"Labour Of Lust" by NICK LOWE – Second Studio Album from June 1979 featuring Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremner and Terry Williams (all of Rockpile) with Guests Elvis Costello, Pete Thomas (of The Attractions), Huey Lewis (of Clover and later The News) and songs by Mickey Jupp and Ian Gomm (March 2011 UK Proper 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue – Vic Anesini Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...In The Right Measure..."

Following on from his New Wave groovy debut album "Jesus Of Cool" in 1978 (called "Pure Pop For Now People" in the USA on Columbia Records) - the former Brinsley Schwarz Bassist and front man Nick Lowe and his band of Rock 'n' Roll reprobates (Rockpile) needed a follow-up - and preferably one with a big fat hit like "I Like The Sound Of Breaking Glass".

Back from a US tour where the support act foursome of Nick Lowe (Bass and Vocals), Dave Edmunds and Billy Bremner (Guitars and Vocals) and Terry Williams (Drums) regularly slaughtered the crowd for mainliners - Lowe and his ageless 32-year-old all-singing all-dancing rockers spent the next two months on the graveyard recording-shift alongside Dave Edmunds who was simultaneously putting down Swan Song's "Repeat When Necessary" LP in the same place (Eden Studio in Chiswick, West London).

An arm-twisted Nick was then directed back by Columbia's A&R executive Gregg Geller to an old 1974 Brinsley Schwarz tune called "You've Gotta Be Cruel To Be Kind". The song was recorded after the final "New Favourites..." LP sessions as the group was winding down (it first appeared on a 1988 compilation LP in Britain) and Geller felt Cruel and its incessantly catchy chorus had the chops to be a radio-friendly winner in the USA. With Rockpile in tow, Lowe recorded the shifty little brute with a yawn only to find that Geller’s A&R instinct was very much on the dollar when the song launched the "Labour Of Lust" LP – especially Stateside. 

His second studio LP came in June 1979, the Columbia 3-11018 single following in July, and helped by a quirky promo video featuring Nick and Carlene Carter’s wedding and its superb UK-LP-only B-side "Endless Grey Ribbon" enticing American collectors, the "Cruel To Be Kind" single and video combined to push sales on the chipper album - eventually seeing it climb to a very healthy No. 12 LP spot in America (no mean feat in those days). Released in his native Blighty in September 1979, the Radar ADA 43 single did the same, ramming the well-received Radar LP up the charts – also to a No. 12 high.

As Geller's liner notes wittily imply on Page 9 of the booklet - Nick's been singing Cruel To Be Kind (in the right measure) ever since. Which brings us to this hugely likeable reissue – details first…

UK released 15 March 2011 - "Labour Of Lust" by NICK LOWE on Proper Records PRPCD077 (Barcode 805520030779) is an ‘Expanded Edition’ CD Reissue and Remaster with One Bonus Track. It will allow fans to sequence both the UK and US LP configurations and plays out as follows (39:03 minutes):

1. Cruel To Be Kind

2. Cracking Up

3. Big Kick, Plain Scrap

4. American Squirm

5. Born Fighter

6. You Make Me

7. Skin Deep

8. Switchboard Susan

9. Endless Grey Ribbon

10. Without Love

11. Dose Of You

12. Love So Fine

BONUS TRACK:

13. Basing Street

Released June 1979 in the UK on Radar Records RAD 21 and also June 1979 in the USA on Columbia Records JC 36087 - the UK and US LPs both had eleven tracks each but with different configurations. The British variant had "Endless Grey Ribbon" as an exclusive (Track 2 on Side 2) whilst the US LP had that song replaced with "American Squirm" as their exclusive cut (Track 4, Side 1). All songs written by Nick Lowe, except "Cruel To Be Kind" which was a co-write with Ian Gomm, "Switchboard Susan" by Mickey Jupp (credited as "Switch Board Susan" in the USA) and "Love So Fine" which is credited to the four in Rockpile – Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremner and Terry Williams.

