"Spooky Two" by SPOOKY TOOTH (September 2016 Universal/Island 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster with Nine Bonus Tracks) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Better By You..."

With a sabre-rattling tune-rich debut in July 1968's "It's All About" already under their musical belt - it took only eight months for the British/American five-piece SPOOKY TOOTH to unleash what many feel is their best album - March 1969's imaginatively entitled "Spooky Two".

Germany's Repertoire Records made a decent stab at a CD Remaster in 2005 - but fans are going to need and love this new 2016 version expertly and sympathetically transferred by Audio Engineers Paschal Byrne and Ben Wiseman - two names who've graced oodles of much-praised reissues.

"Spooky Two" is just one amongst seven reissues covering their stay at Island Records from 1968 to 1973 before they moved to Good Ear Records in the mid Seventies amidst myriad personnel changes (see full list below) and I'll admit that I bought the whole lot on release in the UK with a genuine sense of newfound glee. Lost in my dream indeed - here are the scary dental details...

UK released 30 September 2016 (7 October 2016 in the USA) - "Spooky Two" by SPOOKY TOOTH on Universal/Island 570 547-3 (Barcode 602557054736) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster of their 2nd studio LP from 1969 with Nine Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (72:25 minutes):

1. Waitin' For The Wind [Side 1]

2. Feelin' Bad

3. I've Got Enough Heartache

4. Evil Woman

5. Lost In My Dream [Side 2]

6. That Was Only Yesterday

7. Better By You, Better Than Me

8. Hangman, Hang My Shell On A Tree

Tracks 1 to 8 are their second studio album "Spooky Two" - released March 1969 in the UK on Island ILPS 9098 and August 1969 in the USA on A&M Records SP 4194. Produced by JIMMY MILLER and Engineered by ANDREW JOHN - it peaked at No. 44 in the USA (didn't chart UK). Uncredited musicians include JOE COCKER who sings backing vocals on "Feelin' Bad" - STEVE WINWOOD who plays piano on "I've Got Enough Heartache" and DAVE MASON who plays guitar on "That Was Only Yesterday" (Winwood and Mason were with Traffic at the time, another Island Records act).

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Feelin' Bad

10. I Can't Quit Her

11. Blues Town

Tracks 9 to 11 recorded 30 Sep 1968 for BBC Radio One's "Top Gear" Session in Mono. Produced by Bernie Andrews, first broadcast 6 Oct 1968

12. Something Got Into Your Life

13. When I Get Home

Tracks 12 and 13 recorded 13 November 1968 at London's Morgan Studio in Mono

14. Waitin' For The Wind (First Mix)

15. Lost In My Dream (First Mix)

16. Better By You, Better Than Me (First Mix)

Tracks 14 to 16 mixed 12 Feb 1969 at London's Morgan Studios

17. Pretty Woman

Track 17 is the non-album B-side to "That Was Only Yesterday", a Dutch 7" single released August 1969 on Island WIP 6058 in Mono. It's a cover of the A.C. Williams Blues song made famous by Albert King on his "Born Under A Bad Sign" LP on Stax Records in 1967.

SPOOKY TOOTH was:

MIKE HARRISON – Lead Vocals  and Keyboards

GARY WRIGHT – Lead Vocals and Keyboards

LUTHER GROSVENOR - Guitars

GREG RIDLEY - Bass

MIKE KELLIE - Drums

MARK POWELL - head honcho at Esoteric Recordings reissue label (part of Cherry Red) researched, co-ordinated and produced the reissue. His 12-page liner notes include new interviews with key players - the American Gary Wright and Brit boys Mike Harrison and Mike Kellie. You get period photos (black and white and colour), tour posters where ST shared the bill with other like-minded British bands Traffic and Family and a rare Euro picture sleeve for "Waitin' For The Wind" (German Island) with "Feelin' Bad" on the flipside. The recollections are fun and insightful with most admitting that "Spooky Two" is the album they are probably most proud off - a coherent whole only added to here with some crackalackin bonus tracks.

But the big news here is new 2016 Remasters from original master tapes by two hugely experienced Audio Engineers - PASCHAL BYRNE and BEN WISEMAN - names that have graced large numbers of reissues - the Strawbs, T. Rex, Audience, Unicorn, Help Yourself, Dada, Moody Blues, Procol Harum, Terry Riley and many more. This album feels like an amplified Free circa "Tons Of Sobs", "Free" and "Fire And Water" meets "Mr. Fantasy" Traffic - a combo of sound I'll take any day of the week. The drums opening to "Waitin' For The Wind" followed quickly by that organ and bass kick-in is absolutely monster - and from there is doesn't let up. A very tasty job done and it feels like that across the whole series...

Quite why the sexy Rock riffage of "Waitin' For The Wind" wasn't chosen for a second British 45 is anybody's guess - but I think a winning radio hook was missed out there (a Grosvenor, Wright and Harrison composition). The huge sound of melody and voices continues with the excellent "Feelin' Bad" where the liner notes now inform us that the equally gravel-laced larynx of Joe Cocker is adorning those backing singers alongside Mike Harrison - and if you listen hard enough - you can just about make out his distinctive Brummie rasp amidst the guys and gals. It's actually not surprising that the deeply Soulful "I've Got Enough Heartaches" got chosen as the LP's one and only UK 7" single in June 1969 (Island WIP 6060) - even if it was tucked away on the B-side of a non-album A-side written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin - "Son Of Your Father" - a song that would eventually turn up on album number four "The Last Puff" in 1970 with Gary Wright on Lead Vocals. Although the riffage for "Evil Woman" is 'rawk' with a capital 'r' (a cover of the Larry Weiss blues song first released by Guy Darrell in September 1967 on Piccadilly Records in the UK) - for me its clichéd lyrics and sentiment make it the most dated song on the LP (though many love it - especially that gee-tar solo towards the end).

