Friday, April 22, 2022

The Korgis - True Life Confessions (1986)

The Korgis was originally composed of singer/guitarist/keyboardist Andy Cresswell-Davis and singer/bassist James Warren, who had both been members of 1970's band Stackridge, and along with violinist Stuart Gordon and keyboardist Phil Harrison they formed a band which would pursue a more pop-orientated direction. They released their first single 'Young 'n' Russian' in early March 1979 on Rialto Records, and their next single 'If I Had You' broke into the UK Top 20, reaching number 13, prompting the release of an eponymous debut album in July 1979. A re-release of 'Young 'n' Russian' and new single 'I Just Can't Help It' failed to chart, but when 'Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime' was issued from their second album 'Dumb Waiters' in 1980 it became a hit in three countries, peaking at Number 5 in the UK. The album reached Number 40 in the UK in 1980, and was followed by the singles 'If It's Alright With You Baby' and 'Rovers Return', but the commercial breakthrough that accompanied the release of their second album and the resulting singles was not enough to keep them together, and Davis departed the band prior to the recording of their third album 'Sticky George', despite having a number of songwriting credits on the album. The lead single from 'Sticky George', 'That Was My Big Mistake', was released under the name 'James Warren & The Korgis' to denote the fact that Davis and Warren had now gone their separate ways, and by the end of 1980, Gordon and Harrison had also departed the band, being replaced by guitarist John Baker, drummer Roy Dodds, and keyboardist Maggie Stewart. The following year the band was joined by flautist Steve Buck and was contemplating a tour that ultimately failed to materialise, leading the band to dissolve, and leaving Warren free to go solo in 1982. The single 'Don't Look Back', originally a demo from the 'Sticky George' sessions, was remixed by Trevor Horn, and issued by London Records in the summer of 1982, but a planned follow-up single with Horn, 'Endangered Species', never materialised. Despite the break-up of the band, Warren and Davis continued to work together, with Davis co-producing some of Warren's songs, which were released under the Korgis name. The band reunited in 1990 to re-record 'Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime', and the re-formed group, consisting of Warren, Davis, and Baker, released the album 'This World's For Everyone' in 1992, having some success in Continental Europe and Japan, before breaking up again in 1993. After the band had broken up for the second time, Warren released his solo album 'Burning Questions' in 1986, which included a couple of co-writes with Davis, as well as a co-production credit, and some of the songs were also released as Korgis' singles and b-sides, so it's almost as if the band hadn't split up at all. In fact, had they stayed together and used the Warren/Davis songs that they'd already written, they could have issued one last album as The Korgis before bowing out, and so this 'final album' from the group collects all the Warren/Davis co-writes or co-productions from 1982 to 1986 to make that record. 



Track listing

01 Don't Look Back (Warren)
02 Burning Questions (Davis/Warren)
03 Xenophobia (Warren)
04 Possessed (Warren)
05 I Know Something (Warren)
06 It Won't Be The Same Old Place (Davis/Warren)
07 Climate Of Treason (Warren)
08 Waiting For Godot (Warren)
09 True Life Confessions (Davis/Warren)

01 Korgis single 1982
03 Korgis b-side 1982
02, 09 Korgis singles 1985
04, 05, 08 Korgis b-sides 1985
06 David Lord remix of single by James Warren, produced by Davis/Warren 1986
07 b-side of James Warren single produced by Davis/Warren 1986

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