Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. Welcome to the number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe.
Berlin Horse After The Headrush (2018) First off, the question shouldn’t be what comes after the headrush, but rather what exactly is the headrush? And the answer? It’s simple, really: the headrush is what you get listening to this outstanding collection of songs from Brit Adam S. Leslie, working primarily on his own (save for drumming from Simon J. Turner). You’re not likely to know Mr. Leslie before now, but you will.
This mix of superlative psych-tinged, folk-peppered pop comes under the nom de plume Berlin Horse for reasons unknown but that most likely have to do with the aforementioned headrush. Speaking of a headrush, Mr. Leslie, back in the altogether heady days of Pure Pop Radio the radio station, put together a single, smashing hour-long program, manning the board and the microphone, and that was unfortunately it.
Adam S. Leslie (aka Berlin Horse)
Adam reenters our universe so many years later with this 12-song headrush of an album sporting so many highlights it’s hard to pick a favorite. Well, they’re all favorites, aren’t they? Well again, if they’re not right here and now, they soon will be.
Our favorites–our standout picks to click–are the very melodic Andy Partridge-meets-early-Pink Floyd “Lucidity Hazard of Celebrity,” brought to life with a variable, inventive arrangement–complete with a few brief sound effect side trips and spoken word bits–that swirls around the listener’s head. Introduced by a gaggle of giddy youngsters, it’s a marvel. “Have You Ever,” our second favorite, is a short, sweet uke flower blooming before your ears that brings to mind some of Donovan’s catchier confections.
And there is more, of course, from the Bo Diddley-meets-Buddy Holly organ-fueled stomper “Coming Up the Stairs” to the atmospherically sweet instrumental “Electric Bataleur,” spiced with backwards guitar and deft electric and acoustic guitar playing. (A bataleur, according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, is “a short-tailed African eagle.” And from that you can plan your next flight of fancy.
Released in the waning days of 2018, After the Headrush will likely and fairly quickly be followed by a sequel; Leslie is already hard at work on that eventuality. Meantime, snag a copy of this masterwork at the ever-popular Name Your Price dollar amount and, well, you’re welcome.
Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995, and the 24-hour Pure Pop Radio station, which ended this last August. Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today.
The April Family “Champagne” (2018) “Boys are mean and girls let you down,” Kylie Whitney testifies from her heart in the April Family’s catchy, foot-stomping new single “Champagne,” the trailer for the trio’s highly-anticipated upcoming album House of Cards.
Love, as it happens, can scale the higher highs but it sometimes brings us down to the lowest lows, at which point the bottle can come into play as at least a temporary salve. Champagne and other similar liquid refreshments may have their downsides, but they never broke this narrator’s heart.
Singing like the most committed of traditional country truth tellers, Whitney sings this old-fashioned, cautionary tale like it is, acknowledging that drink doesn’t do her “… any favours when it makes me speak the truth / But it sure don’t break my heart like you do.” So, a little liquid solace in the face of an aching heart.
This truth-telling session is set to a stomping beat, a celebration of uptempo country heartache, played with gusto by lead guitarist Casey Atkins and multi-instrumentalist and Pure Pop Radio favorite Michael Carpenter, who makes the track sing playing an upright bass, acoustic guitar, banjo, a snare drum, and percussion. As noted above, Kylie Whitney sings her Loretta Lynn heart out, turning out a standout lead vocal. All three Family members stomp and clap.
And we, the audience, applaud. Love’s a tough road to travel; records like this one make the trip easier. Now, bring on the album.
Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995, and the 24-hour Pure Pop Radio station, which ended this last August. Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today. Happy New Year!
Addison Love “Endless” b/w “Unsolicited Phone Calls” | (Big Stir Digital Single #10, 2018) The youthful Orange County, California singer-songwriter builds on his growing reputation as an ace popster (his album Thoughts on Lunch has made pop people sit up and take notice) with this energetic two-tune single that gives the word breathless a whole new meaning.
Imagine you’re a determined locomotive tootling downwind toward your destination and you can’t keep your pace level… That’s how you’ll feel listening to these two vigorous tunes, each boasting varied tempos and stuffed with imagination on fire.
Addison Love
“Endless,” an uptempo kind of twisted relationship song, and “Unsolicited Phone Calls,” a clever melodic narrative about dealing with those pesky folks who just know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you need enhanced health insurance and the mother of all wants, something else, blast into your listening room with passionate delivery.