The combo of Wright and Kellie penned both “Feelin’ Bad and I’ve Got Enough Heartaches” over on Side 1 but all of Side 2 is Gary Wright. He opens accounts with the trippy-psych-rock of the album's most famous cut - the wicked and cool "Lost In My Dream" - a tune where nightmares do battle with reality amidst floating organ, marching drums and Harrison's intense vocals – the Englishman channelling another Rock belter throughout - Steve Marriott of Humble Pie. In fact as an example of Sixties triptastic lysergic bombast - "Lost In My Dream" can't be beat. Things mellow into the Soundtrack sounding harmonica-wail of "That Was Only Yesterday" where she's gone for sure and our poor boy is wondering how he's gonna face the weekend (get the beers in son). Re-listening to it after all these years – I'd forgotten how good the song is and can easily hear why it was such a hit on German radio. None other than Judas Priest covered the choppy riff of "Better By You, Better Than Me" on their "Stained Glass" album in 1978 and it all ends on the acoustic-ethereal "Hangman, Hang My Shell On A Tree" - another waiting-to-die tune that builds and builds until it feels like a Spooky Tooth meets Humble Pie epic.

Even though they're in Mono - the three "Top Gear" tracks from September 1968 are well recorded (God Bless Bernie Andrews, RIP) and show a band that sounds 'so' Island Records - a mash-up between Free, Humble Pie and well - Spooky Tooth (the non-album track "Blues Town" is the rocking prize here). We get two surprisingly good album outtakes in Mono - the first "Something Got Into Your Life" being very Atomic Rooster in its heavy guitar tone while "When I Get Home" feels like a really good Family song and is the more cleverly melodic of the pair. The three 'first mix' variants of key album tracks will thrill long-time fans - subtle differences in all. And Spooky Tooth's cover of Albert King's "Pretty Woman" has been a sought-after European-only B-side rarity for decades – so how cool is it to see that forgotten flip-side back on CD here.

To sum-up - a great Spooky Tooth album given quality audio, good presentation and at least some Extra Tracks that actually warrant the moniker 'Bonus'. 1969's "Spooky Two" is no longer lost in anyone's dream. Well done to all involved in this superb CD reissue...

Reissue Titles for SPOOKY TOOTH 

In the 30 September 2016 (UK)/7 October 2016 (USA) 

Universal/Island CD Remaster Series

1. It's All About (1968 Debut) - on Universal/Island 570 547-1 (Barcode 602557054712) with 10 Bonus Tracks

2. Spooky Two (1969 2nd LP) – on Universal/Island 570 547-3 (Barcode 602557054736) with 9 Bonus Tracks

3. Ceremony: An Electronic Mass (1969 3rd LP with Pierre Henry) - on Universal/Island 570 547-0 (Barcode 602557054705) with 6 Bonus Tracks

4. The Last Puff (1970 4th LP) - on Universal/Island 570 547-5 (Barcode 602557054750) with 6 Bonus Tracks

5. You Broke My Heart...So I Busted Your Jaw (1973 5th LP) - on Universal/Island 570 547-8 (Barcode 602557054781)

6. Witness (1973 6th LP) - on Universal/Island 570 547-7 (Barcode 602557054774) with 1 Bonus Track

7. The Mirror (1974 7th LP) - on Universal/Island 570 547-6 (Barcode 602557054767)

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"Rock Festival/Ride The Wind/Good And Dusty" by THE YOUNGBLOODS from 1970 and 1971 (April 2017 Beat Goes On Reissue - 3LPs Remastered onto 2CDs) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Come On People Let Your Light Shine..."

Despite releasing seven quality albums between 1967 and 1972 on two huge record labels - RCA Victor and Warner Brothers - New York's 'The Youngbloods' and their principal songwriter Jesse Colin Young never really meant diddlysquat in the UK (where I live). The live albums "Rock Festival" and "Ride The Wind" were both given limited British releases in 1970 and 1971 on those tasty-looking WB Tan labels with the Raccoon Records logo up in the corner – but they elicited no real interest amongst the Blighty buying public - thereby leaving the third studio album disc offered to us here ("Good And Dusty" from late 1971) as a US-only release on original vinyl...

But this rather fabulous and timely reissue by England's Beat Goes On Records seems determined to correct the error of our frankly callous and musically myopic ways. What you get here are the first three of four albums they did with Warner Brothers/Raccoon Records – that trio issued in 1970 and two from 1971. The first and second platters are live sets as already mentioned (the third is studio) with the 2nd LP "Ride The Wind" actually recorded late November 1969 in New York but not released until July 1971.

The opening duo showcase the band in very different styles of play – bopping and ready to boogie like the audience shown on the rear sleeve of "Rock Festival" - while the second is stripped back and more Richie Havens Rock-Soulful Folk-Soul than standard Rock. And stylistically different or not (anyone looking for the 1969 pop hit "Get Together" should look elsewhere) - given the crude technology of the time - both records were expertly recorded even though they are largely live. Their final and fourth album "High On A Ridge Top" on Warner Brothers BS 2653/Raccoon No. 15 from December 1972 is unfortunately outside the remit of this release.

Beautifully remastered onto 2CDs and amped up with a classy card slipcase and expanded booklet - here are the rocky raccoons...

