"Savage" by EURYTHMICS – November 1987 Seventh Album on RCA Records featuring Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart (November 2005 UK Sony/BMG 'Special Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Five Bonus Tracks, Deluxe Artwork Digipak Packaging and Ian Cooper Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 <iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B0000CFXNT&asins=B0000CFXNT&linkId=f69fb1ceb41aecf835a501d955d4fdf7&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

 

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B0BZL1MX5Y&asins=B0BZL1MX5Y&linkId=af56fb38e3fc6d43bd49fe788dfb0500&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

This Review and 209 more are in my E-Book

Available on AMAZON 

LET'S GO CRAZY - 80ts Music On CD

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters

Classic Albums, Compilations, 45s

All In-Depth Reviews from the Discs Themselves

Over 1,650 e-Pages of Info

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...Eloquent With Rage..."

 

I was a huge fan of the EURYTHMICS and their sassy Synth-Pop - Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart hitting it out of the album/hit singles ball park more times than people cared to count.

 

They had hooks, cool, choruses and lyrics. In fact I wallowed in May 1985's "Be Yourself Tonight" (with guests like Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers) and July 1986's follow-up "Revenge" with its 'Thorn In My Side' and 'The Miracle Of Love' melodies that swooped and moved. But man November 1987's "Savage" tested my patience - and if I'm totally honest and even on re-hearing the record via this fabulous 'Special Edition' CD Remaster from 2005 - it still does. 

 

"Savage" has always been described as their 'difficult' album, Annie on the cover looking like a darker trollop version of Kelly Reilly's 'Beth Dutton' from the Yellowstone TV Series after a night out battering poor chancer-men at the bar hoping for some love action with a babe way past their buckle belts. The slightly disheveled lipstick smeared Stepford Housewife vibe of the front cover continues with photos on the inside - Lennox all cleavage but her look - dead inside - and worse - hating what kind of woman she has become. And therein lies the anger that fuels the whole album, a woman who feels she shouldn't have arrived at this place of dancefloor compromise - ranting against unfaithful lovers with more than a few sinister thoughts in her weary head. Eloquent with rage...

 

This 'Special Edition' CD reissue and Expanded Edition Remaster (like all the others in the series) comes in Digipak 'Deluxe Packaging' with a beautifully presented 24-page colour booklet, five bonus tracks (B-sides and 12" mixes) and a muscular IAN COOPER Remaster done at Metropolis Studios from original master tapes. There's much to get Beethoven over...

 

UK released 14 November 2005 - "Savage" by EURYTHMICS on Sony / BMG Music Entertainment 82876 561192 (Barcode 828765611923) is an 'Special Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Five Bonus Tracks (Two Unreleased) and Expanded Packaging that plays out as follows (70:44 minutes):

 

1. Beethoven (I Love To Listen To) [Side 1]

2. I've Got A Lover (Back In Japan)

3. Do You Want To Break Up?

4. You Have Placed A Chill In My Heart

5. Shame  

6. Savage 

7. I Need A Man [Side 1]

8. Put The Blame On Me

9. Heaven

10. Wide Eyed Girl

11. I Need You

12. Brand New Day

Tracks 1 to 12 are their seventh studio album "Savage" - released November 1987 on RCA Records PL 71555 (LP) and PD 71555 (CD) and in the USA on RCA Victor 6794-1-R (LP) and RCA Victor 6794-2-R (CD). Produced by DAVE STEWART - it peaked at No. 7 in the UK and No. 41 in the USA. 

BONUS TRACKS:

13. Beethoven [Extended Philharmonic Version] - Taken from the 12" Version

14. Shame [Dance Mix] - Taken from the 12" Version

15. I Need A Man [Macho Mix] - Taken from the 12" Version

16. I Need You [Live] - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (no recording details)

17. Come Together - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

PHILL SAVIDGE provides the new liner notes in the colourful 24-page booklet that pictures the 45-single artwork for the album's four singles - "Beethoven (I Love To Listen To)", "You Have Placed A Chill In My Heart", "Shame" and "I Need A Man". Shame there are no lyrics, but it does look substantial and the IAN COOPER Remaster is fabulous - really clean and not too ramped up for the treble sake of it.

