LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Somewhere between his much-respected mid '60s stint penning quirky yet classic hits for The Hollies, Herman's Hermits, The Yardbirds, Cher, Gene Pitney, Wayne Fontana and his huge success as a member of 10CC in the '70s, Manchunian pop genius Graham Gouldman could be found getting stuck into any number of interesting recording projects and bizarre pseudonym releases! .
Almost as an afterthought, Gouldman found himself as a bona fide solo artist, releasing the atypical R&B stomper 'Stop Stop Stop' (no relation to the Hollies tune) on Decca in 1966 before switching to RCA for his first solo album "The Graham Gouldman Thing" in 1968. The album features several of his hits ("For Your Love", "Bus Stop", "Pamela Pamela", "No Milk Today") alongside some less familiar gems ("The Impossible Years", "Pawnbroker", "Behind The Door", "My Father") re-worked in a beautiful baroque 'n' roll style setting string quartets against funky backbeats and electric guitar flash. It's in much the same ball-park as our recent Tony Hazzard Sings Tony Hazzard reissue with the added bonus of being conceived as an album and not demos. Amazingly, the album wasn't even a granted a UK release but it leaked out in America where it sold squat and then promptly disappeared, only becoming a cult collectors item over the ensuing 30-odd years. Now available; re-mastered in the usual dazzling Rev-Ola!