ORDER NOW: https://melodicrockclassics.com/brettwalker.html

THE BRETT WALKER ARCHIVES:

About The Audio:

Titled ‘Last Parade’ (after one of the unreleased tracks), the special limited-edition package paid tribute to one of the great songwriters of this genre. Brett tragically and suddenly passed away in July 2013, with a special tribute paid to him by his band and wife at MRF3 later that year.

I kept in touch, recalling various conversations I had with Brett about releasing his Person To Person songs and some of his unreleased demos, which collectors had been trading for some years.
Brett’s wife Sheron and I agreed to look at what was available and see what could be done. Brett’s entire DAT collection was sent to me to digitize, which lead to an extraordinary discovery.

Over no less than 47 DATs, it became evident that Brett was sitting on a treasure trove of unreleased material. I was blown away at the quality and the brilliance of these songs, with a cross-reference of styles present from throughout Brett’s career.
Some of the older unreleased material rivals the classic ‘Nevertheless’ album for melodic rock brilliance. Fans of all eras will in fact, be blown away I’m sure.

‘Last Parade’ is the most complex project I’ve ever put together, mainly because of the vast number of songs. At last count there was 174 song files in the “Work In Progress” folder. There were at least 2 versions of almost every track on the DATs and sometimes 5 or even 6! Some are from all different mixes, others various audio quality and some completely different versions of known songs.
JK Northrup has been mastering and remastering for the past several months!
Either way…lots of listening time and so many amazing songs.

Long may Brett’s music live on.

Now Out Of Print, the box set is brought back to life here in two individual sets, both featuring exclusive previously unreleased songs that only came as a digital bonus to purchases of the original box set.

There has been some demand for a truncated version of the box set, as well as a stand-alone release of the Person To Person tracks.

So it is with great pleasure that MelodicRock Classics has gone to work on two exclusive new releases due out February 24.

Person To Person – ‘The Complete Recordings’ (2CD Set) and
Brett Walker – ‘Highlights From The Last Parade’ (2CD Set)

That’s 4 discs of Brett Walker and Person To Person magic. The original purchase of the box set came with some 50+ bonus tracks in MP3 download – songs which we didn’t have room for on the original set, so several of those songs have been curated to appear as bonus tracks on each release – exclusively on CD for the first time.

For the Person To Person cover art, the band’s original and only promo shot was black and white. Par Winberg took the picture and used new AI colouring technology to make an accurate portrait of the band just as they were ready to launch.

MRC033 – PERSON TO PERSON – The Complete Recordings

Disc 1 – The Original Album

01. Undercover Love
02. Never Be The Same
03. No Shortcut To Paradise
04. Careless Nights
05. Lecia
06. More Than A Memory
07. Waiting For Love
08. Hard To Find An Easy Way
09. No Sense In Falling (Previously Unreleased Version)
10. No Fire Without You
11. Far Cry From Love
12. One Night Away
13. Ayla (Previously Unreleased)
14. Outta Site
15. Eye For Love

Disc 2 – Person To Person – Live, Alt Mixes and Brett Walker Demos

01. Hard To Find An Easy Way (91-93 Demo)
02. More Than a Memory (91-93 Demo)
03. Never Be The Same (91-93 Demo)
04. No Sense In Falling (91-93 Demo)
05. Undercover Love (Slower Version) (Previously Unreleased)
06. Never Be The Same (Alt Mix/Brett Vocal) (Previously Unreleased)
07. No Sense In Falling (Extended)
08. Waiting For Love (Original Demo)
09. Lecia (Mixed For TV Inst) (Previously Unreleased)
10. Undercover Love (Live)
11. Waiting For Love (Live)
12. Burning In The 3rd Degree (Live)

MRC032 – BRETT WALKER – Highlights From The Last Parade

Disc 1 – Highlights:

01. Still A Dream Away (Demo Version)
02. Branded
03. Bad Time For Goodbye (Alt Mix)
04. Crossroads Motel (91-93 Demo)
05. Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of
06. After The Tears Have Gone
07. American Dreamer (Rock Version)
08. A Little Too Late
09. Fools Paradise
10. Catchin’ On
11. Heaven Stops The Rain
12. Always A Place
13. Everything I Want To Do (Piano Ballad Version)
14. Don’t Turn Out The Lights (Guitar Mix)
15. On The Train Again
16. Higher Ground (Revision)
17. Last Parade

