"Silhouettes & Statues: A Gothic Revolution 1978-1986" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Featuring Specimen, Joy Division, Bauhaus, Theatre Of Hate, Dead Can Dance, Flesh For Lulu, The Associates, Balaam And The Angel, The Sisters of Mercy, Public Image Ltd., Southern Death Cult, Fields Of The Nephilim, The Damned, Alien Sex Fiend, The Mission, Ausgang, Nico, The Birthday Party with Nick Cave, Love And Rockets, Penetration, Dali's Car, Tones On Tails, Blood And Roses, Attrition, Cocteau Twins and more (June 2017 UK Cherry Red 5CD DigiBook Set of Nick Watson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Release The Bats..."

 

Not really aimed at your Pot Pourri Laura Ashley marketplace for sustainably sourced Moccasins – there is more disruptive, lurid and rowdy musical noises on this fabulously dark and doomy 83-Track 5CD Digibook of Remasters than you can shake a UK House of Commons Happy Hour stick at (let me at the subsidised bar boys).

 

Compiled with serious gusto by RICHARD ANDERSON whilst phone and e-mail hogging help from Genre knowledge fountains like NATASHA SCARF and JOHN REED - "Silhouettes & Statues: A Gothic Revolution 1978-1986" does what it says it will do on yet another brilliantly compiled Cherry Red Records tin.

 

I know/knew about half of this stuff – but the rest is the kind of bonkers deep dive digital firsts into late Seventies & mid Eighties Punk, Worldwide New Wave, Indie, Goth Rock and Alternative that turns up the collectors volume button to eleven. 45-single A&B-sides, rare stand-alone twelve-inch singles, mini LPs and cassette compilations, unappreciated album cuts (the Hula song "Ghost Rattle" from their 1984 LP "Murmur" is a typically clever choice). All the labels famously associated with Goth and its environs are here – 4AD, Red Rhino, Situation Two, Factory, Jungle, Fiction, Virgin, In Phaze, Statik and of course, oodles of brave Indies. Hair, make-up and double-barrel fangs at the ready...here we go...

 

UK released 30 June 2017 - "Silhouettes & Statues: A Gothic Revolution 1978-1986" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Cherry Red Records CRCDBOX34 (Barcode 5013929103405) is a 83-Track 5CD Hardback Digibook Set of Remasters that plays out as follows:

 

CD1 (69:16 minutes):

1. Shadowplay – JOY DIVISION (from the June 1979 UK LP "Unknown Pleasures" on Factory Records FACT 10)

2. Release The Bats – THE BIRTHDAY PARTY (September 1981 UK 45-single on 4AD Records AD 111, A-side)

3. Rema-Rema – REMA-REMA (from the April 1980 UK "Wheel In The Roses" 12-inch single EP on 4AD Records BAD 5)

4. Shattered Glass – PARANOIA (from the June 1984 UK LP "Shattered Glass" on Rot Records ASS 11)

5. Charnel Ground – SECTION 25 (October 1980 BELGIUM 45-single on Factory Benelux BN 3-006, A-side)

6. Floorshow – THE SISTERS OF MERCY (November 1982 UK 45-single on Merciful Release MR 015, B-side to "Alice")

7. The Female Mirror – CLOCK DVA (from the 1981 UK LP "Thirst" on Fetish Records FR2002)

8. The Black Cat – UK DECAY (February 1980 UK 45-single "U.K. Decay" on Plastic PLAS 002, Track 1 on Side 2 of a 4-Track EP)

9. Dead And Buried – ALIEN SEX FRIEND (August 1984 UK 45-single on Anagram ANA 23, A-side)

10. Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven – LOVE AND ROCKETS (from the October 1985 UK LP "Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven" on Beggars Banquet BEGA 66)

11. Q Quarters – THE ASSOCIATES (July 1981 UK 45-single Situation Two SIT 4, A-side)

12. Carnival Of The Gullible – IN EXCELSIS (November 1983 UK 4-Tracks 12-Inch single "Carnival Of Damocles" on Jungle Records JUNG 9, Last Track on Side 2)

13. Feels Like Dancing Wartime – NEVILLUXURY (from the 1984 Mini-LP "Feels Like Dancing Wartime" on Red Rhino Records LP 46)

14. Vaguely Human – FLESH FOR LULU (from the November 1985 UK LP "Big Fun City" on Statik Records STAT LP 28)

15. Crow Baby – THE MARCH VIOLETS (May 1983 UK 45-single on Rebirth Records RB 18, A-side)

16. D For Desire – ALL ABOUT EVE (July 1985 UK 12-Inch Single on Eden Records 1 Den, A-side)

17. Beautiful Monsters – FOLK DEVILS (from the September 2016 UK 2LP set "Beautiful Monsters: Singles And Demo Recordings 1984-1986" on Optic Nerve Recordings OPT 4.022)

 

CD2 (70:03 minutes):

1. Flowers Of Romance – PUBLIC IMAGE LTD (March 1981 UK 45-single on Virgin VS 397, A-side)

2. Bed Caves – DANIELLE DAX (from the April 1983 UK LP "Pop-Eyes" on The Initial Recording Company IRC 009)

3. Moya – SOUTHERN DEATH CULT (December 1982 UK 45-single on Situation Two SIT 19, Double A-side with "Fatman")

4. Caged – 1919 (June 1982 UK 45-single on Red Rhino RED 14, A-side)

5. The Hanging Garden – THE CURE (July 1982 UK 45-single on Fiction FICS 15, A-side)

6. Solitary Habit - S-HATERS (May 1984 UK 45-single on Midnight Music DING 6, A-side)

7. The Arcane – DEAD CAN DANCE (August 1984 UK Debut 4-Track 12-inch Single EP "Garden Of The Arcane Delights" on 4AD Records BAD 408, First Track Side 2)

8. Saving Face – YEARS ON EARTH (from the 1982 Self-Published Cassette-Only Album "Site" on Years On Earth Records YOE 2)

9. Breach Birth – IN THE NURSERY (October 1985 UK 4-Track 12-Inch single EP "Temper" on Sweatbox SOX 008, Side 1, Track 1)

10. The Tenant – PLAY DEAD (from the April 1983 UK LP "The First Flower" on Jungle Records FREUD 3)

11. Ghost – PART 1 (October 1982 6-Track 45-single EP "Funeral Parade" on Paraworm Records SRTS 82 CUS 1452 (Played at LP Speed))

12. Cuts Of Love – 13th CHIME (1981 UK 45-single on Ellie Jay Records EJSP 9700, A-side)

13. Ice Cold In – THE TEMPEST (from the June 1984 UK LP "5 Against The House" on Anagram Records GRAM 15)

14. Night Creatures – SCREAMING DEAD (September 1983 UK 5-Track 12-Inch single on No Future Records 12 OI 25, Track 1, Side 1)

15. Among The Ruins – BUSHIDO (November 1984 UK 12-Inch single on Third Mind Records TMS 02)

16. Friends – PORTION CONTROL (November 1982 UK LP "I Staggered Mentally" on In Phaze Records CP007)

17. Creation – ACTIFIED (August 1983 UK 12-Inch single "Dawn Of A Legion" on Jungle Records JUNG 7, Track 1 on Side 1)

 

