By Dave Swanson - Summit FM Contributor

Oasis Hit The Ground Running 30 Years Ago With ‘Definitely Maybe’

This is not news, but just to make clear, years do indeed evaporate before our very eyes and ears. How is it possible that this summer will signal the 30^th (yeah, count 'em!) anniversary of the debut album from Oasis. It all seems so quaint now, a tad charming in fact, the whole ‘Britpop Battle of the Bands’ between Blur and Oasis, then followed by all the stragglers chasing that car. There were a lot of good songs and good records that came out of the whole movement and though Blur, Suede, and a couple others were first to the party, the arrival of Oasis seemed to be the defined starting line for the era.

They were nothing new, of course, a mini gang of ego driven wise ass guys, out to prove themselves to the world. Armed with a couple guitars, rhythm section and a singer overflowing with attitude, how could they lose?! Especially, when they had such a fine songwriter in band leader Noel Gallagher, the kind who knew just how much to steal to seal the deal and make it his own.

'Definitely Maybe' was released in the aftermath of the 'alternative' rock wave that had crashed following the suicide of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, and the deluge of mediocre faceless bands that marched in amongst the wreckage. The press, the fans, and the radio were still full throttle on 'alt rock' which, by that point, meant basically anything that wasn't REO Speedwagon. So here comes this brigade of bands from the UK that don't look 'grungy', in fact, they look pretty cool and stylish, from the glam residue of Suede and new wave nod from Elastica, to the Mod aesthetics of Blur and Oasis, this all felt fresh and exciting, despite a feeling that we'd been here before.

The album kicks off with the celebratory and defiant 'Rock And Roll Star,' a total celebration of rock and roll and everything surrounding it. This was miles away from the sour and dour sludge the flannel brigade was so enamored with. Lead singer Liam Gallagher had enough Johnny Rotten in his being to sell it, and sell it well as the brash wall of guitars embraced the listener. This was the sound of a post-‘Madchester’ England, guitars at full volume,  attitude even higher.

'Shakermaker,' 'Up In The Sky,' 'Supersonic,' and the anthemic 'Live Forever' (which made the British top 10) all rang out in braggadocios glory while even the most blatant theft of 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' (No. 7 in the UK) with its tried and true Marc Bolan guitar riff, as if played by Neil Young, at its core somehow avoided any generic retread. These boys from Manchester seemingly had found the keys to the kingdom, in their homeland anyway. 'Definitely Maybe' was an emphatic chart topper in England and sold very well around the world, and in the process, set the stage for the global takeover with their next album, 'What's The Story Morning Glory?' 30 years on, people are still talking about the Gallagher brothers in singular as well as in the context of Oasis. The mark they've left has yet to be fully defined in some ways. I think time has been kind to most of their musical output and yes, please file under Essential!

By Chad Miller - Summit FM Music Director

What's everyone been listening to out there? There's been an AVALANCHE of great new songs coming at us to start the new year, as per usual, with STILL more to come! Easily the most exciting time of the year in our world of music, that I get to sort through and play them for you on the radio. So much new music coming at us, so little time...however, these songs that might fly under the radar to most are what I've been diggin' most especially these past few weeks!

Like what you hear? Please email me at chad@thesummit.fm and let me know what you think!

Membership Has Its Perks!

Chad Miller hosted a Sounding Board for our Summit members on January 24, 2024. Sounding boards give members the opportunity to rate new songs before they hit the airwaves. Six times a year, Chad brings members together to discuss these songs and then they are rated in order.

As a donor/member of the station, you are invited to all sorts of fun events like the Sounding Board, including Studio C and Summit Movie Nights. You can become a member or donate here.

The following results are based off the votes of Summit Members in attendance that night.

  

By Dave Swanson - Summit FM Contributor

When Roxy Music hit the world in 1972, they were utterly unique. No band had ever looked or sounded quite like that before. They rode a rail between past and future, between Pop Art and Pop Music and Rock and Roll. Though they were indeed a band, with each member adding their own flavor to the mix, it was undeniably the concept of lead singer and main songwriter Bryan Ferry. It was, however, the other 'Brian' in the band that got a lion’s share of the publicity and attention, due not only his strange look, but to his strange sounds he contributed.

