After TRASK collapsed, I'd had enough of it all; so I stayed away from making music for 7 years.
The trouble with music, is that it stays in your blood .. and time blunts the pain of bad memories. 7 years on from TRASK and I was chomping at the bit to make music again. Over the years, I'd stayed close friends with Lol Parry. Laurence had the sheer bravado to tell EMI to "stick your contract up your arse!" when they wanted to meddle with the follow up to Lol's band's hit single BOYS ON TV in the early '80's. Kindred souls, Lol and me. So, having a deep love of Dennis Wilson (the drummer of the BEACH BOYS) music .. I chose to record THOUGHTS OF YOU from his PACIFIC OCEAN BLUE album to be the first song that I'd put my hands on in 7 years. I got together with Lol at his house studio over the course of several very late night sessions to piece it together. During the sessions, Lol played the synth, bass and some electric guitar and the beat was kept by a sympathetic drum machine. I sang and played guitar and provided the direction of the song. At the time of writing this; 10 years have past since those sessions and the original cd I burned from that time has fallen to the dreaded "disc rot" syndrome! Luckily, I found the original minidisc that held those sessions and that's what's playing in the player to your left right now. The first track is an early backing track followed by an early Lol demo vocal. The 3rd track is a rough mix of the song, with yours truly on vocals, while the 4th track is the completed mix of the track. Track 5 is the finished THOUGHTS OF YOU. At the time, we didn't have the technology (nor the skill) to Master the sessions properly .. but we have today .. and I think these songs now sound better than they ever have.
