Robert Plant retrospective Digging Deep released

Robert Plant A Retrospective: 1966-2020

Overview: Rock singer born 8/20/1948 in West Bromwich, England. With Band of Joy and, most famously, Led Zeppelin (1968-80) before going solo in 1982. He did a one-off EP with guitarist Jeff Beck and Led Zeppelin bandmate Jimmy Page as the Honeydrippers in 1984. He and Page reteamed in 1994 for a live album and then returned in 1998 with a studio album. Plant won a Grammy for Album of the Year for his 2007 release Raising Sand which paired him with bluegrass artist Alison Krauss. “If one word sums up Robert Plant’s solo career it would be: contrary. Listening to any of his first three albums from the early ‘80s, you can almost imagine his record company paymasters in a state of escalating panic, as each LP he made sounded less and less like Led Zeppelin.” Q “Plant was 20 when he joined Zeppelin and 32 when it ended (a ‘boy’ in modern rock years). It would have been an easy and commercially safe bet for him to spend the next three decades making music that sounded like a carbon copy of his old band’s.” Q “Instead, Plant seemed stubbornly determined to distance himself from his musical past. The hirsute, self-proclaimed ‘Golden God’ once seen shimmying onstage in Led Zeppelin’s film The Song Remains the Same customized his image for the ‘80s. He cut his hair, donned a suit and stopped screaming. Perversely, by the middle of the decade, he’d begun inching back towards the sound – and look – of Led Zeppelin. And by the mid-‘90s, he was working once again with his Zeppelin partner-in-crime Jimmy Page.” Q “Plant’s solo work has always found him on a tireless quest for something new. Here you’ll find records from a man frantically trying to erase hi history, others born out of a love-hate relationship with that history and more still inspired by his passion for ‘50s rock, folk, blues, psychedelia, world music…His 2007 career resurrection with Alison Krauss and his decision to step away from Led Zeppelin after their one-off reunion show that year is welcome evidence that Plant…remains as contrary as ever.” Q On the Web: RobertPlant.com (official site) Facebook Wikipedia Lists: Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, & Robert Plant: Top 100 Songs Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, & Robert Plant: Studio Albums Ranked

Awards:

Studio Albums with Led Zeppelin: Hover over an album cover to see its title and year of release. Click on the album to go to its dedicated DMDB page. Studio Albums as a Solo Artist: Hover over an album cover to see its title and year of release. Click on the album to go to its dedicated DMDB page. Compilations: ST Sixty Six to Timbuktu (covers 1966-2003, released 2003) DD Digging Deep: Subterranea (covers 1982-2020, released 2020) Under each album snapshot, songs featured on the anthologies are noted. If the song charted, the date of the song’s release or first chart appearance and its chart peaks are noted in parentheses. Click for codes to singles charts.

Pictures at Eleven (1982): Burning Down One Side (7/10/82, 64 US, 3 AR, 73 UK, 11 CN, 86 AU) Fat Lip DD Like I’ve Never Been Gone DD The Principle of Moments (1983): Big Log (7/16/83, 20 US, 21 CB, 15 RR, 6 AR, 11 UK, 23 CN, 23 AU) ST Other Arms (7/23/83, 1 AR) In the Mood (7/30/83, 39 US, 36 CB, 35 RR, 4 AR, 81 UK, 37 AU) DD Wreckless Love DD The Honeydrippers Volume One (1984): Sea of Love George Khoury, Phil Phillips) (10/13/84, 3 US, 3 CB, 4 RR, 1 AC, 11 AR, 56 UK, 1 CN, 5 AU) ST Rockin’ at Midnight (Roy Brown) (10/13/84, 25 US, 28 CB, 23 RR, 38 AC, 8 AR, 18 CN) Shaken N’ Stirred (1985): Little by Little (5/18/85, 36 US, 34 CB, 35 RR, 1 AR, 83 UK, 83 AU) ST Now and Zen (1988): Heaven Knows (1/18/88, 1 AR, 33 UK, 65 CN, 32 AU) ST, DD Tall Cool One (3/5/88, 25 US, 31 CB, 27 RR, 1 AR, 87 UK, 46 AU) ST Ship of Fools (3/5/88, 84 US, 3 AR, 76 UK) ST, DD White, Clean and Neat DD Manic Nirvana (1990): Hurting Kind (I’ve Got My Eyes on You) (3/17/90, 46 US, 1 AR, 45 UK, 14 CN, 63 AU) DD Tide Dye on the Highway (3/31/90, 6 AR) ST Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night (6/9/90, 8 AR, 90 UK) Anniversary DD Fate of Nations (1993): Calling to You (5/15/93, 3 AR, 47 CN) ST 29 Palms (5/93, 4 AR, 21 UK, 11 CN, 79 AU) ST, DD I Believe (10/9/93, 9 AR, 64 UK, 37 CN) ST, DD If I Were a Carpenter (12/25/93, 63 UK, 50 CN) ST Promised Land ST, DD Great Spirit DD Memory Song (Mello Hello) DD Walking into Clarksdale (with Jimmy Page, 1998): Most High (4/11/98, 1 AR, 26 UK, 88 AU) Shining in the Light (5/30/98, 6 AR) Dreamland (2002): Darkness, Darkness (Jesse Colin Young) (6/22/02, 27 AR) ST, DD Song to the Siren (Tim Buckley, Larry Beckett) (2002, 84 UK) ST, DD Last Time I Saw Her * (2002, 84 UK) DD Dirt in a Hole ST Win My Train Fare Home (If I Ever Get Lucky) ST

