Now That's What I Call USA: 80's

We did mention on here a few months back Now 80's Alternative, a themed compilation those extremely busy Now people put out whose more condensed version on two lps was more usable and they've done something similar here with a set themed around 80's American hits.

Issued on August 11th this takes a broad stab at the American charts in the 80's and in the early to mid 80's I did follow them, something that did show up in the individual albums I bought then and actually last Monday Dad did find an old school exercise book with chart information and clippings from publications.

The set is not perfect, for instance we really don't need Duran Duran's The Reflex (remix) even though this was a US no.1 as it was too in the UK and has a place in Now 3 where something like Talk Talk's It's My Life or Def Leppard's Photograph big US hits that did little in the UK do fit better.

Syncronicity II also would of been a better choice than Every Breath You take being a big hit over there for a Police track but over all it does work adding often missed off tracks by Corey Hart. Bruce Springsteen, Belinda Carlisle and The Fixx that I loved.

For reasons best know to themselves each disc has a seperate colour -blue, white and red- and isn't a gatefold but I'd forgive that given the low budget folded card cover of the four cd version as this looks more something you'd be proud to own.

LP 1

Side A

Bruce Springsteen – Hungry Heart

John Mellencamp – Jack & Diane

The Police – Every Breath You Take

Pat Benatar – Love Is A Battlefield

Kim Carnes – Bette Davis Eyes

Daryl Hall & John Oates – You Make My Dreams (Come True)

Rick Springfield – Jessie’s Girl

REO Speedwagon – Keep On Loving You

Side B

Diana Ross – Upside Down

Lipps Inc. – Funkytown

Company B - Fascinated

Michael Sembello – Maniac

Aretha Franklin – Freeway Of Love

The S.O.S Band – Take Your Time (Do It Right)

Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters

LP 2

Side A

Steve Miller Band – Abracadabra

Yes - Owner Of A Lonely Heart

Duran Duran - The Reflex

A Flock Of Seagulls – I Ran (So Far Away)

Corey Hart – Sunglasses At Night

Peter Schilling – Major Tom (Coming Home)

Nena – 99 Luftballons

Side B

Kenny Loggins – Danger Zone (From “Top Gun” Original Soundtrack)

Christopher Cross - Ride Like The Wind

The J. Geils Band – Centerfold

Night Ranger – Sister Christian

Journey – Open Arms

Richard Marx – Endless Summer Nights

Foreigner - Waiting For A Girl Like You

LP 3

Side A

Blondie – Call Me (Theme From “American Gigolo”)

R.E.M. – Stand

The Fixx – One Thing Leads To Another

Pretenders - Show Me

Belinda Carlisle – Mad About You

The Bangles – Walk Like An Egyptian

Culture Club – I’ll Tumble 4 Ya

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat

Side B

Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson – Say Say Say

Olivia Newton-John – Physical

Tina Turner - What’s Love Got to Do With It

Juice Newton – Angel Of The Morning

Whitney Houston – You Give Good Love

Jennifer Holliday – And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going

Neil Diamond – America (From “The Jazz Singer” Soundtrack)

This set can be filed next to that other 80's set filling by theme some missing material given I didn't get and had in any event limited use for the 1983-86 volumes of the Now Yearbook series.

Travelling back through sound

Way back at the start of the original blog we did talk about about interests and hobbies because that was where cthekissfan started up on Friends Reunited and the Tammy concept on blogger started.

It was about sharing something outside of what schools I went to and the short details of what happened after that which that site was all about and I might add missed cos it was a simple concept.

Thus it wasn't so surprising one of early posts was about my favourite Beatles album cos music connects to many experiences.

One is memories and that is where this post comes in because the people behind the Now That's What I Call Music concept have moved to doing some year specific megaboxes from the years I was in school or other learning environments.

This is handy because back then the compilations we bought were by KTel and Ronco, tended to not very good quality and it wasn't until the end of 1983 the first NOW album came out.

In 1982 I know exactly what I was doing and more to the point any number of the songs featured will connect to what I was doing with my school friends as I did my Economics and History lessons.

It was an "landmark" year for me, one that major events took place in the life of this country and the popular music of that year is anything but forgettable

This volume gathers up 84 major hits by the major acts in just one year which is I have to say better than those early decade wide "100 hits" boxes for having a clear focus.

It takes in tv connected hits such as Star Maker from the TV series Fame as kids we all watched and A Little Peace from that years Eurovision plus a very wide selection genre wise of that years hits.