UK and USA released 14 April 2017 - "Rock Festival/Ride The Wind/Good And Dusty" by THE YOUNGBLOODS on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1284 (Barcode 5017261212849) offers 3LPs from 1970 and 1971 Remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (57:57 minutes): 

1. It's A Lovely Day [Side 1]

2. Faster All The Time

3. Prelude

4. On Beautiful Lake Spenard

5. Josiane

6. Sea Cow Boogie [Side 2]

7. Fiddler A Dram

8. Misty Roses

9. Interlude

10. Peepin' 'N' Hidin' (Baby What You Want Me To Do)

11. Ice Bag

Tracks 1 to 11 are their fourth album "Rock Festival" – recorded live between March and July 1970 - it was released October 1970 in the USA and December 1970 in the UK - both on Warner Brothers WS 1878/Raccoon No. 1. Produced by BOB MATTHEWS (Engineered by Betty Cantor of Grateful Dead fame) - it peaked at No. 80 in the USA (didn't chart UK).

12. Ride The Wind [Side 1]

13. Sugar Babe

14. Sunlight

Tracks 12 to 14 are Side 1 of their fifth album "Ride The Wind" - released July 1971 (recorded live November 1969) in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2563/Raccoon No. 4 and December 1971 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 46100. Produced by CHARLIE DANIELS - it peaked at No. 157 in the USA (didn't chart UK).

Disc 2 (63:24 minutes):

1. The Dolphin [Side 2]

2. Get Together

3. Beautiful

Tracks 1 to 3 are Side 2 of their fifth album "Ride The Wind" - released July 1971 (recorded live November 1969) in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2563/Racoon No. 4 and December 1971 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 46100. Produced by CHARLIE DANIELS - it peaked at No. 157 in the USA (didn't chart UK).

4. Stagger Lee [Side 1]

5. That's How Strong My Love Is

6. Willie And The Hand Jive

7. Circus Face

8. Hippie From Olema No. 5

9. Good And Dusty

10. Let The Good Times Roll

11. Drifting And Drifting [Side 2]

12. Pontiac Blues

13. Moonshine In The Sunshine

14. Will The Circle Be Unbroken

15. I'm A Hog For You Baby

16. Light Shine

Tracks 4 to 16 are their sixth (fifth studio) album "Good And Dusty" - released December 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2566/Raccoon No. 9. No producer listed - it peaked at No. 160 in the USA (no UK release).

THE YOUNGBLOODS on all three albums were:

JESSIE COLIN YOUNG - Lead Vocals, Guitars, Bass and Kazoo

LOWELL 'Banana' LEVINGER - Guitars and Piano

JOE BAUER - Drums

EARTHQUAKE ANDERSON - Harmonica (only on "Good And Dusty")

MICHAEL KANE - Bass, French Horn, Vocals, Cornet (only on "Good And Dusty")

The card-slipcase adds a classy feel to the release (standard these last few years with BGO reissues) and the 12-page booklet features original album credits and a new appraisal of their legacy by noted Music Historian JOHN O'REGAN. He discusses their '67 to '72 recordings - post 80's and 90's reunions and Jessie Colin Young's subsequent solo career in Country Music - there's even the lyrics to the brilliant "Ride The Wind" live set and some black and white photos of the three and four-piece line-ups looking young, cheerful and waving enthusiastically at their adoring audience.

But the really big news here is superlative new Audio Transfers from licensed WEA tapes by BGO's resident Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON. I'm always wary of live sets especially from the Sixties and early Seventies where sound was problematical to say the least. Yet both of these sets and especially the Charlie Daniels Produced "Ride The Wind" LP have a clarity that defies their age big time. The studio album "Good And Dusty" is superb too and on tracks like the beautiful "Light Shine" (a return to the glory of the "Get Together" melody) – it’s spectacular. Let's get to the music...

Although "Rock Festival" is supposedly a 'live' LP of new material recorded at various venues like 'The Family Dog' in San Francisco and 'Barn' in Santa Clara - it's clear to me that the lead-off song "It's A Lovely Day" is a studio cut provided by Jessie Colin Young. Warner Brothers tried its pretty melody as a 45 in May 1971 with the LP finisher "Ice Bag" on the flipside - but Warner Brothers 7499/Raccoon S 4 didn't trouble too many charts (its UK equivalent on Warner Brothers K 16098 fared the same). While "Faster All The Time" is a good Levinger bopper - the one-minute "Prelude" and the near six-minutes of the keyboard instrumental "On Beautiful Lake Spenade" both feel like ambling wastes of time. Things improve with Colin Young's "Josiane" – another warm melody that I can’t help but feel should have been a studio cut. "Sea Cow Boogie" turns out to be 20-seconds of Bass-playing nonsense leading into a leery version of the Traditional boozing shanty "Fiddler A Dram". Saving the day comes a warmly recorded cover of Tim Hardin's "Misty Roses" - sung by Colin Young - it's a tiny bit hissy but incredibly intimate and touching in a way that none of the prior tracks do (first decent crown response too). Banjos ahoy for Banana’s "Interlude" – a two-minute instrumental that actually works. As if arriving from another album or a boisterous Chicken Shack gig over in London – they then offer us a Harmonica-warbling cover of Jimmy Reed’s "Peepin..." – great fun but wildly out of place with the rest of the record. We then go discordant Trout Mask Replica Captain Beefheart with two minutes of strained nonsense called "Ice Bag".

After the ragbag that is "Rock Festival" – the six long workouts of "Ride the Wind" come as a welcome relief. As I’ve already said – the second live record is more Rock-Soulful than standard Rock. Young singing, Banana hitting the keys, Bass solos that Funk with the drums – it feels like Richie Havens scatting in front of an appreciative crowd with a hip band of likeminded musicians backing him up. They deconstruct their own songs and offer them up in Funky new incarnations - the Fred Neil masterpiece "Dolphins" gets a moody work over too as does their sunshine slice of Sixties gloriana "Get Together". In my mind the album is the very definition of lost classic - and that Charlie Daniels Production is incredible - each keyboard note and cymbal tap leaping out of your speakers with clarity that defies its age. And Young's singing enters another place - Soulful as well as melodious. Hell - there are times when the finisher "Beautiful" feels like Phil Upchurch live on funky guitar with Al Kooper singing out front - Young urging the people to feel beautiful and reach out (yeah baby). 

