"Rockin' N' Reelin' With The Cadets" by THE CADETS – 1957 US-Only Debut Album on Crown Records in Mono – Available Inside Two CDs - "The Cadets Meet The Jacks: Stranded In The Jungle" (September 1994 UK Ace Records Expanded CD Reissue & Remaster) and "The Jacks Meet The Cadets Vol.2: Why Don't You Write Me?" (May 1995 UK Ace Records CD Compilation Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

Rhythm 'n' Blues, Rock 'n' Roll and Vocal Group THE CADETS [aka The Jacks]

And Their Rare 1957 US Debut LP on Crown Records in Mono

Best Audio Available in Two Ace Records CD Compilations from 1994 and 1995

"...Hands Across The Table..."

 

Some reissue LPs stay with you and you love them to distraction - Rockstar's 1985 Eddie Cochran Compilation "Portrait Of A Legend" (with Stereo Takes), Big Joe Turner's "Rhythm & Blues Years" double album on Atlantic from 1986 and this cracker from Ace Records of the UK covering two great R 'n' B Vocal Groups from the mid Fifties...The Cadets and The Jacks...

 

It was first issued as a 16-track VINYL LP in the UK called "The Cadets Meet The Jacks" on Ace Records CH 196 in January 1987. The September 1994 UK-released CD upgrade called "The Cadets Meet The Jacks: Stranded In The Jungle" on Ace Records CDCHD 523 (Barcode 029667153423) expands that initial count of 16 and adds 9 more to make it 25 tracks in all (65:22 minutes total playing time). The CD also replaces Ted Carroll's liner notes with those of Chicago Rhythm 'n' Blues expert JIM DAWSON.

 

Although THE CADETS released 14 singles and THE JACKS managed 6 on Modern - each of these intertwined R 'n' B Vocal Group incarnations charted big just once. THE JACKS got there first in July 1955 with "Why Don't You Write Me?" on RPM Records 428 - while THE CADETS made it with the novelty hit "Stranded In The Jungle" on Modern 944 in July 1956 (itself a cover of a JAYHAWKS song on Flash Records 109 also in 1956). 

 

This first volume CD concentrates mainly on THE CADETS between 1955 and 1957 and along with a second Ace CD compilation called "The Jacks Meet The Cadets Vol.2: Why Don't You Write Me?" released on CD in May 1995 (CDCHD 535) will allow fans to sequence all of their singles on Modern as follows:

 

SINGLES:

[7/1] = Track number 7 on Volume 1 while [7/2] = Track 7 on Volume 2 

(You will need both CDs):

 

1. Don't Be Angry [7/1] b/w I Cried  [7/2] (Modern 956, April 1955)

2. Rollin' Stone [6/1] b/w Fine Lookin' Baby [10/2] (Modern 960, June 1955)

3. I Cried [7/2] b/w Fine Lookin' Baby [10/2] (Modern 963, July 1955)

4. Annie Met Henry [5/1] b/w So Will I [24/2] (Modern 969, 1955)

5. Do You Wanna Rock [4/2] b/w If It Is Wrong [15/2] (Modern 971, November 1955)

6. Heartbreak Hotel [18/1] b/w Church Bells May Ring [15/1] (Modern 985, February 1956)

7. Stranded In The Jungle [1/1] b/w I Want You [19/2] (Modern 994, June 1956)

8. I Got Loaded [22/1] b/w Dancin' Dan [22/2] (Modern 1000, September 1956)

9. I'll Be Spinning [23/1] b/w Fools Rush In [3/1] (Modern 1006, Nov 1956)

10. Love Bandit [13/1] b/w Heaven Help Me [3/2] (Modern 1012, December 1956)

11. Wiggle Waggle Woo [12/2] b/w You Belong To Me [20/2] (Modern 1017, 1957)

12. Pretty Evey [10/1] b/w Rum, Jamaica Rum [20/1] (Modern 1019, May 1957, credited as Aaron Collins & The Cadets)

13. Hands Across The Table [8/1] b/w Love Can Do Most Anything [11/1] (Modern 1024, August 1957 credited as Will Jones & The Cadets)