A great replacement for those old lps I and my friends had as there is near enough five lps worth.

Around a month later a supplementary volume "Extra" was issued that over three cds offered another 62 tracks from that year.

It wasn't just minor hits but some major ones such as XTC's Senses Working Overtime, Captain Sensible's Happy Talk and Haircut 100's Nobody's Fool apart from Hi-Fidelity from the tv show "The Kids From Fame" and the cover of What by Soft Cell.

That pushed the number of lp equivalents up to about eight making for a really comprehensive selection of music from that year.

This one is in some ways a bit less essential because the original 1983 NOW which was mainly a best of year album was reissued on cd as was early 1984's NOW 2 which took in the last couple of months songs.

1983 saw me navigating leaving school with some amazingly bad careers advice and trying to find my way through to being post school leaver, trying to sort a career out.

The real plus for this set is more the songs by artists on the then CBS and WEA groups which were not included in Now and Now 2 as they were to set up a rival series in 1984.

It is a great reminder of just how many great songs were out there from teen sensations like Wham and Kajagoogoo to respected old timers such as Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, Robert Plant and Joan Armatrading.

They decided to issue a second special edition with another sixty songs from 1983 across three discs which took in such hits as Manic from the Flashdance soundtrack that I wore the chrome tape out of and Snot Rap as featured on the Kenny Everett show on BBC1.

1984 was the Year of the Pig as the Now series marched on from strength to strength making three double lps all of which have been reissued on cd with the odd track missing in a year that saw soul music start to change and rap influences come into play on songs such as I Feel For You.

The Hits people who managed the CBS and WEA groups gave us two compilations that covered this period and no they're not on cd so while we have more or less the NOW sets, this is good for the missing stuff by ZZ Top, Miami Sound Machine and the Eurythmics who being on RCA didn't feature on the Now albums regularly.

Band Aid's highly memorable very much in the news Do They Know It's Christmas closes the main set.

There was a Extra three cd set with another 60 hits included too which helps fill those gaps with gems like Nellie The Elephant, Hole In My Shoe by Neil from the comedy show The Young Ones I liked during this era and Everything Must Change.

It was very much the era of daytime Radio One listening with characters like Steve Wrights Mr Angry who'd feature between the music that many of lapped up.

Liverpool's controversial Frankie Goes To Hollywood were the break out musical act and all three singles are featured in the sets.

The sets achieve the goal of taking you back in that time and are likely to be added to in time with the 1980 and 1981 sets being ones I'd look forward to.

The Pleasure Principal - vinyl collection restoration

One thing I went through during the nineteen nineties was format standardization usually across whole artists as I bought things on tape for quite a period and lp record before that so albums in no particular order were across them

The downside of that is some special albums went in forms I did love and this did include what I regard as Janet Jackson's two most consistently good albums that matched personal expression with musical experimentation.

 Released in April 1986 Control was her breakout album after two very so-so albums issued while being a child actor and Control is the key word in this as it was her adult statement of independence exploring issues and linking up with Jam and Lewis produce who through their production company FlyteTime to the signature Minneapolis funk sound popularized by Prince to new heights.

This featured four singles Nasty, What Have You Do For Me lately, When I Think of You and Let's Wait Awhile who wold very well.
This copy is a mint first UK copy.

Her follow up, issued as the buzz around brother Michael's Bad album dropped in late 1989 took the same team but instead invited people to look at the world around them such as disadvantaged children, under educated and excluded young adults, the drugs issue touched on memorably by Mrs Reagan in the Just say No campaign and also encourage positivism, the belief things can be turned around.

 This had a number of hits across 1989 and 1990  with Miss You Much, Escapade, Black Cat that featured heavy metal guitar solo, Alright and Lonely.
I own a seven version cd of Black cat.

One issue with the original vinyl issue I had was that - it was a single disc for just over an hours worth of dense loud music  so some songs were trimmed and it had be cut at low volume meaning it could and did sound noisy on replay.

There was only a half inch gap between the end of last song and the start of the paper label making the end  tracks sound poorer than normal.

In that era the lp was something issued as an after though with majority sales on tape and cd where such issues simply don't exist.

In July of this year this album was reissued on vinyl as a double rectifying that failure using heavy 180 gram vinyl and that version is now restored to my collection.

Billy Joel, the piano man part IV

Like me we're going on back this week in time to 1981, when I was still in high school a little older but feeling still 12 to when I first heard this album.