CD3 (76:19 minutes):

1. Tabletalk – ADAM AND THE ANTS (November 1979 UK LP "Dirk Wears White Sox" on Do It Records RIDE 3)

2. The Darklands – BALAAM AND THE ANGEL (March 1986 UK 12-Inch single on Virgin VS 842-12, Track 2 on Side 2)

3. Love Puppets – THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS (August 1983 UK LP "Curse" on In Phaze Records PHA 2)

4. Into The Garden – ARTERY (September 1982 UK 7-Track Mini-LP "Oceans" on Red Flame RFM 4)

5. Girlsoul – SALVATION (October 1983 UK 45-single on Merciful Release MR 025, A-side)

6. In Shreds – THE CHAMELEONS (February 1985 UK 45-single on Statik Records TAK 29, A-side)

7. Fugitive Kind - SCHLEIMER K (1982 UK 4-Track 12-inch single on Glass Records GLASS 028, Track 1 on Side 1)

8. By The River – THE BOLSHOI (October 1985 UK 5-Track Mini-LP "Giants" on Situation Two SITUM 15)

9. Screaming (For Emmalene) – GENE LOVES JEZEBEL (April 1983 UK 12-inch single on Situation Two SIT 20T)

10. Gallery Of Shame – LOWLIFE (1985 UK Mini-LP "Rain" on Nightshift Records LOLIF 1)

11. Out Of The Moving Life Of Circles – AND ALSO THE TREES (February 1984 UK LP "And Also The Trees" on Reflex Records LEX 1)

12. Is Still – Siiiii (Recorded in 1984 but unreleased at the time, finally issued 2006 on the CD album "Ancient" on King Sol Records KSR001)

13. Heroin (Live) – TABATHAS NIGHTMARE (October 1985 UK 45-single Privately Pressed on Be-wicked Label – First CD on "Silhouettes & Statues..." 5CD Book Set)

14. Angel Of Vengeance – BRIGANDAGE (from the 1986 UK 7-Track Mini LP "Pretty Funny Thing" on Gung Ho GHLP 001)

15. Stone Heroes – PENETRATION (from the October 1978 UK LP "Moving Targets" on Virgin V 2109)

16. L.A. Rain – THE ROSE OF AVALANCHE (1985 UK 12-inch single on Leeds Independent Label 12 LIL 01)

 

CD4 (71:46 minutes):

1. Andante - Legacy – FURYO (October 1984 UK 12-inch single EP "Furioso" on Anagram Records 12 ANA 24, Track 1, Side 1)

2. Stay With Me – THE MISSION (from the December 1986 UK debut album "Gods Own Medicine" on Mercury 830 603-1)

3. Saēta – NICO (September 1981 UK 45-single on Flicknife Records FLS 206, A-side)

4. Fragments Of Fear – IN CAMERA (December 1980 UK 12-inch 4-Track EP "IV Songs" on 4AD Records BAD 19, Track 1, Side 2)

5. Anonymity – DANCE CHAPTER (December 1980 UK 45-single on 4AD Records AD 18, A-side)

6. Sink Into You – AUSGANG (1984 UK 4-Track 12-inch EP "Head On!" on Criminal Damage Records CRI 12-124, Track 1 on Side 1)

7. In Our Angelhood – COCTEAU TWINS (from the October 1983 UK LP "Head Over Heels" on 4AD Records CAD 313)

8. Morbid Silence – SUNGLASSES AFTER DARK (1984 UK 4-Track 12-inch single on Anagram Records 12 ANA 20, Track 1 on Side 1)

9. Trees Come Down – FIELDS OF NEPHILIM (1985 UK 4-Track 12-inch single "Burning The Fields E.P." on Tower Release N1, Track 1 on Side 1)

10. Tracey’s Burning – ANOREXIC DREAD (1984 UK 12-inch single on Criminal Damage Records CRI 12-114, Track 1 on Side 1)

11. Take It All – RED LORRY YELLOW LORRY (April 1983 UK 45-single on Red Rhino Records RED 28, A-side)

12. Burning Skies – TONES ON TAILS (May 1983 UK 4-Track 12-inch single "Burning The Skies EP" on Situation Two SIT 21T, Track 1 on Side 1)

13. Spit Upon Your Grave – BLOOD AND ROSES (from the 1985 UK LP "Enough Is Never Enough" on Audiodrone Records SIN 1)

14. High Cost Of Living – THE THREAT (1980 IRELAND-Only 45-single on One Web Records 001 WEB, B-side of "Lullaby In C")

15. Storm Pause – I’M DEAD (Self-released 1982)

16. Last Year’s Wife – ZERO LE CRECHE (May 1984 UK 45-single on Flicknife Records FLS 029, A-side)

 

CD5 (74:12 minutes):

1. Stigmata Martyr – BAUHAUS (from the November 1980 UK debut LP "In The Flat Field" on 4AD Records CAD 13)

2. Patrol – THE WAKE (from the October 1982 UK LP "Harmony" on Factory Records Fact. 60)

3. Returning (From A Journey) – SPECIMEN (1983 UK 45-single on London Records LON 24, A-side)

4. Original Sin – THEATRE OF HATE (November 1980 UK 45-single on SS Label SS3, Double A-side with "Legion")

5. Birthrite – ATTRITION (from the 1982 Various Artists UK Cassette-Only Compilation "Ruptured Gut" on Twisted Tapes TWISTED 1)

6. Things We Never Did – SAD LOVERS AND GIANTS (October 1981 UK 45-single on Last Movement LM005, B-side of "Colourless Dream")

7. Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde – THE DAMNED (from the November 1980 UK 2LP set "The Black Album" on Chiswick Records CWK 3015)

8. The Hill – GLORIA MUNDI (from the February 1980 UK LP "The Word Is Out" on RCA Victor PL 25244)

9. His Box – DALI’S CAR (from the November 1984 European LP "The Waking Hour" on Paradox Records 206 709 – featuring Mick Karn of Japan and Peter Murphy of Bauhaus)

10. The Diseased Stranger's Waltz – INCA BABIES (from the January 1985 UK Debut LP "Rumble" on Black Lagoon Records INC LP005)

11.Ghost Dance – DEATH CULT (July 1983 UK 4-Track 12-inch single "Death Cult" on Situation Two Records SIT 23T, Track 2 on Side 1)

12. Euthenics – MODERN EON (March 1981 UK 45-single on Dindisc DIN 30, A-side)

13. Mind Disease – RITUAL (October 1982 UK 45-single on Red Flame RF 712, A-side)

14. She Cries Alone – SKELETAL FAMILY (January 1984 UK 45-single on Red Rhino RED 41, A-side)

15. Jack – BONE ORCHBARD (September 1984 UK 45-single on Jungle JUNG 18, A-side)

16. Ghost Rattle – HULA (from the November 1984 UK LP "Murmur" on Red Rhino RED LP 53)

17. Twister – RUBELLA BALLET (from the 1985 UK LP "At Last It's Playtime" on Ubiquitous Records DAYGLOW 2)

 

In its Hardback Digibook stood-tall presentation, the front and rear glossy artwork makes this superb Cherry Red outing something of a looker. After two pages of introduction on the genre entitled "Stepping Out Of The Shadows" by NATASHA SCARF (she tries to go past the clichés of black clothing, vampirism lore and I-like-my-head-in-the-oven landscapes) – the first two CDs are slid into attached hard card pages with lipped entries – the final three at the rear.

