Budgie - Rarities And Radio Sessions (1972-1981)

(U.K 1967-1988, 1995-1996, 1999-2010)

Budgie were a hard rock band from Cardiff, Wales formed in 1967. Originally called Hills Contemporary Grass, their original line-up consisted of Burke Shelley on vocals and bass, Tony Bourge on guitar and vocals, and Ray Phillips on drums.

After performing several gigs in 1968, the band changed their name to Budgie the following year and recorded their first demo. The band had initially considered going under the name "Six Ton Budgie", but decided the shorter single word variant was preferable. Burke Shelley has said that the band's name came from the fact that he, "loved the idea of playing noisy, heavy rock, but calling ourselves after something diametrically opposed to that".

In the final years of his life, Shelley suffered from Stickler syndrome, and on two occasions had an aortic aneurysm. Shelley died in his sleep at the Heath Hospital on 10th January 2022, at the age of 71. RIP Burke Shelley.

Rarities And Radio Sessions Tracks

Whiskey River (Single Edit)

Budgie Mk I

Burke Shelley -- bass guitar, vocals

Tony Bourge -- guitar, vocals
Ray Phillips -- drums

A fantastic starter to Budgie's second album ' Squawk' released in 1972. Whiskey River was played live at most Budgie gigs, and the song keeps sounding better and better.

Burke Shelley: "Whiskey River, a rocking song! This was a great song to play live. We were constantly riffing in our song writing and this one has a constant rhythm that allows for a good stomp."

Ray Phillips: "There weren't that many bands out there using double bass drums. I think it's fair to say that Budgie were one of the first bands to actually write a number that was released as a single, involving double bass drums. Well, when we went to do the second album, we went in, and the next thing I know is they'd messed around with my drum sound, and it just wasn't as good."

Whiskey River is a worthy opener for the Squawk album, it has a totally bluesy riff that is augmented by an excellent vocal line. Tony Bourge plays some great and fast guitar licks on this track, but one can hear the enthusiasm fading quickly. Shelley's voice is excellent here, as he is definately not as shrieky as he usually is. The rhythm section is excellent, with distorted bass guitar and trippy drumming make the track nothing short of a defining moment.

Release Date: March 3rd, 1972
"Whiskey River" / "Guts" (1972, MCA MK-5085) - UK
"Whiskey River" / "Stranded" (1972, KAPP K-2185) – US

Sadly UK-Charts show no entry in the 1972 UK charts for Whiskey River or their LP Squawk


Zoom Club (Single Edit)

Budgie MkII

Burke Shelley -- bass guitar, vocals
Tony Bourge -- guitar, vocals
Pete Boot -- drums

"Zoom Club" is a track taken from Budgie's fourth studio album, titled 'In For The Kill', released in 1974.

Zoom Club also quickly became a favourite live number with the fans. A club in Frankfurt, Germany was the initial inspiration for the number.

Burke recalls "Playing in Frankfurt at the Zoom Club, Americans used to turn up at this club which was when the Vietnam War was on. They were all off to Vietnam eventually, or most of them. It was just one of those places, it was like the last place before they all went to war. The Zoom Club was the place they all went to".

Tony Bourge recalls: "That was again one of Burke's ideas. It was basically about a club that we played in Germany where all the G.I's used to go. Hence the first couple of lines...."Come all you G.I's".

“Zoom Club” is superb, heavy as hell hard rock, mid to up tempo played by an insistent guitar riff which never lets up, powerful bass line and pounding drums all over the performance, featuring an excellent extended guitar break and topped off by Burke Shelley’s forceful, wild at times vocal.
Appearing on their "In For The Kill" album, the band's signature bluesy sound is made all the spicier by nuanced jazz and funk influences that started creeping into their music around this time, while the top-notch production wraps the whole thing up in a seamless package.

This single release of Zoom Club is a much shortened version of the @10min album version, edited down to 3:20 min to attract radio play.

Release Date: 26th April, 1974
"Zoom Club" / "Wondering What Everyone Knows" (1974, MCA MCA-133) - UK

Sadly "Zoom Club" did not chart in the UK in 1974, however their album 'In For The Kill' made #29 on the album charts (see UK-Charts)


Honey (B-Side Single)

Budgie Mk III

Burke Shelley -- bass guitar, vocals
Tony Bourge -- guitar, vocals
Steve Williams -- drums


This B-Side Single (of "I Ain't No Mountain") was released in 1975 and never appeared on any of Budgie's studio albums.

Honey is a beautiful acoustic track that show cases Shelley's falsetto voice while Bourge demonstrates a more classical approach to his guitar playing.

