The Album

Recorded during live performances at The Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, and The Agora, Cleveland, in 1978, during the "Safety In Numbers" Tour.  All of the recordings in this CD are new mixes and are remastered, using 2006 technology, and were not previously released on CD by Lifesong Records.  These live performances of MIND BABY, NUCLEAR APATHY, LONG NIGHTS and SAFETY IN NUMBERS were never previously mixed or released.  HOLD ON, LIGHTEN UP McGRAW, SHE'S A DANCER, ICE, SURF CITY and I AM THE WALRUS were previously released in the Lifesong 33-1/3 LP "LIVE SKY" (LS-6024).  SHE'S A DANCER is the full, live performance (the middle jam was edited out of the LS-6024 analog disc). Produced and engineered by Joe Macre for Cuppajoe Music.

WIN-9002

(WIN-2202-2)

Track Listing:

            ROADHOUSE PRELUDE (:28)
1.         DRIVER (4:28)
2.         GASOLINE  (3:46)
3.         FUNKYWORLD (4:06)
4.         ALIEN ENCOUNTER RHAPSODY  (4:34)
5.         RED DRESS (4:16)
6.         ALLEGHENY BLUES  (4:18)
7.         THE PRECIOUS SONG  (4:36)
8.         DA MOON  (5:36)
9.         GIBBONSVILLE (USA BOOGIE)  (4:34)
10.        BRIGHT SIDE  (4:33)
11.        DA SUN (4:29)
12.        $2 BILL (2:08)
13.        ROADHOUSE  (4:28)

THE PRECIOUS BROTHERS

A biography

Joey and Johnny Precious were born in a sub-basement of Mike's Roadhouse Café, a Louisiana strip club located in the Algiers district of New Orleans.  The boys were abandoned by their father after attempting to explode his truck.  Their mother, Chantilly, continued stripping and dancing at Mike’s Roadhouse and caring for her sons until the New Orleans Division of Child Services - on a tip from the Algiers Police - investigated.  Finding the Precious brothers locked in the damp cellar, undernourished, and clothed in women's garments donated by the strippers, the N.O.D.C.S. immediately placed them in St. Mary Magdalene’s Home for Orphaned Boys.  By ages 7 and 6, Johnny and Joey had been arrested four times, compiling a "rap" sheet that forced the Louisiana prosecutor's office to sentence the children to five years in the infamous Eastham State Prison Farm in Texas.  "Dem boys was the woist kind," offered Del Jenks, Warden (Retired).  "They had that sweetie-pie look, but ya turn yer back on em, an dey'd just as sure huit ya bad!"

Being the youngest people in the free world to ever be imprisoned in a maximum-security facility proved to be a blessing in disguise for Joey and Johnny.

Writer/Biographer, Wally Capote was permitted to interview the children for his new book, The Sensual Male. Using their charm and learned street smarts, the brothers, now 11 (Johnny) and 10 (Joey), played on the sympathy of the fragile writer who took their story to the ACLU. Capote convinced the court to place the boys in his custody by threatening to expose the Eastham Prison chew-tobacco scam.  (See Texas prison scandal,Newsworld; Issue1145). 

Launched into the lap of luxury, the brothers were moved into Capote's Fifth Avenue penthouse in New York City where they quickly found themselves relegated to "Party Boys" for the writer's celebrity friends. Lewd pictures of Johnny and Joey surfaced in the National Globe News. Their eyes blacked out to protect their identity, the boys were pictured serving cocktails to the rich and famous and dressed in bikini briefs and white cuffs.  Capote was arrested, and once again the Precious Brothers were sent to a state care facility, this time in Los Angeles, California. There, model/actress/diet spokeswoman, (name withheld), was told about the Precious Brothers by her manager/agent.  She immediately set out to adopt the boys.  Using her millions of inherited dollars from a previous marriage, the woman was awarded (for a fee said to range in the upper six figures) custody.  It was there that Johnny befriended one of the hired workers around the palatial estate.  Bouregard J.J. Johnson was the head groundskeeper and he immediately took a liking to Johnny.  It is said that Johnson, in fact, was the catalyst for the entire Precious Brothers phenomena, as he was an accomplished blues guitarist who introduced that genre of music to Johnny.  For years, Johnny and J.J. would sit sipping whiskey and playing the blues along with brother Joey.  