Excepting four originals - "Hippie From Olema No. 5" by Lowell 'Banana' Levinger (it's actually a close re-write of Merle Haggard's "Okie From Muskogee"), "Good And Dusty" by all four members of the band and two Jessie Collin Young entries in "Drifting And Drifting" and the lovely single "Light Shine" - the other nine tracks on the "Good And Dusty" studio album are all cover versions. Most are old Blues & R&B Classics - Lloyd Price's rabble-rouser "Stagger Lee" - the gorgeous pleading Soul of Roosevelt Jamison's "That's How Strong My Love Is" made famous by O.V. Wright and Otis Redding (a genuine highlight on here) - the Coasters Leiber & Stoller winner "I'm A Hog For You Baby" - Sonny Boy Williamson's Chess brawler "Pontiac Blues" - Leonard Lee's "Let The Good Times Roll" made famous by Louis Jordan - the spiritual "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" in shimmering Staple Singers style - all rounded off with a sneaky take on the saucy "Willie And The Hand Jive" made infamous by Johnny Otis.

On top of all that is "Moonshine Is The Sunshine" - a Jeffery Cain song that initially turned up on his debut LP "For You" in 1970 on Warner Brothers WS 1880. All three of The Youngbloods had played on that album - only the second LP on the Raccoon Label imprint - and they repaid him by covering his song here. The other goodun on here is Carol Miller's lovely ballad "Circus Face" - Banana playing that Mandola so sweetly (I'm amazed this hasn't been covered more). The album's best moment comes last with Colin Young's lovely "Light Shine". Warner Brothers tried it as a 45 in March 1972 with the equally Soulful "Will The Circle Ever Be Broken" on the flipside - but despite the French horns, sweet guitar picking melody and the overall strength of both sides - Warner Brothers WB 7563 did no business.

As "Light Shine" plays out this gorgeous-sounding twofer - you're left with an abiding impression that even though some of the material isn't blazing and brilliant like the sun (that first album isn’t great) - there's an awful lot of genuine musical sunshine on these three albums that we clearly missed out on. More importantly The Youngbloods and their Warner Brothers output warrants a return to in 2017.

Well done to BGO for getting this wee lysergic Rock-Soulful nugget out there. "Good And Dusty" indeed...

"Van Halen" by VAN HALEN (July 2000 'Warners Remasters' CD Reissue of their 1978 debut album (also 2015 Reissue) - Chris Bellman Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Eruption..."

I was working with a band in Dublin in 1978. We were young, open-minded and little dreamers like everyone else. I can vividly remember the visceral sense of Coolock excitement when we first laid our expanding ears on this sonic assault of "Van Halen" in Jimmy Meade's shed come-rehearsal-room - this guitar-brother from another deranged mother.

Although of course we didn't realise it at the time - the February 1978 debut "Van Halen" was a game changer - least not of all this came-out-of-nowhere plank-spanker called Eddie Van Halen. As his wild fret-work and harmonics came screaming out off the instrumental "Eruption" in yet another genius Ted Templeman production - the man who'd brought the world the beast that was "Montrose" back in 1973 and The Doobie Brothers "The Captain And Me" in the same year - I can remember all of us looking at each other. We were utterly gobsmacked. Like Hendrix and Rory Gallagher before them and later Stevie Ray Vaughan on another format - we stood there gawking at the vinyl LP turning around and around and wondered - how was this American cheeky-chappy getting those sounds out of his Cellotaped guitar? We didn’t know – nor did we know our hammer-ons from out hammer-and-nails – but we knew it was exciting and new and we wanted more of it.

I wish I could express the same excitement about this bog-standard 'Warner Remasters' CD of 2000 or its farcical reissue masquerading as a '2015 Remaster' when its bleeding obvious it's the same version done back in 2000. Here are devilish details and hammer-on comparisons...

UK released July 2000 - "Van Halen" by VAN HALEN on Warner Brothers 9362-47737-2 (Barcode 093624773726) in the 'Warner Remasters' Series is a straightforward CD transfer of the 1978 11-track Debut LP and plays out as follows (35:31 minutes):

1. Runnin' With The Devil [Side 1]

2. Eruption

3. You Really Got Me

4. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

5. I'm The One

6. Jamie's Cryin' [Side 2]

7. Atomic Punk

8. Feel Your Love Tonight

9. Little Dreamer

10. Ice Cream Man

11. On Fire

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "Van Halen" - released February 1978 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3075 and April 1978 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56470. Produced by TED TEMPLEMAN - it peaked at No. 19 in the USA and No. 34 in the UK.

The gatefold slip of paper that acts as an inlay - does the basic necessities and bugger-all else. And while the CHRIS BELLMAN Remaster done at Bernie Grundman Mastering is fantastic stuff - only amplifying that amazingly loose yet precise Ted Templeman production - the overall feel here is one of what WB 'could get away with' without being downright insulting.

So what you have here is an incendiary five-star debut album - a genuine Rock helter Skelter - given a five-star Remaster but housed in two-star packaging. Van Halen fans did get a bit excited in 2015 when the band's website announced '2015 Remasters' but that issue on Warner Brothers 081227955243 (Barcode same) has exactly the same crappy slip of paper and 'no reference' anywhere to a new 2015 copyright date or remaster - so it's just the same bloody thing costing fans more wasted readies. Some have said the sound is slightly better - but when I had my copy I couldn't honestly hear it. However - and I must emphasise this - the Chris Bellman transfer (which as I say I'm sure has been used on both issues) is rocking - an absolute belter. Let's get to the music...

