The Kane Gang’s 1985 debut, The Bad and Lowdown World of The Kane Gang, is to be reissued on coloured vinyl early next year under the ‘Gary Crowley’s Lost 80s’ banner.
Originally issued on the Kitchenware label, the album spawned four singles, ‘Small Town Creed’, ‘Gun Law’, ‘Closest Thing To Heaven’ and ‘Respect Yourself’. The latter was a top 30 hit, and ‘Closest Thing To Heaven’ peaked at number 12 in August 1984, rubbing shoulders with Queen, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, George Michael and Cyndi Lauper!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCAtiW_IsXU
The album as produced by Pete Wingfield, and featured P. P. Arnold and a young Sam Brown as backing vocalists. The Kane Gang consisted of vocalists Martin Brammer and Paul Woods, plus multi-instrumentalist Dave Brewis and despite having a short career of only two studio albums (Miracle was issued in 1987) Gary Crowley remembers them well:
“I am absolutely cock-a-hoop that it’s is being given a vinyl re-release under our GC Lost 80s umbrella because it’s an album that I return to regularly. Signed to the uber-cool Kitchenware label, they were an under-rated band in my opinion whose distinctive sound saw them taking their cue from a raft of Soul Funk greats, and you can clearly hear that love right across the album. It is chock-a-block with singles but there are also other songs that also stand out for me. The Chic guitar driven joy of ‘How Much Longer’ and the dreamy, shimmering ‘Crease In His Hat’ being two cases in point. The band would later go on to enjoy success on the American Black R&B chart (which must have thrilled them to bits)”
Gary Crowley
The Bad and Lowdown World of The Kane Gang is reissued on 140g translucent green vinyl on 25 February 2022, via Demon Records.
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The Kane Gang
The Bad and Lowdown World of The Kane Gang - green vinyl LP
I have decided to use the word ‘favourite’ this year, rather than ‘best’, for SDE’s look back at new albums of 2021, simply because ‘best’ rather suggests that you’ve listened to everything and of course that is not the case. So what follows is very much a small selection of highlights from albums that, for one reason or another, came to my attention and were listened to with some regularity. Of course, many other great records will have been released this year and this is where you come in! I urge you to post about your choices and favourites in the comments section because there’s nothing better than discovering great music via recommendation!
Album of the Year: Crowded House / Dreamers are Waiting
I will be honest, and admit that the last two Crowded House outings – 2006’s Time On Earth and particularly 2010’s Intriguer – had left me, not cold exactly, but perhaps with the feeling that I’d never really LOVE another CH studio album again (should one emerge). So when Dreamers are Waiting came along this year, I did approach it with a fair degree of trepidation and, at first, thought my worst fears were justified. The album initially felt too low-key, seemingly lacking the trademark big pop hooks and the songwriting craft of yore. It rather drifted by, politely, without making its mark.
Thankfully, I didn’t just turn over to the TV page and forget this long-player. These first impressions were off the mark and the album revealed itself as a classic ‘grower’. The listeners’ persistence and patience is dutifully rewarded as Dreamers are Waiting unfurls its charms and presents its assets in a slow and controlled manner.
The band reshuffle felt harsh on the excellent multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart (who found himself surplus to requirements), but the new line-up – Neil Finn; sons Liam & Elroy; original member Nick Seymour and the band’s classic-era producer Mitchell Froom (on keyboards) – works very well. In fact, everyone contributes in a songwriting capacity to the excellent ‘Playing With Fire’, which is the second song on the 12-track album. ‘To The Island’ was the single, so you may well know that number, but the nostalgic and melancholic ‘Sweet Tooth’ already sounds like a classic.
But it’s on side two (in vinyl parlance) where the album really stretches its legs and impresses, with a wonderful run of songs, brilliantly arranged and performed. ‘Too Good For This World’ has the lo-fi charm of 1995’s FINN album (which makes sense, since this track is co-written by Neil and brother Tim) and ‘Start of Something’ drips with atmosphere, features some brilliant harmonies and offers a sublime chorus. Neil’s ‘Real Life Woman’ is arguably the best song on the record and rather punches you in the heart as it holds off it’s wonderful and simple chorus line for two long verses and it’s hard not to love the chaotic but charming ‘Love Isn’t Hard At All’.
This album was rather under-promoted in the UK and deserved more than it’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance on the UK chart (it peaked at #6). A COVID-delayed UK tour didn’t help and this record will possibly get a second wind next year when the band finally perform in Britain. Sublime.
Regrettably, not an album that SDE covered at the time of release (sorry!) and I use that word because The Anchoress‘ (aka Welsh multi-instrumentalist Catherine Anne Davies) second album has rightly been lauded by critics and is truly a joy from start to finish. If this was a film, the pitch would be Rosie Vela’sZazu meets Tori Amos’Little Earthquakes but I don’t want to be reductive; The Art of Losing‘s strength is largely down to a collection of superb songs, and there are many of them!
There’s 14 tracks in total, but actually four of these are short piano interludes (with two top-and-tailing the record) so that leaves us with ten ‘proper’ songs, which I’m sure you would agree is a perfect for an album.
‘Let It Hurt’ is a melodic, mournful, mid-paced piano-led number and the pace never lets up on ‘Show Your Face’ which is a pulsing, driving track with crunching guitars. On ‘The Exchange’, James Dean Bradfield duets (returning the favour of 2018, when The Anchoress delivered guest vocals on ‘Dylan & Caitlin’ on the Manic Street Preachers’Resistance is Futile). ‘Unravel’ boasts ‘Running Up That Hill’-style drums and ‘5AM’ is just piano, voice and strings; it’s achingly sad and beautiful. The title track brings together everything that is good about The Art of Losing in four minutes and six seconds.
