The Stompers

The Stompers are a Massachusetts-based rock band that formed in East Boston, Massachusetts in 1977. The group formed after lead vocalist/guitarist Sal Baglio and drummer Mark Cuccinello were joined by Stephen Gilligan on bass, and Dave Friedman on keyboards. On November 7, 1977, the band played their first gig in Beverly, Mass.

Self Titled

Side One

Rock, Jump and Holler
Coast to Coast
Never Tell an Angel (When You Heart’s On Fire)
Temptation
I Can’t Sleep at Night

Side Two

Leave It In Motion
Shutdown
First Kiss
Your Sweet Love
American Fun

The Impossible Dream

 The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in 1901 as one of the American League’s eight, the Red Sox’s home ballpark has been Fenway Park since 1912. The “Red Sox” name was chosen by the team owner, John I. Taylor, around 1908, following previous Boston teams that had been known as the “Red Stockings”.

 

As you may know from previous posts, I love the Sox. In my life time, they’ve overcome the curse of Babe Ruth and won two World Series. My favorite current player? Jacoby Ellsbury by far. We’re pretty much destined to be together too since he came up through the Lowell Spinners (another huge part of my childhood). Unfortunately, he and others are out due to injury this season so I didn’t get his picture during my last trip to Fenway. I did manage to catch a picture of Youuuuuuuuuuuuuk, who will be missed despite a not so amazing season this year, and Pedroia.  

 What does this have to do with the album collection?

I’ll get to that now. Red Sox fans know 1967 as the season of the “Impossible Dream.” The slogan refers to the hit song from the popular musical play “Man of La Mancha”. 1967 saw one of the great pennant races in baseball history with four teams in the AL pennant race until almost the last game. The BoSox had finished the 1966 season in ninth place, but they found new life with Yastrzemski as the team went to the 1967 World Series, only to lose the Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. Yastrzemski won the American League Triple Crown, hitting .326 with 44 home runs and 121 RBIs. 

And yes, there’s an album for it. 

The Impossible Dream Side One: The Impossible Dream 

The Impossible Dream
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Shoutin’ Liza Trombone 

Side Two: The Unsinkable Team
The Impossible Dream
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Shoutin’ Liza Trombone 

Pure Rock

Pure Rock

Various Artists

Side One

Foreigner – Head Games
Rod Stewart – Hot Legs
Journey – Any Way You Want It
Eddie Money – Baby Hold On
Heart – Straight On
The Doobie Brothers – Long Train Runnin’
Pat Benatar – Hit Me with Your Best Shot

Side Two

Styx – Grand Illusion
Jefferson Starship – Jane
Boston – Don’t Look back
The Steve Miller Band – Jungle Love
Ted Nugent – Cat Scratch Fever
ZZ Top – Tush
Foghat – Slow Ride

Do You Have Amnesia?

The Pousette-Dart Band was an American soft rock group active in the 1970s and early 1980s. Originally conceived in 1973 as a string band from Cambridge, Massachusetts, PDB comprised Jon Pousette-Dart, John Troy and John Curtis. With a shift to a more commercially-oriented sound and a steady succession of additional personnel, the group went on to record a series of albums for their label Capitol Records, two of which (Amnesia and Pousette-Dart Band 3) made the Billboard Top 200. Their single “For Love” reached #83 on the Billboard charts.

Amnesia

Side One

Country Line
Fall On Me
Amnesia
I Think I Know
May You Dance

Side Two

I Don’t Know Why
Winterness
Who’s That Knockin’
Listen to the spirit
Yaicha

A Memorial to One of Our Greatest Presidents

The fact he grew up down the street from my current apartment (okay, a few streets) has no affect on the title of this post. Sure, we can go with that.

 John Fitzgerald “Jack” Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. In his inaugural address he spoke of the need for all Americans to be active citizens, famously saying, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

 

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

A Memorial Album

Sweet Caroline

“Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I’ve been inclined
To believe they never would
Oh no no”

Neil Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present.

As of 2001, Diamond had sold over 115 million records worldwide including 48 million in the United States alone. He is considered to be the third most successful adult contemporary artist ever on the Billboard chart behind Barbra Streisand and Elton John. His songs have been covered internationally by many performers from various musical genres. He continues to record and release new material and maintains an extensive touring schedule as well.

