The Bathers Marina Records trilogy received it’s first vinyl release in October 2020. Lagoon Blues, Sunpowder and Kelvingrove Baby were released on 180g vinyl and CD in remixed and remastered versions on 23 October 2020.
Scotland’s best-kept secret The Bathers will appeal to fans of The Blue Nile, Tom Waits and David Bowie. If you enjoy orchestrated, emotional, literate music that swerves from the standard rock template, The Bathers might become your new favourite band. You can thank me later.
Lagoon Blues
A 2020 remixed and remastered version of the album that was originally released on Marina Records in 1993. Lagoon Blues is an ambitious and emotional journey. Listen to the beautiful Venice Shoes, with its evocation of empty ballrooms and rainy nights on the lamp lit streets and city squares of Glasgow, below.
Lagoon Blues Pt. 1 Venice Shoes Gracefruit Never Too Late Fermina Fair Easter – for Edda Van Heemstra Pissoir / The Ornella Mutiny Through The Old Holmwood Sweetheart Sessions Lolita Via D’Oro Ave The Leopards Carnival Easter Sorbonne Lagoon Blues Pt. 2
A 2020 remixed and remastered version of the album that was originally released on Marina Records in 1995. Elizabeth Fraser of The Cocteau Twins contributes vocals to several tracks, most notably on the free-spirited The Angel On Ruskin (listen below).
Danger In Love The Angel On Ruskin Delft Faithless For Saskia Weem Rock Muse The Night Is Young Send Me Your Halo She’s Gone Forever The Dutch Venus Sunpowder
A 2020 remixed and remastered version of the final album in the Marina Records trilogy, originally released in 1997. Kelvingrove Baby features contributions from Justin Currie (Del Amitri) and James Grant (Love and Money).
The personal highlight on the albumis my favourite song from the band, the achingly beautiful If Love Could Last Forever.
“They flutter down like fireflies Tugging at your sleeves Somehow rise to shame you Bring you to your knees”
Thrive Girlfriend If Love Could Last Forever East Of East Delier Kelvingrove Baby Dial Once Upon A Time On The Rapenburg Girl From The Polders The Fragrance Remains Insane Hellespont In A Storm Twelve
UMC / Polydor have released a new Style Council collection: Long Hot Summers: The Story Of The Style Council.
The collection is available on CD and vinyl, and contains key single and album tracks from the band formed by Paul Weller & Mick Talbot after The Jam split.
This impressive collection features many of the great singles / EP and album tracks such as My Ever-Changing Moods, The Paris Match, Speak Like a Child, Have You Ever Had It Blue as well as less celebrated songs such as the stark Ghosts Of Dachau and the breezy How She Threw It All Away.
The collection includes tracks featuring drummer Steve White and vocalist Dee C. Lee, and was endorsed and co-compiled by Paul Weller.
Long Hot Summers: The Story Of The Style Council contains two previously unreleased recordings – a demo of the top 5 single My Ever Changing Moods (with strings), and an extended version of Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse (the original version featured on the band’s first album, Café Bleu).
The release ties in with a Sky Arts documentary about the band, featuring interviews with all key members, fans and collaborators.
Headstart for Happiness Long Hot Summer My Ever-Changing Moods Walls Come Tumbling Down! Party Chambers Wanted (or Waiter, There’s…) Shout to the Top! It Just Came to Pieces in My Hands Come to Milton Keynes Why I Went Missing Waiting Ghosts Of Dachau Down in the Seine The Paris Match Boy Who Cried Wolf Life at a Top People’s Health Farm Homebreakers Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse (Extended version)
Disc two
Speak Like a Child The Lodgers (Or She Was Only…) Money Go Round You’re the Best Thing How She Threw It All Away A Man of Great Promise The Piccadilly Trail A Solid Bond in Your Heart All Gone Away Sweet Loving Ways Promised Land Have You Ever Had It Blue It Didn’t Matter Spin’ Drifting Here’s One That Got Away A Woman’s Song Changing of the Guard My Ever-Changing Moods (Demo) Shout To The Top (Instrumental)
Vinyl Tracklisting:
Side A Headstart for Happiness Long Hot Summer My Ever-Changing Moods Walls Come Tumbling Down! Party Chambers
Side B Wanted (or Waiter, There’s…) Shout to the Top! It Just Came to Pieces in My Hands Come to Milton Keynes Why I Went Missing Waiting
Side C Ghosts Of Dachau Down in the Seine The Paris Match Life at a Top People’s Health Farm Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse (Extended version)
Side D Speak Like a Child The Lodgers (Or She Was Only…) Money Go Round You’re the Best Thing How She Threw It All Away
Side E A Man of Great Promise The Piccadilly Trail A Solid Bond in Your Heart Sweet Loving Ways Promised Land It Didn’t Matter
Side F Have You Ever Had It Blue Spin’ Drifting Here’s One That Got Away Changing of the Guard My Ever-Changing Moods (Demo)
Parlophone have reissued eight Kraftwerk albums on limited edition 180g coloured vinyl. The audio included on these re-issued albums will be the 2009 remasters.
