Ira Kantor’s Vinyl Confessions: Out Of The Blue Angel

Before she had post-working day fun with the girls; before she made her true colors shine; before we looked and found her time after time, pop iconoclast Cyndi Lauper...

Ira Kantor’s Vinyl Confessions: Discovering Japan

Late in 2021, revered Japanese label Nippon Columbia released a compilation album entitled TOKYO GLOW, which explores city pop, funk, and soul from Japanese artists recorded in the late...

Ira Kantor’s Vinyl Confessions: Bird On A Desire Wire

There’s a notable omission from the acclaimed documentary 20 Feet from Stardom. Cidny Bullens should qualify for cast inclusion simply based on the fact he launched his career backing up...

Ira Kantor’s Vinyl Confessions: Billy Cobham’s Vital Transformation ~ Billy Cobham’s ‘Spectrum’

Photo Courtesy of Billy Cobham Billy Cobham Spectrum Billy Cobham became a legend well before releasing his debut solo album. Prior to 1973, the Panamanian drummer by way of New York cut...

Ira Kantor’s Vinyl Confessions: Shaking It Up Solo ~ Benjamin Orr’s ‘The Lace’

Photo Courtesy of Diane Grey Page Benjamin Orr The Lace “The reason it took me so long to do a solo project is that nobody asked me to do one before...” — Benjamin...

Ira Kantor’s Vinyl Confessions: The Crusaders – Takin’ It To The Street

Photos courtesy of Stix Hooper What makes the late 1970s so unique musically is the fact that multiple genres all managed to secure their own distinct place in time. Sure,...

Ira Kantor’s Vinyl Confessions: Belew’s Bear Necessities

Photo above courtesy of Rob Fetters  Take a second and think about some of the music legends you admire. Chances are, you could easily play a game called “Six Degrees...

Ira Kantor’s Vinyl Confessions: As I Sit In My Four Cornered Room…

Fifty years ago, one of music’s greatest melting pot collectives released their masterpiece. The World Is A Ghetto by War is a seminal six-track work that told it like it...

Ira Kantor’s Vinyl Confessions: The Sweet Green Icing Of Success ~ In Defense Of...

Photo by Henry Diltz "You don’t mean to suggest that someone would criticize ('MacArthur Park')? I mean, my God! (laughter)" – Jimmy Webb, March 2018 Based on its compositional structure alone, “MacArthur Park” should...

Ira Kantor’s Vinyl Confessions: Still Alive ~ Baby, Just Take Another Look (At Clover)

Photos courtesy of Alex Call In 1977, right before punk becomes the zeitgeist musical movement in the UK and the states, a Bay Area-based six-piece band took one last mighty...