The overriding theme here is of loss; the lyrics are heartfelt and Catherine’s voice and delivery really sucks you in. The songs manage to pull off the rare feat of sounding both satisfyingly ‘classic’, structurally – in rock/pop terms – but also edgy and dark, with enough angles in the production/arrangements to keep the listener engaged.
Even if this collection of songs wasn’t more than the sum of its parts, it would still be superb, but when brought together and thoughtfully sequenced, with those interludes, the magic happens. It’s a truly exceptional album.
There was a smart looking 3CD deluxe at the time of release, which included all sorts of bonus tracks. Sadly, I missed out on that (argh!), but a new, expanded single CD, with five bonus acoustic tracks, is released in March next year.
Against the odds, Duran Duran delivered a rather good pop album in 2021, which seemed to satisfy both their fans’ need for an album that SOUNDS LIKE DURAN DURAN and the band’s requirement for it not to be an exercise in pure nostalgia (thankfully, Nick’s late 90s/00s penchant for being overly ‘experimental’ is largely curbed). The melodic, but melancholic, ‘Give It All Up (feat. Tove Lo)’ is the best example of the two worlds colliding, but there are many highlights on Future Past, including the hypnotic ‘Nothing Less’ (criminally left off the vinyl edition), the funky ‘All of You’ (incredibly, not released a ‘single’) and the epic title track.
It’s not perfect – few Duran Duran albums are – and in truth, ‘Beautiful Lies’ should have ended up on the cutting room floor (one of two numbers co-written and co-produced by disco legend Giorgio Moroder) and Ivorian Doll’s clunky rap has no place on the excellent ‘Hammerhead’ – but nevertheless, Future Past has a heart and soul missing from 2015’s Paper Gods and for the first time in at least a decade, the band sound inspired and appear comfortable in their own skin. The worrying postscript is that all Duran fans knows what happens after they produce a ‘good’ album…
Not a comedy record! Matt Berry’sThe Blue Elephant is an album to get lost in. Put the headphones on, close your eyes and it takes you on a wonderful journey.
This album was written, performed, produced and arranged with a late Sixties/early Seventies gusto by the immensely talented Berry. It sounds incredibly authentic, which is testament to Berry’s obsessive attention to detail when it comes to creating sounds and textures in his home studio, which boasts a wide array of analogue synths. This feels like some kind of lost soundtrack, but the trippy, psychedelic sonic palette still incorporates some great songs, particularly ‘Summer Sun’, ‘Alone’ and ‘Blues Inside Me’, which elevates the whole enterprise.
Recording a comeback album 40 years after your last and NOT GETTING IT WRONG is an incredible feat. The ‘ABBAtar’ show will most likely be a great success, but if it Isn’t, it will just be one of those things… An interesting, failed experiment. Whereas a new album that fails to deliver will blight your discography forever – you won’t be allowed to forget the misstep. Happily, for Björn, Agnetha, Benny and Frida, the Voyage hits the sweet spot.
At its best – ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’, ‘I Still Have Faith In You’, ‘Ode To Freedom’ – the album approaches some of the band’s best work in the late 1970s but even the tracks that don’t reach those heights – ‘When You Danced With Me’, ‘Bumblebee’, ‘No Doubt About It’ – have so much charm and are so much fun, that it really doesn’t matter. There are echoes from the past all over the place, which just makes the whole thing pure ABBA.
The secret of Voyage‘s success was the so-called ‘trend-blind’ approach. Most artists returning from a long spell away instinctively put the feelers out with a view to collaborating with the hip/successful producer or writer of the era. Labels and management may advise that it will increase the artist’s chances of having a hit or getting radio play (SDE’s recent interview revealed that Tears For Fears have experienced this very phenomenon in recent years) . But Benny and Bjorn did no such thing. They didn’t want their album to be produced by Stuart Price (to pick an example). To paraphrase F1 driver Kimi Räikkönen, they know what they’re doing. So the two men wrote songs together exactly as they used to. They used a small trusted team of musicians and engineers; had no interest in sounding ‘contemporary’; and removed any pressure from the enterprise by vowing that if the album wasn’t any good, they’d simply not release it. It’s not like they needed the money.
Voyage was, and is, a wonderful gift to music fans of a certain age and ABBA even released four CD singles (albeit miserly one-track affairs) which raised a smile at the time. It really did feel like ‘the old days’ at times.
While Tori Amos doesn’t really do ‘bad’ albums, she went through a period 15 or so years ago when they were fairly challenging, with 15, 16, 17-track song-cycles that often felt hermetically sealed to all but her hardcore following. In recent times, a shift has been noticeable, and while she’s unlikely to be troubling the pop charts anytime soon, Ocean to Ocean is arguably her most commercial and ‘listenable’ work for some time. It’s a collection of songs in a variety of styles and sounds but it never feels overblown or dragged down by weighty concepts.
Tori described the album as “a record about your losses, and how you cope with them”. To that end, ‘Speaking With Trees’ and ‘Flowers Burn To Gold’ are both written for Tori’s late mother. The former boasts a full band arrangement with Tori’s production and arrangement skills brought to the fore, while the latter is the one and only time on the record that she keeps things simple with just voice and piano (to great effect).
‘Spies’ is fun, frothy and almost lightweight, ‘Devil’s Bane’ is sweaty and swaggering Americana, while ‘Metal Water Wood’ starts ponderously before falling off a cliff into a killer chorus; catchy and hypnotic with wonderful work from Matt Chamberlain on drums.
It’s apparent that Ocean to Ocean a very personal work and great though the previous album was (2017’s Native Invader), the songs’ meaning was not always clear. This time around, with no travel available for inspiration, the focus was closer to home and Tori wrote songs specifically for family members past and present, including herself, since ’29 Years’ reflects on her journey from her acclaimed solo debut, Little Earthquakes, in 1991.