The 79 tracks (from a marketing view-point, maybe there should have been 78 tracks!) cover the well-known punk and new wave hits from the year, along with lesser-known regional acts from Manchester, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The collection also includes an entertaining 48-page booklet that includes details on every track included in the compilation.
The first CD features some of the era’s big-hitters. Opening with Sham 69’s Borstal Breakout from January 1978, followed by one of the hardest-hitting singles by The Stranglers, 5 Minutes. The percussive Emergency by 999 is another highlight, as is the early Gary Numan release – Oh! Didn’t I Say by Tubeway Army.
Automatic Lover by The Vibrators fits in with the short-lived power pop movement of bands such as Tonight (Drummer Man) from the Spring of 1978. She’s So Modern by The Boomtown Rats reminds you what a powerful force the band were from 1978 to around 1981, with an amazing run of pop / new wave hit singles.
A pre-fame Japan offer Don’t Rain On My Parade and are a world away from the sound they settled on from Quiet Life in late 1979, that showcased their move from new wave guitars to something more sophisticated on the cusp of the 80s synth-pop explosion.
Concrete Jungle by The Coventry Automatics is an early track from the band that would soon become The Specials, with their mix of new wave and ska already starting to develop into the style they would use so successfully from 1979 onwards. The Only Ones Another Girl, Another Planet was unbelievably never a hit but is a classic single from this year, and sits well in this collection.
Magazine contribute the early single Touch And Go. Irish band Pretty Boy Floyd And The Gems Spread The Word Around is a song I missed at the time, but is worthy of inclusion here. The Steve Lillywhite produced When The Tanks Roll Over Poland Again by The Automatics has a great guitar sound and Jilted John’s only hit single (produced by Martin Hannett!) is one of the biggest selling tracks on this album.
The second CD opens with the track that gave the compilation it’s name, X-Ray Spex with The Day The World Turned Day-Glo, a song that has aged well. What a guitar sound! Up Against The Wall by the Tom Robinson Band is driven by a powerful guitar riff from the late, great Danny Kustow.
Tyne and Wear band The Carpettes (who I saw at least once in my local venue, Woolwich Tramshed) supply 2ne1, whilst the Midge Ure fronted Rich Kids offer the title track from their only studio album, Ghosts Of Princes In Towers, an album I still love.
Another couple of favourites sit on CD 2 – the John Foxx fronted Ultravox with Slow Motion and the Status Quo pastiche / Mike Oldfield mentioning Heads Down No Nonsense Mindless Boogie by Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias. I’ve still got a double 7″ vinyl of this single somewhere. I must dig it out.
The third and final disc opens with my favourite Public Image Ltd song, their debut single Public Image. Stiff Little Fingers 2nd single Alternative Ulster and Life’s A Gamble by Penetration are also highlights. Penetration’s Pauline Murray releases a new solo album in the Autumn.
Johnny Thunders full-length album version of You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory is included here, although I prefer the short, stripped back Pete Wylie (Wah!) version, as part of the Hope (I Wish You’d Believe Me) single in 1983. The Saints Are Coming by the Skids features some of Stuart Adamson’s earliest incendiary guitar lines. Again, the compilers choose a deeper cut from one of the era’s biggest bands with In The Crowd from The Jam’s All Mod Cons album.
The punk-pop of Destination Venus by The Rezillos is a forgotten tune from this era. Flashing In The Subway by pub-rockers Tyla Gang comes from the more blues / Dr Feelgood side of new wave rock. RIP Sean Tyla. 10:15 Saturday Night by The Cure is a less obvious choice for this compilation, and so stands out amongst some of the more standard new wave blueprint tracks.
If you are a fan of punk and new wave and want to delve deeper than the hit singles, this Cherry Red compilation offers good value for money and is an entertaining collection from a vintage year for music.