 

From Page 4 to the final credits list on Page 48 – Natasha pours on the factoids. And scouring the attached 48-page booklet for the historical lowdown, a very cool thing happens as you read the liner notes to each song – you begin to notice that without too much ballyhoo, some of the entries have blurbs from the band themselves or the song’s principal writer. Included are Danielle Dax (all hair and glorious make-up), Years On Earth, Balaam And The Angel, Gene Loves Jezebel, Attrition, Penetration, Into the Garden and The Mission, Ausgang, Blood And Roses, Anorexic Dread, Inca Babies and more. Those entries are high on personal reminiscences and are fascinating – the others ramp up the Discography facts as they set out their place in Goth history. Either the rare 45 or twelve-inch single or mini LP is pictured alongside Promo photos of these lesser-seen artists – and as you can imagine – the music is by its very nature both rare and an acquired taste.

 

NICK WATSON at Fluid did the Mastering (he has done loads of work for Universal, Ace Records and others) and given the topic involved that practically screams DIY Punk Attitude, as you can imagine the Audio Quality rambles from good production values to Indie lo-fi. But I must admit, at least 80 to 90% of this stuff is kicking anyway (jam-packed CD paying times too) – hammering at your speaker stack like a demented banshee outside the suddenly foggy window on a sea-view cottage off the coast of Cornwall (the less populated part). To the music...

 

I have to admit that listening to Nick Cave pre solo material in The Birthday Party (over 42 years old now in 2023) - "Release The Bats" on CD1 – is not exactly a joyful dip into the soothing waves of a Third Eye Oasis of Zen Wonderment. But then that is the point (or was) – a lot of the time. Super smart choice in The Sisters Of Mercy B-side "Floorshow" (brilliant) while I have to don a cap at Love And Rockets – a group I kind of ignored – and their edgy "Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven" is a forgotten wunderbar. Great production values for The Associates spacy "Q Quarters" – cuckoo never sounded so good. In Excelsis give it some Siouxsie in the shouted sneer of "Carnival Of The Gullible" – such a cool guitar break too – almost King Crimson dare we say it. Tremendous choice in terms of Goth and Cult-type-rocker with the Flesh For Lulu cut "Vaguely Human" – someone absorbed a lot of the Velvet Underground. We cruise to a manageable ending on CD1 with a cool trio - "Crow Baby", "D For Desire" and "Beautiful Monster" by The March Violets, All About Eve and Folk Devils – the shadow of Joy Division looming so large (love those phasing guitars complimenting singer Julianne Regan in the All About Eve angst ridden cut).

 

For CD2 we bring on the public menace in the Public Image Ltd. – don’t you just love their sound - "Flowers Of Romance" – and again I have not listened to it in decades and wish I had (give us a wobbly vocal John). Darling Danielle Dax gets all Buzz Bass and Ants In My Pants drum patterns with the truly excellent "Red Caves" – bring your spitting camel to the Morris Dance dear. Would not be a Goth set without some Death Cult – Southern or otherwise – and their "Moya" has all those sonic culprits – off-kilter guitar and that huge build-up to even bigger drum whacks and cavernous vocals. Speaking of genre defining spectres – The Cure give us "The Hanging Garden" – caged and trashing – how many teens did their bedroom carpet some damage pogoing around to this. Have always held a candle for the magnificent Dead Can Dance – Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard dreaming of Gladiators and W.B. Yeats flaying sinners with sustainably sourced whips oh shiny black leather. Both Years On Earth and In The Nursery are new to me – spooky floating synth notes punctuated by treated guitars, an unyielding echoed bass drum and a singer who seems to be channelling Latin at an all-are-welcome-to-try-the-dips witch-hunt. Fantastic rapido-rhythms audio on the Screaming Dead contribution "Night Creatures" – little fuzzy though on the strangely beautiful piano-plink of Bushido and their "Among The Ruins" (where we first made love)...and on to the hard-to-like Portion Control cut...

 

Perfect sound for the Adam and The Ants "Tabletalk" – his vocals even then barely controlled pirate meets Steve Harley. Balaam And The Angel go channelling Patti Smith, The Velvet Underground and Ennio Morricone driving home for Christmas - "Darklands" being so very Cure let loose in the studio with authentic sleigh bells. Set on their path by the sound of Korg MS-10 synth, The Legendary Pink Dots give us widows-and-wives in "Love Puppets" that also talks of too much therapy. There is almost a slick UK New Wave professionalism permeating the taught Bass lines and Hi-Hats of "Into The Garden" – Artery shuffling towards some sort of more grungy New Order. Despite its rather nonplussed reception at the time by the UK musical press – Salvation and their "Girlsoul" has stood the moody test of time. And what a great debut 45 "In Shreds" is – The Chameleons rocking it out but in a very British Band Goth kind of a way. Other highlights on CD3 include the clever strummed Acoustic Guitars meets treated Electric Guitars of The Bolshoi – their "By The River" sounding not unlike an early Icehouse – the melodious racket made by Lowlife and "Gallery Of Shame" – lyrics only appearing after a long hummed intro. That genre-defining strummed electric guitar opening starts "Angel Of Vengeance" – when a young person has got a gun, and now that she is all grown up, has decided to use it in the defence of waylaid maidens.

 

CDs 4 and 5 continue the river of broken glass moments – The Mission wanting you to lay with me "Stay With Me" – possibly the most commercially applicable sound on here. Always a blast to hear the distinct whine of Nico – obsession with shuffling beats – the line of choice turned into a song (forgotten how good this 45 was). Love that ethereal piano opening to "Anoymity" before it goes (without warning) into the most brilliant guitar flicking riffage and doubled vocals – Dance Chapter doing the business here. There is an early-years-hedonism to the Cocteau Twins entry "In Our Angelhood" that unfortunately drowns out Elizabeth Fraser and her angel voice – and yet you can still so hear the magic is there in this most special of 4AD groups. Love the doomy distorted guitars of "Trees Come Down" – Fields Of The Nephilim feeling their pain – while Red Lorry Yellow Lorry grunge up that sound even further with their cleverly arranged "Take It All" (so many good ideas here). And again the long musical shadow of Robert Fripp and his Frippotronics-guitar-sound haunts "Burning Skies" – Tones On Tails anchoring the doom with a note-sliding Bass before it launches into a full on treated guitars assault.

 

You can actually a tiny Metallic inside Bauhaus as they get all bleeding Stigmata while the genre-defining Specimen up the musicality a huge amount with their brilliant "Returning (From A Journey)" – riffage, catchy chorus, hell – it might even be a hit (say it is not true). Theatre Of Hate re-arrange their hair for "Original Sin" where they sound not unlike a raw U2 circa 1980 – all postures and big produced guitars and Bass. And you have heard (or will hear) the harmonic pings of "Things We Never Did" by Sad Lovers And Giants in a Stranger Things episode coming to you in an Upside Down soon. Amnd on it goes...