 The sound quality on my Australian vinyl copy was very poor and distorted, and therefore I rarely played this acoustic track. The remastered CD release of Bandolier has a much better sounding version, as is the recording here.


Release Date: 14th February, 1975
"I Ain't No Mountain" / "Honey" (1975, MCA MCA-1439) - AUS/UK


Who Do You Want for Your Love: (Live on The Old Grey Whistle Test, BBC TV Show, June 1975)

Burke Shelley -- bass guitar, vocals
Tony Bourge -- guitar, vocals
Steve Williams -- drums

The Old Grey Whistle Test Running Sheet

"Who Do You Want for Your Love" is a track from Budgie's fifth studio album, titled  'Bandolier',
which was released in 1975. It has a cool funky opening, but evolves into a well-composed heavy metal song with some of my favorite riffs.

This live recording of the track was made on The Old Grey Whistle Test, BBC TV Show, 28th June 1975, as documented by Bob Harris (see archive.bobharris.org)

Note that the 'Official Budgie Fan Club' have incorrectly listed it as 27th June, 1975 (see  Budgie Fan Club). This cannot be the case as 'The Old Grey Whistle Test' was always broadcast on Saturdays, which was the 28th June. 

The Old Grey Whistle Test was a British television music show devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. According to presenter Bob Harris, the programme derived its name from a Tin Pan Alley phrase from years before. When they got the first pressing of a record they would play it to people they called the old greys – doormen in grey suits. Any song the doormen could remember and whistle, having heard it just once or twice, had passed the old grey whistle test.

The Old Grey Whistle Test: Who Do You Want for Your Love

Interesting fact: The song lyrics make reference to the phrase "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend" which was used for the title of their third album, released in 1973.

Budgie with Myf Issac (2nd left)

Zoom Club: (Live in St. Louis, USA, Dec 1976)

Burke Shelley -- bass guitar, vocals

Tony Bourge -- guitar, vocals

Steve Williams -- drums

Myf Issac - Guitar

This live recording was made in Rusty Springs, St Louis, Missouri USA on 4th December, 1976. Zoom Club was not included on the LP release of this concert (see VERNE 109) however it was included on the CD release (see On The Air AIR 25).

Sourced from a very nice radio broadcast of Budgie's 'If I Were Britannia I'd Waive The Rules' tour in the US, it was most likely sourced from a very low gen tape. The sound is flawless on this live recording of Zoom Club. 

With additional Welsh guitarist Myf Issacs (a former member of Quest) touring with the band, Budgie's stage sound was a lot fuller than earlier gigs and Bourge was given a lot more freedom to reproduce those magical lead breaks that he is renowned for on record. Budgie only used Myf Issac, as the second guitar player for live performances between Mid 1976 - Mid 1978 and never recorded with any of their studio work.


Sky High Percentage  /  In The Grip Of  A Tyrefitter's Hand:

(BBC - Live at Maida Vale Studio 4, John Peel Show, London July 1976)
Burke Shelley -- bass guitar, vocals
Tony Bourge -- guitar, vocals
Steve Williams -- drums
Myf Issac - Guitar

John Peel

John Peel was one of the first broadcasters to play psychedelic rock and progressive rock records on British radio. He is widely acknowledged for promoting artists of many genres, including pop, dub reggae, punk rock and post-punk, electronic music and dance music, indie rock, extreme metal and British hip hop.

Peel's Radio 1 shows were notable for the regular "Peel Sessions", which usually consisted of four songs recorded by an artist in the BBC's studios, often providing the first major national coverage to bands that later achieved fame.

Myf Issacs & Steve Williams

Budgie had significant airplay on Peel's show in the early 70's and they would do two sessions for his programmes, one of them in 1976, where they only performed two songs. In later years, Peel revisited one of Budgie's songs, when Federation X covered their song, Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman, which was played by the DJ, who then played one of Budgie's songs on his BBC Radio One and FSK shows.

This John Peel session from 1976 is excellent with some complimentary comments from "dear John" himself. There is also the added interest that Myf Issac is playing second guitar on these two tracks.


I Turned To Stone  /  Superstar  /  She Used Me Up:

(BBC - Live at Maida Vale Studio 4, 'Friday Rock Show, London Dec, 1981)

Budgie Mk IV

Burke Shelley -- bass guitar, vocals
John Thomas -- guitar, vocals
Steve Williams -- drums

The Friday Rock Show from 1981 is another strong production and Budgie sound very tight and well rehearsed having just finished a UK tour to promote the newly released Nightflight album that these three tracks come from. John Thomas' guitar work is particularly exciting.

