Gems From the Record Room:  Ambrosia - Ambrosia (1975)


Ambrosia

So Many People in the Same Device:  Despite their string of hit singles in the late seventies and early eighties, Ambrosia was at heart, a progressive band. This, their first album was clearly progressive, albeit with beautiful vocal harmonies (they worshipped CSN&Y), and superb production by Freddie Piro with engineering by Alan Parsons. All of the members of Ambrosia were tapped by Parsons to play on his first Alan Parsons Project album, Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Edgar Allen Poe.

When first released, Ambrosia got immediate attention at radio, especially college radio, because "Nice, Nice, Very Nice" had lyrics taken from a poem in Kurt Vonnegut's novel, Cat's Cradle. Vonnegut was at the peak of his popularity, and his books were devoured, discussed, and quoted on campuses everywhere. Plus Ambrosia wrote the perfect music for it and the result was utterly charming. For the other song to stream, we could drop the needle anywhere and come up with a winner, it's one of those fine albums that doesn't have a bad track on it. For more on this record, read Bob Lefsetz' excellent appreciation in his Lefsetz Letter.

Listen to "Nice, Nice, Very Nice"


Listen to "Holdin' On To Yesterday"


Track List:
1. Nice, Nice, Very Nice (5:49)
2. Time Waits For No One (5:01)
3. Holdin' On To Yesterday (4:19)
4. World Leave Me Alone (3:17)
5. Make Us All Aware (4:28)
6. Lover Arrive (3:12)
7. Mama Frog (6:05)
8. Drink Of Water (6:29)





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the Main Point, 1964 - 1981

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #5 Begining in 1964, The Main Point in Bryn Mawr provided the Philadelphia area with one of its most enjoyable venues for live music. Although it started as a folk based coffeehouse, all styles of music were presented over the years. Financial problems continually plagued the Main Point, and in spite of frequent benefit shows by artists who loved the place as much as the audience, the club finally closed in 1981. The following brief history is contained in an obituary of Jeanette O. Campbell, one of the founders and owners of the Main Point who died on October 22, 2006, written by Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer Sally A. Downey as reprinted on the Save Ardmore Coalition website. Jeanette Orndoff Campbell, 89, former owner of the Main Point, a music hall in Bryn Mawr where young talents including Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor were introduced to local audiences, died of complications from hip surgery Oct. 22 at Stap
Read more

Cream and Blind Faith at the Spectrum, Philadelphia, 1968 & 1969

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #3 (L-R) Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, & Eric Clapton I could not have foreseen it at the time, but looking back on a concert going history now entering it's fifth decade, my first three concerts were absolutely formative in the development of the music obsession that has driven life as we know it from that point forward. Attending a rock concert pre drivers license was no small feat, that I even got to these shows is the first indication that I knew I was onto something even if I couldn't quite explain it. I've already detailed my first concert (The Beatles at JFK Stadium) in my MMMM#1 . My second and third concerts took place at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, they were less than a year apart, and due to the fact that concerts never end at the time predicted, these concert experiences both ended with a very angry driver stuck waiting in the car outside the venue until the last encore had finished. I shot both concerts with the same starter
Read more

And We Danced - Filming the Hooters Video, 7/27/85

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #4 "And We Danced" (picture sleeve above) was released in 1985 as the second single from the album, Nervous Night , the Hooters' major label debut for Columbia Records. Here's the video. The call went out to the Hooters' mailing list the last week of July 1985 that an audience with cars would be needed on the coming Saturday for a video shoot. Participants would report to the Exton Drive-In by late morning and be prepared to stay all day until after dark. This stage set, early in the day, was a warm-up for the crowd and probably a dry run for the production team for the night-time performance to be filmed later. The banner backdrop does not appear in the video. Some of the antique and custom cars that were on hand for the shoot. The production crew prepares the ticket booth for its shot. This is the film crew shooting the acoustic intro part of the song. The acoustic intro was shot twice, first with t
Read more