 

Late Seventies and mid Eighties GOTH and its lippy musical babies fit into a very specific genre of Alternative Music that will not be for everyone – that's for damn sure. But the converted will drool over "Silhouettes & Statues: A Gothic Revolution 1978-1986" like it's a day pass to the catacombs of Gomorrah. And the doom-curious will finally know why mama warned you about dead-eyed boys with smeared blusher and posters of arachnids that eat their partners after making love by a grave-digger's shovel...

"ERA 1: 1978-1984 – As, Bs, Rarities" by CHRIS REA (November 2020 UK Magnet Records/Warner Music Group 3CD 51-Track Digipak Compilation with Alex Tomlin and Nick Watson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Over 220 Others Is Available In My

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"...Love's Strange Ways... "

Back in the savage and wild blue yonder of August 2007, I reviewed what was then the only half-decent Chris Rea compilation of Remasters worth having - "The Works" on Rhino – a UK-issued 3CD retrospective of 54-Tracks stretching from his 1979 LP "Deltics" through to the "King Of The Beach" set in 2000. It had half decent audio and was part of a series Rhino did for artists like The Corrs, Bread, Everything But The Girl, The Pogues, The Monkees and others. But it had woefully basic annotation, got deleted quickly and for years accrued a rather nasty price tag. Since then – zip really. Until now...

At last - and following on from the five Chris Rea double-CD sets of the 'Expanded And Remastered Series' issued October 2019 (Shamrock Diaries, On The Beach, Dancing With Strangers, The Road To Hell and Auberge) – we finally get the mop up we loony CR fans have been craving – equal only to the same longing that people have for wanting to remake Season 8 of "Game Of Thrones" (perhaps worse).

Compiled by TIM CHACKSFIELD - you get 51-Tracks spread across 3CDs housed inside a chunky digipak - and best of all, we finally get properly upgraded Remastered Audio from NICK WATSON at Fluid Mastering – a very experienced Audio Engineer whose name has turned up on many a praised-reissue. ERA 1 sounds and looks great. So much to discuss, so with swords and hankies at the ready, time to detail this first of his ERA retrospectives...

UK released 20 Nov 2020 (delayed from 6 Nov 2020) - "ERA 1: 1978-1984 – As, Bs, Rarities" by CHRIS REA on Magnet Records/Warner Music Group 0190295306052 (Barcode same) offers 51 Remastered Tracks across 3CDs in a Card Digipak that plays out as follows:

CD1 (64:13 minutes): 

1. Fool (If You Think It's Over) - 17 March 1978 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 111, A-side

2. Midnight Love - 17 March 1978 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 111, Non-Album B-side 

3. Voy A Volverme Loco (Fool If You Think It's Over, Spanish Language Version) - 1978 Spanish 45 on Magnet MO 1972

4. Whatever Happened To Benny Santini? - 16 June 1978 UK 45-single Magnet MAG 121, A-side 

5. Three Angels - 16 June 1978 UK 45-single Magnet MAG 121, Non-Album B-side 

6. Diamonds (Single Edit, 3:49 minutes) - 23 March 1979 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 144, A-side 

7. Cleveland Calling - 23 March 1979 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 144, Non-Album B-side

8. Raincoat And A Rose - 29 June 1979 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 151, A-side 

9. No Qualifications - 29 June 1979 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 151, B-side

10. Tennis (Edited and Remixed Version from the February 1980 UK LP "Tennis" on Magnet MAGL 5032) - also 7 March 1980 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 163, A-side

11. If You Really Love Me - 7 March 1980 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 163, Non-Album B-side

12. Dancing Girls - from the February 1980 UK LP "Tennis" on Magnet MAGL 5032 and 23 May 1980 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 176, A-side 

13. Friends Across The Water - from the February 1980 UK LP "Tennis" on Magnet MAGL 5032 and 23 May 1980 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 176, B-side

14. Ya No Te Veo Nunca Mas (Since I Don't See You Anymore. Spanish Language Version) - 1980 Spanish 45-single on Magnet MO 2054, A-side 

15. Loving You - from the March 1982 UK LP "Chris Rea" on Magnet MAGL 5040 and 5 February 1982 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 215, A-side

16. Let Me Be The One  - 5 February 1982 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 215, Non-Album B-side 

17. Diamonds (12" Version, 4:53 minutes) - 23 March 1979 UK 12" Single on Magnet 12 MAG 144, A-side, Non-Album Version 

CD2 (75:22 minutes):

1. Do You Still Dream?

2. Loving You - Tracks 1 and 2 first appeared on the March 1982 UK LP "Chris Rea" on Magnet MAGL 5040, re-recorded for the October 2019 LP and CD compilation "One Fine Day" on Magnet 0190295498856-CD - 1000 only copies

3. One Fine Day - 1981 recording first issued January 1993 as one of the four tracks on the UK CD Single for "Soft Top, Hard Shoulder" on East West YZ710CDX

4. One Sweet And Tender Touch - 1981 recording first issued January 1988 as one of the four tracks on the UK CD Single for "Que Sera" on Magnet CDMAG 318 

5. If I Ever Break Free - Previously Unreleased 1981 song that first appeared on the "One Fine Day" compilation in October 2019 (see 1)

6. Sierra Sierra (4:13 minutes) - originally issued as the Non-Album B-side to the February 1983 UK 12" single for "Let It Loose" on Magnet 12 MAG 233 - first issued on the October 2019 "One Fine Day" compilation 

7. Members Only - Previously Unreleased 1981 song that first appeared on the "One Fine Day" compilation in October 2019 (see 1)

8. Let Me Be The One - originally issued as the Non-Album B-side to the February 1982 UK 12" single for "Loving You" on Magnet 12 MAG 215 - first issued on the October 2019 "One Fine Day" compilation

9. One Night With You - Previously Unreleased 1981 song that first appeared on the "One Fine Day" compilation in October 2019 (see 1)

10. Every Beat Of Your Heart - first appeared on the March 1982 UK LP "Chris Rea" on Magnet MAGL 5040 - also 7 May 1982 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 225, A-side

11. Don't Look Back - 7 May 1982 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 225, Non-Album B-side

12. Let It Loose (3:37 minutes) - from the Motion Picture "Cross Country" and the June 1983 UK LP "Water Sign" on Magnet MAGL 5048 - also February 1983 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 233, A-side

13. Urban Samurai - February 1983 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 233, Non-Album B-side 

14. Let It Loose (Special Extended Remix, 5:45 minutes) - February 1983 UK 12" Single on Magnet 12 MAG 233, A-side

15. Sierra Sierra (5:38 minutes) - February 1983 UK 12" Single on Magnet 12 MAG 233, Non-Album Longer Version B-side - see also Track 6

16. I Can Hear Your Heartbeat (3:28 minutes) - from the June 1983 UK LP "Water Sign" on Magnet MAGL 5048 - also April 1983 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 244, A-side

17. From Love To Love - April 1983 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 244, Non-Album B-side 

18. I Can Hear Your Heartbeat (Special Extended Mix, 5:46 minutes) - April 1983 UK 12" Single on Magnet 12 MAG 244, A-side

CD3 (73:52 minutes):

