Happy birthday, Alan Parsons!

Alan Parsons, born December 20, 1948 in London, England, is the mind behind The Alan Parsons Project and engineer extraordinare behind The Beatles' Abbey Road and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

It is his partnership with Eric Woolfson, better known as The Alan Parsons Project, that I enjoy most.  Got all their albums!  Parsons has been nominated for a Grammy 11 times, two times each in 1976 and 1979. 

This month is the 33rd anniversary of Vulture Culture's release in 1984.  The first Alan Parsons Project tune I remember hearing on the radio was Damned if I Do, Damned if I Don't from Eve.  Several years later, I heard Time from Turn of a Friendly Card.  We all remember that one!

The Alan Parsons Project releases "Turn of a Friendly Card" 1980

The Alan Parsons Project released The Turn of a Friendly Card November 1, 1980, their fifth studio album.  I'm pretty sure that the theme of this album has something to do with card games.  Two hit singles came from the album, Games People Play and Time, the first time Eric Woolfson was featured in a lead vocal.

The album peaked at #13 on the U.S. Billboard 200.

The Alan Parsons Project releases "Ammonia Avenue" 1984

The seventh album by one of the best bands ever, the Alan Parsons Project, was released February 7, 1984.  Ammonia Avenue was inspired by Eric Woolfson's visit to Imperial Chemical Industries in Britain, where he saw nothing but miles of pipes.  The only other thing in sight was a sign that read "Ammonia Avenue".

Their biggest hit from the album was Don't Answer Me which reached #1 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary charts.  It was followed by Prime Time (my favorite) and Since the Last Goodbye.

The Alan Parsons Project releases "Gaudi" 1987

The tenth and final studio album by The Alan Parsons Project, Gaudi, was released in January 1987.  Eric Woolfson wrote the rock opera Freudiana, which was released in 1990 and Alan Parsons pursued a solo career.

Gaudi referred to the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi, whose best known creation is La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain.  A song dedicated to the building is the opening track.

Paseo de Gracia refers to a major thoroughfare in Barcelona.  Gaudi designed some of the unique buildings seen along the street.