New York power pop band The John Sally Ride made a concept album of sorts. Melomaniacs gives a thumbs up to all people who fell in love and spend as much time as they can listening and organizing. His Record Collection sums it up quite nicely: "When he got his allowance he would save every cent // Only at the record store is where it was spent // Now he’s an adult and things are mostly the same // An obsession he could never tame".
The band's songwriter John Dunbar is quite possibly one of them himself, but he can distance from it to write about with a mix of humour, wonderment and compassion. Nobody in his right mind would call Everybody's in Show-Biz a high point in their discography, but it is for someone who saw the cover in the record store and made it His First Kinks Album. A fan can become a hater almost overnight in She's Breaking Up With The Band and a well-written review could be the gateway to discovering an act or style you were not aware of (God Bless The Music Press).
Melomaniacs is preaching to the converted, but there is nothing wrong with that. If anything, they get some recognition for their passion. Music is a drug without any nasty side-effects, safe for the hurt that it can induce financially.
Melomaniacs is a self-released album (CD, digital). Buy it from their website.
Tracks:- The Band I Can't Stand
- Their New Album
- First Time On CD
- His Record Collection
- God Bless The Music Press
- The Only Man She Ever Loved
- His First Kinks Album
- The Lyric Sheet
- She's Breaking Up With The Band
- Music(I/F)an
» The John Sally Ride on Bandcamp