 

Can't say I ever dug "Beethoven..." but I did warm to the jaunty and fun "I've Got A Lover (Back In Japan)" and the spookily upbeat "Do You Want To Break Up". Faith is restored with three wickedly good Eurythmics tunes in a row - first being the strangely uplifting "You Have Placed A Chill In My Heart" (I recall I bought the CD single in some kind of tin packaging) and then "Shame" where Lennox name-checks the cinema, TV, theater and dancehalls - girls feeling the emotional longing and whiplash that follows. "All mockery is laughing, all violence is cheap..." are the lyrics printed on the cover of the booklet - taken directly from the album's title track "Savage". This is where their greatness come through - channeling all that hurt into riffage, techno beats and drum whacks (dig that brilliant guitar solo that lingers like the song does). You savage...brilliant.

I hated Side 2's "I Need A Man" - something not quite right about the way it's presented - all falsely upbeat that doesn't work. And they were clearly channeling their inner Prince with the flick-guitar funky "Put The Blame On Me" which might be one of the album's hidden gems. But my heart has always been with the whispering "Heaven" - a typically soothing Synth-Pop groove that hooks you in and won't let go. And it finishes on two I wasn't too enamored with either.

 

While I have major reservations about the album being a cohesive whole - bizarrely the five bonuses add loads to this reissue and punch up a 3-star release to 4. The 'Extended Philharmonic Version' of "Beethoven" runs to 4:31 minutes as opposed to the LP cut of 4:53 minutes. The less is more approach allows this wildly different almost Frankie Goes To Hollywood version morph into (for me) a more successful song. The 'Dance Mix' of "Shame" is just extended a tad (5:38 minutes as opposed to 4:28 minutes), echoes on the vocals and more Slapstick punches and Piano solo - but again I prefer it. Same goes for the 'Macho Mix' of the "I Need A Man" 12" single rather than the LP cut - it features more Stewart Guitar flourishes, more Lennox wild vocals and whacks that beat with a vengeance (5:55 minutes as opposed to the LP cut at 4:21 minutes). 

 

They then do an acoustic duet live on "I Need You" that strips down the menace of the song to two people sparring - it draws roars of approval from the audience. Then out of the blue - we get a Previously Unreleased cover of The Beatles' 'Abbey Road' opener "Come Together" done in a 'Beethoven' type Synth-Pop. Frankly I would have dug this on the album way more than the irritating 'bored audience' version of "I Need You". 

Annie may have been too tired to think about the dirty old dishes in the dirty old kitchen sink, but spare a thought for the good 'love' on this 'I just want someone to hold' Eighties brute. "Savage" has its admirers I know and this is the temple version of it they need to attend...

"Steel Wheels" by THE ROLLING STONES – August 1989 Studio Album on Rolling Stones Records featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Chuck Leavell, Sarah Dash and Lisa Fischer, Matt Clifford, Phil Beer and more (June 2009 UK Polydor/Rolling Stones CD Reissue with Stephen Marcussen Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

 <iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B00272NH04&asins=B00272NH04&linkId=f95edc4658a23e5e4ee484b3d76cb159&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

 

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B0BZL1MX5Y&asins=B0BZL1MX5Y&linkId=af56fb38e3fc6d43bd49fe788dfb0500&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

This Review and 209 more are in my E-Book

Available on AMAZON 

LET'S GO CRAZY - 80ts Music On CD

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters

Classic Albums, Compilations, 45s

All In-Depth Reviews from the Discs Themselves

Over 1,650 e-Pages of Info

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...Go For The Throat..."

 

"Your not the only one with mixed emotions...your not the only boat on the ocean..." Jagger roared on "Mixed Emotions" and my God was that true.