1. Love's Strange Ways - from the June 1983 UK LP "Water Sign" on Magnet MAGL 5048 - also July 1983 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 245, A-side

2. Smile - July 1983 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 245, Non-Album B-side 

3. I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It (3:40 minutes) - from the April 1984 UK LP "Wired To The Moon" on Magnet MAGL 5057 - also February 1984 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 255, A-side 

4. Mystery Man - February 1984 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 255, Non-Album B-side 

5. I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It (12" Extended Version, 5:25 minutes) - February 1984 UK 12" Single on Magnet 12 MAG 255, A-side 

6. Bambollini (6:10 minutes) - from the April 1984 UK LP "Wired To The Moon" on Magnet MAGL 5057 - also May 1984 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 259, A-side 

7. True Love - May 1984 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 259, Non-Album B-side

8. Touché D'Amour (Special Remix, 3:20 minutes) - July 1984 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 269, A-side (original version on the "Wired To The Moon" LP) - see also Track 13 for B-side

9. Ace Of Hearts (Special Remix, 3:49 minutes) - September 1984 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 269, A-side 

10. Excerpts from 'I Can Hear Your Heartbeat' recorded live at Montreaux Jazz Festival (7:00 minutes) - September 1984 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 269, Non-Album B-side 

11. Auf Immer Und Ewig (4:41 minutes) - unissued 1984 UK white label A-side to Magnet MAG 269

12. Bitter Sweet (1:08 minutes) - unissued 1984 UK white label B-side to Magnet MAG 269X

13. Touché D'Amour (Instrumental, 3:40 minutes) - July 1984 UK 45-single on Magnet MAG 269, Non-Album B-side (original version on the "Wired To The Moon" LP) - see also Track 8 for A-side

14. Touché D'Amour (Special Extended Remix, 6:07 minutes) - July 1984 UK 12" Single on Magnet MAGT 269, A-side (original version on the "Wired To The Moon" LP) - see also Track 8 for the A-side and 13 for another B-side

15. Ace Of Hearts (Special Remix, 6:32 minutes) - September 1984 UK 12" Single on Magnet MAG 269T, A-side  

16. Let It Loose/I Can Hear Your Heartbeat/I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It (Special Edition 12" Medley, 7:25 minutes) - July 1984 UK 12" Single on Magnet MAGT 260M

The 24-page booklet inside the three-way foldout digipak is a pleasingly pictorial affair – every 45, twelve-inch and CD single pictured along the track details. A nice touch is that three of the digipak flaps also feature colour shots of those forgotten picture sleeves while each CD sports well-packed playing times. In October 2019 Magnet UK issued the "One Fine Day" compilation both on LP and CD with each format offering 14 Tracks. A limited edition of only 1,000 copies - "One Fine Day" featured rare vinyl-only Non-LP B-sides, previously unreleased songs (most from 1981) and re-recordings of old ones. Seven of its period-relevant cuts from 1978-1984 are reissued here and fans will also welcome that big time. 

Although there is no context-text to accompany the 51 track-by-track credits and photos (shame that) and that May 1974 UK debut 45 of "So Much in Love" b/w "Born to Lose" on Magnet MAG 10 is AWOL at the maker's insistence – what you do get is a huge hoard of first-time-on-CD rarities – especially all those melodic B-sides.

The joy of a set like this is the tunes you'd forgotten. I can't be the only Rea fan who doesn't think that the "Water Sign" and "Wired To The Moon" albums were wee 80ts masterpieces - so how good is it to hear "Love's Strange Ways", "Let It Loose" and "Bambollini" sound so spiffy. "Ace Of Hearts" too is a typically gorgeous and hooky Rea melody and those "Smile" and "Mystery Man" non-LP B-sides could easily have been on someone else's lesser album.  And I suppose those 1988 re-recordings of "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" and "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat" he did for the "New Light Through Old Windows" compilation will turn up on ERA 2 - a nice thought. 

I'm Irish (from Dublin originally) and along with David Gray, Josh Ritter and The Blue Nile (to name but a few songsmiths) - Chris Rea has always been huge there. A man with a tune and a melody that's gonna get to you. Look no further for evidence. A top reissue compilation for 2020 without doubt...

"Situation Normal" by SNAFU – October 1974 UK Second Studio Album on WWA Records WWA 010 – featuring Bobby Harrison, Micky Moody, Peter Solley, Colin Gibson and Terry Popple (11 February 2013 UK Angel Air Records CD Reissue – Nick Watson Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Lock And Key..."

Taking their name from the famous World War II/Vietnam War slang phrase (Situation Normal All F***ed Up) - SNAFU were a five-piece British Rock band that managed three albums between early 1974 and early 1976.

Their first and self-titled debut "Snafu" hit the shops in January 1974 (copyright date is 1973) on WWA Records WWA 003 with its Roger Dean gatefold cover - whilst their last - and sporting a move towards mid-Seventies Funk-Rock - came in January 1976 as "All Funked Up" on Capitol Records E-ST 11473 (copyright date 1975).

Angel Air Records of the UK (with the band's permission) has the exclusive CD reissues on their catalogue. Released January 2013 their debut "Snafu" is on Angel Air SJPCD407 (Barcode 5055011704077) - while released January 2000 "All Funked Up" – their third and last LP - is on Angel Air SJPCD032 (Barcode 5055011700321).

What you have here is a firm fan fave - the one in the middle with the Boeing 737 plane in the middle (of the artwork that is). Their second platter was not surprisingly called "Situation Normal" - released October 1974 in Blighty (and like the debut, again on WWA Records). After that factoid preamble, let’s get to the wind turbulence…

UK released 11 February 2013 - "Situation Normal" by SNAFU on Angel Air Records SJPCD048 (Barcode 5055011704084) is a straightforward transfer of their second studio album from 1974 (no bonus tracks) onto CD reissue and remaster and plays out as follows (37:27 minutes):

1. No More [Side 1]

2. No Bitter Taste

3. Brown Eyed Beauty & The Blue Assed Fly

4. Lock & Key

5. Big Dog Lusty

6. Playboy Blues [Side 2]

7. Jessie Lee

8. Ragtime Roll

Tracks 1 to 8 are their second album "Situation Normal" - released October 1974 in the UK on WWA Records WWA 010 and May 1975 in the USA on Capitol Records ST-11343. Produced by STEVE ROWLAND (of Pretty Things fame) and Engineered by MARTIN RUSHENT - the album didn't chart in either country.

There is a Picture CD using the Gregory Holdal front cover artwork, an 8-page booklet with new liner notes from CLAES JOHANSEN that includes interviews with Bobby Harrison and Micky Moody. It talks of their formation, tours as a support act with The Doobie Brothers, Eagles and War and features a few period photos. It's small but perfectly formed. The Remaster is by NICK WATSON at SRT Studios in Cambridge and its nice and beefy. You can hear its power the second the Bass and Drums of "No More" kicks in.

