"Squeezing Out Sparks" by GRAHAM PARKER and THE RUMOUR – March 1979 UK Fourth Studio Album on Vertigo Records UK (Arista Records USA) featuring Brinsley Schwarz, Martin Belmont, Bob Andrews, Andrew Bodnar and Steve Goulding with Producer Jack Nitzsche (July 2001 UK Mercury Expanded Edition 25th Anniversary CD Reissue with Two Bonus Tracks and Gary Moore Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...Not Ordinary..."

Despite some great tunes and press adulation bordering on the hysterical, I have always struggled with "Stick To Me" – Graham Parker's third studio album from October 1977. In 2022, still the same. Instead, I will inevitably reach for the far stronger fourth album from March 1979 "Squeezing out Sparks" – a no-nonsense little belter that comes in, does the snotty business, doesn't apologize – and then leaves with two fingers held high in the air.

But what does it for me with regard to this 2001 CD Reissue/Remaster is two genuinely great Bonuses – one a non-LP B-side and the other an outtake that should have been on the finished LP. Time to get some protection - even excited – to the details...

 

UK released July 2001 – "Squeezing Out Sparks" by GRAHAM PARKER and THE RUMOUR on Mercury 548 681-2 (Barcode 731454868129) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster with two Bonus Tracks in the 25th Anniversary Reissues Series and plays out as follows (41:14 minutes):

 

1. Discovering Japan [Side 1]

2. Local Girls

3. Nobody Hurts You

4. You Can't Be Too Strong

5. Passion Is No Ordinary Word

6. Saturday Nite Is Dead [Side 2]

7. Love Gets You Twisted

8. Protection

9. Waiting For The UFOs

10. Don't Get Excited

Tracks 1 to 10 are his fourth studio LP "Squeezing Out Sparks" – released March 1979 in the UK on Vertigo 6360 168 and in the USA on Arista AB 4223. Produced by JACK NITZSCHE – it peaked at

 

BONUS TRACKS:

11. Mercury Poisoning

12. I Want You Back (Alive)

 

Track 11 "Mercury Poisoning" didn't appear in the UK, but did on a US 45-single on Arista AS 0420 (see notes for Track 12). First CD appearance for the song on a CD was the 1992 compilation "The Best Of Graham Parker..." (Vertigo 512 149-2).

 

Track 12 "I Want You Back (Alive)" was originally the Non-LP B-side of "Protection" issued 23 February 1979 a UK 45-single on Vertigo 6059 219. It was issued July 1979 in the USA as the Non-LP B-side to "Local Girls" on Arista AS 0420. 

The rather Poppy song – a cover version of a hit for The Congregation and then The Jackson 5 – became popular on US Radio and was therefore reissued in August 1979 in the USA as the A-side and in a picture sleeve (same catalogue number, Arista AS 0420). That reissued American 45 had "Mercury Poisoning" as its Non-LP B-side, the track being new to US audiences.

 

GRAHAM PARKER – Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar

THE RUMOUR was:

BRINSLEY SCHWARZ – Guitar and Backing Vocals

MARTIN BELMONT – Guitar and Backing Vocals

BOB ANDREWS – Keyboards and Backing Vocals

ANDREW BODNAR - Bass

STEPHEN GOULDING – Drums and Backing Vocals

 

The '25th Anniversary Reissues' sticker on the CD jewel case promises 'Bonus Tracks, New Sleeve Notes & Expanded Artwork'. Once you open the decidedly skimpy three-way foldout inlay – you know that Universal has gone all ASDA budget range on our Graham. There are new paragraphs from the great man alongside some history of the album by NIGEL WILLIAMSON and the two rarities listed above (they don’t even picture the rare picture sleeve to the US "I Want You Back Alive" or the UK version of "Protection"). It's good but hardly great – and surely there were more outtakes to be had after all these years? But that budget-priced gripe goes out the boozer window when you hear the muscle and clarity of the Remaster by GARY MOORE. Producer Nitzsche favoured minimalist and so had paired back the band to a tighter New Wave sound - and Parker himself agrees that it worked - giving the acidic material a really sharp edge. 

