Been some time since I finished a top 10 Canadian list, though I’ve got a few years started….1978 was a good year! If there’s any glaring omissions (in your opinion), please leave it in the comments!
APRIL WINE – First Glance
The first April Wine album to feature guitarist Brian Greenway and the start of the band’s most commercially successful era. Featured the breakthrough US radio hit “Roller”, as well as “Coming Right Down On Top of Me”, “Rock n Roll Is A Vicious Game”, and dark heavy cut “Silver Dollar”. Arguably the band’s best album.
RUSH – Hemispheres
The band’s 6th studio album, released in October of that year, featured the classic “The Trees”, as well as epic “La Villa Strangiato”.. The last to feature such lengthy conceptual tracks.
SAGA – Saga
The debut from Toronto’s SAGA (or, Oakville), a band with rock, pop and more so prog influences. It is the first half dozen albums that make up the band’s classic period for me, with Saga featuring such songs as “How Long” & “Humble Stance” (both featured on the live ‘In Transit‘ album a few years later), as well as favorites “Will it Be You”, “Perfectionist” and ‘Tired World”. Classic album and album cover!
FM – Black Noise
Originally released in early 1978 by the CBC, in limited edition vinyl. Black Noise would go on to become a progressive rock classic. It was rereleased later the same year via Passport (Canada), and eventually on CD in 1994 – where the original trio of Cameron Hawkins, Martin Deller and Nash the Slash undertook a mini-tour in Ontario to promote it’s release. I saw 2 of these shows, got the CD & poster signed. A must-hear album featuring the hot “Phasors On Stun” (Star Trek Reference), “One O’clock Tomorrow”, “Journey”, and the title track. Amazing stuff!
STREETHEART – Meanwhile Back In Paris
The Regina, Saskatchewan band’s debut album, released in May (or June?) . Fronted by legendary Kenny Shields (RIP), and originally featuring guitarist Paul Dean & drummer Matt Frenette, along with bass player Ken ‘Spider’ Sinnaeve, and Daryl Gutheil on keys. This features the classic “Action”, as well as favorites “Move on Over”, “Pressure” and “Look At Me”. Dean left before the 2nd album and was soon joined by Frenette to form Loverboy. Sinnaeve, who’s played with numerous Canadian acts would also later join Loverboy. Meanwhile Back In Paris would go platinum in Canada. Paul Dean would record a new version of “Action” for his first solo album in 1989.
GODDO – Who Cares?
Released very early in the year, this Toronto trio’s 2nd album was a fine follow up to their excellent debut. Featured classics like “Tough Times”, “Sweet Thing”, “Oh Carole (Kiss My Whip)” and closing epic “Too Much Carousing”. The 1994 reissue of this added a half hour of outtakes.
TEAZE- On The Loose
Windsor, Ontario’s TEAZE’ 2nd album, and full of party rockers, anthems, and a few ballads. Includes opener “Gonna Have A Good Time Tonight”, plus rockers like “Ready To Move”, “On The Loose”, and ‘Never Again’, as well as ballads “Stay Here” and (country influenced) “Sweet Misery”.
TROOPER – Thick As Thieves
Released in June. Thick As Thieves was the last Trooper album produced by Randy Bachman. Best known for featuring their trademark hit “Raise A Little Hell”. Kind of a middle of the road rock album, with the only other real rocker being favorite “Gambler”. It also featured 2 further singles, both sung by keyboard player Frank Ludwig – “The Moment That It Takes” and the excellent “Round, Round We Go”.
PRISM – See Forever Eyes
The 2nd album from Vancouver’s PRISM. This one released in June saw a few line up changes, and featured 4 singles, notably “Flyin” and “Take Me Away”, both from new guitarist Alan Harlow. One of the band’s best!
MOXY – Under The Lights
The 4th and final Moxy studio album. This one featuring the vocals of Mike Rynowski (aka Reno). A decent album, tho’ different from the previous ones. Reno, of course, went on to huge success with Loverboy, and Under The Lights would be reissued as Thinking About You (with just Reno on the cover). Earl Johnson has more recently put together a new version of Moxy…I wonder if they perform anything from this album(?)
*Other albums from ’78 that I either didn’t make my top 10, and in a few cases I don’t have – WALTER ROSSI – 6 Strings, 9 Lives, ZON – Astral Projector, BOB SEGARINI – Gotta Have Pop, BTO – Street Action (1 of 2 featuring the late Jim Clench instead of Randy B), CHILLIWACK – Lights From The Valley, THE GUESS WHO – Guess Who’s Back (post Burton Cummings, hmm), RANDY BACHMAN – Survivor, BILLY WORKMAN – Billy Workman (this is one I am looking for, if anyone has it….), EDEN – Eden (interesting prog album, does anyone have this?), AERIAL – In The Middle Of The Night (interesting sounding band from Saskatchewan, w/ Hugh Syme cover design) , FOSTERCHILD – Troubled Child
Black Sabbath was one of my early favorite bands, with a few of those early albums being the first I ever owned. I remember buying 4 of the first 5 albums for 50 cents each from a school mate’s older brother (along with Kiss Alive), when I was maybe 11. So I played these albums like crazy back then. The original Black Sabbath had such a unique sound between Tony Iommi’s riffs – which songs were almost always based around, Geezer Butler’s huge bass sound that usually doubled up the guitar, Ozzy’s distinctive vocals – the guy may not have been the greatest singer, but NOBODY sounded remotely like him, and then Bill Ward’s jazz influenced drum style, and (again) no other drummer sounded like Bill, especially on those early albums. And songs were not simply based on one riff, Sabbath had the ability to make things so much more interesting and epic, often with big changes in tempo or direction mid-song, sometimes multiple times in the same song, with totally different styles and new riffs. The band recorded 8 albums throughout the ’70s, with Paranoid being their biggest one, which featured “Paranoid”, as well as classics “War Pigs” and “Iron Man”. Over the years tho’ some of those songs have been played to death, so it was a no-brainer for me to not include them all here. Sabbath had some interesting, some scary, and some bad album covers back then. I gotta say it was Ozzy’s Speak Of The Devil 2LP live set that was a huge deal for me as well. Although it wasn’t Black Sabbath, he did do a pretty thorough set of Sabbath classics, and it would be the first time for me hearing tracks from a few Sabbath albums I didn’t have (like Never Say Die and Sabotage). Despite the band’s first few being hailed as their best, I have more of an attachment to a few of those later albums. By the time time I had those early Sabbath albums in my new collection, at a young age, this original line-up was well over, but I was happy to have seen the band (minus Bill Ward in 2015).
So, leaving my own picks for Black Sabbath’s best below, plus my album ranking below.
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
2. You Won’t Change Me
From Technical Ecstasy, tho I’m sure ranks low among Sabbath ’70s fans, I like most of it. The added use of keyboards (courtesy of Gezz Woodruffe) on various tracks adds a lot of color and feel to songs here without necessarily losing any heaviness. Love the organ riff throughout this one, the piano in the mix, and Iommi’s guitar sound and solo.
3. Hole In The Sky
Sabotage has a few killer rockers, kinda more hard-rocking, faster, and less doomy. This one being my favorite here, with the band just jumping right into that big sounding riff & beat. Just my opinion, but I think Ozzy sounds at his best on this album and the next one (Technical Ecstasy).
4. Sweet Leaf
Following the coughing, a classic riff kicks off the band’s 3rd album Master Of Reality. Well written and produced, Huge sound on this album. This one never gets old.
5. N.I.B.
From the band’s debut. Sabbath had such a sound early on that no one else came close to. Such a distinctive bass intro, followed by the riff, just classic.
6. Snowblind
Volume 4 seemed to be the band’s doomiest record (IMO), slower paced and very dark musically and lyrically. This track, about cocaine, is my favorite here.
7. Back Street Kids
Another from Technical Ecstasy. A great opener. Love how this one chugs along, slightly brighter sounding, killer guitar solo, and then it all comes to quick close.