 

Not having had an album since the hugely derided and absolute career low-point "Dirty Work" in March 1986 - a full three years prior - many had thought that The Glimmer Twins were finished as a functioning band. But the brand and band 'The Rolling Stones' was bigger than all of their internal squabbles.

 

So with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards having gotten their solo-album itch out of their systems/scratched ("She's The Boss" in March 1985 for MJ and "Talk Is Cheap" in October 1988 for KR) - it was time to get back to business. Besides neither of their solo efforts were noticeably 'Rolling Stones' records - where one minute into the sheer Punk attitude and wild Keith Richards/Ron Wood 'Some Girls' guitar attack of "Hold On To Your Hat" and this is undeniably the swagger they were famous for - starling and even slightly dangerous for men of their vintage.

 

For most of us diehards, August 1989's "Steel Wheels" was a return to form and along with the decade's beginner "Tattoo You" in August 1981 - the only other album where almost all of it could be considered to be Classic Stones. Well produced, the twin guitar attacks up front, actually hearing Charlie Watts whacking his kit alongside girly backing vocals upping the choruses - it felt coherent and like they were out to prove a point. Hell, even the Keith Richards illicit attraction got-a-chill-with-you moment in "Can't Be Seen" (over on Side 2) is damn good (great geetar too). Which brings us the 2009 Polydor Remasters Series - all of which come in distinctive round-corner 'Super Jewel Cases'. Let's get to the Mixed Emotions...

 

UK released June 2009 - "Steel Wheels" by THE ROLLING STONES on Rolling Stones Records / Polydor 0620527015675 (Barcode 620527015675) is a Straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster (without Bonuses) of their 1989 LP that plays out as follows (53:03 minutes):

 

1. Sad Sad Sad [Side 1]

2. Mixed Emotions

3. Terrifying

4. Hold On To Your Hat

5. Hearts For Sale

6. Blinded By Love

7. Rock And A Hard Place [Side 2]

8. Can't Be Seen

9. Almost Hear You Sigh

10. Continental Drift

11. Break The Spell

12. Slipping Away

 Tracks 1 to 12 are their 19th British Album (21st USA) "Steel Wheels" - released 28 August 1989 on Rolling Stones Records 4657521 and 29 August 1989 in the UK on Rolling Stones Records/CBS Records 45333. Produced by THE GLIMMER TWINS (Mick Jagger and Keith Richards) - it peaked at No. 2 in the UK and No. 3 in the USA.

 

THE ROLLING STONES were:

Mick Jagger (Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Piano and Harmonica), Keith Richard (Lead and Rhythm Guitar - Lead Vocals on Track 8), Ron Wood (Lead and Rhythm Guitar), Bill Wyman (Bass) and Charlie Watts (Drums)

GUESTS included:

Chuck Leavell - Piano and Organ (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 10)

Matt Clifford - Keyboards (Tracks 3, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12)

Phil Beer - Violin and Mandolin (Track 6)

The Master Magicians of Jajouka - African Instruments (Track 10)

The Kick Horns - Brass and Woodwinds (Tracks 1, 2, 7, 12)

Roddy Corimer - Trumpet (Track 3)

Luis Jardim - Percussion (Tracks 2, 6)

Sarah Dash and Lisa Fisher - Backing Vocals (Tracks 2, 7, 9, 10, 12)

Lisa Fisher only - Backing Vocals (Track 3)

Sinia Morgan and Tessa Niles - Backing Vocals (Track 10)

Bernard Fowler - Backing Vocals (Tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

 

The 'Super Jewel Case' looks nice as does the 'The Rolling Stones Remasters' Series Advert on the front, but the booklet is the same as the original release - an 8-page inlay with lyrics, musician credits and nowt else - damn shame. The big news however is a seriously muscular Remaster by STEPHEN MARCUSSEN that lifts an already well-produced album up by the bootstraps.

 

But as any fan will know who bought the CD singles in 1989 and 1990, we must mention what is NOT here. Three of those singles - "Rock And A Hard Place", "Mixed Emotions" and "Terrifying" had truly cool bluesy gems on their B-sides. 