Though the band would survive and succeed beyond his tenure, the presence of Brian Eno within their ranks still means a lot to their story, even over 50 years on. Brain's retro futurism look, along with his synthesized treatments, tape loops, and general adornment of these first class 'pop' songs, added a dimension that had never been known. After the one two punch of their self-titled debut, and the equally stupendous 'For Your Pleasure,' Eno knew it was time for him to step out on his own. Even Eno couldn't have known the wide open spaces his solo career would take him as performer, innovator, pioneer and producer, but in 1974 he had bid farewell to Roxy and set his own sail.

What better way to start a solo career than with one of the most unique and, quite frankly, best albums of the rock and roll era. Released on February 8, 1974, 'Here Come The Warm Jets' is a shimmering slab of pop music presented in a previously unused set of colors. This was futuristic pop music that still sounds out of time. Casual elements of the Glam era shine alongside Art Rock infused sonic exploration, with a nod to the past and a kick into the future, while firmly planted in the present. Not, mind you, an easy task.

From the opening surge of 'Needle In The Camel's Eye' through the fading riff of the title track, it remains one of the most concise and perfect albums ever constructed. Jittery pop songs, with a bit of Syd Barrett-esque whimsy, can be found via 'The Paw Paw Negro's Blowtorch' as can the electric charge of 'Baby's On Fire,' a surging rocker with one of the most insane guitar solos ever recorded, courtesy of King Crimson's Robert Fripp. Elsewhere the breezy 'On Some Faraway Beach' gives way to the minimalist, proto punk of 'Blank Frank'. No two songs are cut from the same cloth, and yet all fit together seamlessly.

A song like ‘Cindy Tells Me’ is straight up, almost retro pop, with a vague wave to the simple songs on the charts in the 1950s, yet shot through with a space age glow of sorts. At the same time, ‘Driving Me Backwards’ is a very Avant-garde approach to a pop song.

It easily stands alongside albums like  the Beatles' 'Revolver,' Beach Boys 'Pet Sounds' and the Who 'Sell Out' as examples of Pop Music as Pop Art, and as much of its time as it is out of time. Eno may have been and experimental explorer at heart, but he knew his way around a catchy pop song as well, which is why this all works so perfectly. He would issue a follow-up late in the year called 'Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy,' which continued this adventure, but after that, all bets were off on where Eno would go next. One could argue Eno was creating ‘post punk’ music in a pre-punk world, which only goes to show how useless and cluttering it can be trying to put labels on music.

While albums like 'Before and After Science’ and ‘Another Green World’ would retain elements of this futuristic pop approach, other elements were added to change the ultimate trajectory of the music. At the same time, he had started to pursue an entirely different path to what would eventually become known as 'Ambient,’ with such albums as 'Discreet Music,' 'Music For Films,' and ‘Ambient 1: Music For Airports.'

Wherever many an artist would explore in the 80s and 90s, Eno, a true musical pioneer, had already been there whether by his own recordings, his collaborative works with the likes of David Bowie, Robert Fripp, and Harold Budd, or as producer of countless acts, notably Talking Heads, Devo, and U2. Though he would occasionally dip a toe in the more pop music waters, he never stepped back into the role he played in 1974, which, while kind of sad, just makes those two albums, especially 'Here Come The Warm Jets,' so special.

By Dave Swanson - Summit FM Contributor

Initially released in November of 1998, 'White Ladder' proved to solidify everything David Gray had been working towards since the early part of the decade. With three albums under his belt, Gray settled in at his home studio to record his fourth album in the spring of 1998.

The first three albums had all seen the light of day via Virgin Records, in the UK, and it's indie imprint, Caroline, in the U.S., but things we far from big time for Gray. "I was very naive," he said in a more recent interview. "I just wanted to write and sing and see where it took me, and where it took me was through three albums. But things just got steadily worse."