To sequence the UK LP from this CD use the following tracks:

Side 1: Tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7

Side 2: Tracks 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12

To sequence the US LP use:

Side 1: Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7

Side 2: Tracks 8, 11, 10, 5 and 12

The three SINGLES around the album were:

UK - "American Squirm" b/w "What's So Funny 'bout (Peace, Love And Understanding)"

October 1978 on Radar Records ADA 26

The B-side is an Elvis Costello song credited to Nick Lowe and His Sound, but it's actually Elvis Costello and The Attractions and is unfortunately not on this CD. "American Squirm" wasn't released as a 45 in the USA - is on the US LP only.

UK - "Cracking Up" b/w "Basing Street"

June 1979 on Radar Records ADA 34 - B-side was non-album and is the 'bonus track' on this CD

US - "Switch Board Susan" b/w "Basing Street"

October 1979 on Columbia 1-11131 - "Switchboard Susan" was the A-side in the USA instead of "Cracking Up"

UK - "Cruel To Be Kind" b/w "Endless Grey Ribbon"

September 1979 on Radar Records ADA 43

June 1979 USA on Columbia 3-11018 with same songs

US fans would not have had the B-side as it only appeared on the UK LP

You get a gatefold card-sleeve; the Barney Bubbles cover artwork on a picture CD, a 12-Page booklet with new liner notes from Canvey Island/Pub Rock aficionado WILL BIRCH with added notes from Columbia's then A&R guy GREGG GELLER. In-between are repro photos of very cool period memorabilia like the 'I Made An AMERICAN SQUIRM' button, the Survival Kit promo pack, Radar Records track promo trinkets, the "Cruel To Be Kind" UK 7" picture sleeve, a billboard add for the album, US tour shots, unreleased proof artwork for Barney Bubbles sleeves and loads more. The read is witty, informative and more than tinged with the huge affection Lowe, Rockpile and the album are remembered with. Tasty.

But best of all is a Remaster by Columbia Records Audio Engineer supremo VIC ANESINI - a man who has twiddled the knobs on The Byrds, Nilsson, Santana, Elvis Presley, The Jayhawks, Stevie Ray Vaughan and oodles more. I mention this because the album was always a low-fi audio affair to me and in truth it generally remains that way. But Anesini has done a clean transfer and the oomph the tracks so desperately needed is in evidence - even if it isn't as much as you would have hoped for (Anesini also did the "Jesus Of Cool" album reissue for Proper Records).

Co-written with fellow Pub Rocker Ian Gomm, the album opens on the knock me back down winner that is "Cruel To Be Kind" and Terry Williams' drum kit is suddenly Everly Brothers clear as the band kicks in. When asked to contribute to a tune to the "Labour Of Love: The Music Of Nick Lowe" 2001 CD compilation, none other than the sorely missed Tom Petty and his Heartbreakers did "Cracking Up" – and from the I don’t think its funny anymore lyrics – you can so hear why. I love the Dave Edmunds doubled-vocals on the chorus. And again the Bass and Drums of the drugs song "Big Kick, Plain Scrap" is indeed kicking and not monkeying around (great remaster, even on the flanged vocals). Edmunds again adds so much to "Born Fighter" on the vocal and guitar front, as does Huey Lewis (of The News) on loan from Clover giving it some mean Harmonica.

The US album had "American Squirm" slotted in on Side 1 and it must have felt weird (or thrilling) to have a Brit say "I made an American squirm and it felt so right…” The song also featured Elvis Costello on Vocals and Pete Thomas of The Attractions on Drums. A sort of dry run for "Basing Street", the almost hurting quiet in "You Make Me" features Nick strumming a barely perceptible acoustic – love making our hero weak and confused (a good excuse really). Things go back to beat city with the catchy-as-a-cold "Skin Deep" where Nick is belly to belly but unfortunately not eye to eye (love that guitar work from Edmunds, subtle and effective). Other cool ones come in the shape of the Rockabilly swinging "Without Love" (all by himself in the heartbreak sea) and the final slice of Rockpile chugging in "Love So Fine" – a track I always felt would have been a far better single than "American Squirm". And I must rant and rave about the B-side "Basing Street" – a bare bones acoustic tale of ugly inner London misery that used to slay me every time I flipped the single. I played this sucker to death, the half spoken lyrics, the sort of Johnny Cash unplugged feel, the tale of a cut homeless 17 year old, something about its eerie loneliness used to affect me and to hear it now so clean and clear is frankly even a little jarring.

