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Dick Plant — Slipstream
((Not on label) no#, 2025, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-08-12

Slipstream Cover art

Chances are, if you have any records by Electric Light Orchestra, Roy Wood, Wizzard, Mick Dunford era Renaissance, Level 42, The Shadows, Hank Marvin, Jane Birkin, Def Leppard, The Vibratos, or even one of my obscure favorites, Strange Days’ 9 Parts to the Wind, among hundreds of other recordings from the 70s and 80s, then you’ve heard a recording engineered by Dick Plant. In recent years he’s even played guitar with the Vibratos, along with Warren Bennett. Perhaps surprisingly then, after a lifelong career as an in-demand engineer, in 2025 Plant has released Slipstream, his first album released under his own name, where he plays all of the instruments himself (the album is entirely instrumental), and composed ten of the album’s thirteen cuts, the remaining three being covers of well known tunes. His interests seem to be rooted in the classic early 60s surf-rock and movie soundtrack sound, though with far more emphasis on melody and style than on flashy playing; one could easily imagine hearing most of these tunes back in the day alongside songs by The Ventures and similarly inclined instrumental hits. The title track opens the album with a powerful surf feel, and Plant acquits himself well on multiple layers of guitar (acoustic and electric), bass, and drums —it’s an engaging theme that won’t leave your mind anytime soon. The next few tracks embrace a distinct movie soundtrack feel: “Palomino,” which also features some light keyboards in the background; “Navajo Nation” drives hard with a powerful rhythm juggernaut, then eases into the Euro-flavored “The Vienna Connection” with sort of an early-60s style. Then we come to the first of several carefully chosen covers: “Eleanor Rigby,” though it’s not like any version I’ve ever heard before, with a hard driving rhythm similar to the aforementioned “Navajo Nation.” Other pieces that Plant has chosen to cover are “I’ll Be There for You” (the theme from Friends) and the unforgettable “Theme from a Summer Place” which was a hit for Percy Faith in 1959, probably before most reading this were alive — nobody remembers the movie, but the song remains timeless. Many other of Plant’s originals have a distinct soundtrack flavor, like “Our Man in Moscow,” “Los Banditos,” and “Flight 19” with carefully chosen titles that could well be long forgotten films from a bygone era. More than anything, Slipstream is a fun collection of tunes that deserves a listen.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Dick Plant

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