Jolly Jokers Ohrenbalsam: HARD RAIN, HARD RAIN, CD, 1997

Courtesy Semaphore GmbH/Magnum Music Productions

Jolly Jokers Ohrenbalsam: HARD RAIN, HARD RAIN, CD, 1997: Als die Band MAGNUM nach ihrem gefloppten "Rock Art" (1994) Album, Ende 1995 ihr letztes Tourkonzert in Wolverhampton gegeben hatt...

When the band Magnum played their last tour concert in Wolverhampton at the end of 1995 after their flopped Rock Art (1994) album...

Going Ghibli

Jadis jump in on Ghibli-mania. Courtesy xAi/Grok.

 I don't know too much about anime, let alone Studio Ghibli, but I do know a good trend when I see one, and I became intrigued by the latest AI flavour of the month of turning any given photo into the Japanese animation powerhouses distinct style. Several bands I know don't have freely licenced images I can use on Wikipedia as I have pointed out before, and now there's this legal loophole that is questionable, but allowed for now. ChatGPTs Open AI initially just had it for paid subscribers, but I can't afford that, so I went to xAi/Grok after they bought X, if that makes sense and they did a poor mans version for me of Jadis. I wonder if Martin Orford (far right in drawing above, late of IQ) would slate AI the way he did illegal downloading since there may be some parallels. Would make interesting discussion. Then ChatGPT got it to work for everybody and the floodgates opened. I had a go with Pallas and It Bites original lineup (later one with John Mitchell of Arena, Asia, and so much more), and now I will do Savoy and even Magnum spinoff Hard Rain. I did the cover of Magnum propers 1983 album The Eleventh Hour!, which a bootleg label stole for a 1985 Marillion concert released as Childhood Mysteries from their Misplaced Childhood tour, which I covered last year, so I Ghibli-ed it to make it a new scene not from Rodney Matthews himself. I could even do this with the kid from the other cover. I can go on all day. Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki however is no fan of AI.
    I've been using AI this past year. Initially, it was for the sister blog, so go over there for more. As for here, I'm not as good at drawing people. Doing a whole person isn't a strong point with me as I can with other species. Some of the Status Quo can't even draw "Pictures of Matchstick Men", but AI can let you create "Whatever You Want" (even Francis Rossi et al are getting the Gene Shallit treatment here). We'll see how long this one sticks around before the next craze comes along just like everything else.

Pallas in colour since this was done from black and white.

It Bites. Courtesy ChatGPT Open AI.

With apologies to Rodney Matthews and Magnum.

Doggy also joins in on the fun!

Magnum take back their sleeve once again.

Savoys Ghibli-savvy is now tunnel vision!

xAi Groks version of Savoy didn't work out as well.

    Turns out I can't use these on Wikipedia if they're derived from copyrighted works, so that's it for this new sensation. I would have to go see these bands in person and sneak in photos to get my own free images or wait for them to break up or have press photos old enough to qualify, even from within my lifetime, whichever comes first. I did draw Savoy and the 2010-24 lineup of Pallas, but that just won't work on Wikipedia as they're too incomplete, crude and amateurish to be on there, and much of my work has disappeared over the years anyway. There are ways I could get permission to licence photos, but it's too much red tape. I just want something I can use straight away. If I could have AI make an original photo of any of these people, that would be great, but it's just they're not as well known as when I could even get last minute ones of Trevor Horn or Elton John for Facebook memories or Bluesky. I wind up with people who don't even exist, even when I submit a source photo. This is why AI gets slated on a daily basis, even though it's only going to get bigger like sci-fi had predicted.

An Overdose Of Fingal Cocoa: Denny Laine

Denny Laine in December 2016 (moved from later post)

An Overdose Of Fingal Cocoa: Denny Laine

Denny Laine revised

I have separated the tracks for peoples convenience. If you like each side of the LPs as one track, click the tag for the other versions. Limited time only.

Anyone Can Fly
Wings on My Feet

Mirror of Anyone Can Fly
Mirror of Wings on My Feet

Natalie Cole

Natalie Cole at the Java Jazz Festival in 2014, one of her last performances.