"Each time I see her, I can't wait to see her again…" – Nick Lowe sang on the lyrically clever "Love So Fine". I suspect so many of us have felt the same about his first two albums and this Remaster only hammers home our initial faith. A gentleman and a scholar and that's just the left leg. Fab stuff and then some…

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

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

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

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

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

Disc One (78:04 minutes):

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Disc Two (79:05 minutes):

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Disc Three (78:56 minutes):

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Engine 54" by THE ETHIOPIANS – Debut Album from 1968 on WIRL Records (West Indies Records Ltd) in Jamaica and Doctor Bird Records in the UK – features Leonard 'Sparrow' Dillon, Stephen Taylor and Aston Morris with Guests Albert Griffiths, Tommy McCook’s Supersonics, DJ Forsyth and more (May 2019 UK Doctor Bird 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue with 17 Bonus Tracks – Andy Pearce Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Train To Skaville..."

Like most Reggae and Ska fans I've been drooling and hippity-hoppity spooling to the steady stream of CD reissues provided by Doctor Bird Records (a subsidiary label of Cherry Red UK) in these last few years. And I've duly slavered over a good few by now.

But this wee jam-packed reissue beastie sporting the famous steam engine 'Engine 54' on its cover (preserved at the time by the island's Jamaican Railway Society) has to be the one that elicits just that little bit more Reggae In My Jeggae (if you know what I mean mama). Resplendent on a single mid-priced CD with a whopping 17 Bonus Tracks including many rare Rio, Crab, Doctor Bird and Trojan UK single sides new to digital - it's also mastered by one of my fave Audio heroes – Andy Pearce.

There's a steam load (oh dear) of detail to plough through, so once more my oily-rag friends of the Ska persuasion, and all aboard that glory Train To Skaville...

UK released 17 May 2019 - "Engine 54" by THE ETHIOPIANS on Doctor Bird DBCD-035 (Barcode 5013929273535) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster of a rare 1968 Jamaican Ska LP with 17 period Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (73:49 minutes):

1. Engine 54 [Side 1]

2. My Love

3. You Got The Dough

4. Train To Skaville

5. Give Me Your Love

6. Train To Glory [Side 2]

7. Long Time Now

8. Woman's World

9. Unchanged Love

10. Come On Now

Tracks 1 to 10 are their debut album "Engine 54" – released 1968 in Jamaica on WIRL Records WL 1053 and in the UK on Doctor Bird DLM 5011 (both issues Stereo). The Jamaican issue credits the title of the LP and the lead song as "Engine ‘54" on the label while the British pressed LP loses the apostrophe.

BONUS TRACKS:

11. You Are The Girl (August 1967 UK 7" single on Rio R 130, B-side of "Train To Skaville", Lead Vocals by Albert Griffiths)

12. I Need You (1967 UK 7" single on Doctor Bird DB 1092, A-side)

13. Do It Sweet (1967 UK 7" single on Doctor Bird DB 1092, B-side)

14. The Whip (1967 UK 7" single on Doctor Bird DB 1096, A-side)

15. Cool It Amigo (1967 UK 7" single on Doctor Bird DB 1096, B-side)

16. Stay Loose, Mama (1968 UK 7" single on Doctor Bird DB 1103, A-side)

17. The World Goes Ska (1968 UK 7" single on Doctor Bird DB 1103, B-side)

18. She-Boom (1968 UK 7" single on Doctor Bird DB 1141, B-side of "Come On Now" last track on the LP)

19. I'm Shocking (October 2011 UK 7" single on Trojan THB-7012, A-side)

20. Sign The Cheque (October 2011 UK 7" single on Trojan THB-7012, B-side)

21. You Didn't Answer (first appeared on the August 2011 5CD Box Set "The Story Of Trojan Records" on Trojan 2775354, Disc 2)

