Mike Hurst - In My Time – Recordings, Productions and Songs 1962-1985

  by Tommy Gunnarsson

published: 23 / 12 / 2021

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Review

Mike Hurst – does that name ring a bell for you? No? Well, I’m certain that you have heard of many of the acts that he produced during the 60s, 70s and 80s. What about Cat Stevens, The Move and The Spencer Davis Group? If that wasn’t enough, he released a bunch of solo records in the 60s and 70s, and he was also one of the members of vocal group The Springfields, where the female vocalist was Dusty, of course. This new box set from Cherry Red gives Mike the anthology treatment that he deserves, compiling both his own recordings and his work with other artists on four discs, where the first two consists of his solo efforts, and the final two CDs compiles his production work from the 60s to the 80s, including some demos recordings. The first CD focuses on Mike’s singles, released during the 60s and 70s, kicking off with ‘The Banjo Song’ (originally released in 1963), which sounds quite a bit like The Shocking Blue’s classic 70s hit ‘Venus’ at times. The remaining fourteen single tracks originally came out from 1965 until 1978 (‘Carol, Please Come Home’ is the last one included here), and as added bonus, we are also treated to two Springfields songs, the hit single ‘Silver Threads and Golden Needles’ and ‘Island of Dreams’ (both 1962), a song recorded by The Mike Hurst Orchestra in 1969, a demo recording made with Mike D’Abo, and three previously unreleased demo solo recordings (two of them with The Blue Flames). The second CD contains the two solo albums that Mike recorded for Capitol Records in the early 70s (‘Home’, released in 1970, and ‘In My Time’, released in 1971), both sounding more or less what you could expect from a singer/songwriter at that point. The influences from both country and blues shows through every now and then, but these are two good albums that surely deserves a better fate than to be forgotten (the original vinyl release of ‘In My Time’ is really quite scarce today). The bonus track here is a live recording of Cat Stevens’ classic ‘I Love My Dog’, done in 2003 under the name of Mike Hurst & His All Star Band. So, now we’re leaving Mike’s own material behind, and we’re entering the second phase, which focuses on his production, from the very early ones (Barry St John’s ‘Come Away Melinda’, 1965) to the ones he made in the mid-70s (Showaddywaddy’s 1976 cover of ‘Under The Moon Of Love’ is the last one featured here). Among the highlights on these two discs are the original recording of ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ (by Bruce Woolley & The Camera Club, and Woolley would later take the song to his new band Buggles, whose recording is now a classic), a demo recording of PP Arnold’s version of Cat Stevens’ ‘The First Cut Is The Deepest’, and Murray Head’s ‘She Was Perfection’, released as a single on the legendary Immediate label in 1967. Even though we know Mike Hurst mostly from his work in the 60s pop and folk vein, there are a few surprises here, at least for me. In 1979, he teamed up with the up-and-coming rockabilly star Shakin’ Stevens to produce the single ‘Hot Dog’, which might be slightly up his alley, but his 1984 collaboration with the then-unknown Samantha Fox on the single ‘Aim to Win’ (co-written by the aforementioned Bruce Woolley, by the way) is a bit more out-of-character. He was actually the head of the label who discovered her, Lamborghini, but she would later move on to Jive Records and achieved world-wide fame, as we all know. Hurst kept on working as a producer and performer after the 80s – he produced Scottish indiepopsters Belle & Sebastian’s single ‘I’m Waking Up To Us’ in 2001, for instance. But he will probably be mostly remembered for his contributions to the UK pop scene in the 60s, as one of the ‘hidden gems’ of the era. And this compilation is a marvellous way to learn about the singer, the songwriter and producer Mike Hurst!

Track Listing:-

1 THE BANJO SONG
2 ANY CHANCE FOR ME
3 ANY TIME THAT YOU WANT ME
4 CAROL-ANNE
5 HALF HEAVEN – HALF HEARTACHE
6 LOOK IN YOUR EYES
7 THE LAST TIME YOU’LL WALK OUT ON ME
8 SOMETHING TOLD ME
9 SHOW ME AROUND
10 I’M RUNNING AWAY
11 I COULDN’T WAIT TO TELL YOU
12 MEXICAN MELODY
13 FOR ALWAYS
14 CAROL PLEASE COME HOME
15 SWEET DARLIN’
16 SILVER THREADS AND GOLDEN NEEDLES The Springfields
17 ISLAND OF DREAMS The Springfields
18 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE Mike Hurst Orchestra
19 GOING GOING GONE (Demo) Mike Hurst & Mike D’Abo
20 MY BABE (Demo, with The Blue Flames)
21 SO CLOSE (Demo, with The Blue Flames)
22 YOU TEAR ME UP (Demo)
23 WORLD OF GLASS
24 FACE FROM THE PAST
25 TO MY DAUGHTER
26 HUNG UPSIDE DOWN
27 ALL I CAN DO IS SING
28 BIG CITIES
29 PHOTOGRAPH OF LOVE
30 DEMOLITION ZONE
31 SCARLET REVISITED MY TIME
32 IN MY TIME
33 NEW YORK CITY
34 TIME WILL MAKE IT RIGHT
35 PLACE IN THE COUNTRY
36 BIG JET SONG
37 INDIAN TEARS
38 SHOW ME THE WAY TO GEORGIA
39 SERVE SOMEBODY
40 OVER AGAIN
41 LORD I DON’T HAVE THE TIME
42 WHICH WAY DOES YOUR RIVER FLOW
43 I LOVE MY DOG The All Star Band
44 COME AWAY MELINDA Barry St John
45 THAT DRIVING BEAT The Favourite Sons
46 CAN YOU HEAR ME The Cymbaline
47 LOOK AWAY The Appalachians
48 KEEP IT OUT OF SIGHT Paul And Barry Ryan
49 THE FIRST CUT IS THE DEEPEST (Demo) PP Arnold
50 BIRDS AND BEES Warm Sounds + 43 Others

Band Links:-

http://www.mikehurst.co.uk/

Label Links:-

http://www.cherryred.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/CherryRedReco
https://twitter.com/cherryredgroup
https://www.youtube.com/CherryRedRecor

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