I may risk suggestions of a frontal lobotomy from fans for this - but if I'm completely honest I've never really liked "Runnin' With The Devil" as a tune. Compared to genius like the simple Rock riffage of "Little Dreamer" or the astonishing speed opening of "I'm The One" and the band just ripping into that 'Van Halen' sound - I've always thought "Runnin'..." ever so slightly naff. No such problems with the volcanic spew of "Eruption" - an excuse for guitar pyrotechnics - an instrumental that always takes me back to that moment in 1978 when we first pulled the tarpaulin sheet off this Harley Davison of a band. Followed by a truly fantastic 'rawk' version of The Kinks classic "You Really Got Me" - Van Halen put their unique stamp on a song that many thought too familiar by far. Re-listening to it now is a blast - and are Clara and Dee Dee (name-checked in the thank you credits) the girls who moan towards the end?

Titanic riffage continues with their own "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" - a genuinely great example of Hard Rock and a slayer of a single (and don't you just love that melodic solo). An amazing Side 1 ends with an amazing piece of show-stopping Eddie Van Halen playing on "I'm The One" – wild guitar soloing as Lee Roth 'ha ha ha's' his vocal way through typically humble lyrics about how all the ladies would be frankly privileged to have a bit of Dave's generous microphone-stand in their lives. Other goodies on Side 2 include "Atomic Kitten" which Warner Brothers put on the B-side of "You Really Got Me" in February 1978 - the debut Van Halen 7" single in the UK (Warner Brothers K 17107) and USA (Warner Brothers 8515). And of course that lethal one-two sucker punch that is "Little Dreamer" and the old-timey Rock 'n' Roll of "Ice Cream Man" - actually one of my fave-raves on the album.

To sum up - if you're buying a Remaster I'd suggest plumbing for the 2000 issue which is available online for peanuts. Or if so inclined and you’re willing to discover just how good Van Halen were - go for the 2013 six-disc box set "Studio Albums 1978-1984". It gives you the 2000 Remasters in six singular card sleeves with the very best of the Dave Lee Roth period for a nadge below fifteen quid. Included are the underrated covers-album "Diver Down" from 1982 and the huge "1984" LP with "Jump" and "Panama" that sent them global and Dave flying into the air with his fragrant tassels dangling in the wind.

"Atomic Punk" and "On Fire" - song-titles that sum up "Van Halen" - this beast of a record that astonishingly will be 40 years young in February 2018. Thanks for the party boys...

"To The Limit" by JOAN ARMATRADING (April 2016 Music On CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...In Your Loving Arms Again..."

Brummie lass Joan Armatrading (born in the West Indies but moved to the UK when she was 8) had been building a steady stream of classy British LP releases by the time she reached "To The Limit" in October 1978 - her sixth platter.

After her November 1972 debut "Whatever’s For Us" on Fly Records went largely unnoticed - her UK signing to A&M Records brought "Back To The Night" in April 1975 – an equally unsuccessful chart attempt but the first real indication of the monumental talent that would eventually unleash "Joan Armatrading" in August 1976 with the huge global hit "Love And Affection". That chart breakthrough was followed with the equally lovely "Show Some Emotion" album in September 1977 featuring the title track and "Willow".

I recall "To The Limit" at the time - the kind of album that bubbled under in 1978 rather than exploded. In fact since the tectonic impact of "Joan Armatrading" in late 1976 - it had seemed she was on a visible downward slide. "To The Limit" peaked at a respectable No. 13 in the UK - less than "Show Some Emotion" at No. 6 - but tellingly it stalled at No. 125 in the USA after it entered the charts there in November 1978. This feels like a shame to me because I've always thought "To The Limit" to be a wee bit of an overlooked gem in her long and impressive catalogue.

And that's where this 'Music On CD' reissue comes stomping in. As far as I recall the last remaster of the whole album was 2004 (quickly deleted) with some of the songs turning up on the 1996 "Love And Affection" 2CD anthology that had Roger Wake Remasters. The album has been notoriously difficult to find on CD at anything other than exorbitant prices – so this rather tasty looking reissue is a godsend for fans and the plain curious. And it sounds utterly fantastic too. Here are the unlimited details...

UK released April 2016 - "To The Limit" by JOAN ARMATRADING on Music On CD MOCCD13291 (Barcode 0600753605165) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of the 10-track 1978 LP that plays out as follows (41:20 minutes):

1. Barefoot And Pregnant [Side 1]

2. Your Letter

3. Am I Blue For You

4. You Rope You Tie Me

5. Baby I

6. Bottom To The Top [Side 2]

7. Taking My Baby To Town

8. What Do You Want

9. Wishing

10. Let It Last

Tracks 1 to 10 are her sixth studio album "To The Limit" - released October 1978 in the UK on A&M Records AMLH 64732 and November 1978 in the USA on A&M Records SP-4732. Produced by GLYN JOHNS - it peaked at No. 13 in the UK and No. 123 in the USA.

JOAN ARMATRADING - Lead Vocals and Acoustic Guitar

PHIL PALMER - Lead Electric Guitar

RED YOUNG - Piano

DICK SIMMS - Organ & Accordion

QUITMAN DAVIS - Lyricon

DAVE MARKEE - Bass

HENRY SPINETTI - Drums 

The 'Music On CD' label is a bit of a strange one. They started out as I recall being 'Music On Vinyl' - the go-to reissue label for all of the Sony product on VINYL - quality 180-gram represses with remasters. But in 2014 the Europe-Pressed CD label began reissuing albums from a huge array of labels and now have over 220 titles in their canon (most are under the Universal umbrella of labels). All their releases come in those natty-looking rounded-corner 'super jewel cases' and for "To The Limit" you also get an 8-page booklet that essentially reproduces the inner sleeve of the 1978 LP - lyrics to the songs - a couple of photos and musician credits - but nothing else - no new liner notes nor any mention of mastering and from what. Credit or no - the audio on this CD is truly glorious - Glyn Johns' original production values shining through - "What Do You Want" sounding audiophile good and stupendously moving for it. 

