Search results: Got It Records

Review: This Record Store Day 2023 exclusive Carole King album, The Legendary Demos, pulls together 13 demo recordings of hers from between 1962 and 1971 on nice milky clear vinyl. It was first put out over a decade ago in 2012 and remains a cult favourite amongst fans who appreciate the realness and the rawness of the recordings as well as hearing the slightly different takes on a number of well known songs of hers. The pop rock queen includes the likes of 'Crying in the Rain' from early 1962 right up to several 1971 tunes from her hit album that year, Tapestry. A must have for fans old and new.

Review: Second time around for Saint Etienne's 2012 album "Words and Music by Saint Etienne", a typically breezy, summery and ear-pleasing affair in which Bob Stanley, Pete Wiggs and Sarah Cracknell delivered a suitably glossy, up-beat take on synth-pop that arguably owes more to the Pet Shop Boys and their own early works than some of their more celebrated albums. Highlights are plentiful, from sunny opener "I've Got Your Music" and the string-laden swell of "The Last Days of Disco", to the largely acapella "Record Doctor", baggy and Balearic "Twenty Five Years" and the attractively jangling "Haunted Jukebox". Pop perfection tailor made for sunny days and lazy afternoons: don't sleep!

Review: When disco started to fade in the late seventies and early '80s, subtle - and not-so subtle - mutations started emerging from New York studios. According to the compilers behind this essential collection, Spring Records and its Posse offshoot were at the forefront of this movement, a movement that effectively paved the way for NYC's later garage and house sounds. While this version of history can be debated, there's no doubting the quality of the boogie, electrofunk, freestyle, proto-house and early US garage cuts included on the collection. It includes a wealth of must-have cuts, with highlights including Fonda Rae's celebratory 'Live It Up', C-Brand's boogie killer 'Wired For Games' and Feel's electrofunk slayer 'Got To Have Your Lovin'.

Review: Back in 1961, before taking a break from live performance for eight years, Elvis Presley played one last gig - a benefit concert for the USS Arizona Memorial Fund at the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. It was a legendary gig, with Presley delivering an energetic, enthusiastic and memorable performance in front of a similarly over-excited audience. This CD presents the performance in full - complete with such classics as 'I Got a Woman', 'All Shook Up', 'Heartbreak Hotel', 'Hound Dog', 'That's All Right' and 'Heartbreak Hotel', as well as plenty of on-stage chat - alongside a previously long-buried recording of a press conference given by "the King" following his arrival in Hawaii. A genuine must-have for Elvis fans!

Review: To mark what would have been Desmond Dekker's 80th birthday, Trojan Records is serving up a variety of celebratory releases. The King of Ska takes us back to the formative years of the Jamaican superstar's career between 1963-67, when he was an aspiring young singer signed to producer Leslie Kong's Beverley's Records imprint. Loosely chronologically arranged, disc one begins with Dekker's celebrated debut single, 'Honour Your Mother & Father', and continues to chart his efforts in the first couple of years of his career - both alongside unnamed studio bands and with the backing of The Cherry Pies and The Four Aces. On CD2, we hear a more confident Dekker belting out the singles that would turn him into an international star, including rude boy anthem - and his first UK top 50 smash - '007'.