Vocalist Bobby Harrison hailed from Procol Harum and Freedom (BH was on the "Whiter Shade Of Pale" single) whilst Lead Guitarist Micky Moody started in the Vertigo and Bronze Records rockers Juicy Lucy, passed through Snafu and would eventually end up with Nazareth and Whitesnake. Keyboardist Peter Solley had done stints with Chris Farlowe and The Thunderbirds, Fox and Paladin to name but a few - whilst Bassist Colin Gibson had played with a huge number of acts including Skip Bifferty, Ginger Baker's Air Force and Heavy Jelly. Drummer Terry Popple had whacked his kit for the obscure Island Records band Tramline, the even more obscure Australian Prog Rock band McPhee in 1971 and would eventually land in Alan Hull’s Lindisfarne offshoot group Radiator in 1977.

With all songs written by the trio of Bobby Harrison, Micky Moody and Peter Solley - together the five-piece SNAFU created a sort of more soulful Savoy Brown meets Juicy Lucy meets the Country-Rock of Brinsley Schwarz kind of sound - with Micky Moody's stunning slide guitar work evident on the standout track "Lock And Key" - while Bobby Harrison could get Paul Rodgers soulful like on funky tunes like "No More" and "Playboy Blues". A trio of guest horn players feature on the Side 2 finisher "Ragtime Roll" - Mel Collins, Bud Beadle and Steve Gregory.

The Funk-Rock of "No More" is typical of their sound – mid Seventies Cado Belle (over on Anchor Records) – Moody going into Boogie any chance he gets. Things get Souther-Hillman-Furay Country Rock with the Pedal Steel of "No Bitter Taste" – a postcard with a month-old date – our poor boy is hoping against hope. Slim Chance type Mandolin opens the hoedown of "Brown Eyed Beauty & The Blue Assed Fly" where the album suddenly descends into a Gram Parsons pastiche – a yee haw misstep for me.

But then we hit 2:45 minutes of pure Juicy Lucy "Who Do You Love" slide-guitar magic – the wildly sexy "Lock & Key" where Moody lets rip with fantastic Elmore James slashing. Its here that you realize if Snafu had more of this – they might have made a bigger impact than flitting around between too many styles. In fact they knew the song was so good that they returned to it for album number three, only that version is not Blues Slide but Funk Rock more akin to Mother's Finest (both versions are cool by me). Side One ends on the only-OK "Big Dog Lusty" – a Little Feat funk tune that chugs along but feels like its trying too hard.

We return to Stevie Wonder clavinet Funk-Rock for Side 2's "Playboy Blues" – a look back on my life song that has a great guitar break and double-vocal chorus. "Jessie Lee" is a surprisingly pretty Country-Rock bopper where Snafu sounds like Help Yourself and it all comes to an end with five minutes of "Ragtime Doll" – a piano roller that starts out slow but soon goes into a rather obvious rock and roller romp to the end.

Snafu was like so many bands in the mid 70ts – good – but never really good enough to be anything more than a support-act for the main event that invariably had the hit tunes needed to make it. But those who love "Situation Normal" will need this really great sounding CD reissue to get their fix...

"Looking At The Pictures In The Sky: The British Psychedelic Sounds Of 1968" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – featuring Fleur De Lys, Eyes Of Blue, Mike Stuart Span, The Orange Seaweed, Skip Bifferty, Rupert’s People, The Factory, Junior’s Eyes, The Smoke, Episode Six, Honeybus, Status Quo, Jethro Toe (Tull), The Writing On The Wall, The Spectrum and many more (November 2017 UK Grapefruit Records 3CD Clamshell Box Set – Oli Morgan and Nick Watson Masters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Music Soothes The Savage Beast..."

Collectors (not surprisingly) have a bit of Felicity Kendal about Grapefruit Records. Every time we clap eyes on one of their squished-to-the-gunnels reissues covering all things 60ts, unwashed and eclectic (like this 3CD Box Set that deals with British stargazing in 1968) - we think of our lysergic/pale ale youth, reach for the enormo-pack Maalox antacid bottle and get a bit weepy and upset in the tum-tums. Hell, I might even propose to Richard Briers (if Felicity won't have me of course).

We love Grapefruit Box Sets and this 2017 brute is no different. 78 wildly varied tracks across 3CDs, a booklet crammed with more facts than a manual to building a large Hadron Collider and pictures of disturbed men with even more disturbing tastes in clobber and Day-Glo make-up. What's not to love...here we go...

UK released 10 November 2017 - "Looking At The Pictures In The Sky: The British Psychedelic Sounds Of 1968" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Grapefruit CRSEGBOX040 (Barcode 5013929184008) is a 3CD Clamshell Box Set of 78-Tracks (two Previously Unreleased) that plays out as follows:

Disc One (78:04 minutes):

1. Path Through The Forest - THE FACTORY (October 1968 UK 7" single on MGM Records MGM 1444, A-side)

2. Father's Name Is Dad - THE FIRE (March 1968 UK 7" single on Decca F 12753, A-side, Withdrawn)

3. Gong With The Luminous Nose - FLEUR DE LYS (May 1968 UK 7" single on Polydor 56251, A-side)

4. Mind's Eye - RAMASES and SELKET (September 1968 UK 7" single on CBS Records 3717, B-side of "Crazy One")

5. Spontaneous - THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN (from their June 1968 debut album "The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown" on Track 613 005)

6. Lullaby (Alternative Version) - GRAPEFRUIT (recorded January 1968, unissued at the time)

7. I Will Not Be Moved - CIRCLE PLANTAGENET (recorded late 1968, PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED)

8. Sunday Best - TURQUOISE (recorded August 1968, not originally issued)

9. My Son Jon - THE ONXY (November 1968 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17622, A-side)

10. The Fantastic Story Of The Steam Driven Banana - LEGAY (February 1968 UK 7" single on Fontana TF 904, B-side of "No-One")

11. Mr. Partridge Passed Away Today - FORTES MENTUM (March 1968 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5684, B-side of "Saga Of A Wrinkled Man")

12. Jabberwock - BOEING DUVEEN and THE BATIFUL SOUP (May 1968 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5696, A-side)

13. Haze Woman - ANAN (June 1968 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17571, A-side)

14. Talkin' About The Good Times - PRETTY THINGS (February 1968 UK 7" single on Columbia DB 8353, A-side)

15. Sunday Morning - GUY and DAVID - THE FIVE DAY WEEK STRAW PEOPLE (from the September 1968 UK LP "The Five Day Week Straw People" - Guy Mascolo and David Montague)

16. Animal Magic - THE GRADED GRAINS April 1968 recording, not originally issued)

17. She - TUESDAY'S CHILDREN (November 1968 UK 7" single on Mercury MF 1063, A-side)

18. Mr. Lion - THE MARMALADE (from the December 1968 UK LP "There's A Lot Of It About" on CBS Records 63414)

19. Upstairs Downstairs - GRAHAM GOULDMAN (February 1968 UK 7" single on RCA Victor RCA 1667, A-side)

20. Festival Of The Harvest Moon - JOKER (recorded mid-1968, not originally issued)

21. So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star - SUN DRAGON (from the November 1968 US LP "Green Tambourine" on MGM Records CS 8090 - a Byrds cover)

22. Never Care - EYES OF BLUE (from the December 1968 UK LP "Crossroads Of Time" on Mercury SMCL 20134)

23. Nightmare - THE GASS COMPANY (January 1968 UK 7" single on President PT 170, B-side to "Everybody Needs Love")

24. In The Wee Small Hours Of Sixpence - PROCOL HARUM (March 1968 UK 7" single on Regal Zonophone RZ 3007, B-side of "Quite Rightly So")