14. Ring Chimes [17/1] b/w Baby Ya Know [12/1] (Modern 1026, December 1957)

 

This CD has 4 PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED - Tracks 5, 14, 19 are 'Alternate Takes' of Annie Met Henry, Why Did I Fall In Love and Dancin' Dan - while Track 25 is an 'Undubbed Version' of Stranded In The Jungle (without the overdubbed Jungle sounds). The much-revered LITTLE WALTER DE VENNE researched and compiled the set and the hugely informative 12-page booklet by JIM DAWSON gives a virtual track-by-track history - even reproducing tiny Cashbox Adverts in between the text. But the big news (as it was with the LP) is the stunning audio quality. The greatly missed 'BOPPIN' BOB JONES mastered the tracks initially for the 1987 LP - whilst this set boasts 1994 Post Production work done by DAVID YOUNG at Sound Mastering in London. The sonic clarity is fabulous - clear, full of life, great presence and sounding like they were recorded yesterday and not a half-a-century ago.

 

The handsome quartet on the cover shot (from left to right) are Will "Dub" Jones, Willie Davis, Thomas "Pete" Fox and Aaron Collins. Sporting two world-class frontmen - Will Jones had the most extraordinary low-low-low Bass voice while Aaron Collins was the other Lead Tenor (he also co-wrote "Car Crash" and "Don't"). Collins and Jones handled the leads on The Cadets sides while Tenor Willie Davis fronted The Jacks. Not featured on the glorious album cover are the other three integral parts of the group - Ted Taylor (Tenor), Glendon Kingsby (who left to pursue Gospel) and Lloyd McCraw (Baritone).

 

The Cadets specialized in doing cover versions of other people's hits. Their debut single is a version of Nappy Brown's "Don't Be Angry", "Do You Wanna Rock" is a re-working of Clyde McPhatter & The Drifter's Atlantic hit "Whatcha Gonna Do" and they even had an unsuccessful stab at Elvis Presley on the A and The Willows on the B for Modern 985 in the heat of Rock 'n' Roll in February 1956. Whilst this almost total reliance on covers doesn't sound promising - one of the reasons I love these CD compilations so much is that their versions are actually ace in my books.

 

The group could effortlessly switch between Slow Vocal Group Crooner tunes and outright Rocking R'n'B - having the lead tenor vocalists able to slay both. I adore "Hands Across The Table" (a song stretching all they way back to 1934) with Dub Jones' voice literally startling the neighbours - while the Johnny Mercer/Glenn Miller perennial "Fools Rush In" is gorgeous. They take the wonderful crossover hit "Sixty Minute Man" by Billy Ward & The Dominoes and turn it into an equally cool dancer - "Dancin' Dan". And the drinking song "I Got Loaded" made it onto many of my Shop Play CDs when I was at Reckless.

 

ALBUM:

Crown also issued a lone 12-Track Mono CADETS LP in 1957 called "Rockin' N' Reelin' With The Cadets" on Crown Records CLP 5015 – a sought after Rhythm and Blues dancing rarity. Like the singles, with nine track on Volume 1 and three tracks on Volume 2 (the last of which is technically The Jacks – Smack Dab), again you will need both CDs to sequence all of it as follows:

 

Side 1

1. Stranded In The Jungle [1/1]

2. I Want You [19/2]

3. So Will I [19/2]

4. I'll Be Spinning [24/1]

5. Fools Rush In [3/1]

6. Annie Met Henry [5/1]

Side 2

1. Heartbreak Hotel [18/1]

2. Dancin' Dan [22/2]

3. Church Bells May Ring [15/1]

4. I Got Loaded [22/1]

5. Rollin' Stone [6/1]

6. Smack Dab In The Middle [9/1]

 

Ted Taylor enjoyed a great solo career - both Collins and Davis would join The Flairs in 1961 - while Betty and Rosie Collins (his sisters) recorded as The Teen Queens. Will "Dub" Jones later went with The Coasters as their Bass Vocalist - staying with them for over 10 years.

