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New CD - May 2008

A new double CD "The Lost Masters 2 - The final cut"

First impressions

The new double CD 'Lost Masters 2 - The Final Cut' featuring rare tracks of BUCKS FIZZ was released on May 19th, 2008 in Great Britain. The collection contains 28 tracks according to the track listing and several hidden surprises.

The first track on the CD 1 is the full-length version of the 1984 hit "Talking in Your Sleep" followed by edited versions of "Breaking me up" and "Rules of the Game" (the TV version with dead ending). The demo version of "Piece of the Action" sounds quite different to the well-known LP/SP one. The remix of "My Camera Never Lies" contains several differences and additional vocal overdubs. The demo of "Don't Think You're Foolin' me" sounds quite... Scottish. The rock mix of "Magical" is in many ways unique as it features an intro sung by Jay Aston who by the time of this recording session was leaving the group in spring-early summer 1985. "Golden Days" has been newly remixed and it sounds completely different but it features the same vocals as the original recording with some more focus on Cheryl and Jay. The early mix of "If You Can't Stand the Heat" is slightly different to the final version of the song and "You and Your Heart So Blue" performed by Cheryl is one more different version to the ones included on the "Lost Masters 1".

The early mix of "The Right Situation" is dominated by the guys' voices and the contribution from Jay and Cheryl is minimal, the arrangement reminds much more of "Making Your Mind Up". One of the highlights from the album "I Hear Talk" the song "Tears on the Ballroom Floor" sung by Cheryl had richer arrangement from the beginning as we can hear on this early demo. The original album version became more rough and synthesizer-based according to the musical trends in the early 1980s.

The previously unreleased "Every dream has broken" appears on this compilation in an alternate version but it is quite different to hear any bigger difference between this mix and the one from the Lost Masters 1.

The first hidden track on the CD1 is a delete vocal part of "Now You're Gone". The two others are themes from two TV shows - none of the hidden tracks last more than appr 30 seconds.

The opening track on CD2 is an alternate version of "Another Night" - the song which was hit in Japan in 1981 in connection to Bucks Fizz appearance on the Yamaha World Popular Song Festival. This version was recorded for promo purposes in Japan and it features partly different text. The mix of "Easy Love" is called for "European version" and it was recorded for TV promotion of the single which was released in West Germany.

An absolutely unknown track written by Bobby entitled "Putting the heat on" is probably from the "Big Deal" period as it sounds in this way and seems not to feature the other Bucks Fizz members as background singers. The extended remix of "Run for your Life" sounds good but it was done in 2008 without any participation of the group.

The demo version of "One of those nights" is a very interesting example of how a song can develop. The early version of "Invisible" sounds as strong as the final one and it's a pity that it did not appeared on the album. The TV version of the ballad "You love love" is featured in the show promoting "Hand Cut" and it's nice to have it on CD.

The 7" version of "Cold War" must have been thought as a possible single release in 1984 but the idea was abandoned.

The Jay Aston classic from 1981 "Getting Kinda Lonely" appears here in a long version which sounds even better than the album version. One more Bobby production from the "Big Deal" era is entitled "Because of Susan".

"Indebted to you" from 1984 with Jay Aston singing lead vocals is absolutely interesting and it once again shows that it was extremely difficult to find a good vocal balance for this song. Maybe Cheryl would make it even better.

The 2008 mix of "The Land of Make Believe" sounds really great - absolutely useful for a disco night.

One more completely unknown track performed by Cheryl "Let's Get Wet" appears for the first time on this CD. Being a huge admirer of Cheryl I don't find this song as the most excited she's ever done but nice to hear it anyway.

One more remix of "Every Dream has Broken" appears as the last track on CD2. The hidden track is "Now Those Days Are Gone" in demo version performed by Andy Hill. There is no doubt about it that Andy can sing but I prefer Mike...

Track listing:

Bucks Fizz 2007

Bucks Fizz on the British chart!!

The latest compilation CD (with bonus DVD) "The Very Best of Bucks Fizz" entered the British album chart on #40 on May 21st, 2007. It's the best position for a Bucks Fizz album since "Greatest Hits" in 1983 which entered the British chart on December 3rd, 1983 and peaked at #25. The next two studio albums "I Hear Talk" from 1984 reached only #66 in 1984 and "Writing on the Wall" in 1986 peaked on #89 on December 13, 1986.

Come on Cheryl, Jay, Shelley, Mike and Bobby go back to the recording studio!!!

Cheryl on TV ads

Cheryl can be seen on TV in a 30-second-ad for Nourkrin.

On TV

Cheryl, Mike and Shelley appeared on British TV on the Eurovision night on Saturday May 12 where they presented their Eurovision favorites. They presented themselves as "original Bucks Fizz" which probably is not the exact true as the "very original" Bucks Fizz are: Cheryl, Jay, Mike and Bobby. But it was fun to see them anyway.

More Bucks Fizz related links:

Bucks Fizz The Early Years

Jay Aston The Official Homepage