12. Symptom Of The Universe
Another from Sabotage, (again) with the band just getting right into it, like the beginning of thrash metal. Interesting change of direction 3 quarters of the way through tho’, like back to a bit of a hippy tune.
8. Junior’s Eyes
From the last album with Ozzy. Again, the band trying something different, tho (for me) it doesn’t all work here, but this one stands out.
10. War Pigs
The first song off the band’s massive 2nd album, Paranoid. This one being slow, dark, and crushingly heavy for the time with that sound based around Tony Iommi’s riff. Kinda like a follow up to the band’s self titled opener from the debut.
11. Dirty Women
Another great track from Technical Ecstasy. Just dig the big sound on this, Ozzy’s vocals, especially after the break and things pick up, followed by Iommi’s lengthy soloing as the song plays out, just epic.
12. Thrill Of It All
Another riff driven rocker from Sabotage. Dig how the track picks up, keyboards in the mix, and Ozzy sounding at his best on this album. “Oh yeah – Oh Yeah!”
13. Children Of The Grave
From Master Of Reality, just a cool riff and with Bill Ward’s drums, sound like this song marches along, which suits the lyrics, I guess.
14. The Wizard
That first Sabbath album had some outstanding and different things going, including this with Ozzy’s harmonica intro, followed by a classic heavy song.
15. Megalomania
Over 9 and a half minutes of epic Sabbath. Bill Ward kills it here, along with Ozzy’s performance being a highlight here,
16. Sabbra Cadabra
From Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Quick and catchy riff opening this one. Love the change of pace mid way through with the addition of Rick Wakeman on keyboards. I had a tough time picking another from this album, aside from this, “Killing Yourself To Live” and “A National Acrobat” are favorites here.
17. Electric Funeral
Preferring the non-hits from Paranoid, this slower doomy number, with (as always) Iommi’s riff being the main focus, and with a cool mid-song change in direction before coming back to the riff. Ozzy’s delivers the song’s sinister lyrics so fitting.
18. Supernaut
Love the continual riff going here, along with Ozzy’s vocals and Bill Ward bashing it out all the way through.
19. After Forever
The 2nd track from Master Of Reality. Lots of classic songs here, such as “Into The Void” and “Lord Of This World”, but I always dug this one. Religious lyrics, posing questions.
20. Johnny Blade
Strange – synthesizers opening a Sabbath song, instead of a big riff. But another favorite from Never Say Die. Excellent, but very different, as the band seemed to be looking for new ideas near the end of the ’70s.
Next up: Never Say Die, Gypsy, Black Sabbath, Wheels Of Confusion, A National Acrobta.
BLACK SABBATH 70s ALBUM RANKING
There’s been times where any Sabbath album from this era has been my favorite, even briefly, but my first choice has always been at the top. This is MY own ranking, based on what I like and listen to most these days, and get that (like many of us), this could change drastically next year.
Master of Reality – to me, just the most solid Sabbath album track to track. On other Sabbath albums of the 70s, there always seems to be something I either can’t get in to or just doesn’t fit. Plus, that huge sound going here with Tony’s guitar from “Sweet Leaf” right through to “Into The Void”.
Technical Ecstasy
This album always ranks low amongst the Sabbath 70’s albums, but I really like it. I like the production, the keyboards used without taking away from the weight of the Sabbath sound, and Ozzy sounds great here. I love most of this, even don’t mind the Bill Ward ballad (though I have no idea why a band with such a distinctive lead singer would have someone else sing such an oddity on album). Lyrically, a bit less doomy, and almost more rebellious at times, with songs like “You Won’t Change Me”, “Back Street Kid”; plus “Gypsy” and “All Moving Parts (Stand Still)”.
Sabotage
Love Sabotage for the big 3 kick ass rockers here, being “Symptom Of The Universe”, “Thrill Of It All”, and “Hole In The Sky”, plus the epic “Megalomania”. A few things on side 2 tho I’ve just never gotten in to, but maybe one day.
Volume 4
This album has a lot going on, just thinking about it. A fairly dark album, musically and lyrically, but so much good stuff from “Wheels Of Confusion”, “Snowblind”, “Supernaut”, “St Vitus Dance”…. I can do without “Changes” though.
Black Sabbath
I remember getting this and hearing this when i was like 10 or 11, and it being so heavy, dark, almost scary (especially the song “Black Sabbath”). Kinda not right that I’ve got it so far down my list, but I’d heard it so much, and a few things I never got into. Years later I would get the first Lucifer’s Friend album, an interesting comparison, but no one sounded as evil as Black Sabbath did on this debut.
Paranoid
The band’s 2nd and commercial break through, due to “Paranoid” becoming a hit single. A bit more consistent than the debut, IMO, and though I love this album, I don’t know if I ever need to hear “Paranoid” or “Iron Man” again.
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Bringing this album home at such a young age, I think I kept it a bit hidden due to the cover, not wanting to answer any questions. But the lead off title track just blew me away, still my favorite 70s Sabbath track. I remember getting Speak Of The Devil (and subsequent Sabbath reunion live albums), and being disappointed that Ozzy didn’t sing the song in full…if at all on some). But, kind of a grey sound to this album beyond that, though there is a number of excellent tracks – “A National Acrobat”, Killing Yourself To Live”, “Sabbra Cadabra”, and I always liked “Fluff”, an odd instrumental ballad.
Never Say Die
I think I heard the song “Never Say Die” on Speak Of The Devil first, and then finally getting this album, and wondering why it sounds almost sloppy or something. But I did really dig this album for a brief period with songs like “Johnny Blade”, “Junior’s Eyes”, “Shock Wave” and even the jazzy “Air Dance”, but not a fan of a few things (sax on Sabbath album!?), and the overall sound of this record.
British artist Terry Pastor contributed to a number of album covers in the ’70s, 80s, and still does on occasion. Although album cover art was not his only thing going, Pastor did work on iconic covers by David Bowie, as well as a couple of classic SWEET covers he illustrated, which sparked my interest.
In our conversation below Terry talks ab out his contributions to the covers for SWEET’s ‘Off The Record’ and ‘Level Headed’ albums, as well as David Bowie’s ‘Hunky Dory’ and ‘Ziggy Stardust’. Terry also shares stories on a few other covers he worked on, as well as aspects of his career. Beyond the interview I’ve added in more images of album covers by Terry, as well as additional notes, and links to websites featuring Terry and his work.
I want to talk about how you first got into the whole art thing, as far as what led to getting into album covers and the music stuff.
When I was at school, I just always liked drawing and stuff, and I suppose I was always an artist, so there was that. When it came to record covers, I suppose maybe at the time, in the late 60s and 70s, most record covers were sort of artwork rather than typo or photographs. So, that sort of work suited my style, really.
I think with things like the SWEET covers, I didn’t have really too much to do with the input, because if I remember rightly, there was a junior engineer, that was working on producing both the Sweet LPs that I did the covers for, and basically it was his idea in both cases. He just came to me and said, “oh, I just want this idea painted”. So, I didn’t have a lot of input, in a sense, with either of those covers when it came to the idea. Maybe the way they came eventually about was mine, but the initial idea wasn’t mine at all. It was this engineer chap.
Was it Norman Goodman?
It rings a bell, yes. I think he was quite a young guy. I don’t think he was the major engineer. I think he was the junior engineer, or whatever there.
So, he gave you the idea and you kind of had to go with that?
Yes. He came up with what he wanted and then I sort of tried to make it work. I remember things like the stylus, the needle on the actual pick-up arm, that was meant to be a coke spoon, so it was like a drug reference, which was very sort of predominant at that period. Drugs and musicians seemed to be quite a thing then.
It’s a very detailed, very bright cover. Obviously going over to the back, so it’s one continuous thing.
When it came to doing the second cover, because they’d obviously been pleased with the first one, and he came to me again with this idea of having this – basically like an electric guitar, but where the pick-ups were on the top of the guitar, it was like a cassette player sort of mechanism there. So, it was like a cassette player, built into the guitar in between the pick-ups. That was the idea of it, I guess.
