Design - Sign The World A Song (1976)

Design was a British six-piece vocal harmony group from the early 1970's, comprising Tony Smith, Barry Alexander, Gabrielle Field, Kathy Manuell, John Mulcahy-Morgan and Geoff Ramseyer. Singer/songwriter Smith formed Design while he was working at the BBC in London in December 1968, and the group then signed a recording contract with Adrian Kerridge of Lansdowne Studios, recording their first self-titled album during the summer of 1969. Their music has been described as 'sunshine harmony pop with a light hippy vibe' and 'melodic folk-pop with a shimmering, almost psychedelic, West Coast feel', and this might have helped them gain a two-album deal with Epic Records in the USA following the UK release of 'Design'. In November 1970, shortly before the first album was released, Smith left the group and he was replaced by guitarist Jeff Matthews, who had been with Ramseyer and Mulcahy-Morgan in the group Free Expression. This was Design’s most successful line-up, and after their appearances on The Morecambe and Wise Show in 1971 they became one of the most televised groups in the UK, guesting on dozens of programmes with The Two Ronnies, Val Doonican, Benny Hill, Tommy Cooper, and many others. They toured with Gilbert O'Sullivan, starred in cabaret and at the London Palladium, and released three more albums,  'Tomorrow Is So Far Away' in 1972, 'Day Of The Fox' in 1973, and 'In Flight' in 1974, before Field and Ramseyer left the group in October 1974. The other members carried on as a four-piece, and recorded one more album, 'By Design', before finally splitting up in October 1976. Unusually for the time, the group tended to release singles which didn't then appear on their albums, and so this collection of non-album tracks is a great round-up of their career which can sit nicely alongside their original albums.   

Track listing

01 Colour All The World (single 1972)
02 Lazy Song (b-side of 'Colour All The World')
03 Day By Day (previously unreleased 1971)
04 Mayday (single 1972)
05 One Sunny Day (single 1973)
06 Jennifer (German single 1973)
07 Traume (b-side of 'Jennifer')
08 Once Upon A Time (b-side of 'Second Love' 1974)
09 Sing The World A Song (single 1974)
10 Won't You Say You Love Me (b-side of 'Banging On The Old Piano' 1975)
11 As It Was (previously unreleased 1975)
12 Calais (previously unreleased 1975)
13 You're So Good To Me (single 1976)
14 Never Been A Love Like This (b-side of 'You're So Good To Me')