While the compilations always go for the catchy jaunt of "Barefoot And Pregnant" and the hip Reggae rhythms of "Bottom To The Top" – the hidden album gems of "Baby I" and "What Do You Want" are fantastic songs – full of truth and yes – hurting – a relationship on the rocks – slipping away – even lost. Throw in the sexy acoustic guitar and strangulated synth soloing of "Am I Blue For You", the deceptive groove of “Wishing” and the "Love And Affection" acoustic vibe of "Let It Last" bolstered up with gorgeous accordion and piano notes that compliment rather than intrude as it builds towards a triumphant conclusion (let it last until we die) – and the whole record starts to feel like an overlooked nugget. "To The Limit" is not a masterpiece - but it is chock-full of great songs that still stand up and crucially still get to you.

She would go slightly pop with "Me Myself I" in May 1980 - an album that would storm up No. 5 in the UK and return her to the radio and real chart success Stateside (it peaked at No. 28 – her best showing their). But for many her trio of "Joan Armatrading", "Show Some Emotion" and "To The Limit" from 1976, 1977 and 1978 represent an artistic and emotional high that stings, swoons and ultimately elevates.

I'm off now to check out the first "Outlaws" album (originally 1975 on Arista) and "Blood, Sweat & Tears 3" (originally 1969 and 1970 on Columbia and CBS Records) - both of which have been recently reissued by Music On CD with Remasters.

In the meantime go back in time forty years to 1978 again and take this excellent Joan Armatrading album back 'in your loving arms again'...   

"The Magnificent Moodies: Official 50th Anniversary Edition" by THE MOODY BLUES (December 2014 Esoteric Recordings 2CD Mini Box Set of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...I've Got A Dream..."

Even if their 1965 debut album doesn’t musically come anywhere near reflecting the sound THE MOODY BLUES acquired circa 1967’s “Days Of Future Passed” (and stayed with for the whole of their lengthy career) – you have to admire Esoteric Recordings and their full-throated reissue of their Sixties Pop debut – it’s properly gorgeous and then some. If only some of the major labels would pay attention to the superlative presentation that’s on offer here…

Housed in a glossy 5” Mini Box Set, it features top-class remasters from original 4-track master tapes (including rare STEREO versions on Disc 2), a monstrous 43 bonus tracks (29 of which are Previously Unreleased), a lavishly annotated 24-page booklet, three black and white postcards with fan-club info on the rear and even a foldout colour poster rammed on the flip side with a memorabilia montage that will thrill fans to their little cotton socks. Both CDs are picture discs housed in different card artwork – and it doesn’t cost £49.99 but twelve quid - wow!

There’s tons of material to get through here - so onwards towards that dreamy Threshold (if you know what I mean)…

UK released 15 December 2014 – "The Magnificent Moodies" is an 'Official 50th Anniversary 2CD Edition' on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22473 (Barcode 5013929457348) and breaks down as follows (all songs are MONO except Tracks 21 to 29 on Disc 2 which are in STEREO):

Disc 1 (74:41 minutes):

1. I’ll Go Crazy

2. Something You Got

3. Go Now

4. Can’t Nobody Love You

5. I Don’t Mind

6. I’ve Got A Dream

7. Let Me Go [Side 2]

8. Stop

9. Thank You Baby

10. It Ain’t Necessarily So

11. True Story

12. Bye Bye Bird

Tracks 1 to 12 are their debut LP “The Magnificent Moodies” released July 1965 in the UK (in Mono only) on Decca Records LK 4711

The album was issued in the USA (also in Mono only) on London Records PS 428 entitled “Go Now – Moody Blues No.1” with an entirely different track running order. Fans can sequence the American LP using the following song numbers on Disc 1:

Side 1: I’ll Go Crazy [1], And My Baby’s Gone [14], Go Now [3], It’s Easy Child [16], Can’t Nobody Love You [4] and I Had A Dream [6]

Side 2: Let Me Go [7], I Don’t Want To Go On Without You [17], True Story [11], It Ain’t Necessarily So [10], Bye Bye Bird [12] and From The Bottom Of My Heart [19]

BONUS TRACKS:

13. Lose Your Money (But Don’t Lose Your Mind)

14. Steal Your Heart Away (tracks 14 and 13 are the A&B-sides of their debut UK 45 released September 1964 on Decca F 11971)

15. Go Now! (First Version) (Previously Unreleased – Recorded 24 July 1964)

16. It’s Easy Child (non-album track, B-side to “Go Now!” released as a UK 7” single in November 1964 on Decca F 12022)

17. I Don’t Want To Go On Without You (see US album run above)

18. Time Is On My Side (tracks 17 and 18 are also the A&B-sides of their 3rd UK 7” single released February 1965 on Decca F 12095)

19. From The Bottom Of My Heart (I Love You)

20. And My Baby’s Gone (tracks 19 and 20 are on the US album (see above) and are their 4th UK 7” single released May 1965 on Decca F 12166)

21. Everyday

22. You Don’t (All The Time) (tracks 21 and 22 are non-album, their 5th UK 7” single released October 1965 on Decca F 12266)

23. Boulevard De Madeleine

24. This Is My House (But Nobody Calls) (tracks 23 and 24 are non-album, their 6th UK 7” single released October 1966 on Decca F 12498)

25. People Gotta Go (non-album track, taken from the French “Boulevard De Madeleine EP” released January 1967 on Decca 457117)