You’ll dig the clever musical doodads delivered in both songs, such as the double-time (at least!) electric guitar rave-up and lead vocal gymnastics in “Endless” and the push-button dialing sounds in “Unsolicited Phone Calls” that play melody lines. And let’s not forget “Unsolicited Phone Calls”‘s snappy opening, a zippy intro that recalls the beginning to the Beatles’ “Get Back.”
This concluding 2018 entry in Big Stir Records’ series of digital singles is a catchy keeper. You’ll love Addison Love’s latest.
Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995, and the 24-hour Pure Pop Radio station, which ended this last August. Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today. Happy New Year!
Astral Drive | Love is Real (Lojinx, 2019) Aimed squarely at the melodic pop cosmos and with all rockets super-charged, Phil Thornalley’s 2018 hit Todd Rundgren homage Astral Drive lands in the early days of 2019 with an enticing, exciting three-track digital single.
Built around super mix engineer Dave Bascombe’s radio remix of “Love is Real,” the original version of which appeared on last year’s Astral Drive album and is now adorned with background harmony vocals from the legendary Kasim Sulton, the single is adorned with two must-hear bonus tracks.
“Wishing I Could Change the World” first appeared on Astral Drive as the album closer; this is a newly-recorded acoustic version with a new lead vocal and new piano track (the charming, toe-tapping seventies rhythm box remains, of course). Thornalley’s vocal is as good as emotionally-charged gets.
The shining light of this three-track pearl is Thornalley’s spacey, a cappella-with-a-hint-of-synth version of Rundgren’s dreamy “A Dream Goes On Forever,” which first appeared on 1974’s double Todd set. Thornalley’s arrangement puts the spotlight on the beauty of Rundgren’s melody; Thornalley’s harmonies are masterful, three-dimensional, and pure.
Astral Drive’s captain ushers in the new year…
Kicking off the new year with a new release from Astral Drive surely sets the stage for a great year of melodic pop ahead. “Love is real,” and so, as before, is Astral Drive.
Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995, and the 24-hour Pure Pop Radio station, which ended this last August. Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today. Happy New Year!
We continue with our Holly Jolly Christmas Party here on day four, reviewing the latest and greatest holiday releases that are perfect for gift giving. You’ve still got some wrapping paper on hand, right?
Before we get to today’s gift suggestions, let’s give our last two-pack of holiday presents to one lucky person. Today, Curry Cuts’ White Lace and Promises: The Songs of Paul Williams and Now Sounds’ deluxe expanded edition of the Mamas and the Papas’ People Like Us are up for grabs. Enter below.
This is our last post of 2018. As we gather with friends and family to enjoy the holiday season, and prepare our annual Favorite Records of the Year feature (coming in early January), we wish you all the best and thank you for your support. We couldn’t do this without you. Have a Merry Happy and a Gear New Year!
Well then, let’s get to talking about the tunes…
Brad Marino | Almost Here (2018) The Connection’s Marino, singing all of the vocals and playing all of the instruments, turns in a trio of Christmas musings set to a holiday beat. The title song is an uptempo number about keeping holiday commotion to a bare minimum (“This Christmas is for you and me”). “Merry Christmas, Happy New Year” is another uptempo track celebrating the season (“A time for us to come together/A time for us all to remember/Merry Christmas and Happy New Year”). An uptempo, Rockpile-styled cover of the holiday chestnut “Blue Christmas,” usually delivered in a bluesy frame of mind, caps off a fun EP, perfect for this time of year.
Michael Simmons | “Christmas All Over Again” (2018) Capping off a really good year in which he released his bravura solo album, First Days of Summer, sparkle*jets u.k.’s Simmons whipped up this bit of holiday joy. Covering Tom Petty’s beloved Christmas tune with good cheer and including Simmons’ best Petty impersonation, sweet background vocals, a nifty electric guitar solo, and bits and bobs of a couple of Christmas classics before the first verse (spot the homages!) is certainly an honest day’s work that we, the listeners, benefit from. Well done, sir.
Bob Burger | Christmas Can’t Wait (2016) This sterling five-track holiday EP shows Zeek Weekling as his actual self, Bob Burger, the long-time New Jersey music man whose solo albums are highly recommended.
Burger helps you celebrate Christmas with, among other top tracks, the upbeat “Gonna Be Christmas,” offering up an enticing melody and attractive harmonies; the humorous, vaguely countryish story song “Santa’s Gonna Crash (Right Through the Ceiling),” which wonders why the big guy can’t just use the front door instead of weighing down the roof, and a knockout version of “Ave Maria,” which features an impassioned lead vocal.
Burger even helps you usher in the new year with the rock shuffle “Happy New Year to Ya.” Whether with the Weeklings or solo, Bob Burger is one of music’s sturdiest artists. Gift this EP to everyone you know, is my suggestion.
Here’s a live version of “Gonna Be Christmas,” with Bob and Jimmy Leahey:
The Butties | “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (from 12 Greatest Carols) (2005) If the Beatles recorded “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” in their early style and modeled it after their version of “Twist and Shout,” you’d have this classic side, just one of a dozen such clever holiday workouts contained on the album 12 Greatest Carols. The Butties also wrap bits of “Let It Be” around “Let It Snow,” and rework “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” with the spirit of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Plus many more smile-inducing tracks, perfect for Beatle fans on your gift list. The Butties are really fab!
Pop Co-Op | “Wrap Yourself in Christmas Eve” (from Happy Holidays from the Co-Op Communique) (2018) On this holiday-themed release, a free download, the Co-Op Communique matches the 12 days of Christmas with a dozen holiday tracks that celebrate the season from artists as diverse as John T. McMullan, the Bradburys, Dw. Dunphy, and Pure Pop Radio favorite Super 8.
Pop Co-Op’s quartet of popsters–the Spongetones’ Steve Stoeckel, Mr. Encrypto’s Bruce Gordon, Stacy Carson, and Joel Tinnel–lead the pack with my favorite offering, written by Stoeckel, “Wrap Yourself in Christmas Eve.” This is a clever acoustic number about availing oneself of the warmth of the night before the big day. The deft acoustic guitar figures are truly special.
Enter below to win a pair of melodic presents for the holiday season from Pure Pop Radio (Curry Cuts’ White Lace and Promises: The Songs of Paul Williams and Now Sounds’ deluxe expanded edition of the Mamas and the Papas’ People Like Us). Be sure to fill in all fields (type “Curry Now” in the Comment field), and send the completed form to us by tomorrow, Saturday, December 22, at 10 am ET. US residents only. Good luck.
Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995 and ended this past August. Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today. Happy holidays!
Day three of our Holly Jolly Christmas Party is here to help you with suggestions for holiday tunes you can give as gifts to your family and friends…and maybe even to yourself!
This is also day three of our bountiful Christmas presents giveaway. Today, we’ve got the Monkees’ new Christmas Party and the Grip Weeds’ Under the Influence of Christmas up for grabs. Enter below.
Our 2018 Festive Holiday Gift-Giving Guide has the day off tomorrow, due to a change in schedule here at Pure Pop Radio headquarters. We’ll be back on Friday to continue suggesting some of the great Christmas releases out there, all perfect for gift giving.
And now, here’s a lovely Christmas collection from the hardest working man on today’s music scene…
Fernando Perdomo | Present (2018) Multi-instrumentalist and supreme multitasker Fernando Perdomo (his new album, a smash, is Zebra Crossing) has put together a lovely, quite entertaining Christmas release called Present. It may not be wrapped in festive paper and topped with a bright red bow, but it’s a gift that will keep on giving and putting a holiday kind of smile on your face.
Perdomo’s facility with melody-rich holiday ballads (“It’s Christmas All Over the World,” “Darling It’s Christmas,” “The Meaning of Christmas,” and especially “December .. The Month of Love”) is just one of the most prominent calling cards presented here, but that’s not all you’ll find: “The Funky Little Drummer Boy” features Eddie Zyne on hard-hitting drums; there’s a slow, dreamy surf version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”; a sleepy take on “Silent Night,” with just electric guitars in the mix, really satisfies, and a punky, in your face version of “Deck the Halls” helps to make your season bright.
Thrift Store Halo | “I Still Love Christmas” (2018) Written by band members Frank Gradishar and Lance Tawzer, this perky, melody-rich celebration of the holiday finds Chicago’s Thrift Store Halo in a fun, spirit-of-the-season-esque mood and espousing a welcome sense of humor.
