Kayak - Try To Write A Book (1981)

I'd always considered Kayak to be one of the best progressive rock acts to come out of The Netherlands, releasing a string of excellent albums throughout the 70's, but it was only recently that I discovered that they also issued a lot of singles in their home country, and the songs from many of them were not taken from their then current albums. Co-founder Ton Scherpenzeel is the only member who is on every Kayak album, playing keyboards, accordion, occasional bass guitar, and double bass. He formed the band in 1972 with singer/drummer Max Werner, Johan Slager on guitar, Cees van Leeuwen on bass, and drummer Pim Koopman. They began as a symphonic progressive rock act with an emphasis on the songwriting, and their 1973 debut album 'See See The Sun' is often cited as their best record, and their biggest contribution to the symphonic prog genre. The band use many of the classic progressive/symphonic instruments, such as moog and mellotron, and their second, eponymous album in 1974 was a good continuation of their melodic progressive rock style. In 1975 they released their third superb prog-rock album in 'Royal Bed Bouncer', featuring some longer compositions, and 1976's 'The Last Encore' contained perhaps the most original music that the band created in their progressive period. After this they wanted to improve their record sales and so changed direction to a more commercial sound, with 1977's 'Starlight Dancer' and 1979's 'Phantom Of The Night' being their most commercially successful albums. In 1981 they released their prog/pop crossover album 'Merlin', and shortly afterwards the group disbanded. Twenty years later they reconvened, and the second phase of their career commenced with the strong symphonic/crossover album 'Into the Fire' in 2000, but this collection of rare singles and b-sides concentrates on that first phase, from their beginnings in 1971 as The High Tide Formation, through to a split single with fellow Dutchmen Earth And Fire in 1981, to commemorate the Monte Carlo Rally. 
     

Track listing

01 Fluffy (single by The High Tide Formation 1971)
02 White Walls (b-side of 'Fluffy')
03 Try To Write A Book (b-side of 'Lyrics' 1973)
04 Give It A Name (b-side of 'See See The Sun' 1973)
05 We Are Not Amused (single) 
06 Bulldozer (out-take 1974)  
07 Ballad For A Lost Friend (b-side of 'Phantom Of The Night' 1979)
08 I Want You To Be Mine (extended version for US album 1977)   
09 Ivory Dance (b-side of 'Ruthless Queen' 1979)                        
10 Theme From 'Spetters' (Part II) (b-side of 'Lost Blue Chartres' 1980)
11 Total Loss (single 1980)
12 What's Done Is Done (b-side of 'Total Loss')
13 Monte Carlo Rally (No Total Loss) (split single with Earth And Fire 1981)
14 The Car Enchanter (single 1981)