Ed Ott - Potential Collectors Item

Name: Ed Ott
Album: Potential Collectors Item
Year: 1978
Style: Comical Singer/Songwriter, Bluegrass/Country
Similar Bands: Ray Stevens, Ted Leo, Loudon Wainwright III, John Wesley Harding/Wesley Stace
"One-Word" Review: Introspective Coffee Shop Comedian with a Guitar
Based Out Of: Indiana
Label: Enigma Records, Seventeen Levels Inc.

 Cover, Record

Back & Record

Potential Collectors Item (1978)

1. Look At That Love 3:00
2. Pity Pity 3:54
3. Scatter Me 3:02
4. Shopping Mall 2:15
5. Like Bobbers on the Water 3:10
6. The Boys in the Bar 5:15 / 
7. Let's Get Old 3:01
8. Bonnie & Joe 5:06
9. Moving Away 2:42
10. Every Love Song 3:13
11. The Pleaser 2:40
12. Safe at Long Last 2:11
13. Alice the Alien Girl 2:40

Album Rating (1-10): 6.5

Members & Other Bands:

• Mo Whittemore - Engineer, Produced, Arranged, Mixed, Keys
• Mark Copenhaver - Live Engineering 
• Peg Copenhaver - Live Engineering
• Craig Parmerlee - Horns Arrangement, Horns (Jim Sturgis)
• Ernest (Ed Johnson-) Ott - Producer, Vox, Guitar (The Future)
• Betty Ott - Producer 
• De De Garrard - Vox 
• Frank Fox - Vox
• Jack Stevens - Electric Guitar (Jeff Davis Group)
• Gary Brewer - Drums (Dan Mobley, Duke Tumatoe & Al Star Frogs Jim Sturgis)
• Jerry DeRome - Drums (Dan Modlin /Dave Scott)
• Kevin Stonerock - Bass (Bottom Dollar, 
• Dan Modlin - Bass
• Jim Larner - Harmonica (Mathematicians)
• Kevin Gasaway - Horns  (Jim Sturgis)
• Jack Schfele - Horns 
• Merri Mike - Announcer
• Don Garrard - Creative Consultant
• Niles Gwinn - Mgmt
• John Meyers - Cover Photo
• Thomas Jerome Newton - Photo Collage
• Phineas - Photo Collage

Unknown-ness: I never heard of this band, however, I am familiar with the baseball player Ed Ott, as he was a friend of my uncles, growing up in Central PA as kids. Just a coincidence, i'm sure. This looks to be a singer songwriter style album, since it's one guy, however, there is a touch of humor from the album title, and the sticker on the shrink wrap: "LIMITED EDITION Pressed on BLACK Vinyl."

Album Review: As expected, this is a singer-songwriter with a comedic twist in some of his songs. For Example, '78 was near the start of massive shopping malls, and his comic portrayal of them is filled with sarcasm. Now, on the other side of the shopping mall craze, quite dated (but it's nostalgically nice to hear the name drops of Radio Shack, Spencer's Gifts, B Daulton Book Sellers, Sears, etc). His voice is calm, but has a distinct Ted Leo / Wesley Stace sound at times, which makes it not just another dime a dozen vocalist with a guitar. At other times, there is a classic country/bluegrass sound that is pleasant as well. The b-side to the album was recorded live at Hummingbird Cafe in Indianapolis, with audience noise and participation. Apparently, Paul Simon was a fan.

Stand Out Track: Look At That Love, Shopping Mall

Links:
Discogs
Music Family Tree
Rate Your Music
700 West
Ed's Facebook

Volumatix - In The City

Name: Volumatic

Album: In The City

Year: 1984

Style: Power Pop, New Wave

Similar Bands: 1994, Sue Saad, Kim Wilde, Patty Smyth, Toyah, Genesis.