Never one to shirk a challenge, Amos even casually rewrites ‘Happy Birthday’ as ‘Birthday Baby’ in a dramatic tango-style at the end.
Rory Gallagher’s eponymous debut solo album reissued as a 4CD+DVD 50th anniversary edition. This includes a brand-new mix of the original album, 30 previously unreleased alternate takes, a six-song 1971 BBC Radio John Peel Sunday Concert, BBC Radio Sounds of the Seventies session tracks, a previously unreleased 50-minute DVD of Rory’s first solo concert for the `Pop Deux’ television show and a 32-page hardback book.
Incredible value on offer with this six-disc Jethro Tull set. For this 40th anniversary reissue Steven Wilson has created new stereo and surround mixes of just about everything, including the album itself, associated recordings and the full concert from the LA Sports Arena recorded in August 1980. This package also contains a flat transfer of the original LP master and a DVD of Slipstream video (the conceptual video project from 1981 runs for almost an hour) remixed by Steven Wilson in surround sound and hi-res stereo.
This brilliant Neil Young live performance at The Shakespeare Theater (in Stratford, Connecticut) was recorded on 22 January 1971, just two months after the release of After The Gold Rush. The performance has an amazing setlist but features only a couple of songs from After The Goldrush while Neil previews four from Harvest which, amazingly, was still over a year away from being released at that point.
45th anniversary 2LP vinyl edition of the 1975 album with a bonus LP featuring ‘Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) [Rough Mix]’, ‘Another Journey, ‘The Best Years Of Our Lives (Acoustic)’, ‘Mr Raffles (Man, It Was Mean) [Single Version]’, ‘The Mad, Mad Moonlight (Live At Hammersmith Odeon 14/4/75)’ and ‘Sebastian (Live At Hammersmith Odeon 14/4/75)’
The Who/The Who Sell Out box setsuper deluxe edition
Good price for a truly stunning The Who box set. Features five CDs, two seven-inch singles, 80-page hardcover book, posters, ephemera etc. 112 tracks in total, 46 of which are previously unreleased.
Lindsey Buckingham/Solo Anthology 6LP vinyl6LP vinyl box set
Tremendous price for a tremendous Grace Jones 2CD set. Features 27 tracks including the original Warm Leatherette, single mixes, B-sides plus rare club and dub versions and instrumentals.
The Beach Boys/Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-19715CD deluxe set
Five-CD Beach Boys set in 48-page hardcover book, features remastered versions of the original albums and has 135 tracks including 108 previously unreleased tracks, alternate versions, mixes and, vocals.
Tom Petty/Finding Wildflowers (alternate versions) CDCD edition
This Nirvana 2CD set features the newly remastered album from the original analog tapes and selections from four concerts on the Nevermind Tour from Amsterdam, Melbourne, Tokyo, and Del Mar, California.
The Band/Stage Fright super deluxesuper deluxe edition
Early next year, Fire Records will release a 30th anniversary edition of The Lemonheads’ 1992 album, It’s A Shame About Ray.
The album was the group’s second for Atlantic Records (after 1990’s Lovey) and features two top 40 UK singles: the title track, and the cover of Simon and Garfunkel‘s Mrs Robinson which was hastily appended to the record when it was a hit, late in 1992.
The 2CD ‘bookback’ 30th anniversary edition of ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’
The 30th anniversary reissue comes with bonus tracks and demos and there are four editions: a deluxe ‘bookback’ (aka casebound book) version of both 2CD and 2LP vinyl and then standard editions of both formats. There’s also a Rough Trade exclusive violet vinyl edition (note this is the standard packaging, not the ‘bookback’). The audio is the same on all editions.
There are five tracks on this new deluxe edition that weren’t included in Rhino’s 2008 double-CD deluxe. These are: ‘My Drug Buddy’ (KCRW Session, 1992), ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’ (Acoustic), ‘Confetti’ (Acoustic), ‘Alison’s Starting To Happen’ (Acoustic) and ‘Divan’. Also, the Simon and Garfunkel cover, ‘Mrs Robinson’, is now part of the bonus material and not tacked onto the end of the album.
‘Shaky Ground’ and all nine album track demos are repeated from the previous deluxe although this is the first timethe demos are being issued on vinyl.
These presentations come with unseen photos and new sleeve notes. It’s A Shame About Ray is reissued on 4 March 2022.
Songwriter and musicians Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness (bandmates in No-Man, of course) started a podcast called The Album Years back in May 2020. The concept is simple, the pair pick a year and discuss key album releases in that particular 12-month period, shooting the breeze over the merits – or otherwise – of specific long-players.
As a fan of this irreverent, informative and entertaining podcast, I was chuffed to be invited to take part as a special guest on a new 2021 Christmas episode – #17 – which is available today! In a change to the usual format, this podcast sees Steven and Tim look back over previous episodes of The Album Years, answer reader questions, and discuss the general state of the physical music industry, with yours truly at hand to chip in and – amongst other things – defend McCartney II, which got a drubbing on the very first episode!
Many thanks to Steven and Tim for having me on The Albums Years. You can listen to the new episode (or indeed previous episodes) using the link below, where you have the option to select the podcast provider of your choice.
Sheena Easton’s 1984 album, A Private Heaven, will be reissued as a two-CD deluxe edition in February.
The album was an enormous success in America, with ‘Strut’ and the Prince-penned ‘Sugar Walls’ both reaching the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Conversely, in Britain the album and its attendant singles did absolutely nothing! Americans had certainly taken to Easton, whereas it’s fair to say the UK rather lost interest, after the success of her Bond theme, ‘For Your Eyes Only’.