Borstal Breakout – Sham 69 5 Minutes – The Stranglers Emergency – 999 Don’t Tango On My Heart – The Doll Oh! Didn’t I Say – Tubeway Army Automatic Lover – The Vibrators I’m A Boy – Cyanide Bad In Bed – The Electric Chairs Lost Lenore – Attrix Stuck With You – Zones Party Clothes – Subs You’re A Disease – The Outcasts She’s So Modern – The Boomtown Rats I’m Civilised – Menace Moonmidsummer – The Freshies The Kids Are Alright – The Pleasers Don’t Rain On My Parade – Japan Concrete Jungle – The Coventry Automatics Another Girl, Another Planet – The Only Ones Touch And Go – Magazine Spread The Word Around – Pretty Boy Floyd And The Gems When The Tanks Roll Over Poland Again – The Automatics Stella’s Got A Fella – Social Security Chloroform – The Bleach Boys Jilted John – Jilted John Rat Up A Drainpipe – The Members Glandular Angela – The Exits Why Don’t You Do Me Right? – Alternative Tv
Disc Two
The Day The World Turned Day-Glo – X-Ray Spex Up Against The Wall – Tom Robinson Band Central Detention Centre – Gyro Ain’t Got A Clue – The Lurkers The Backstreet Boys – Patrik Fitzgerald Nobody Loves You When You’re Old And Gay – Dead Fingers Talk I Can’t Resist – The Reaction I Can’t Wait – The Jolt Kinnel Tommy – Ed Banger Loving A Killer – The Stoat A.C.A.B. – The Rowdies Start All Over Again – No Sweat I Believe – The V.I.P.S 2ne1 – The Carpettes Ghosts Of Princes In Towers – Rich Kids Kung Fu International – John Cooper Clarke Ringing In The Streets – The Ripchords Slow Motion – Ultravox Love Is Blind – Nightshift Rock’n’roll Ain’t Dead – The Questions Cortina Cowboys – Blue Steam Birmingham Reggie – The Others Live In A Car – UK Subs It’s Alright – The Turn Teenage Vice – The Teardrops Heads Down No Nonsense Mindless Boogie – Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias
Disc Three
Public Image – Public Image Ltd Alternative Ulster – Stiff Little Fingers Light At Your Window – The Detonators Fibre – Spizzoil Life’s A Gamble – Penetration 28/8/78 – Scritti Politti Europeans – Europeans Take The Cash (K.A.S.H.) – Wreckless Eric You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory – Johnny Thunders The Saints Are Coming – Skids It’s The New Thing – The Fall Alphaville – The Monochrome Set In The Crowd – The Jam Starry Eyes – The Records Weekend Girl – The Bozos Destination Venus – The Rezillos Flashing In The Subway – Tyla Gang 10:15 Saturday Night – The Cure Larger Than Life – The Parrots Wrong Street – Nicky & The Dots New Town – The Vitamins Love Song – Passage What She Wants, She Needs – Eater Never Met Suzi – Time Machine White Christmas – Slush
The boxset edition (which like the previous TFF box-sets, is likely to sell-out at some point down the line) includes a Steven Wilson 5.1 surround sound mix on the bluray, whilst the other 4 CDs in the boxset contain a remaster of the album, a CD of b-sides, remixes and edits plus two CD’s of unreleased audio (including alt mixes and demos).
The booklet for the box-set includes interviews and notes by Paul Sinclair who runs the excellent Super Deluxe Edition website.
Tim Bowness releases his latest solo album, Late Night Laments, on Inside Out Music on August 28th 2020.
The album is available in a double-CD package version as well as on vinyl (including a limited edition blue vinyl from Burning Shed). Late Night Laments was co-produced by Bowness and Brian Hulse, mixed by Steven Wilson, with mastering by Calum Malcolm (The Blue Nile, Prefab Sprout). The album’s beautiful artwork is by Jarrod Gosling (I Monster/Regal Worm).
Late Night Laments is consistent in the mood and pace of the music, but is widely unpredictable lyrically – touching on generational divides, ideologically motivated violence, social exclusion, and a much-loved children’s author’s mental breakdown.
Opening with the most musically uplifting track, Northern Rain sets the scene for the rest of the album. Icy cold 80s synths and minimal percussion are the order of the day throughout. Northern Rain is a mix of The Blue Nile, topped up with the pop melancholy of Deacon Blue’s masterful Raintown (in part due to the backing vocals from Melanie Woods).
“the world we knew is dying, and maybe that’s okay”
The temperature drops further for I’m Better Now, with dark lyrics and heavily processed Björk Vespertine era beats. A performance highlight on this track is the guitar work from Kavus Torabi, that sits atop the washes of chilling synths.
“two seconds of hate, a lifetime of grieving – I couldn’t wait to stick the knife in”
Darkline has a feel of no-man’s returning jesus, with the discordant angular arpeggios, and featuring some fine synth work from Richard Barbieri, who Tim worked with on the Flame album.
“I turn to rust as the planet burns”
We Caught The Light features Bowness on “several echoed ukuleles”, that underpin the song and add its initial rhythm. The double bass from Colin Edwin and drums from Evan Carson add a mid-70s feel, and the vocal arrangement is constantly evolving, especially on the end section, where Bowness is joined again by Kavus Torabi and Melanie Wood (Knifeworld).