Yeah, it’s interesting because obviously there was a couple of different covers, but you can see the similarities between this one and Off The Record. Did you have any contact with the band, other than the engineer?
No, I didn’t hear two words, sadly. I do remember thinking that, I had a couple of their LPs given to me to get an idea about what they were about, but I knew they were sort of very commercial stuff, that was on Top Of The Pops and all that stuff, but I remember thinking that the guitarist was sort of like, not wasted on the band, but he was certainly a lot better than really the music they were doing. He was capable of more stuff, I always felt. He was an interesting guitarist, and I just felt he could have done other things. I’m not knocking the band, not at all, but I just felt that he was wasted on just that commercial stuff. He could have done better stuff than that. Maybe he has as well, I don’t know. I haven’t followed his career particularly, but…
He still runs the band. He’s the only guy left.
Is he!? Well, I think that whole thing, the age I was then, and I suppose having grown up, even as a school kid in the 50s, my music was really more sort of Little Richard and Eddie Cochran and all that…Chuck Berry, that sort of stuff. I already had sort of predetermined taste in music, and when it came to the glam rock thing, I didn’t really like it very much. It was not my scene at all, but everything has its use and its purpose, and it fits into, what society was expecting at that time. I understand that, but it wasn’t really my taste particularly. It’s the same thing happened to me when I was that much older again, when punk happened with the Sex Pistols, et cetera. I just thought, ‘Well, I sort of seen this with the Rolling Stones’. It was the same sort of deal, but suddenly they were public enemy number one, which the Rolling Stones were back in the 60s.
So, it wasn’t really anything new for me, and I didn’t really get what all the fuss was about, but then again, I was that much older, and not that easily turned on as maybe an impressionable sort of like 15-year-old would have been.
One thing about the Level Headed cover… The guitar on the inside, the blue guitar?
I think it was, was it a Gibson Firebird, was it!? It’s all hand airbrushed.
Did that come from, did somebody give you a picture of a guitar, or…
They wanted it to be a Gibson Firebird, I think, and that’s probably why I chose that guitar. I probably had some sort of photographic reference initially, and then from there, I just did the thing with the cassette, being pushed in between the pickups, etc.
Now you also did some Bowie stuff, Ziggy Stardust, a lot of that stuff was pretty out there at the time.
Yeah, I did Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust, which were interesting covers. Not really my scene at the time, because they were just colored up, airbrushed, retouched, and colored photographs, which I didn’t normally do. I also designed the covers choosing the typography which I designed and hand colored with the airbrush. They worked out very well.
I did the Hunky Dory one first, and I think because David liked it, he just wanted the same treatment done for Ziggy Stardust. And in fact, at that time he didn’t really have a great deal of input into the covers, in the sense of, he phoned me one evening when I was working on Ziggy, at my studio, and wanted to know how it was going. And I said, ‘well, I’ve finished the front, and I was working on the back cover,’ and he said, ‘Oh, is there something on the back?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it’s you in the phone box’. And he said, ‘Oh I can’t wait to see that. I didn’t know if we were going to use that’. So obviously, I think the management were driving it rather than he was at that stage. I guess maybe when he became much more established, probably had more input into how covers were to be done.
Well, he was very visual, right?
Yes.
I saw that you had a picture of Trevor Bolder at your website as well.
Okay, Sadly, since that thing at the Blue Plaque unveiling in Heddon Street, London, I think it was only about a year later, he died, which was very sad.
Looking through your covers, and the one cover I do like, it’s kind of a rare album, is the Three Man Army album.
Yeah, I sort of like it. I could do a lot better now. It was one of the first covers I’d ever done. And the interesting connection there was that when I did that cover, I was involved, to some extent, with a record producer called Shel Talmy.
I don’t know if you’ve heard of him. (Yeah), he did the Kinks stuff, and the Who, and a lot of stuff like that in the UK in the 60s. I was sort of working, not with him – but under him, with his sort of organisation. And that cover came about via Shel Talmy and his PR guy. So that’s how that happened, at that time.
Was he associated with that album? Because I don’t see his name on the credits anymore.
No, I don’t think Shel Talmy himself was involved in the production of it, but I think his production company had something to do with the fact that I did that cover, was because they were obviously maybe managing them, or they had some involvement, anyway, with the band, but maybe not with recording them… But I don’t remember too much. That was a long time ago now. This was 1971.
You’ve done a lot of covers in the 70s and beyond that. What stands out for you? Aside from the iconic ones that people remember the most, what were sort of the ones that you had the most input in, or most unhappy with?
I did a cover for a band called Byzantium that were going around about 1971, maybe, 72… And that included Chas Jankel, he was later in Ian Drury and the Blockheads; it was his first band he was in. The connection there, interestingly with Bowie, is that I’d just finished the artwork for this Byzantium cover, and it was on my desk in my studio in Covent Garden, and David dropped in for a cup of tea, and he said, ‘Oh, I really love that cover, I love S&M”, because it was these sort of hands in black leather mittens. And he was quite into the, let’s say, the masochist sort of image. It was interesting that he saw that cover before the band did. So, he’s consolation for them.
The other thing that was rather sort of typical of the rock and roll business was that one of the band members said, ‘Oh, we’re having our first gig to promote the LP next Friday (or whatever). Come along’. So, I went along to the gig and went backstage before they went on into the dressing room, and they had this incredible argument, and they all walked off in different directions, never went on stage, and the band just disbanded before even doing promotion for the LP at all!
Wow!
Which was rather typical at that time, really.
That’s quite a story. Geez.
You hear so many stories about musicians not getting on. I remember a quote from George Harrison when he was friends with Eric Clapton when he was in Cream, and he went backstage before a concert. There was an incredible argument, and George Harrison said, ‘I’m glad I’m not in this band’. So, you can imagine that there was some bad feeling going on there between the members, and that seemed to be the case a lot of the time with groups.
I suppose the thing is, it’s a bit like you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose people you work with.
Have you been a part of any books or anything as far as a lot of these bands that have had books on them, like Bowie, The Sweet, and various others? Have you contributed to any of those?
Plenty of books not about the Sweet though, but particularly about Bowie and another that comes to mind is the Status Quo Rocking around the World, who published the book with the Princes Trust Charity. I did it because one of the Quo members is Andy Bown who is a great friend of mine and my son was helped by the Princes Trust Charity to start his career in music.
Occasionally I’ve been asked if there are prints available of their covers, which there are. Unfortunately, I never got the artwork back, so I don’t know what happened to that. I guess it’s in someone’s studio wall somewhere. That happens a lot with them. Probably if I sort of looked at my artwork through the years, which is hundreds and hundreds of things all together, I hardly had anything given back. It all just disappeared. That happened with both the Bowie covers I did. I never saw them again, so I don’t know what happened to them.
I know that I was at Bowie’s exhibition at the Victoria Albert Museum when that was on, and interestingly, I didn’t see any of my original artwork there at all. There was other artwork there, but not mine, so I don’t know if they’d chose not to put it in the show or if they didn’t have them either. But I do remember one thing. It was reported to be, it said it was the original artwork for Hunky Dory, but it wasn’t. It was some sort of copy that was very badly done. So that was interesting that it was supposed to be my artwork, but it wasn’t. I didn’t say anything. I just kept quiet. I didn’t want to cause waves, but I did say to my wife at that time, ‘Look, it’s saying I did this, and it’s not mine.’ So, I don’t know who did it, but anyway, there we are.
When you submitted things back then as art, that was kind of the end of it!?
No, generally, with record covers, there was never a problem with coming back for alterations. Sometimes with advertising, where they always wanted things altered, but with all the covers I’ve ever done, never had any bad feedback. I remember particularly taking the artwork for Ziggy Stardust to David’s manager, Tony Defries. I remember taking it to his offices in the West End and just giving him the artwork, and I said to him, ‘Oh, when am I going to get paid?’ And he said to his colleague, ‘You hold him and I’ll hit him, which is typical, so they didn’t really mean it, but it was that sort of rock and roll manager thing, never ask for money. But I did get paid; they paid me ok, so that was fine.
