The Crosswalk - Venus Loves A Melody (1999)

The Crosswalk were an L.A.-based quartet, formed in 1997 and comprising Cody Chestnutt on lead vocals, guitar and keyboards, Jay Gordon on guitar and keyboards, John Maggio on bass and glockenspiel, and Jaime O'Connell on drums, percussion, vibes and guitar. In late 1996 Chessnutt had been working as a writer and producer for various Death Row Records recording artists, and mentioned to one of the engineers in the studio that he wanted to start a band of his own, and so the engineer set up a meeting with O'Connell and Maggio. They hit it off and formed a trio which they named The Crosswalk, with the name being an allusion to the Abbey Road album cover image. After about a year and a half of writing together and performing in LA, they released the independent '1535' EP in 1997, and then signed with Hollywood Records in 1998, after being rejected by many other record labels. In late 1998 to early 1999 the band, now a four piece with the addition of guitarist Jay Gordon, recorded their album 'Venus Loves A Melody', with the record being mixed by famed rock producer and engineer Bob Clearmountain. After delivering the album to Hollywood Records, they and their manager were given the cold shoulder by the label, who would not commit to a release date, and who spent little time with the band discussing art direction or marketing plans. After forcing their hand to make a decision, Hollywood informed them that they were dropping the project, as it appeared that they had signed a boy band that they wanted to concentrate their efforts on instead. Cody being a black front man of a classic Brit style rock group didn’t help either, and the label was finding a hard time knowing how to market the band, so they just cut their losses. Chessnutt and the band were devastated, and couldn't believe how cold Hollywood Records was towards the album that they just spent so much money on producing, and it caused the band to split up. Chessnutt went on to make a self produced, low budget, independent project called 'The Headphone Masterpiece', that eventually took him around the world. In the end a contract loophole allowed Chessnutt, the band, and their manager to take ownership of the masters of 'Venus Loves A Melody', with the aim of issuing it independently, but to date it remains frustratingly unreleased. To make up your own mind if Hollywood Records were being stupidly short-sighted in rejecting the band, here is 'Venus Loves A Melody', now housed in new artwork which I hope the band will appreciate. 

Track listing

01 All Is All
02 Vile
03 Give In
04 Brand New
05 16
06 Distant Man
07 Lipstick In Red
08 The Show
09 So What
10 Candy Kids
11 Before The Day Breaks
12 Jaded Judy
13 Everything Beautiful
14 Find My Way Back Home