Sparks - Hello Young Lovers (2022 Remaster) (Pause Rewind Play)

 

This weekend's debut of Pause Rewind Replay has been really enjoyable. We must return to it again some time. The reaction has been amazing, but I Don't Hear A Single is about new albums and artists and its back to the day job tomorrow. Maybe on another Bank Holiday Weekend?

So to close, a return to my beloved Sparks, probably the band closest to my heart over the past five decades. From being 11 to now hitting 60, they have never let me down, well perhaps once with Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat.

This 2006 release was their 20th studio album and their best selling since the 70s. Amazing because Hello Young Lovers is nothing like a lot of their heyday material. Where as now, the Mael Brothers are much closer to those Island Years, here was the continuation of the direction heralded by Lil' Beethoven.

Symphonic at times, minimal at others, orchestral and based on the repetition of multi tracked vocals. Melodic, yet more hypnotic, there is one exception. That is the splendid Waterproof, a song that would sit happily on Indiscreet.

There were more drums and guitar utilised, but not too much. This was never more so on Dick Around which is a song that everyone who listens to gets hooked on. A song that gets mentioned by newcomers as much as This Town Ain't Big Enough. It is a revelation with its Heavy Metal Guitar breakout.

The fondness for Dick Around is probably helped by the fan base which more so than any act of a similar vintage has brought along not one younger generation, but two and the youngest look to the more recent stuff than those Island classics.

Perfume is a strum along that borders on Lounge, Rock Rock Rock is nothing like Rock, it is more classical in soundscape. There's No Such Thing As Aliens is like an expanded Victorian Parlour tune. The Very Next Fight has an overtone of impending doom, madness maybe.

Included as a Bonus Track is the cover of We Are The Clash. Originally on an Uncut Magazine Cover CD of Clash covers, it is absolutely inspired. You can tell what the song is, but it is totally Sparks, nothing like the original as I wish more covers were on the endless compilations.

Also included is a version of (Baby Baby) Can I Invade Your Country? with alternate lyrics. Hello Young Lovers proves that there is nothing wrong with repetition if it is relevant and you know what you are doing. Sparks have a new album out in May. You won't necessarily know the direction of travel, but you do know it will be wonderful.

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Various - Teenage Glampage : Can The Glam 2 (4CD) (Pause Rewind Play)

 

Following on from Cherry Red imprint 7Ts original set which was both critically lauded and commercially successful original set comes a second volume. Again beautifully presented, the cover description covers what is here succinctly. 

There are lots of Glam Rock compilations that have been released that cover the hits, but this is far more interesting. There are some real surprises, but as stated, there are some shockers and some that could in no way be described as Glam.

There are some stonewall classics, Mott The Hoople's wonderful Roll Away The Stone, my favourite Sweet single, Teenage Rampage, Wizzard's 7 Inch debut, Ball Park Incident and The Glitter Band's Tell Him are forever Top Notch.

Then there are songs from artists that you will know but be unfamiliar with this particular song. All are enjoyable and feature Mungo Jerry, John Paul Young, Kenny, Hello, Suzi Quatro etc. There are also bands that are not and never will be Glam such as Geordie and Angel.

It is nice to be reminded of such as Hector, Buster and in particular, Bilbo Baggins. There are bands that you wonder how the hell they ever sold anything. I mean Child's mediocre tosh was released at the height of Punk and New Wave. I would also be delighted if I never heard anything again from The Barron Knights and especially the dreadful ITV band, Flintlock.

But it is the more obscure and surprises that are most intriguing. I had no idea that The Sorrows Ex Lead Singer, Don Fardon, had released a 1974 cover of Geordie's Don't Do That or Spark's Trevor White's solo single, Crazy Kids. A similar surprise to me was The Easybeat's Stevie Wright singing the Vanda and Young written Hard Road. 

There's also Tiswas's Sally James and Max Bygraves son, Anthony present. This isn't a compilation for the casual listener who wants to sing along to See My Baby Jive. It is for the true music fan who wants to discover songs from the era that they would never have come across and be delighted that they did.

Over the 4 discs, there is a surprising lack of filler and masses of pleasant surprises. Cherry Red have become really good at this type of compilation and in a ;ot of ways they are a musical education. Too many compilations are about licensing deals, Can The Glam 2 has obviously put the work in and the results are ace.

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Arrows - The Complete Collection (2CD) (Pause Rewind Play)

 

Arrows were a Trio signed to Mickie Most's Rak label, home of Mud and Suzi Quatro. New Yorkers Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker joined Englishman Paul Varley and in 1974 their recording career began. Alan Merrill had already had a decent recording career in Japan, having moved there when his mother remarried. He released two solo albums, had a stint in Godzilla and then an album with Vodka Collins in 1973 called Tokyo - New York.

In 1974, Hooker persuaded Merrill to fly to London from Tokyo and paid his air fare. The band were signed to RAK and the hunt for singles began. Very much like Sweet's singles career with RCA, their five singles featured outside writers for the A Sides with the band handling the B Sides. It all started so well with Chinn and Chapman writing the debut, the splendid Touch Too Much which was a hit. That was followed by another Chinnichap song Toughen Up which failed to light up the charts.