 

"Discovering Japan" opens proceedings with a wallop and you can so hear why "Local Girls" was chosen as the lead-off UK 45-single - catchy and Radio-friendly into the bargain. "Nobody Hurts You" more than yourself is the sober assessment for a lady in trouble, but all of it gets kicked into touch by the magisterial beauty of "You Can't Be Too Strong" - a counted-in ballad done almost Unplugged style. It's surely one of Parker's best songs - imbibed with great lyrics and a barely-contained pain in his vocals. With the equally strong rocker "Passion Is No Ordinary Word" - it ends a tight and song-packed Side 1 with a wallop.   

 

We get frantic with "Saturday Nite Is Dead" - a so English New Wave song of the day - almost Paul Weller's Jam in its punch-your-face attack. "Love Gets You Twisted: is good too, but "Protection" is brilliant and you can so hear why Arista in America saw it rather than "Local Girls" as the 45 to plug the album with. I love that break in the middle when it just goes into this angry riffage - unexpected but so damn cool. With its "I Want You Back (Alive)" B-side cover version - it made for a dandy 45-release. Parker's knack for wit and slapstick come roaring through with both of the finishers - "Waiting For The UFOs" and "Don't Get Excited". And that coming down with "Mercury Poisoning" outtake should have been on the album as far as I'm concerned.  

So there you have - tight, solid, still standing proud after 40+ years. For sure this variant of "Squeezing Out Sparks" on CD has been deleted some time now and has subsequently developed a bit of an unhealthy price tag because of it, but Graham Parker and his band The Rumour were no 'ordinary' artists and this wee peach is one to seek out...

SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES - "The Scream" - November 1978 UK Debut Album on Polydor Records featuring Siouxsie Sioux, John McKay, Steven Severin and Kenny Morris (January 2007 UK/EU Polydor Single-CD Reissue in a Jewel Case with the October 2005 2CD Deluxe Edition Remaster done by Gary Moore at Universal Mastering)

 

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"...Jigsaw Feeling..." 

 

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I don't know so much about Post-Punk as a Genre reference - kick-ass tracks on "The Scream" like "Jigsaw Feeling", "Carcass" and "Switch" were so Punk to me at the time. 

 

Goth Goddess Siouxsie Sioux (Lead Vocals) and her fellow Banshees John McKay (Guitars and Saxophone), Steve Severin (Bass) and Kenny Morris (Drums) with their sympathetic Producer Steve Lilywhite were right up there for me with The Damned and The Pistols as dangerous and dark and just plain unsettling. I mean what the hell is their second British single "The Staircase (Mystery)" or even the LP's genuinely sinister cover of The Beatles' infamous White Album brute "Helter Skelter" if not all of those things combined! 

 

And when McKay brings in that background-creep Saxophone in their Television meets Sparks "Suburban Relapse" - there is most definitely more than a trace of Roxy Music in their Island Records Seventies heyday of Pop Art Rock pomp - nutters taking on all comers regardless of trends. Siouxsie & The Banshees and their uncompromising music have felt like Punk Attitude to me - alternative personified - damn the torpedoes - let's send a metal postcard to No. Downing Street! To its digital incarnations...

Disregarding the 1989 basic-as-chips reissue when CD first began making inroads into the formats war - Siouxsie's debut album from November 1978 has had somewhat of a weird triple-whammy release schedule in Blighty. 

 

First came the impressive 3 October 2005 Universal 2CD Deluxe Edition on Polydor 983 238-8 (Barcode 602498323885) following not surprisingly by a singular-CD Version on 29 May 2006 on Polydor 983 691-1/SIOUX 1 (Barcode 602498369111). That variant came in a Stickered-Digipak sleeve (the SIOUX 1 catalogue number), had two bonus tracks, a foldout-essay/lyrics poster and the same 2005 Remaster carried out by Audio Engineer GARY MOORE for the 2005 2CD DE Version. 

 

What we're dealing with here is version number three of "The Scream" by SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES - the standard Jewel Case reissue UK released 29 January 2007 on Polydor 984 691-1 (Barcode 602498435113). It replaces the Card Digipak with a Standard Jewel Case, the two-sided Essay and Lyrics Poster with an 8-page booklet sporting only the lyrics and the same two Bonus Single Sides and 2005 Gary Moore Remaster (reissued 2009). Here are the details...