Sixty Six to Timbuktu Robert Plant

Released: November 4, 2003 Recorded: 1966-2003 Peak: 134 US, 27 UK Sales (in millions): -- Genre: rock

Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Tie Dye on the Highway (2) Upside Down (3) Promised Land (4) Tall Cool One (5) Dirt in a Hole (6) Calling to You (7) 29 Palms (8) If I Were a Carpenter (9) Sea of Love (10) Darkness, Darkness (11) Big Log (12) Ship of Fools (13) I Believe (14) Little by Little (15) Heaven Knows (16) Song to the Siren Tracks, Disc 2: (1) You’d Better Run (2) Our Song (3) Hey Joe (demo) (4) For What It’s Worth (demo) (5) Operator (6) Road to the Sun (7) Philadelphia Baby (8) Red for Danger (9) Let’s Have a Party (10) Hey Jayne (11) Louie, Louie (12) Naked if I Want To (13) 21 Years (14) If It’s Really Got to Be This Way (15) Rude World (16) Little Hands (17) Life Begin Again (18) Let the Boogie Woogie Roll (19) Win My Train Fare Home (live) Total Running Time: 146:53

Rating: 3.715 out of 5.00 (average of 16 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About Sixty Six to Timbuktu: “As it contains 35 tracks, it would be fairer to describe this as Robert Plant’s greatest hits and misses. Listeners get the best of every solo album up to and including 2002’s Dreamland, but the non-chronological running order also spotlights the schizophrenic nature of the music. At times, though, that’s part of the fun. One minute, Plant’s crooning through country bluesman Charlie Rich’s Philadelphia Baby, the next he sounds like he’s auditioning for New Order on Upside Down or singing some creepy trip-hop blues on Rude World. Listen out, too, for You’d Better Run, Plant’s 1966 recording debut with the group Listen, and demos from his pre-Zeppelin outfit, Band of Joy.” Q Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: You’d Better Run (Listen, 1966) ST Our Song (1967) ST Hey Joe (Band of Joy, 1968) ST For What It’s Worth (Band of Joy, 1968) ST Operator (Alexis Korner, 1968) ST Philadelphia Baby (from Porky’s Revenge soundtrack, 1983) ST Road to the Sun (1983) ST Upside Down (1988) ST Red for Danger (1988) ST Let’s Have a Party (from Last Temptation of Elvis, 1990) ST 21 Years (1993) ST Hey Jayne (1993) ST Louie Louie (1993) ST Naked if I Want To (1993) ST If It’s Really Got to Be This Way (from Adios Amigo: A Tribute to Arthur Alexander, 1994) ST Rude World (from The Inner Flame, 1997) ST Little Hands (from More Oar: A Tribute to Skip Spence, 1999) ST Life Begins Again (with Afro-Celt Sound System, 2001) ST Let the Boogie Woogie Roll (with Jools Holland, 2002) ST

