Singles: “Ships In The Night” #23 (UK) Singles Certifications: N/A Other Charting Tracks: N/A Best Tracks: “Ships In The Night,” “Sleep That Burns,” “Crystal Gazing,” “Speed Of The Wind”
Trivia: “Sunburst Finish” is the third studio album by art rock band Be-Bop Deluxe, released in February 1976. It was recorded in Abbey Road Studios, London. The album contains what would become one of their few forays into charts; the February 1976 single "Ships in the Night" reached #23 on the UK Singles Charts. The album was their first album to enjoy chart success in the US and UK subsequently brining a renewed interest in their first two albums.
“Sunburst Finish” is one of the great rock albums of the 1970s, the band is absolutely dialed in throughout, Bill Nelson’s songwriting has never been more accessible and sharp. “Fair Exchange,” with typically blistering lead work from Nelson, kicks the proceedings off in style. From there the album showcases prime examples of hard rock, progressive rock, and power pop. With never a dead spot to be found, “Sunburst Finish” is simply packed with killer riffs, top-notch performances, and great melodies.
The multi-talented Bill Nelson wrote all ten songs on the album (including the three bonus tracks on the 1990 reissue, he played all the guitars, sang lead vocals and co-produced the album. The was very much a Bill Nelson album as it was a Be-Bop Deluxe album. As a sidenote... did I mention Bill's guitar work on this album is HOT! HOT! HOT!
The album is filled with varying rhythms and musical surprises from beginning to end. The pounding rhythm on "Sleep That Burns" alternates with slower sections building a spacey dream sequence in what has to be one of Be-Bop Deluxe's superior progressive arrangements.
"Sleep That Burns" (1976)
"Ships In The Night" is the song that propelled Be-Bop Deluxe to their next level of success. The song was their first of two singles to reach the UK charts (the other was a four-track single release called "Hot Valves," which includes one track from each of their first four albums with "Blazing Apostles" from "Sunburst Finish"). Bill Nelson's younger brother Ian Nelson played alto saxophone on "Ships In The Night."
Release Date: February 17, 1978 Produced by Andrew Powell Genre: Art-Rock, Art-Pop, Baroque Pop Label: EMI (UK), Harvest (US and Canada) Chart Positions: #1 (Netherlands), #2 (New Zealand, Belgium), #3 (UK, Australia, France), #4 (Norway), #8 (Sweden), #21 (Germany), #37 (Japan), #95 (Canada) Certifications: 3xPlatinum (Canada), Platinum (UK, Netherlands, Australia), Gold (New Zealand)
Singles: “Wuthering Heights” #1 (New Zealand, UK, France, Italy, Ireland, Australia, Holland), #3 (Netherlands, South Africa, Brazil), #4 (Belgium), #6 (Sweden), #7 (Norway, Poland), #8 (Switzerland), #11 (Germany), #17 (Austria), #108 (US), “The Man With The Child In His Eyes” #1 (France), #3 (Ireland), #6 (UK), #22 (Australia), #23 (Netherlands), #36 (New Zealand), #85 (US) Singles Certifications: "Wuthering Heights" Platinum (New Zealand), Gold (UK, Australia)
While attending a Catholic girls' school in South East London, in the mid-1970s, Kate’s family produced a demo tape with over 50 of her compositions, which was turned down by record labels. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd received the demo from Ricky Hopper, a mutual friend of Gilmour and the Bush family. Impressed with what he heard, Gilmour helped the sixteen-year-old Bush get a more professional-sounding demo tape recorded that would be more saleable to the record companies. Three tracks in total were recorded and paid for by Gilmour. The tape was produced by Gilmour's friend Andrew Powell (who would go on to produce Bush's first two albums) and sound engineer Geoff Emerick. The tape was sent to EMI executive Terry Slater. Slater was impressed by the tape and signed her.
Bush released her debut album, “The Kick Inside,” on February 17, 1978 when she was 19 years old, but some of the songs had been written when she was as young as 13. The production included efforts by several progressive rock veterans, including Duncan Mackay, Ian Bairnson, David Paton, Andrew Powell, and Stuart Elliott both of The Alan Parsons Project, and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.
Six different varieties of the album's cover are known and is Bush's only album to have a different cover in the UK, the U.S., Canada, Yugoslavia, Japan and Uruguay (the Uruguay cover being the rarest and most expensive - an example sold on eBay for over $400).
The Kick Inside Original British Album Cover
“The Kick Inside” was an immediate hit throughout the world reaching the Top 10 in several countries in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, including #1 in Netherlands and #2 in New Zealand. Despite this success the album failed to chart in the US.