This double-CD deluxe reissue features audio “remastered from the original master tapes” and includes a generous 21 bonus tracks made up of twelve-inch mixes, B-sides and 12 previously-unreleased tracks, amongst them ‘Have You Ever Been In Love’ and the long ‘Roman’ version of ‘Sugar Walls’.
This set comes with a 24-page booklet includes rare photography and new interviews with producer Greg Mathieson, songwriters Charlie Dore, Robbie Nevil and others (by ex-Attitude editor Adam Mattera).
A Private Heaven deluxe edition will be released on 25 February 2022 via Cherry Red
Parlophone will release a 50th anniversary vinyl picture disc of David Bowie’s classic album Hunky Dory, in January. This new edition will feature the 2015 vinyl remaster and a poster featuring the annotated back cover image of the album.
Long acknowledged as one of Bowie’s best albums, Hunky Dory had to wait until the Ziggy era before enjoying some success. The first single, ‘Changes’, did nothing in the UK chart and it was only 18 months after Hunky Dory‘s release – and a year after The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars – that ‘Life On Mars’ was a hit and the album entered the UK top five.
The 50th anniversary vinyl picture disc of David Bowie’s Hunky Dory (click image to enlarge)
In addition to the vinyl picture disc, Parlophone are issuing a new mix of ‘Changes’ as a streaming single (listen below).
Ken Scott has gone back to the original multi-track tapes and said the following: “The new version of ‘Changes’ is a fresh look at David’s classic. When listening to the original multi-track I discovered a few things that I had eliminated from the original mix and also a completely different sax solo at the end. It was those things that led me to try a new mix, trying for a slightly harder, more contemporary edge to it.”
The vinyl picture disc of Hunky Dory will be issued on 7 January 2022, one day before what would have been David Bowie’s 75th birthday. It is limited to 8,000 units.
In early spring next year, Franz Ferdinand will issue a 20-track ‘best of’ called Hits to the Head. The compilation album will feature two brand new songs called ‘Billy Goodbye’ and ‘Curious’ (produced by Alex Kapranos, Julian Corrie and Stuart Price).
There are various editions of Hits to the Head on offer, including a deluxe CD edition in hardcover 48-page book featuring sleeve notes by JD Beauvallet, lyrics and exclusive photos. The deluxe CD doesn’t offer any additional audio, however; every format has the 20 tracks. Amazon in the UK have this deluxe CD edition available with an exclusive logo patch.
2LP gold vinyl is exclusive to the Franz Ferdinand shop (click image to enlarge)
Of course, there is also an artist shop which offers a gold-coloured 2LP vinyl set, not available anywhere else and various bundles, most of which have a signed element. The indie community – including Rough Trade in the UK – are offering a 2LP red vinyl edition. All vinyl editions come with a 16-page book which offers similar content to the casebound book deluxe CD. A cassette edition is also on offer!
Hits to the Head will be released on 11 March 2022, via Domino.
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Franz Ferdinand
Hits to the head - deluxe CD in casebound book with logo patch
The ‘restored & re-edited’ concert film of Pink Floyd‘s 1995 live album, Pulse, will be issued as a standalone blu-ray set for the first time early next year and comes in new packaging featuring the iconic pulsing light.
Filmed on 20 October 1994 at Earls Court in London, the concert film was directed by David Mallet and was re-edited by Aubrey Powell/Hipgnosis from the original tape masters especially for The Later Years release in 2019. Pulse is notable for featuring the whole live performance of The Dark Side Of The Moon – the only full live filmed recording of the album.
The 2 x blu-ray reissue of Pulse (click image to enlarge)
There will be two editions of this reissue a double blu-ray deluxe set and a two-DVD set. Both include a bonus disc of music videos, tour screen films, documentaries, Pulse tour rehearsal footage and additional material. A 60-page booklet is included.
David Gilmour Guitars, Vocals Nick Mason Drums Richard Wright Keyboards, Vocals
Sam Brown Backing Vocals Jon Carin Keyboards, Vocals Claudia Fontaine Backing Vocals Durga McBroom Backing Vocals Dick Parry Saxophones Guy Pratt Bass Guitars, Vocals Tim Renwick Guitars, Vocals Gary Wallis Percussion
Tracklisting:
1. SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND, PARTS 1-5,7 2. LEARNING TO FLY 3. HIGH HOPES 4. TAKE IT BACK 5. COMING BACK TO LIFE 6. SORROW 7. KEEP TALKING 8. ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL, PART 2 9. ONE OF THESE DAYS THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON 10. SPEAK TO ME 11. BREATHE (IN THE AIR) 12. ON THE RUN 13. TIME 14. THE GREAT GIG IN THE SKY 15. MONEY 16. US AND THEM 17. ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE 18. BRAIN DAMAGE 19. ECLIPSE ENCORES 20. WISH YOU WERE HERE 21. COMFORTABLY NUMB 22. RUN LIKE HELL
DISC 2 MUSIC VIDEOS, TOUR SCREEN FILMS, DOCUMENTARIES & ADDITIONAL MATERIAL all in STEREO ONLY
MUSIC VIDEOS (BD 48/24, DVD 48/16)
TAKE IT BACK 1994
HIGH HOPES 1994
MAROONED 2014
PULSE TOUR REHEARSAL 1994 (BD 96/24, DVD 48/16)
A GREAT DAY FOR FREEDOM VERSION 1
A GREAT DAY FOR FREEDOM VERSION 2
LOST FOR WORDS
CONCERT SCREEN FILMS 1994 (BD 96/24, DVD 48/16)
SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND PARTS 1-4,7
SPEAK TO ME
TIME
THE GREAT GIG IN THE SKY
MONEY
US AND THEM (BLACK & WHITE)
US AND THEM (COLOUR)
BRAIN DAMAGE + ECLIPSE North American Dates
BRAIN DAMAGE + ECLIPSE European Dates
BRAIN DAMAGE Earls Court, London Dates
DOCUMENTARIES & ADDITIONAL MATERIAL (BD 48/24, DVD 48/16)
THE DIVISION BELL ALBUM COVER PHOTOGRAPHY (Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK) 1994
PULSE TV AD 1995
THE DIVISION BELL AIRSHIPS 1994
BEHIND THE SCENES Interviews with the Lead Technicians for the Division Bell Tour
ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION 1996 (BD 48/24, DVD 48/16)
In 2009, actor Tom Baker reprised the role of the Doctor in Doctor Who for a BBC radio drama called Hornets’ Nest. It was the first time Baker had returned (properly) to the role since the end of his original TV series, in the early 1980s.