Everything is on the table at Christmas–greeting cards, holly wreaths, kid-made ornaments, snowmen, egg nog shakes, and “presents wrapped in gold and plaid (like granddad’s pants).” “It’s the one time each year the whole world is filled with joy and cheer,” Frank sings.
The Weeklings | “Christmas Time is Here Again” and “Revolution Wonderland” (2017) New Jersey’s Fab Four–Lefty, Zeke, Rocky and Smokestack–convened in the waning months of 2017 to record a pair of holiday classics chock full of the usual Weeklings Easter eggs and brimming with a whole lot of fun.
In case you missed them the first time around, the Beatles’ “Christmas Time is Here Again” got Weeklingsized by incorporating elements from the Fabs’ “Flying,” “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill,” and “Baby, You’re a Rich Man.” And of “Revolution Wonderland”? Well, in this seasonal mashup, “Revolution” meets “Winter Wonderland” meets “Jingle Bell Rock” meets the coolest shoo-be-doo-wah vibe you’ll encounter this or any other year.
Follow Santa on his sleigh, with all of his reindeer and his custom North Pole GPS to add these full-of-good-cheer tunes to your Christmas gifting lists.
Where to Get It: “Christmas Time is Here Again”: Amazon, iTunes “Revolution Wonderland”: Amazon, iTunes
Big Stir Double-A-Side Christmas Single (2018): Kai Danzberg | “If Santa” Blake Jones and the Trike Shop | “String Lights and Hold On” The eighth in the continuing series of digital singles being released by Big Stir Records strikes a decidedly festive Christmasy chord (or two or more!) with holiday tunes from Kai Danzberg and Blake Jones and the Trike Shop.
Danzberg and Jones travel different-sounding paths on their way to stirring up their pots of Christmas magic. Danzberg’s “If Santa” is an upbeat, joyous Phil Spectory exercise with Paul McCartney bass lines, horns and, of course, bells. Jones presents his Christmas tune as art-rock-meets-quirky for a wholly different holiday experience. Both are more-than-worthy, Christmasy choices for gift-giving this holiday season.
Lannie Flowers “Christmas Without You” (2018) While his fans wait patiently for his new album Home to land, Lannie Flowers has been releasing new songs each month, independent of that release. “Christmas Without You,” newly remixed and remastered from its 2011 appearance, is the 10th in the series. It’s a typically catchy, jangly, melodic slice of melodic pop about wanting and needing the people we love to be with us at Christmas. “Christmas Without You” is a free download at the Spyderpop Records website.
Enter below to win a pair of melodic presents for the holiday season from Pure Pop Radio (the Monkees’ Christmas Party and the Grip Weeds’ Under the Influence of Christmas). Be sure to fill in all fields (type “Monkees Grip” in the Comment field), and send the completed form to us by tomorrow, Thursday, December 20, at noon ET. US residents only. Good luck!
Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995 and ended this past August. Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today. Happy holidays!
It’s that time of year again, when bells ring and chime and catchy, melodic Christmas songs form the soundtrack of our lives.
We’ve got more classic Christmas songs to tell you about today as part of our Holly Jolly Christmas Party; don’t forget to follow us all week long for more melodic wonders. And be sure to fill out the form below to win another pair of Christmas presents from Pure Pop Radio; today, we’re giving away Curry Cuts’ brand-new tribute CD, White Lace and Promises: The Songs of Paul Williams, and Vegas With Randolph’s Legs & Luggage.
Let’s get started, with a truly special Christmas album from Ronnie D’Addario…
Ronnie D’Addario | A Good Old Fashioned Brand New Christmas (You are the Cosmos, 2018) Just out on You are the Cosmos is Ronnie D’Addario’s superb collection of songs celebrating the season and, not surprisingly, the art of singing rich, glorious harmonies atop catchy melodies.
D’Addario is well known in the pop community for his deep catalog of catchy melodic pop songs, collected in two must-have three-CD box sets by You are the Cosmos. This Christmas album, composed of D’Addario originals, covers and traditional numbers, is an important, joyous addition to his astounding and sturdy body of work.
