fusion of style and substance ensures that even two decades after its release it remains as listenable and danceable as ever… From start to finish, a great album that has outlasted its era.”

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The Beach Boys – Little Deuce Coupe

More of The Beach Boys

  • This original Capitol Stereo pressing boasts excellent Double Plus (A++) grades from first note to last
  • Both of these sides are surprisingly rich and smooth, with excellent bass and the kind of breathy immediacy to the vocals that only vintage vinyl can offer
  • The sound is big, open, full-bodied and spacious, and the boys’ voices are as clear and sweet as you could ever wish for

What’s magical about The Beach Boys? Their voices of course, what else could it be? It’s not a trick question. They revolutionized the popular music of their day with their genius for harmony. Any good pressing must sound correct on their voices or it has no practical value whatsoever. A Beach Boys record with bad sound in the midrange — like most of them — is to us a worthless record.

When you drop the needle on a copy with gritty, spitty, harsh, shrill vocals, give up and move on. You have a bad pressing and no amount of cleaning or adjusting of the table can ever fix it.

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Brewer & Shipley / Down In L.A.

More Brewer and Shipley

  • Brewer & Shipley’s debut LP is back on the site for only the second time in years, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them throughout this vintage A&M pressing
  • Fairly quiet vinyl too – we can hardly believe that we found one that plays like a normal rock and pop record after finding one stitchy, ticky, groove-damaged pressing after another for the last ten years
  • Side one has the smooth sweet analog sound we were listening for – it’s rich and tubey, with clarity and freedom from smear that make it the best of both worlds, and side two is not far behind in all those areas
  • “Of all the many folkys to make a transition to electric folk-rock in the 1960s, Brewer & Shipley retained more of the wholesome qualities of early-60s folk revival harmonizing than almost anyone.”

Brewer and Shipley’s first and only release for A&M has long been a Desert Island Disc in my world. I consider it one of the top debuts of all time, although it’s doubtful many will agree with me about that since I have yet to meet anyone who has ever even heard of this album, let alone felt as passionate as I do about it.

To me this is a classic of Hippie Folk Rock, along the lines of The Grateful Dead circa American Beauty, surely a touchstone for the genre. It’s overflowing with carefully-crafted (B and S apparently were obsessive perfectionists in the studio) inspired material and beautifully harmonized voices backed by (mostly) acoustic guitars. The Beatles pulled it off masterfully on Help and Rubber Soul.

All three are built on the same folk pop sensibilities. Tarkio, album number three, is clearly the duo’s masterpiece, but this record comes next in my book, followed by Weeds, their second album and first for Kama Sutra. After Tarkio it’s all downhill.

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Paul McCartney & Wings – Venus and Mars

More Paul McCartney

  • This vintage British pressing is doing practically everything right, with incredible Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades from start to finish, just shy of our Shootout Winner – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • We shot out a number of other imports and this one had better midrange presence, bass, and dynamics than practically any other copy we played
  • These sides have real depth to the soundfield, full-bodied, present vocals, plenty of bottom end weight, and lovely analog warmth
  • “Venus and Mars is an interesting mix of musical styles, punctuated by Paul McCartney’s unerring sense of melody and hooky songs.” – Oldies.com
  • These are the stampers that always win our shootouts, and when you hear them you will know why – the sound is big, rich and clear like no other
  • We’ve discovered a number of titles in which one stamper always wins, and here are some others

This original UK Capitol pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records can barely BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings are known for — this sound. (more…)

America – Hat Trick

More of the Music of America

  • Hat Trick is back on the site for only the second time in twenty months, here with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from start to finish
  • Both sides here are wonderfully rich, full-bodied and spacious, with sweet and breathy vocals
  • Marks and problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • “Hat Trick, the trio’s third effort in as many years, is an admirable and ultimately successful attempt at fleshing out a sound that at one time consisted almost entirely of crisp acoustic guitar interplay, two-fingered elementary piano progressions and saccharin-sweet three-part harmonies… [it] should hopefully dispel America’s once notorious reputation as a ‘pubescent Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.'” – Cameron Crowe, L.A. Times
  • If you’re an America fan, this self-produced title from 1973 has much to recommend it

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Harry Nilsson – The Point!