The Hitman Who Missed contains one of the strongest arrangements on the album, from sparse bass and piano instrumentation to a more expansive middle section, that drops and re-builds at several points. Another song that harks back to earlier times, with some lovely vibraphone from Tom Atherton, who proves that there is room for the instrument beyond Left Bank Two (Take Hart).
Photo by Mark Wood
Credit must go to Tim’s main musical foil on this album. Brian Hulse adds keyboards, occasional guitar and some fascinating drum programming throughout Late Night Laments.
One of the most emotional tracks is one of the sparsest, with Never A Place. Bowness often writes songs that are built on repeating, decaying and evolving riffs, and this is a perfect example. The melodies grow from inbetween the slabs of heavily processed sequenced keyboards and noise, and deliver something unique and unexpected. A definite album highlight for me, and a track I find myself returning to often. And the vibraphone is back for this song too, another plus point for me.
The Last Getaway arrangement reminds me somewhat of a gentler exploration (than no-man’s soft shoulders from flowermouth) of Suzanne Vega’s experimentation on her 99.9F° album. This is the heartbreaking song that Tim describes as being about a much-loved children’s author.
“I hated how I’d feel, so I struck the only deal.”
Hidden Life would not have sounded out of place on the first Bowness / Chilvers album. A cheap drum machine and just Bowness / Hulse, no guest contributors here.
A combination of the musical nods to The Associates (Breakfast) and the instrumentation / arrangement gives a real late night 80s feel as the album heads to its conclusion.
One Last Call is a perfect end to the album, and my favourite lyric and vocal performance on the album. The song is heart-wrenching, and is up there with Post-its, truenorth, Dancing For You and Nowhere Good To Go in the sad songs say so much category.
The mood reminds me a little of the delicate If Leaving Me Is Easy from Face Value. In fact, Phil Collins would have killed for this song back in the early 80s. The good news is, Tim does not have a paint pot on his piano, so all appears good in the house of Bowness.
“I thought that I was empty and empty I’d remain”
One Last Call evokes the weightless feel of the early hours, and before you know it, the album abruptly ends, leaving you wanting more, so back to the beginning you go.
Photo by Mark Wood
Whilst this is musically a million miles away from Lost In The Ghost Light, Late Night Laments shares a musical cohesion that makes for a very rewarding and emotional listening experience, and the album holds a unique and satisfying position in the Bowness solo catalogue.
Tom Atherton – vibraphone 1, 4, 5, 6, 9 Richard Barbieri – synths and synth solos 3, 7 Evan Carson – drums and percussion 1, 4 Colin Edwin – double bass 4, 5, 9 Alistair ‘The Curator’ Murphy – dianatron 5 Kavus Torabi – glissando guitar and guitar solo 2 / backing vocals 4 Melanie Woods – backing vocals 1, 2, 4
The bonus disc on the CD edition features five unreleased pieces, four from the Late Night Laments sessions and one – featuring Peter Hammill and Adam Holzman – a Flowers At The Scene outtake.
Cheerleaders For The Damned (extras)
The Other Side (4.11) Beauty In Decay (3.43) Beyond The Firing Line (4.19) Cheerleader For The Damned (2.52) War Games By The Sea (3.00)
The Prince Estate is continuing to release his studio albums in expanded form, complete with material from his legendary Vault. Considered by many to be his masterpiece, Sign O’ The Times is being issued on vinyl and CD, remastered and overflowing with extras.
The super deluxe edition (8 CD and 1 DVD) includes all the audio material that Prince officially released in 1987, as well as 45 previously unreleased studio songs recorded between May 1979 and July 1987, and a complete live audio performance from the June 20 1987 show on the Sign O’ The Times Tour at Stadium Galgenwaard in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Also included is a brand-new DVD containing the complete, previously unreleased New Year’s Eve benefit concert at Paisley Park on December 31 1987, which was Prince’s final performance of the Sign O’ The Times Tour stage show and his only on-stage collaboration with jazz legend Miles Davis.
Weighing in at a hefty price, this is a real collectors edition – and includes a 120-page hardcover book with previously unseen images and hand-written lyrics.
The super deluxe edition (like the 1999 super-deluxe) is likely to sell-out, and become a collectors item. If you are fan of Prince, the super deluxe is a treasure trove of unreleased music, plus one of the greatest albums of all time in remastered form. Dig deep, it will be worth it!