 

"Cook Cook Blues", "Fancyman Blues" and the Howlin Wolf guitar-stylee "Wish I'd Never Met You" are wickedly good and had these been added as Bonuses (which they should have been) - I would have given this re-release five stars. I would suggest those curious for more, check out the 2005 Virgin CD compilation "Rarities 1971-2003" which has the second and third mentioned above along with other killer cuts including a corridors rehearsals/stadium live version composite of "Tumbling Dice" from the Voodoo Lounge 1995 period that is fantastic. That compilation also has the superbly Extended 12" Single Version of "Mixed Emotions" (from "Steel Wheels") done by Chris Kimsey (more muscle on the guitars, vocals, horns, piano – everything) which again could have been ace bonus material. But alas...back to the audio we do have for "Steel Wheel"...

 

This beast 'rawks' as they say in the vernacular - even the weird Middle Eastern/African Rhythms to "Continental Drift" over on Side 2 where The Stones attempt a Led Zeppelin 'No Quarter' moment of World Music meets Rock - sounds HUGE. The beauty in "Almost Hear You Sigh" is amazing - Charlie's drum whacks that open it - that lovely strummed guitar doubled with acoustic - both Chuck Leavell and Matt Clifford on complimentary keys - the five-strong chorus of voices (Richards, Woods and guests Bernard Folwer, Sarah Dash and Lisa Fischer) - the effect is huge, clear and moving.

 

The album's singles were obvious - catchy choruses in "Mixed Emotions", "Rock And A Hard Place", "Terrifying" and "Almost Hear You Say" - the most Radio-friendly Stones moments on the new album. But I love the wailing Harmonica and Guitar chug of "Break The Spell" and the beefcake 'we're back!' opener "Sad Sad Sad" - a vicious little "Exile On Main St." moment if ever there was one. And Keith returns for a second time on the album to provide the mellow finisher - "Slipping Away" - something would delight audiences on their myriad concert albums.

 

The inevitable live set followed in April 1991 "Flashpoint" - but it would not be until July 1994's "Voodoo Lounge" that any Stones fan took any real notice again. So there you have it - a 4-star album given a 5-star sound with a 3-star presentation. How very Rolling Stones!

"1999" by PRINCE - October 1982 Studio Double-Album on Warner Brothers Records featuring Members of The Revolution - 'Dez' Desmond Dickerson on Guitar, Brown Mark on Bass with 'J.J.' (Jill Jones), 'Lisa' (Lisa Coleman) and 'Vanity' (Denise Matthews) on Lead and Backing Vocals (November 2019 UK Warner Brothers/NPG '2CD Deluxe Edition' Reissue with Rarities and Bernie Grundman Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

 

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B07XPL65PQ&asins=B07XPL65PQ&linkId=d7f5627db28e73ce61e50a92f875ded6&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B0BZL1MX5Y&asins=B0BZL1MX5Y&linkId=af56fb38e3fc6d43bd49fe788dfb0500&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

This Review and 209 more are in my E-Book

Available on AMAZON 

LET'S GO CRAZY - 80ts Music On CD

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters

Classic Albums, Compilations, 45s

All In-Depth Reviews from the Discs Themselves

Over 1,650 e-Pages of Info

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...A Pocket Full Of Horses..."

"1999" was probably the true beginning of Prince's legend and for fans - the start of serious collecting mania. 

 

Composed, Arranged, Produced and Played entirely by Prince Rogers Nelson - few artists put out double-albums like this and then followed them with absolute corkers - "Purple Rain" in 1986 and "Sign O' The Times" in 1987 (another double). 

 

His fifth outing "1999" was also The Purple One's first album to break the Top 10 in his native USA. So it's year and a half long success produced five singles across various territories - each with a myriad amount of edits and those tasty 7" and 12" Promo-Only Mixes in tandem (CD2 crams 18 of them onto one disc with a fantastic 78-minute playing time).  