 

Cool, classy and crack-a-lackin' - I love these CADETS and JACKS CDs and I urge you to do the finger-clickin' same...

"Dedicated To You" by THE "5" ROYALES – Spring 1958 US Debut Album on King Records in Mono – Inside "Soul & Swagger: The Complete "5" Royales 1951-1967" (April 2014 US RockBeat Records 5CD Compilation of Remasters in a Limited Edition Presentation 124-Page 9" x 9" Hardback Book) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

 

Their 1958 US Debut Album "Dedicated To You" on King Records in Mono

Best Audio Available In "Soul & Swagger: The Complete "5" Royales 1951-1967"

2014 US RockBeat Records 5CD Hardback Book Set of Remasters

"...All Righty..."

 

In the not-so-album-orientated Fifties and dedicated almost exclusively to the Rhythm and Blues 45-singles market, King Records USA nonetheless put out four long-playing albums for The "5" Royales.

 

For the purpose of this outing, we are going to deal with their fabulous and period evocative debut LP - "Dedicated To You" (King 580) issued sometime in the spring of 1958, probably March or April. Its 12-tracks consisted of 1955 and 1957-issued King singles and its title nodded towards the favourable press traction the "Dedicated To The One I Love" 45 was getting by March 1958 (the more famous girl group cover version by The Shirelles wouldn’t enter Billboard charts until July 1959 and only on second issue became a hit in 1961).

 

You can get cheaper digital versions of King material by The "5" Royales - but I would advise that your hard earned buck-pound-euro stops here. Sounding leagues ahead of what's gone before (even from quality labels like Rhino and Ace) - this gorgeously presented all-encompassing 5CD Set celebrating the R'n'B and Soul sides of The "5" Royales has had Reissue Of The Year 2014 tagged onto it in many press quarters. And holding this Hardback Book Package with its 141 tracks and 124-page memorabilia-festooned book in my grubby hands - frankly I'm not in the least bit surprised.

 

RockBeat Records of Sherman Oaks, California, USA is new to me as a reissue label, but man have they done the business here and even (dare we say it) - raised the reissue bar by a mile or two. The CD details are...

 

USA released 1 April 2014 (June 2014 in the UK) - "Soul & Swagger: The Complete "5" Royales 1951-1967" is a 5CD Hardback Book Set on RockBeat Records ROC-CD-3101 (Barcode 089353310127). Disc 1, 29 Tracks, 76:09 minutes, Disc 2, 28 tracks, 75:24 minutes, Disc 3, 29 tracks, 73:16 minutes, Disc 4, 26 tracks, 72:19 minutes and Disc 5, 29 tracks, 75:00 minutes.

 

The first thing that hits you about this set (apart from the exceptional sound) is the glorious packaging. This really is a beautiful thing to behold. Similar to Motown's "Singles" Book Sets in concept and shape - the thick Hardback Book opens to Disc 1 imbedded in the front cover flap with a fantastic array of Apollo, King, ABC-Paramount, Todd, Federal and other relevant labels as a backdrop. There's a short 1-page Forward by STEVE CROPPER of Booker T & The M.G.'s, an introduction by compilers JAMES AUSTIN and TOM McCULLOUGH while BILL DAHL'S superlative essay on the group begins on Page 11 and finishes with reference-sources on Page 65 (what a great writer he is). There then follows colour pages of those rare EPs and LPs on King and Apollo. Inbetween all that is a stunning parade of memorabilia photos, label repros, fan-club memberships, concert posters and their name in lights at venues - and at the end a mind-blowing page-after-page display of every 45 and rare 78".

 

But to give you an indication of the real detail involved here the track-by-track annotation begins on Page 68 and doesn't end until Page 107 with many of the entries having the Billboard and Cashbox Reviews relevant to each song printed beneath the entry! I can't imagine the hundreds of hours it must have taken to do this - picking out each available reference - but it's exemplary stuff. Both "Much In Need" and "Goof Ball" on the Home Of The Blues label were also released on ABC-Paramount - so the page displays of 45s has both. The only other label with this level of depth is of course Bear Family (and those Universal/Hip-O Select Motown Book Sets that won awards).