 

1. Pure [Side 1]

2. Jigsaw Feeling 

3. Overground 

4. Carcass 

5. Helter Skelter 

6. Mirage [Side 2]

7. Metal Postcard (Mittageisen) 

8. Nicotine Stain 

9. Suburban Relapse 

10. Switch 

Tracks 1 to 10 are their debut album "The Scream" - released November 1978 in the UK on Polydor Records POLD 5009. Produced by STEVE LILYWHITE - it peaked at No. 12 on the UK LP charts (didn't chart USA) 

BONUS TRACKS:

11. Hong Kong Garden

August 1978 UK Debut 45-single on Polydor 2059 052, A-side

 

12. The Staircase (Mystery) 

March 1979 UK Second 45-single on Polydor POSP 9, A-side 

It won't take fans long to work out that there are a few lazy let downs here. The Non-LP B-sides of "Hong Kong Garden" and "The Staircase (Mystery)" - "Voices" and their great cover of T.Rex's "20th Century Boy" are not here. Nor is the different version of "Love In A Void" that turned up as the flipside of the album's third 45 "Mittageisen (Metal Postcard)" in September 1979. There was room too. The 8-page booklet is no great shakes either - has the lyrics only and a basic album-credits page - but no history - no memorabilia - no sense of its ground-breaking feel as a debut and how it's grown in stature as the decades have passed. Now that's a disappointment. So to what is good...

The GARY MOORE Remaster is fabulous - full of power and balls. When you crank the guitar and drums opening of "Switch" - the treated guitars and bass at 2:30 - the huge build up and fade as it reaches its near seven-minute ending - it all feels so much better than the compromise my old LP used to offer as the side played out.

 

The only cut I could never quite get along with is the opening "Pure" where the band is announcing things are going to get uncomfortable. And some have complained that the singles distort the overall play - personally I don't subscribe to that. I have always thought of "Hong Kong Garden" as a wee bit of 7" single masterpiece. 

 

In May 2022, "The Scream" with its great audio, so-so booklet and chipper bonuses will set you back less than six or seven quid. Now that's worth venting the suburban nicotine-knackered lungs about...

"All Mod Cons" by THE JAM featuring Paul Weller (June 2006 Polydor/Universal 2-Disc 'Deluxe Edition' Reissue with 1CD and 1DVD – Gary Moore Remaster) - A Review By Mark Barry...

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"...English Rose..."

Even though I probably wasn’t consciously aware of it - by 1978 I was already an old fart. Yet like all my mates at the time (kids of the early Seventies) - we knew the real deal when it hit our eardrums. Amidst the amateur clatter, concert gobbing and clenched fists - the English New Wave was also producing The Clash, The Damned, The Stranglers, The Buzzcocks, The Undertones, The Sex Pistols and so many more - all of whom were evolving past mere spit and snarl. What was not to love?

But with a genuinely articulate wordsmith/songwriter in Woking's own Paul Weller - especially on the subject of all things British, working class and growing up – two years into Punk's explosive and abusive journey - The Jam in 1978 somehow stood above them all. Their undeniably angry yet life-affirming third platter "All Mod Cons" pierced my heart and grabbed my pogoing crotch with equal force - a musical and lyrical grip that has never loosened across 40 years. This is a fabulous album and I remember fondly discussing "…Mod..." with John Reed who had just penned a 26-page appraisal of his emotional-crave for England's Record Collector Magazine (he was compiling the first Price Guides for them at the time as well as writing one of the largest articles they’d ever done on this supremely collectable band) - his eyes ablaze like a kid who'd just found a new sixpence on streets awash with muck.

The albums "In the City" and "This Is The Modern World" from May and November 1977 were undeniably great opening bids and exciting mission statements in themselves (the second even made the lower reaches of the US charts) - but the mighty "All Mod Cons" was an entirely different toffee wrapper. Hell it even seemed to have a hidden-track on Side 1 - the gorgeous "English Rose". Much like "Train In Vain" on The Clash's "London Calling" the following year - "English Rose" was not credited on the rear cover artwork - but in this case did at least turn up as a label credit. And entirely out of keeping with the rest of the record's kick-'em-in-the-nadges mood (except maybe for the equally sweet "Fly") – the straight-up love song and its pastoral acoustic sound wrong-footed everyone (Weller even seemed embarrassed by it at the time).