22. In The Park (first appeared on the 1973 UK LP compilation "Reggae Steady Go" on Rhino SRNN 7001)

23. Fire A Mus Mus Tail (1968 UK 7" on Crab Records CRAB 2, A-side)

24. Reggae Hit The Town (1968 UK 7" on Crab Records CRAB 4, A-side)

25. I'm A King (1969 UK 7"  on Crab Records CRAB 7, A-side)

26. What A Big Surprise (1969 UK 7" on Crab Records CRAB 7, B-side)

27. Ding Dong Bell (1968 UK 7" on Crab Records CRAB 4, B-side – A is Track 24)

NOTE: Tracks 23, 24, 25 26 and 27 originally credited to THE EARTHOPIANS, all others as ETHIOPIANS

The 12-page booklet with liner notes from LAURENCE CANE-HONEYSETT features a plethora of rare sights - the original British LP's label on both sides - a wall of nine rare Crab, Doctor Bird and Rio UK 45s with two rare foreign issues that actually afforded "Train To Skaville" picture sleeves of sorts. The album's rear sleeve artwork is on the back page, a photo of the three boys smiling as they give it some train-in-motion movement. But perhaps most amazing of all is the original tape reel box to eight of the album's cuts - not something you or I are going to find in a thrift shop any day soon. And typical of how good Laurence is, he’s spoken to and referenced Sylvia Dillon -

And the Audio is of course a mixed bag given the original recordings, but Audio Hero ANDY PEARCE has done the LP and single-sides proud - such an enjoyable listen and such bloody good fun. As "Engine 54" comes beep-beeping in during the songs fade in, you’ll be shocked at how clear it is and "Train To Skaville" just leaves me breathless – those brass jabs of Tommy McCook and his Supersonics now given that wee bit of oomph without too much distortion getting the better of it. So cool…

The two boys hanging out the famous locomotive (and still running at the time) are Leonard 'Sparrow' Dillon and Stephen Taylor - the third member of the original line-up Guitarist Aston Morris having left The Ethiopians at the close of 1966 to strike out on a solo career. The group's name reflected their Rastafarian beliefs, one of the first Jamaican acts to openly espouse their faith. After the Jamaican and British success of the "Train To Skaville" 1967 single – Number 1 in Jamaica and after entering the UK Pop charts in September 1968, breaking down barriers everywhere by going up to Number 40 – Aston Morris rejoined with Dillon and recorded a large swath of classic sides throughout 1968 – all of which are in the 17 Bonus cuts.

All of the ten tracks on this glorious but notoriously rare LP are credited to Lawrence Dillon except the lovely Fifties Vocal Group feel to the love song "My Love" which was penned by Michael Edgehill (aka Mickey Melody).

SINGLES:

As was the custom of the time, six of the album cuts were single-sides with four being new to the rare LP. The four UK singles in release date order were:

1. "Train To Skaville" b/w "You Are The Girl" issued as Rio Records R 130 in August 1967 (the B-side is Track 11 on this CD and wasn't on the original LP)

2. "Come On Now" b/w "She Boom" issued as Doctor Bird DB 1141 in 1968 (the B-side is Track 18 on this CD and wasn't on the original LP - it's a Reggae version of "Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream)" made famous by The Crew Cuts in 1958)

3. "Engine 54" b/w "Give Me Your Love" issued as Doctor Bird DB 1147 in the UK in 1968

4. "Train To Glory" b/w "You Got The Dough" issued as Doctor Bird DB 1148 in the UK in 1968

The October 2011 issue of the two Leonard Dillon compositions "I'm Shocking" and "Sign The Cheque" on a Trojan UK 45 was a limited edition of 500 copies and their inclusion here is the first time they've been made available on CD (as far as I know). Speaking of shocking, you could argue that the seventeen bonus tracks are exactly that - a bonus double-album's worth of Ska goodies in the same ilk as the wicked original 1968 LP. 

"…Get on board, you don’t need no baggage, this train is bound to glory…" - the gay-feet boys sang on "Train To Glory". Well bind yourself to this one folks, because Skaville has never been nor sounded so enticing. Fab...