 

JERRY PETERSON at SOUND AVENGER did the Remastering and any fan that has owned previous CDs will immediately notice the audio improvement. These tracks sound boss - full of Fifties presence and life and allowed to breath - a top job done. Completists will also notice from the lists provided above that there's actually only one Previously Unreleased track (No 10 on Disc 5) - the others have been on LPs and CD compilations from Gusto to Collectibles. But this is of course the first time the lot has been bundled together in the same place - and presented with such lavish style. Now to the debut album within this...

 

You can sequence the 1958 Debut Album "Dedicated To You" from Discs 3 and 2 as follows [3/3] and [17/2] = Track 3 on CD3, Track 17 on CD2 etc:

 

Side 1:

1. Think [6/3]

2. Someone Made You For Me [17/2]

3. Just As I Am [1/3]

4. Don't Be Ashamed [11/3]

5. Come On And Save Me [23/2]

6. I'd Better Make A Move [7/3]

 

Side 2:

1. Dedicated To The One I Love [10/3]

2. Right Around The Corner [19/2]

3. Say It [9/3]

4. Messin' Up [8/3]

5. Tears Of Joy [4/3]

6. Thirty-Second Lover [5/3]

 

A song most associated with James Brown and The Famous Flames, "Think" opens Side 1 with a Rhythm and Blues swaying bang. Issued May 1957 as a 45-single on King 45-5053, after steady traction, it began a good chart climb in September 1957 and peaked at No. 9. So its hardly surprising that both it and the March 1957 single that preceded it "Tears Of Joy" (King 45-5032 was another No. 9 Billboard R&B charting for The Royales in July 1957) is also here.

 

We get all Flamingos on the wonderfully romantic "Tears Of Joy" (again gorgeous audio). It's a Vocal Group mid-tempo with a superb backing vocals arrangement as they "ooh, ooh, ooh..." their way through proceedings (James Brown gal Vicki Anderson took a version of it into the charts in 1967). Another classy slow song is "I'd Better Make A Move" - a wicked B-side Group Collectors will need. The "Think" flipside "I'd Better Make A Move" ends Side 1 - while the "Tears Of Joy" flipside "Thirty Second Lover" ends Side 2.

 

"Someone Made Me For You" was issued way back in October 1955 on King 45-4830 as the A-side, while "Just As I Am" was pressed into service on King 454973 in September 1956 and again from that pivotal year, the come-back-girl pleader "Come On And Save Me" was issued July 1956 as the A on King 45-4952.

 

The Five Royales Side 2 opener "Dedicated To The One I Love" was first issued December 1957 on King 45-5098 as the A-side original. After Billboard ads and radio play, it was getting mentions and traction in March 1958 but it didn't chart. The more famous cover version of it (and some would say more saccharine) by The Shirelles girl group entered the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1959 and peaked at No. 89, but their second issue of it in January 1961 on Scepter 1203 was huge – No. 3 R&B and No. 2 Pop. And in 1967, a truly gorgeous re-make by The Mamas & The Papas would make No. 4 with Dunhill D-4077

 

The bopping "Right Around The Corner" again went back two years, the A-side of a January 1956 single on King 45-4869, while "Say It" and "Messin' Up" were the B and A-side (in that order) of King 45-5082 in October 1957. And the LP ends on the R&B hit "Tears Of Joy" and a well-praised flipside "Thirty-Second Lover".

 

For what is admittedly an obscure compilation album from 1958 on King Records by some Fifties Rock and Roll and Rhythm and Blues group you have probably never heard of – spending fifty-plus quid on this beautiful 5CD RockBeat Book Set may seem like something of a cream-filled cake-like extravagance. But this is fantastic stuff, and like all greatness, it costs.

 

Fab, brill and well done to all involved for getting "Dedicated To You" out there and in such glorious style too...

