His Latest Flame - America Blue (1990)

Here's another recent find from Notting Hill, a 12" EP from the ever popular Scottish songbirds. "America Blue" was from their album In The Neighbourhood but I believe the other three tracks were exclusive to this release.

His Latest Flame - America Blue

1. America Blue
2. Tongue Tied
3. Footsteps
4. Londonderry Road (Acoustic Version)

Download

Joey Wilson - Going Up (1980)

Classy new wave pop from Joey, who sadly died a few years ago.

1.  If You Don't Want My Love
2.  Taking Me Back
3.  Underground
4.  Hold On Girl
5.  Women With Ideas
6.  Call Off Your Dogs
7.  I Was A Fool
8.  My Car, Your Car
9.  Chances We'll Take
10. Out of Our World
11. Underground (Reprise)
12. Going Up

Download

Glen Burtnick - Talking In Code (1986)

Remembering rare, obscure and just plain interesting vinyl releases from back when a CD meant you had money in the bank...

1. Crank It Up
2. Talking In Code
3. Little Red House
4. Perfect World
5. Hole In My Pocket
6. Brave Hearts
7. Hold Back The Night
8. Talk That Talk
9. Heart On The Line
10. We're Alright

Download

Banderas - Ripe (1991)

Reposted by request:

Banderas - Ripe



I've also updated all the links at the original post, including several remixes. Enjoy!

The Lightning Seeds - Sweet Dreams (1990)

I knew that the singles released from The Lightning Seeds debut CD Cloudcuckooland included the classic single "Pure" and the decent follow up "All I Want". With a bit of prodding I might have remembered that "Joy" was the other single release. Which made my discovery of this promotional single for "Sweet Dreams" just a little more intriguing. I couldn't say I remembered this track at all from the album - but then again I haven't heard the LP itself in years. So it was kind of a nice surprise. Plus, the two extra tracks - which found their way on to the "Sense" single release a couple of years later - are both rewarding in themselves. So here they all are.

1. Sweet Dreams
2. Hang On To A Dream
3. Flaming Sword

Download

Roaring Boys - Roaring Boys (1985)

[REQUESTED BY MCDOC]

"The specter of Roxy Music haunts "House of Stone," the most well-crafted song on Roaring Boys' self-titled debut album; unfortunately, the rest of the LP is a ghost town. With its bed of lush synthesizers, soothing horns, and romantic vocals, "House of Stone" could have been an apt sequel to Roxy Music's "Avalon." However, "House of Stone" is a burst of inspiration that must have left the band creatively drained, or perhaps they were rushed into the recording studio before they were able to compose equally memorable songs. Roaring Boys is an album without structure; the group keeps shifting gears, infatuated with the stylish new romantic pop of Roxy Music and Icehouse on some tracks and then trying to woo rock radio on others. "Wilder for You" and "Call the Tune" sound like generic mainstream rock from their unimaginative titles alone, while "Easier Said Than Done" is a weak attempt at a Joe Jackson knockoff. On the other hand, "Strange Girl" and "Persuasion" actually resemble the band that sang "House of Stone." On "Persuasion," vocalist Paul Mitchell sings beautifully over a piano without any hard rock guitars or studio slickness. The subtle arrangement suits him and the group. Roaring Boys are at their best when they're not trying to roar." (All Music Guide)

Roaring Boys - Roaring Boys (1985)

1. Every Second of the Day
2. House of Stone
3. Easier Said Than Done
4. Strange Girl
5. Dancing In Your Sleep
6. How
7. All The Time In The World
8. Wilder For You
9. Again and Again
10. Persuasion
11. Call The Tune

Download

Personnel:
Paul Mitchell
Chris Jones
Stefan Osadzinski
Tim May
Neill MacColl
Dave Larcombe

Sons Of Heroes - Sons Of Heroes (1983)

[REPOSTED BY REQUEST]

In which we imagine a world where the compact disc was introduced in 1980, and now-obscure artists and albums could be preserved for posterity...

Produced by Bill Wyman, Sons Of Heroes consisted of Terry Taylor (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Geoff Grange (vocals, harmonica), and Carmelo Luggeri (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards). Far from new-wave fledglings, Terry Taylor had previously had a long association, nearly replacing Mick Taylor in the Rolling Stones and going on to perform with The Arrows in the 1970's. Terry went on to work with Bill Wyman in The Rhythm Kings after the short-lived Sons Of Heroes project. Additionally, the three musicians also later released a 1986 single called "Keep Your Distance" under the band name Rome.

