By Jason Barnard
Cherry Red are shining a light on the biggest hole in Colin Blunstone’s back catalogue with the re-release of his late 70s albums ‘Planes’ and ‘Never Even Thought’. Whilst his classic trio of solo records that he first released as a solo artist are freely available, ‘Planes’ and ‘Never Even Thought’ have never been digitised since the vinyl originals left the shelves in the late 70s.
These albums marked the start of a new deal with Elton John’s Rocket label marking a new wave of creativity for the ex-Zombie.
The extremely strong ‘Planes’ album was produced by Elton John and David Bowie producer Gus Dudgeon and it shows. With an all-star band Colin kicks off with then Rocket artist, Neil Sedaka’s upbeat ‘Beautiful You’. He then uncovers a lost John-Taupin masterpiece, the title track ‘Planes’ that has all the hallmarks of Elton John in his prime – emotive lyrics and elegant melody.
Colin’s songwriting is equally strong with string laden ballad ‘Ain’t It Funny’ that would have fit neatly on ‘One Year’, whilst the arresting ‘Good Guys Don’t Always Win’ has a more contemporary feel.
Penultimate track ‘(Care Of) Cell 44’ stays faithful to the ‘Odessey and Oracle’ original but sprinkles enough flourishes to retain its freshness.
The album ‘Never Even Thought’, focuses more on Colin’s songwriting with gems including the hooky ‘Lovelight’, beautifully tender love songs ‘Touch And Go’ and ‘Photograph’ plus the quintessential Blunstone number ‘You Are The Way For Me’.
The album’s title track is Murray Head’s dramatic ‘Never Even Thought’, one of the few tracks brought in from outside. It’s a stand out track up there with Head’s masterpiece ‘Say It Ain’t So’.
As a package ‘Planes’ and ‘Never Even Thought’ embody Colin Blunstone of a songwriter of high regard and fine interpreter of songs. Everything is marked by quality: the production, band and, of course, his peerless voice.
Available on Cherry Red Records:
Refreshing to hear Colin Bunstone’s earlier works. Each time I pick up a Blunstone album, I find another gem. His peerless voice never disappoints but gives food for thought.
Looking forward to the double album and hopefully Colin will do nothing solo tour in the states next year, because his fans “Want Some More!!”
While it contains some wonderful music ,the US version of this cd is a disaster . It was mastered at too fast a speed making Colin sound more like he took a hit of helium before he sang the tunes. If you have the software to make the corrections, then go ahead and buy it as it is highly unlikely that the Cherry Red will ever make the corrections and more than likely that these albums will never see another release on cd anytime soon.