Mendoza - s/t (1972 Sweden). Despite sporting a cover of a very mean looking mustachioed dude with a dangling cigarette and sunglasses - and who would presumeably be the band’s namesake - Mendoza are in reality a 6 piece band made up of names like Arne Gustafsson, Lennart Palmefors, and Björn Larsson. The evidence is before the court, and methinks these Swedish lads were cashing in on the Santana concept. Ya think? I guess if they went by LARSSON or OLSON it wouldn’t have the same impact now would it? No matter, because if this was the second coming of “Abraxas”, I could use any rationalization I felt like to justify my praise. But, alas, it’s not. Even if considering the opening instrumental was quite the smoker that held quite a bit of promise. For the most part, Mendoza sound like a typical American band, playing typical early 1970s American-roots rock. Naturally enough, the guitar work is the highlight, not surprising given the genre. No CD exists. For latin rock from Sweden, I would suggest making a beeline for Kvartetten Som Sprängde (who could also use a legit CD reissue).

Yoshitaka Azuma - Moonlight of Asia (1981 Japan). Early work by future video game composer. Somewhat similar to same period Kitaro, and a precursor to what Motoi Sakuraba would accomplish later in the decade. He also has other albums from this period (”Asian Wind”, “Far From Asia”), that I’ve been advised are much more laid back - and that “Moonlight of Asia” is the more progressive rock influenced of the bunch. Album was originally released on Columbia, and there appears to be no CD reissue available. Details for this artist in English are scarce.

Pilot - From the Album of the Same Name (1975 England). When I was about 9 years old, I loved the AM radio hit ‘Magic’, though I had no idea it was by a band called Pilot. I kept hoping it would show up on one of those K-Tel or Ronco Greatest Hits collections, so I could get my Mom to buy it at Woolco for me. It wasn’t until many years later that I even knew who the band was, and then I found out that Pilot were sort of the “farm club” for the Alan Parsons Project, providing many of their lead singers and even session musicians. And the Alan Parsons Project were one of the very first prog rock bands I got into… I was 11 or 12 when “Tales of Mystery and Imagination” was released. It’s interesting for me to see how they both tied into my formative interest in music. After all these years, I finally heard the album that spawned the ‘Magic’ hit. It’s straight up pop, no chaser, similar to another UK pop band called Jigsaw (who released another one of my favorite 3rd grade hits in ‘Sky High’). Good fun, though not likely to be of much interest for the adventurous music fan, other than you can hear similarities to the more commercial Parsons material.