25. Did You Die Four Years Ago Tonight? - THE WEB (from the August 1968 UK LP "Fully Interlocking" on Deram SML 1025)

26. Frederick Jordan - THE GLASS MANAGERIE (September 1968 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17615, B-side of "I Said Goodbye To Me")

Disc Two (79:05 minutes):

1. Children Of Tomorrow - MIKE STUART SPAN (February 1968 UK 7" single on Jewel JL 01, A-side)

2. Dawn Breaks Through - THE BARRIER (April 1968 UK 7" single on Eyemark EMS 1013, B-side of "Georgie Brown")

3. Mr. Pinnodmy's Dilemma - THE ATTACK (early 1968 recording, not originally issued)

4. Trying To Get A Glimpse Of You - THE FREEDOM (June 1968 UK 7"single on Mercury MF 1033, B-side of "Where Will You Be Tonight")

5. I Can Show You - RUPERT'S PEOPLE (March 1968 UK 7" single on Columbia DB 8362, A-side)

6. Locked In A Room - THE POETS (December 1968 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17680, B-side of "Alone Am I")

7. Bluebell Wood - WIMPLE WINCH (recorded May 1968, not originally issued)

8. Technicolor Dreams - THE STATUS QUO (from their LP "Picturesque Matchstickable Messages From The Status Quo" on Pye NPL 18220)

9. Music Soothes The Savage Beast - THE SPECTRUM (November 1968 UK 7" single on RCA Victor RCA 1775,B-side to "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da")

10. Head For The Sun - THE MOVEMENT (August 1968 UK 7" single on Big T Records BIG 112, A)

11. Midnight Love Cycle - THE LUBS (recorded mid 1968, not originally issued)

12. Lovers From The Sky -CONTACT (early 1968 recording, not originally issued)

13. Jamie's Song - THE DEVIANTS (from the October 1968 UK LP "Disposable" on Stable SLP 7001)

14. Sydney Gill - THE SMOKE (May 1968 German 7" single Metronome B 1697, A-side)

15. Birthday - PETER and THE WOLVES (April 1968 UK 7" single on MGM Records 1397, B-side of "Julie") 

16. Love Is A toy - JON LEDINGHAM (March 1968 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17488, A-side)

17. Yesterday Was Such A Lovely Day - SADIE'S EXPRESSION (recorded April 1968, not originally issued)

18. Omnibus - THE MOVE (recorded March 1968, not originally issued STEREO version)

19. I Get So Excited - REAL McCOY (September 1968 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17618, A-side)

20. Mr. Golden Trumpet Player - JUNIOR'S EYES (June 1968 UK 7" single on Regal Zonophone RZ 3009, A-side)

21. Yellow Rainbow - THE PICADILLY LINE (July 1968 UK 7" single on CBS Records 3595, A-side)

22. Time Seller - THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP (from the June 1968 UK LP "With Their New Face On" on United Artists SULP 1192)

23. Pantomime - TONY RIVERS and THE CASTAWAYS (April 1968 UK 7" single on Polydor 56245, B-side of " I Can Guarantee You Love")

24. Go And Say Goodbye - KATCH 22 (from the May 1968 UK LP "It's Soft Rock And All Sorts, It's Katch 22" on Saga EROS 8047)

25. Cornflake Zoo - ANDY ELLISON (May 1968 UK 7" single on SNB Records 55-3508, B-side of "You Can't Do That")

26. Penny For Your Thoughts - THE ALAN BOWN (from the November 1968 UK LP "Outward Bown" on Music factory CUBLM1)

Disc Three (78:56 minutes):

1. Hold On - JASON CREST (recorded November 1968, not originally issued)

2. Girl Of Independent Means - HONEYBUS (September 1968 UK 7" single on Deram DM 207, A-side)

3. Rainmaker - RHUBARB RHUBARB (December 1968 UK 7" single on President PT 229, A-side)

4. Hello Enid - THE MIRAGE (recorded March 1968, not originally issued)

5. Lucky Sunday - EPISODE SIX (October 1968 UK 7" single on Chapter One CH 103, A)

6. What's The Rush, Dillbury? - PARADOX (recorded early 1968, not originally issued)

7. Cave Of Clear Light - THE BYSTANDERS (February 1968 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17476, B-side of "When Jezamin Goes")

8. Round And Round - SKIP BIFFERTY (recorded August 1968, not originally issued)

9. Come On Down - MOTIVATION (February 1968 UK 7" single on Direction 58-3248, A-side)

10. Country Life - BLONDE ON BLONDE (November 1968 UK 7" single n Pye 7N 17637, B-side of "All Day, All Night")

11. Virginia Water - CATS PYJAMAS (January 1968 UK 7" single on Direction 58-3235, B-side of "Baby I Love You")

12. Aeroplane - JETHRO TOE (TULL) (February 1968 UK 7" single on MGM Records MGM 1384, B-side of "Sunshine Day")

13. Rambling Boy - TIMON (January 1968 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17451, B-side of "Bitter Thoughts Of Little Jane")

14. Ice Man - ICE (March 1968 UK 7" single on Decca F 12749, A-side)

15. Now And Again Rebecca - THE U (DON'T) NO WHO (recorded early 1968, not originally issued)

16. Felicity Jones - THE WRITING ON THE WALL (recorded early 1968, not originally issued)

17. Sycamore Sid - FOCAL POINT (May 1968 UK 7" single on Deram DM 186, B-side of "Love You Forever")

18. Do You Dream - CIRCUS (March 1968 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5672, A-side)

19. Maxwell Ferguson - BRASS TACKS (November 1968 UK 7" single on Big T Records BIG 114, A-side)

20. Pawnbroker - BARBARA RUSKIN (recorded September 1968, PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED Demo Version)

21. Soft Winds - THE ORANGE BICYCLE (recorded 1968, not originally issued)

22. Without You - COCONUT MUSHROOM (recorded late 1968, not originally issued)

23. Haunted - PETER THOROGOOD (July 1968 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17577, A-side)

24. Which Dreamed It - BOEING DUVEEN and THE BEAUTIFUL SOUP (May 1968 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5696, B-side of "Jabberwock" - A-side is Track 12 on Disc 1)

25. Trot - TURNSTYLE (November 1968 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17653, B-side)

26. Pictures In The Sky - THE ORANGE SEAWEED (April 1968 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17515, B-side to "Stay Awhile")

I've raved about Grapefruit's booklets before but this is an out-and-out humdinger, 42 pages of wall-to-wall facts and photos so rare it boggles my already frazzled mind. DAVID WELLS has compiled and annotated the set with contributions from good name like JOHN REED while OLI MORGAN and NICK WATSON (at Fluid Mastering) have struggled with the tangled web of sources. Audio is the same with all these 3CD tomes - some tracks are shockingly good while the unissued recordings tend to show their hurried production values. Still, taking a look at those disc playing times (78:04, 79:05, 78:56 minutes) and the fact that they have somehow unearthed yet two more Previously Unreleased rarities and the words 'value for money' start rattling around my noggin. To the music of seaweed, beautiful soup, wimple winches glass menageries and orange bicycles... 