I was just starting to come out a fog following the death from a sudden illness of a very close school friend who also really interested in music so among the many memorable release of that year, this one comes to mind.

Coming after the new wave inspired Glass Houses album, this was a live album of songs some of which were on his first two albums and a few others not previously recorded. 

Lesser artists might of called this "Greatest Hits Live" but Billy being Billy gave it a proper and meaningful title "Songs in the attic" because it comprised of songs he thought the original recordings didn't do justice to such as Captain Jack or had literally been in his attic untouched and unrecorded.

Unlike the majority of live albums too, this yielded two top 40 hits "Say Goodbye To Hollywood" and "She's Got A Way" aided by the fact Billy had a great great live band backing him and his piano playing being caught well by the recording equipment, something this disc re-issue (on vinyl and regular cd with super audio cd layer for suitable players) really does justice too.

The specialty record  company Mobile Fidelity have recent reissued it as part of their program of very high quality reissues licensed from Sony Music of his back catalogue.

As at the time I only had the European cassette to have an excellent cd version packaged like a lp couldn't be nicer and a pleasant reminder of those days gone by.

Gordon the Gopher

The other week I was tidying one of my shelves and a white pile of dust landed on my head and with it was this:

He used to appear on Going Live and Children's BBC with Philip Schofield and his significance to me was I bought him as a hand puppet in Elvaston Country Park, Derbyshire in the English East Midlands together with some other outfits.

I was with with my family and I came skipping across the fields  jumping up and down with Gordon all excited in this public place with lots and lots of grown ups! 

Can you believe it!!! I even carried him back all the way on the bus cos I couldn't bear to be removed from him and oddly enough nobody said anything.

I think this would of been the first  time I'd acted as an adult little boy publicly although at the time I don't know it!

The Kajagoogoo story

This posts history dates from a threat to launch a thread at a forum if the members didn't behave themselves around Kajagoogoo and was originally posted in a different forum at a forum I belong to.
If I'd of written it as a regular post here it sure would of been different!!!

The story begins in a sleepy backdrop called Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England where Nick Beggs (bass), Steve Askew (Lead), Stuart Croxford Neale (Keyboards) and Jeremy (Jez) Strode (Drums) get together in 1979 and form Art Nouveau releasing the single 'The Fear Machine'. It sells a few hundred copies, gets airplay on the late John Peels BBC Radio One show but the band fails to gain a commercial contract.

By 1981 they were looking for a lead singer and after several auditions get Christopher Hamill who I think came from Lancashire whose stage name was.... wait for it Limahl which is an anagram of his surname.

Limahl had connections and managed to get the ear of Nick Rhodes (of mega stars Duran Duran) in a place he did some non musical work which resulted in Nick coming to see them play at The Embassy Club, London.

This resulted in them being signed by Duran's label EMI in July of 1982 and getting Nick together with their then produce Colin Thurston to do some work in the studio.

Between this they had a place on the Birmingham based Fashion (remember San Solo anyone?) groups tour.
The rest is history.

 Kajagoogogoo on video:
Originally there was a video EP issued in 1983 back when videos were dear containing Too Shy, Ooh To Be Ah and Big Apple which sadly never was issued as a single in the States (the rotters ! 😡 available on VHS and Billy Betamax.

The good news is those performances are available on DVD on a CD/DVD set entitled 'Too Shy-The best of Kajagoogoo and Limahl that came out in 2009.

That has the first 6 UK singles the solo Limahl singles of that era ('83/4) plus Space Cadet the single from the newly reformed band with all five members.

Said disc sells for about $8 CDN on Amazon in the UK so you've no excuses for having these videos in pristine condition.

 "Tongue tied or short of breathe" and more!

Having gotten the contract with EMI the band were left to demo material they had written including some Art Nouveau stuff in what was the then EMI facility at Manchester Square, London.

It was around the summer of '82 that in rehearsal studio the potential of Too Shy as an initial single was spotted. UK based but American born music media commentator and presenter Paul Gambaccini said "I think that's got something, guys".

It went through three re-writes with even the middle section changed in the studio on the day it was recorded before it was mixed. Paul featured this on his TV special looking at upcoming acts and to this day maintains a friendship with Limahl.

