Description
Lost Horizon is the first of two compilation albums by the British born poet and singer/songwriter Steve Scott, released by Alternative Records in 1988. The compilation contains tracks from the Emotional Tourist album and the Rice EP – neither commercially released, as well as remixes of several tracks from Scott’s 1983 debut on Exit Records, Love in the Western World. The tracks were produced by Michael Roe, Charlie Peacock, and Steven Soles.
Moving round in circles, getting closer to the edge.
When Alternative Records fist contacted me about putting out this record, they were pretty insistent that we use the original version of «Love in the Western World» and not the Peacock produced ‘Tourist’ version. Also they wanted «Wall Of Tears» in all its melancholy, droning glory. “Ah well’, we said, and set about hunting down the master tapes. Phone calls to Texas etc. No luck. We were faced with the daunting prospect of remixing the suckers, courtesy of the generosity of Exit Studios. So, Roe, Zachman and myself waded back into these slices of history (have you ever waded into a slice of anything, incidentally?) and I do believe we were able to improve upon the originals. Mike even added new guitar parts to «World».
Songs like «Love in the Western World» and «Wall of Tears» come from a much earlier time, closer to 1982. I took the ‘Westen World’ idea from a Denis De Rougemont book of the some name. It was a scholarly tome on the development of some ideas about the idealization of Romantic Love from medieval times to the present. I also told someone in an interview once that I got the idea for the song while watching an old Starsky and Hutch episode about a mad killer who hounted discotheques. With me so far? Incidentally, the UK edition of De Rougemont’s volume was called ‘Passion and Society’. Watch this space.
«Tears» we just tried to make bigger, adding more echo in places, even bringing the ‘guide’ and ‘work’ vocals up in the mix to add more ..er.. sincerity to the lead vocal’s overall feel and attack. All those desperate ‘hellos’ at the end were partially inspired by a children’s record I used to hear (Saturday morning BBC Light program with ‘Uncle Mac’ in the 50’s) called ‘The Boy Who Lost His Echo’.
The whale poem was originally written in 1976, during my fist trip to America. I was staying at a friend’s house in Southern California, and flipping thru channels on the TV using a remote control. On one channel was a TV evangelist lamenting the moral woes of America. On another channel was a news story about some beached and dying whales. I simply juxtaposed and collaged together the two sets of images, and worked from there. I put music behind it in 1980, and we put a version of it on the ‘Western World’ album. Remixing it for the CD version of ‘Horizon’ gave us the opportunity to play with the vocal a bit.
Incidentally, I’ve taken the travel journals from the America ’76 one thru to the South East Asia/India materials from 1981 and 1987…Bali/Java 1989, and edited them together into a book of prose and poetry. The raw materials and inspirational roots for everything from the Whale Poem through to songs like «Emotional Tourist» and «Shadowplay» will be available to whoever wants it. The book is called ‘The Boundaries’.
Other future work includes, of course, more songs, but also cassette releases of text taken from ‘The Boundaries’ and recited over musics and sounds from the electronic to the ethnic. Interested? Stay in touch. [CD liner notes]
When Steve Scott debuted on Exit Records (the label that introduced us to Vector, 77’s and Charlie Peacock) in 1983 with ‘Love in the Western World‘, it’s pretty safe to say (at least for the Christian market) that he was ahead of his time.
With intelligent poetic metaphores and bold, angular new music, Scott was not completely understood. In the five years since, Scott has come close to having two releases through Exit with A&M (‘Emotional Tourist‘, 1986) and Island (‘Rice’, 1987). (Neither was commercially released.) Now that Exit is defunct and both records are more or less lost, Alternative Records released ‘Lost Horizon’, a Scott compilation disc from each previous period.
By the time he completed ‘Emotional Tourist’, Scott had learned to focus his poetic brilliance into hook-oriented bursts of pop songsmanship. Always a rock journalist, exploring and explaining both the rough terrain of the world that robs us of our humanity and the salvation which restores it, he became a more structured and therefore accessible artist.
Songs like «Not a Pretty Picture» and «Ship of Fools» capture the darkness that afflicts our blind eyes, before the assurance that “Being is better than not being / is the answer to the question” and we “don’t have to ride the Ghost Train”.
The material from the Rice EP (the best of which is «Something’s Got to Change», «Touch» and «What Is The Mystery»), is more mature, and just more of what he would have accomplished had ‘Emotional Tourist’ been released.
Scott has developed a fine sense of expression that, like a novelist, delves into layer after layer of character, nuance and ideals. His is an approach marked by subtlety and restraint. Those with ears to hear will learn more than can be assimilated by a simple reading of the words.
The world is not always a pretty picture, but we cannot turn away. Steve Scott and, finally, ‘Lost Horizon’, help us to look; and because of the beauty with which it is said and the integrity with which the music is shared, it makes it just that much easier to take. [Brian Q. Newcomb, CCM, January 1989]
CD tracklist:
01. Not a Pretty Picture – 4:04
02. No More Parades – 3:57
03. Something’s Got to Change – 3:29
04. What is the Mystery – 4:41
05. Call of the Wild – 4:15
06. Touch – 5:30
07. Shadow Play – 4:16
08. Wall of Tears – 5:27
09. Love in the Western World – 4:57
10. Emotional Tourist – 3:58
11. When Worlds Collide – 4:14
12. Ghost Train – 3:18
13. This Sad Music – 5:12
14. Ship of Fools – 3:39
15. Minor Characters – 3:52
16. Sound of Waves (12″ Version) – 7:06
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Alternative Records, with the CD version featuring 4 extra tracks (the last four tracks). The CD was also released in long box form.
Emotional Tourist pre-release cassettes cover art. The Emotional Tourist album, produced by Charlie Peacock, was recorded for an Exit/A&M release in 1986, though never commercially released. Track list: Not a Pretty Picture / Love in the Western World / Emotional Tourist / Sound of Waves / When Worlds Collide / Heaven Hears the Heart That Breaks / Memory Babe / Ship of Fools / Minor Characters / Ghost Train.
An article regarding Steve Scott’s up-coming – though never commercially released – album entitled Emotional Tourist was featured in the February 1986 issue of CCM Magazine.
CREDITS. Produced by Michael Roe, Charlie Peacock, and Steven Soles.
Musicians: Steve Scott (vocal, mouth organ), Mike Roe (guitar, vocal), Aaron Smith (drums), Mark Tootle (keyboard), Gary Landaker (bass). Additional musicians: Benjamin Bossi (saxophone), John Flanagen (guitar), Rick Estrin (harp), Bongo Bob Smith (percussion), Steve Griffith (vocal), Jim Albegg (banjo, guitar), Jan Eric (guitar, bass guitar, vocal), Mark Proctor (drums), Steven Soles (percussion, vocals), Mike Butera (saxophone), Daryla Griser (vocal).
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