Tommy Valance (Left)

The Friday Rock Show (FRS) was a radio show in the United Kingdom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 10pm to midnight on Friday nights, from 17 November 1978 until 2 April 1993. For most of its existence, it was hosted by Tommy Vance.

The show replaced John Peel on Friday nights, but Peel's show had previously featured more mainstream styles of rock music than he personally favoured as "part of a review function"; after the Friday Rock Show began, Peel was able to concentrate on the post-punk styles he was most enthused by at this point.

Interesting Note: These 3 Budgie FRS recordings were made 2 weeks before they were broadcast on the 18th Dec, as documented on the Friday Rock Show's Wiki

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my recently purchased vinyl from a record store in Athens, while holidaying in Europe.   Full album artwork and label scans are also included, along with all post photos. 

Although I have all of these tracks on CD, the attraction of having them on vinyl was too great, and yes, it's another gem in my Budgie Record collection. Released by VERNE records, this album is serves also a great compilation of Budgie classics. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Track List:

A1 Whisky River (edit) 2:31

A2 Zoom Club (edit) 3:17

A3 Honey 3:21

A4 Who Do You Want For Your Love (Live) 6:30

A5 Zoom Club (Live) 9:27

B1 Sky High Percentage (Live) 5:36

B2 In The Grip Of A Tyrefitters Hand (Live) 5:42

B3 I Turned To Stone  (Live) 3:44

B4 Superstar (Live) 5:51

B5 She Used Me Up (Live) 3:15

Track Sources:

Side One:

Whiskey River (alternative single version. UK A-side, March 1972)

Zoom Club (alternative single version. UK A-side, April 1974)

Honey (B-side of "Ain't No Mountain" UK Single, February 1975)

Who Do You Want For Love (Old Grey Whistle BBC June 1975)

Zoom Club (Live St. Louis December 1976, not on that LP)

Side Two

Sky High Percentage (London BBC John Peel 1st July 1976)

In The Grip of A Tyrefitter's Hand (London BBC John Peel 1st July 1976)

I Turned To Stone (London BBC Friday Rock Show 18th December 1981)

Superstar (London BBC Friday Rock Show 18th December 1981)

She Used Me Up (London BBC Friday Rock Show 18th December 1981)

Budgie Link (250Mb)

The Spaniards - Locked In A Dance (1986) plus bonus tracks

 (Australian 1983 - 1986)

The Spaniards were a short-lived Australian musical group, which formed in 1983. Their 1986 debut mini-album, 'Locked in a Dance' peaked at number 55 on the Australian charts. Members included Russell Hellyer-Brown on bass guitar, Mark Mannock on keyboards, Billy Miller on guitars and vocals (ex-The Ferrets), and Mick Pealing on vocals (ex-Stars, Ideals).

The Spaniards also utilised other musicians as required like Dave Springfield, Kevin Purcell and John Annas. The band released three singles: "God Is A Shield", "Angel" and "What Can I Do" and a mini LP, called “Locked In A Dance” (EMM.430038) for EMI in 1986. Additional players on the single “God Is A Shield” were Hendrick de Fries, James Freud and Wayne Young. This single was produced by Molly Meldrum on IC Records and charted at #54 on the Australian Charts.

The Spaniards made numerous appearances on Countdown (see below) and sellout residencies at infamous venues like The Prospect Hill Hotel and The Venue in St Kilda. They also supported Tina Turner on her Private Dancer tour plus Katrina and the Waves on their Walking On Sunshine tour.

The Spaniards disbanded in 1986 but then reformed in the same year with Mick Pealing (vocals), Russell Brown (bass), Chris Ziros (guitar), Antony Ziros (drums) and Mark Mannock (keyboards).

They finally called it quits in 1989 although in 2016, Billy Miller, Mick Pealing, Rusty Brown, John Annas & Mark Mannock played a one off reunion gig on the 25th November at the Satellite Lounge in Melbourne, from which the video clip below was taken (see advert).

Spaniards [Satellite Lounge, 2016] - You & I

Band Member Profiles

Mick Pealing (Vocals)

In 1975, Pealing helped to form the Australian country rock band 'Stars', in Adelaide, South Australia. 

Founding members were Glyn Dowding on drums; Malcolm Eastick on guitar and vocals; Mick Pealing on vocals; and Graham Thompson on bass guitar. They were joined by guitarist, songwriter, Andrew Durant in 1976 and relocated to Melbourne. Thompson then left and was replaced by a succession of bass guitarists including Roger McLachlan (ex-Little River Band) and Ian McDonald.