One Word Review: X-Files Jazz

Based Out Of: Los Angeles, CA

Label: Tropical Records, Enigma

 In The City - Cover, Lyrics, Record

In The City - Back, Lyrics, Record

In The City (1984)

1. Perimeter 2:59
2. Mixed Emotions 3:42
3. In The City 3:09 (actually Livewire)
4. Cost Of Living 3:24
5. Livewire 2:36 (actually In The City)
6. Drive Song 4:09/
7. Young Girls In LA 2:43
8. Wake Up and Dance 3:38
9. Everything and Nothing 3:23
10. Gravity 3:46
11. Trashman 4:58

Album Rating (1-10): 6.5

Members & Other Bands:
Mark Avnet - Producer, Engineer, Producer
Joe Holmsely - Producer, Guitar, Synth, Sax, Flute, Vox
Lee Martin - Producer, Guitar, Keys
Jeff Stocki - Producer, Bass, Percussion, Guitar
Toby Davis - Drums Percussion
Kerry Brown - Vox
Ray Cook - Management
Ted Sweeny - Bass
Robby Krieger - Guitar
Dorian Gray - Cello
Dusty Wakeman - Additional Engineering
Stuart Schonwetter - Additional Engineering
Bobby Ginsberg - Additional Recording
Bill Wade - Additional Recording
Lisa Toby - Front Cover
Ed Colver - Back Cover & Liner
Steve Marcussen - Mastering
Heather Harris - Art Direction



Unknown-ness: I've never heard of this band, but I like the look of this album. The name, art design, and band photo stimulate a dark, futuristic, dystopian world, maybe a bit like blade runner. The music, I expect to be electronic, cold, and atmospheric, like the type of music that inspired the present day film Drive.

Album Review: Not much is out there about this band…found one of their older singles on Youtube, the album is mentioned as a footnote in a few band member’s discography, and one member has a brief memory recap about a song he wrote.

“Perimeter” begins with a drum roll and a synth track. But once the deep-ish female lead vocals start, it is obvious that the song is a pop-rock song, with synth as an accent, not as a main course. The song is bold and confident, following a simple catchy melody.

“Mixed Emotions” has a fast, driving drum beat. The synth is a little anxious, and the bass is dark, creating a somewhat jazzy, chaotic song, that actually reminds me a lot of Toyah. The song shifts gears for the chorus, and converges together for an accessible, bright, and hopeful melody. The vocals sound like they are classically trained, and in some sections, they are layered to create harmonies with themselves.

“In The City” driving and jittery is the way the song begins, but despite the track line up, I believe this is actually “LiveWire” since the chorus contains that lyric. The synth adds a depth to the bouncing bass and guitar melody, reining it in a little. The tone shifts to dark and anxious for the chorus.

“Cost Of Living” starts off with a jazzy prog rock element, reminding me of Brand X. It is all instrumental, and driving as it is urgent, like video game music.

“Livewire” is actually “In the City.” The song begins with a car driving up. The synth melody is very sinister and could put the listener on edge. It has a bit of a count Dracula feel to it, spooky and mesmerizing.

“Drive Song” continues with the dark synth elements and drums. The vocals range from deep crooning to growling. The song sounds bigger than a small club venue: I could only imagine it on a cold dance floor or cavernous venue. It has a bit of an X-Files vibe to it. There is a short spoken word section over jazzy instruments that give definition to Drive Song.

“Young Girls In LA” is a straight forward rock song, with synth elements in the beginning. The guitars soar and hook. The lyrics have a marching cadence, barely sung, just hanging on to the note changes in a sing-song fashion. The song builds well heading into the chorus: a cautionary reminder about the rough streets of LA. It sounds like the entire band picks up a line of lyrics as the song rises to the end.

“Wake Up and Dance” begins with a dancey drum beat and bouncy bass line, similar to Stevie Wonder’s “Part Time Lover.” There is a mechanical cadence to the chorus of the song, where the verse is much looser and groovy. Shining synth is added with a minute to go in the song. Pretty sure the song has male vocals.

“Everything and Nothing” begins with a jangly guitar beat, and is backed with arena rock guitars. The female vocals feel like they are trying to teach a lesson. The guitars soar in the instrumental sections, and are brought back down in time for the verses.

“Gravity” begins with twinkling space ship computer calibrations, and the song slowly grows. Then the dark bass line begins, driving the song to a bouncy dark wave song melody, alongside a dentist drill pitch synth. The song is quite theatrical, as it changes vocal tone often. The instrumental lines the drums, bass and synth up a little more, and it becomes quite dancey.

“Trashman” goes all in with the jazziness, with a synth sax, and a tempo setting piano: slumping broken-down  stumble. It too has a slight variant in styles, to make it theatrical as well.

Stand Out Track: Young Girls In LA

Links:
discogs
Amazon
Rate Your Music
Reverbnation
Jeff Stocki.com
Last FM
Ted Sweeny page