Sign O’ The Times Play In The Sunshine Housequake The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker It Starfish And Coffee Slow Love Hot Thing Forever In My Life
Remastered Album (CD 2)
U Got The Look If I Was Your Girlfriend Strange Relationship I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man The Cross It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night Adore
Single Mixes & Edits (CD 3)
Sign O’ The Times (7” single edit) La, La, La, He, He, Hee (7” single edit) La, La, La, He, He, Hee (Highly Explosive) (7” single edit) If I Was Your Girlfriend (7” single edit) Shockadelica (“If I Was Your Girlfriend” B-side) Shockadelica (12” long version) U Got the Look (Long Look) (12” edit) Housequake (7” edit) Housequake (7 Minutes MoQuake) I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Fade 7” edit) Hot Thing (7” single edit) Hot Thing (Extended Remix) Hot Thing (Dub Version)
Vault, Part 1 (CD 4)
All tracks previously unreleased
I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (1979 version) Teacher, Teacher (1985 version) All My Dreams Can I Play With U? (featuring Miles Davis) Wonderful Day (original version) Strange Relationship (original version) Visions The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker (with horns) Witness 4 The Prosecution (version 1) Power Fantastic (live in studio) And That Says What? Love And Sex A Place In Heaven (Prince vocal) Colors Crystal Ball (7” mix) Big Tall Wall (version 1) Nevaeh Ni Ecalp A In A Large Room With No Light
Vault, Part 2 (CD 5)
All tracks previously unreleased
Train It Ain’t Over ‘Til The Fat Lady Sings Eggplant (Prince vocal) Everybody Want What They Don’t Got Blanche Soul Psychodelicide The Ball Adonis And Bathsheba Forever In My Life (early vocal studio run-through) Crucial (alternate lyrics) The Cocoa Boys When The Dawn Of The Morning Comes Witness 4 The Prosecution (version 2) It Be’s Like That Sometimes
Vault, Part 3 (CD 6)
All tracks previously unreleased
Emotional Pump Rebirth Of The Flesh (with original outro) Cosmic Day Walkin’ In Glory Wally I Need A Man Promise To Be True Jealous Girl (version 2) There’s Something I Like About Being Your Fool Big Tall Wall (version 2) A Place In Heaven (Lisa vocal) Wonderful Day (12” mix) Strange Relationship (1987 Shep Pettibone Club Mix)
Live In Utrecht (CD 7 & CD 8)
All tracks previously unreleased
Intro/Sign O’ The Times Play In The Sunshine Little Red Corvette Housequake Girls & Boys Slow Love Take The “A” Train/Pacemaker/I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man Hot Thing Four (With Sheila E. Drum Solo) If I Was Your Girlfriend Let’s Go Crazy When Doves Cry Purple Rain 1999 Forever In My Life Kiss The Cross It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night
Live At Paisley Park – December 31, 1987 (DVD)
All tracks previously unreleased
Sign O’ The Times Play In The Sunshine Little Red Corvette Erotic City Housequake Slow Love Do Me, Baby Adore I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man What’s Your Name Jam Let’s Pretend We’re Married Delirious Jack U Off Drum Solo Twelve Hot Thing If I Was Your Girlfriend Let’s Go Crazy When Doves Cry Purple Rain 1999 U Got The Look It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night Medley (featuring Miles Davis)
Please note – video content is exclusive to the physical DVD and will not appear on digital download or streaming versions of the Super Deluxe Edition set.
Deluxe Edition 3 CD Set Remastered Album + Single Mixes & Edits
Remastered Album (Disc 1)
Sign O’ The Times Play In The Sunshine Housequake The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker It Starfish And Coffee Slow Love Hot Thing Forever In My Life
Remastered Album (Disc 2)
U Got The Look If I Was Your Girlfriend Strange Relationship I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man The Cross It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night Adore
Single Mixes & Edits (Disc 3)
Sign O’ The Times (7” single edit) La, La, La, He, He, Hee (7” single edit) La, La, La, He, He, Hee (Highly Explosive) (7” single edit) If I Was Your Girlfriend (7” single edit) Shockadelica (“If I Was Your Girlfriend” B-side) Shockadelica (12” long version) U Got the Look (Long Look) (12” edit) Housequake (7” edit) Housequake (7 Minutes MoQuake) I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Fade 7” edit) Hot Thing (7” single edit) Hot Thing (Extended Remix) Hot Thing (Dub Version)
Musik Music Musiqueis a 3 CD compilation from Cherry Red, chronicling the beginnings of the synth-pop music revolution that was to dominate the charts for years to come. Whilst containing well-known names from the era (Buggles, The Human League, Ultravox and Spandau Ballet) the tracks chosen from these artists are not the obvious big-hits.
The real discoveries and delights in this compendium are the more obscure tracks, from the likes of XYNN, Nick Nicely and other acts who often released just a handful of songs before disappearing forever.
