According to The New Yorker, "All I want for Christmas is You" is "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon", and I rightly agree, especially after hearing Quickdraw knock it out of the park at the annual St. Nick Markos Holiday show last night. The Track's sweet Phil Spector Girl Group groove led to the common misconception that Carey covered this song,butthe track is actually an original written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

All I WANT

My two year boycott of Permanent Records finally ended last week, when I broke down and stopped in reluctantly in the midst of a vinyl fix while holiday shopping on Chicago Avenue. I had sworn off patronizing the store when they refused to carry David Singer's last album, indicating their lack of support for the local music community. I was amused to find that the fools had priced this Classic Jackson 5 album vinyl at 99 cents, and made it my only purchase, so feel vindicated for my transgression.

The 1970 album itself is a gem. Opening with I'll Be There, side one also includes a version of "Bridge Over Troubles Water" sung by Jermaine. I've chosen to post "The Love I Saw in you was Just a Mirage" from side two, which was penned by Smoky Robinson.

The Love I Saw in You was Just a Mirage-Jackson 5

I took a chance on this one at my visit to Amoeba Records last week, and it paid off.
This 1978 double studio LP from Marvin Gaye turns out to be soul's entry in the "greatest break-up albums of all time" category alongside Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Springsteen's Tunnel of Love, Beck's Sea Change, and El Perro Del Mar's Love is Not Pop.

The album is the sound of divorce on record, with titles like "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I stop Loving You" (3 versions!), "Anger", and today's post "You Can Leave, but its Going to Cost You". It's quite literal and direct...its long grooves peppered with lines like "Somebody tell me please/Why do I have to pay attorney fees?"

At the time of its release the album was poorly received, accused of being bizarre and uncommercial by fans and critics alike. In retrospect, though, its considered by many to be landmark in Gaye's career, one of the most intimate and personal artistic statements on record.

You Can Leave,but its Going to Cost You