Power pop has never sounded so powerful! When former Mandrake Paddlesteamer mainstays Brian Engel and Martin Briley convened as Liverpool Echo in 1973, the Beatles
had been in the grave for just three years, and the world still
desperately wanted them back -- so desperately that, with a band name
borrowed bodily from an old Merseybeat-era newspaper, what could any
record company do, but lift a "Fabs"-headlined copy of the paper for an
album cover? But "Beatles Come Home So Quietly" really wasn't the most
appropriate banner for an LP jacket, all the more so since, once you hit
the vinyl, the spirit of the "Moptops" hung so heavily over the music
that it screamed out for attention. Of course, it was true that any
early-'70s band that was capable of melding melody with studio-borne
creativity would inevitably be tarred "the new Beatles" (as Badfinger and 10cc would readily testify); it is also true that all such comparisons were then hopelessly devalued by the arrival of the Rutles.

But still Liverpool Echo have an uncanny grasp of the Merseybeat sound circa 1963 and 64, spliced with a healthy hint of the Hollies,
and that was more than enough to raise high hopes for the album.
Unfortunately, hope was all that the record label (Spark) could do. They
certainly had no promotion or distribution muscle to speak of, and both
band and LP sank within seconds, to lie forgotten until Revola revived
it (with excellent Mark A Johnston liner notes) in 2005.
This is the remastered CD of 2005 published from Rev-Ola. I hope you give it a try because it's an album full of fine pop songs.
Cheers
Frank
ps: i try this for the first time and want to see if it works...
Flac
many thanks for this recently got the Prix cd which i guess is this with a dash of Big Star... and if you like Liverpool Echo you've got to give David Grahame 'one brick short' a try
ReplyDeleteI will post David Grahame in the near future, billy. But thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteFrank
Hello Frank, hoping you are well.
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased indeed to see that the blog is continuing.
Please would you be able to repost the Liverpool Echo disc ?
Many thanks in advance.
It's up in a few minutes.
DeleteFrank
It's up. Have fun.
DeleteKind regards
Frank
This is sublime music Frank, very much reminiscent of the Mersey Sound Of The 60's.
ReplyDeleteThank you once again for uploading this again so quickly, and indeed in FLAC as well.
If you need the space, please feel free to delete the link.