ZONES - UNDER INFLUENCE (1979)
Slik formed in the mid-70s from the ashes of a Glasgow group called Salvation. By 1978, Slik had become a truly superb band playing short, dynamite rock'n'roll songs. At the height of the punk wave, Slik and Midge Ure recorded Put You In The Picture (later re/recorded with The Rich Kids) for the scottish label Zoom Records. Then Midge Ure left Slik and joined The Rich Kids. So, Willy Gardner stepped in Ure's shoes to form the Zones and released one single on Zoom Records before Arista bought the scottish label. Gardner, Russell Webb, Billy McIsaac and Kenny Hyslop recorded a few singles for their new label Arista and this album produced by Tim Friese/Greene. They didn't find success and then split. Webb & Hyslop joined the Skids within a year and Hyslop completed his tour of Scottish bands by joining Simple Minds. One of the unsung classics of the post/punk power pop boom, the Zones' debut album arrived more or less out of nowhere. AMG
Songs
Do It All Again / Vision On / Deadly Dolls / The End / Mainman / You're Not Foolin' Me / Anything Goes / Strength To Strength / Looking To The Future / Mourning Star
5 comments:
great work angelo : i thank you VERY much.
hey, ave you ever come across the Zones' track called New Life? it was on an Arista soundtrack called That Summer. released in 1979.
if you ever see it around, it would be a golden post!
gratefully yrs,
lp
thanks for this!
strange coincidence, finding it here/now, i'd played Mourning Star (as found on the Rhino DIY Starry Eyes UK Power Pop II comp) on my radio show tonight, and again felt regret that i'd found the band too late. i've even got a copy of the vinyl, but no way to play it ... so i'm looking forward to hearing it in full for the very first time ...
cheers!
I love this album. Saw them play in Saints and Sinners in Glasgow which is now King Tuts. there's also an earlier single (b side We're no angels) cant remeber a side which has a much rougher sound but still has great hooks. Im sure Willy Gardner also went on to release a solo album.
Stuck On You was the single with We're No Angels on the B-side.
The first single on Arista was Sign Of The Time, produced by Graeme Douglas of Eddie And The Hot Rods/Kursaal Flyers fame. That was a classic which should have got some chart action. The album would have benefited from the sound on this.
I know that the band found it tough working with Tim Friese-Green and they fel that he was trying to hard to turn them into Queen.
Worth pointing out the similarity between Mourning Star and Ultravox's Hymn. This was a sore point too!
In thanks for the Stiff-Chiswick contest, pass your peepers over this comprehensive Zones site if you don't already know it:
http://thezonesunderinfluence.blogspot.com/
Cheers, Dave Sez.
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