Sons Of Heroes - Sons Of Heroes (1983)

1. Living Outside Your Love
2. Lost In Wonderland
3. Don't Make It So Hard
4. Love Insight
5. Hot Kiss
6. Strange Eyes
7. Dream Machine
8. Start of the Human Race
9. Stretched
10. All Broke Up

Download

Kiki Dee provided backing vocals, and in fact every track from the album can be individually downloaded (in low resolution) from a Kiki Dee website here.

In Pursuit - When Darkness Falls (1985)

From the album sleeve: "Originality. Sincerity. Insight. Traits not easily found in the media overkill of rock music today...until you discover the exciting sound of In Pursuit. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, illustrating that the Music City is the home of much more than just country music, In Pursuit is guitarist Jay Joyce, bassist Emma and drummer Jeff Boggs. In Pursuit creates an energetic pop-influenced style of rock and roll layered behind enchanting harmonies, with an emphasis on intelligent, thoughtful lyrics."

In Pursuit - When Darkness Falls (1985)

1. Losing Control
2. When Darkness Falls
3. Sacrifice
4. Witness
5. Cold World

Download

[Link updated November 2013]

Seeing Red In Black And White

I've been involved in some lively discussions at the New Wave Outpost concerning a couple of vinyl rips I posted. Because the interest was greater than I expected, I decided to do a full post here.

Seeing Red was a band from Guernsey, Channel Islands that released one solitary single, a double A side. Track one was "Ice" which reflected on Robert Scott's tragic expedition to the South Pole in 1912 and in particular the self-sacrifice of Captain Lawrence Oates who walked to his death in order to give his companions a better chance to survive. The back of the sleeve quotes H.R. Bowers, another member of the five man expedition.


Track two was "Weekahead" which was a little moodier but probably my favorite out of the two.

The band consisted of Graham Luxton (vocals), Stephen Luxton (keyboards), Dave Upson (bass) and Gary Rouget (keyboards). The single was pressed on the Les Disques De La Rose Rouge label, serial number SRS001.



Graham Luxton and Dave Upson went on to form The Johndoes, a band that is still around today, albeit in a much altered line up. They have a MySpace page.

The Luxton brothers are my cousins and that is why I have owned this single since 1985. I'm amazed it didn't get lost or otherwise disposed of over a 20 year period.

Ed from CFRC-FM was kind enough (and had enough good taste) to recently feature "Ice" on his weekly show, 80's Retrospect.

The Silencers - A Letter From St Paul (1987)

Another band that never seemed to get its due, The Silencers briefly rode the burgeoning celtic rock movement in the latter part of the '80's that coincided with the commercial peaks of such bands as Simple Minds, Deacon Blue, and Del Amitri. Formed by Jimmie O'Neill and Cha Burns out of the critically respected but ultimately unsuccessful new wave band Fingerprintz, The Silencers released their debut in 1987 and received some airplay, particularly in America, thanks to lead single "Painted Moon" and strong production overall from Dave Bascombe.

The Silencers - A Letter From St Paul (1987)

1. Painted Moon
2. I Can't Cry
3. Bullets and Blue Eyes
4. God's Gift
5. I See Red
6. I Ought to Know
7. A Letter From St Paul
8. Blue Desire
9. Possessed

CD rip at 320k.
Download

I also found a promotional 12" single for "Painted Moon" that included two rock radio remixes that I don't think were ever commercially available. Here's the longer mix.

The Silencers - Painted Moon (Rock Radio Remix)

Faith Brothers - Eventide (1985)

I was looking around on the internet for details on a couple of 7" singles I found on soulseek a few years ago. Although I had never heard of the band before, I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only did they release two albums and a clutch of highly regarded singles, but that vocalist and chief songwriter Billy Franks had very kindly made almost all of the Faith Brothers back catalogue available for download at his website at no charge (donations are encouraged). It's very refreshing to find artists who actively encourage people to discover long lost music without any of the problems of format, distribution rights and band squabbling.
[UPDATE: The links were removed from Billy's website. As he is possibly the nicest man in the pop music world I will remove my link if he should ask. About time for a re-release, I reckon!]