What a blast "All Mod Cons" is and this 2006 2-Disc 'Deluxe Edition' remaster - itself sporting fresh material (both Audio and Visual) - only hammers home the greatness and legacy of that period masterpiece with Mod gusto. In fact this is one of those reissue instances when I would cry 'give me more' and not less. So with no bonds that can ever keep me from she, let's get to the Billy Hunts...

UK released 20 June 2006 - "All Mod Cons: Deluxe Edition" by THE JAM on Polydor/Universal 9839238 (Barcode 602498392386) is a 2-Disc Reissue (1CD and 1DVD) with Previously Unreleased Audio and Visual elements that plays out as follows:

CD - 78:54 minutes:

1. All Mod Cons [Side 1]

2. To Be Someone (Didn't We Have A Nice Time)

3. Mr. Clean

4. David Watts

5. English Rose

6. In The Crowd

7. Billy Hunt [Side 2]

8. It's Too Bad

9. Fly

10. The Place I Love

11. 'A' Bomb In Wardour Street

12. Down In The Tube Station At Midnight

Tracks 1 to 12 are their third studio album "All Mod Cons" - released November 1978 in the UK on Polydor Records POLD 5008 and Polydor PD-1-6188 in the USA. Produced by VIC COPPERSMITH-HEAVEN (real name Victor Smith) - it peaked at No. 6 and No. 204 in the UK and USA LP charts. All songs written by Paul Weller except "David Watts" which is a KINKS cover version written by Ray Davies.

BONUS TRACKS:

13. News Of The World

14. Aunties And Uncles (Impulsive Youths)

15. Innocent Man

Tracks 13 to 15 are the A & two B-sides of a February 1978 non-album UK 7" single on Polydor 2058 995

16. Down In The Tube Station At Midnight (Single Version)

17. So Sad About Us

18. The Night

Tracks 16 to 18 are the A & two B-sides of a October 1978 UK 7" single on Polydor POSP 8 (2059 068)

19. So Sad About Us (Demo)

20. Worlds Apart (Demo)

21. It's Too Bad (Demo)

22. To Be Someone (Demo)

23. David Watts (Demo)

24. Billy Hunt (Alternate Version)

25. Mr. Clean (Demo) - Previously Unreleased

26. Fly (Demo) - Previously Unreleased

All songs written by Paul Weller except "News Of The World", "Innocent Man" and "The Night" by Bruce Foxton while "David Watts" by Ray Davies of The Kinks and "So Sad About Us" by Pete Townshend of The Who are cover versions

DVD – NTSC REGION 0 - Aspect Ratio 4:3, Sound 5.1 and Stereo

1. The Making Of All Mod Cons - Directed by DON LETTS (36 minutes)

Features new interviews with all three members of The Jam, Promo Clips from the period and previously-unseen live footage

2. New solo rendition of "English Rose" by Paul Weller (2:30 minutes)

THEJAM was:

PAUL WELLER - Lead Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Piano and Harmonica

BRUCE FOXTON - Bass, Guitar and Vocals

RICK BUCKLER - Drums and Percussion

A plastic/stickered DELUXE EDITION wraparound slipcase houses a four-way fold-out card digipak with the two discs. The 28-page over-sized booklet has fresh liner notes from Mojo Magazine's LOIS WILSON that features new interviews and reminiscences from all three - with Weller honest about what he now knows was a watershed moment for his band. Working class roots, the influence of songwriters like Ray Davies and Pete Townshend who wrote about England with wit, honesty and dare-we-say-it 'affection' - the trappings of sudden stardom and his 'spokesperson for a generation' mantle, Soul Music and the Modfather image, the rip-off grind-you-down nature of the music industry who just wanted more pithy hits and clearly didn't think Punk or its New Wave music would evolve into something special - it's all here. There are comments from Producers Vic Coppersmith-Jones and Chris Parry as well as other key players, the NME front cover, a Strawberry Acetate for "Down In The Tube Station…", a Japanese Picture Sleeve and some UK 45s - but if I'm honest the booklet is also strangely lacking. The inner sleeve to the original album showing the boys photo/memorabilia collage of Soul, Ska and Mod roots (Creation singles, Tamla Motown 45s, 100 Club flyers, Battersea Power Station and Coffee cups etc.) along with the rear LP sleeve is reproduced on the inner flaps as are lyrics beneath the see-through CD trays.