Having been dropped by his label, album number four was initially a self-released affair, on his own IHT Records label. But fast forward to the spring of 2000, and Gray found he had a major fan in Dave Matthews. Matthews in turn, re-released 'White Ladder' on his ATO label, thus giving Gray that much needed boost into a bigger audience well over a year after the album seemed left for dead. In addition, Gray hit the road as opening act on Matthew's tour and helped Gray win over DMB audiences.

The release of the single 'Babylon' turned out to be a major part of the album's success, as it scored high on several charts of the day, including a stop at No.1 on the 'Adult Alternative,' and a No.5 hit in his native England. His folk meets electronica in the post-alternative world, seemed to find a home with both mainstream and indie fans. Other singles such as  'Please Forgive Me,' 'This Year’s Love' and 'Sail Away' pushed the album to number one in the UK and into the US Top 40.

Its real success story, however, was in Ireland, where the album stayed at the top of the charts for six weeks. His status in Ireland continued to grow, as over the three years that followed the release of 'White Ladder,' it was certified 20 times Platinum, and to this day remains the biggest selling album in Ireland.

"It's a record that was made in my bedroom, " Gray recalled on the album's 20^th anniversary. "So it's not like a big major production, it's quite low key. I'd always been a singer songwriter in this traditional mode but was itching to find some new sounds.” It was the right record at the right time for Gray, selling over 7 million copies worldwide. It ranks in the top 30 best-selling British albums of all time and is one of the ten best-selling albums of the 21^st century to date. That seems pretty essential!

By Matt Anthony - Summit FM Digital Media Specialist

“Have patience with all things, but first of all with yourself.”  - Francis De Sales

My father had pretty much thrown in the towel.

All his years in the classroom as an experienced industrial arts teacher were being put to the test.  Successfully navigating a high school student’s journey from never-having-picked-up-a-hammer to constructing-a-solid-end-table-that-won’t-topple-over appeared to be merely a secondary achievement, a blip on the radar.

The task at hand seemed Herculean: getting his son to digest the fine art of learning to drive a stick-shift.

His patience was wearing thin, though, and he decided that the day’s lesson would have to end.  Hearing him vent his frustration at recounting my proclivity towards grinding metal and gears together in a symphony of torquey chaos, my uncle, standing nearby, suddenly asked for the keys to our olive-green 1971 Volkswagen Bug.

“Jump back in, Matt. Let’s go back up to the road behind the cemetery.”

It was a picture-perfect West Virginia evening as we rumbled up past the headstones and on to a fine gravel road. There, we switched positions, with me now behind the wheel…again…nervously shaking at the thought of more clutch-oriented torture.

“One pedal moves one way, and one pedal moves the other way,” he said. “Imagine them going past each other. They stop to say hello, just for a second. And then they move on. That’s it.”

So, I did imagine it.  Slowly releasing the clutch with my left foot and slowly pressing the gas with my right.  Each time the car would move forward, but not without first eliciting a bone-jarring bump and a raking of the gears, throwing us both forward, before I’d press in the clutch, stomp on the brake, and try it again.

“Just relax and be patient.  You’ll find the sweet spot.”

And after 7 or 8 more tries, I did just that.  It was an unexpected moment of satori. Suddenly, I generated just the right touch when releasing the clutch. And I tip-toed just the right amount of pressure with the accelerator.  Both pedals paused ever-so-slightly to say ‘hello’ before heading in their own respective directions.

And finally, the drab olive-green 1971 Volkswagen Bug moved forward, unimpeded, surging with silky smoothness, and awaiting my command to increase the speed and propel us both into 2^nd gear.

“Beware the fury of a patient man.”  - John Dryden

When it comes to ‘patience’, I’m a work in progress. While my threshold for juggling multiple tasks without losing my cool seems formidable, there is a spot along the patience time-space continuum where the bottom seems to drop out and my humanity bares its ugly fangs.

Supposedly, the English poet, William Langland, scribbled the phrase ‘patience is a virtue’ back in 1360. It seems like we’ve had plenty of time to try to work this out. But, apparently not.

