Release Date: 27 January 2023
Label: Grapefruit / Cherry Red
Packaging Type: Fat Double (a 2.5cm thick jewel case, fits several CDs)
No of Units: 3
Barcode: 5013929192423
Genres: Pop
Description
There weren't too many classic British pop singles issued in 1974, but harmony pop epic 'Beach Baby' bucked the trend, reaching the UK Top 20 and becoming an even bigger hit in America, peaking at the No. 4 spot.
Arguably the ultimate Beach Boys tribute, ‘Beach Baby’ introduced a new name, The First Class – actually veteran pop hitmaker and songwriter John Carter with the aid of Chas Mills and lead singer Tony Burrows.
While other singers and musicians adopted the name to front their music in public, the Carter/Burrows/Mills combination continued to record new First Class material, including a self-titled LP that is quite possibly the finest, most ambitious British harmony pop album of the 70s.
The First Class had a couple of follow-up minor hit singles in America that failed to attract the same attention at home, where second album ‘SST’ (not even released in the US) sank without trace. By the end of the 70s, Carter had effectively laid the name to rest.
A 3CD set in a lavish digipak package featuring a new 5000 word essay, ‘Beach Baby: The Complete Recordings’ is the definitive document of both The First Class and John Carter's myriad overlapping activities during the second half of the 70s.
It contains an embarrassment of riches: both albums, all singles, out-takes, pseudonymous releases, a huge number of previously unissued TV/radio advertising jingles and, most fascinatingly of all, seven previously-unheard 1974 demos for the musical Bobby Dazzler, abandoned when the single of the same name unfathomably failed to chart.
Tracklisting
Kevin Ayers
Wrath
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Tigertailz
The Fall
Esme Emerson
Jeremy Loops
2nd Grade
Ben Barnes
China Crisis
Mark Farner
The Flamin Groovies
Various Artists
