Smoma Songs To Remember

Conductor, composer, violinist, and pianist Mantovani was one of the most popular and prolific easy listening artists of all time. His trademark "cascading strings" (or "tumbling strings") effect gave him an instantly recognizable sound, and his heavy reliance on the string section in general helped map out the blueprint for much of the light orchestral music that followed in his wake. His repertoire did feature original compositions, but was built chiefly on lush adaptations of familiar melodies: TV and movie themes, show tunes, pop hits (chiefly of the MOR variety), classical material, and the like. Starting his career in the '20s, Mantovani was very much a product of the recording age: he focused almost entirely on recording, instead of live performance…

Although pop music enjoyed a larger audience and more expansive industrial structure at the time of rock’s emergence, the rhythm ‘n’ blues genre possessed a richer assortment of the artists who were to mold the new music’s style. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the work of these artists provided the strongest and most consistent reason for the quality and appeal of the music itself.

Grooveyard Records is proud to announce the release of the Bandolier Kings "Time To Remember" (A Tribute To Budgie - Volume 2) disc, the excellent follow-up to our first "Budgie Tribute" disc entitled "Welcome To The Zoom Club". On that disc we focused on the 70s era "Chapter 1" songs from the musical book of Budgie featuring Tony Bourge on guitar and on "Time To Remember" we pay tribute to the "Chapter 2" era of Budgie featuring John Thomas on guitar. We are deeply saddened by the loss of Burke Shelley on January 10th, 2022, and the passing of John Thomas in 2016. The Bandolier Kings - "Time To Remember" disc is dedicated in honor and memory of Burke Shelley & John Thomas whose music is celebrated on this musical document.

Evoking an era when prog, hard rock and heavy metal co-existed in an era of glorious, boundary-breaking music, the songs on this 2CD and digital collection trace the evolution of Heep from inexperienced studio musicians with everything to prove to bona fide, limo inhabiting rock stars. The Anthology cherry picks tracks from some of Heep’s most celebrated albums including ‘Demons And Wizards’, ‘Look At Yourself’, ‘Return To Fantasy’, ‘Equator’, ‘Conquest’ and ‘The Magician’s Birthday’. Created with the full collaboration of Heep themselves and curated by guitarist and founder member Mick Box, the reissues come as 2CD expanded packages, with the original album on CD1 re-mastered by renowned engineer Andy Pearce of Lou Reed and Black Sabbath fame and complete with liner notes in extensive booklet with rare photos by the bestselling rock author Joel McIver. Box and Heep’s sometime member Ken Hensley, composer of many of the band’s best-known songs, contribute to each album’s notes.