"Brilliant Trees" by DAVID SYLVIAN – June 1984 UK Debut Solo LP [ex Japan] on Virgin Records featuring Richard Barbieri and Steve Jansen of Japan, Steve Nye of Penguin Café Orchestra, Holger Czukay of Can, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Danny Thompson of Pentangle, Kenny Wheeler, Mark Isham, Jon Hassell, Phil Palmer and Ronny Drayton (September 2003 UK Virgin CD Reissue and Remaster in Card Digipak Sleeve with Altered Artwork) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

"...Ink In The Ink Well..." 

 

A lot was expected of the improbably handsome David Sylvian back in the mid Eighties (he was once voted most beautiful man in the world by a committee of men who idolised hair bleach). And the ex Japan frontman delivered big-time with his June 1984 debut solo album "Brilliant Trees".

 

This is a fabulous record - one I’ve always loved and admired - lifted up here into the stratosphere by a subtle yet genuinely muscular 2003 CD Remaster by TONY COUSINS who did such stellar work on the Gabriel-years Genesis albums.

 

I had the original Virgin Vinyl LP (they've altered the front cover artwork slightly as per Sylvian's update, bringing only the photo into focus) and as sure as God Shiva made little green radioactive apples, it didn't sound as good as this. Just a few moments of Danny Thompson's double bass on "The Ink In The Ink Well" or that huge backbeat with spoken lyrics by Holger Czukay (of Can) meshing with those swirling staccato keyboard soundscapes in "Backwaters" and I'm hurtling towards sonic raptures. This thing sounds gorgeous – new life ahoy. To the banks of sexy red guitars...

 

UK released September 2003 - "Brilliant Trees" by DAVID SYLVIAN on Virgin CDVX 2290 (Barcode 724359130729) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of the 1984 debut solo album in new digipak artwork and plays out as follows (39:48 minutes):

 

1. Pulling Punches [Side 1]

2. The Ink In The Well 

3. Nostalgia 

4. Red Guitar 

5. Weathered Wall [Side 2]

6. Backwaters 

7. Brilliant Trees 

Tracks 1 to 7 are his debut solo LP "Brilliant Trees" - released 25 June 1984 in the UK on Virgin Records V 2290. Produced by DAVID SYLVIAN and STEVE NYE - it peaked at No. 4

 

MUSICIANS were: 

DAVID SYLVIAN - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Treated Piano and Tapes

RICHARD BARBIERI [Japan, Rain Tree Crow and Porcupine Tree] - Synthesizers on Track 1

STEVE NYE [Penguin Cafe Orchestra] - Piano and Synthesizer on Tracks 3 and 4

RYUICHI SAKAMOTO - Piano and Synthesizer of Tracks 4, 5 and 7

KENNY WHEELER - Flugelhorn on Tracks 2 and 3

MARK ISHAM - Trumpet on Track 4

JON HASSELL - Trumpet on Tracks 5 and 7 (also wrote the music)

HOLGER CZUKAY [Can] - Guitar, French Horn and Spoken Voice (Track 6)

RONNIE DRAYTON - Guitars on Tracks 1 and 4

PHIL PALMER - Guitars on Tracks 2 and 4

DANNY THOMPSON [Pentangle] - Double Bass on Track 2

WAYNE BRAITHWAITE - Bass on Tracks 1 and 4

STEVE JANSEN [Japan] - Drums and Synthesizer

 

Pretty as it looks (folds out into three flaps of sepia photos from the period), the new digipak is tactile enough and updates the musician credits to feature the new, but ultimately feels flimsy and disappointing. There is no history or new liner notes – no comments from the players. But all that is whomped like a goodun by a TONY COUSINS Remaster from original tapes carried out at Metropolis Mastering in London – beautiful, subtle – give it some crank on the volume dial and you will be blown away.  

 

Richard Barbieri on Synth and Ronnie Drayton on Lead Guitar contribute cool flourishes to "Pulling Punches" - a great five-minute opener. Virgin pre-empted the LP with "Red Guitar" as a true solo 45-single in May 1984 - Virgin VS 633 making it to 17 in the UK charts. Fans will be disappointed that its even cooler B-side "Forbidden Colours (Version)" is not included on this CD reissue - what a genuine bonus that would make for both Sylvian and Sakamoto fans. Speaking of singles, the sexy rhythms of "The Ink In The Well" were used as LP-45 number two in August 1984 - Virgin VS 700 with another Non-album B-side mix called "Weathered Wall (Instrumental)" on the flip. 