The first of the 3 CDs contains one of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’s finest earlier songs, the naggingly addictive Messages. The Human League are represented by their cover of Mick Ronson’s Only After Dark, taken from the final album produced by the line-up that featured Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, who left the League to form Heaven 17 with Glenn Gregory later in 1980.
Victims of the Riddle was the debut single from Toyah (it was actually released in 1979, but we will let that slip!). A keyboard driven song, with minimal guitar, it sits well on this compilation. Waiting by Ultravox is a good choice, as is Hazel O’Connor’s Sons And Lovers, with tribal drums offsetting the sax and synth squelches.
My favourite track on Disc One is from one of the most under-rated albums of the 80s, Sympathy from the debut (and only) album from Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls. Pauline was the vocalist in new wave band Penetration, and this Martin Hannett produced album saw Murray move in a more electronic direction. If you haven’t heard this album, its definitely worth investigating.
The compilation’s title track is from Zeus aka producer Zeus B. Held (Fashion’s Fabrique, John Foxx’s The Golden Section, Pete Wylie Sinful) and is a charming vocoder delivered pop song. XYNN (German multimedia artist Michael Winter) delivers the sparse and haunting Computed Man.
Gina X Performance (another Zeus B. Held collaboration) is represented by Vendor’s Box, a fuller arrangement than a lot of the purely electronic tracks on this compilation.
Lawnchairs by US band Our Daughter’s Wedding uses a similar synth sequence to the OMD track that kicks off the first CD, and is a regular on alternative 80s compilations / 80s themed radio.
Two of my favourites (from the songs I was unaware of previously) sit on the first CD. Diamonds, Fur Coat, Champagne by Suicide was produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars, and DCT Dreams by Nick Nicely is a lo-fi masterpiece, overflowing with more than it’s fair share of pop hooks.
The second disc opens with a key early Spandau Ballet track Glow, and a hidden gem from Robin Scott’s M in Official Secrets (avoiding the obvious Pop Muzik, great song as it is).
Galactica from French space-rock band Rockets is well sequenced next to Kim Wilde’s album track Tuning In Tuning On and Landscape’s European Man, which pre-dated their most well-known song from 1981, Einstein a Go-Go. Admit it,that song is stuck in your head now, isn’t it?
Melbourne band The Metronomes provide a “Ray Bradbury inspired tale of star-crossed love between two computing devices” with their contribution A Circuit Like Me, that cosies up to one of John Foxx’s early, icy slice of the future singles No One Driving.
The most well-known track on this compilation is the Midge Ure assisted Philip Lynott (Thin Lizzy) single Yellow Pearl, a song that was used as the theme for Top Of The Pops during the first half of the decade.
Dalek I Love You (Destiny) by Liverpool’s Dalek I is a premium slice of electronic new wave influenced pop. French band Taxi Girl contribute an early single in Mannequin. Fans of The Stranglers will remember Taxi Girl from the 1981 La Folie tour and the JJ Burnel produced / Jet Black featuring Seppuku album in 1982.
This World Of Water, a no 31 with a bullet UK singles hit by New Musik, a band formed by producer Tony Mansfield, sits in the track list just before one of my favourite Japan songs, the Roxy Music Manifesto influenced Quiet Life.
The third and final disc opens with one of Buggles finest songs, Astroboy (And The Proles On Parade). Last year there were rumours of a new, third Buggles album. Here’s hoping….
The second song titled Mannequin is from Glasgow’s Berlin Blondes, with a great mixture of new wave basslines and electronic synth lead lines. Yello supply a scratchy, discordant Bimbo and the pure-pop quota is increased by The Lonely Spy from David Balfe and Bill Drummond’s Lori And The Chameleons project.
Blood Donor serve up a quirky Doctor Who homage and The Korgis Drawn And Quartered highlights a different side to the band who had a huge hit with the dreamy Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime.
The debut album from Visage was so influential, and single Mind Of A Toy features here. The handclaps and slap-bass mutant funk of Mataya Clifford and the track Living Wild adds a wild sense of fun to the final disc.
Karel Fialka’s The Eyes Have It was a near-hit in 1980, and received lots of radio play at the time. The Russians Are Coming by The Red Squares is a short track driven by cold war paranoia.
The compilation ends with La Düsseldorf and their boozy sounding Dampfriemen, drawing on early Kraftwerk and what sounds like too many visits to Bavarian Bierkeller’s. Dampfriemen is the only song on the album featuring a kazoo solo along side the electronic instruments, so a fitting end to this entertaining glimpse into the birth of 80s synthpop.