“Keep His Name in Christmas” is a lovely, original mid-tempo ballad, introduced with a 24-second, rich a cappella, Beach Boys-like open that will leave you absolutely breathless. Another D’Addario original, “Brand New Christmas,” is a hit-worthy, upbeat pop-rocker buoyed by incredible harmony vocals and Brian D’Addario’s lead guitar (Brian and his brother Michael perform as the Lemon Twigs). And, speaking of the Lemon Twigs, both are the stars of yet another D’Addario original, “One Day” (a young Brian sings, supported by Michael and dad on harmonies).
“Caroling, Caroling,” written in 1954 by Wilha Hutson and Alfred Burt and conceived of as music to go with a Christmas card, was famously recorded by Nat King Cole; here, D’Addario delivers the melody with a rich harmony vocal. It’s a wonderful, truly affecting and special performance.
These are just a few of the highlights of this great Christmas album. A Good Old Fashioned Brand New Christmas deserves to be played year after year and exist in the same company as other melodic pop classic holiday collections such as Yuletunes,Cool Yule, and the Beach Boys’ Christmas Album. Don’t miss this one.
Herb Eimerman | “Don’t Ask for More” (2018) Pure Pop Radio played the music of melodic pop great Herb Eimerman pretty much since the beginning of our old weekly show. Herb’s latest release is a distinctly Byrdsian upbeat number with a timely message for the holidays: love is the answer (“I know what we need this year/Give your heart and share your cheer”). Playing most of the instruments and supported by Mark “Sid” Eaton on drums and Joe Algeri on the 12-string Rickenbacker, keyboards and tambourine, Herb has come up with another winner. More, please.
Super 8 | It’ll Soon Be Christmas (2018) Paul Ryan made three albums in 2018 and still had time to bang out a superb Christmas song that’s a bit chill but not chilly. “It’ll Soon Be Christmas” is rather warm and makes the most of its central message: make the best of a bad year, feel the goodwill, pass it on to others, and come out stronger for the effort. With Futureman Records head honcho Keith Klingensmith (also a member of the Legal Matters) helping out with background vocals, this has the makings of a perennial Christmas favorite.
Mr! Mouray | “Christmas Belles – Christmas Bells” (2018) Written by Bullseye Records’ Jaimie Vernon, this vibrant, upbeat tune sounds like so many of the classic Christmas records of the 1960s–catchy and uplifting and full of the joyous sound of bells. The chorus says it all: “Christmas Belles have told the stories/Of joy and reverie/And Christmas Belles/Bring peace and harmony.” A little more echo and this would sound like a Phil Spector production, a good thing for sure. Good job, Mouray.
Bill Lloyd | The Day After Christmas (2012) Any addition to your Bill Lloyd collection is a treat at any time of the year. Since it’s Christmas time (ain’t been ’round since you know when), it’s as good a time as any to focus on this sterling four-track EP from 2012. Each song shows off Bill’s very many skills that come together–words drawing breath as poetry, notes next to notes forming lyrical melody lines.
The acoustic title song, in which traditional motifs meet those of the folk variety, posits “The Day After Christmas” as a day of rebirth–a day to start all over again with a glimmer of hope. The electric, mid-tempo rocker “Under the Christmas Tree” contains a real lyrical pearl: “Holidays can simply floor you/Can’t you tell how I adore you.”
Another electric, mid-tempo number, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” is as satisfying a side as they come (extra points for name-checking A Partridge Family Christmas Card as “the Partridge Family Yuletide Album,” which might be a better, more satisfying moniker. And the short, blissful, acoustic “Out of Season” looks at a beach town closing for the summer season and being reborn when the Christmas season arrives.
Bill has been on a rather extraordinary run of career high albums of late; his latest, Working the Long Game, is maybe his best long player ever. But since this is the season, and the spirit is bright, you’ll want to play this one during Christmas’s dozen days…and beyond.
Enter below to win a pair of melodic presents for the holiday season from Pure Pop Radio (Curry Cuts’ brand-new tribute CD, White Lace and Promises: The Songs of Paul Williams, and Vegas With Randolph’s Legs & Luggage). Be sure to fill in all fields (type “Paul Randolph” in the Comment field), and send the completed form to us by tomorrow, Wednesday, December 19, at noon ET. US residents only. Good luck!
Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995 and ended this past August. Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today. Happy holidays!
By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio
“Endless” b/w “Unsolicited Phone Calls” | (Big Stir Digital Single #10, 2018)
Astral Drive | Love is Real (Lojinx, 2019)
Where to Get It: 
