• Long-established as a hugely popular radio format, the
Classic Rock sound was established – though not codified and canonised until some while later – in the Seventies, when numerous British bands from a
pop or
blues-based background pioneered a muscular, riff-based sound that dominated American FM airwaves and led the most successful practitioners to fame, fortune and all manner of related excess.
• But although there are innumerable radio stations now devoted to the baby boomer sounds of
Classic Rock, their innately conservative, playlist-based nature means that the same heavyweight tunes are endlessly recycled: the casual listener could be forgiven for thinking that the careers of major bands like Thin Lizzy and The Who didn’t extend beyond ‘Whiskey In The Jar’, ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ and ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’.
• So allow the Grapefruit label to break down the walls of stultifying retroactive conservatism with an alternative look at the
Classic Rock genre. Riding The
Rock Machine features many of the era’s headline names (Lizzy and The ‘Oo, but also The Moody
Blues, Free, Status Quo, Jethro Tull, Procol Harum, ELP, ELO, Uriah Heep etc) in slightly less familiar settings as well as some
Classic Rock-friendly performances from acts who walked the walk and talked the talk but never quite received the same level of acclaim as the brand leaders.
• Housed in a no-expense-spared clamshell box with a lavishly annotated and illustrated 40-page booklet, Riding The
Rock Machine features four hours of vintage sounds from British
rock’s golden age as Grapefruit turns it up to eleven and goes where other labels fear to tread in search of the perfect riff. As our opening track proclaims, Long Live
Rock’n’Roll!
Tracks:-------
CD101. Rainbow - Long Live
Rock 'n' Roll02. Uriah Heep - Easy Livin'
03. The Moody
Blues - I'm Just A Singer (In A
Rock And Roll Band)
04. The Alan Parsons Project - I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You
05. Foghat - Slow Ride [Single Version]
06. The Spencer Davis Group - Catch You On The Rebop
07. Yvonne Elliman - I Can't Explain
08. Faces - Cindy Incidentally
09. Procol Harum - Robert's Box
10. Blackfoot Sue - Standing In The Road
11. Medicine Head - Back To The Wall
12. The Who - Success Story
13. Trapeze - Black Cloud
14. Chris Squire - Hold Out Your Hand
15. Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Spirits In The Night
16. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Boston Tea Party
17. Jethro Tull - Bungle In The Jungle
18. Anges Strange - Clever Fool
19. Fancy - She's Ridin' The
Rock Machine
20. Sweet - Action
CD201. Foreigner - Feels Like The First Time
02. Nazareth - This Flight Tonight
03. Free - Wishing Well
04. Man - Out Of Your Head
05. Strawbs - My Friend Peter
06. Hawkwind - Quark, Strangeness And Charm
07. Silverhead - Ace Supreme
08. Status Quo - Mystery Song
09. Curved Air - U.H.F.
10. Magnum - Baby I Need
11. Electric Light Orchestra - Showdown
12. City Boy - Momma's Boy
13. Duffy - The 1959
Rock 'n' Roll Bop14. Rococo - Hoodlum Fun
15. Mick Ronson - Only After Dark
16. Strider - Straddle
17. Stray - Move It
18. Bullfrog - Ice Cold Dick
19. Maggot - Shoelace
20. Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Lucky Man
CD 3: 01. Roxy Music - Street Life
02. Be-
Bop Deluxe - Maid In Heaven
03. Atomic Rooster - Devil's Answer
04. Family - In My Own Time
05. Dana Gillespie - Get My Rocks Off
06. Hello - New York Groove
07. Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
08. Tucky Buzzard - Can't Live Without It
09. National Flag - Blowing A Million
10. Hard Stuff - Monster In Paradise
11. Fat Mattress - Black Sheep Of The Family
12. 10cc - Life Is A Minestrone
13. Sutherland Brothers - Dream Kid
14. Smokestack Crumble - Got A Bad Leg
15. The Winkies - Fever
16. Mott the Hoople - Ready For Love
17. Sad Cafe - My Oh My
18. Babe Ruth - Jack O'Lantern
19. Argent - God Gave
Rock N' Roll To You
All thanks to original releaser