In case you didn’t know, Boston’s Fenway Park has been playing ”Sweet Caroline” since at least 1997, and it has been played at every game in the middle of the eighth inning since 2002. So, yes I know every word and sing it proudly whenever I hear it. I love the Sox and the song generates happy memories.

I have two of Neil’s albums, both of which thankfully have the song:

Hot August Night

His 12 Greatest Hits

 

Freddy Cannon

Frederick Anthony Picariello Jr. (born December 4, 1939), known as Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singer, whose biggest international hits included “Tallahassee Lassie”, “Way Down Yonder In New Orleans”, and “Palisades Park”. Inspired musically by Chuck Berry and Little Richard, he formed his own group, Freddy Karmon & the Hurricanes, which became increasingly popular in the Boston area, and began to develop a trademark strained singing style. Dick Clark soon brought him national exposure through his numerous appearances on his television program, American Bandstand – a record of 110 appearances in total.

Greatest Hits

Side One

Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
Buzz Buzz A-Diddle-It
Jump Over
Pallisades Park
Muskrat Ramble
Action

Side Two

Tallahassee Lassie
Okefenoke
Transister Sister
Beachwood City
Happy Shades of Blue
Abigail Beecher

A Special Little Update

Once upon a time, Daria and Dawson had a batch of kittens – Nub, Stub, Sad Face and Hipster. Nub and Stub were the boys and had little itty bitty nubs for tails (still do, I ask their adoptive father all the time). Sad Face and Hipster were the two girls. Sad face was named for her constant look of “I’m going to cry at any second” and Hipster because of her awesome blond patch that can be seen in the hipster holy ground of Allston.

 

  I figured a burst of kitten happiness would be just the way to say thanks to all of you have that have been reading along! I’ve received so many likes and follows recently it’s hard to keep up!!! I appreciate all of you following the journey as I go through this process. I really hope you’ve enjoyed the updates and everything else.

This weekend I’ve managed to get so many albums entered, relax and enjoy some sunshine. I actually got a bit ahead of myself with the images and Excel sheet so I’m excited for everyone to see what I’ve been up to! I’ll try to contain myself a bit so it’s a consistant amount of posts each day for all of you to go through.  Thanks again for reading and I hope everyone of you had a great weekend!

Happy Summer!!

It’s 10:00AM in Boston and it’s already absolutely beautiful out! This plus the fact I GET A TWO DAY WEEKEND because I have Monday off has inspired me to compile a little playlist from the albums already entered for guys to kick off summer with. I hope everyone has a great weekend and be sure to get outside at some point!

Abba – Summer Night City

Andy Williams – A Summer Place

Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes

B-52′s – Summer of Love

Bay City Rollers – Summer Love Sensation

Beach Boys – All Summer Long

Bryan Adams – Summer of ’69

Carmen Cavallaro – Summer Love

Chic – A Warm Summer Night

Eddie Cochran – Summertime Blues

Frank Sinatra – Summer Wind

Glenn Yarbrough – Summer Sunshine

Jan & Dean – Summer Rain

Janis Joplin – Summertime…

Joan Baez – Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer

Straight Out of Boston – Joan Baez

Joan Chandos Baez (born January 9, 1941 as Joan Chandos Báez) is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice. Baez has a distinctive vocal style, with a strong vibrato. Her recordings include many topical songs and material dealing with social issues.

Baez began her career performing in coffeehouses in Boston and Cambridge, and rose to fame as an unbilled performer at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival. She began her recording career in 1960, and achieved immediate success. Baez has performed publicly for over 53 years, releasing over 30 albums. Fluent in Spanish as well as in English, she has also recorded songs in at least six other languages. She is regarded as a folk singer, although her music has diversified since the 1960s, encompassing everything from folk rock and pop to country and gospel music. Although a songwriter herself, Baez is generally regarded as an interpreter of other people’s work, having recorded songs by The Allman Brothers Band, The Beatles, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Violeta Parra, Woody Guthrie, The Rolling Stones, Pete Seeger, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Leonard Cohen, and many others.

Diamonds & Rust

Side One

Diamonds & Rust
Fountain of Sorrow
Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer
Children and All That Jazz
Simple Twist of Fate

Side Two

Blue Sky
Hello in There
Jesse
Winds of the Old Days
Dida
Medley (I Dream of Jeannie and Danny Boy)