The Nazz

I was surprised that Todd wasn't already in the the Hall. He's produced groundbreaking albums. He's produced hit albums. I think he's even produced some groundbreaking hit albums. Something/Anything is cited as a masterpiece, and while there's a good LP's worth of tunes there, I don't really get the slow piano/Laura Nyro style pieces.

If I'm going to listen to him, I'm most likely to put on his first band, the Nazz. Although pushed as a teeny bopper band, they played a heavy, psychedelic power pop.

Their debut single - "Open My Eyes" - was arguably their best. It has it all and should have been a big hit. Maybe Todd agrees, he reworked the vocal line into "Who's That Man". It is certainly their best known, having appeared on the original Nuggets compilation. The promotional video used to get some play as a "closet classic" back when MTV used to play music videos.

The flip side was "Hello, It's Me", slower and more sparse in its original state than the version from Something/Anything.

The released three proper albums, one of those posthumously....and from that we've got well over an LP's worth of tunes worthy of repeated listening.

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Yes, There's Gas in the Car

In 1970 the police raided the house of Owsley Stanley - famed financial backer of Blue Cheer, architect of the dread "Wall of Sound" and LSD producer of renown. It was the third bust of note. The first, in December of 1967 found him with millions of dollars of acid. He was released on bail. Three years later, in Jnnuary, 1970, he was arrested along with the Grateful Dead in New Orleans - as related in " Truckin ". This last arrest resulted in the revocation of his bail and he spent the next two years in prison. On his release, Stanley returns to the Dead - a band that he initially bankrolled - to run sound for them again, but all is not the same. He's no longer the player he was. The road crew has emerged as a power center. He builds the Wall of Sound but the band goes on hiatus in 1974. The Wall is dismantled and Owsley never works with them again. The whole arc of his time with the Dead inspired Steely Dan's " Kid Charlemagne " - working in his...

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NRBQ

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Богатирські ворота (The Great Gate of Kyiv)

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SMiLE

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Eagles: Laid Back Rockers...or Bogus Dudes?

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Birthday Greetings, Bottle of Wine

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She Was a Winner

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