When The Lovelight Starts Shining: Lost Brit Girl Pop of Beryl Marsden Returns

If you peruse enough collections of Merseybeat, chances are you’ll be familiar with the name of Beryl Marsden (no relation to Gerry, of Pacemakers fame).  A product of the same Liverpool club scene that birthed the career of Beatle pal Cilla Black, Marsden played a number of recognizable Fab haunts, including the Cavern Club and the Star Club, and even supported the Beatles on their 1964 U.K. tour.  But Marsden had never received a career-spanning anthology…until now!

Changes: The Story of Beryl Marsden has arrived courtesy of RPM Records, a label of the Cherry Red Group.  Celebrating her fiftieth year in show business, the collection includes every one of Marsden’s singles for Decca and Columbia, her recordings with Rod Stewart’s early band Shotgun Express as well as rare later singles and live performances.

Born Beryl Hogg, the singer began her recording career in 1963 as an artist on the Decca Records label. Her manager was Tony Stratton-Smith, known for founding Charisma Records and launching the careers of The Nice and Van der Graaf Generator, and taking Genesis to new heights after the band’s shaky start with producer Jonathan King.   At Decca, Marsden recorded two singles, starting with a cover of Barbara George’s “I Know (You Don’t Love Me No More)” backed with “I Only Think About You,” and then “When the Lovelight Starts Shinin’ Through His Eyes” b/w “Love is Going to Happen to Me.”  (The B-side was written by Lesley Duncan, later a prominent background vocalist and accomplished singer/songwriter of such songs as “Love Song,” recorded by Elton John, Neil Diamond, Dionne Warwick and others.)  Though these singles didn’t make much of a chart dent (with the Supremes’ version of “Lovelight” eclipsing Beryl’s), she maintained a high enough profile to be signed by Columbia in 1965.  Three singles at Columbia followed, including a 1965 take on Jackie DeShannon’s “Break-A-Way” that’s much beloved today by British soul connoisseurs.  (That track was produced and arranged by Ivor Raymonde, well-known for his work with Dusty Springfield.)  One of Marsden’s Columba singles, “Who You Gonna Hurt” b/w “Gonna Make Him My Baby” was picked up for American release by Capitol.

Hit the jump to ride the Shotgun Express, and bring Beryl Marsden’s story up to the present day!  We’ve also got the full track listing and discography for Changes!

Straight Through/From The Heart: Dio Goes Deluxe From Universal, Audio Fidelity Preps Dio, Bryan Adams

It’s 1983 all over again at Audio Fidelity.

The audiophile specialty label is readying two albums from that year touching on both the rock and pop ends of the musical spectrum.  Bryan Adams’ Cuts Like a Knife and Dio’s Holy Diver are both due in stores on February 14 as 24K Gold CDs playable on all CD players.

Cuts Like a Knife was Adams’ third effort, eschewing the stylistic presentation of his first two albums in favor of a melodic rock style that caught on with both listeners and radio programmers.  The album spawned hit singles in the form of the title song (No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 6 on the mainstream rock chart) plus “This Time” and the quintessential Adams ballad “Straight From the Heart.”   Adams co-produced the LP with Bob Clearmountain, who was also responsible for his previous LP, 1981’s You Want It, You Got It.  Clearmountain’s belief in Adams paid off when Cuts Like a Knife went Top Ten on the Billboard 200, racking up sales of over four million copies.  Audio Fidelity accurately sums up the album as “a great pop rock album to listen to – the songs are highly melodic and well-crafted and full of a lot of simple and genuine heart. “  Adams’ heart was again on its sleeve for the album’s follow-up, Reckless (1984) which delivered with “Summer of ’69,” “Heaven” and “Run to You” among its most beloved songs.  Audio Fidelity’s reissue of Cuts Like a Knife has been remastered by Kevin Gray.

It’s time for Holy Diver, plus a trio of deluxe Dio releases from Universal U.K.!   You’ll find track listings, discography and details, all after the jump!