Stars decided to call it quits in 1979, when Andy Durant was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Pealing later formed his own band Mick Pealing and the Ideals (1980–1981), and were also a backing band for Renée Geyer. He then formed The Spaniards (1983–1986) and worked with other artists including Eastick and McLachlan who were members of Mighty Rock with Pealing in 2004.

Today, Mick continues his love for British hard Rock from the 60’s and 70’s with the band Raw Brit featuring members of Boom Crash Opera, Angels, Rose Tattoo, Skyhooks & Baby Animals, and also plays the occasional gig with a reformed members from The Stars (see Mick's Website for details)

Billy Miller (Guitar & Vocals)

Billy is an Australian musician who started singing and playing guitar back in the 1960s. After a 3 year stint in the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar, he formed 'The Ferrets', who in 1977 had a no.1 hit "Don't Fall In Love" and gold album 'Dreams of a Love'. 

His other groups also include 'Billy Miller’s Great Blokes', known for the popular song "I Want To Live In A House" which was featured in the Australian movie ‘Starstruck’ in 1982. He then joined The Spaniards in 1984, playing with them until they disbanded in 1986.

In 2011, Billy was busy playing gigs with Stephen Cummings and his own band, then recording a new album. 

Fast forward to 2014 and Billy teamed up with ARIA award winner and good mate Paul Kelly to co-write ‘Don’t Let a Good Thing Go’ which featured on Kelly’s ‘The Merri Soul Sessions’ album. He also co-wrote four of the songs on Kelly’s 2017 ‘Life is Fine’ — ‘Rising Moon’, ‘Firewood and Candles’, ‘Rock Out on the Sea’ and ‘Leah: The Sequel.

Russell Hellyer-Brown  (Bass & Vocals)

After The Spaniards split for the second time, Russell went on to form his own band called 'Hellyer Brown', along with Spaniard brothers Anthony (drums) and Chris Ziros (Guitar) and Shawn Gardener (Bass). Russell changed his name to Rusty Brown and took on lead vocals. However, this band did not last long and Rusty decided to take a short hiatus from the music industry.

Nevertheless, Rusty Brown eventually joined the Australian hard rock band Electric Mary in 2004. Featuring Rusty Brown on vocals, Irwin Thomas (aka Jack Jones) on guitar / vocals, Venom on drums, Pete Robinson on guitar / vocals, and Alex Raunjak on Bass they cite inspirations from a number of bands and musicians from Deep Purple to David Bowie with their sound encompassing a combination of rich guitar riffs, bass, and drums.

Anthony Ziros (Drums & Vocals)

Anthony joined the Kevin Borich Express in 1989 and toured Australia on the Matt Taylor and Kevin Borich Blues tours in 1991 and 1992.

Anthony also toured with the following artists:   Ian Moss, Ross Wilson, Dale Ryder, Brian Mannix, Stuart Fraser, Wilbur Wilde and Matt Moffitt.

John Annas (Drums)

John Annas is known to have been a member of 3 bands - Broderick Smiths Big Combo, Kevin Borich Express and the Spaniards, and has been a session drummer for many Australian artists, including Renee Geyer.

David Springfield (Guitar)

Dave Springfield (guitar, backing vocals) was a member of hard rockers Buster Brown (which also featured vocalist Angry Anderson later of Rose Tattoo). He then played along side Billy Miller in 'The Ferrets' from 1975-1979, before playing with Mick Pealing's Spaniards until they disbanded. 

Sadly, I have not been able to find any information for Mark Mannock (Keyboards). If anyone has any Intel on him, I'd love to hear from you.

The Spaniards on Countdown (8th April, 1986)

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my vinyl mini LP and includes full album artwork.  Note: This release has never been released on CD.   Now, I've always thought it strange that this mini LP  'Locked In A Dance', didn't actually have the track with the same name on it, so I have decided to rectify this by adding it here as a bonus track. In addition, I am also including the Instrumental Version of "Angel" (which was the B-Side of the single) and the Mick Pealing track "I Want To Live In A House" which was also recorded by The Spaniards. 

Track List

01 - What Can I Do

02 - God Is A shield

03 - Angel

04 - Is It Love

05 - Memory

06 - Dreamers

07 - I Want To Live In A House [Bonus Track]

08 - Angel [Bonus B-Side Instrumental]

09 - Locked in a Dance [Bonus Live Prospect Hill Hotel 1984]

The Spaniards were:

Mick Pealing - Vocals

Russell Hellyer-Brown - Bass and Vocals

Mark Mannock - Keyboards

Billy Miller - Guitar and Vocals

Extras:

John Annas - Drums

David Springfield - Guitar

The Spaniards Link (233Mb)

Air Supply - The One That You Love (1981) + Bonus Single

(Australian 1975 - Present)

Air Supply’s highest-charting studio album was released 43 years ago, in 1981 – a milestone for one of the biggest bands of the early '80s, and a circumstance many around the group in its early days would likely have thought impossible.