 

And (at last) after decades waiting for decent Remasters of his highly desirable Warner Brothers catalogue - along comes Audio Engineer El-Supremo Bernie Grundman to answer all our delirious needs (he was the Engineer on the original 2LP set in 1982 anyway). A Pocket Full Of Horses indeed. Let's get millennial...

UK released 29 November 2019 - "1999" by PRINCE on Warner Records/NPG R2 604568 - 603497850037 (Barcode 603497850037) is a '2CD Deluxe Edition' Reissue and Remaster of the October 1982 2LP set originally on Warner Brothers Records that plays out as follows:

CD1 "1999 Remastered" (70:23 minutes):

1. 1999 (6:14 minutes) [Side 1]

2. Little Red Corvette (5:04 minutes)

3. Delirious (4:05 minutes)

4. Let's Pretend We're Married (7:20 minutes) [Side 2]

5. D.M.S.R. (Dance, Music, Sex, Romance) (8:18 minutes)

6. Automatic (9:26 minutes) [Side 3]

7. Something In The Water (Does Not Compute) (4:02 minutes)

8. Free (5:07 minutes)

9. Lady Cab Driver (8:17 minutes) [Side 4]

10. All The Critics Love U In New York (5:58 minutes)

11. International Lover (6:38 minutes)

Tracks 1 to 11 are the double-album "1999" - released 27 October 1982 in the USA on Warner Brothers Records 9 23720-1 and in the UK on Warner Brothers 923 720-1. 

 

CD2 "1999 Promo Mixes & B-Sides Remastered" (77:59 minutes):

1. 1999 (7" Stereo Edit - 3:37 minutes)

2. 1999 (7" Mono Promo-Only Edit - 3:35 minutes)

3. Free (Promo-Only Edit - 4:36 minutes)

4. How Come U Don't Call Me anymore? (Non-LP B-side of "1999" single - 3:55 minutes)

5. Little Red Corvette (7" Edit - 3:08 minutes)

6. All The Critics Love U In New York (7" Edit - 3:16 minutes)

7. Lady Cab Driver (7" Edit - 5:06 minutes)

8. Little Red Corvette (Dance Remix Promo-Only Edit - 4:34 minutes)

9. Little Red Corvette (Special Dance Mix - 8:31 minutes)

10. Delirious (7" Edit - 2:39 minutes)

11. Horny Toad (Non-LP B-side to "Delirious" - 2:13 minutes)

12. Automatic (7" Edit - 3:40 minutes) 

13. Automatic (Video Version - 8:21 minutes)

14. Let's Pretend We're Married (7" Edit - 3:45 minutes)

15. Let's Pretend We're Married (7" Mono Promo-Only Edit - 3:44 minutes) 

16. Irresistible Bitch (Non-LP B-side to "Let's Pretend We're Married" - 4:13 mins)

17. Let's Pretend We're Married (Video Version - 4:03 minutes)

18. D.M.S.R. (Edit - 5:06 minutes)

The double opens with three stormers in a row that had most people disbelieving their good luck (man could he pen a hit) - "1999", "Little Red Corvette" and "Delirious" filling dancefloors and FM Radio airwaves the world over. But the gorgeous remaster will allow fans to hear deep album cuts like the lovely "Free" - a track that could easily have made single number six in edited form (the right to be free - free to change my mind). Check out those companion vocals by J.J., Lisa, Wendy and Vanity - subtle but 'so' there - and his guitar that is Rawk but in that very Prince kind of way. The Sly & The Family Stone naughtiness of "Lady Cab Driver" is the same - funky as anything - all those slap Bass notes, subtle doubled vocals, brass stabs, flicked guitars, stunning axe solos later on - what a genius arrangement too even if the orgasmic vocals by the gals is a tad over someone's top. 

