MelodicRock Classics is excited to team up with one of hard rock’s premiere voices – the great JOHN WEST. John has an extensive resume that dates back to the late 80s, yet his emergence as one of hard rock’s go to vocalists didn’t come until the mid-90s.

Fronting such legendary bands as Royal Hunt, Artension and Sun Red Sun, as well as delivering several solo records, his unmistakable and powerful vocals founded a solid following of fans.

This album also features 3x Grammy winning producer/songwriter, keyboardist Lonnie Park.

This collection of early works, some of which were released on cassette only under his own name and the group name Destiny were all recorded between 1988 and 1991.

The lineup for these tracks was:

John West – Lead Vocals, Guitars

Lonnie Park – Keyboards, Backing Vocals

Ian Budha – Drums, Backing Vocals

Billy Ray Gunn – Bass, Backing Vocals

John West: “My plan was never to end up as a journeyman lead singer. I was a band guy, and even more so – a band of friend’s guy. I assembled a group of friends and players to form Destiny with Ian and Billy, after our days in Adam/West together. Here you will find the Destiny four song cassette that we released and sold at shows. You will also find the six songs from my first solo release. In addition, we have some demos to throw in for you music lovers. Not perfect, but perfectly ready to be heard by the world! Enjoy -and thanks to all involved in my formative years and beyond. What a career, and all based on plan B.”

Lonnie Park: “When I first saw John and Ian play I was 17 years old and instantly became a fan of them both. When they started the band Destiny and invited me to join, I jumped at the chance. It was also the beginning of a lifelong brotherhood. These recordings take me back to being a hungry but clueless kid learning how to record, write, perform, a lot about the business, and discipline.”

Billy Ray Gun: “I’m truly honored to grow up as one of John West’s best friends and I’ll always have a profound appreciation for everyone in this band – seriously some of the greatest years of my life. PLAY IT LOUD!”

Ian Budha: “At the age of 17 I was fortunate enough to cross paths with John who saw something in my playing and took me under his wings. Just a couple of kids with big dreams, drive and determination to be successful in the music business. The culmination being these 13 songs we recorded in our band called Destiny. Unfortunately, we came up just a little short in our quest but this was the bedrock we all stood upon to launch our music careers.”

MRC will release JOHN WEST – Days Of Destiny on March 24.

PRE-ORDER NOW AT: https://melodicrockclassics.com/johnwest.html

Track Listing and Track Info:

01. Look Into My Eyes #

02. Side By Side *

03. Set Me Free +

04. Fountain Of Youth

05. Burning Summer Nights +

06. Sail On #

07. Don’t Run Away *

08. The End #

09. Lady Ice #

10. All My Life *

11. Do You Want Me *

12. You Say I Say #

13. Save Your Love #

* Officially released as Destiny on the 4-song cassette

# Recorded after Destiny broke up (But same lineup). Released as John’s first solo record on cassette

+ Recorded after and never released

Remastered by JK Northrup

ORDER NOW: https://melodicrockclassics.com/brettwalker.html

THE BRETT WALKER ARCHIVES:

About The Audio:

Titled ‘Last Parade’ (after one of the unreleased tracks), the special limited-edition package paid tribute to one of the great songwriters of this genre. Brett tragically and suddenly passed away in July 2013, with a special tribute paid to him by his band and wife at MRF3 later that year.

I kept in touch, recalling various conversations I had with Brett about releasing his Person To Person songs and some of his unreleased demos, which collectors had been trading for some years.
Brett’s wife Sheron and I agreed to look at what was available and see what could be done. Brett’s entire DAT collection was sent to me to digitize, which lead to an extraordinary discovery.

Over no less than 47 DATs, it became evident that Brett was sitting on a treasure trove of unreleased material. I was blown away at the quality and the brilliance of these songs, with a cross-reference of styles present from throughout Brett’s career.
Some of the older unreleased material rivals the classic ‘Nevertheless’ album for melodic rock brilliance. Fans of all eras will in fact, be blown away I’m sure.