EMI originally wanted the more rock-oriented track "James and the Cold Gun" to be her début single, but Bush insisted that it should be "Wuthering Heights". Even at this early stage of her career, she had gained a reputation for her determination to have a say in decisions affecting her work. Kate stated, "I felt that to actually get your name anywhere, you've got to do something that is unusual." The song was not initially inspired by Emily Brontë's novel but by a television adaptation, although Bush read the novel later in order to (in her own words) "get the research right." Bush reportedly wrote the song within the space of just a few hours late at night. The guitar solo is by Ian Bairnson, formerly of Pilot. In the mid-'70s, they had a #5 hit in the US with "Magic" and a chart topper in the UK with "January." Two music videos were created to accompany "Wuthering Heights". In one version, Bush can be seen performing the song in a dark room filled with white mist while wearing a white dress (which was the UK release); in the other, the singer dances in an outdoor environment while wearing a red dress (which was done for the American release). "Wuthering Heights" was officially released in early 1978 and entered the top forty in the official singles chart in the United Kingdom at number twenty-seven on 18 February, and quickly rose to number one three weeks later dethroning ABBA's "Take a Chance on Me" from the top spot. Bush became the first female artist to have a self-penned number one hit in the UK. The single release unwittingly pitted Bush against another female vocalist also charting with her first UK hit: Debbie Harry with her band Blondie and their single "Denis". Amid much public discussion about the two singers' merits, Bush came out on top, while Blondie stalled at number two. Success was not limited to the UK and became a huge hit throughout the world having reached #1 in Italy, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It also reached the top ten in many other countries including South Africa, Brazil, Poland and others. Despite it’s universal popularity the song only made it to #108 in the US. The single was certified Gold by the BPI for sales of 500,000 in the UK. Pat Benatar covered “Wuthering Heights” for her 1980 album “Crimes of Passion.”
"Withering Heights" (1978)
The album's second single, "The Man with the Child in His Eyes", was released and reached number six in the UK charts. Though not quite as big a hit as “Wuthering Heights,” the song was fairly successful making it to #1 in France and #3 in Ireland. The song tells of a relationship between a young girl and an older man. She sees him as an all-consuming figure; he's wise yet retains a certain innocent quality. He's a very real character to the girl, but nobody else knows if he really exists. Kate wrote the song because of a quality she saw in most of the men that she knew, how they are all little boys inside and how wonderful it is that they managed to retain this magic. Although the song was first released on her debut album The Kick Inside, it was actually recorded in 1975 when Kate was only 16 years old. It was recorded at David Gilmour's expense at London's Air Studios. The song was Kate’s first to make it into the Billboard’s US Top 100 reaching #85. Along with this song David Gilmour was also listed as the Executive Producer of "The Saxophone Song."
Three other singles were released over the world during next two years: "Them Heavy People", "Moving" (which reached number one in Japan) and "Strange Phenomena." “Them Heavy People” was released as a single in only the UK and Japan (under the title “Rolling the Ball” and reached #3 in Japan). “Moving” was released only in Japan while “Strange Phenomena” released only in Brazil.
Bush wrote, “Moving” for her dance teacher Lindsay Kemp. It's about how a person discovers free expression. "Strange Phenomena" speaks about déjà vu, synchronicity and how coincidences sometimes cluster together in seemingly meaningful ways.
“Kite” one of the most popular tracks from the album was used as the b-side to “Wuthering Heights.”
Fan favorite, “Oh To Be In Love” opens gently but soon gives way to diverse style which manages to blend sixties Britpop, robotic Japanese and the British brass band feel into the musical accompaniment as Kate delivers sublime vocal melodies and exquisite displays of range and tone. Kate's brother Paddy Bush played mandolin on this song as well as doing backing vocals on "Them Heavy People."
Written entirely by Roger Waters, Wish You Were Here is the ninth studio album by Pink Floyd, released in September 1975. Inspired by material the group composed while performing across Europe, Wish You Were Here was recorded in numerous sessions at London's Abbey Road Studios. Some of the songs critique the music business, others express alienation, and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a tribute to Syd Barrett, whose mental breakdown had forced him to leave the group seven years earlier. It was lead writer Roger Waters' idea to split "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" into two parts and use it to bookend the album around three new compositions, introducing a new concept as the group had done with their previous album, The Dark Side of the Moon.
As with The Dark Side of the Moon, the band used studio effects and synthesizers, and brought in guest singers to supply vocals on some tracks of the album. These singers were Roy Harper, who provided the lead vocals on "Have a Cigar", and The Blackberries, who added backing vocals to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". The album became an instant commercial success and record company EMI was unable to print enough copies to satisfy demand.
The album opens with the 13-minute “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V), Part I begins with the fade-in of organ, harp and minimoog synthesizer and works into a bluesy guitar solo played by David Gilmour. During this section some very faint conversation in the studio can be heard in the left channel.