26. Life’s Not Life

27. He Can Win (tracks 26 and 27 are non-album, their 7th UK 7” single released January 1967 on Decca F 12543)

Disc 2 (77:06 minutes):

Previously Unreleased Sessions 1964-1966

1. Go Now! (Second Version)

2. Lose Your Money (But Don’t Lose Your Mind) (Early Version)

3. Steal Your Heart Away (First Version)

4. I’ll Go Crazy (First Version)

5. You Better Move On

6. Can’t Nobody Love You (First Version)

7. 23rd Psalm

8. Go Now

9. I Don’t Want To Go On Without You

10. I’ll Go Crazy (“Saturday Club” Session – BBC Light Programme Recorded 12 April 1965)

11. From The Bottom Of My Heart (I Love You)

12. Jump Back (tracks 10 and 11 “Saturday Club” Sessions – Recorded 3 May 1965)

13. I’ve Got A Dream

14. And My Baby’s Gone (tracks 13 and 14 “Saturday Club” Sessions – Recorded 1 June 1965)

15. It’s Easy Child

16. Stop

17. Everyday (tracks 15 to 17 are “Saturday Club” Sessions – Recorded 21 September 1965)

18. Interview With Ray Thomas and Graham Edge/You Don’t (All The Time)

19. I Want You To Know (tracks 18 and 19 are “Saturday Club” Sessions – Recorded 9 November 1965)

20. Coca Cola Radio Commercial 1965

The 1966 Denny Cordell Sessions (In Stereo):

21. Sad Song

22. This Is My House (But Nobody Calls) (First Version)

23. How Can We Hang On To A Dream (First Version)

24. How Can We Hang On To A Dream (Remake)

25. Jago & Jilly

26. We’re Broken

27. I Really Haven’t Got The Time (September 1966 Version)

28. Red Wine

29. This Is My House (But Nobody Calls) (Stereo Mix)

The line-up for the debut consisted of – DENNY LAINE on Vocals, Guitar and Harmonica, MIKE PINDER on Piano and Vocals, RAY THOMAS on Flute, Maraccas, Harmonica, Tambourine and Vocals, CLINT WARWICK on Bass and Vocals with GRAHAM EDGE on Drums.

It should be noted right from the word go that if you’re looking for dreamy Mellotron soundscapes (their trademark sound) – then look elsewhere because this is Beatles influenced Sixties Pop. Having said that large chunks of it are shockingly good – and the number of Laine/Pinder original compositions on Disc 1 alone comes to an impressive 14 – and this is back in a time where whole albums were composed of American cover versions because many of the British R&B bands hadn’t developed writing chops from the outset.

As you can see from the photos I’ve provided – the booklet with MARK POWELL liner notes and general presentation are top notch. The only minor thing I find odd about it is that neither of the inner card sleeves boasts the actual UK album artwork (which is left to the outer box). But quite apart from the lovely presentation – the first thing that hits you is the quality of the remaster – clean, punchy and sounding alive like never before. PASCHAL BYRNE and BEN WISEMAN – both names familiar to many collectors (hundreds of Universal and Esoteric reissues) – have carried out the transfers and both may be standing at award ceremonies soon – stunning job done.

The album is dominated by their first bona fide hit “Go Now” which hit the coveted Number 1 Slot in the UK charts in December 1964. “I Got A Dream” is pure Brill building sweetheart Pop – better is a Bluesy cover of the Gershwin standard “It Ain’t Necessarily So”. The boys go harmony Hollies with “Thank You Baby” and gritty Animals with “True Story” (both impressive Laine/Pinder originals). We get Rolling Stones R&B on the excellent harmonica driven “Lose Your Money (But Don’t Lose Your Mine)” – and identikit melodrama with “Time Is On My Side”. A genuine collector’s prize is the funky Sixties pop of “People Gotta Go” exclusive to the rare “Boulevard De Madeleine EP” on Decca France.

Disc 2 opens with a winner - in-studio chatter as the engineer tells Denny Laine to slow the vocal intro to “Go Now!” and they launch into what has all the hallmarks of a hit (even in rough form). Their cover of Arthur Alexander’s “You Better Move On” is new and worthy of inclusion – but their Sixties slow version of the “23rd Psalm” that then goes into a Gospel boogie – is just plain misplaced. Some of the BBC stuff like “I Don’t Want To Go On Without You” is preceded by fab and groovy DJ intro while they sound accomplished on “I’ll Go Crazy” and real collector’s prizes are the two recently discovered outtakes Mike Pinder’s “I Really Haven’t Got The Time” and the Laine/Pinder “Red Wine” – both aired here for the first time in 50 years. There’s even an interview two days after Denny Laine “packed up and left”…

For sure – musically - fans will be wishing this kind of luxurious 2CD Mini Box set response could be afforded to later albums by THE MOODY BLUES…

But as a starter - and as an example of how to do it right – Esoteric Recordings are looking at a reissue of the year 2014 for me…

"Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" by THE MOODY BLUES (April 2007 Universal/Decca/Threshold SACD-Hybrid Disc Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...One More Time To Live..."

As a newcomer suffers through the of-its-time near five-minute opener "Procession" with its monosyllabic three-point history of music (desolation, creation and communication are the only words doomily chanted throughout) - in the cold and brutal hindsight of 2017 those new ears might wonder how in God's name did July 1971's "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" by The Moody Blues go to No.1 in the UK and No. 2 in the USA – and stay on both charts for months on end? 46 years after the event – this prettily packaged album is of its time indeed and maybe it should stay there, mate...

But then the fantastically guitar-hooky single "The Story In Your Eyes" kicks in - which in turn is followed by the cleverly layered "Our Guessing Game" and the melodic sweep of "Emily's Song" and even a newbee will begin to get it. Their seventh studio album was the Brummie Boys hitting something of an artistic peak – embracing the huge and complexity - leaving behind the Sixties and lashing into the musically adventurous new decade – the Seventies.