I don’t think I was paid very much for doing it. Probably a couple hundred pounds, but then, I think 200 pounds then is probably equivalent to about 3,000 pounds now…. So maybe I wasn’t too badly paid.
In retrospect, I think because all those album covers have become so iconic that the bands and that have made more on them through selling T-shirts and posters and everything else.
Yes, absolutely. I publish my own fine art prints of David Bowie which are very popular. Interestingly, when he died, the first year after he died, the amount of prints I sold was phenomenal. The minute someone dies, you don’t know what you’ve missed until it’s gone sort of thing. And people go crazy. I remember the day he died, that morning I was in bed about 8 o’clock in the morning and I just said to my wife, I’ll get up in a minute, and then the phone rang. and they said ‘Are you watching TV?’ And just as we switched it on, there was this thing coming up about David Bowie having died. And we said, oh, what’s happening here!? And then as we were watching this, the phone rang. It’s always when, you know, TV companies want to come and interview me. I thought I was going to have a quiet day, but it was like a mad day in the end. It’s bizarre, you know!?
Yeah, it’s a shame because obviously nowadays when people die, their albums and their worth gets ridiculous as far as, trying to go find something.
Well, I guess it’s the day that Brian Wilson has died. And it’s interesting the amount of people that are really sort of like, big hitters in the rock-pop business are all sort of saying he was like this genius, you know!? Which was nice, that he’s had that sort of accolade. Paul McCartney particularly has said that he was probably one of the greatest songwriters ever.
Now, you only did the one Beach Boys cover, right!?
I did, which was a terrible, terrible cover. Again, that was because, and I’m not saying it wasn’t my fault, but it was done through an advertising agency, and they wanted me to do this cover, and it wasn’t my idea, and I didn’t want to do it the way they wanted it. And the way it worked out just didn’t really work. There were two art directors in fact, and they both wanted it a certain way and I didn’t want to do it that way, so it ended up a bit of a mess. I mean, they could use it, which I was surprised about because it could have been better. But there we are, that’s the way it goes.
The Camel cover you did is kind of futuristic, with the robotic hand they’re pointing out to the record, obviously.
Yes, a very simplistic sort of cover, really. It could have been more. Another band I did a record cover for, who were quite a big band at the time was Soft Machine. It was a weird thing, like that sort of fleshy – pieces of flesh with metal rods going into them and stuff. And it was a mixture of machinery. I think it was Soft Machine 8. But again, I didn’t have much involvement with the band. They wanted me to do this cover; it was quite successful, I guess.
It sounds like I’ve done a lot of album covers. I haven’t really. I’ve done a few, but it certainly wasn’t my main source of work through the years at all.
You do books and what else?
Lots and lots of advertising work, which, I did because it paid a lot of money but I don’t particularly want to relate my name to the stuff because it was pretty crappy stuff and they paid well. I enjoyed record covers very much and I enjoyed book jackets. And a lot of double-page spreads for girlie mags and stuff like that, which was popular then and a good source of work.
But the advertising was where the money was. I mean, if you did a book jacket, maybe £300, £400, the equivalent amount of work in advertising would be £2,000. So, there’s a big, big difference in income. I was basically a hard-nosed commercial artist really, I guess at that time. Not so much now than I was then.
Do you still do album covers? You still working?
I have never stopped working, one of the most recent record albums I was commissioned to do was to provide the colored artwork for Arcade Fire, a most famous Canadian Indie Rock band who are absolutely huge in America who rang me out of the blue because they loved the hand airbrushing technique that I used on the Bowie record sleeves, plus I do collaborative work with great photographers like Mick Rock, Formento and Formento and Scarlet Page (Jimmy Page’s daughter).
Actually, the last actual cover I did was really for a CD cover. It was for a singer-songwriter called James Passey. I don’t know if you know him. He’s a folk-y sort of singer really. But that’s the last cover I did about a year or two ago. I also did a cover, actually I really liked the cover for a guy called Ginger Wildheart but he’s a bit sort of like below the radar, sort of guy. He was in a band called The Wild Hearts, but I think they were a bit underground really. I don’t know too much about them. I met him, lovely guy, very nice guy. The music’s a bit sort of not at all commercial, so you may not have heard of him really.
What else do you have on the go? Do you foresee yourself putting in your artwork?
Well, I really just do my own work now. Just my own sort of art prints and original artwork. But mostly art prints and publishing my own stuff. I get offered commissions, but don’t chase work. actually.
Additionally (some post-interview notes, adds, and links):
Some Interesting covers that were not used! (see below for explanations from Terry)
The Rolling Stones. Painted this in 1964.I was seventeen and a big Stones fan. Sent this to Decca records .They sent it back without any note or comment!
Carl Palmer cover: Although Carl came to my studio and liked the painting it was not used. Don’t know if he actually had a record released under his name or not? This would have been around 1976.
Andy Bown cover was never used. Although Andy wanted this image was his idea, the record company elected for a head shot of Andy instead. Around 2011.
Books featuring Terry Pastor’s work –
Status Quo: ‘Pictures, Forty Years of Hits‘.
‘Designed by Peter Saville‘. In conjunction with The Design Museum London. 2003
Lots of books on David Bowie, too many too mention.
There is a brand new video from BADFINGER’s HeadFirst, which was officially released (CD & vinyl) nearly 50 years after its recording.
“Keep Believing”, another classic Pete Ham cut, follow video releases for “Moonshine”, featuring Tom Evans & Bob Jackson sharing lead vocals, and the Mike Gibbins ballad “Back Again”.
One of the best (well, my favorite) and most surprising recent releases. Check it out if you haven’t!
The BOLTON IRON MAIDEN released 2 CDs years back, comprising of their studio & live tracks made back in the early-mid 70s, back before another band used the name and went on to become one of the biggest bands in Heavy Metal. BIM, then just known as ‘Iron Maiden’, were the 2nd British band to use the name at the time (before Steve Harris came along). Now from the band’s recordings comes a very limited vinyl release of their music, just 7 tracks, with a new cover (to the CDs). Check it out. And check out my previous features on the band, including an interview with Paul TJ O’Neill!
*Available on black vinyl (+ special edition) and colored vinyl.
Details:
Active between 1970 and 1976, the Bolton Iron Maiden (originally known as Birth and then Iron Maiden) was a psychedelic hard-rock band formed in Bolton by Ian Boulton-Smith (Beak) on lead guitar, Derek George Austin on bass and Paul TJ O’Neill on drums / vocals.
Influenced by contemporaries like Led Zeppelin, Cream, Free, Groundhogs or Andromeda, their music blended blues, hard rock, and progressive elements.
They soon built a strong reputation supporting acts such as UFO, Bedlam (with Cozy Powell), Caravan, Thin Lizzy…
In 1976, the band disbanded following the death of guitarist Ian Boulton-Smith from cancer.
In 2005, Paul O’Neill revived interest in BIM by releasing two albums, “Maiden Flight” and “Boulton Rides Again”, which compiled studio and live recordings. The proceeds from these albums were donated to Cancer Research and Macmillan Cancer Support. With the blessing of the more famous Iron Maiden and their manager Rod Smallwood, the band adopted the name “The Bolton Iron Maiden” to avoid confusion.
For the first time on vinyl, “Maiden Flight” collects their previously unreleased studio recordings from 1972 plus raw as live tracks circa 1975.
Insert with detailed liner notes and rare photos / memorabilia. Download card with extra (live) bonus tracks.
Andrew Barnum has worked on a number of different album covers over his career, and more recently having been checking out KANSAS’ 80s records, I wanted to find out more about 1982’s Vinyl Confessions. It was an album that saw a few changes for the band – singer, sound, and cover art! A very different cover than the band’s previous ones. Andrew gives us some great insight to the Vinyl Confessions artwork and period of the band, as well as a bit about other aspects of his career and covers he’s done. *Check out the links at the end, and the galleries of Andrew’s work.
How did working on the Kansas cover come about? Had you done many album covers prior to this? How did you get involved? And were you familiar with the band?