 On a Facebook group I help run, we had a request for Natalie Coles 1985 album Dangerous, released on Stevie Nicks's solo label Modern Records. It was overlooked at the time, and both ladies were dealing with addiction at the time. While the label is still a legal entity for its founders own work, it's unclear if the album is owned by the label, Warner Music Group (who would later sign Cole at Elektra), or her estate. There are other albums that have yet to be reissued, even though they sold more copies and had hit singles in the charts like "Pink Cadillac" and "Miss You Like Crazy". While the albums predecessor I'm Ready was reissued before she passed, its successors Everlasting and Good to Be Back haven't since the original Elektra releases were acquired by Craft Recordings at indie powerhouse Concord, which took over other former Warner masters, which I mentioned in the post on Coles former Elektra stablemate Anita Baker. That label bought those two late '80s albums, which were from a brief return to Coles fathers old label Capitol through subsidiaries Manhattan and EMI USA respectively. It may have been because of the parent companies purchase of Chrysalis and Virgin that Elektra got those. They were included in the 5 CD budget boxed set collection Original Album Series with Unforgettable with Love, Take a Look and Stardust, which is now out of print. However, I did look on Amazon Music, and Craft have those two albums from 1987-89, while Dangerous is an anomaly they could look into. Natalie Cole is missed dearly by fans around the world.

Hefiorels eclectic music: Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

AI photo of Trevor Horn in recent memory.

Hefiorels eclectic music: Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

A&M Records

Sting in Alachua County on his first solo tour in October 1985

 After writing about Dark Horse Records, I went to Wikipedia and clicked on their original distributor A&M Records and found that the label would be relaunched. However, no sources such as Billboard, Rolling Stone, NME, Variety or the like were cited, making this a mere rumour, as Wikipedia can be unreliable if anyone can just put something up, making Fleet Street look like Utne Reader. A&M has been largely dormant in recent years, especially since the late '90s when PolyGram were sold to Universal. The former bought A&M, Island and Polar a decade earlier. In the US, A&M were clustered with Interscope and Geffen. The split between Universal Studios and Music Group in 2003 changed things further. Octone moved from J/BMG to A&M after the old BMG launched their JV with Sony in 2004 and Maroon 5 would eventually appear on Interscope. Sting has been carrying the torch of A&M since he was in the Police in the late '70s and only a few classical releases are on sister label Deutsche Grammophone (he'll be in Syracuse again in April 2026 with Billy Joel, which was postponed). Rick Wakeman had a solo deal with A&M coming out of the Strawbs, but it complicated what he could do in Yes at first, and A&M didn't always support his decisions, and he left the label and Yes in 1980, despite personal issues at the time.

Polydor UK did relaunch A&M on their end once and signed Duffy (on an equally brief reboot of Mercury [not counting Nashville like with MCA] across the pond). Jim Diamond released his first two solo albums on A&M, yet put out his fourth on Polydor, which could either have been to complete the old deal because an A&R left, or was an unrelated new one. His widow would have to answer that.

Supertramp would work their way up to become of the biggest successes for A&M. Roger Hodgson would stay on his own after leaving in 1983 for the first couple solo LPs before a long hiatus. The Carpenters safe as houses sound brought gold and platinum despite their Karens eating disorder. Amy Grant blazed a trail for the Lord being between A&M and Christian label Myrrh making her catalogue more available and becoming the cross-over queen. The Canadian branch had Bryan Adams, Gino Vannelli, Andy Kim, Susan Jacks, Terry Jacks, Bruce Cockburn, Véronique Béliveau, Jann Arden; Sharon, Lois & Bram; Fred Penner, and Raffi (even the Cancon kiddie scene counts). The boys tried to sign with A&M, but were turned down (their loss). Styx and Supertramp were the biggest international acts at the Toronto arm and overall in Canada since the Beatles and Elvis Presley, I would suppose.

I gave you the Cliffs Notes version of A&Ms history, yet we need something that confirms a new one is about to start. The label has a rich legacy and you'd never think it was technically indie in the old days.

Dedicated to the memory of Jerry Moss, who would have been proud to see the label return, despite the two legal rows he and his former colleague Herb Alpert have had with the two subsequent owners over its corporate culture (Alpert moved his lot to a new vanity label since then).