Better news comes in the shape of a new GARY MOORE Remaster from original tapes that lifts up the record even more than the 1997 'Jam Remasters' version did (Audio Engineers PASCHAL BYRNE and DENNIS MUNDAY also helped with the remixes of the two Previously Unreleased demos dovetailing Disc 1). This reissue sounds fantastic - lickety split attack from the guitars, head boy snooty snarl in the vocals and Mister Clean f-u-up power to that pumping two-piece rhythm section (a great job done). Let's get to the place I love...

Side 1 opens with a triple upper-cut - first up being the short and angry 1-2-3-4 attack of "All Mod Cons" where Weller goes after the industry and its supposed 'artistic freedom'. But that's trampled on by the brilliant "To Be Someone..." where a killer Revolver riff kicks you in the nuts only to be followed by a fabulous musical interlude - Paul worrying about his very soul being swallowed up by the cocaine life of guitar-shaped swimming pools - a world that can 'quickly diminish' into cold streets after the pub has shut, stumbling home with all the other clowns to lonely rooms. The bolshy "Mr. Clean" sees Weller go after the 9-to-5 suits and their annual Christmas do – its vicious lyrics suddenly matching the killer beat as he threatens to f-up Mister Squeaky's missus and their cosy life. The angry-young-man then gets his teeth into Ray Davies' angry-young-anthem "David Watts" - head boy of the school and captain of the team - a pure and noble breed - and you suspect a bit of a knob. Then you get the completely unexpected - a wash of waves and acoustic guitars - a love song amidst the inner city angst that floored me when I first heard it. I've always thought "English Rose" a Weller gem - and the new version on the DVD is a highlight for me.

"In The Crowd" is surely one of album's best tracks too (I prefer it to "Down At The Tube Station At Midnight") - a song that doesn't sound like 40 years ago in any way. But rage is not far away. In the stabbing-riffage of "Billy Hunt" someone is a little dog messing up Paul's tree - our hero longing to be Clark Kent’s Superman or Steve Austin’s Bionic Man – superpowers/six-million dollars enabling him able to defend himself against Staff Sergeant Bob and his barking first-day-on-the-job commands. "It’s Too Bad" gets dangerously close to calling in the Beatles lawyers with its guitar melody – but it does at least lower the rage thermostat a few degrees and again shows a songwriting maturity way past the two preceding albums. Then just as you think you know the band – Weller hits you with another warm one – the fabulous "Fly" where again his songwriting leaps out of the speakers. Same thing happens with "The Place I Love" where he makes a stand against the world – the fantastic chug underpinned up by subtle organ giving the song a sort of Soul-Rock power. And of course it ends on the double-whammy of "'A' Bomb In Wardour Street" (an apocalypse in Doc Martins) and "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight" (miscreants after the pub and too many right-wing meetings). What an album…

The Jam were also a stunning singles band and the Bonus Tracks amply show why fans fretted over their 45-releases with such must-buy-it-the-day-of-release passion – even the flip-sides were cool and worth owning. In August 1978 Polydor UK put out two of the album tracks as a single - "David Watts" with "Wardour Street" as the B-side (Polydor 2059 054) – following that with "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight" in October 1978 on the A (Polydor POSP 8 – its two non-album B-sides are amidst the bonus cuts) – rewarding the band with No. 15 and No. 25 chart positions. Bruce Foxton got his two moments too on the "News Of The World" 45 that pre-empted the album in February 1978 (Polydor 2058 995 - Weller playing piano on "Innocent Man"). It's just one of the excellent single-sides that bolster up the CD. I love that Motown-ish cover of Pete Townshend's "So Sad About Us" (the demo is slightly disappointing) and it's unfortunately easy to hear why the awkwardly piano-happy "Worlds Apart" was not used. But the yeah-yeah-yeah demo of "It's Too Bad" is already showing greatness, as does "To Be Someone" where Foxton's Bass lines are more to the fore. The final two Previously Unreleased cuts are rough for sure but again only add more icing to an already tasty cake.