‘Last Parade’ is the most complex project I’ve ever put together, mainly because of the vast number of songs. At last count there was 174 song files in the “Work In Progress” folder. There were at least 2 versions of almost every track on the DATs and sometimes 5 or even 6! Some are from all different mixes, others various audio quality and some completely different versions of known songs.
JK Northrup has been mastering and remastering for the past several months!
Either way…lots of listening time and so many amazing songs.

Long may Brett’s music live on.

Now Out Of Print, the box set is brought back to life here in two individual sets, both featuring exclusive previously unreleased songs that only came as a digital bonus to purchases of the original box set.

There has been some demand for a truncated version of the box set, as well as a stand-alone release of the Person To Person tracks.

So it is with great pleasure that MelodicRock Classics has gone to work on two exclusive new releases due out February 24.

Person To Person – ‘The Complete Recordings’ (2CD Set) and
Brett Walker – ‘Highlights From The Last Parade’ (2CD Set)

That’s 4 discs of Brett Walker and Person To Person magic. The original purchase of the box set came with some 50+ bonus tracks in MP3 download – songs which we didn’t have room for on the original set, so several of those songs have been curated to appear as bonus tracks on each release – exclusively on CD for the first time.

For the Person To Person cover art, the band’s original and only promo shot was black and white. Par Winberg took the picture and used new AI colouring technology to make an accurate portrait of the band just as they were ready to launch.

MRC033 – PERSON TO PERSON – The Complete Recordings

Disc 1 – The Original Album

01. Undercover Love
02. Never Be The Same
03. No Shortcut To Paradise
04. Careless Nights
05. Lecia
06. More Than A Memory
07. Waiting For Love
08. Hard To Find An Easy Way
09. No Sense In Falling (Previously Unreleased Version)
10. No Fire Without You
11. Far Cry From Love
12. One Night Away
13. Ayla (Previously Unreleased)
14. Outta Site
15. Eye For Love

Disc 2 – Person To Person – Live, Alt Mixes and Brett Walker Demos

01. Hard To Find An Easy Way (91-93 Demo)
02. More Than a Memory (91-93 Demo)
03. Never Be The Same (91-93 Demo)
04. No Sense In Falling (91-93 Demo)
05. Undercover Love (Slower Version) (Previously Unreleased)
06. Never Be The Same (Alt Mix/Brett Vocal) (Previously Unreleased)
07. No Sense In Falling (Extended)
08. Waiting For Love (Original Demo)
09. Lecia (Mixed For TV Inst) (Previously Unreleased)
10. Undercover Love (Live)
11. Waiting For Love (Live)
12. Burning In The 3rd Degree (Live)

MRC032 – BRETT WALKER – Highlights From The Last Parade

Disc 1 – Highlights:

01. Still A Dream Away (Demo Version)
02. Branded
03. Bad Time For Goodbye (Alt Mix)
04. Crossroads Motel (91-93 Demo)
05. Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of
06. After The Tears Have Gone
07. American Dreamer (Rock Version)
08. A Little Too Late
09. Fools Paradise
10. Catchin’ On
11. Heaven Stops The Rain
12. Always A Place
13. Everything I Want To Do (Piano Ballad Version)
14. Don’t Turn Out The Lights (Guitar Mix)
15. On The Train Again
16. Higher Ground (Revision)
17. Last Parade

Disc 2 – Spotlights (All Previously Unreleased on CD):

01. Midnight Angel (Early Demo)
02. Quicksand (Early Alt Mix)
03. No Reasons Of The Heart (Alt Mix)
04. Living On The Moon (Remix)
05. It’s A Good Thing (First Mix)
06. Didn’t Mean To Say Goodbye (91-93 Demo)
07. Give A Little Love (91-93 Demo)
08. Don’t Mean Much (Demo)
09. A Far Cry From Love (Slower)
10. I Could Be Wrong (Alt Version)
11. Rain Dance (Alt Mix)
12. Hard Dark Music (Inst)
13. It Looks A Lot Like Rain (Inst)
14. Don’t Come Back Crying
15. Solo Piano (Freeform 2)
16. Last Parade (Early Demo)

MelodicRock Classics is excited to announce the limited-edition reissue of four acclaimed cult classic AOR albums over the next two months. Each album has won fan and critical praise over the years and all four titles have remained on the impossible to find list for many collectors.