The B Sides to both songs were impressive, We Can Make It Together has a great chorus and a splendid Jangle, Diesel Locomotive Dancer is a great slice of Glam Rock. 1975 brought three more singles with A Sides written by Roger Ferris, The first, My Last Night With You made the Top 30 but all three songs were more suited to Brotherhood Of Man. Again the band B Sides were far superior revealing a more earthy Blues Rock not a million miles away from Bad Company.

Why the mediocre Broken Down Heart was an A Side when the label had I Love Rock n Roll was put on the B Side, I know not. The mistake was realised and the single flipped, but it was all too late. Both Joan Jett and Britney Spears proved how big a mistake that was. Also included in the set are three tracks from Mickie Most Sessions in 1974. Wake Up is akin to what John Miles would gain success with whilst Bam Bam Boomerang added Cozy Powell as a second drummer for a great Bubblegum affair that would have made a great TV Theme,

The band were signed up by Granada TV for a TV Series in the Bay City Rollers slot that would go on to feature the Bolan TV Series. The show had two series with 29 episodes in all. This coincided with the band's only album, First Hit. Produced by Phil Coulter with four songs written by Coulter and his writing partner, Bill Martin, the album was a real mish mash of an affair. Martin and Coulter's four songs tried to turn the band into The Walker Brothers and some additions that were obviously aimed at the Teen market. But there are self written songs that are ace. First Hit, Don't Worry 'Bout Love and Feelin' This Way are great Bluesy songs, again in the Bad Company mode.

The second series of the show featured a spoof Eurovision segment when the band would play unreleased songs recorded in Granada's Four Track Studio. I can attest to the frustration of how Granada TV treated its archive, so much was taped over or discarded. In 2004, Alan Merrill went into London's Stone Room Studios to faithfully record five of those songs. Phil Hendriks who was part of those sessions writes detailed cover notes in the accompanying booklet. These recordings underline how Arrows should have been left to their own devices than use poorer material from outside writers.

Alan Merrill went on to form Runner and play with both Rick Derringer and Meatloaf in the 80s, before embarking on an underrated solo career. Paul Varley went on to form Darling and Jake Hooker went on to marry Judy Garland's daughter, Lorna Luft and manage her career. Sadly all three are no longer with us. During my Anything Should Happen days, Alan Merrill discovered the Blog and contacted me irregularly. We rarely talked about his own recordings, he wanted to talk about the music on ASH and those conversations were ace, he was a real music fan.

Arrows story is a chastening one. A band on a successful Singles label that were given the wrong songs when their own were better. The mismanagement of I Love Rock n Roll that should have been a monster band single. 29 episodes of a prime time kids Music show without a single being released. The guests alone on that series meant the audience figures would be high. A band that sadly never made it, yet deserved to. It is an all too familiar story.

You can buy the album here.

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Miller Anderson - Bright City Remastered Edition (Pause Rewind Play)

 

I first came across Miller Anderson in the Ian Hunter fanaticism that I had in the 70s. Hunter mentioned him in an interview and I went on to investigate learning that he had been in both The Scenery and At Last The 1958 Rock And Roll Show. That friendship lives on to this day with Hunter recommending him for both Blood Sweat And Tears and Mountain.

Anderson played on two of Hunter's solo albums and had a reference on the song, All American Alien Boy, But he is most noted elsewhere, particularly as Vocalist and Guitarist in the Keef Hartley Band, which included an appearance at Woodstock, as well as being the Guitarist on the T Rex Dandy In The Underworld album.

It was the Hunter connection, that led me to buying this and the follow up album under the name Hemlock and what a revelation Bright City was. For someone noted as a Blues Rocker, there is such a variation across the seven original tracks. The opening, Alice Mercy (To Whom It Will Concern) is seven minutes of excellence. 

The song takes in Blues Rock, Folk and Prog and features a great Guitar v Organ battle. The title track is half the length and features a wonderful arrangement, beautifully and gently sung, akin to a West Coast 60s Ballad, a little Glen Campbell at times. Grey Broken Morning is another big arrangement, Bacharach at times, all Piano, Brass and Orchestral. 

High Tide High Water shows how different the default template was for Anderson, a belt it out Blues Rock vocal akin to Chris Farlowe. Nothing Is This World mirrors the Funky feel that Classic Rock was to endorse later in the 70s and The Age Of Progress adds Female Vocals to a song in Joe Cocker territory. A gentle verse leads into a blasting chorus.

The absolute gem is the magnificent original closer. Shadows 'Cross My Mind which is splendid Prog with Psych overtones. it is a monster of a song across its six minutes. Another Time Another Place is added which was the B Side to the Bright City 1971 single. Esoteric have doubled the length of the original album by adding two BBC Sessions recorded on the same day in September 1971.

The first four songs were a session for Sounds Of The Seventies Radio Show and includes a version of On A Ship To Nowhere that was to appear on the 1973 Hemlock album. The second four were for a John Peel In Concert. Lovingly Remastered with the bonus of the BBC Sessions, Bright City sounds as great as it did when I first bought the LP. Proff that there was far more to Miller Anderson than being a sideman. 

You can buy the album here.

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