Faith Brothers - Eventide (1985)

1. Eventide
2. Sunday
3. Whistling In The Dark
4. The tradesman's Entrance
5. Storyteller
6. A Daydreamer's Philosophy
7. Easter Parade
8. Dust In The Soul
9. Victoria Green
10. Secret Heart
11. The Sleepwalker

Download Now available from Amazon


Comprehensive discography of the band here

Owen Paul - As It Is (1986)

[REPOSTED BY REQUEST]

Owen Paul - As It Is (1986)

1. Pleased To Meet You
2. Somebody's Angel
3. My Favourite Waste Of Time
4. Sonny
5. Just Another Day
6. One World
7. Only For The Young
8. Prime Time
9. Pharaoh
10. Bring Me Back That Spark
11. My Favourite Waste Of Time (Jumbo Mix)

Download

Bone Symphony - Bone Symphony EP (1983)

[REPOSTED BY REQUEST - APRIL 2013]

Bone Symphony - Bone Symphony EP (1983)

1. It's A Jungle Out There
2. Everything I Say Is A Lie
3. I'll Be There For You
4. Piece Of My Heart
5. Dome Of Spheres

Bonus Track:
One Foot In Front of the Other
Personnel:
Scott Wilk

Merrick and Tibbs - Call of the Wild (1982)

Merrick & Tibbs - Call of the Wild

1. Call of the Wild
2. Call of the Wild (Extended Mix)
3. Tiger Tiger

Download

Forever immortalized in the song "Ant Rap" (Marco, Merrick, Terry Lee, Gary Tibbs and yours tru-ly), Gary and Merrick (real name Chris Hughes) went from being the bassist and drummer with Adam & The Ants to producing a one-off single project in 1982.

Chris Hughes went on to perform with Tears For Fears and others before become a producer. Gary Tibbs is now the bassist for the reformed new wave outfit The Fixx.

The Beloved - Conscience (1993)

In which we imagine a world where madchester, grunge and britpop took a backseat to music that meant something...

One of my favorite pop acts of the early 90's was The Beloved. After commercial and critical success with the album Happiness and the singles "Hello" and "The Sun Rising" expectations for the follow-up were high. The lead single from Conscience was the laid back "Sweet Harmony" and while it was decent (reaching the Top Ten in the UK), it was clear that the music scene had moved on from the rave/dance culture the band embraced. The album, and subsequent singles, failed to replicate earlier success, and some of the blame was (unfairly, I think) directed at Helena Marsh, who replaced Steve Waddington in the band and happened to be the wife of Jon Marsh, the other remaining member.

As is the case with a lot of the music I like, it's the less commercial stuff that holds my interest. Second single "You've Got Me Thinking" remains an all-time favorite due to the beautiful interplay between acoustic guitar and an electronic beat - while it may not be my favorite track of all time (step forward, "Blue Monday"!) it is probably the best track I can point to as an example of the type of music that I will always prefer. Other standout tracks include the trippy "Outerspace Girl" and the slightly ironic "Rock To The Rhythm of Love".

The video for "Sweet Harmony" is worth mentioning, as it features lots of tasteful nakedness, and I tracked down a "making of" segment that discusses the video and is quite interesting I think.

The Beloved - Conscience (1993)

1. Spirit
2. Sweet Harmony
3. Outerspace Girl
4. Lose Yourself In Me
5. Paradise Found
6. You've Got Me Thinking
7. Celebrate Your Life
8. Rock To The Rhythm Of Love
9. Let The Music Take You
10. 1000 Years From Today
11. Dream On

Download

The Beloved - Sweet Harmony CD Single

1. Sweet Harmony
2. Sweet Harmony (Live The Dream Mix)
3. Motivation (Exercised)
4. Sweet Harmony (Love The Dub Mix)

Download

Official Website - includes an extensive downloads section
Wikipedia entry

Lauren Christy - Lauren Christy (1994)

In which we imagine a world where madchester, grunge and britpop took a backseat to music that meant something...



Lauren Christy's debut album is chock full of ballads that are too smart for adult contemporary audiences, but not edgy enough for listeners of independent music. Her follow-up, 1997's Breed, was more along the lines of a riot grrl and came along the time Alanis Morissette, Tracy Bonham, and other female singer/songwriters were really taking over the charts, and it makes you wonder which is really the path Christy wanted to pursue, or if both are different aspects of her. Though she wrote or co-wrote each of the songs on this album, there's a blandness to most of them that doesn't warrant repeated listens. On the other hand, "Steep" could be the gentlest, most real, most moving breakup song ever recorded, and "Vanessa's Father," about a girl falling in love with one of her friends' fathers, is so deftly worded and produced that there is nothing icky about the subject matter. Unfortunately, most of the songs just don't stand out at all. (Allmusic.com)

Well, I didn't think it was that bad. And who can't love a song called "My Jeans I Want Them Back"? Relatively unknown in her own right, Lauren is now one third of the songwriting juggernaut The Matrix.