Disc 2 – Spotlights (All Previously Unreleased on CD):

01. Midnight Angel (Early Demo)
02. Quicksand (Early Alt Mix)
03. No Reasons Of The Heart (Alt Mix)
04. Living On The Moon (Remix)
05. It’s A Good Thing (First Mix)
06. Didn’t Mean To Say Goodbye (91-93 Demo)
07. Give A Little Love (91-93 Demo)
08. Don’t Mean Much (Demo)
09. A Far Cry From Love (Slower)
10. I Could Be Wrong (Alt Version)
11. Rain Dance (Alt Mix)
12. Hard Dark Music (Inst)
13. It Looks A Lot Like Rain (Inst)
14. Don’t Come Back Crying
15. Solo Piano (Freeform 2)
16. Last Parade (Early Demo)

MelodicRock Classics is excited to announce the limited-edition reissue of four acclaimed cult classic AOR albums over the next two months. Each album has won fan and critical praise over the years and all four titles have remained on the impossible to find list for many collectors.

The campaign begins August 26 with reissues of two British classics – CHRIS IRVINE and 2AM.

On September 30, two more classics arrive – LAMARCA and YA YA ‘II’.

2AM is the brain child of vocalist Dave Lloyd (Nutz/Rage) and guitarist/songwriter Mark Thomas.

The high-tech AOR duo delivered their one and only album in 1987, before splitting in 1988 after being dropped by their label RCA, leaving behind a true classic that fans have traded audio copies over the last 30 years.

Unfortunately, there is a sad side to this reissue. Mark Thomas was only recently discovered to have passed away several years ago after dropping out of the industry many years earlier.

In 2003 Judges sitting in the High Court in London ruled that American singer Bobby Womack had stolen the 2am song ‘You’re The One’, awarding Thomas GBP57,000 in royalties.

Unable to afford to pursue Womack in US courts for payments that never came, Mark left the business with a bitter taste.

It is hoped that this official remaster, which comes on the 35th Anniversary of the album’s release, will help remind fans of what a fantastic writer and guitarist Mark Thomas was and close the 2AM story on a positive note.

There are no additional songs recorded at the time that could be used as bonus tracks, but there is one additional track ‘Right Now I Need You’ that was a B-side on the 1987 12” single ‘Somebody Someday’.

2am ‘When Every Second Counts’ has been lovingly remastered from the original CD audio by JK Northrup, giving the songs fresh new life.

MelodicRock Classics presents 2AM ‘When Every Second Counts’ August 26. Limited Edition 500 Units.

Track Listing:

01. Never Gonna Let You Escape               4:02

02. You’re The One                                          4:13

03. Somebody Someday                                3:48

04. Who Will You Run To                               4:47

05. Too Late                                                       4:53

06. Lost Souls                                                     3:52

07. Running With The Same Old Crowd  3:44

08. Never Feel This Way Again                    4:03

09. Dreams And Promises                            4:35

10. Now You’re Leaving                                 4:03

11. Right Now I Need You (B-Side)            3:33

MelodicRock Classics is proud and honoured to partner with the family of the late, great VAN STEPHENSON, plus his many co-writers and musical partners, to pay tribute to the legacy of the legendary singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist with a series of archive releases, culminating in two career spanning box sets, featuring all unreleased songs from his vast songwriting archives.

MRC Owner and A&R director Andrew McNeice has been given the responsibility of archiving Van’s songwriting demos from the 70s, right up until the last songs he wrote.

Over 12 months of work behind the scenes will come to fruition November 25, with the first two releases from the Van Stephenson Archives.

———–

The second title to be announced is also due for release November 25.

Van Stephenson – ‘Van’s Versions’, a 2CD compilation of songs written or co-written by Van and previously recorded and released elsewhere.

The songs are all cultivated from Van’s unreleased archives and feature songs written by him alone plus other songs co-written with his writing partners Sam Lorber, Jeff Silbar, Dave Robbins, Jan Buckingham, Phil Brown, Tim DuBois, Bob Farrell and more.

McNeice comments: “The idea for this compilation came while I was slowly going through all of Van’s demo archives. It is already clear just what an amazing writer and vocalist Van was, but I was pleasantly surprised with just how many tracks there are of Van’s that other artists had recorded. When you have the likes of Eric Clapton, Laura Branigan, Kenny Rogers, Dan Seals, Juice Newton and Restless Heart picking your songs to record, then you must appreciate just how good those songs are and the importance of highlighting them.

