The Vital Spark

Description

The Vital Spark is an album by the British singer and songwriter Brian McGlynn, independently released on Sticky Music in 1985. The album was recorded by Kenny McDonald at Park Lane Studios in Glasgow, Scotland; with Brian McGlynn producing. All songs written by Brian McGlynn except track A2 co-written with Craig and track B3 co-written with Baird.

Featuring Brian McGlynn on guitars and vocals, backed by Norrie Craig on keyboards and keyboard bass, Ewen Vernal on bass, and Stuart Don on drums (and drum machine programs). Backing vocals provided by Kathleen Higgins and Lorraine McIntosh (the latter of Deacon Blue fame).

Something about 1980s alternative from the UK – you can almost always count on it being high quality. Brian McGlynn (sometimes going by D.B. McGlynn) is no exception. This tape starts off with U2-esque chiming guitars on the first track and never looks back. You can hear low quality rips of Side 1 and Side 2 on YouTube, but trust me that the recording quality is much better than these videos. You can also see that Brian does not stick too strictly with one sound – several other sounds are woven in. I would say he has a pretty original sound of his own even. I can’t find much about Brian online other than this interview years after this demo when he was going by D.B. McGynn. You can usually count on Sticky Music doing a stand up job. There is also another version of this cassette with just McGlynn on the cover, but it is the exact same album with a different cover (see above). Oh, and there is also a 7-inch single of «Soul Doctor» out there as well. [Christian Tape Underground, February 2018]

Cassette tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Echoes of Another World”
A2. “Stranger at the Party”
A3. “What Can I Say”
A4. “Walk Softly”
A5. “Your Turn Will Come”

Side Two
B1. “Touch Sensitive”
B2. “Goodnight Cherie”
B3. “Friday Night”
B4. “Soul Doctor”

Note: Later re-issued in CD by Sticky Music.

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