Air Supply is built around the nexus of songwriter and guitarist Graham Russell and lead singer Russell Hitchcock, who met on the set of an Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar in 1975. Their connection was fortuitous – Russell was a songwriter looking for the right voice for his material, and Hitchcock was a bit player in the musical who was largely overlooked.

The duo put a band together with, among others, future Divinyls bassist Jeremy Paul and guitarist Mark McEntee, and in late 1976 scored an Australian Top 10 hit (“Love and Other Bruises”) and saw their self-titled debut album go gold. Air Supply opened for Rod Stewart on his 1977 tour of Australia, the U.S. and Canada, but came back home at the end of the tour to very little fanfare, eventually compelling everyone but Hitchcock and Russell to find other gigs.

Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock 1980's

The pair weathered two years of the indignities most starving musicians experience – Hitchcock moved back in with his parents, Russell resorted to searching for loose change in couch cushions to buy food, etc. In 1979 the two recruited a new group of musicians and recorded the Russell composition “Lost in Love,” which lifted Air Supply back into the Australian Top 20.

Record industry mogul and then-chairman of Arista Records Clive Davis heard “Lost in Love” and signed the band to his label. Released internationally in January 1980, “Lost in Love” was a global hit, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the U.S.

Air Supply On Countdown - Early 80's

Air Supply’s 1980 album, also titled 'Lost in Love', did indeed yield more hits, particularly in the U.S. – “All Out of Love” topped out at No. 2 (stuck behind a Diana Ross song and "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen) and “Every Woman in the World” peaked at No. 5. Air Supply supported the record by touring. And touring. And touring.

“To give them an image, we toured them [in the U.S.] three times in 12 months,” their then-manager Fred Bestall told Billboard in 1981. “We played colleges as well as auditoriums and fairs. We toured them so much purposely to give them an image other than a band that sings nice ballads. … We’ve gone back to those markets again to re-establish that they are a good live band.”

The momentum worked. With a head of steam and a brace of new songs, the band entered a Sydney studio with one-time David Bowie producer Harry Maslin to record Lost in Love’s follow-up, "The One That You Love", which was released in July 1981.

At this time the band comprised [from left to right above]: Dave Green (bass), Ralph Cooper (drums), Graham Russell (guitar/vocals), David Moyse (guitar), Russell Hitchcock (lead vocals), and Rex Goh (guitar).

The album’s title track moves from a barely audible beginning to a powerhouse close, displaying the full range of Hitchcock’s voice in a little over four minutes. And, as Russell remembers, Hitchcock’s performance was captured in a single take.

“There’s just an energy and a fire and a passion, and Russell had that,” he told the podcast Misplaced Straws. “It was just incredible to hear it ... In those days, that’s how you recorded; everything was live. There were no tuning machines in those days. You sang the song from top to bottom; that’s the way it was.”

“The One That You Love” was released in April 1981 and in its eleventh week on the Billboard Hot 100, it hit No. 1 – the band’s only single to achieve that status. Although it is a well known song, strangely the single did not chart in most of Europe (see left).

There were more hits to come – both “Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)” and “Sweet Dreams” hit No. 5, extending Air Supply’s consecutive Top 5 singles streak to six. “Sweet Dreams,” in particular, had a spacey intro with guitar arpeggios, strings, dramatic piano chords and maybe even some alien instrumentation that someone had to learn to play. The song’s success surprised Russell.

“I had no concept that that was ever going to be a single,” he admitted to Songfacts. “I just thought, ‘Oh, I've got free rein here, I don't have to particularly write a hit song, I can just do something that I want and that I think would be great for the band.’ But when Clive [Davis] heard it, he was all over it. So I was very surprised then. But I think now I've learned to distinguish certain songs from others.”

The hits on 'The One That You Love' were complemented by some fine deep cuts. Hitchcock and Russell’s voices on the chorus of the rocking opener “Don’t Turn Me Away” lock together tightly; “I Want to Give It All” (the B-side of the “The One That You Love” single) is all quiet power – a perfectly arranged blend of voice, guitar and strings. “Keeping the Love Alive” could have been a fourth Top 5 from the album, had it been released as a single, so stately and radio-ready was its chorus.