Disc one
Messages – Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark Musik, Music, Musique – Zeus Coitus Interruptus – Fad Gadget Computed Man – XYNN Metal Love – Rod Vey Vendor’s Box – Gina X Performance Lawnchairs – Our Daughter’s Wedding Tokyo – Science Only After Dark – The Human League Victims Of The Riddle – Toyah DCT Dreams – Nick Nicely Diamonds, Fur Coat, Champagne – Suicide Waiting – Ultravox Money – Moebius Falling Years – The Fallout Club Da Vorne Steht Ne Ampel – Der Plan No, Nothing, Never – Dark Day Sons And Lovers – Hazel O’Connor Sympathy – Pauline Murray And The Invisible Girls
Disc two
Glow – Spandau Ballet Official Secrets – M Chip n Roll – Silicon Teens Galactica – Rockets Tuning In Tuning On – Kim Wilde European Man – Landscape Can’t You Take A Joke? Ha Ha Hi Hi! – Henriette Coulouvrat A Circuit Like Me – The Metronomes No One Driving – John Foxx Kebabträume – D.A.F. Harmonitalk – Gary Sloan And Clone Yellow Pearl – Philip Lynott Dalek I Love You (Destiny) – dalek I Mannequin – Taxi Girl This World Of Water – New Musik Quiet Life – Japan Chase The Dragon – Kevin Harrison Diskomo – The Residents
Disc three
Astroboy (And The Proles On Parade) – Buggles Mannequin – Berlin Blondes A Certain Way To Go – The Passage Between – Sic Bimbo – Yello Images Of Delusion – Genocide The Lonely Spy – Lori And The Chameleons Lucy – Craze I’m A Computer – The Goo-Q Doctor …? – Blood Donor Brushing Your Hair – Alex Fergusson Drawn And Quartered – The Korgis Mind Of A Toy – Visage D’ya Think I’m Sexy – British Standard Unit Living Wild – Mataya Clifford Private Lives – Systems The Eyes Have It – Karel Fialka Suis-je Normale – Nini Raviolette China Blue Vision – Eyeless In Gaza The Russians Are Coming – The Red Squares Dampfriemen – La Dusseldorf
Lonely Boy – The Asylum Years Anthology is a 6 CD / 1 DVD collection from Andrew Gold, released by Esoteric Recordings via Cherry Red on 24 July 2020. The collection features all of the solo albums released by the singer – songwriter on the Asylum label between 1975 and 1980.
Prior to his solo career, Andrew Gold worked with Linda Ronstadt, as multi-instrumentalist and arranger for her 1974 Heart Like a Wheel album.
The Lonely Boy anthology contains the studio albums Andrew Gold (1975), What’s Wrong With This Picture (1976), All This And Heaven Too (1978) and Whirlwind (1980). The studio albums are all newly re-mastered from the original Asylum Records master tapes, and have never sounded better.
Disc 5 is titled Out-Takes And Unreleased Recordings, with disc 6 consisting of Live Recordings – Released 1976 / 1977 whilst the final disc is a DVD of promotional videos and live recordings / interviews (including quite a few from the legendary Old Grey Whistle Test TV show).
The debut album perfectly captures the mood and the sound of 1975, with a mixture of early 70s Laurel Canyon and late 60s Beatles inspired harmonies, particularly on Heartaches in Heartaches and Hang My Picture Straight.
The most familiar song on Gold’s debut is Endless Flight, that was famously covered by Leo Sayer on his best-selling 1976 album of the same name.
What’s Wrong With This Picture? contains Gold’s most famous song, Lonely Boy but is a solid mid-70s rock/pop album in its own right. Highlights include the bittersweet ballad Passing Thing, the mostly acoustic and country tinged Firefly plus a playful cover of Maurice Williams’s Stay (that was also recorded a year later by Jackson Browne, in slightly rewritten form, on Browne’s Running On Empty album).
All This and Heaven Too is the most rewarding of Gold’s solo albums from the Asylum years period. How Can This Be Love has hints of 10cc (Gold would later record with 10cc and form Wax with Graham Gouldman).
The charming space-themed Oh Urania (Take Me Away), the sparse but haunting beauty of Looking for My Love and the masterpiece that is Genevieve are career-highlights. This is the beauty of box-sets such as this, discovering songs that never made it onto mainstream radio at the time, and certainly do not feature on 70s or 80s themed radio stations now but are lost classics, crafted with love and deserving of our attention.
Most people will know the two big hits from this album, Thank You for Being a Friend (the theme to NBC sitcom The Golden Girls) and Gold’s biggest hit in my neck of the woods, Never Let Her Slip Away, which features background vocals from J. D. Souther, Timothy B. Schmit (Poco / Eagles) and rumour has it, an uncredited Freddie Mercury. Never Let Her Slip Away is one of my favourite singles from the seventies, and a perfect pop song.