"…Didn't we have a nice time..." – Weller shouted 40 years ago. Well I don't know about nice, and I haven't met the Queen yet either, but I'm still listening and I'm fa-fa-fa-fa f***ing loving it. Nice one son…

"Chess NORTHERN SOUL: 20 Tracks Hand-Picked by MOJO" by VARIOUS (August 2005 Universal/Chess/MOJO CD Compilation - Gary Moore Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…A Love Like Ours…Let's Wear It On Our Face…"

The respected and much-loved MOJO Magazine of the UK decided in 2005 to use their knowledge and compile a series of rather cool (and cheap) Chess Records CD compilations.

Four appeared using generic card digipak artwork with the '20 Tracks Hand-Picked By MOJO' logo in the bottom left corner - "Chess ORIGINALS" (actually has 25 tracks, total playing time of 70:08 minutes), "Chess SOUL SISTERS" (56:09 minutes), "Chess TEARJERKERS" (58:50 minutes) and this sweaty Saturday night playlist at 58:48 minutes - "Chess NORTHERN SOUL".

There was also a 15-track CD sampler of sorts that preceding the four themed comps called "Chess CLASSICS" which was given away with copies of the MOJO August 2005 magazine when it went on sale in July of that year. It came in a jewel case (no catalogue number nor barcode) and actually had several tracks not featured in the four comps but that are on other Chess CD Remaster compilations (acts like Chuck Berry, Do Diddley and so on).

When it comes to three CDs on classic Soul Music - of course Ace Records of the UK and their Kent-Soul label imprint have had this sort of comp down pat for nearly three decades and have been thrilling fans like me with further trawls in the digital age almost on a monthly basis. But I feel that the "Chess NORTHERN SOUL" entry is one of those fabulous little CD compilations that slipped through the cracks in a crowded reissue onslaught.

The MOJO magazine's respected Soul authority and uber-fan LOIS WILSON did the smart-choice compiling back in 2005 and I've always dug them as short but oh so sweet listens. And even now in September 2019, most are still available at a frankly laughable pre Brexit outlay (get them before the panic sets in and they shut down the emotional borders on us all). Time to grab the Johnson's sniffy talcum powder out, don your dancing pom-poms and rectify that unforgivable anomaly by your woefully out-of-touch wallet. Here comes the pleasure tome for those eager men in large legged pants...

UK released 25 August 2005 - "Chess NORTHERN SOUL: 20 Tracks Hand-Picked by MOJO" by VARIOUS ARTISTS is on Universal/Chess/Mojo 9830153 (Barcode 602498301531) and breaks down as follows (58:48 minutes):

1. Let's Wade In The Water - MARLENA SHAW (1966 USA 7" single on Cadet 5549, A)

2. It Ain't Necessary - MAMIE GALORE (1968 USA 7" single on St. Lawrence 1012, A)

3. Hold On - THE RADIANTS (1968 USA 7" single on Chess 2037, A)

4. Wear It On Our Face - THE DELLS (from the May 1968 US LP "There Is" on Cadet Records LPS-804)

5. A Love Reputation - DENISE La SALLE (1967 USA 7" single on Chess 2005, A)

6. Ordinary Joe - TERRY CALLIER (from the 1972 US LP "Occasional Rain" on Cadet Records CA 50007)

7. More Love, That's What We Need - THE GOSPEL CLASSICS (1968 USA 7" single on Checker 5050, A)

8. Leave It In The Hands Of Love - FONTELLA BASS (1966 USA 7" single on Checker 1131, B-side of "Recovery")

9. Landslide - TONY CLARKE (1965 USA 7" single on Chess 1979, A)

10. Sweeter Than The Day Before - THE VALENTINOS [featuring Bobby Womack] (1966 USA 7" single on Chess 1977, B-side of "Let's Get Together")