DISC ONE: Penned by none other than Clifford T. Ward before solo fame would make his Home Thoughts LP a fave in every bedsit in the land, The Factory smash open CD1 with "Path Through The Forest" - the kind of British Psych 45 that has had fans hiding the eBay receipt from the wife. Next up is The Fire, a trio featuring Dave Lambert later of The Strawbs, who saw their UK-45 withdrawn because Paul McCartney thought it needed punching up (they'd signed a publishing deal with Apple). So it was remixed with extra guitars and a different vocal and re-launched - but Macca's instincts were not matched with public interest and it tanked. It appears here in all its daft-as-a-House-of-Commons-loo-brush original form - a clever inclusion. Speaking of Edward Lear lunacy, future Island and A&M Records LP boy Bryn Haworth lends his fab way with a slide guitar to the rare and seriously desirable 45s of Fleur De Lys  - here their "Gong With A Luminous Nose" featuring a Gordon Haskell lead vocal also.

Other delights on Disc 1 include a central heating salesman and carnival queen masquerading as Ramases and his Goddess of Magic on their hokey CBS B-side, whilst Legay Rogers (trading as plain old Legay in the 60s but became part of Gypsy in the Seventies) also uses a flipside to inform us all of a steam-driven banana and its tale of mushy woe (yeah baby). And the cod-Cockney accent in Turquoise's unissued "Sunday Best" is surely the reason it was left in a can marked 'unfit jellied eels - do not eat no matter what'. Whilst collectors will lick their lips for rarities like Sam Hutt's wonderfully named Boeing Duveen and The Beautiful Soup - a 45 outing that featured Tony Visconti in an early Production role or the first incarnation of the Crimson-like Prog band Czar in the shape of the impossibly rare Tuesday's Children - a Mercury Records 45 that would hurt your bank balance a little too much.

DISC TWO opens with an uber-rare seven I'll admit I've never seen, "Children Of Tomorrow" by Mike Stuart Span - a mere 500 copies of this 60ts hymn to youthful disillusion. Rarities continue with a truly obscure B-side from Londoners The Barrier on the tiny Eyemark label - their "Dawn Breaks Through" roaring into your living room like the sunlight depicted in its title. Speaking of forgotten heroes, John Du Cann would leave The Attack eventually and be part of "The Five Day Week Straw People" LP and the band Andromeda. Ray Royer of Freedom provides the Traffic vs. Family B-side "Trying To Get A Glimpse Of You" (a superb rare picture sleeve of it is featured on Page 16 of the booklet), while Guitarist and Vocalist Rod Lynon and Drummer Steve Brendell of the wonderful Rupert's People would both show up in 1971 on John Lennon's "Imagine" album (Marriott's Small Faces would have been proud to call RP's 1968 slice of Itchycoo grooviness "I Can Show You" their own).

Just before they hunkered down to 12-bar nirvana in 1970 with "In My Chair" and "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon", our very own Matchstickable Status Quo stumped up "Technicolor Dreams" which died as a single and indeed may have been withdrawn or export only, explaining its huge price tag to collectors (clever song choice though here, reminding us of their earlier side). Lizzy obsessives will note that Brush Shiels of Dublin's Skid Row (Gary Moore featuring) penned the fuzzed-up guitar barrage that is "Head For The Sun" for the obscure Irish band The Movement, a group that also contained Bassist Pat Quigley who would play for Lynott's pre Thin Lizzy outfit Orphanage. I've never seen this seven let alone heard it - hell Wells and Grapefruit have even managed (on Page 21 of the booklet) to find a 'New Spotlight' Irish Magazine article of the day reviewing it! WOW! Other goodies include the chipper B-side "Birthday" from Peter and The Wolves, Eddie Hardin doubling on vocals with The Spencer Davis Group for their excellent "Time Seller", Rick Wakeman later of Yes providing keyboards to the Tony Visconti produced Junior's Eyes single "Mr. Golden Trumpet Player" and The Alan Bown going all kick-ass Rock 'n' Rolla with their LP-cut "Penny For Your Thoughts" - ending Disc 2 in style.

DISC THREE opens with a hard-hitting geetar cover by Jason Crest of Rupert People's "Hold On" while Honeybus continues the Jean Genie-type riffage on Ray Cane's off-imitated "Girl Of Independent Means". Deep Purple fans will recognise Ian Gillan and Roger Glover in Episode Six's "Lucky Sunday" (the Ian Gillan sung B-side "Mr. Universe" can be found on Disc 3 of RPM's May 2017 mini 3CD box set "Night Comes Down: 60s British Mod, R&B, Freakbeat and Swinging London Nuggets"). Lead Vocalist Bob Catley of Paradox would later be in the hard and heavy Magnum while songwriter Clive John of the much-regarded Welsh band The Bystanders penned their Strawberry Alarm Clock-influenced "Cave Of Clear Light". Clever cover version choices come in the shapely bum-wiggler of "Come On Down" as done by Motivation, a sizeable hit for Every Mother's Son in the States. They weren't the first to hear UK potential in its US groove - Motivation's stab at the catchy tune following on from another British underground darling band The Gods (featuring Mick Taylor and Ken Hensley) who had a go on Polydor Records in June 1967. As if to hammer home Motivation's song and personnel pedigree, the band also featured Bassist Steve York who would later pluck strings for Deram's East Of Eden, Vertigo's Manfred Mann's Chapter and Island's Vinegar Joe).

Tull fans will probably already have the debut 45 with Mick Abraham's "Sunshine Day" on the February 1968 MGM Records A-side, but here's a chance to cop the Len Barnard and Ian Anderson penned flipside "Aeroplane" by Jethro Toe (long-standing Tull member Glenn Cornick says it wasn't a misprint, but a deliberate spite by the Producer who didn't think the band's agricultural character name was 'cool enough'). Speaking of weird flips, Clash fans will recognise Tymon Dogg associations with the band, but here Stephen Murray is (his real name) as Timon for his own "Rambling Boy" - a single on Pye that reputedly sold less than 130 copies. Keeping with cool future associations, Ice and their wicked "Ice Man" song would see members of the band blend into Linda Hoyle's much-vaulted Affinity on the newly minted Prog Rock label Vertigo. Singer-songwriter Philip Goodhand-Tait penned both Circus songs (produced by Manfred Man's Mike d'Abo) - a rare venture into Psychedelia for him who would share labels with Elton John on DJM. And on it goes to the delightfully titled Orange Seaweed and their "Pictures In The Sky" that give the box set its name…

Without doubt there will be even the most liberal-minded dude or dudette who will cop ears on any of these discs and go yuck – the 60ts may have been innovative – but it can stay 50 years behind. But I suspect they will be few and far between, because in my book, this is yet another reason why collectors and fans love reissue companies like Grapefruit with their passion, knowledge and need for us to explore deeper into an astonishing time in musical history.

Even if the hip 60ts men and women featured here can't shoot anymore and their guns are maybe in the ground (as Bob would later say in "Knocking On Heaven's Door") – for me it's never too dark, too dark too see. A fab reminder of a fab time -check this out and big time awards-city to all involved…