Van’s vast archives included his own original demo versions of many of these songs and it was so good to hear Van’s voice driving songs you might already know.

The need for ‘Van’s Versions’ became clear. I thought a nice idea would be to put all these songs into one compilation, which turned into a 41 song, double CD set.

The set features the varied musical styles Van wrote for over the years, including Pop, AOR, Rock, Midwestern & Country.

Included among the songs are some original demo versions Van recorded himself for his two MCA albums, giving further insight into Van’s writing and recording process.

It also allows space for the upcoming box sets to feature exclusively unreleased material, which is something I know a lot of people are looking forward to hearing.”

To complete the package, artwork from French graphic artist Arnaud Leger has been specially commissioned, plus the audio for both discs has been carefully restored and remastered by acclaimed producer JK Northrup.

Pre-orders will be available from next Monday and the complete track listing for ‘Van’s Versions’ (and the artist that recorded the songs) are as follows:

Disc One:

01. Set The Night On Fire (Vocal Demo) Recorded by OAK (1980)

02. Catch The Next Dream Recorded by THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND (1980)

03. Undivided Love Recorded by EDDY ARNOLD (1980)

04. Bad Enough Recorded by KENNY ROGERS (1983)

05. Til I Loved You Recorded by GLENN SHORROCK (1983), JUICE NEWTON (1984) & RESTLESS HEART (1985)

06. If The Fall Don’t Get You Recorded by JANIE FRICKE (1982) & ANNE GRETE (1984)

07. All My Life Recorded by KENNY ROGERS (1983) & PETULA CLARK (1988)

08. Everybody’s Dream Girl Recorded by DAN SEALS (1983)

09. You’ve Got A Good Love Coming (Original Demo) Recorded by LEE GREENWOOD (1983), CONWAY TWITTY (1984) & BOB CLAYTON (1989)

10. Others Only Dream (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

11. What The Big Girls Do (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

12. The Cure Will Kill You (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

13. Modern Day Delilah (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

14. I Know Who You Are, I Saw What You Did (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

15. You’ve Been Lied To Before (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

16. Righteous Anger (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

17. It’s Not Me, It’s Not You Recorded by KBC BAND (1986)

18. Back To The Heartbreak Kid Recorded by KATHY MATTEA (1984)

19. She Danced Her Way Into My Heart Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1985)

20. (You Don’t Hear) The One That Gets You Recorded by JUICE NEWTON (1984)

21. Restless Heart Recorded by JUICE NEWTON (1984) & RESTLESS HEART (1985)

22. Dancing With Danger (Original Demo) From the Solo Album SUSPICIOUS HEART (1986)

Disc Two:

01. Suspicious Heart (Original Demo) From the Solo Album SUSPICIOUS HEART (1986)

02. South December Road Recorded by GARY MORRIS (1985)

03. Grand Illusion Recorded by ERIC CLAPTON (1986) & DONNY OSMOND (1988)

04. Jenny Come Back Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1988)

05. Never In A Million Years Recorded by LAURA BRANIGAN (1990) & VICKI SHEPARD (1991)

06. It Happens All The Time Recorded by ANNE MURRAY (1987)

07. Calm Before The Storm Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1988)

08. House Of Fire Recorded by LITTLE BOB (1989)

09. Big Dreams In A Small Town Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1988)

10. Bluest Eyes In Texas Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1988)

11. When Pink Turns To Blue Recorded by FIONA (1989)

12. Nature Of Love Recorded by POCO (1989)

13. I’ve Never Been So Sure Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1990)

14. Get Used To It Recorded by GIANT (1992)

15. It Ain’t About Love Anymore (Vocal Demo) Recorded by BLACKHAWK (1997)

16. If That Was A Lie (Acoustic Demo) Recorded by BLACKHAWK (1997)

17. All The Time In The World (Vocal Demo) Recorded by BOYZONE (1998)

18. Think Again (Vocal Demo) Recorded by BLACKHAWK (1998)

19. Ships Of Heaven (Acoustic Demo) Recorded by BLACKHAWK (2000) & VAN STEPHENSON (2000)

It’s my great pleasure to deliver one advance track from the compilation for your enjoyment today. Please enjoy ‘Back To The Heartbreak Kid’, as previously recorded by Kathy Mattea.

