Live At The Target – it was 40 years ago!!

‘Live At The Target’ is, as I’m sure you know, a fully instrumental album, with a 20-minute Sequences taking up the whole of side two. It was first released on CD (without our permission!) by French label MSI in 1989, then with 3 bonus tracks by Cyclops in 2004, and finally in its Definitive Edition form (with a 2nd bonus CD) on F2 in 2011.

This January sees the 40th Anniversary of the release of our first LP – the ‘Live At The Target’ album! Although it was that long ago I’m sure the four of us can still remember how ‘exciting’ it was to record live on that small stage in our hometown!

It was recorded on an 8-track machine over two nights with the four tracks being selected in advance. A few days later we mixed it with the help of one of Pink Floyd’s sound engineers (Greg Walsh). No overdubs, no cheating, you hear it just as it was played.

We were indebted to many people, who are thanked on the cover, for help and financial assistance. In particular I remember receiving £ 300 from Sonet Records who, although they didn’t want to release the album themselves, felt impressed enough by our ambition to simply give us some money! Similarly, as ‘The Target’ was a Courage Brewery pub, the resulting good publicity they received encouraged them to pay for several hundred T-shirts, Sweatshirts, and Posters! One of which (a poster that is) can be seen in shot at the end of the film ‘An American Werewolf in London’!!

The album was pressed by CBS Records at their Aylesbury factory, and hand-delivered to us ready for the live shows we had booked. I remember coming off stage the first night at Brunel University, where the four of us spent ages signing dozens of LPs.

It was the beginning of an exciting year for the band, which included securing a distribution deal with Pinnacle Records, our first appearance at the Reading Festival (with new vocalist Geoff Mann), recording the Smiling At Grief demos, and arousing the interest that led to the recording of the Fact & Fiction album the following year.

However for those of you who like vinyl… There are still a few copies of the original LP – pressed in the 1980s – available. And as we have just taken delivery of some sturdy cardboard mailers I am pleased to offer them for sale. If you are interested you can get it here. And we’ll add in an original Live and Let Live poster for free

We are delighted to say that this album features heavily in the Suite Cryptique, which is Clive Mitten’s new orchestral album, which is shaping up to be a really special release. More about this next month!

Posted Jan 6th 2021