The 'One That You Love' hit No. 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart – Air Supply’s only studio album to make it to the U.S. Top 10 (though their 1983 Greatest Hits record would surpass it, peaking at No. 7). It was a level of success for the band once again foretold by Davis, upon hearing the final mix of the record.

“That was a very important moment because it was our second album,” Russell recalled to podcaster Harvey Brownstone. “We’d had three Top 5s [from Lost in Love] so … we had to impress him. … He was in the studio and he was sitting right at the console on his own and we were all behind him. He listened back to the final mix of The One That You Love and we were going, ‘Oh God; [we] hope he likes it.’

“And after it was finished,” Russell continued, “he didn’t say anything for two minutes, and that’s an eternity. And then he turned around to us and he said, ‘It’s going to go to No. 1". And it did. [extract from 4therecordcom.home.blog]

The Album Cover
While the music on this album may be exceptional, the album artwork is uninspiring. Seriously, the rear photo of the band, featured on the original releases, would have been far better to adorn the front album cover instead of the hot air balloon on the initial releases, and the series of hot air balloons on the Australian CD reissue (see right), and is about as pointless as you can get. This album cover really should be added to The Worst (And Most Disturbing) Album Covers Of All Time.

OK, so I’m extremely critical of this album artwork, but in my opinion it is an immediate deterrent and unlikely to appeal to anyone, other than the most ardent fans. It certainly doesn’t showcase, or represent, just how outstanding the music is.

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my pristine vinyl and includes full album artwork for both vinyl and CD releases.  Strangely, my Australian "Big Time" pressing did not come with the Inside Sleeve that contains the lyrics and credits - typical of most Australian Record Companies who were always try to save a dollar!  My scans for this missing sleeve were sourced from Discogs.

I am also including as a bonus track, the edited version of "Sweet Dreams" which was released as their 3rd single from the album (the album version was over 5mins long while the single clocked in close to 4 mins). 

 

Track List:

01 Don't Turn Me Away 3:37

02 Here I Am 3:41

03 Keeping The Love Alive 3:29

04 The One That You Love 4:11

05 This Heart Belongs To Me 4:05

06 Sweet Dreams 5:10

07 I Want To Give It All 3:37

08 I'll Never Get Enough Of You 3:42

09 Tonite 3:39

10 I've Got Your Love 3:32

11 Sweet Dreams (Bonus Single Release)   3:58

Air Supply were:

Graham Russell (guitar/vocals)

Russell Hitchcock (lead vocals)

David Moyse (guitar)

Rex Goh (guitar)

Dave Green (bass)

Ralph Cooper (drums)

Air Supply Link (228Mb)

Widowmaker - Too Late To Cry (1977) + Bonus Track

 (U.K 1975 - 1978)

Widowmaker was formed in late 1975 by ex-Spooky Tooth and Mott The Hoople guitarist Luther Grosvenor, at the time known as Ariel Bender, as a means of recording songs he had written, something he had been unable to do since Mott The Hoople’s recordings were dominated by Ian Hunter penned tunes. Grosvenor was joined by ex-Lindisfarne drummer Paul Nichols and former Mungo Jerry and Chicken Shack bassist Bob Daisley. The trio became of the nucleus of the new band, with Grosvenor handling all the vocals.

The band decided that a lead vocalist would improve the band’s sound and as a result, Steve Ellis, formerly of Love Affair, was added, after his name was given to Grosvenor by Bobby Tench and Roger Chapman. At first Ellis wasn’t excited at the prospect of joining the band, but with some coaxing he took the job. Adding a keyboard was considered by the quartet, but in the end, guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton completed the original lineup of the quintet, which took the name Widowmaker, although no one in the band can really remember why, and Grosvenor says he never liked the name.

The band’s first gig was a 24 February 1976 appearance on the BBC’s “Old Grey Whistle” when they performed the Grosvenor/Ellis/Nichols penned “On The Road” and the Grosvenor/Ellis composition “Ain’t Telling You Nothing” both of which appeared on the groups debut LP. Catching the eye and ear of Roger Daltrey, Widowmaker opened for The Who at three gigs in May and June of 1976.

1977 Lineup: Paul Nicholls, Huw Lloyd-Langton,
Ariel Bender, Bob Daisley and John Butler 

The band signed with Don Arden’s Jet Records with Arden becoming their manager. Soon the group entered De Lane Lea Studios in Wembley and began work on their self-produced and self-titled debut LP. Among the album’s ten tracks are five which Grosvenor had a part in writing, including the hot rocking “Running Free.” The band was aided by keyboardist Zoot Money, and backing vocals were supplied by Bobby Tench, Roger Chapman, Julie Driscoll and Sam Brown. With Jet making changes in distribution the album made a late appearance in the US and reached only #196 on the Billboard charts, disappointing to the band and certainly not an indication of the quality of material recorded.