The campaign begins August 26 with reissues of two British classics – CHRIS IRVINE and 2AM.

On September 30, two more classics arrive – LAMARCA and YA YA ‘II’.

2AM is the brain child of vocalist Dave Lloyd (Nutz/Rage) and guitarist/songwriter Mark Thomas.

The high-tech AOR duo delivered their one and only album in 1987, before splitting in 1988 after being dropped by their label RCA, leaving behind a true classic that fans have traded audio copies over the last 30 years.

Unfortunately, there is a sad side to this reissue. Mark Thomas was only recently discovered to have passed away several years ago after dropping out of the industry many years earlier.

In 2003 Judges sitting in the High Court in London ruled that American singer Bobby Womack had stolen the 2am song ‘You’re The One’, awarding Thomas GBP57,000 in royalties.

Unable to afford to pursue Womack in US courts for payments that never came, Mark left the business with a bitter taste.

It is hoped that this official remaster, which comes on the 35th Anniversary of the album’s release, will help remind fans of what a fantastic writer and guitarist Mark Thomas was and close the 2AM story on a positive note.

There are no additional songs recorded at the time that could be used as bonus tracks, but there is one additional track ‘Right Now I Need You’ that was a B-side on the 1987 12” single ‘Somebody Someday’.

2am ‘When Every Second Counts’ has been lovingly remastered from the original CD audio by JK Northrup, giving the songs fresh new life.

MelodicRock Classics presents 2AM ‘When Every Second Counts’ August 26. Limited Edition 500 Units.

Track Listing:

01. Never Gonna Let You Escape               4:02

02. You’re The One                                          4:13

03. Somebody Someday                                3:48

04. Who Will You Run To                               4:47

05. Too Late                                                       4:53

06. Lost Souls                                                     3:52

07. Running With The Same Old Crowd  3:44

08. Never Feel This Way Again                    4:03

09. Dreams And Promises                            4:35

10. Now You’re Leaving                                 4:03

11. Right Now I Need You (B-Side)            3:33

MelodicRock Classics is proud and honoured to partner with the family of the late, great VAN STEPHENSON, plus his many co-writers and musical partners, to pay tribute to the legacy of the legendary singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist with a series of archive releases, culminating in two career spanning box sets, featuring all unreleased songs from his vast songwriting archives.

MRC Owner and A&R director Andrew McNeice has been given the responsibility of archiving Van’s songwriting demos from the 70s, right up until the last songs he wrote.

Over 12 months of work behind the scenes will come to fruition November 25, with the first two releases from the Van Stephenson Archives.

BUY NOW: https://melodicrockclassics.com/vanstephenson.html

The second title to be announced is also due for release November 25.

Van Stephenson – ‘Van’s Versions’, a 2CD compilation of songs written or co-written by Van and previously recorded and released elsewhere.

The songs are all cultivated from Van’s unreleased archives and feature songs written by him alone plus other songs co-written with his writing partners Sam Lorber, Jeff Silbar, Dave Robbins, Jan Buckingham, Phil Brown, Tim DuBois, Bob Farrell and more.

McNeice comments: “The idea for this compilation came while I was slowly going through all of Van’s demo archives. It is already clear just what an amazing writer and vocalist Van was, but I was pleasantly surprised with just how many tracks there are of Van’s that other artists had recorded. When you have the likes of Eric Clapton, Laura Branigan, Kenny Rogers, Dan Seals, Juice Newton and Restless Heart picking your songs to record, then you must appreciate just how good those songs are and the importance of highlighting them.

Van’s vast archives included his own original demo versions of many of these songs and it was so good to hear Van’s voice driving songs you might already know.

The need for ‘Van’s Versions’ became clear. I thought a nice idea would be to put all these songs into one compilation, which turned into a 41 song, double CD set.