 

Prince gets all Velvet Underground and old school sarcastic for "All The Critics Love U In New York" - a sinister little belter that has an incessant beat set against wild guitar soloing and lyrics that barely contain his contempt for falsehood. I'm loving the fuller sound on "International Lover" - possibly single number seven? The wall of voices and the clear piano and beats really giving it such muscle - seduction 747 with Pilot Prince at the controls. And remember as the great man advised - in case of over-excitement - use the cushions provided as a flotation device - oh behave!

I always thought the nine and half minutes of "Automatic" on Side 3 was indulgent, but the 45-single edit at 3:40 minutes finally allows to digest the groove - and I've never heard the 'Video Version' which gives full reign to the song at over eight minutes. Don't know if the 'Mono' mixes add anything other than being rare, but fans have waited so long for easy access to those Non-LP flipsides - "Irresistible..." being my fave. I'm still dipping into CD2 - so that's cool by me.

 

"...I'm going to listen to my body tonight...party like it's 1999..." 

 

I still remember the thrill of this album and the realization that a huge talent had finally caught our eyes and ears. It kills me that musical giants like David Bowie, Prince and Tom Petty are no longer with us. But there is at least this - his fantastic and varied legacy finally done proper by an Audio Engineer of serious respect. And for that, I am genuinely delirious. 

 

Onto the Super Deluxe edition bigger box and threatening letters from the bank manager...

"Watercolors" by THE WATERS - August 1980 Third US Album on Arista Records featuring Julia, Luther, Maxine and Oren Waters (August 2014 UK Big Break Records (BBR) Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster with Two Bonus Tracks) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B00KJHRFP2&asins=B00KJHRFP2&linkId=e55b546acf47c9cd4837363d07668cbd&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>
 

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B0BZL1MX5Y&asins=B0BZL1MX5Y&linkId=af56fb38e3fc6d43bd49fe788dfb0500&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

This Review and 209 more are in my E-Book

Available on AMAZON 

LET'S GO CRAZY - 80ts Music On CD

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters

Classic Albums, Compilations, 45s

All In-Depth Reviews from the Discs Themselves

Over 1,650 e-Pages of Info

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

 

"...It's Flowing Around Me..."

 

Hailing out of Los Angeles – the family of Oren, Julia, Luther and Maxine Waters (Oren is the lead) are the great unknowns of backing vocals.

 

Statistics would have you believe they've been heard by more souls on the planet than any other set of voices. How? They're the backing singers on Carole King's "Tapestry" in 1971, The Bee Gee's "Saturday Night Fever" in 1977 and Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in 1982 - to name but a famous few.

 

Before that there was sessions with Phil Spector on the most played record ever - "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" by The Righteous Brothers and onwards into the Seventies with artists as diverse as Pacific, Gas & Electric and Merry Clayton. Since then there's been Bobby Womack, Whitney Houston, Neil Diamond, Paul Simon, Patti LaBelle, Adele, Rod Stewart and even Bruce Springsteen. Which brings us to this release…and its pre-history.

 

They started their own American career in 1975 simply as WATERS – their self-titled debut on Blue Note Records BN-LA370-G. Then in 1977 went as THE WATERS for another self-titled start on Warner Brothers BS 3062. Which brings us to album-door number three - "Watercolors" with Producer David Rubinson on Arista AB-4253 in May 1980. The singing family foursome is now literally the subject of an Oscar-nominated movie - "Twenty Feet From Stardom" – hence the timely reissue on Big Break Records of the UK. Here are the details...

 

1. Dance With Me [Side 1]

2. Heart Lead The Way

3. I Can Make You Smile

4. Throw A Little Bit Of Love My Way

5. Party People [Side 2]

6. Come To Me

7. Dance The Night Away

8. Let Him Prove It

 

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Dance With Me (Single Version)

10. Heart Lead The Way (Single Version)

 

As none of their LPs had British releases, oversees fans in Blighty will dig this release. UK issued August 2014 "Watercolors" by THE WATERS on Big Break Records CDBBR 0277 (Barcode 5013929057739) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster with two Bonus Tracks (50:10 minutes).