The story sees retired Captain Mike Yates (played by Richard Franklin) respond to an advert in the newspaper which leads him to be reunited with his old friend, the Doctor. The entire story runs over five episodes as the Captain finds him besieged by a powerful race of insects intent on global domination. As the Time Lord recounts his recent adventures across the centuries, it becomes clear that the fate of mankind is in the hands of the Doctor, Mike and the peculiar Mrs Wibbsey…
Each vinyl record features beautifully illustrated sleeves and the outer box is die-cut. Notice Tom Baker signed print on the left
Now Demon Music have created a collectors’ vinyl box set of this whole drama, with ten 140g coloured vinyl LPs pressed on alternating yellow and black records.
Each box comes with a very cool portrait of the Fourth Doctor which have been individually signed by Tom Baker himself – this is a rare opportunity for Doctor Who fans.
As well as the print and the coloured vinyl in the illustrated outer sleeves, the Hornets’ Nest comes with a large 16-page full colour booklet detailing the Time Lord’s notes and illustrations from his battles against the hornets.
Doctor Who legend Tom Baker signs the prints for the limited edition Hornets’ Nest vinyl box set (click to enlarge)
This “full-cast audio adventure” by Paul Magrs stars Tom Baker as the Doctor, with Richard Franklin as Mike Yates and Susan Jameson as Mrs Wibbsey. The supporting cast includes Daniel Hill, Christian Rodska, Michael Maloney, Stephen Thorne and Rula Lenska, and sound design is by Simon Power, alongside the familiar Doctor Who theme from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Hornets’ Nest is released on 6 May 2022. This is a limited edition of 1200 units worldwide. All boxes have the signed print.
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Doctor Who
Doctor Who: Hornet's Nest (Tom Baker Signed Edition) (140g Black and Yellow Vinyl) [VINYL]
Early ’80s Scottish pop band Altered Images will release a new album in 2022.
The group, fronted by singer/actress Clare Grogan, originally released a trio of albums in the early 1980s (Happy Birthday (1981), Pinky Blue (1982), Bite (1983)) with each record delivering a top 10 UK single. Happy Birthday‘s title track was the biggest hit, reaching number two.
The new album will be called Mascara Streakz and features the talents of original members Clare Grogan and Stephen Lironi (the pair married in 1994), and Bernard Butler and Bobby Bluebell. Grogan posted, on Twitter, that the album had been completed, at the end of September.
Before fans get too excited, the bad news is that the album isn’t going to be released until August next year, which is a long wait! The band are currently on tour in the UK with The Human League, which might explain the timing of the announcement.
This means nothing much is confirmed, including the front cover artwork, the coloured of the limited vinyl and the track listing. However, signed CDs and special bundles and other editions can be pre-ordered from the official shop.
Mascara Streakz will be released on 26 August 2022.
BMG’s Slade vinyl reissue campaign continues with a re-release of the band’s 1972 album Alive!
Slade’s first live album, Alive! was culled from three live performances at London’s Command Theatre Studio (situated in Picadilly and formerly a BBC studio).
Slade’s Alive! is pressed on red and black splatter vinyl
It’s only a seven-track album and features three Slade originals and covers of songs by Ten Years After, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Bobby Marchan, and Steppenwolf. It peaked at number two in the UK charts at the time.
The vinyl reissue is pressed on red and black splatter vinyl and will be released on 28 January 2022
Celebrating the brilliance of 1984 across just four CDs was always going to be a hard ‘ask’, so less than three months after NOW Yearbook ’84 was released, the Now team are preparing to deliver Now Yearbook ’84 – Extra, a second helping that offers 60 more superb pop hits from the likes of Queen, Eurythmics, Sade, Paul McCartney, Julian Lennon, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Duran Duran, Paul Young, Nik Kershaw, Thompson Twins and many more.
It’s great to see John Lennon’s posthumous hit ‘Nobody Told Me’ on CD 3 as well as singles from Lloyd Cole and The Commotions, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sandie Shaw, Pretenders, Marillion, The Stranglers and Echo and the Bunnymen. There’s also some interesting selections on the second disc including Talk Talk, David Sylvian, Tears For Fears and The Kane Gang.
This set is, of course, designed to supplement the original NOW Yearbook ’84 which was offered in hardcover book deluxe packaging. This Extra set is presented in six-panel, card sleeve wallet. There is no vinyl edition.
Full track listing is below. NOW Yearbook ’84 – Extra will be released on 14 January 2022.
Back in October SDE told you about 24 Songs, The Wedding Present’s initiative for 2022 which will see them deliver a seven-inch single, with two new songs, to fans once a month. We were delighted to offer one of these subscriptions as a prize to SDE readers and we can now finally announce the winner.
SDE member Andy MacKinnon wins the subscription to 24 Songs!