One evening, when Johnson was convinced he had taught the brothers everything they needed, he told them it was "time to take it to the road."  Johnson failed to realize that in their colorful, but sheltered existence, Joey and Johnny had no idea of what "taking it to the road" meant.  So, grabbing their guitars, they said their goodbyes and got jobs as long haulers, truckers who navigate 18 wheelers from one coast to the other.  The boys spent almost six years on America's highways.  At any dive that would have them, they would break out their instruments and play for the locals, honing their craft to a sparkling, gutsy jewel of Americana testosterone-loaded rock and roll.  Ironically, it was at Mike's Roadhouse Cafe the boys were discovered.  By now, Chantilly Precious had aged beyond the point of stripper desirability.  Mike, the owner and an ex-lover, kept Chantilly on as head bartender/booking agent for the Roadhouse.  

Joey and Johnny had an overnight in New Orleans, and they scouted the area's clubs.  Chantilly barely recognized her sons as they entered the place.  Brandoesque in their leathers and attitudes, they approached her having no idea she was anything other than the woman to see about gigging the club.  After a tearful reunion of anger and eventual forgiveness, Johnny and Joey were booked at Mike's for the next night.  Her mothering instincts in full throttle, Chantilly contacted record mogul Clive Schmavis, her ex-lover, and convinced him to come to Louisiana to see the boys perform.  After listening to "Red Dress" and "Funky World," watching the crowd respond like "nothing I have seen since the British Invasion of the '60's,"Schmavis signed the Precious Brothers on the spot, and the rest is about-to-be history!

WIN-9001

Track Listing:
1)   AVAILABLE
2)   HER SIDE HIS SIDE
3)   IF THINGS WERE DIFFERENT
4)   OUR BOY AND BUBBA
5)   COUNTRY HAIKU
6)   PAIN
7)   I'LL REMEMBER
8)   CAT DREAMS
9)   HIT BY A TRAIN
10) HEY KEITH
11) I’M IN TEXAS
12) LIKE A DOG
13) FUGLY

Ty, in terse summation: Learned to read and write and dream and cuss in Tulsa; learned to play and write songs and get my spirit stomped in Nashville; learned to say “beer” in Spanish in Austin. Did some interesting stuff in between. Now I got a record.

I was in Austin attending a recording industry (NARAS) panel discussion, “Indie In a Box” in which I and all the other panelists explained that we were committed to presenting music and artists we could believe in, to records we could be excited about and determined to support and give the public a chance to hear. To a man, we railed against “corporate music” and pledged we were incorruptible and would continue to present artists who deserved a chance to be heard and to entertain. After the discussion John Peyton introduced himself to me and said “I’d like to send you someone very special, very unique. I know you’ll be impressed.” I’m always open to that kind of offer, and John was true to his word. Ty Hager is a gem. When I heard his self-produced recordings, I reveled in his individuality and originality. This quiet, self-effacing artist has an acute sense of humor and propriety. He’s the Anti-Hero, the Wally Cox of songwriting. He commiserates with the downtrodden, and then shows us how they trod lower. Corporate music? Corporate music could never be this clever, or natural. Here’s Ty Hager. A gem.

- Phil Kurnit, April 2003
Winthrop Records

WIN-1002

Track Listing:

1)   THREE MONTHS TO LIVE
2)   THE AMOEBA HOP
3)   SUMMER WEDDINGS
4)   ADD ME TO THE LIST
5)   THE BITTER END
6)   (I'M MAD)
7)   DOWNTOWN
8)   GETTIN USED TO LEAVIN'
9)   DORIS AND EDMUND: THE MOVIE
10) THE AIR CONDITIONER SONG
11) IF I SHOULD CALL YOU
12) I'VE BEEN LIVING ON MILK AND COOKIES SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE

CLICK ON THE BLUE LINK ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THE SONG.