As an American born Australian, I returned to the USA from Sydney in 1977 as a freelance graphic designer, and aspiring singer-songwriter. Designing by day, performing music by night. After freelancing for 3 years, I landed a real job at a company called Print, Film and Tape in Burbank (Movies, Music, Arts) that lasted a year, which led to joining Tom Drennon. I can’t remember how it happened; Tom was all music business design work, from covers, to promo campaigns, and tour identity collateral. Here’s Tom’s covers: https://bit.ly/4mp2Gpw . I’d only done a few of album covers as a freelancer both by saxophonist John Klemmer (Brazilia, Straight to the heart) and jazz singer Jon Lucien. By 1980 I’d met my soulmate, art director, and music partner Lissa Mendelsohn and formed our post-punk band ‘Live Nude Girl.’ Our freelance designing was with Macy Lipman Music Marketing, and Larry Vallon Concert Promotions. I was familiar with Kansas by reputation only, and that Tom had done numerous covers for the band, and other Epic Records artists.
Can you explain the whole idea behind the cover, your contributions, how it was all put together?
This album was a monumental change for the band because a change of lead singer. Tom recounted after the concept meeting at the studio, that the band felt under intense scrutiny because of the line-up change, under a microscope so to speak. Tom’s key image idea was the interrogation chair. That began the process of designing a package that was looking at the band in minute detail during this re-invention. Hence the stripped back blue-print imagery. The design was also influenced by the 80s post-modern design shift that had begun in LA. The new cover was breaking with the past Kansas tradition of earthy, painted imagery. This was achieved by both the chair photo, and the striking B&W band photo, and primary colours in the logotype, and band names on the photo. Pre-digital, all the assets were hand drawn, typeset, and composed on full size paste-up boards.
Can you explain your technique used for this cover?
Drawn, or re-touched B&W bromide film elements (typesetting, image) pasted in position for CMYK print film colour separations. Very standard pre-digital print production. An assembly of visual assets.
Did you also happen to do the lettering on the front cover? Any idea why the band’s logo (on all previous album covers) was not used?
The logo brief was to create something new for Kansas, while creating continuity with their classic forms on previous covers. This led to researching typefaces in the trusty (copyright free) reference of the time, Dover books. We found ‘the sixteenth-century German artist Albrecht Durer’s instructional treatise on the geometric construction of Roman capitals, with precise directions for each letter and general directions for Gothic capitals and miniscules, Of the Just Shaping of Lettersby Albrecht Dürer.’ (Google books) The roman titling we found which contained both capital and lowercase outlines served the purpose of detail, scrutiny, and classicism. We added the bright colour set within the letter forms.
Was Kansas a band you listened to? Any recall listening to this album?
Not really on our post-punk radar at the time. But fully aware of their impressive stature and sales.
Did you do any other album covers beyond Vinyl Confessions? And what do you do now?
(Well, since then, in the art world) After Lissa and I were married in LA in 1981, all roads started leading back to Sydney after a honeymoon trip, we reconnected with design and music in Sydney which led to a new freelance life as A&L Barnum Design, and our ‘Live Nude Girl’ demos being heard by local producer Mark Moffat at Festival Records. By easter 1982 we’d sold up our chattels, and moved to Sydney. Again, design by day, and music by night, sometimes vice-versa.And a new band name for our new duo ‘Vitabeats.’We’ve designed covers for Inxs, Eurogliders, Redgum, Anne Kirkpatrick, Mary Jo Starr, Mark Callaghan (Gangajang) and Java Quartet. And Vitabeats and my 8 solo albums (see atbarnum.bandcamp). We are both exhibiting artists. Mexico City born Lissa’s Aus-Mex paintings, and my more conceptual minimalist works. barnumgroup.biz/art
Have you ever seen the Uriah Heep album cover for ‘Equator’ (1985)? (check it out)
I note the similarity to ‘Confessions.’ Also a progressive hard rock band re-defining itself with graphic impact for the mid 80s. The image looks a slice through the earth at the equator. Global warning anyone?
Another STEVE HACKETT live album. I haven’t picked up the last one yet, but love all these releases revisiting his GENESIS years. But, is there any Genesis albums left for him to do? Check out the press release, video, and track-listing below.
Steve Hackett proudly presents ‘The Lamb Stands Up Live At The Royal Albert Hall’, a stunning audio/visual document of his show at the iconic London venue in October 2024, set for release on the 11th July 2025. Watch the band performing ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’ below:
Steve and his live band celebrate the 50th anniversary of the legendary Genesis concept album ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’, with a selection of his favourite tracks from that album including ‘Fly On A Windshield’ & ‘Lilywhite Lilith’. The live set also includes other Genesis & solo classics, including music from his most recent acclaimed album ‘The Circus And The Nightwhale’. This special evening saw the band joined by guests including Ray Wilson, Steve Rothery, Amanda Lehmann & John Hackett. Steve comments: “I was so happy to revisit the Lamb on tour. The Royal Albert Hall evening was particularly memorable. It is my favourite London venue and the atmosphere there that night was absolutely electric… I was really pleased that everyone in the band and the performing guests pulled it off with flying colours!”
Expertly mixed by Grammy-award winning engineer Chris Lord-Alge, and mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, the night was filmed by longtime collaborator Paul M Green, and is presented as Special Edition 2CD+Blu-ray Digipak which includes 5.1 Surround Sound & bonus interview content. The vinyl arrives as a deluxe 4LP 180g boxset, including 12-page LP-size booklet featuring photos from the evening. Pre-order now HERE.
Track-listing:
1. People of the Smoke 2. Circo Inferno 3. These Passing Clouds 4. The Devil’s Cathedral 5. Every Day 6. Hands Of the Priestess 7. A Tower Struck Down 8. Low Notes And High Hopes 9. Camino Royale 10. Shadow Of The Hierophant 11 .The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway 12. Fly On A Windshield 13. Broadway Melody Of 1974 14. Hairless Heart 15. Carpet Crawlers 16. The Chamber Of 32 Doors 17. Lilywhite Lilith18.The Lamia 19. It 20. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight 21. The Cinema Show 22. Aisle Of Plenty 23. Firth Of Fifth 24. Los Endos 25. An Interview with Steve Hackett
Steve Hackett & band are currently continuing their Genesis Greats, Lamb Highlight & Solo tour around Europe, before taking it to Japan in July, Italy in September & North America in October & November.
Earlier this year, Steve Hackett released ‘Live Magic At Trading Boundaries’, featuring live recordings from his annual acoustic shows at Trading Boundaries in the UK. Listen nowHERE.
Metalville Records is releasing another set of archive recordings from the SWEET. This one being alternate mixes and demos from the Level Headed album. This looks like a new issue of a Record Store Day release from a few years ago. It does include an interview with Brian Connolly, as well as a shortened take of “Love Is Like Oxygen”, with a different vocal take (ending before the instrumental). What I also like here is a few of the instrumental (demo/rehearsal) takes – “California Nights”, the heavy “Unused Idea”, and “Air On A Tape Loop”. This is an interesting and enjoyable listen, as Level Headed was the album that saw a change from the band’s more hard-rock sound of the previous few albums, but listening to this, there was a lot of ‘rock’ here. Sadly, the last album to feature front-man Brian Connolly. But what a run of classic albums in the 70s. A ‘must’ for Sweet fans.
Level Headed, originally released in January 1978, was without doubt the most distinctive album SWEET had ever produced up to that point. AllMusic praised the album in their retrospective review for its wild mix of styles and the band’s shift from their earlier bubblegum singles to album-orientated rock.
In many ways, it was a gamble for SWEET. On the one hand, it shows many facets of the band that were easily overlooked on earlier albums and, at the same time, for the first time, new & previously unheard aspects.
Level Headed gave SWEET their last Top Ten hit with the dreamy “Love Is Like Oxygen,” a single that would later prove to be essential in the band’s oeuvre.
