Day 144: Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow

We're on an extended trip to Europe at the moment so there will be an irregular service for the blog until the middle of July, due to lack of time and wi-fi. Fear not though, as normal service will resume shortly!

Album 451/1031

Dee Lite - World Clique (1990)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Deee-Lite Theme"	2:10
2.	"Good Beat"	4:40
3.	"Power of Love"	4:40
4.	"Try Me on... I'm Very You"	5:14
5.	"Smile On"	3:55
6.	"What is Love?"	3:38
7.	"World Clique"	3:20
8.	"E.S.P."	3:43
9.	"Groove Is in the Heart"	3:51
10.	"Who Was That?"	4:35
11.	"Deep-Ending"	3:47
12.	"Build the Bridge"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Clique

Golf's verdict: They were kind of a proto-type Scissor Sisters, weren't they? Except that - with the exception of the unimpeachable 'Groove is in the Heart' - they did not quite have the breadth of tunes to sustain them into a longer career. Enjoyed it though.

Maire's verdict: 'Groove is in the Heart' is a classic track but the rest of the album doesn't keep up.

Album 452/1031

Anita Baker - Rapture (1986)

1. "Sweet Love" (Anita Baker, Louis A. Johnson, Gary Bias; Copyright Old Brampton Road Music-Jobete Music) – 4:26
2. "You Bring Me Joy" (David Lasley; Copyright Almo Music Corp.) – 4:24
3. "Caught Up in the Rapture" (Garry Glenn, Dianne Quander; Copyright WB Music Corp.-Silver Sun Music-DQ Music) – 5:07
4. "Been So Long" (Baker; Copyright Baker's Tunes) – 5:07
5. "Mystery" (Rod Temperton; Copyright RodSongs & Almo Music Corp.) – 4:56
6. "No One in the World" (Ken Hirsch, Marti Sharron; Copyright ATV Music & Welbeck Music) – 4:10 *
7. "Same Ole Love (365 Days a Year)" (Marilyn Mcleod, Darryl K. Roberts; Copyright Jobete Music) – 4:05
8. "Watch Your Step" (Baker; Copyright Baker's Tunes) – 4:54

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture_(Anita_Baker_album)

Golf's verdict: She has a cracking set of lungs on her, but this sort of soul music is a bit over-produced for my liking. Much prefer some Aretha.

Maire's verdict: Lovely voice and a couple of songs I recognised but nothing to make me want to listen to it again.

Album 453/1031

David Bowie - Hunky Dory (1971)

All tracks written by David Bowie, except where noted.

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Changes"	3:37
2.	"Oh! You Pretty Things"	3:12
3.	"Eight Line Poem"	2:55
4.	"Life on Mars?"	3:53
5.	"Kooks"	2:53
6.	"Quicksand"	5:08

Side two
No.	Title	Length
7.	"Fill Your Heart" (Biff Rose, Paul Williams)	3:07
8.	"Andy Warhol"	3:56
9.	"Song for Bob Dylan"	4:12
10.	"Queen Bitch"	3:18
11.	"The Bewlay Brothers"	5:22

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunky_Dory

Golf's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Coming just before his transformation into Ziggy Stardust, Hunky Dory really starts to demonstrate the huge range available to Bowie. 'Life on Mars' is probably in my Top 5 songs of all time, so this is always going to be amongst my favourite Bowie albums, but it rarely puts a foot wrong ('Song for Bob Dylan' is a little bit trite) and finishes on a high with the fantastic 'Queen Bitch' and 'The Bewlay Brothers'.

Maire's verdict: I SO WANTED THIS TO BE A HIDDEN GEM! 'Life on Mars' is one of my favourite songs and and there are a number of tracks which are brilliant but others disappoint.

Album 454/1031

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Henry's Dream (1992)

All tracks written by Nick Cave.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Papa Won't Leave You, Henry"	5:54
2.	"I Had a Dream, Joe"	3:43
3.	"Straight to You"	4:35
4.	"Brother, My Cup is Empty"	3:02
5.	"Christina the Astonishing"	4:51
6.	"When I First Came to Town"	5:22
7.	"John Finn's Wife"	5:13
8.	"Loom of the Land"	5:08
9.	"Jack the Ripper"	3:45

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry's_Dream

Golf's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Although Cave apparently dislikes the production on this album (explaining why so much of it turns up in different live versions on several other albums), it contains amongst his strongest set of songs. Only 'Christina the Astonishing' disappoints.

Maire's verdict: BETTER THAN A HIDDEN GEM! My favourite album and one I know every single word and intonation to. If there is one album you should listen to from the challenge it's this one. So good I listened to it 3 times on the flight from LA to Paris.