The Album:

For the first time ever on CD, CHRISTINE LAVIN's first album! With a career that takes CHRISTINE throughout the U.S. and Canada and points beyond and more than 20 albums, this is where it all started. This album is re-edited and re-mastered: one song, Prince Charles, has been deleted. BUT as a BONUS, two songs recorded at the live session that did not make the original vinyl pressing, IF I SHOULD CALL YOU and I'VE BEEN LIVING ON MILK & COOKIES SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE, are included on this CD. CHRISTINE LAVIN has a great talent for expressing the lighter side of the darker side of life. She will make you laugh and her serious songs will bring a tear to most any eye. If you have never seen CHRISTINE LAVIN "ABSOLUTELY LIVE," do yourself a favor and listen to this CD. Recorded before a live audience in 1981 in CBS Recording Studio B, "Unplugged" before anyone invented the word!

The Artist:

On June 29, 1981 CHRISTINE LAVIN emerged from the New York City songwriter scene with her first release, ABSOLUTELY LIVE, on Lifesong Records. CHRISTINE's songs deal with commitments, relationships and biological clocks. CHRISTINE has the ability to make us look at ourselves and smile and look at others with a smile. Since 1981, she has been recording regularly and touring extensively. When CHRISTINE is not performing or recording, she is busy drawing cartoon books, writing freelance articles or the occasional guest-host on New York FM radio shows.

WIN-1001

TRACK LISTING:
1) LOST IN AMERICA
2) TOO NICE FOR THAT
3) BLOWING UP DETROIT
4) GOOD CHILD GONE WILD
5) THE RADIO CRIES
6) MR. PRESIDENT
7) POPTOWN
8) LAST TIME
9) FROM THE GREENHOUSE
10) ONLY LONELY
11) WE WANT MINE
12) MIND BABY
13) DRIFTING BACK TO MOTOWN
14) I LEAN ON YOU
15) ALL AMERICAN BOY
16) DEAR, DEAR

CLICK ON THE BLUE LINK ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THE SONG.

The Album:

This CD marks the first ever combination between Lifesong Records, Grudge Records and HME Records, creating the best CRACK THE SKY compilation package to date. In the first CRACK THE SKY CD released in 1988, two songs were deleted to keep to the CD time limit that existed at that time. Those two songs, MIND BABY and THE RADIO CRIES are included in this compilation. I LEAN ON YOU and DEAR, DEAR (Both from John Palumbo's "Innocent Bystander" album) feature the original members of the band BADFINGER singing background vocals. With the political arena heating up, listen to MR. PRESIDENT. The video for MR. PRESIDENT won the Houston Film Critic's Award. Rolling Stone Magazine called CRACK THE SKY the best new band in 1975 and the 1978 Rolling Stone Record Guide compared them to Steely Dan. The BALTIMORE CITY PAPER has named CRACK THE SKY the "Greatest lost rock & roll band of all time."

 The Artists:

 What do Baltimore, Buffalo, Rochester, Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Richmond have in common? These are the places that CRACK THE SKY did truly become "Rock Stars." The members are from Weirton, West Virginia, a small steel town 30 minutes west of Pittsburgh. This band charted five albums inBillboard's Top 200 and opened for some of the most successful bands of their time. In Baltimore, radio stations WGRX and WIYY (98ROCK) rank the group up with regular staples such as Aerosmith & Led Zeppelin. WGRX Music Director Lee Geary says, "Requests still come in regularly and they test very well." A recent show at the Recher Theatre in Baltimore brought fans from as far as Seattle. With THE BEST OF THE REST (AND THEN SOME) listen to what Crack The Sky has been about.