Undeterred the band toured with Jet label mates ELO, as well as Uriah Heep and Nazareth. However, musical differences, home sickness and a falling out with manager Arden resulted in Ellis exiting the band. At the recommendation of Lloyd-Langton lead vocals were taken over by John Butler and the band entered Olympic Studio to record its second LP “Too Late To Cry” with Chris Kimsey and the band coproducing. The album, smoother sounding, but lacking the raw sound of the band’s debut reached only #150 on the Billboard charts in the US. Although containing four guitar driven tracks co-written by Grosvenor, the highlights of the album for me, it had a smoother sound, but didn’t rock as hard as the debut and proved to be the final album by the group.

Widowmaker:  US Tour 1978

Widowmaker toured with Ted Nugent, Aerosmith and Mahogany Rush, among others, in support of “Too Late To Cry” but bassist Daisley departed to become part of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. In addition, Grosvenor was unhappy, and although the band’s albums were much better than average and the group could have gone on for another year or two at the least, the members decided to call it a day after their 1978 Tour and Widowmaker was no more. After playing bass with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Daisley went on to play for Ozzy Osbourne, Uriah Heep, and Gary Moore; while Luther Grosvenor eventually went on to reform Spooky Tooth (without Gary Wright). [extracts from Plain And Fancy]

1978 US Tour Advert

Album Review

Initially billed as a supergroup for the late seventies, this tag was always going to be difficult to live up to as none of them exactly had top drawer cv’s. Guitarists Ariel Bender (Luther Grosvenor) and Huw Lloyd Langton had been in Mott The Hoople and Hawkwind respectively, whilst drummer Paul Nichols had been with Lindisfarne. 

Ariel Bender
(aka Luther Grosvenor) 

Bass player Bob Daisley arguably had his glory days to come going on as he did to play with Rainbow, Uriah Heep and Ozzy Osbourne. Original vocalist Steve Ellis had come from the pop rock outfit Love Affair but he didn’t stay around long enough to contribute to this second album and was replaced by Robert Plant wannabe John Butler.

I have never actually heard the debut album so can’t really comment on whether they were going in the right direction or not but ‘Too Late To Cry’ does not sound like an album from a band that were on the verge of setting the world on fire. It’s pretty standard formulaic late seventies rock. Right down to the group photographs, big burly beer drinking blokes all dressed up in sparkly gear stolen from the glam rock wardrobe staring at the camera like cut throats and desperados.

Bob Daisley

The musical content is also fairly predictable. The title track, which opens the album, sounds a little like Thin Lizzy, probably due to the twin guitar sound. It is also one of the better tracks. Other highlights are the Grosvenor penned ‘Here Comes The Queen’ an acoustic Led Zeppelin type track which highlights Butler’s Robert Plant pretentions and ‘The Hustler’ a track which surely has a claim to be the only rock song with a steel drum solo, provided courtesy of Miguel Barradas.

The closing track ‘Sky Blues’ however, is an awesome heavy blues track and is the highlight of the album. Pity they couldn't reproduce this across the whole album.

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my near mint vinyl and includes full album artwork and label scans. I purchased this album after hearing the track "Sky Blues" while pursuing the record shelves of Reading Records in Carlton, Melbourne. Of course "Sky Blues" is the best track on the album, with some other standout tracks like "Mean What You Say" and of course the title track "Too Late To Cry". I have also managed to source another session track called "Talk To Me" which never made the album cut, but is included here as a bonus track for your pleasure.

Track List:

01 Too Late To Cry 3:54

02 The Hustler 4:08

03 What A Way To Fall 3:52

04 Here Comes The Queen 4:09

05 Mean What You Say 3:15

06 Something I Can Do Without 4:12

07 Sign The Papers 5:08

08 Pushin' 'N' Pullin' 4:51

09 Sky Blues 5:32

10 Talk To Me (Bonus Track)  4:14

Widowmaker were:

Lead Vocals – John Butler

Bass Guitar – Bob Daisley

Drums – Paul Nichols

Electric Guitar – Ariel Bender (aka Luther Grosvenor), Huw Lloyd-Langton

Harmonica – John Butler

Keyboards – John Butler

Widowmaker Link (245Mb)

Peter Frampton - Breaking All The Rules (1981) + Bonus Live Track

 (U.K 1966 - Present)

By the early 1980s, Peter Frampton was tired of being called the "romantic rock boy" and decided to make the most rocking, commercial and aggressive album of his career.  1981's 'Breaking All The Rules' broke all the barriers.

'Breaking All The Rules' has been Peter Frampton's lesser known / heard album in part due to the record company clumsiness to properly promote the record and because Frampton indeed broke some rules here; he decided to make a rocking LP instead a Top 20 hit generator.

Of course there's a brilliant sweet melody in the slow, touching 'Going To L.A.' which should have been a hit in the charts, but most the material here rocks, and pretty hard.

For this matter Frampton enlisted a terrific back-up band including the half of Toto; Steve Lukather & Jeff Porcaro.

Lukather trades some killer licks with Frampton (the title track is awesome) but also contributing with his trademark, distinctive rhythm guitar, while Porcaro provide his unique 'groove-touch' all over the recording.

A proof of the guitar driven nature of this album is the opener "Dig What I Say", starting the record in a rocking mood with solos all over it, something unusual for a Frampton release. Here he also uses guitar synth to good effect.  The cover of  "I Don't Wanna Let You Go" is done in an absolutely classic Frampton vein but even here the guitar swirls like never before. Check Porcaro's hi-hat fills here, a master in this game.

Written by the Alessi Bros 'Rise Up' is another tune with a hit potential, there's an elegant midtempo on 'Wasting The Night Away', a rocky version of the classic 'Friday On My Mind' (Originally released by the Easybeats), while 'Lost A Part Of You' is the ballad on the album with some hints to Frampton's hit single "I'm In You".

For the end we have the title track 'Breaking All The Rules', a seven minute tour de force plenty of killer riffs, a melodic verse and a superb Frampton / Lukather duel in an almost hard rocking piece.

Here, Frampton demonstrates all his skills not only as an excellent guitarist but also as a vocalist. The heavy sound is always commanded by Frampton 's guitar and his "warmer" and stronger voice gives a more bluesy tone to the music.

Despite not having sold even half as much as his famous "Comes Alive", "Breaking ..." is, without a doubt, Frampton's best studio album, and the title track, one of his best songs.

Interesting Side Note: 

Frampton released an album only in Brazil called 'Rise Up' in 1980, which had a similar track listing as 'Breaking All The Rules'. Frampton states:  "This album was released in Brazil to promote our tour there in 1980 - the album eventually turned into 'Breaking All the Rules', released the next year." 

However, the 'Rise Up' album featured an almost entirely different lineup of musicians and partially similar track listing.  

While touring Brazil, Frampton suffered a serious setback when all his guitars were thought destroyed in a cargo plane crash that killed four people. Among the instruments he lost was the black Les Paul Custom which he had named "Phenix" (pictured on the cover of Frampton Comes Alive) given to him by Mark Mariana and first used on the night of the recording of the Humble Pie live album Performance, and which he had used all through his early solo career. However, by shear luck, the guitar was recovered and returned to him in December 2011. 

And so 'Rise Up' eventually turned into Breaking All the Rules, released the next year in 1981. These albums were the first he recorded almost completely live. In 1982, following the release of 'The Art of Control', Frampton tried unsuccessfully to split his ties with A&M Records; he re-signed with the label in 2006 and released his Grammy Award–winning album 'Fingerprints'.  But that's another story !

This post consists of FLACS ripped from my vinyl and includes full album artwork for both CD and vinyl, along with label scans. One track that appeared on the Rise Up album (but not Breaking All The Rules) was a live recording of his hit single "I'm In You". I have therefore decided to include a live rendition of this track (taken from Frampton Comes Alive II) as a bonus track.

One thing that attracted me to this album when I first viewed it in the record store was the inclusion of the Easybeat's mega hit "Friday On My Mind", which by the way he has covered admirably. Of course, the killer title track is the highlight, in fact all of Side B is brilliant and the first side is almost as good.  Overall, this album is one of Frampton's best studio albums and should not be passed by.

Track Listing:

01 Dig What I Say 4:10

02 I Don't Wanna Let You Go 4:21

03 Rise Up 3:46

04 Wasting The Night Away 4:12

05 Going To L.A. 5:57

06 You Kill Me 4:13

07 Friday On My Mind  4:18

08 Lost A Part Of You 3:42

09 Breaking All The Rules 7:04

10 I'm In You (Bonus Live)   4:24

The Band:

Vocals – Peter Frampton

Backing Vocals – Arthur Stead, Steve Lukather

Bass Guitar – John Regan

Drums – Jeff Porcaro

Guitar – Peter Frampton, Steve Lukather

Guitar Synthesizer – Peter Frampton

Keyboards – Arthur Stead, Peter Frampton

Peter Frampton Link (275Mb)