More Harry Nilsson

  • An original pressing (only the second copy to ever hit the site) with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from start to finish
  • Side one was very close in sound to our Shootout Winner – the overall grades for this copy are only one half plus lower than our $450 WHS presing that sold
  • Both of these sides are relatively rich, yet still clear and highly resolving – the boosted midrange, the biggest problem with the copies we played, is under much better control here than it was on most of what we played
  • Analog gets this music to sound right, although the long out of print DCC CD that Steve Hoffman mastered is excellent if you can find one
  • 4 stars: “Especially at this stage of his career, Harry Nilsson was uniquely suited for writing and recording children’s music, given his sweet melodicism and love of whimsy. The tale is fantastical enough to be of interest to children (and the moral is strong enough to reassure them and their parents), but the songs and music are so strong that the album continues to be a source of wonder, even as those children become adults.”

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Hall and Oates – H2O

More Hall and Oates

  • A vintage copy of this Hall and Oates classic from 1982 with killer Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound from start to finish – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • It’s lively, open, present and natural – the soundfield is big and spacious and the bottom end is killer
  • Much more consistent than most of their releases, this one boasts three monster hits including “Maneater,” “Family Man” and my all time favorite by the band, “One on One”
  • 4 stars: “Private Eyes solidified Hall & Oates’ status as one of the most popular acts in America in the early 80s, and…… with 1982’s H2O, they capitalized on its success, delivering an album that turned out to bigger than its predecessor, as it climbed higher on the charts and launched three Top Ten singles…”

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Paul McCartney – Wings at the Speed of Sound

More Paul McCartney

More Beatles

  • Killer sound throughout this vintage Capitol pressing of Wings’ follow-up to Venus and Mars, with a Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side two
  • This copy has a “cinematic” quality – it’s just plain bigger, with more depth to the soundfield, and more energy than we remember from the last time we did the shootout
  • The big hits, “Let ‘Em In” and “Silly Love Songs,” as well as minor gems such as “Beware My Love,” are outstanding here, with good body and a smoother, more natural, but still extended top end
  • The right stampers are key on this title, and these are definitely the right ones
  • Problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs, but once you hear just how superb sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and pops and just be swept away by the music
  • “…At the Speed of Sound ostensibly invites the listener to spend a day with McCartney and Wings—a day in which the listener is gently harangued as well as entertained.” – Rolling Stone

The better copies such as this one had the qualities that really make the songs come to life and give you a taste of the old McCartney magic.

Import Vs. Domestic

We’ve played plenty of both and in our experience the best domestic pressings are clearly superior. This is not true for many of McCartney’s albums but it is definitely true for this Wings at the Speed of Sound and his first, McCartney.

The copies that were flatter, more transistory, more opaque, less present; the ones that had no real extension up high or down low, or little in the way of Tubey Magic — here we are basically describing the all-too-common typical pressing — simply did not make the cut and ended up in the trade pile. That’s not our sound and never has been.

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The Beach Boys – The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album

More of The Beach Boys

  • With two STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides or close to them, this early Capitol pressing could not be beat
  • This copy gets the midrange right, and since that is where The Beach Boys’ voices are, that puts it ahead of everything else we heard
  • What’s shocking to those of us who have played The Beach Boys records by the bucketful is how rich and open the best pressings of this album are
  • You will have an awfully hard time finding another Beach Boys album that sounds as good as this one, and you may just find that it simply can’t be done
  • 4 stars: “This mix of favorites and originals makes this a balanced holiday album that should please both Beach Boys admirers and those unfamiliar with the group
  • This is our pick for The Beach Boys’ best sounding album. Roughly 150 other listings for the best recording by an artist or group can be found here on the blog.

Having done this for so long, we understand and appreciate that rich, full, solid, Tubey Magical sound is key to the presentation of this primarily vocal music. We rate these qualities higher than others we might be listening for (e.g., bass definition, soundstage, depth, etc.). The music is not so much about the details in the recording, but rather in trying to recreate solid, palpable, and real Beach Boys singing live in your listening room. The best copies have an uncanny way of doing just that.

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The Association – Insight Out

More of The Association

  • An Insight Out like you’ve never heard, with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER from start to finish – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Side two was sonically very close to our Shootout Winner – you will be amazed at how big and rich the sound is
  • The Tubey Magical sound, the lively, tight playing by The Wrecking Crew, not to mention some killer chart topping 60s pop, make this the Association album to own
  • With this copy the Sound of the Sixties will fill your room like never before – wall to wall, floor to ceiling, with layers upon layers of analog depth
  • These original Gold Label stereo pressings are potentially the best sounding, with the ideal balance of richness and transparency
  • Potentially – again, the label is no guarantee of top quality sound, only proper cleaning and careful shootouts can do that
  • “The harmonies and choruses are among the most beautifully textured singing in a rock outfit this side of the Beach Boys.”
  • One of our favorite Sixties pop records

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