5 GREAT ALBUM TRACKS FOR FRIDAY (Part 11)

Normally I torture myself trying to narrow down loads of tracks from numerous LPs to find five for a Friday. But I'm taking an easier route this week....with a look at the one LP released by Friends Again.

Trapped and Unwrapped saw light of day in October 1984 by which time disillusionment had set in big time. Great singles had been ignored by the record buying public and fans of old were concerned that the record label and its insistence on a particular style of studio production had sucked the soul out of the band.

The tour to promote the LP saw the band return to some venues that were smaller than they had played some six months earlier when they were being hotly tipped. The Friends Again train was, sad to say, freewheeling right into the buffers.

The LP isn't flawless. It is over-produced and is a bit clunky in places. It doesn't come near to capturing just good the band were in the live setting and the wonderful harmony between the voice of Chris Thompson and the cultured playing of the band members, particularly James Grant on guitar. But it is all that remains of the band 27 years on other than the singles.

The LP contained 12 tracks - five of which were singles or new versions of the singles, while a further track was a re-working of an old b-side. If you do the math, that leaves six previously unreleased songs, and since it would be unfair to leave one sitting there on the shelf, all six tracks are offered up for your enjoyment today:-

mp3 : Friends Again - Vaguely Yours
mp3 : Friends Again - Skip The Goldrush
mp3 : Friends Again - Tomboy
mp3 : Friends Again - Swallows In the Rain
mp3 : Friends Again - Old Flame
mp3 : Friends Again - Moon 3

Happy Listening.