Too Shy was released in the UK January 22 of 1983 (EMI (12) 5359) backed with Too Shy (Instrumental mix) on both 7 and 12" singles with the 12" having the Midnight Mix as the top side. This climbed to the top of the charts and soon the band were plastered all over the magazines of the day such as No1 and Smash Hits that my friends and I all bought.

Following success in Japan - go on start singing 'Big In Japan' 😁 - EMI America decided to market them in North America issuing Too Shy on April 23rd that went Top Five.

The follow up single Ooh To Be Ah (EMI (12) 5383 coupled with Animal Instincts got to number 7 in the UK charts but was passed over by EMI America.

White Feathers

This was the first Kajagoogoo album issued April 1983 on cassette (TC) and lp on EMI EMC 3433 featuring Lies and Promises, Kajagoogoo plus both the initial singles.
It went top five.

In North America it was issued in June EMI America 17094 climbing as high as #38 but in the best American tradition they altered the tracklisting (typical!) reversing the order of the first two tracks (White Feathers and Too Shy) to lead off on the hit single and Frayo and This Car Is Fast from the second side.

The US cassette 4xt17094 added the Moonlight Mix of Too Shy to the end of the second side and also was issued with the XDR(tm) duplication system unlike the UK tape issue and sounds much better for it.

It has been issued twice on cd - yes I bought both ! - the first was in 1993 by OneWay Records in the States thru' CEMA with just the original program in the US track order and then in 2004 in the UK with bonus tracks such as b sides and all the 12" mixes (EMI 7243 4 73962 2 9).

The 2004 isn't bad but I found the OneWay release (7 2438 17608-2 6) more open sounding
Needless to say my circle soon wore out our tapes (I did get an lp too!) back in the day.

Hang On Now!

This was the final single released in the UK from White Feathers on June 4th peaking at #13 ( (12) 5394 and also garnered a Stateside release on August 27th (EMI America 8171) but only got as far as #87 on the chart. That's the UK picture disc version

Stay tuned for a word about compilations and that band split.

The band splits!
It was around the late Summer 1983 that we heard Limahl, the lead singer and something of a pin up had left or depending on who was writing in the press, was kicked out with Nick Beggs taking up lead vocals.

Over the years a number of reasons have been trotted out to explain this.

The most common one, mentioned in the VH1 Bands Re-united series, was that they saw Limahl's presence as a distraction as all the press attention was on him, his fashions and that hair. We all wanted that hair I might add!

The rest of the band it was said felt it detracted from their serious musicianship although the band have several issues with that whole VH1 Special since it's showing in 2004 around the coverage of this plus they felt VH1 edited to make it come over that there was a fairy tale ending. Sadly at that time it wasn't. 😢

My gut feeling is it may have come from the management company and possibly touring on a vast scale might not of helped.

Over the decades a number of Kajagoogoo compilations have come out although we're fortunate not to seen them as anthologized as much as Elvis.

My personal favourite is Too Shy - The Singles and More issued by EMI in 1993. Catalogue number 7243 8 21222 2 9

Mastered extremely well by by Jeff Ranch at Capitol and concurrent with the acclaimed 'Living In Oblivion' 80's pop series this presents the first seven band singles plus all of Limahl's up to 1992 which is as well as EMI haven't seen fit to re-issue on cd the two solo albums he did for them being only available on downloads. 

This is topped off by the 12" versions making this release invaluable to fans as well as general lovers of 80's pop.

Of the others The Very best Of on EMI Gold (7243 8 52956 2 1) from 1996 gives a good selection in reasonable sound.

On A Plane to Islands

It wasn't long before we got to hear what the Limahl less band had in mind musically when on September 17,1983 they issued Big Apple - a big horn driven stomper - backed with a live recording of 'Monochromatic' which has never been recorded in a studio.

This song was more of a statement on the fashion toward black and white clothing we jumble sale chic followers had back then that drove our folks nuts!

The single EMI (12)5423 came out in 7 and 12" forms with Big Apple 'The Metro Mix) as the top side and with the aid of a stylish video reached number 8 on the UK charts and many of us skated to it!

Unfortunately EMI America passed on releasing it which in hindsight can be seen as the moment the band effectively disappeared from the Stateside scene almost as quickly as they'd joined it.

It wasn't until the following year that Kajagoogoo treated us to a new single that was part of the hype around the release of a new album.

On March 3rd 1984 The Lions Mouth - another horn driven song - was issued on (12) EMI 5449 in a striking colour representation of the notion of Bird about to be consumed by a Lion as the front cover. There was an extended version 'The Beast Mix' as the top side of the 12" and an instrumental 'The Pump Rooms Of Bath'.