Lauren Christy - Lauren Christy (1994)

1. Rain
2. You Read Me Wrong
3. Steep
4. The Rumour
5. River of Time
6. Vanessa's Father
7. My Jeans I Want Them Back
8. Adult Afraid of the Light
9. Meet Me In America
10. Woman's Song
11. Take Me To The Church

Download

Bonus track: "Anywhere The Wind Blows" from the movie Seven Girlfriends

MySpace Page
Wikipedia Entry

J.J. - Intro (1991)

In which we imagine a world where madchester, grunge and britpop took a backseat to music that meant something...



Causing barely a ripple at the time, and another example of talented musicians that got lost in the shuffle when the world went baggy, was the duo J.J., consisting of vocalist Jan Johnston and instrumentalist/studio whizz/tea boy Tony Kirkham. They released three singles ("Crying Over You", "Slide Away" and "If This Is Love") and a single album, and then (presumably) got dropped by the record company because Bez wasn't shaking his maracas in the background and none of the songs were about hedonistic lifestyle choices. Today, they would make a killing, because what the world needs now is more coffee-shop music with a little spirit. Hey, it worked for Colbie Caillat. My memory might be hazy, but I think that "Denim And Blue" was on a Select cover tape once, and that was the only time I heard them back in the day.

Jan Johnston went on to release a solo album Naked But For The Lillies, and then become a noted trance vocalist, working with DJ Tiesto and appearing on the Swordfish soundtrack with Paul Oakenfold among many other projects. Tony Kirkham went on to, well, making the tea presumably. Tony, if you're out there, fill us in!

J.J. - Intro (1991)

1. Denim And Blue
2. If This Is Love
3. Come Back Baby
4. Going Nowhere
5. Silver
6. Lovers Do
7. Slide Away
8. Does Anybody Know
9. Crying Over You
10. Anyway The Wind Blows
11. Success

Download

You can get a good look at Jan's impressive career resume at her website. It's often updated and informative. The latest update is this picture of Jan relaxing in the USA - still looking good, Jan!

Nicky Holland - Nicky Holland (1991)

In which we imagine a world where madchester, grunge and britpop took a backseat to music that meant something...

On her eponymous debut, Nicky Holland performs U.K. flavored smooth pop in a similar vein to the music of Sade, Basia, and Swing Out Sister. This is one of those releases that is very enjoyable to listen to, but the material doesn't stick with the listener. Ms. Holland has an adequate voice and the production and musicianship are fine, but the music is not memorable. A sign of a great album is that it haunts the listener between listens, which compels them to return for more listens. This is not a great album; but for those in-the-moment listens, it's good. (Allmusic.com)

Nicky Holland - Nicky Holland (1991)

1. Prelude
2. Ladykiller
3. Tongue Tied And Twisted
4. Colouring Blue
5. Independence Days
6. This Town
7. Box of Rain
8. Face of the Moon
9. Running Around Again
10. The Night We Never Met
11. On the Stairs

Download

[Update - Album has been reposted by request!! October 2013]

Charming old school Nicky Holland web page

[This website is now defunct]

Torch Song - Wish Thing (1984)

In which we imagine a world where the compact disc was introduced in 1980, and now-obscure artists and albums could be preserved for posterity...



Torch Song debuted as a trio on Wish Thing, an ethereal set of instrumentally subtle synth-dance tracks, given most of their character by Laurie Mayer's delicate voice and the gimmicky production. "Don't Look Now" and "Sweet Thing" are appealing, airy concoctions; a demento version of "Ode to Billy Joe" seems calculated to shock and/or offend but is nonetheless amusing. Intriguing. (Trouser Press)

Torch Song - Wish Thing (1984)

1. Don't Look Now
2. Telepathy
3. Ode To Billy Joe
4. Another Place
5. Prepare To Energize
6. Tattered Dress
7. Sweet Thing
8. You Said You Were Coming
9. Water Clock Secrets

Download

MySpace Page
Wikipedia Entry
Zigzag interview with the group in 1984

Mad At The World - Flowers In The Rain (1988)

If you enjoyed the debut album, which I reposted yesterday, then you might also like the follow up, which received an even more limited release and was the last MATW album to utilize their classic synth-rock sound. Standouts include the title track and the very Smiths-like "I Don't Want To Go There".

Mad At The World - Flowers In The Rain (1988)

1. Fearfully And Wonderfully
2. Flowers In The Rain
3. Why
4. Puppet Strings
5. No Mistakes
6. Wait
7. I Don't Want To Go There
8. Faith Is A Perfect Road
9. In My Dream
10. Lovelight In The Midnight
11. This Lie
12. Dancing On Your Grave

Download