 

Tracks 1 to 8 are the May 1980 album with two bonus cuts added on – the March 1980 single mix of "Dance With Me" (Arista AS-0493) and the promo-only May 1980 single mix of "Heart Lead The Way" (Arista AS-0517). The 12-page booklet has wonderfully detailed liner notes by NYC-based writer and music journalist Christian John Wikane and a fabulous remaster by BBR's resident tape maestro Wayne A, Dickson.

 

It's a typically mixed bag as Soul albums go – it opens with the half-hearted "Dance With Me" – a search for a Disco hit – but things improve out of all proportion with the album's true nugget – "Heart Lead The Way" – a really gorgeous falsetto vocal ballad (lyrics above). The album version stretches to 5:47 minutes and features sublime note-topping by Oren with the 3 siblings backing him to perfection (nice Bass too by Robert Russell and Sax solo by Don Myrick). Hardly surprising it was the second single off the album – although it appears to have been issued only a promo because I have never seen a stock copy. Things get all pop with "Party People" - but again their strength lies in the ballad – "Come To Me" and "Throw A Little Love My Way" being sweet examples.

 

"Watercolors" is so typical of Soul, Funk, Disco and RnB LPs of the Eighties - a good album rather than a great one bolstered up with the obvious single sides to draw in punters. But with little promotion outside of the singles by either the label or the band (The Waters were touring and working with Neil Diamond on "The Jazz Singer" in 1980, a huge record) – it tanked and is something of a unfairly forgotten artifact now.

 

But "Watercolors" has those superb ballads on it and a warm-as-a-blanket remaster. Very nice – and I urge you to see the film as soon as possible…

 

Other Big Break Records (BBR) CD Remasters I've reviewed:

 

1. Is It Still Good To Ya – ASHFORD and SIMPSON (1978)

2. Stay Free – ASHFORD and SIMPSON (1979)

3. Central Heating – HEATWAVE (1977)

4. Hot Property - HEATWAVE (1979)

5. Candles - HEATWAVE (1980)

6. Turnin' On - HIGH INERGY (1977)

7. Harvest For The World - THE ISLEY BROTHERS (1976)

8. Go For Your Guns - THE ISLEY BROTHERS (1977)

9. In The Heart – KOOL & THE GANG (1983)

10. Let Me Be Your Angel – STACY LATTISAW (1980)

11. I Hope We Get To Love On Time - MARILYN McCOO & BILLY DAVIS (1976)

12.  I Miss You - HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES (1972) [known as "Harold Melvin The Blue Notes" in the UK]

13. Black & Blue - HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES (1973)

14. Love Is The Message - MFSB (1973)

15. Universal Love – MFSB (1975)

16. All The Faces Of... - BUDDY MILES (1974)

17. For The First Time – STEPHANIE MILLS (1975)

18. I Can See Clearly Now - JOHNNY NASH (1972)

19. Back Stabbers - O'JAYS (1972)

20. Ship Ahoy - O'JAYS (1973)

21. Down To Love Town – THE ORIGINALS (1977)

22. Ebony Woman - BILLY PAUL (1970 and 1973)

23. 360 Degrees Of Billy Paul - BILLY PAUL (1972)

24. War Of The Gods - BILLY PAUL (1973)

25. Platinum Hook – PLATINUM HOOK (1978)

26. Love For What It Is - ANITA POINTER (of The Pointer Sisters) (1987)

27. Live: Stompin' At The Savoy – RUFUS and CHAKA KHAN (1983)

28. Madhouse – SILVER CONVENTION (1976)

29. Summernights – SILVER CONVENTION (1977)

30. Smoked Sugar - SMOKED SUGAR (1975)

31. Spinners – SPINNERS (1973)

32. Soul Master – EDWIN STARR (1968)

33. Involved - EDWIN STARR (1971)

34. Switch - SWITCH (1978)

35. Watercolors – THE WATERS (1980)

36. Just As I Am - BILL WITHERS (1971 Debut LP on Sussex/A&M Records)

37. Heartbeats – YARBROUGH & PEOPLES (1983)