"Nostalgia" sounds just huge - pinging notes swirling around your room and again you wish the packaging had maybe stumped up his lyrics as a read. "Backwaters" is the kind of Sylvian sound-stage that just keeps creeping in - a fab track that I return to and get something new every time. I know not everyone can make it through the full eight-and-a-half minutes of the title-track closer, but I love it - rich and textured - like the album itself.

 

To sum up, as a CD reissue without bonuses and properly in-depth annotation, This 2003 variant of "Brilliant Trees" is 3 to 4 stars presentation-wise at best. But man that 5-star sound gets me every time...so it award it the bung.

 

"There you stand...making my life possible..." Sylvian sang on the typically ethereal and odd love song "Brilliant Trees" – lessons to be learned – prices to be paid – leading me back to the source. Well, dip into your forest pockets for this one – because it is brilliant...and no foliage was damaged during its upgrade...

"Welcome To The Pleasuredome" by FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD - October 1984 UK ZTT Records 2LP Debut Double-Album - Guests Include Steve Howe of Yes, Steve Lipson on Guitar, String Arrangements by Anne Dudley and Production by Trevor Horn (December 2020 UK ZTT/UMC 1CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Victims Of Ravishment..."

 

Ah the Frankies - Going To Hollywood in the Eighties with a Zang Tuum Tumb Remix in their hearts and a set of Mongolian Moose horns in their codpieces - and thereafter feeling the need to Relax and not do it (nor even suck it to it).

 

In March 2022 - Frankie Goes To Hollywood's October 1984 wake-up-call debut double-album "Welcome To The Pleasuredome" is for sure showing its excessive age. But then you crank Track 2 - the staggering over-the-top who-ha 13:40 minutes of its title track and suddenly you think (nay even tumb tang admit) - there's never been anything this brilliant anywhere else - evah! 

 

Half toss, half genius - Liverpool's Frankie Goes To Hollywood practically invented 80ts cult with their extraordinary launching pad - aided by the stellar Production talent of TREVOR HORN who realized their mad Mongolian Kublai Khan bad-boys of Rock Music vision.

 

We heard giggles, distorted vocals, a Ronald Reagan pisstake during "War", the British Royal Family's Prince Charles in the "(Tag)" bit starting Side 3 before the Gerry & The Pacemakers "Ferry Across The Mersey" cover version (often miscredited on original LPs as 'Furry') - and the Supervisor warning before launching into the Boss's "Born To Run" - and so much more. 

 

And of course, the artwork, my god the artwork; those two inner sleeves with all those eclectic indecipherable liner notes, secret gay shagging references and adverts for product. Hell, if you looked closely enough, you could even see that each side of ZTT IQ1 had a subliminal title of sorts - Pray Frankie Pray, Say, Sing and Play Frankie Play. And the crafty covers incorporated into absolutely everything too.

 

But FGTH had those searing original songs and that squeaky clean so-80ts sound too. Just dig that acoustic moment (around eight minutes in) by Lead Guitarist Steve Howe of Yes - something they'd employ themselves with the stunning "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" (also produced by TH) or that delicate Electric Guitar solo by Steve Lipson. WOW!

 

But the initial sonic-assault of "Welcome To The Pleasuredome" has had a very marred audio history when it comes to reissues - the constraints of vinyl and earlier half-assed CD versions. Well, at last this 2020 ZTT/UMC CD Remaster does that animal beast a solid. Let's get to the moving at one million miles an hour details...