The set features the varied musical styles Van wrote for over the years, including Pop, AOR, Rock, Midwestern & Country.

Included among the songs are some original demo versions Van recorded himself for his two MCA albums, giving further insight into Van’s writing and recording process.

It also allows space for the upcoming box sets to feature exclusively unreleased material, which is something I know a lot of people are looking forward to hearing.”

To complete the package, artwork from French graphic artist Arnaud Leger has been specially commissioned, plus the audio for both discs has been carefully restored and remastered by acclaimed producer JK Northrup.

Pre-orders will be available from next Monday and the complete track listing for ‘Van’s Versions’ (and the artist that recorded the songs) are as follows:

Disc One:

01. Set The Night On Fire (Vocal Demo) Recorded by OAK (1980)

02. Catch The Next Dream Recorded by THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND (1980)

03. Undivided Love Recorded by EDDY ARNOLD (1980)

04. Bad Enough Recorded by KENNY ROGERS (1983)

05. Til I Loved You Recorded by GLENN SHORROCK (1983), JUICE NEWTON (1984) & RESTLESS HEART (1985)

06. If The Fall Don’t Get You Recorded by JANIE FRICKE (1982) & ANNE GRETE (1984)

07. All My Life Recorded by KENNY ROGERS (1983) & PETULA CLARK (1988)

08. Everybody’s Dream Girl Recorded by DAN SEALS (1983)

09. You’ve Got A Good Love Coming (Original Demo) Recorded by LEE GREENWOOD (1983), CONWAY TWITTY (1984) & BOB CLAYTON (1989)

10. Others Only Dream (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

11. What The Big Girls Do (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

12. The Cure Will Kill You (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

13. Modern Day Delilah (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

14. I Know Who You Are, I Saw What You Did (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

15. You’ve Been Lied To Before (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

16. Righteous Anger (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

17. It’s Not Me, It’s Not You Recorded by KBC BAND (1986)

18. Back To The Heartbreak Kid Recorded by KATHY MATTEA (1984)

19. She Danced Her Way Into My Heart Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1985)

20. (You Don’t Hear) The One That Gets You Recorded by JUICE NEWTON (1984)

21. Restless Heart Recorded by JUICE NEWTON (1984) & RESTLESS HEART (1985)

22. Dancing With Danger (Original Demo) From the Solo Album SUSPICIOUS HEART (1986)

Disc Two:

01. Suspicious Heart (Original Demo) From the Solo Album SUSPICIOUS HEART (1986)

02. South December Road Recorded by GARY MORRIS (1985)

03. Grand Illusion Recorded by ERIC CLAPTON (1986) & DONNY OSMOND (1988)

04. Jenny Come Back Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1988)

05. Never In A Million Years Recorded by LAURA BRANIGAN (1990) & VICKI SHEPARD (1991)

06. It Happens All The Time Recorded by ANNE MURRAY (1987)

07. Calm Before The Storm Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1988)

08. House Of Fire Recorded by LITTLE BOB (1989)

09. Big Dreams In A Small Town Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1988)

10. Bluest Eyes In Texas Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1988)

11. When Pink Turns To Blue Recorded by FIONA (1989)

12. Nature Of Love Recorded by POCO (1989)

13. I’ve Never Been So Sure Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1990)

14. Get Used To It Recorded by GIANT (1992)

15. It Ain’t About Love Anymore (Vocal Demo) Recorded by BLACKHAWK (1997)

16. If That Was A Lie (Acoustic Demo) Recorded by BLACKHAWK (1997)

17. All The Time In The World (Vocal Demo) Recorded by BOYZONE (1998)

18. Think Again (Vocal Demo) Recorded by BLACKHAWK (1998)

19. Ships Of Heaven (Acoustic Demo) Recorded by BLACKHAWK (2000) & VAN STEPHENSON (2000)

It’s my great pleasure to deliver one advance track from the compilation for your enjoyment today. Please enjoy ‘Back To The Heartbreak Kid’, as previously recorded by Kathy Mattea.