The single reached number 25 and yes again was not issued in the States.

Islands

The writing of the songs for this album started in the late spring of 1983 with the band being mindful, via the first new single - 'Big Apple' - to set the musical style for the whole album with this and 'On A Plane' being the first written songs. 

They decided to adopt a more Jazz based sound implementing brass sections while at the same time Stuart got to grips with a PPG Wave term System.

The composing style altered as the band took - not unlike Tears For Fears - the approach of developing instrumental ideas in the studio, cutting them into song themes adding then the melodies and lyrics resulting in the completed song.

The band used a digital multi track recorder which created some scary moments as the tapes started shredding oxide so they had to be sent to Townhouse Studios for one to one duplicating to save months of work.

The song themes featured had moved on exploring more about the human condition 'The Power To Forgive', 'No Man Is An Island' than previous numbers such as 'Ergonomics'
Issued on Lp EMI Kaja1 and XDR(tm) cassette the album reached number 35 on the charts.

Extra Play
Not for the first time had the US record company decided to mess with the British arms completed product only this time they retitled and at the same time altered the feel of the lp by changing the track order.

The parent UK album had nine tracks.

Issued on EMI America 17157 Lp and XDR(tm) tape April 1985 and reached #185.
[list type=decimal]
[*]"Turn Your Back on Me (Thompson and Barbiero U.S. Mix)" – 3:56 *
[*]"The Power to Forgive" – 4:46
[*]"Big Apple" – 4:02
[*]"Melting the Ice Away" – 5:18
[*]"The Lion's Mouth" – 3:30
[*]"Turn Your Back on Me (Flipped Disc Mix)" – 6:58
[*]"Big Apple (Metro Mix)" – 6:02

At long last EMI UK issued this album in an expanded form on cd in 2004 with a reasonable re-mastering job that added all the b sides, 12" mixes and the US mix (*) 7243 4 73654 2 3. As a fan of this album I'd recommended it.

Finally The last single to issued from this album on May 5th 1984 was Turn Your Back On Me on 12" and 7 (12) EMI 5646 peaking at #47.

In the US it was issued on March 13 1985 - EMI America 8262 but failed to chart.

Limahl's solo work.

Following the continuation of Kajagoogoo as a four piece band you might well of wondered what did its' original pin up star do?

Well after crying on the sofa for a bit with his sister - the story is told on the inner sleeve - he got underway on recording his first solo album.

It was necessary to issue a single fist to remind folk of his abilities so on November 5th 1983 Only For Love EMI (12) LML1 was issued with a funny romantic video which peaked at #16. It was another track we loved skating to!

Tellingly this was issued in the States until July 20th 1985!

On June 2 1984 he issued Too Much Trouble EMI (12) LML 2. This only reached as high as number 64 on the UK charts so things were not looking to good for the upcoming album release.

Fortunately Limahl had managed to get the ear of synthesizer wizard Georgio Moroder and this resulted in the recording of Never Ending Story from the motion picture 'The Never Ending Story'.

Released October 13 1984 - EMI (12) LML 3- this brought Limahl back in the public's eye with it reaching number 4 on the UK chart. It was issued in the States by EMI America on 8230 on March 23rd 1985.

Don't Suppose

 

  Finally in December 1984 that solo album he'd spend over a year on came out on EMI PLML 1 (EJ 24 0156 2 (/4 for TC) on lp and XDR(tm) cassette.

A collection of pop songs with a personal feel featuring all three singles mentioned so far on it, it hasn't been issued on cd anywhere but all but one track are available scattered across the many Limahl/Kajagoogoo compilations.

In May 1986 he issued the album Colour All My Days on EMI EMC 3510 (US: EMI America 17142) which did not chart.

From this album two singles Love In Your Eyes issued April 14 1986 on EMI 5558 and Inside To Outside issued September 29 on EMI 5570 were issued also failing to chart. This album has not been reissued on cd either.

At this point public interest in all things 'googoo' had dropped and it was not until 1992 that he issued an album in Germany called Love Is Blind (Bellaphone 10007634) with new material and some remixes including one of Too Shy.

The best way on cd to hear his all his solo singles is the Too Shy-The Singles and More cd I mentioned earlier on.

Crazy Peoples Right To Speak.

 Following the release of 1984's Islands album that had garner some critical acclaim and had gone Gold in Japan, Jez Strode left the band.