 

UK released 12 December 2020 - "Welcome To The Pleasuredome" by FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD on ZTT/UMC 8242199 (Barcode 602508242199) offers the full 1984 double-album remastered onto 1CD (Definition Series No. 32, ZTDS32) and plays out as follows (64:37 minutes):

 

Side 1 - Pray Frankie Pray 

1. The World Is My Order (including 'Well' and 'Snatch of Fury') - 1:39 minutes

2. Welcome To The Pleasuredome - 13:40 minutes

 

Side 2 - Say Frankie Say 

3. Relax (Come Fighting) - 3:56 minutes 

4. War (And Hide) - 6:13 minutes 

5. Two Tribes (For The Victims Of Ravishment) - 3:28 minutes 

 

Side 3 - Sing Frankie Sing 

6. (Tag) - 0:35 minutes 

7. Ferry (Go) - 1:49 minutes

8. Born To Run - 3:58 minutes 

9. San Jose (The Way) 

10. Wish (The Lads Were Here) - 2:48 minutes 

11. Including The Ballad of 32 - 4:49 minutes 

 

Side 4 - Play Frankie Play 

12. Krisko Kisses - 2:59 minutes 

13. Black Night White Light - 4:08 minutes 

14. The Only Star In Heaven - 4:16 minutes 

15. The Power Of Love - 5:32 minutes 

16. Bang... - 1:09 minutes 

Tracks 1 to 16 are the debut 2LP-set "Welcome To The Pleasuredome" - released 29 October 1984 on ZTT Records IQ 1. Produced by TREVOR HORN - it peaked at No. 1. 

 

The 8-page booklet is unfortunately the usual deflating effort that covers the inner gatefold artwork of the 2LP set, the band photos and each member discussed and those original liner notes. But apart from a credit to Philip Marshall for the 2020 rejiggered artwork layout, there is bugger all else - no history.

 

What is not in contention is the very clear and clear Remastered Audio that somehow manages to retain the integrity of the 'Trevor Horn' production sound that was such a part of WTTP, but give it muscle in places where it has always screamed out for power. If you give some welly on your stereo to the gorgeous guitar-work in the half-instrumental/half-porn soundtrack "Including The Ballad of 32" – the audio is incredible - so damn good.

 

While it was fun back in the big-hair-do days to hear Bacharach and David’s "Do You Know The Way To San Jose?" (done by Dionne Warwick originally on Scepter Records in 1968) or Springsteen’s "Born To Run" (Columbia Records, 1975), they feel like alien limpets now. Better is those lesser heralded album cuts like "Krisko Kisses" or the devil may take you there of "Black Night White Light" with its internal WTTP guitar bits. And those huge strangely touching string-arrangements by Anne Dudley on the No. 1 single "The Power Of Love" that ends the opus in a suitably epic manner.

 

You can’t help thinking that the 12” Alternate Remix of “Pleasuredome” would have made the perfect Bonus Track (and there is room) or their cover of T. Rex’s “Get It On” – but alas (Frankie Say No More).

 

The second and last album by FGTH "Liverpool" would finally arrive in October 1986 again on ZTT Records with all the accompanying paraphernalia and plethora of versions - but it felt like an anti-climax because it just couldn't compete with the sheer bombast of such a debut (produced three No. 1 singles).

 

But you have to smile at FGTH for taking their name off a Frank Sinatra poster and getting the BBC to ban "Relax" and therefore send it up to No. 1. For that alone and the Xanadu dingbat "Welcome To The Pleasuredome" - I stand erect for Frankie Goes To Hollywood (probably not a good thing really at my age)...

"In The City" by THE JAM - May 1977 UK Debut LP on Polydor Records featuring Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler (July 1997 UK Polydor 'The Jam Remasters' CD Reissue) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

This Review Along With 249 Others Is Available In My

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Music Of 1977 to 1979 

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"...I Was Young...I Was Full Of Ideas...I Was Serious!"

 

"One Two Three Four!" comes the shout at the opening of "Art School" - a theme-setter for The Jam's staggeringly angry debut album.

 

It's 1977 England and the TV's full of - newspapers telling you what to think - and the sound of the streets is unemployment shuffles to grimy pubs where earnest men rail over pints about the state of everything - Paul Weller feeding back his guitar in Polydor Studios towards the end of the song no doubt using every fibre in his body to not smash the damn thing against the wall.

