ONCE UPON A TIME.....Hollywood Situation

HUDSON BROTHERS Hollywood Situation (Casablanca,1974) - Pop,Rock No one would ever dream that a summer-replacement variety-show comic team could also be the out-of-nowhere musical sensations of the year, but that's exactly what the Hudson Brothers sound like to me. Hollywood Situtation, a hastily assembled album rush released to coincide with their TV show, communicates that rarest of contemporary commodities -- actual, infectious excitement. The title rocker jolts the adrenalin right off, and a succession of irresistible melodies, brash, dynamic rock and exhilarating harmonies sustain the initial intensity. The Hudsons display enviable polish, too, on "Song for Stephanie," "Three of Us" and the slower, amazingly Lennonesque hit single, "So You Are a Star." But even their lesser tunes ("Ma Ma Ma Baby") have that essential raw edge that removes them from the ordinary pale. The three Hudson Brothers wrote everything and played almos...