The band formally adopted throughout the world 'Kaja' as their title (although 'Extra Play' in the US was credited to Kaja in '84) perhaps reflecting on the new identity of the band although the bands brief short memorable tunes with a visual depth remained. 

This time around the feel was to get quite a bit harder edged something that was immediately apparent on the albums opener, 'Do I'.

For this album album they located to California and hung out with production legend Ken Scott. 

Although it is commonplace for many artists to use session musicians this was the first time they had used them and the resultant work was then re-mixed at Air Studios, London.

The album was issued in the UK as EJ 24 0399 -1(lp)/-4(XDR(tm) tape) in September 1985.
This album was re-issued with bonus tracks in 2004 on EMI 7243 4 73860 2 2 but either is or is fast approaching out of print status having checked Amazon UK a week back.

The first single released from the sessions was Should Do That on September 21st 1985 on Parlophone (12) R6106 that garner radio replay reaching #63 on the charts.
Promo: R_9V-XYqYDw

The US version was issued on EMI America September 4th on 8284

The last single issued from the album was Do I but this did not chart.
2007 Retrofest performance: gjD3TYyFC0A

Shortly afterward Kaja dissolved as although the band were happy with the album - and it really holds up with much contemporary artists work - sales and interest in Europe was low.

Reunion
There was an attempt by VH1 to re-unite the band in 2003 although various members had worked with each other off and on since the mid 80's but this attempt left a bitter taste in the mouths although around 2007 the band did eventually get back together issuing recordings in 2008 and 2010. 

Phil Collins: One More Night

This week at long last is the entry around a solo artist from a well respected rock group that I never got around to typing about until today.

Phil Collins first came to my attention around 1978 when the Genesis "Then There Were Three" album came out with its hit single "Follow You, Follow Me" playing  on heavy rotation on the radio, following front man Peter Gabriel's decision to leave the band for good establishing his own solo career.

This certainly was a challenge holding on to the old fan base who generally liked lengthy tunes with lots of words and a to die for stage show but they didn't just do it immediately they actually grew the fan base! 

Nobody had heard of a drummer becoming a front man and and lead singer before but hey someone had to do it!

By 1981 however Phil wanted to experiment more outside of the constraints of being in a band and so recorded what became the Face Value album which proved very popular featuring the hit singles In The Air Tonight, I Missed Again and If Leaving Me Is Easy.

Strangely enough until recently I never owned this album relying on his 1998 Hits album for these tracks but hearing a brand new specialist edition remastered from the analogue tapes was to be issued by the label Audio Fidelity I was intrigued although I had to ordered it from America as it was way too expensive over here.

I'd never heard Phil's cover of the Beatles number Tomorrow Never Knows and he handles it well.

This sounded really good showing just what improvements in the technology to convert analogue to digital for cd has moved on in the decades since cd was introduced.
Last week (18 Oct 2011)Amazon .com dispatched his 1982 Hello,I Must Be Going album that Audio Fidelity has just released which again being familiar with the singles such as the Motown cover You Can't Hurry Love, Thru These Walls and Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart away

In early 2011 Audio Fidelity issued No Jacket Required from 1985 which despite selling by the cartload I'd never owned either and as I really liked the singles from it such as Take Me Home, Sussudio, Inside Out and the blog titles One More Night a song US President Reagan liked apparently I thought I'd pony up for it.

It didn't disappoint and in some ways of the three I've heard it's the one I like the most.

It's funny how sometimes because an artist is like always on the radio you just fail to pick up their albums but that's what happened and I'm glad to have caught up with them in time and recently picked up the AF reissue of But Seriously from 1988 with its anti homelessness top selling single Another Day In Paradise.

Tidied up in 2014 by tammy

Brother Beyond

Rewind the trax! Back in 1988 i was infatuated if that's the right world with this boy band pop act.

Comprised of David Ben White, Carl Fysh, Steve Alexander and Nathan Moore their attempts at pop stardom took a significant leap following the involvement of the then in demand production team of Stock Aitken and Waterman who remixed several tracks recorded for this album which include 'The Harder I Try' 'He Ain't No Competition', 'Be My Twin' and 'Can You Keep a Secret'.

The band were also famous for their Buddhist religious beliefs.

The second album 'Trust' and singles from it all bombed! I still own and enjoy playing this record my sister in law bought me.

Link:Brother Beyond - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia