Quireboys - Hey You! The Parlaphone Years 1989-1993
In the mid to late eighties, while bands like Guns N Roses, LA Guns, Faster Pussycat and more were emerging from the LA rock scene, The Quireboys were among the bands coming out of a similar scene in London. Hey You! The Parlophone Years 1989-1993 documents the first phase of their career and contains their first two albums along with an expanded version of their 1990 live album Live Around the World and bonus tracks consisting of b-sides, live cuts and demos from that era.
They released their debut A Bit Of What You Fancy… in 1990 and the influence of The Faces, and to a lesser degree The Rolling Stones, is evident throughout the majority of the album. They also throw in a little glam at times, which helps set them apart. While they have been quite successful in the UK, the promise of US success was there initially with the single “7 O’Clock” hitting fifteen on the US Mainstream Rock Charts, but unfortunately it never happened. That single opens the album and has a bluesy bar room rock swagger with some great piano and does a great job of setting the tone for what’s to come. “Man On The Loose” is up next and is similar with more of that bar room swagger. It’s more reminiscent of The Rolling Stones with some strong guitar work and a slower section highlighted by some gospel backing vocals, which are also present on “Whippin’ Boy”, a slower, down and dirty blues track highlighted by a string section that gives it a haunting mood. The anthemic “Sex Party” seems to always get the crowd going at the live shows, but to me it’s a little dated, sounding like bluesy hair metal. Starting off acoustic before going electric, the country-tinged rock of “Sweet Mary Ann,” an album standout, takes a page straight out of the Rod Stewart handbook, as does “Roses & Rings,” a slower rootsy acoustic track with some fiddle (even the guitars on this one have a Rod Stewart vibe). All the pieces really come together on “I Don’t Love You Anymore,” a slow, rootsy ballad (with some big dramatic ballad moments thanks to the string section) that sounds like it was made for the US charts, but for some reason only hit seventy-six. While it’s a pretty straightforward anthemic rocker, “Hey You” has some great slide guitar that really sets it apart. The Stones once again come to mind on “Misled,” a honky tonk rocker with more strong piano, while “Long Time Comin’” is a solid bluesy rocker, although a little nondescript. “There She Goes Again” is quite different than anything else on the album with a bit of a Springsteen / Southside Johnny vibe, especially with the horns and the chorus. The album closes fittingly with “Take Me Home”, a gritty rocker that walks the line between The Faces and The Stones. Disc one also includes three bonus tracks with the bluesy rock of “Pretty Girls” and The Stones-like “How Do You Feel?” (both originally on the Japanese version of the album) and the original version of “Mayfair”, an earlier single that is a raw, down and dirty bluesy glam track.
In late 1991 the band started working with producer Bob Rock on their sophomore effort. Due to problems at their label and Rock's other commitments, the album had numerous delays which caused them to bring in Chris Kimsey to help with the production. The end result, Bitter Sweet & Twisted was finally released in late 1993, and while it’s not as strong as its predecessor, there are plenty of great tracks to be found, with the opener “Tramps And Thieves” a perfect example. The influence of The Faces definitely shows on the bluesy rock track, full of dirty slide guitar and rollicking bar room piano. The high points continue with “White Trash Blues” with its shuffling blues swagger along with solid piano and horns, and “Can’t Park Here”, a hard driving rock cut with a strong old school blues undercurrent. Up next are a couple of the weaker tracks in “King of New York,” an over-the-top ballad that is a little too generic and “hair metal”, and “Don’t Bite The Hand,” a rocker with a bit of a Stones vibe that just seems to be missing something. “Last Time” is a rootsy, largely acoustic, ballad that finds Spike in full Rod Stewart mode and works much better than the earlier one. A bit of a departure, “Debbie” is sleaze rock with a tongue in cheek swagger and plenty of horns. Their cover of Hot Chocolate’s “Brother Louie” is a really fun take on the song, keeping the spirit of the original while giving it The Quireboys treatment. Next up is the slow burning, bluesy rock of “Ode To You (Baby Just Walk),” followed by “Hates To Please,” which is virtually pure straight ahead country rock complete with pedal steel. Although the next track “My Saint Jude” is a somewhat generic rock track, the final three songs are among the album’s strongest. “Take No Revenge” is slow, smoldering blues rock highlighted with some great organ, while Wild, Wild, Wild” is a strong rocker, once again reminiscent of The Faces, and closer “Ain’t Love Blind” is a little more on the pop side, making for a fun track with a hint of glam. Three more bonus tracks, all originally released as b-sides, are included on disc two. It’s no surprise “Pleasure And Pain” was relegated to a b-side. It’s a somewhat soulful tune with a lot of horns that comes across like a band trying too hard for a hit and strangely sounds like late eighties, early nineties era Rod Stewart. On the other hand, “Best Jobs” is loose, acoustic tune full of saloon piano that just sounds like them sitting around playing and having a good time and “Can’t Get Through” is classic, high energy Quireboys that could’ve replaced any number of songs on the album and made it better.
For fans that like to dig a little deeper, disc three is a treasure trove with twenty demos from the sessions recorded during these first two albums. First up are demos of eight tracks that ended up on the debut along with two of the b-sides found on disc one. While many of them aren’t too far removed from the album cuts, several are notably different. “I Don’t Love You Anymore” and “Hey You” are both a little slower and bit rougher around the edges, while “Roses & Rings,” and “Misled” are both faster. With the exception of one track that ended up on Bitter Sweet & Twisted, the rest of the demos here are for songs that were never released. “The Last Time” is that one song and in all honesty the demo, which is stripped down, is full of character and in my opinion the better version. Some of the other highlights include the mysterious sounding “Ton Ton M’Acoute,” a slower, kind of slinky track, the bluesy, country of “You Can’t Hide From Your Heart” and the powerful “Save Me,” which shows a darker, heavier side to the band.
Rounding out the box set is a live disc that is actually an expanded version of Live Album (Recorded Around The World) that was released between the two albums in 1990. Since these tracks were recorded at a variety of shows the sound quality varies, but there aren’t any that are unlistenable, and for the most part they sound good. As for the performances themselves, they are high energy and show a band at the top of their game, and the crowd participation is great. In addition to tracks from those two albums there are great covers of Sam and Dave’s “Hold On I’m Coming” and The Rolling Stones’ “Heartbreaker.” Hey You! The Parlophone Years 1989-1993 is a fantastic look back at the early years of the band and has plenty for new fans and old fans alike.