The new release Level Headed Alternate Mixes & Demos on METALVILLE RECORDS is a real rarity in SWEET’s catalog. The album was previously only available as a strictly limited vinyl version in the USA and will now be released on CD worldwide for the first time.
Music Legends Strawbs To Release ‘Magic From the Moon’ On Blu-ray June 9, 2025
British music legends Strawbs will be releasing “Magic From the Moon” on Blu-ray on June 9, 2025. A spectacular acoustic and symphonic concert from the Strawbs 40th Anniversary Show, this release showcases the acoustic talents of the Strawbs. The set list covers many milestones over their long career with the Strawbs performing songs from their 1969 self-titled debut album to the Dancing to the Devil’s Beat album from 2009.Special guest Sonja Kristina joins the Strawbs for four of the songs, singing Sandy Denny’s parts. This unique concert also features the closing extravaganza with the legendary Robert Kirby, along with members of the Royal Artillery Orchestra. The full contingent of Electric Strawbs (Dave Cousins, Rod Coombes, Dave Lambert, Chas Cronk, John Ford and Oliver Wakeman) faithfully recreate some of the great classics in the Strawbs vast repertoire.The Blu-ray also features an interview with Robert Kirby. Kirby discusses “David’s brilliant attitude towards music”, his time in the Strawbs, and working for the band. Rehearsal footage of the conductor and the orchestra is also included.This unique show, including the performances which feature Sonja Kristina, has never been released on home video since the concert was performed in 2009. Having only been seen by those in attendance at the show, this release promises to be of great interest among Strawbs fans across the globe.
Set List: 1. Simple Visions (Deep Cuts, 1976) 2. Josephine for Better or for Worse (Dragonfly, 1970) 3. Copenhagen (Dancing to the Devil’s Beat, 2009) 4. Cold Steel (Deja Fou, 2004) 5. Sail Away to the Sea (Strawberry Music Sampler, 1969) 6. On My Way (All Our Own Work, 1973) 7. All I Need is You (Strawberry Music Sampler, 1969) 8. Tell Me What You See in Me (The Strawbs, 1969) 9. Evergreen (Baroque and Roll, 2001) 10. The River (Bursting at the Seams, 1973) 11. Down By the Sea (Bursting at the Seams, 1973) 12. Heavy Disguise (Grave New World, 1972) 13. Where Silent Shadows Fall (Dancing to the Devil’s Beat, 2009)
Wouter Bessels is a Dutch writer, sound engineer, producer, musician, and an archivist of some classic bands from The Netherlands. Heading the remasters and expanded versions of the GOLDEN EARRING catalogue, Bessels has recently put together the 50th Anniversary expanded edition of the Golden Earring classic album Switch. This was released April 25th on the Red Bullet label. The expanded version adds singles, B-sides, alternate takes and demos from the Switch recordings. Though the album didn’t match up in success to it’s predecessor Moontan, it is highly regarded among Golden Earring fans for it’s changes and chances it took to expand the band’s sounds. The single from the album “Kill Me (Ce Soir)” was a huge hit in Holland, but did not make much of an impact in North America. It does have the distinction of being one song from this album covered by another huge act – IRON MAIDEN, who covered it in 1990. Bessels is also well known for working on projects of FOCUS, JAN AKKERMAN, TANGERINE DREAM, PINK FLOYD, and numerous others.
In this interview Wouter discusses his some of the bands he’s worked with, Golden Earring’s Switch expanded edition, as well as some of Golden Earring other albums he’s worked for remastered reissues. Switch can be purchased easily from Amazon and other online shops.
I want to talk a bit about Switch and some of the other Golden Earring stuff you’ve done. When is its official release?
April 25th. Okay.
So I’m kind of curious, I looked into you through Discog, I looked at some of the other projects you’ve done, and I see you’re a bit younger than me, so you’re kind of archiving bands that neither of us grew up with, so to say, especially Golden Earring, they were kind of past their prime or in their prime at that time you were born. I follow a lot of that stuff and Uriah Heep and Deep Purple,…. I’m curious how you got into the whole business of going back and working on these older bands like Golden Earring, Jan Akkerman, and whoever else.
I grew up in the 80s. I’m from, I was born in 1977 and during the 80s, I was, at a very young age, I was already very much into music, rock music in particular. And Golden Earring were doing a comeback since 1982 when they released the Cut album.
And they also did two American tours in 82, and also Canada, by the way, in 83 and 84. And I still remember that very well. And when I was six or seven, I used to pick up video clips from Dutch TV and MTV was also starting to emerge in those years.
And during the late 80s, I expanded my taste a little bit more into, like you said, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, but also the electronic stuff mainly coming from Europe, like Tangerine Dream or Jean-Michel Jarre and Mike Oldfield and the German progressive stuff, like Kraftwerk and Neu and Can and Faust. I was very much into that at a very young age. And so I was like a sponge, I got all those different types of music into my taste.
And that’s how I got more into the music and the backgrounds. And I’m Jan Akkerman’s archivist since the mid 90s. And he’s a good friend of mine since then. And he still performs regularly. And so, when I was asked much later in 2016 to curate his box set featuring all his studio albums, 26 studio albums, 26 CDs, I got in touch with Willem van Kooten from Red Bullet label. And he also had the Earring back catalogue, and Shocking Blue and Focus. So that’s kind of kickstarted my role as a reissue producer. But beside that, I was also involved with Universal doing the Tangerine Dream box set. And I’ve been in touch with also with Esoteric Recordings from the United Kingdom, who regularly put out reissues by Dutch bands, but also other stuff. And Mark Powell and he’s also one of the consultants at Universal. So, he also did the Steve Hackett box set and the Tangerine Dream one and Camel and Caravan. And I’m very much and I’m not particularly into prog music, but it’s one area that I’m kind of specialized in and I’ve very much got into in the last 35 years or so. So, yeah, that’s basically it. And one of, I’m most proud of is that’s coming out on May the 2nd is the remix of Live in Pompeii by Pink Floyd, that’s been done by Steven Wilson. And I’ve suggested to him a few things for the new mix he’s done in Stereo 5.1 and Dolby Atmos. So, I’ll be attending the premiere in two weeks in London. So, I’m flying over there and it’s just 45 minutes flight from Amsterdam to London. I’m attending that. And he’s doing a Q&A with Nick Mason and David Gilmour is supposed to be there as well. So that’s going to be a very exciting evening. (Since then (…and it was indeed an exciting evening, as both Mason and Gilmour were there – and I’ve met them very briefly)
And I’m very glad that because Pink Floyd, when I was 10 or 11, Pink Floyd had their comeback. That was really my first love of serious rock music. And from the moment I discovered their music, I started to listen to music differently – more the space, the depth of the lyrics and the music, that really made a big impression, not only on me, but also on other people from the same age as I am. Because, as you say, I was kind of late in, I was born 20 years too late.
It’s funny, a lot of those bands you mentioned, a lot of the prog bands, aside from Pink Floyd, are very scarce over here. So, they’re very, obviously they’re highly collectible over here and hard to find. But you go to Europe and you still find these bands like Eloy and that that are still playing.
Yeah. Eloy and Grobschnitt. Have you heard of Grobschnitt?
I’ve heard of them. I don’t know anything of them.
But that’s about in the same league as Eloy. It’s very exciting, energetic German rock, prog rock. But on the more on the heavy side. Yeah, very interesting band.
So how did you get into Golden Earring? And if you can explain to me, because I know they are huge over there and probably up until they retired, they were probably the longest running band out there.