LS-8803

Track Listing:
1) We Want Mine
2) Animal Skins
3) Wet Teenager
4) Maybe I Can Fool Everybody
5) Rangers At Midnight
6) Virgin …No
7) Invaders From Mars
8) Play On
9) Nuclear Apathy
10) Long Nights
11) Flashlight
12) Lighten Up McGraw
13) Give Myself To You
14) A Night On The Town (With Snow White)
15) Safety In Numbers

CLICK ON THE BLUE LINK ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THE SONG.

LS-7001

Track Listing:
1) HOT RAZORS (F2) - 2001 BONUS CUT
2) POPTOWN DEMO BONUS CUT
3) POPTOWN
4) LIVING WITH THE LIGHTS ON
5) THE RADIO CRIES
6) SKIN DEEP
7) WHITE MUSIC
8) ALL AMERICAN BOY
9) HOT RAZORS IN MY HEART
10) SUSPICION
11) TECHNI GENERATION
12) FLYING
13) SONGS OF SOVIET SONS
14) A GIRL LIKE MOM BONUS CUT
15) SHE'S SO CLEAN BONUS CUT

CLICK ON THE BLUE LINK ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THE SONG.

The Artist: 

Here is CRACK THE SKY's classic WHITE MUSIC remastered using 24-Bit Mastering Technology. While listening, read first hand the real story behind each song and the making of this album with liner notes and song-by-song commentaries by Lead Singer, Writer, and Producer, JOHN PALUMBO. As a Bonus, we've included two songs that were recorded in the original sessions but were not on the original album. Hear how the whole process starts with John, a guitar and a small home tape recorder on the also included POPTOWNDemo Cut. As a Special Bonus, John has given us HOT RAZORS (f2). This is the feature cut for this CD. It is from JOHN & IAN PALUMBO's album, f2

JK-64828

Track Listing:
1)   Opening Day
2)   Centerfield
3)   Ballplayer
4)   Good Enough To Dream
5)   Third Base Coach
6)   Diamond With A Diamond
7)   The Kings Of The Hill
8)   Now They're Writing Songs
9)   The Hondo Hurricane
10) Baseball Ballet 
11) Rain Delay
12) The Ballad of Herb Score
13) Talkin' Baseball® (Willie, Mickey, & "The Duke")
14) There Used to Be A Ballpark
15) Play-By-Play (I Saw It On The Radio)
16) The Song Of October
17) Cooperstown
18) Passin' It On (From Father To Son)
19) The Babe
20) Oriole Park
21) Give Us Back Our Game

CLICK ON THE BLUE LINK ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THE SONG.

 WIN-2002

Track Listing:
1) COOPERSTOWN
2) TALKIN' BASEBALL®
    (WILLIE, MICKEY & 'THE DUKE')
3) THE EARL OF BALTIMORE (EARL WEAVER)
4) FOR ALL THE YEARS  (PHIL NIEKRO)
5) ONE STOP ALONG THE WAY
    (JOHNNY BENCH)
6) SEASONS IN THE SUN  (MICKEY MANTLE)
7) THE BABE (BABE RUTH)
8) NOW THEY'RE WRITING SONGS
9) OPENING DAY
10) HONDO HURRICANE
11) THE SONG OF OCTOBER
12) BALLPLAYER
13) PASSIN' IT ON

CLICK ON THE BLUE LINK ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THE SONG.

THE ALBUM:

If you are a baseball fan, you know Terry Cashman. He's known as the Balladeer of Baseball and no one else has come close to writing the number of great songs about our national pastime as Terry. The essence of the love affair between America and Baseball that has been rekindled is captured in Terry Cashman's original music. COOPERSTOWN is the final place of honor for baseball legends. This compilation features songs about Baseball Hall of Famers WILLIE MAYS, MICKEY MANTLE, "DUKE" SNIDER, JOHNNY BENCH, PHIL NIEKRO, EARL WEAVER and, of course, BABE RUTH. NOW THEY'RE WRITING SONGS is a tribute to the great stars of the Negro Leagues, many of whom are now, deservedly, in the Hall of Fame. Terry Cashman's songs will take you to a place where you can revisit your heroes and the accomplishments that got them to COOPERSTOWN, THE TOWN WHERE BASEBALL LIVES.