Part II comes in at 3:54 and begins with a four-note theme, known informally as "Syd's Theme" repeated throughout much of the entire section. Nick Mason starts drumming and Waters his bass playing. We’re treated to another solo by Gilmour.
Part III starts at 8:42 and begins with a Minimoog solo by Rick Wright accompanied by a less complex variation of Mason's drums from Part II. This part includes Gilmour's third guitar solo.
Part IV works in at 8:42 with Roger Waters singing his lyrics, with Gilmour, Wright and female backing vocalists Venetta Fields and Carlena Williams on harmonies. (Fields and Williams were part of the vocal group The Blackberries)
Part V starts at11:10 with two guitars repeating an arpeggio variation on the main theme for about a minute with the theme of Part II (Syd’s Theme). Dick Parry comes in with saxophone, the sax solo is accompanied by an ARP string synthesizer keyboard sound. A machine-like hum fades in with musique concrète and segues into "Welcome to the Machine". “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” though it is was not released as a single peaked at #10 in Poland due to extensive airplay.
The second track “Welcome To The Machine” describes the band's disillusionment with the music industry as a money-making machine rather than a forum of artistic expression. The plot centers on an aspiring musician getting signed by a seedy executive to the music industry (the "Machine"). The voice predicts all of his seemingly rebellious ideas ("You bought a guitar to punish your ma / You didn't like school / And you know you're nobody's fool"). His illusions of personal identity are further crushed with lines such as "What did you dream? / It's all right, we told you what to dream."
Track Three “Have A Cigar” was released as a single but failed to chart. Regardless the song is considered a classic and is widely known by music fans around the world. Written by Roger Waters, the song's lyrics were a critique of hypocrisy and greed within the music business. The music is more straightforwardly rock-oriented than the rest of the album, beginning with a churning riff played on electric guitar and bass. The track is filled out with additional guitar, electric piano and synthesizer parts to create a rock texture. Concluding with a guitar solo, which is interrupted by a synthesizer filter-sweep sound effect as the music reduces in volume to tinny, AM radio-like levels. Finally, the song ends with the sound of a radio being dialed off-station; this effect is used as a transition to the title track, "Wish You Were Here". Roy Harper performs the lead vocals on “Have A Cigar”. Both Roger Waters and David Gilmour had attempted to sing the song on separate takes, as well as on a duet version, but they were unhappy with the results. Harper was recording his album HQ in Studio 2 of Abbey Road at the same time as Pink Floyd were working in Studio 3, and Roy Harper offered to sing the part ("...for a price").
"Have A Cigar" (1975)
Segueing in from “Have A Cigar” track four “Wish You Were Here” has a sentimental feel to it. Its lyrics encompass Roger Waters' feelings of alienation from other people and his distrust for the music industry. Like most of the album, it refers to former Pink Floyd member Syd Barrett and his breakdown. David Gilmour and Waters collaborated to write the music, and Gilmour sang the lead vocal.
The album closes with a 12-minute recording of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX).
Part VI begins with a howling wind from the preceding song "Wish You Were Here". As the wind fades away, Gilmour comes in on the bass guitar. Waters adds another bass with a continuing riff pattern. Then Wright comes in playing an ARP Synthesizer and after a few measures, several rhythm guitar parts and drums come in, as well as a Minimoog synthesizer to play the opening solo. At the two-minute mark, Wright's Minimoog and Gilmour's lap steel guitar play notes in unison before Gilmour does a lap steel guitar solo with some counterpointing from Wright's synthesizers. It lasts for about three minutes and Gilmour plays each section an octave higher than the previous one. Then the vocals come in.
Part VII starts at 4:39 with vocals by Roger Waters then segues into part VIII.
Part VIII opens at 6:09 with Waters playing a second electric guitar for a high-noted sound riff while Gilmour plays the arpeggio riff that bridges Parts VII and VIII. A solid progression of funk plays for about two minutes before very slowly fading out. Throughout this section, Wright's keyboards dominate, with the use of a Minimoog synthesizer, and a Hohner Clavinet. In addition to their guitar solos, there is occasional trading of leads from Gilmour and White instead of the keyboard sounds as heard on record.
Part IX begins at 12:28 Gilmour described Part IX in an interview as "a slow 4/4 funeral march... the parting musical eulogy to Syd". Again, Wright's keyboards dominate, with little guitar input from Gilmour. Mason's drums play for much of this part, and the keyboards play for the final minute before fading out. On the fade-out, a short keyboard part of the melody of "See Emily Play,” one of Barrett's signature Pink Floyd songs, can be heard. This was the final solo writing credit Rick Wright would receive in Pink Floyd during his lifetime, as well as his last writing credit of any kind until The Division Bell in 1994.