Finally, the answer to the question – Who Is TIM?

TIM were an ‘almost super-group’, at least with the benefit on hindsight they sure are. Not so much at the time of writing and recording this album in 1983. Regrettably, TIM members were so busy individually with sessions, and family commitments, that the band never made any more music together.

TIM is:

Thom Griffin – Vocals, Guitar

Bruce Gaitsch – Guitars

Bob Lizik – Bass

Terry Tossing Esq – Keyboards

Tom Radtke and Jim Hines – Drums

The individual recording credits of these guys are incredible:

Thom Griffin – Trillion, Ambition, Brian Wilson, Mecca, Pride Of Lions, Jimi Jamsion, Dennis DeYoung

Bruce Gaitsch – Richard Marx, Fergie Frederiksen, Chicago, Peter Cetera, Michael W. Smith, Madonna, Jim Peterik, Kelly Keagy

Bob Lizik – Brian Wilson, Pride Of Lions, Dennis DeYoung, Soleil Moon, Peterik/Scherer, World Stage

Tom Radtke – John Prine, Dennis DeYoung, Barbra Streisand

Jim Hines – Brian Wilson, Cyndi Lauper

Together they made an unreleased masterpiece. An album so good it would have challenged the other rock albums of 1983 for their dominance.

Thom Griffin comments: “TIM was comprised entirely of session players from Chicago. We were consciously trying to be commercially viable. Bruce had a condo in downtown Chicago where we would meet between sessions to write.  I believe we flushed out our ideas on a Fostex 4 track porta-studio.”

Bruce Gaitsch claiming: “We were trying so hard to be Chicago’s Toto!”

All the songs were recorded using analog recording with no auto-tune or quantization or sequencers and were intended as demos with very few overdubs (with the exception of an occasional instrumental overdub, and vocals). The fact they still sound so amazing today is tantamount to the talent behind the writing and recording.

Bruce continues: “I do recall doing sessions all day and going into Universals big room at night, 8:00 and working all night then going right to a session the next day! We used to write when we had time between sessions at my downtown apartment. It was fun, a nice release from doing commercials 6 times a day.”

Bob Lizik recalls calling the band’s sessions as ‘dust rehearsals’ as the low-rent hired rehearsal space still had a dirt floor.

Bruce: “We helped the first rehearsal studio get started by booking lots of hours even when they still had a dirt floor! Rehearsals would be cancelled at the last minute because of work all the time, then we’d see each other at the sessions.”

And the name? There’s been plenty of guesses where it came from. I’ll leave it to Thom Griffin to reveal the truth: “Yes, the name TIM was a reference to ‘Tim, the Enchanter’ in Monty Python’s “Holy Grail!” movie.”

29 years in the making, the debut TIM album will finally and rightfully see the light of day on July 16 via reissue label MelodicRock Classics on Limited Edition CD (1000 units) and Digital.

01. Somethings Coming 3:25

02. Never Let You Get Away 3:52

03. Maybe It’s Better 3:37

04. Astral Games 3:27

05. Think Back   5:09

06. Whatcha Gonna Do 4:18

07. One Dark Night 3:12

08. Victim Of Love 3:43

09. Lovers Never Cry 4:24

10. Kiss And Tell 3:20

11. Mary Anna  5:47

All songs written and produced by TIM

Additional lyrics provided by Keithen Carter for Somethings Coming, Never Let You Get Away and Maybe it’s Better

Recorded at: Universal Recording (Bob Bennett engineer in the A Room on a Neve 8048 console over the course of 3 evenings); Tanglewood Studio in Brookfield (Larry Millas engineer on a Neotek console over the course a few days)

MelodicRock Classics is pleased to announce a one-time physical CD release of the acclaimed synthwave AOR debut from Swedish/American outfit PLATFORMS.

The Limited Edition CD release of just 500 units will be available to pre-order today, with the official CD release date of July 2.

$25 (includes worldwide shipping) Pre-order now via:

https://melodicrockclassics.com/platforms.html

Platforms is an example of one of the positive aspects of the modern Internet culture we find ourselves in. During a dark period in his life, from his apartment in Chicago, singer Jordan Cox filled his hard drive with countless songs that sat unrealized and unreleased. One day, he found Swedish producer Michael Palace on Instagram and sent him a direct message.