Congratulations to Andy. We’ll be in touch to sort out your prize! Thanks to everyone who entered. There’s some more great SDE giveaways coming very soon.
This 3CD edition The Black Crowes‘ Shake Your Money Maker was already great value, offering super deluxe content without all the ‘stuff’. You get remastered album, B-sides and unreleased songs and a live concert
Superb deal in Amazon Germany for a brilliant Rolling Stones box which includes a Dolby Atmos mix on blu-ray, the Brussels Affair live show and rarities/alternative mixes.
Mark Knopfler/The Studio Albums 1996-2007 6CD box set6CD set
Superb price. Click the box on the product page on Amazon UK for £30 voucher which is deducted at checkout. This vinyl box set includes 63 tracks spread over eight newly remastered vinyl albums.
The Doobie Brothers/Quadio box set4 x blu-ray audio discs
The box set features original quadraphonic mixes of 1972’s Toulouse Street (the band’s second album, which features ‘Listen to the Music’), 1973 follow-up The Captain & Me (which includes ‘Long Train Running’), What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits (1974) , and Stampede (1975). This are blu-ray audio discs that also contain hi-res stereo versions of each album.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds/B-Sides & Rarities 7LP vinyl box7LP vinyl box
This 7LP vinyl box set brings together the original ‘Part I’ of B-Sides and Rarities (which was never issued on vinyl at the time) and the newly released ‘Part II’. This offers 83 tracks (the original 56 and then new 27).
The Rolling Stones/Tattoo You 5LP vinyl box5LP vinyl box
Spanish deal. This 5LP vinyl box set edition of The Rolling StonesTattoo You includes the album, bonus tracks and a Wembley gig. It also includes the 124-page book and lenticular artwork.
Don’t Leave Me This Way (Gotham City Mix Part Two)
Disenchanted (Dance)
So Cold The Night (Remix)
CD 2
So Cold The Night (Janice Long 13th October 1985)
Don’t Slip Away (Janice Long 13th October 1985)
America (Janice Long 13th October 1985)
Forbidden Love (Janice Long 13th October 1985)
La Dolorosa (Janice Long 13th October 1985)
You Are My World (12” Version)
Don´t Leave Me This Way (Ruff Mix)
Heavens Above (Ruff Mix)
Summertime
Lover Man (Alternative Mix)
Forbidden Love (Alternative Mix)
Breadline Britain
Never No More
Sentimental Journey
When The Walls Come Tumbling Down
Judgement Day
Don’t Leave Me This Way (7th Heaven Club Mix)
Frank Zappa / 200 Motels super deluxe
50th anniversary box set of Frank Zappa’s200 Motels. This box set contains the original soundtrack remastered by Bernie Grundman and loads of bonus material including original demos, studio outtakes, work mixes, interviews and movie ads along with newly discovered dialog reels revealing an early audio edit of the film.
It’s that time of year, where ‘the bookies’ take odds on what will be the number one on the UK singles chart on Christmas Day, music lovers everywhere hope LadBaby doesn’t release another single (sadly that wish hasn’t come true in 2021) and most of us go on about how the singles charts are irrelevant anyway, and it was much better in the ‘good old days’.
Cue Michael Mulligan, who has spent a lifetime in the music industry and now consults on reissues for labels (notably with some of the recent NOW compilations). He has just written The Official Christmas No. 1 Singles Book which takes an irreverent look at every UK Christmas number one single since 1952.
SDE recently caught up with Michael to discuss the new publication and the phenomenon of the Christmas number one.
Michael, tell us about the new book!
I’ve tried very hard to dig even deeper into the ‘trivia mine’ to find some really good facts, that if not obscure, are at least something slightly different, because there’s only so many times you can repeat the Band Aid stats. So I thought, let’s go back to the start, pre-Beatles, with it all centred all around the Official Charts.
You’ve laid out the book in a fairly logical manner, with each year/single getting a double-page spread
It’s year-by-year and decade-by-decade. We start in 1952 when the first ‘official chart’ is created by the NME. And by dint of the chart only being 12 weeks old come Christmas, the first ever number one (Al Martino’s ‘Here in My Heart’) is also the first ever Christmas number one!
But then you also have to consider how people are listening to music in each decade; what the trends are and what’s happening in the wider world. So you and I can sit here now and press a button on the phone or give a command to a voice-activated speaker, that’s a bit different to someone investing year’s wages in a gramophone player, and going to the trouble of buying a 78RPM single at the back of the department store. And then you come to the 1960s, and the old Tin Pan Alley model where artists and repertoire really was a publisher matching someone with a song. You get to The Beatles’ era when all of a sudden it’s the artist is writing their own material, and that’s a big sea change. In the ‘70s, marketing becomes a bit slicker, and you’ve got cassettes coming in, you’ve got portable record players coming in. The 80s is the compact disc era, and so it does evolve. And yet within all that you’ve got this unique thing called The Christmas Number One Single. If I knew what the Christmas number one single was going to be as we sit here in 2021, I’ll be off to the bookies now, but it’s just tough to predict now as it was 50 years ago.
It’s not just going to be LadBaby then?
Well, that’s the bizarre thing because LadBaby has said there won’t be another LadBaby single [they’ve since renegaded on this promise] and your LadBaby trivia for today is that they have a perfectly formed, chart career. Three top 40 hits, three number one singles, and the only other artists to do that is Robson and Jerome.
Rarified heights. Is the Christmas number one a singularly British obsession?
