Gone Digital: The Adventures, Carter USM, Hurricane #1, Love Spit Love, and Junior Senior
If it’s Tuesday, then it must be time for Gone Digital, our weekly look at five albums which may not even realize are part of Rhino’s digital catalog. As ever, the types of music we’ll be covering will be all over the place, but that’s Rhino for you: we’re all about variety!
• The Adventures, THEODORE AND FRIENDS (1985): Founded in Belfast, this band first found fame when they moved to London, a decision which led to them signing with Chrysalis Records and releasing this debut album. It wasn’t a huge hit in the UK – four singles were released, and none of them cracked the top 40 – but “Send My Heart” was a top-30 in Germany, at least. Thankfully, their sophomore album, 1988’s THE SEA OF LOVE, spawned a top-10 Irish hit with “Broken Land,” a single which also hit #20 in the UK and, amazingly, hit #45 in the US.
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• Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, 1992: THE LOVE ALBUM – EXPANDED EDITION (1992): Formed in South London by Jim “Jim Bob” Morrison and Les “Fruitbat” Carter, Carter USM, as they’re more frequently called, were a force to be reckoned with on the UK charts in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, but this was unquestionably the height of their success. A #1 LP in the UK, it features the top-10 hit “The Only Living Boy in New Cross” and the top-30 hits “Do Re Me So Far So Good” (#22) and “The Impossible Dream” (#21). And, yes, that is a cover of the song from Man of La Mancha.
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• Hurricane #1, HURRICANE #1 (1997): When the band Ride broke up in the mid-1990s, guitarist Andy Bell formed this band with vocalist/guitarist Alex Lowe, bassist Will Pepper, and drummer Gaz Farmer. After two albums, however, the band was dissolved, with Bell first going on to join Gay Dad, then moving on to Oasis before eventually reforming Ride. A few years ago, Lowe decided to reform Hurricane #1, and while he’s currently the only original member of the band, they did release a new album in 2015. This, however, was their debut, and it’s a solidly Britpoppy LP.
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• Love Spit Love, TRYSOME EATONE (1997): Given that Richard Butler opted to resuscitate the Psychedelic Furs after the release of this album – and considering that it’s been 23 years since he did that, and there’s yet to be a follow-up LP – it’s hard to remain optimistic that we’ll ever see another Love Spit Love album. That said, if you’re a Furs fan and you missed out of this period of Butler’s career, run don’t walk to give this album a spin, because it really does sound just like the Furs...as you’d expect, given that it’s the same gentleman crooning the tunes.
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• Junior Senior, D-D-DON’T STOP THE BEAT (2003): Truth be told, we’d be surprised if you weren’t already aware that this one was in the Rhino digital catalog, but given what a rotten state the world is in at the moment, we also figured it couldn’t hurt to remind you how much the act of moving your feet can raise your spirits...particularly if you’re moving them to Junior Senior.
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