Bad Manners Don’t Knock the Baldhead Live 1996

Don’t Knock the Baldhead Live is a live album by Bad Manners.

It was recorded at two concerts in Scandinavia in the summer of 1996 and was released in 1997. It has since been re-released under a different title – Feel Like Jumping! Greatest Hits Live!.

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The Specials BBC In Concert 15th December 1979

The Specials BBC In Concert 15th December 1979 is a live recording by The Specials.

It was recorded by the BBC at the Paris Theatre on 15 December 1979.

These songs appear to be the same as those that appeared on combined BBC 2 Tone In Concert album by The Selector and The Specials that Discogs says was recorded at the Palace Theatre on the 5th December 1979. They may be different but it seems unlikely to me.

While Live at the Moonlight Club was released six months before their debut album was released, this was recorded a month afterwards.

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The Beat Live at the US Festival 1982 1983

Live at the US Festival is a live album and DVD of The English Beat performing live at the US Festivals in 1982 and 1983. British fans know the group as The Beat,

CD Tracks 1-9 were recorded September 3, 1982
CD Tracks 10-17 were recorded May 28, 1983
DVD Tracks 1-12 were recorded September 3, 1982.
DVD Tracks 13-26 were recorded May 28, 1983.

Both festivals were held at the Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, California.

As someone who listens to music much more than I watch DVDs, I find it irritating that we lose nine tracks on the audio version that we can load into our mp3 players. That said, I think the editors did it sensibly by not duplicating the hits. The DVD has two versions of Mirror In The Bathroom within three songs.

The English Beat Live at the US Festival

While The Beat broke up in 1983, Ranking Roger joined with members of The Specials to create Special Beat and released a number of live albums.

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Bruce Springsteen Tower Theater Pennsylvania 1975

I’ve been slow to feature the recording of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band performing live in concert at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania on
December 31, 1975 released by http://live.brucespringsteen.net.

That’s because I’ve ticked off 1975 in my mind with the excellent Hammersmith Odeon recording and an album from the 1980 tour promoting The River was my highest priority. I must be getting complacent but there was little on there that screamed “You Must Have It” in my mind.

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Bruce Springsteen Nassau Coliseum Uniondale New York 1980

The latest archive live recording released by http://live.brucespringsteen.net is the concert performed at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on December 31, 1980.

At last we have an authorised live album from the tour promoting The River and after remastering in March 2015 by Adam Ayan, it sounds terrific.

After the Agora, Clevland concert from 1978 was released, this was next on my wanted list of live albums by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

I’ve always seen The River in the second tier of Springsteen albums. It’s very good but it doesn’t match the greatness of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Born To Run or The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. To be fair, in the history of rock music, few albums reach that pinnacle.

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The Specials Live at the Moonlight Club 1979

The Specials Live at the Moonlight Club is a live album by The Specials.

It was recorded in London in May 1979 and was originally released in 1992. The concert was recorded about six months before their debut album The Specials was released in November 1979 and shortly after their first single, Gangsters started to be played on UK radio. Strangely that song is missing from this album which is a shame.

2 Tone took the old ska rhythms that predate reggae and added a punk attitude. I wonder how much it was influenced by The Clash and their experiments with reggae including Police & Thieves (1977) and (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais (1978).

Like punk in late 1976 and 1977, this was another exciting development in music.

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The Blues Project Live At Town Hall 1967

The Blues Project Live At Town Hall is a live album by the Blues Project.

It was released in 1967.

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Blood Sweat & Tears Live And Improvised 1975

Live And Improvised is a live album by Blood Sweat & Tears. It was originally called In Concert in Europe and Japan.

It was recorded during their 1975 North American tour and pulls together the best versions from:

  • Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park, New York
  • The National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Canada
  • Monterey Jazz Festival in Monterey, California
  • City Hall Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts

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Traffic On The Road 1973

On the Road is a live album by Traffic.

It was recorded in April 1973 while Traffic were touring Germany to promote the Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory studio album.

By this stage Traffic were playing a jazzy style of progressive rock. I can understand that fans may not like seeing it described as progressive rock because it’s a long way from Welcome Back Your Friends To The Show That Never Ends but I think jazz fans would be more upset to see it described as jazz.

Traffic On The Road

Average Amazon Customer Rating – %%AVERAGERATING%% Stars

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Bruce Springsteen 1978/08/09 Cleveland Ohio

Finally we have one of Bruce Springteen’s fantastic 1978 live recordings receiving an official, authorised release.

1978/08/09 Cleveland Ohio is a live album by Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band performing at the Agora and which is sold through live.brucespringsteen.net.

This concert was originally broadcast on the radio and has been a very popular bootleg. It was also released unofficially through the loophole in the European Union copyright laws a few months ago – see Bruce Springsteen Agora Ballroom 1978.

Ignore everything else, this is the REAL DEAL!

Background To The Cleveland Release

Toby Scott found the seven Agora tape reels in a box that had been returned from the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame. A comparison to other recordings of this concert showed that this had the best sound and could even be the original master tapes. These have since been cleaned up and the sound quality is terrific.

It is available as a digital download in varying qualities and also as physical CDs

Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band Cleveland 1978

Overall Rating For Bruce Springsteen Live At The Agora, Cleveland on 08/09/1978 – 29/30

I believe that this is one of the finest live recordings ever made available legally.

If it has been released close to the time or recording, I believe that this would be generally recognised as one of the greatest live albums along with The Who Live At Leeds , The Rolling Stones Brussels Affair 1973 and other classics.

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