THE ARTIST:

Terry Cashman was born in New York City. He watched baseball through the 50's and even played minor league baseball in the Detroit Tiger Organization in 1959 and 1960. In 1964, Terry went to work for ABC-Paramount Records. While there he wrote the hit songs SUNDAY WILL NEVER BE THE SAME, MEDICINE MAN, BUT FOR LOVE and SAUSALITO. During this time Terry met Tommy West. Together they produced all of the records of one of America's greatest singer/songwriters, Jim Croce. In 1975, with Tommy West and Phil Kurnit, Terry formed Lifesong Records. Lifesong's artist roster included Jim Croce, Dion, Henry Gross, Dean Friedman, Crack The Sky and Christine Lavin, to name a few. Terry is currently active songwriting, record producing, and developing properties for television.

CD5-WIN-100

Track Listing:
1)   TALKIN' NEW YORK BASEBALL®  (THE SUBWAY SERIES)
2)   TALKIN' BASEBALL® NY YANKEES 2000
3)   TALKIN' BASEBALL® NY METS 2000
4)   THE SONG of OCTOBER
5)   TALKIN' BASEBALL® (Willie, Mickey & "The Duke")

CLICK ON THE BLUE LINK ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THE SONG.

WIN-2003

Track Listing:
1)   The Money Doesn't Matter To Me
2)   The Ballad of Herb Score
3)   Good Enough To Dream
4)   Centerfield
5)   Play-By-Play (I Saw It On The Radio)
6)   We'll Remember Rusty (Staub)
7)   There Must Be Something Inside 
      (Tribute to Pete Rose)
8)   Now They're Writing Songs
      (Tribute to the Negro Leagues)
9)   Orioles Park
10) Talkin' Baseball®  
      (Willie, Mickey & The Duke)

CLICK ON THE BLUE LINK ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THE SONG.

THE ALBUM:

For the past 20 years, Terry Cashman, known as "The Balladeer of Baseball," has composed and recorded more than five dozen songs recalling the glory of our National Pastime and the players we idolize. But the lack of forthrightness exhibited by numerous free agents has given Cashman cause to reflect. The result is a very funny song about baseball players and money. 

Cashman's The Money Doesn't Matter To Me is an irreverent, country-flavored spoof of players, particularly Mike Hampton, Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez , who left their "old teams" for new opportunities. Cashman points out that these free agents were paid mega-millions to go to their new teams, yet find it impossible to acknowledge that the money had any influence on their decisions. Hampton, for example, claimed he doesn't care for the schools in New York and doesn't like cold weather . . . but Denver, Colorado? Ramirez stated he "had" to play with Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez to meet his goal of beating the Yankees. And A-Rod alleged that he doesn't care about "stats," but happened to leave Seattle, where Safeco Park has proven unfriendly to hitters, for the friendly confines of Texas Stadium in Arlington, TX. All three, coincidently, went to the highest bidder, notes Cashman.

The Money Doesn't Matter To Me is a new CD compilation featuring nine other Terry Cashman baseball songs, most of which have not had significant exposure to the public. "We selected cuts which we feel are musically compatible with 'The Money Doesn't Matter to Me,'" stated Cashman, "and which also make for a good listening experience. Hopefully, our new song will introduce a new audience to my music while providing my fans with an exciting and entertaining new record for their collections."

THE ARTIST:

Terry Cashman, known as "The Balladeer of Baseball," who has written, recorded and performed more than 40 songs about the National Pastime over the past 20 years. A former minor league baseball player who was raised in the Washington Heights section of New York City, Cashman has been a top recording artist, record industry executive, composer and producer who began in the business more than 40 years ago.