11. More And More - LITTLE MILTON (1967 USA 7" single on Checker 1189, A)

12. Peak Of Love - BOBBY McCLURE (1966 USA 7" single on Checker 1152, A)

13. Run For Cover - THE DELLS (from the May 1968 US LP "There Is" on Cadet Records LPS-804)

14. You Colored My Blues Bright - LITTLE MILTON (1966 USA 7" single on Checker 1162, B-side of "Feel So Bad")

15. Make Sure (You Have Someone Who Loves You) - THE DELLS (from the February 1969 US album "Always Together - The Dells Musical Menu" on Cadet LPS-822)

16. Boo-Ga-Loo Baby - TOMMY & CLEVE (1966 USA 7" single on Checker 1154, A)

17. Look At Me - TERRY CALLIER (1968 USA 7" single on Cadet 5541, A)

18. The Fugitive Kind - TONY CLARKE (1965 USA 7" single on Chess 1935, B-side of "Poor Boy")

19. I Can't Help Myself - THE GEMS (1964 USA 7" single on Chess 1908, A)

20. Wade In The Water - RAMSEY LEWIS (from the 1966 US LP "Wade In The Water" on Cadet Records LPS 774)

Compiled and annotated by LOIS WILSON - the oversized 16-page booklet (inside a gatefold card digipak) is a lovely thing to behold - insightful paragraphs on each of the songs - 7" single labels reproduced, black and white publicity shots and even a full-page repro in colour of the girl dancing by the sea on the American LP sleeve of "Wade In The Water" by Ramsey Lewis. Very nicely done...

Same as the other compilations in this series - long-time Audio Engineer GARY MOORE at Universal carried out the excellent remasters. The audio varies from source-to-source - incredible one moment and more than acceptable the next. But as with the "Soul Sisters" entry in this series - all of that gets blown out of the water by the sheer joy of the music (recorded well or not). And once again very clever song choices abound here 'hand-picked' by those canny bods at England's fabulicious MOJO magazine. You get snappy B-sides instead of overplayed A's combined with crowd pleasers like "Wade In The Water" and Tony Clarke's fantastic "Landslide" all nestling alongside rare album cuts and obscure groups (The Valentinos featured a young Bobby Womack).

The compilation begins and ends with a Northern Soul stalwart - Ramsey Lewis' "Wade In The Water" sung by Marlena Shaw first as a dancefloor invite - then bookended by his original piano//brass driven instrumental. Sounding like something out of a Sixties Bond movie - Mamie Galore's "It Ain't Necessary" was co-written by Jerry Butler and Produced by a Funk fave of mine - Monk Higgins. But as lovely as "Necessary" is - it gets trounced for me by the 3:25 minutes of talcum powder bliss that follows - "Wear It On Our Face" by THE DELLS. Produced and Arranged by Cadet's resident in-house genius CHARLES STEPNEY - it has everything a great Northern Soul Record should have - a driving dancing beat, impassioned vocals, brass fills complimenting clever string arrangements and a simply irresistible upbeat joy that makes your hip replacements itch. It's properly gorgeous stuff and actually makes me tearful at times (lyrics from it title this review).

And there you have it - so many great tunes you don't know and need to. "Chess Northern Soul" is the kind of CD compilation that has gotten lost in an overcrowded marketplace. Check it out peeps and remember - like Johnson's Baby Powder on a flabby bottom - be liberal with that dancing powder once you get this disc into your CD player - you hip-shaking mama's...

The Four Compilation Titles in the 20 August 2005 (UK)

UNIVERSAL/CHESS/MOJO CD Series are:

1. Chess ORIGINALS: 20 Tracks Hand-Picked By MOJO

(Universal/Chess/Mojo 9830156 – Barcode 602498301562)

2. Chess NORTHERN SOUL: 20 Tracks Hand-Picked By MOJO

(Universal/Chess/Mojo 9830153 – Barcode 602498301531)

3. Chess SOUL SISTERS: 20 Tracks Hand-Picked By MOJO

(Universal/Chess/Mojo 9830155 – Barcode 602498301555)

4. Chess TEARJERKERS: 20 Tracks Hand-Picked By MOJO

(Universal/Chess/Mojo 9830154 –Barcode 602498301548)