And this beautifully rendered 2007 Universal/Decca/Threshold 'Expanded SACD 5.1 Hybrid Disc Reissue' of that fondly remembered album only hammers that home. You get both the Stereo album and a 5.1 Surround Mix on the same disc and when you listen to that huge band crescendo that ends "After You Came" or the majestic keyboard build up in "One More Time To Live" - you also realise why people rave about good mastering and sympathetic transfers (band songwriter Justin Hayward is joined by a group of three renowned Engineers for this project). Here are the very favourable details...

UK released April 2007 - "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" by THE MOODY BLUES on Universal/Decca/Threshold 984 550-6 (Barcode 602498455067) is a 'Expanded SACD 5.1 Hybrid Disc Reissue' with two layers - a Stereo Remaster and 5.1 Surround Sound Mix supplemented with Two Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks (Session Outtakes). It plays out as follows (47:33 minutes):

1. Procession [Side 1]

2. The Story In Your Eyes

3. Our Guessing Game

4. Emily's Song

5. After You Came

6. One More Time To Live [Side 2]

7. Nice To Be Here

8. You Can Never Go Home

9. My Song

Tracks 1 to 9 are their seventh studio album "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" - released 23 July 1971 in the UK and USA on Threshold Records THS 5 (same catalogue number for both country). Produced by TONY CLARKE (Engineered by Derek Varnals) - the album peaked at No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the USA.

BONUS TRACKS (Previously Unreleased):

10. The Story In Your Eyes (Original Version)

11. The Dreamer

THE MOODY BLUES was:

JUSTIN HAYWARD - Lead Vocals and Guitar

JOHN LODGE - Bass and Vocals

RAY THOMAS - Flute, Harmonica, Percussion and Vocals

MIKE PINDER - Keyboards and Vocals

GRAEME EDGE - Drums

Unusual for an SACD Reissue - "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" comes in a card digipak – a tactile pleasure that repro's the gorgeous Phil Travers artwork of the original 1971 LP on Threshold Records (the Moodies own label). You don’t get the mottled effect of the actual album cover – but its close enough. Inside the left flap is a 20-page oversized booklet with new liners notes from MARK POWELL - a hugely respected force in quality reissues who runs the revered Prog/Avant Garde reissue label Esoteric Recordings for Cherry Red and is listed here as 'researcher, compiler and producer' of this lovely 2008 version. The swirling, dancing faces of the inner gatefold artwork is reproduced on Pages 2 and 3 - the lyrics are on Pages 14 to 17 (an insert on the original UK LP and an inner bag on US copies) and it ends with compiler notes about the four-speaker Quadrophonic Tapes used to construct the 5.1 Surround Mix (approved by Justin Hayward and John Lodge).

Their transformation away from British R&B band into International Mellotron Prog Rock flag-holders is discussed in detail - as are the first two years of the Seventies where three successful tours began to see them become huge in America and a major chart presence there. The cohesion of "A Question Of Balance" LP from 1970 (a whole album that could be reproduced live on stage for US audiences) was essentially continued for 1971's "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour". There are colour photos, a foreign picture sleeve for "The Story In Your Eyes" with "My Song" on the flipside and period snaps of the boys looking suitably perplexed and physically jetlagged. But the big news here is the AUDIO...

ALBERTO PARODI and JUSTIN HAYWARD did the STEREO Mix for the album from original Master Tapes at Logical Box Studios in Genova, Italy - while the 5.1 SURROUND SOUND Mix was reconstructed from original Decca Quadrophonic Master Tapes by PASCHAL BYRNE and MARK POWELL at The Audio Archiving Company in London (Bonus Tracks remastered by Paschal Byrne). Always a well-produced near-Audiophile band - the combined talents of all these Engineers has brought huge presence to these songs.

Focusing on exceptional remaster moments - that piano intro to "Our Guessing Game" is beautifully clear - the acoustic guitars that open the lone contribution from drummer Graeme Edge "After You Came" are full - as are the combined wall of voices that give us its 'I've been doing my best' chorus. John Lodge offers the very Simon & Garfunkel beauty of "Emily's Song" and the flute acoustic ballad "One More Time To Live" - sweeping organ builds as it accompanies acoustic guitars and voices that sooth with "...for I have riches more than these..." The second Ray Thomas track "Nice To Be Here" has always been a bit too childlike for my tastes (Jack Rabbit and Daffodils) but fans will find that the bass and acoustic guitars are sweetly transferred. Justin Hayward gives us the superb bombast of "You Can Never Go Home" that’s now even more epic.

The 'love with all your might' song "My Song" from Michael Pinder ends the album with Mellotrons, gently plucked guitars and harps - getting a bit Genesis in that brilliant heavy breathing mid section. The two bonus tracks will please fans no end – recorded in November 1970 before they departed for yet another US Tour – the original version of Justin Hayward’s "The Story In Your Eyes" is essentially the band live in the studio. A spoken one-two count-in and that great guitar riff excites again – even coming with an extended solo in its 3:30 minutes. The Hayward/Thomas composition "The Dreamer" was recorded 9 November 1970 and promptly forgotten about for 35 years until research for this reissue located its dusty and unloved box. Called a 'work in progress' because it clearly needed further polishing – "The Dreamer" nonetheless has enough of a finished feel to it to warrant calling this session outtake a bit of a find...

To sum up – "Every Good Boy Deserves A Favour" by The Moody Blues is a beloved album around the world and its most definitely been given a very tasty 2007 sonic do-over here (both mixes gleaming).

"...Lovely to know the warmth your smile can bring to me..." – Hayward sings on the hopeful "Emily's Song". Well I’d say the favour has been returned...