Over the years, I bought a lot of Arista albums. I remember playing Al Stewart’s Year of the Cat album in 1976 and wearing the grooves out! I was also fond of Patti Smith’s “Because the Night”–written with Bruce Springsteen–on her 1978 album, Easter.
Arista liked British bands like The Alan Parsons Project, the Thompson Twins, and the Eurythmics and promoted them relentlessly in the U.S.
“Founded in November 1974 by Clive Davis and deactivated in 2011, Arista was re-established in 2018. Along with RCA Records, Columbia Records, and Epic Records, it is one of Sony Music’s four flagship record labels.” — Wikipedia
Were you a fan of Arista? Any favorites here? GRADE: B
TRACK LIST:
Grateful Dead*– | Touch Of Grey | 5:48 | |
Patti Smith– | Because The Night | 3:04 | |
The Kinks– | A Rock ‘N Roll Fantasy | 4:59 | |
Al Stewart– | Year Of The Cat | 4:36 | |
Haircut One Hundred– | Love Plus One | 3:32 | |
Lou Reed– | Street Hassle | 4:02 | |
Ministry– | Work For Love | 4:43 | |
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe– | Brother Of Mine | 6:31 | |
Jeff Healey Band*– | I Think I Love You Too Much | 4:35 | |
Patti Smith– | People Have The Power | 5:07 | |
The Outlaws*– | Green Grass And High Tides | 9:50 | |
The Alan Parsons Project– | I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You | 3:12 | |
Graham Parker– | Local Girls | 3:41 | |
Thompson Twins– | Hold Me Now | 4:46 | |
The Church– | Under The Milky Way | 4:57 | |
Eurythmics– | The King And Queen Of America | 4:31 |
Not really. I know a few of them, but not my era and no particular favorites. Maybe the Patti Smith (who we saw open for Neil Young in 2012).
Jeff, Diane and I saw Patti Smith as part of the BABEL speaker series a couple years ago. She both sang and discussed her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe.
Don’t know many of these, George.
Just Thompson Twins, The Alan Parsons Project, Al Stewart, and The Kinks.
I’m not very familiar with who put out the albums; I just buy the artists I like.
Beth, some record labels concentrate on a certain sound and certain artists. I love RHINO Records because they put out a lot of retro music.
A few favorites—“Because the Night”, “Year of the Cat”, “Love Plus One”, “Hold Me Now”, “Under the Milky Way”—but by and large this strikes me as a rather forgettable collection.