It’s why I tend to rewind the reels and re-visit that day near the cemetery with my Uncle Jerry. From time to time, when the struggles mount and the patience feels as thin as a New York-style pizza, I identify more with my father, whose tutoring had run out of gas on that otherwise gorgeous summer evening. I get it.

But my gratitude lies in the measured, calm, rational approach of a person who found a common thread between understanding, progress, and time. It’s an event in my life that I’ve reflected on a great deal lately, especially with the challenges confronting us over the past years. I miss my uncle, who passed away several years ago. And I miss that Volkswagen Bug, too, with its quirky steering, throaty sound, and the baseball bat-handle that served as a gear-shifter. Thankfully, I can return to the memory of that evening with the hopes of applying the same graceful demeanor and calm approach.

By Michelle Charles - Summit FM Membership Director

Born in 1882 in East London, Max Champion wrote a library of songs with unusual musical and lyrical twists and turns. Other than that, we know very little about him except that he was possibly related to noted performer Harry Champion. Only one of his recordings “The Bishop and the Actress” survives, and until recently, his sheet music was thought to be lost forever.

According to Joe Jackson who recently released “What a Racket”, an album of entirely Max Champion’s songs, the first two pieces of his music were found in Malta. A couple of years later, nine scores were found in an old wardrobe in the back of an antique store in East London. A few more resurfaced in the attic of a boarding house and then finally in an old farmhouse in Belgium. Only a few of them had been published – most were still in his handwriting.

The style of music that Max Champion wrote in is called ‘music hall.’ This was music created by the working class and was performed in the streets and pubs of nineteenth-century London. The songs were not considered respectable and features lyrics that are either humorous, satirical, sentimental, or patriotic. While the lyrics were not overtly sexual, they do feature many bawdy innuendos and double entendres. These songs were extremely popular back in the day because they featured the trials and tribulations of the working class.

Singer and producer Joe Jackson was drawn to this music when it was discovered because of its humorous side. He found their spirit of fun to be refreshing and from an era when people knew how to go out and have fun – despite how horrible their lives may have been. Joe feels that we need that type of spirit now. The timeless lyrics are almost as if Max is speaking to us now from the 20^th century.

Joe Jackson’s album “What a Racket” features Jackson along with a 12-piece orchestra performing 11 of these songs. According to Jason Rubin of The Arts Fuse, the album features “a set of songs that really feel authentic to the time period they are meant to convey.”

The album is an absolute delight and is one of the first that I personally have purchased in several years. It is available now wherever you buy or stream your music. You can also catch him in concert in late May early June this summer.

By Dave Swanson - Summit FM Contributor

Consider this for a moment if you will, in 1970, Stevie Wonder released his 12th album, the now classic 'Signed, Sealed & Delivered.' At the time of release, he had only recently turned 20, 12 albums into his career, and just two years out of his teens?! That's not a standard story or path, then again, Stevie Wonder has never been a standard artist, but rather an artist who sets standards.

He first topped the U.S. charts at the tender age of 13, with a little raver titled 'Fingerprints Pt. 1,' and though it would be a couple years before he made a return to the Top 10, the man was off and running at a very young age. From 'Fingertips' and 'Uptight' through 'A Place In The Sun' and 'I Was Made To Love Her,' the hits kept coming, and Wonder kept growing as a musician, artist, and producer.

As the 1960s gave way to the '70s, black music in America was taking on radical new sounds and shapes, with people like George Clinton, Marvin Gaye, and Curtis Mayfield, all expanding on the tried-and-true sounds that had established them. Changing times brought changing ideas, and Stevie was right there with them, pushing himself and his talent to new heights with every release. As his first album of the new decade, it was clear Wonder was ready to explore somewhat, if not fully prepared for a huge leap.

The album kicks off with 'Never Had A Dream Come True,' a sweet soul shuffle that is a perfect opener. Co-written by Wonder, with songwriters Henry Cosby and Sylvia Moy, it's a good bridge from one decade to the next. Released as a single, it cracked the Billboard Top 30. A total of four singles were released from the LP, including his fantastic cover of the Beatles 'We Can Work It Out.' He put his own spin on the Lennon/McCartney jewel to truly make his own, and it shot to No. 13. The title track made No. 3, while 'Heaven Help Us All' hit No. 9.