Well, Golden Earring is sort of a Dutch equivalent of the Rolling Stones, really. That’s what it is. I mean, the band’s got a very, very long history dating back to 1963, 1964, coming from The Hague, which still is kind of the Liverpool of the Netherlands. It’s really a rock city. There are a lot of musicians there. And the background also in The Hague, like with the Indonesian rock influences. So, there are a lot of rock and roll bands that are combining the Indonesian influences with like The Shadows, the guitar bands coming from Britain and also the blues stuff from USA and Canada. But the Earring is really, that’s why I grew up with them. When they performed in the 80s and in the 90s, I used to visit them twice or three times a year with my mother, who brought me along to their concerts – in theaters, and in big concert halls when they play for five, six thousand people, weekly in the Netherlands. And in theaters, they did more the acoustic shows like they released on albums like The Naked Truth in the early 90s, like they kind of their ‘unplugged’ album, one of their best-selling albums. And they’re international successes; they still rely on those who like “Radar Love” and “Twilight Zone”. Everybody outside of the Netherlands knows those, (mostly) hit singles in particular. So, the Earring are like one of – like with Focus and Shocking Blue, they are the most important export music products from the Netherlands. I grew up right in the middle, you know the Netherlands aren’t very large and they’ve got a huge, huge following over here and still have. But also, in Germany and in the UK and over, like in Canada as well because they also did, I think, four or five shows in 84 during their last tour as headliners in Canada, in Toronto, if I remember among them when they did one of those shows. So, I wasn’t their biggest fan. But when I got the opportunity to work on a back catalogue, I really knew that this was really something special. I really wanted to fly on things very seriously. And of course, I knew the big reissue packages like King Crimson and the Beatles and also like how the back of Elton John has been done in the last few years, which is splendid reissues. And Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep as well. Those were like very good examples for me like they how they should be done. Good reissues! It’s not just milking the previously released stuff, but we’re adding something worthwhile that people have never heard before. But on the other hand, it’s the very high musical quality and relevant for the band as well, because the band has got that legacy and they want to keep the level of their legacy high.
So, I had some discussions with the bass player, Rinus Gerritsen, and the singer Barry Hay about it, and they just gave me carte blanche. So, it was like, ‘you know what’s in the cellar of the label of Red Bullet, and what’s there, it’s you’re taking care of it and just get the best out of it as best as you could?’ That was not really their request, but it was OK, if that’s what the philosophy is from the from the side of the band, because they have got nothing to say, because they don’t have the master rights because the label has it, then I’ve just got to make the best out of it. And taking very seriously, this is an international well-known band coming from the Netherlands, and I’m the one who’s got make it future proof, so to speak. That was like how I started things up about five and a half years ago, just before the first pandemic lockdown in the Netherlands, early 2020, I think. Then I started off with Moontan. I just I was just like, ‘OK, let’s start with their most well-known album’.
I went into the archives, I found the original two-track masters from the IBC studios with the notes on it from Damon Lyon Shaw, the original engineer who also did The Who back in the days. And it was like I was holding those in my hands and like, you know, like you’re holding the same as the masters for Tommy or The Who Sell Out, the same layout as on those master tapes. So that’s very, very special. I knew that those were the original masters. So, I digitized them in high resolution with a friend of mine. And we found some outtakes and, some B-sides and the follow up single. So that was the first issue that I produced. And then the guitarist became known that he was very ill, ALS, a muscle disease. And he’s still around, but gradually he’s getting worse and worse. And I’ve been in touch with him a few times, but it’s very difficult. I’m in touch with Rinus, the bass player, and with the singer, Barry Hay sometimes about what I do and how to and I update them from what I do. And yeah, It’s exciting. And also, from the from the fan base, the reactions are stimulating, so to speak.
Yeah, it’s interesting because over here, I got into Golden Earring just before the pandemic, I think, because I had an uncle that lived in Toronto and he would once in a while go to Europe and he imported records on his own that he would sell to friends at work and that. And he would always bring me the catalogs and say, there’s a new Golden Earring album out. He’d always try to hand me Golden Earring tapes back then is going back to the late 80s and 90s. And I didn’t take much of them because we all we ever knew over here was ‘Radar Love’ and ‘Twilight Zone’. But then at some point in 2017 or 2018, I bought the live album, and I thought, well, now I’m going to start buying everything because that kind of kind of got my attention, obviously, but the stuff is still hard to find over here. So even on CDs and that Switch, I don’t have a proper CD issue of Switch. I’ve got four or five vinyl versions of it. But trying to find that stuff over here and then there’s obviously, there’s a lot more of the catalog than those two songs that people need to hear, right?
At the moment, there are about 25 or 26 albums and the reissues that we’re doing. They are available through Amazon, I think. But in the shops, I agree that in the shops there are much more difficult to obtain. They’ve got to be ordered special; they’re not regulars now.
I’ve got I’ve got the Moontan one, I’ve got about three or four vinyl copies of it, plus they had the different cover over here.
Yeah. Different track listing as well. Yeah.
So, when you went into the archives, I’ve noticed on the Switch one, there’s a lot of B-sides and outtakes. One thing I don’t see (because I know I’ve got a few on CD and on my computer) is any live recordings, like full shows.
We don’t simply we I have to rely on what’s in the archives of the label. And to license material from other parties that can be very difficult on, let’s say – the logistics side and also on the financial side. And that makes it very that can be very expensive. And the budget for the reissues that we do, I mean, these are only, a couple of thousand copies for one run. And if there’s enough demand, then we do another run, as we have done already with the Moontan expanded thing that came out four years ago. But to obtain stuff from other parties, it’s simply it doesn’t weigh up to the costs and the amount of what they sell for. And we want to keep the price not too high. These sell for like, ten dollars or so, and we want to keep it that way. And the other stuff, like the Winterland and the Sausalito recordings from ‘75, they’re still widely available. They’re available for YouTube, in pretty much good quality. And fans have made their own remasters of them. So, we don’t see a real priority to license the recordings for, let’s say, two or three years, put them out as a bonus on our CDs…this it’s not a big asset to sell, or a big selling point to sell these reissues. We want to offer material that’s available nowhere else. That’s basically it.
Did you get a lot of (I haven’t seen the packaging, the inner packaging) input from the band members, as far as printed stuff and photos?
Sure. One of the biographers in the Netherlands of Golden Earring is a guy called Jeroen Ras. And he wrote a story about the production of the albums, like he’s done with the previous reissues in the Remastered Expanded Series.
And also there’s a lot of photographs from concerts in New York City at the Academy of Music in October 74, from the tour that preceded the recording of the Switch album, also with Robert Jan Stips. And I’ve written some additional notes about the remastering itself and how I compiled this reissue, and the fact that we also putting out now a track that’s been unavailable and never been available before, which was intended for the Switch album, but was shelved for some reason. And we found that on a tape and we have added this to as a bonus to the CD. I’ve contacted Barry and Rinus about it, and they were very enthusiastic. Barry said something like “Ah put it out. Yeah, I can vaguely remember what it was. It’s about a very dirty girl and a very fast guy. And I really sang it with a posh English accent…And it’s very tongue ‘n cheek, put it out!” It’s a very good addition. And so, he vaguely remembered that track. And I sent him an MP3 and he was he wasn’t really over the mountains. But, because it’s 50 years ago, he couldn’t remember it very well. But he was very happy to see it added to this one.
This is not the most popular because it was the follow up of Moontan. As you know, it wasn’t a very commercial success, but it’s musically very interesting. It’s with the follow up from this one To The Hilt. I think it’s their one of their most interesting albums. So, it wasn’t a commercial success. But adding such a previously unavailable track, that’s like, you know, a selling point for this reissue. And it really adds something special.
I think like I did a review. I’ve done some reviews on my site on those albums. And I think like Switch, I liked it; it’s probably my favorite album. I like the experimentation with the keyboards and the different stuff they did. I think obviously for them, it just kind of lacked that “Radar Love” – type, that one huge song . You know what I mean?
I know there was in between Moontan and Switch, there was “Instant Poetry” released as a single, which is really part of the Moontan story. So, we added that one to the Moontan expanded edition four years ago. But essentially, it’s right in the middle between Moontan and Switch. They were they were like, ‘oh, we’ve got to follow up ‘Radar Love’ with a very catchy…’, but also, it’s not really lightweight pop music, “Instant Poetry”, it’s very dynamic with a really easy part and a heavy part. And I think “Kill Me (Ce Soir)”, which was the single off Switch, the leading single, which went to, I think, number 10 in the Netherlands, but it failed to chart anywhere else in the world. I think it’s one of the most interesting songs ever.
