Day 0476 - Arc of Diver

Steve Winwood "Arc of a Diver" (1980)

Steve Winwood had previously tried to release a solo album and had somehow accidentally wound up reforming his band Traffic and releasing the album with them instead. Winwood then got out a self-titled solo album but it sank link a stone commercially. This one fared much better with the record-buying public. I'd certainly heard opener "while you see a chance" on the radio a bit in the past.

Winwood crafted his catchy, somewhat funky tracks, more or less entirely by himself... which was no mean feat taking into account the late 70s/early 80s study technology.

Day 0153 - The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground "The Velvet Underground" (1969) - got it

The Velvets aren't doing too badly so far.  This was their third album released, it's also their third album on this list.

A much more straight-ahead, mellower album (and possibly my favourite from VU) than previous outings. "Some kinda love"  is almost like a more languid, loping read on the Beatles' "Get Back". "Beginning to see the light" is cathartic, "Jesus" is lovely, "the murder mystery" is a touch of the older, weirder Velvets (and is brilliant).  Things calm back down for the closing track "after hours" ...which, incidentally, is the first VU song that I ever heard.

According to the book, the band's equipment was stolen when they arrived in town to record, but that didn't stop them from having quite a relaxed, enjoyable recording session.