Mighty Rearranger (2005): Shine It All Around (3/26/05, 11 AA, 18 AR, 32 UK) DD Takamba DD Raising Sand (with Alison Krauss, 2007): Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) (The Everly Brothers) (9/16/07, 2 AA) Please Read the Letter (Robert Plant, Charlie Jones, Michael Lee) (2/16/08, 22 AA) Band of Joy (2010): Angel Dance (David Hidalgo, Louie Perez) (8/21/10, 1 AA) DD You Can’t Buy My Love (Billy Babineaux, Bobby Babineaux) (1/1/11, 13 AA) Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down (traditional, arranged by Plant and Miller) DD Silver Rider (Zachary Micheletti, Mimi Parker, Alan Sparhawk) DD Falling in Love Again (Dillard Crume, Andrew Kelly) DD Lullaby…and the Ceaseless Roar (2014): Rainbow (7/19/14, 8 AA) DD Embrace Another Fall DD Carry Fire (2017): Bones of Saints (9/1/17, 20 AA) New World… DD Dance with You Tonight DD

Digging Deep: Subterranea Robert Plant

Released: October 2, 2020 Recorded: 1982-2020 Peak: -- US, 33 UK Sales (in millions): -- Genre: rock

Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Rainbow (2) Hurting Kind (3) Shine It All Around (4) Ship of Fools (5) Nothing Takes the Place of You (6) Darkness, Darkness (7) Heaven Knows (8) In the Mood (9) Charlie Patton Highway (Turn It Up – Part 1) (10) New World (11) Like I’ve Never Been Gone (12) I Believe (13) Dance with You Tonight (14) Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down (15) Great Spirit (acoustic) Tracks, Disc 2: (1) Angel Dance (2) Takamba (3) Anniversary (4) Wreckless Love (5) White, Clean & Neat (6) Silver Rider (7) Fat Lip (8) 29 Palms (9) Last Time I Saw Her (10) Embrace Another Fall (11) Too Much Alike (12) Big Log (13) Falling in Love Again (14) Memory Song (Hello Hello) (15) Promised Land

Rating: 4.283 out of 5.00 (average of 6 ratings)

About Digging Deep: Subterranea: This comes 17 years after Robert Plant’s first compilation, Sixty Six to Timbuktu. That set basically dedicated one disc to hits and a second to archival material. This set, also two discs, assembles hits alongside deep cuts. Only seven songs appear on both collections. Digging Deep includes another ten songs from the same years covered by Timbuktu and adds another nine songs released after Timbuktu. This collection features two new songs as well as an acoustic version of “Great Spirit.” Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: Nothing Takes the Place of You (from film Winter in the Blood, 2013) DD Charlie Patton Highway (Turn It Up – Part 1) DD Too Much Alike DD Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Robert Plant DMDB encyclopedia entry for Led Zeppelin Q Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 133. Wikipedia page for Sixty Six to Timbuktu Wikipedia page for Digging Deep: Subterranea First posted 9/27/2010; last updated 8/17/2021.

Last Dance for Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco

Donna Summer Top 20 Songs

Donna Summer, dubbed the Queen of Disco, was born LaDonna Gaines on December 31, 1948 in Boston. Singing in church prompted her to pursue music as a career in the late 1960s. Her first single, “Sall Go ‘Round the Roses,” was released in 1971 under her birth name after she had performed in some musicals in Europe, including a production of Hair in Germany. That same year she married actor Helmuth Sommer and even after their divorce in 1975, she kept an anglicized version of the name. Her first chart hit was “the breathy, sexualized” BB #2 “Love to Love You Baby” in 1975. She charted more than 30 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 over three decades, but was at her peak in the latter half of the 1970s. “Her collaborations with producer Giorgio Moroder…broke ground for dance music and have been hugely influential on electronic music in the decades since.” RS She took four songs to #1 in 1978 and 1979. She also had three consecutive #1 albums from 1978 to 1980. Even though her career waned in the post-disco era, she still made several trips to the top ten in the 1980s. She had 14 top ten hits total and collected five Grammys over the years. Summer died on 5/17/2012 after a battle with lung cancer. She believed it came from inhaling particles following the 9/11 attacks in New York. She was survived by her husband Bruce Sudano (who she married in 1980) and their daughters Brooklyn and Amanda. She also had a daughter, Mimi, with her first husband, and had four grandchildren. Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Donna Summer Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists”

Awards:

Top 20 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which topped the Billboard Hot 100, R&B charts, and UK charts are noted. 1. Hot Stuff (1979) #1 2. Last Dance (1978) 3. Bad Girls (1979) #1, #1 RB 4. I Feel Love (1977) #1 UK 5. MacArthur Park (1978) #1 6. Love to Love You Baby (1975) 7. No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) (with Barbra Streisand, 1979) #1 8. On the Radio (1980) 9. She Works Hard for the Money (1983) #1 RB 10. Heaven Knows (1979) 11. Dim All the Lights (1979) 12. This Time I Know It’s for Real (1989) 13. The Wanderer (1980) 14. Love Is in Control (1982) 15. There Goes My Baby (1984) 16. Unconditional Love (with Musical Youth, 1983) 17. Cold Love (1980) 18. Winter Melody (1976) 19. The Woman in Me (1982) 20. Dinner with Gershwin (1987) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Donna Summer Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” BB Billboard.com Donna Summer, Queen of Disco, Dead at 63 by Billboard Staff (5/17/2012) Entertainment Weekly Donna Summer has died at 63 by Leah Greenblatt (5/17/2012) RS RollingStone.com Donna Summer Dead at 63 by Rolling Stone (5/17/2012) Spinner.com Donna Summer Dead: Disco Legend Dies After Cancer Battle at 63 by Dan Reilly (5/17/2012) First posted 5/17/2012; last updated 12/30/2023.

Squeeze released Ridiculous

Ridiculous Squeeze

Released: November 13, 1995 Peak: -- US, 50 UK Sales (in millions): -- Genre: new wave

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Electric Trains [4:03] (10/30/95, 44 UK) Heaven Knows [4:34] (5/27/96, 27 UK) Grouch of the Day [3:27] Walk Away [4:43] This Summer [3:39] (8/21/95, 32 UK) Got to Me (Wilkinson) [3:45] Long Face [4:31] I Want You [4:03] Daphne [3:44] Lost for Words [1:59] Great Escape [3:27] Temptation for Love [3:37] Sound Asleep [4:38] Fingertips [5:40] Songs written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 55:59 The Players: Chris Difford (vocals, guitar) Glenn Tilbrook (vocals, guitar, keyboards) Keith Wilkinson (bass) Kevin Wilkinson (drums)

Rating: 3.033 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings) Quotable: ”Smart and stylish pop music for discerning listeners” – CdUniverse.com

About the Album: ”After nearly 20 years of recording, it would be easy to write Squeeze off as spent creative force – certainly their mosty recent albums have seemed like somewhat forced attempts to recapture the glory days.” AMG Ridiculous isn't an embarrassing attempt to rewrite previous hits, but rather, a natural progression executed with a dignified maturity rather than resignation.” AMG ”This…album came out to little fanfare in the States, though Squeeze continued to be a solid draw in their homeland England, with a back catalog justifiably revered by their following.” CDU Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, “the only original members left and still the band's primary songwriters” AMG “offer up…smartly written and arranged odes to the ins and outs of life and love.” CDU The pair “seem content to have passed the Brit-pop torch on.” AMG ”The record is jammed with distorted guitars, fat bass lines, plodding electric organ lines, and echoey drums. They get totally carried away with shameless Baby Boomer pandering on the record's one obvious potential hit ("Electric Trains"), a relatively upbeat effort with an enthusiastic beat and groovy string and backing vocal arrangements.” JA ”This is smart and stylish pop music for discerning listeners. The hooks are subtle and yield their rewards slowly but unshakably.” CDU Electric Trains is a heartfelt reminiscence back to a boyhood transition from the hobby mentioned in the title to a guitar and a band.” CDU “Grouch of the Day is a moderately successful attempt at emulating [The Beatles’] Revolver [with it's] bouncy, reverby 12-string sound.” JA “Long Face is a moody, thoroughly modernized electronic dance number with a breathless, distorted Chris Difford lead vocal.” JA “I Want You gets a big bombastic string arrangement.” JA ”As the band are wont to do, the album's name shows up as simply a word in Daphne which has a chorus of ‘Daphne, don't be ridiculous’” CDU and “a warped country-western vibe that's a little amusing.” JA "Great Escape has a funky chorus worthy of Midnight Oil.” JA ”The gorgeous Temptation for Love finds Tilbrook dueting with one Cathy Denis whose parallel singing is like a soft drop shadow.” CDU “The very mellow love song…sounds much like early 70's Stevie Wonder.” JA When all is said and done, this album falls into the same pile as most of Squeeze’s output – a collection of well-written and sung shoulda-been hits that go nowhere fast. Then again, “catchy” isn’t enough to make an album a classic and while this album may be able to boast of catchiness, it can’t call itself a classic.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Squeeze AMG All Music Guide review by Chris Woodstra JA John Alroy, Wilson & Alroy’s Record Reviews CDU CdUniverse.com Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/16/2006; last updated 2/7/2022.