From start to finish, the album is a block of solid soul that more than rises to the occasion, with Stevie firmly in his element here. The famous music critic Robert Cristgau called 'Signed, Sealed & Delivered' "the most exciting LP by a male soul singer in a very long time, it slips into no mold," declaring it "the best soul album of 1970."

Despite having four hit singles released in the line-up, the album was only a minor success, peaking at No. 25. It was the first album for which Wonder had a hand in the production, or at least the first he received any production credit, and though he co-wrote around half of the album's tracks, his songwriting had yet to come into full bloom. With his next album, 1971's 'Where I'm Coming From,' Wonder would take the reins on both production and writing and truly begin to come into his own.

This 1970 LP is first class in many ways, and despite any flaws, it ebbs and flows like a classic that has been served well by time. It is a pivotal album in Wonder's wondrous catalog, and truly is essential!

By Dave Swanson - Summit FM Contributor

"Who wants some sniveling female all the time?" asked Tori Amos, in a 1991 interview to promote her debut album, 'Little Earthquakes.’ "After all, just because something happened to me, and it was traumatic, doesn't make it interesting. I have to get my scissors out and make sure I'm telling a story that works. It may be your own experience, but you can't be too precious." Amos was sharp enough to know herself, and the often precarious standing women in music have long dealt with.

By 1992, Tori had already been through several hoops in the music business. She had formed a very 80s modeled synth based band back in 1984 called Y Kant Tori Read. The band (which included drummer Matt Sorum, who would go onto work with the Cult, Guns-N-Roses, and Velvet Revolver, among others) made one album for Atlantic Records, in 1988, before falling apart.

Still under contract to Atlantic, she started anew as a solo artist. The label sent her off to England with the idea she would have a better chance of making it there first. A few singles were issued, and the gamble proved correct as 'Little Earthquakes' entered the UK charts a month before it was ever released in the states. The album found an audience straight away, and truly connected with people, while covering such topics as religion, rape, identity crisis, and sexuality. Amos was even seen as the woman at the forefront of a new women's movement in music, something that continued to grow throughout the 1990s.

The album took on a life of its own and a total of five singles were released from the album including 'Silent All These Years,' 'Me And A Gun,' and 'Crucify,' which really helped her breakthrough in no small part due to her unique cover version of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit,' done up in such a way that it took audiences by surprise. She also covered Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones. Amos was right in the thick of things, alongside other notable releases by women that year like Sinead O'Connor, PJ Harvey, and Madonna.

Things may have turned out very different if an Atlantic executive had gotten his way with the album, which was to erase the piano from the recordings and replace it with guitars. “There were artists who came before me who were legends; Billy [Joel] and Elton were allowed to play the piano and wear leggings, but I had a battle, and that was my battle,” Amos told the Washington Post in a recent interview. “The piano players who came after me didn’t have to fight that particular battle, because I fought that battle.”

In speaking with Billboard magazine on the album's 20^th anniversary a decade ago, Amos said, "In some ways I know I’m very different, especially since I became a mom. Being a mom didn’t change me in a small way. It really ticked out a lot of negative self-destructive sides and focused those volatile minister’s daughter feelings into creative expressions. I had them when I wrote ‘Little Earthquakes,’ but unfortunately I didn’t keep it to my creative expressions."

Critical praise ran high and has maintained over time. Rolling Stone included 'Little Earthquakes' on its list of '500 Greatest Albums Of All Time, ranking at #239. A Summit Essential, you ask? Easily!

By Chad Miller - Summit FM Music Director

What's everyone been listening to out there? There's been an AVALANCHE of great new songs coming at us to start the new year, as per usual, with STILL more to come! Easily the most exciting time of the year in our world of music, that I get to sort through and play them for you on the radio. So much new music coming at us, so little time...however, these songs that might fly under the radar to most are what I've been diggin' most especially these past few weeks!

Like what you hear? Please email me at chad@thesummit.fm and let me know what you think!