It is, I think, and there’s a few reasons for it. First of all, radio play doesn’t count towards the UK chart, so that can’t influence it. And then in the US, they have a separate holiday chart. Now, I suspect that the record companies have been looking at the Christmas top 10 For the last few years and seeing Wham!, Mariah Carey, et al, going back in again and again and are thinking, hang on, we’re investing tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of pounds on Adele, Coldplay, Ed Sheehan etc. and I can’t get them into the top 10 because of all this stuff, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the chart gets reconfigured more along the lines of the American model at some point in the future
Like the way that they started a compilation chart to stop the ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’-type compilations hogging the number one spot on the album chart?
Exactly. As long as it doesn’t stop people buying music, it would be no bad thing. And two people get to say they’ve had a number one single, rather than one. But going back to the Christmas number one, unless we get another Blur versus Oasis-type battle, it’s the only time of year when the bookies take calls on what’s going to be number one, and it’s the only time of year – Adele aside, I guess – when it’s really considered newsworthy, and what’s going to be number one does become a mainstream news item.
Each Christmas number one in the new book gets its own double-page spread of facts/figures (click to enlarge)
In the 1960s, when The Beatles had three Christmas number ones in a row, were people having conversations about the Christmas number one or did that not happen until the 1970s or 1980s?
No, I don’t think they were. And consider the fact that none of The Beatles’ Christmas number ones were Christmas records. And actually, they were making separate fan club records with a Christmas theme to send to the fan club members as well. I think there’s only been something like six number ones that have actually got the word ‘Christmas’ in the title and three of those are Band Aid! That doesn’t include ‘Xmas’, so Slade should be in there as an honorary member. We’re now in an age of social media being the great influence. And, I suppose, the prominent example of that is Rage Against the Machine where there was actually a campaign to stop a record being number one at Christmas.
In the 70s, and the 80s it felt more ‘natural’ when a song ended up at number one at Christmas, perhaps because people went out and bought it. I guess it started with The X-Factor influencing and now social media and online campaigning… Does all this that devalue the idea of a Christmas number one?
Yes and no. The market has changed completely. So consider the St Winnifred’s School Choir’s ‘There’s No One Quite Like Grandma’ [Christmas number one in 1980]. What percentage of purchases were actually gifts, come Christmas week? How many grandchildren bought it for a grandparent? So we’re not going to get that anymore. I suppose what occurred to me is if the next generation only liked the music that I liked when I was growing up, the world would be a very dull place. So if they want to put Clean Bandit, or LadBaby, or Ed Sheeran on number one, then good luck to them. Because really, it’s their chart now, isn’t it?
The weird thing is, in the 70s, in particular, you had these massive-selling songs that stayed at number one for ages. They would just happen to be there when Christmas came around, whether it’s ‘Mull of Kintyre’ or ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ or whatever. There are so many classic Christmas songs that haven’t gotten near number one, which is kind of bizarre. Macca’s ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ peaked at number six, for example.
Wizzard [‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day’] was number four [at the end of 1973] and rarely comes back into the top ten. There will be new Christmas hits this year from from new artists and established artists, but with the latter, you’ve got to ask, what motivates them?
Well, that’s a good question. You wonder why the likes of Robbie Williams bother [his ‘Can’t Stop Christmas’ was issued in 2020].
That song wasn’t a huge hit, but you know full well that it’s going to end up on a Christmas playlist every year, isn’t it? But is it just about fiscal motivation or do they get a warm and rosy glow?
What I found really interesting – and you highlight this in the book – is that Shakin Stevens waited a year before releasing ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ in 1985 because it was his absolute goal to have a Christmas number one and he wanted to avoid Band Aid.
Yeah, absolutely. Why would you waste it? But putting your single back for a year, he must have he must be pretty confident. There’s a very good Welsh connection there actually, because he was the third Welsh artist to have a Christmas number one. Dave Edmunds was the second and the year Dave had his Christmas number with ‘I Hear You Knocking’, he was producing Shakin’ Stevens debut album.
Boney M was number one in Christmas 1978 with ‘Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord’ (click to enlarge)
But do you think there was more predictability in the 80s? Shakin’ Stevens was relatively confident he would have a number one; he knew it was a good song and he was a big selling artist. You but you get the feeling that that level of certainty can’t exist anymore because everything seems much more random.
But then, where did Jackie Wilson come from? The first posthumous Christmas number one [‘Reet Petite’, 1986]. You know, there was two weeks to go and The Housemartins are looking like they’re going to be having a Christmas number one with ‘Caravan of Love’ and lo and behold, this claymation video comes along and Jackie Wilson suddenly tops the chart.
So there’s no set ingredients then? Nothing that will guarantee you a Christmas number one?
Let’s put it this way, I’ve known certain individuals at record labels who study the news to see who’s on their last legs this Christmas and I’ve known them go to the bookies because they’ve heard a rumour that so-and-so is not going to live to see the new year and stick their tenner on that.
So death is one of the guarantees that will give you a hit?
Absolutely. What a great marketing campaign.
George Harrison’s ‘My Sweet Lord’ is a great example of that.
Well, the second time that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ got to number one, that, of course, was on the back of a death of Freddie Mercury. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is the only song to be number one in four separate years, because it was number one at Christmas and New Year. Also, it doesn’t mention the words ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in the lyrics, but it does mention the title of the song that knocked it off number one, which was ‘Mamma Mia’ by ABBA.
What about the money that’s to be made from a Christmas number one? There’s rumours that Noddy Holder makes £200,000 a year, or something like that, but is it true that if you if you wrote a great Christmas hit in the mid-70s, you’d be set for life?
You’d like to think so wouldn’t you? It needs to be something that probably made its money first time around as a physical hit, and is now just topping up each year as a nice little pension fund.
Is there a financial incentive anymore, or has streaming ruined all that? If you’re a new band thinking of penning a Christmas songwill you ever really make any decent money?