And even better, I think the first side of Switch is, I think, the most exciting album sides they’ve ever produced. I mean, starting off with an instrumental, but Focus-like, then into “Love Is A Rodeo” with the very fast parts from Robert Jan Stips and the backing vocalists and the saxophone and then the title track, which got more into funk and a bit of David Bowie “Young Americans”, a bit of Philly soul in there, and then into “Kill Me (Ce Soir)”. I think that’s a very good build up, a very good climax. And the second side, I really think they should have added “Lucky Number” to the album because “Lucky Number” is, I think, like “ “Exile On Mainstreet”, sort of swampy rock and roll. And I think that’s the best song, with “Kill Me (Ce Soir) of the whole Switch story. But they left it off for a reason and they put it out as a B-side. But it made a great album track, and of course we’ve added it to this reissue. And I even found some instrumental rough mixes of “Lucky Number”. I’ve added one too.
That one got played live, too, didn’t it? They played that in their show.
Yeah. Even better, they opened with it. They started off with the intro “Minus Absurdio” from a tape. They played it over the PA and then that was that was finished, and the audience all should’ve expected “Love Is A Rodeo” but they played “Lucky Number” first. And that was a great show opener. You have seen the Winterland recording, right!? That’s what they do. It’s mind blowing. And the funny thing about it also is that the show has been filmed in black and white and the whole stage design was black and white, too, because all the instruments were black and they were wearing white suits and white overalls. So, it’s people always complain, well, it’s in black and white, but it’s that’s no big deal because the show was black and white anyway.
The song I like is the last one “The Lonesome DJ”. That would have been a song that could have got that late night radio airplay like “Radar Love” still does.
That’s a typical George Kooymans track, and it’s the only track he does lead vocals on. And it’s a great way to round off the album. I think after a bit more let down tracks for me personally. I mean, “Tons Of Time” and “Troubles And Hassles”, It’s OK, but it’s not really in the Moontan league. They’re nice, but they did much better stuff. And “Lonesome DJ” kind of lifts the whole quality a bit more up. Yeah, I agree with that.
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The album art for both those albums, for this one and for Moontan. I’m curious if you had any contact with the album artist and you got any kind of alternate or early versions of those sketches? I mean, the cover design, the cover for Switch and the cover for Moontan.
(I hold up my MusicOnVinyl reissue LP of Switch) Oh, you’ve got the music on vinyl there. That’s great. That’s the previous one. We’re doing a two LP reissue later this year, in the fall with the remasters on the CD. Well, the cover artist for this one is a guy called Corstiaan De Vries. No, I haven’t been in contact with him. Barry Hay has always done the final artwork concept. So, he kind of realized the concept, and then a particular artist realized his ideas into the cover art. But no, I’ve not been in touch with the cover artists. So, I don’t know if there are any outtakes on designs or… But I do know that the follow up to Switch is To The Hilt, and I did a long interview with Aubrey Powell from Hypnosis some years ago. And Aubrey told me that from To The Hilt, there are some image outtakes, like with different photographs that they based the album cover on.
That was a strange cover.
Yeah! It’s a bit dark. And it’s yeah, it’s with the train…
That’s why I never figured it out.
Yeah, it’s almost morbid.
Will there be anything if you know, as far as the label goes, in promoting this, any kind of like retro singles or anything or videos that they might put out?
I think the record label will do some promotion and some promos on social media and probably taking the video clip that was done in 1975 for the Dutch TV TopPop Live show of “Kill Me (Ce Soir)”; I think they will put it out to promote this reissue.
And if you know, promoting Golden Earring these days is they don’t have anything much to promote because the band is still a big name and these will sell anyway, but on the other hand, there are four members, and one member is very ill. So, there’s not really radio silence or something in that way, but the promotion on the band is we’ve got to do it with great respect, you know. And knowing that one key member is terminally ill, sometimes we have to think about it a bit more than, you know, with other bands. And there’s a huge respect for George, and we have to take that into account.
Yeah. One thing I’ve always wondered about, I have the live album, the 2 CD version, and I’ve always wondered when disc one trails off it sounds like they’re starting the drum intro to, is it “Bombay”?
That’s “Bombay”. Yeah, the shuffle for “Bombay”.
So, I’m curious because that’s not on the album, so curious if there was any songs that kind of are still on tape that just didn’t make the album that could have been put on or added!?
Well, I got that question a lot of times when that reissue was released. The story is this – When they recorded two nights at the London Rainbow Theatre, those were recorded by Capital Radio. They took the multi-tracks to the IBC studios, and they cut the album from the multi-tracks, and they decided there what the best tracks were. And they took those two-track masters to Holland to polish it a bit more and to press the records, to cut the records first and then press them. But they didn’t bring along the multi-tracks. So, we don’t have any outtakes from the Rainbow concerts, although they’ve recorded some other gigs themselves, the band, John Kriek, the engineer. And some of them were even mixed to two-track, and we only found one reel in the archives with 3 or 4 songs from a concert in Belgium, in Brugge. I was able to cull 2 or 3 tracks from that one tape, for the reissue. And it’s a bit lacklustre, maybe, but why not put a DVD in the package with one of their most famous concerts, television appearances from that era at the TopPop Live show, with Eelco Geiling on guitar. And a large part of it was filmed in 16 millimetres. So, we dug out the original film box, and we digitized that. The audio was better than I expected, so I remastered that to give it a bit more clarity and a bit more EQing; so, we added that. But, from the Rainbow concerts that was all we had, because Capital Radio didn’t let any multi-tracks go outside of London, and I don’t know where they are. They’re probably stashed away somewhere…I don’t know.
Following Switch, I know you haven’t done everything in order since you started with Moontan
No, not really. I’ve done Moontan first, then the Live album, then Eight Miles High, So that’s from 73 to 77, to 1969, and then I went into the 80s with Cut, and Back Home – the live concert from 84, and then NEWS was released last year, that’s 84, and now we’re in to 75 with the 50 year anniversary, and the next one will be from 1968 – the first one on Red Bullet album from Golden Earring – On The Double, which will be released in full. And because it’s a double album they’re going to put it out as one CD. I think there are 4 bonus tracks – 2 singles, but in stereo mixes, not the mono issued tracks; so, they are like bonus tracks that haven’t been released before because they are in stereo.
Seven Tears is one of my favorites. And that one never got released over here to begin with.
It’s a heavy record. The 70s – “She Flies On Strange Wings” – that’s one of their best tracks ever, and it should’ve been a big hit back in the day, but it wasn’t for some reason.
The cover on Seven Tears is not very imaginative, but I really like this album – the lead off track… I think they were fitting in with that whole 70s hard rock kind of thing.
Absolutely. They listened very well to everything that was coming out of the UK, and the US. And later 70s albums they very much influenced by Rush. (Ed-I turn my cap around, which is a Rush cap!). I’m a big Rush fan too. Rush is very big here in Holland, always has been very big in the Netherlands. I’ve seen them multiple times. And the members of Golden Earring were very influenced, especially the early 80s Rush, when they concentrated more on compact rock songs, combined with more progressive elements. I think you can hear that on Earring albums from those days.
I liked To The Hilt, is another great one, and Grab It For A Second though it’s very different. It’s almost like they took that power-pop, and newer American stuff…
Jimmy Iovine produced this record, and we already put it out as a vinyl reissue 2 years ago, but I really don’t have the time and the urge to do a compact disc of that, but who knows, maybe next year. And we’re also planning on doing something with the No Promises, No Debts album, which followed Grab It For A Second, because I found some outtakes from that period which would make a great bunch of bonus tracks for that one. There’s even some live stuff from that late 70s era. Also, with Contraband – I have a bonus concert from the Pinkpop Festival, where Rush also played, I think in 1979, but in 1977. I’ve got stuff for some albums, and more bonus stuff for some albums than others, I’m just trying to find a nice balance between interesting album and an album that would sell, with bonus tracks, and make a great addition.
Outsider Rock 