Robson Tapes - I Painted a Picture, 1986

I guess the cover doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in the contents here.  But I had to obtain this record, because we heard so much unbelievable stuff from him in the past.  Do you remember? The first ST one (1974) with the photo of the back of his head, then the equally amazing follow up Stay Awhile (1976).  These are legendarily beautiful lost albums of progressive vocal rock from Finland.

Frank Robson is discogged here thusly:

Profile: Born on April 27, 1946 in Bradford-on-Avon, England. Died on November 16th, 2024 in Lahti, Finland. A singer and pianist. He moved to Finland in 1967. His daughter Jenny Robson is also a singer.

I guess he was in Tasavallan P. too, the legendary Finnish prog rock outfit. 

Incidentally if you check out his discography, the 'Sings Nick Hanian' (1987) is quite ordinary and not worth hearing.

This LP is listed under Robson Tapes, the only release from this gathering, also interesting to me because it includes Nono Soderberg, recently posted here. I didn't listen to the CD 'Back in Business' the recent one (recent! from 1998 that is).

I think, but am not sure, the best track is Yesterday's News:

At any rate, gives you an idea of the contents. Along with that cover.

This is Boston Not LA, 1979 [protopunk] [FLACs]

 

Here's a total change in direction, I bought this out of curiosity in Boston. It's punk completely, but all unknown bands with some really crazy hard music from the heyday of that genre.  To give you an idea, from a band called fittingly enough The Proletariat, Allegiance:

Summers - Fripp 3 [I Advance Masked 1982, Bewitched 1984, Mother Hold the Candle Steady unreleased] FLAC limited time only

 

I was astonished to see that Andy Summers (The Police) had played together with the great Fripp, and for three releases no less.  These are unabashedly progressive instrumental music too, which is what you'd expect with the involvement of the latter, who was totally uncompromising in his career.  And this was in the early 1980s-- the era of Duran Duran, remember!  I am not sure MTV ever played prog rock in those days.  Maybe there was a program at 3 AM? I doubt it.  I am also unsure as to whether he made more progressive or fusion, because the connection with Police is a bit of a dissuader.  Having said that I think these 3 all are worth hearing, with the third one being unreleased material derived from the same time period. Everywhere there is the Frippian dissonant angular riffing.

Brainstorm, from Mother etc. gives you an idea:

Then I listened to this compilation of material just from Andy, which is new agey but pleasantly progressive, inventive, and interesting. For ex., A Piece of Time from the Windham Retrospective:

First from Last Exit... 1975 [FLAC limited time only]

With Gordon Sumner = Sting.  I think everyone can instantly recognize his unique voice in fact, anyone who might be older than about 35 maybe, that is, millenial or Gen X or god forbid baby boomer?  (I certainly would never ask a Gen Z to identify him.)

This band existed as of 1974 and I suppose was the first for bassist Sting (aged 23 at the time), with this cassette release from 1975 in the jazz-rock territory it's unusual to say the least.  It definitely surprised me, partly because it's quite approachable and listenable, with horn rock songs for the most part.  You'll note some of the later Police harmony vocal patterns on On This Train #2:

I would go so far as to say almost every song is not throwaway, showing the youthful creative energy you always encounter with music and musicians.

Album closes out with the lovely instrumental A Bit of Peace:

Huge surprise for me, who has never been a Sting fan and probably never will be without a head injury. Apologies to those who are.

Akropolis - Half a million hours symphony, 1979

 

Back to the classic prog sound with this lesser known one-off album from late in the era, this one is very similar to stuff like Thomas Flinter, my favourite Prisma, etc.  Discogged here, despite the artist name, it's a Danish band. Go Greenland!  Btw, half a million hours of course was the expected lifespan back then-- a surprising 57 years.  Probably that's related to too much sex and drugs.

Movement, Puberty: