product reissues NEW reissues / catalogue albums
SCOUTING FOR GIRLS • Scouting For Girls
(Epic 88985433582)
Spawning five Top 40 singles and selling nearly a million copies, Scouting For Girls’ eponymous
debut album was a massive success, and ahead of its 10th anniversary later this year it is to be released in an expanded, deluxe edition with both CD and digital editions adding 14 live tracks and demos. The album will also be released on vinyl (88985445151) and cassette (88985440994) for the first time, though these releases will contain only the original tracks. All written by lead guitarist and vocalist Roy Stride, the singles from the album struck the perfect balance, being naggingly commercial but substantial and well-constructed without taking themselves too seriously. SFG’s first Top 10 hit, She’s So Lovely was a memorable anthem, but follow-up
Elvis Ain’t Dead has more substance, with its apparently jokey title and inclusion of references to Presley songs being secondary to the lyrical denial implicit in its title and the line ‘you’re coming back to me’. Heartbeat, It’s Not About You and I Wish I Was James Bond also have thoughtful lyrics and are executed with the panache and flair that made them and the album such a success. With a tour due later this year, SFG are still very much open for business, and continue to attract a considerable following, all of which suggests that sales of this nicely extended collection will be brisk.
VARIOUS: Jon Savage’s 1967 • The Year Pop Divided (Ace CDTOP 21495)
One of the best compilations of 2015 was Jon Savage’s 1966: The Year The Decade Exploded,
a sublime soundtrack to his book about what was a pivotal year in 20th century history. The album did so well that Savage has followed up with a similarly-themed double disc packed with hits and rarities from 1967, a year when, by his own admission, he was thrilled by the rock, soul, pop and incipient funk to be heard on pirate radio. Selecting no fewer than 48 songs - all here in glorious mono - he generally opts for quality over familiarity. There are, of course, tracks, which fulfill both of these criteria, including The Move’s I Can Hear The Grass Grown, The Spencer Davis Group’s Somebody Help Me and The Young Rascals’ Groovin’. It is the depth and breadth of the talent from this one year that delights most, with, for example, mod band The Action’s cheerfully soulful Never Ever, Joe Tex’s funkily euphoric Show Me and The Third Bardo’s early punk/pysch crossover, I’m Five Years Ahead Of My Time all especially worthy of attention.
By: Alan Jones
MAJOR LANCE: Ain’t No Soul (In These Old Shoes) • The Complete Okeh Recordings 1963-1967 (RPM RETRO D988)
R&B singer Major Lance’s career as a UK hitmaker was limited to just one minor hit - Um, Um, Um,
Um, Um which reached No.40 here, overshadowed by local talent Wayne Fontana’s inferior cover. But the Chicago native, who sadly died more than 20 years ago, was considerably more successful in his US homeland, racking up no fewer than 15 pop and R&B hits while signed to Columbia’s Okeh label, all of which are among the 45 recordings here which comprehensively cover his four-year tenure at the label. The title track of the album, ironically, is not one of the chart hits but is one of several cuts on the collection that achieved massive later popularity on the Northern Soul circuit.
UNSIGNED ARTIST? WANT TO REACH RECORD LABELS? TRY MUSIC WEEK PRESENTS...
Advertise in Music Week Presents and reach key people in:
A&R Publishing Artist Management Live music agents and promoters Contact Alex Goddard, 020 3871 7382,
agoddard@nbmedia.com
MUSIC Week
MAY 01 35
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