It’s a long term plan, isn’t it? And one of the other motivating factors is what you might call the department store/Christmas advert factor. You know, can you get a hit that scrapes into the top 10 and then gets used in an advert, which then gets used in a rom-com, which then gets covered…
And there’s that weird phenomenon where things like Elton John’s ‘Step into Christmas’ is a bigger hit later on than it ever was originally. Is that because shops like [UK food retailer] Iceland are playing it in-store as you’re walking around?
You’ve touched on a really important point there. There are shops, supermarkets, clothing stores, who will only play music once a year, and that’s at Christmas, because they want you to feel comfortable in there. So you’re probably subliminally having Elton and Slade and Wizzard and Shakey injected into your head whilst you’re buying your Christmas t-shirt or your Christmas jumper.
Does music played in retail count towards the streaming charts?
No. And you do wonder how many of the stores who play Christmas music are actually properly licenced to play it. It’s like, put the bluetooth speaker in the background and “Alexa, play me Christmas”.
What’s the biggest selling UK Christmas number one?
Biggest selling or most streamed? Band Aid is the biggest selling, but the most streamed is Ed Sheeran’s ‘Perfect’.
If the singles chart are irrelevant to a large proportion of music lovers – and it’s not just to people of a certain age, because I have two teenage daughters that don’t know anything about where things are in the chart – why is having a Christmas number one important, or of interest, to artists?
It’s interesting, because unless it’s a key release, or the biggest hit of the year, it’s unlikely you’ll remember a specific number one [these days]. But lots of people can name Christmas number ones. It’s not a stocking filler anymore, so you don’t get the seven-inch or CD single in your Christmas stocking. But there’s obviously still something special attached to it.
And as you say, it will get more media coverage that a normal number one
I think only half a dozen of the Christmas number ones have also been the best selling singles in that given year. So there’s a lot of years where something has sold more and yet it’s probably relatively forgotten, compared to the Christmas number one, which people could identify more easily. I think the charts still undoubtedly serve a purpose. Even if it is just so when we get to the end of the year, we can see that an artist had X top 40 hits or what the different number ones were… It’s still interesting to look back. And for anoraks like me, it’s still good go “ah, the first Bermudan artists to have a number one single”!
Thanks to Michael Mulligan who was talking to Paul Sinclair for SDE. The Official Christmas No. 1 Singles Book is out now.
Paul Young’s 1985 album, The Secret of Association will be reissued as a limited and expanded coloured vinyl pressing early next year, with signed copies available exclusively via SDE.
The album was an enormous success and followed its predecessor, No Parlez, to the top of the UK charts. The Secret of Association features three UK top 10 singles in ‘I Wanna Tear Your Playhouse Down’, ‘Everything Must Change’ and ‘Every Time You Go Away’ and the final 45, ‘Tomb of Memories’, reached number 16 in Britain.
Most impressively, Paul Young scored a US number one single with ‘Every Time You Go Away’ (a cover of the Hall & Oates album track from 1980’s Voices) and then consolidated this Stateside success when the reissued ‘I Wanna Tear Your Playhouse Down’ reached number 16.
The Secret of Association saw Paul and keyboard player Ian Kewley step up and write more material themselves (including the single ‘Everything Must change’) although Paul’s penchant for picking fine songs to cover continued, with an interpretation of Tom Wait’s ‘Soldier’s Things’, Earl Randle’s ‘I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down” and The Sutherland Brother Band’s ‘I Was In Chains’. Cassette and CD editions of the album also added an excellent Vangelis-like cover of Billy Bragg’s ‘The Man In The Iron Mask’.
Music On Vinyl have expanded this vinyl reissue to include a selection of B-sides and extended mixes on sides three and four and both records are pressed on gold & black ‘marbled’ vinyl which looks rather swish (note the image is a mock-up and final product may vary). This are limited to 2,000 units worldwide.
Secure an exclusive signed copy of The Secret of Association vinyl reissue from the SDE shop
As with previous PY reissues, Paul Young will be exclusively SIGNING copies for the SDE shop. These will be limited to 500 units. Additionally, to coincide with this release, SDE is publishing number 11 in the ongoing SDE booklet series. Paul Young on The Secret of Association will feature an exclusive and in-depth interview with Paul Young discussing the album as well as words from producer Laurie Latham and other related features, including SDE editor Paul Sinclair discussing the album and going behind-the-scenes with working with Paul on some of the reissues of the past decade.
#11 in the SDE keepsake booklet series focuses on Paul Young’s 1985 album, The Secret of Association
The signed vinyl reissue and the Paul Young SDE booklet are both exclusive to the SDE shop. These can only be ordered from the SDE shop via this link or using the buttons below. There’s a specially-priced bundle with both products.
The Secret of Association 2LP coloured vinyl reissue and the Paul Young SDE booklet are both released on 28 January 2022.
Gavin Sutherland, who wrote ‘I Was In Chains’, also penned Rod Stewart’s ‘Sailing’
Tracklisting
The Secret of AssociationPaul Young/2LP coloured vinyl
LP 1
Side A
Bite The Hand That Feeds
Every Time You Go Away
I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down
Standing On The Edge
Side B
Soldier’s Things
Everything Must Change
Tomb Of Memories
One Step Forward
Hot Fun
LP 2
Side C
This Means Anything
I Was In Chains
I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down (Extended Mix) (bonus track)
Everything Must Change (Extended Mix) (bonus track)
Side D
Give Me My Freedom (bonus track)
Every Time You Go Away (Extended Remix Version) (bonus track)
Tomb Of Memories (12” Mix) (bonus track)
Man In The Iron Mask (bonus track)
Bite The Hand That Feeds (Live At The Hammersmith Odeon) (bonus track)
No Parlez (Live At The Hammersmith Odeon) (bonus track)
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