The Asylum years ended with the Whirlwind album, released as the new decade began. More guitar-heavy than previous Gold albums and more in-step with current trends such the new-wave infused pop of The Police and Joe Jackson, highlights include the nods to his earlier work with Sooner or Later and the slide-guitar driven Make Up Your Mind.
The live recordings disc, with performances from 1976 and 1977 is overflowing with memorable performances, and the quality is pretty good, considering the age of the recordings.
The out-takes and unreleased recordings disc is a fascinating dip below the artist’s engine, with excellent alt-takes such as a must-hear version of Lonely Boy and a sublime bossa-nova instrumental version of Genevieve.
The sleeve-notes, lyrics and an informative essay on Gold’s work from Don Breithaupt add to the value of this essential collection for lovers of 70s music.
Lonely Boy – The Asylum Years Anthology is an excellent collection, that provides the best of the 70s work of Andrew Gold, and also serves as a charming snapshot of this period in rock and pop music.
Howl is the latest studio album from John Foxx and The Maths, and is released on Metamatic Records on July 24 2020.
Joining John Foxx, Benge and Hannah Peel on this album is former Ultravox guitarist Robin Simon, who first worked with Foxx on Systems of Romance in 1978.
My Ghost sets the scene – guitars and synth’s duelling for attention, and an uptempo glam-rock meets early Prince beat. Intriguing lyrics and heavily processed vocals add a layer of mystery to this addictive opening track, that has hints of post-punk in the end section, referencing Foxx’s Ultravox work as well as some of the his work on The Garden (my favourite John Foxx album).
“my ghost comes running at me, like living smoke from a burning tree”
Howl was the first single from the album, initially available on Foxx’s bandcamp page and it was clear that this new material would appeal to fans of his earlier albums. Howl is so satisfying, perfectly titled (the guitars do ‘howl’) and a joy to listen to, with the mix of electronica and chopped up and wild lead / rhythm guitar work referencing late seventies Bowie.
There is no time to pause, as the psychedelia of Everything Is Happening At The Same Time may slow down the BPM’s slightly, but the thick wall of sound is still a powerful statement. Benge and Hannah Peel excel on this beautifully produced and arranged piece.
Tarzan And Jane Regained is a more lo-fi production, and a simpler arrangement initially, as the buzzsaw guitar layers build incrementally as it becomes one of the albums most memorable tracks. Each playback reveals further details within the production, as previously hidden synth and guitar lines rise to the surface.
The sound changes with the widescreen clarity of The Dance, a song that showcases some of the most inventive synth lines on Howl. The guitars are used more as washes rather tan lead or rhythm, and sit further down in the mix, rising to the forefront during the chorus, which is pure Siouxsie & The Banshees from the Ju Ju era.
The dark, wild and seedy streets and characters of 1970s New York are celebrated in New York Times, a song screaming out to be released as a single. New York Times contains one of Foxx’s most memorable choruses, topped off by a great vocal performance making this track so vital.
“What would it take, to remove all the hate”
The darkest track on Howl is Last Time I Saw You, which drips with disdain and despair, and references Soho’s Berwick Street in London.
“The first time I saw you, I had to look away”
Even though this is probably Foxx at his most musically obtuse, I find myself returning to this song more than any on Howl. It is the most interesting lyric on the album, and I have no idea to the meaning behind Last Time I Saw You, which makes it all the more intriguing.
Howl is an intense listening experience, made sweeter by the delicate grace of its final song, Strange Beauty. Reminding me of the fragility of The Cocteau Twins at times, with chorus driven guitars and some shiver-inducing original 80s electronica, all four band members shine on this career highlight. Foxx also delivers a lyric and vocal full of elegance and longing.
“And when it fades way, leaving me with just a trace of of strange beauty, of strange beauty, stranger than anything I’ve ever known”
Strange Beauty is timeless, and as the synth solo’s make way to a slow fade, you wish it could go on for longer, which is the sign of a great song.
Howl is a rare beast – an album that works as a perfect headphone experience, as well as blasting loud from your speakers. The production does a superb job in enabling this rewarding listening experience.
This is the album I have wanted to hear from John Foxx for a long-time – taking his guitar-led past into the same room as the stark electronica he is renowned for.
This incarnation of John Foxx And The Maths seem to have hit a peak, with a formula that will hopefully lead to more new music in the future. I cannot wait to hear what Foxx / early Ultravox fans think of this album, as there is so much here to enjoy and excite.
John Foxx (vocals/guitars) Benge (keyboards/percussion) Robin Simon (guitars) Hannah Peel (violin)
My Ghost Howl Everything Is happening At The Same Time Tarzan And Jane Regained The Dance New York Times Last Time I Saw You Strange Beauty