After bonding over their appreciation for rock and modern synth music the two quickly began resurrecting Jordan’s demos and writing new songs from scratch. Through Dropbox exchanges and Facebook messenger they constructed a full-length album within months.

‘The Future That Never Happened’ is an exciting mix of rock, pop and synthwave, filled to the brim with 80’s nostalgia. The album was released digitally in 2020 and fans have been asking for a physical version ever since.

Now, thanks to MelodicRock Classics it is finally happening.

“It feels surreal that a single message on Instagram has led to a real-life physical CD that will find its way onto shelves of music fans all over the world. We are very thankful to Andrew McNeice and MelodicRock Classics for making this possible.” – said Michael.

Since its release, they both continue to make music together and apart. While Michael has been working on other projects, Jordan has produced a follow up Platforms album called ‘Apocalypse Party’ which is available everywhere digitally.

“Jordan Cox is not only a great singer and songwriter but also a very adept producer himself. We decided to let Platforms evolve in whatever way it chooses to and in the spirit of the first album – involve people from all corners of the world in the process.” – said Michael.

Tracklisting: 01. Dragon Energy 02. Sweetness 03. Day Ruiner 04. River In The Dark 05. Bring You Home 06. One Track Mind 07. Go All Night 08. Superficial Love 09. Out Of The Valley 10. Vienna 11. Higher Ground

NOW SOLD OUT

MelodicRock Classics is proud to announce the label’s first collaboration with a classic Australian artist. Aussie melodic rock artist singer / songwriter / guitarist Mark Edwards joins the label to compile all his solo recordings into one place for the very first time, with numerous tracks making their debut on CD.

Mark Edwards made his debut in 1983 in the band Runners, with a line-up that also featured fellow singer/songwriter/guitarist Paul Norton.

After the band disbanded with just the one album to their name, Mark signed with WEA Records to release his acclaimed solo album ‘Land Of The Living’ in 1986. It would turn out to be his only record, but still delivered one of that summer’s breakout hits ‘World’s Away’.

Subsequent singles ‘Land Of The Living’ and ‘Only A Love’ were released with non-album b-sides; followed by a stand alone single ‘High Times’ the following year.

There were also a few Extended Versions available on the 12” Singles released, none of which ever made it to a CD release. In fact, some of the audio was so scarce, vinyl rips came from MRC owner Andrew McNeice’s own collection.

The album itself was subject to a very limited CD run in the late 80s, pressed before the use of barcodes and long since designated a true Australian rarity. As was commonplace with many other titles released on CD in the early days, the sound suffered a lack of bottom end.

Now, thanks to the partnership between MelodicRock Classics and Mark Edwards, his complete solo recordings are being compiled into a fantastic double disc set, featuring the original album and all the singles and b-sides, all fully remastered by JK Northrup for this special limited edition release.

Featuring on the various recordings are some familiar names in the Oz rock scene – vocalists Sharon O’Neill and Vanetta Fields; James Morrison on trumpet; and multi-instrumentalist and co-producer Michael Hegerty. Not to mention, acclaimed session men Ricki Fataar and Rick Chadwick.

‘Land Of The Living – 35thAnniversary Deluxe Edition’ will be released via MelodicRock Classics October 8 with pre-sales available this week, alongside the label’s other October 8 release TBA.

The full track listing is:

Disc 1: The Album

01. Land Of The Living 3.54

02. World’s Away 4:12

03. So Listen 5:45

04. Something New 4:00

05. Candy Baby 4:03

06. Wedding Ring 3:53

07. Only A Love 4:11

08. Life And Times 3:31

09. Time Goes By 3:18

10. Somebody Like You 3:53

11. Back In The Land Of The Living 3:48

Disc 2: Bonus Tracks

01. Hard Times (1987 Single) 3:55

02. Up From Under (Unreleased Demo) 3:20

03. Moonbeam (B-side) 3:34

04. Shah And Kim (B-side) 4:00

05. Land Of The Living (Extended Mix) 7:19

06. One And Only (Extended Version) 6:32

07. Only A Love (Extended Mix) 6:21

08. High Times (Extended Mix) 7:19

09. World’s Away (Single Edit) 3:55

10. So Listen (Edit Version) 5:04

11. Land Of The Living (Long Version) 7:31