 

I had genuinely forgotten how raw and raucous this slice of British New Wave was - probably the Punkest of all Jam albums. And this remaster from 1997 is just as snotty as their graffiti-scrawl-on-tiles name and Mod clothes. Baby, I changed my address, and I know it's for the best. Well, let’s get to one of Blighty's best...  

 

UK released July 1997 - "In The City" by THE JAM on Polydor 537 417-2 (Barcode 731453741720) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of their May 1977 debut album on Polydor Records (part of 'The Jam Remasters' Series, see list below) and plays out as follows (32:04 minutes): 

 

1. Art School [Side 1]

2. I've Changed My Address

3. Slow Down 

4. I Got By In Time 

5. Away From The Numbers 

6. Batman Theme 

7. In The City [Side 2]

8. Sounds From The Street  

9. Non-Stop Dancing 

10. Time For Truth 

11. Takin' My Love 

12. Bricks And Mortar 

Tracks 1 to 12 are their debut album "In The City" - released May 1977 in the UK on Polydor 2383 447 and in the USA on Polydor PD-1-6110. Produced by VIC SMITH and CHRIS PARRY - it peaked at No. 20 in the UK (didn't chart USA).

 

An eight-leaf foldout inlay gives PAT GILBERT just about enough room to lay down the Jam-formation basics in his entertaining and informative liner notes of April 1997. The album shifted 60,000 copies, but little of this gives you the impact The Jam had on British kids. Like The Smiths in the Eighties, their driving Dr. Feelgood meets The Clash tunes and sound took fans by storm and engendered cult loyalty that has not dissipated one jot in near 45+ years.

 

The Remastered audio is care of ROGER WAKE who had done Supertramp, Joan Armatrading and The Strawbs for A&M Records. It kicks – take the forgotten wildness of "Takin' My Love" over on Side 2 – all Wilko Johnson madman guitar as Weller sings about being out on a Saturday Night looking for more than Rock and Roll from any young lass unfortunate enough to be in the firing line of his black suit and pin-tie. You also so get the shadow of The Who from early Jam – all that power riffing – but it works – feels exciting. It ends on homelessness and kids wanting a shot at a future – the fantastic "Bricks And Mortar" chiming and screaming at one and the same time. 

 

My only bugbear is the superfluous cover of "The Batman Theme" (a throwaway cut if ever there was one), but The Jam's take on the 1958 Larry Williams classic "Slow Down" is fantastic, capturing all that tune's get-up-and-dance Rock 'n' Roll joy - something that had turned on Weller's heroes The Beatles decades earlier (the Fabs covered it on their UK Parlophone "Long Tally Sally" EP in 1964 and it was also the B-side of the US 45 for the Carl Perkin's tune "Matchbox on Capitol Records in the States - also that country's "Something New" LP).

 

The Jam's 20 May 1977 debut LP was and is such an angry record - a lash-out stab at the state of England in the late 70s. But then were The Jam ever anything else but confrontational on all fronts. Well, in-yer-face or not - "In The City" is raging at the machine with talent, brains and tunes. And when you then think about the near 50-year career to come for Paul Weller that all of us who were there for this explosive beginning have followed ever since - isn't that in-itself, just so staggering. Is it any wonder (whether he hates it or not) that they call Weller The Modfather. I would don the cap if I ever met him on the street.

 

Get this headless horse in your bed and then move on to the next respect...

 

UK CD Titles and Catalogue Nos. in The Jam Remasters Series of July 1997

Six Studio Albums in Release Date Order

Remasters by ROGER WAKE

 

1. In The City (May 1977 Debut LP) - Polydor 537 417-2 (Barcode 731453741720)

2. This Is The Modern World (November 1977) - Polydor 537 418-2 (Barcode 731453741829)

3. All Mod Cons (November 1978) - Polydor 537 419-2 (Barcode 731453741928)

4. Setting Sons (November 1979) - Polydor 537 420-2 (Barcode 731453742024)

5. Sound Affects (November 1980) - Polydor 537 421-2 (Barcode 731453742123)

6. The Gift (March 1982) - Polydor 537 422-2 (Barcode 731453742222)