For a while now, I've been trying to get hold of albums by The Sound, a band who went through the 80s fighting bad odds and general indifference from the general public.
Though most of their work was re-issued some years ago on the Renascent label, who also did fine work with the Comsat Angels and the Wild Swans, it seems to have gone out of print since and CD copies seem to be selling for up to £50.
Fifty quid! Now, I want them pretty bad, but not to the point of spending a big chunk of my weeky disposable income on one album. I suppose it shows how highly regarded they've become since their spint in 1987.
Starting out as Punk band the Outsiders, they earned some notices for being self-released but didn't earn much praise. By the end of the 70s, Borland had formed the Sound with bassist Graham Bailey, keyboard player Max Mayers (replacing Bi Marshall after the first album) and drummer Mike Dudley.
Like the other bands mentioned above and the Chameleons, listening to their songs on youtube confuses me to how they didn't cross over. All excellent musicians, singer/guitarist Adrian Borland also had a great voice and a knack for a memorable tune. Following the band's split, he would released several solo albums and produced Felt's final album, the excellent Me and a Monkey on the Moon.
Sadly, Max Mayers would die in 1993 from an AIDS related condition and Borland's long battle with mental illness, which had contributed to the spilt of the band and continued to plague him throughout the rest of his life, caused him to take his own life in 1999.
Here's a couple of my favourite Sound tunes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdA159Apd4I&feature=related - A New Way of Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1hrznPdsjk - Counting the Days
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