The Lilac Time - Tree (1989)

In early 1989, the Lilac Time's record company Fontana/Phonogram asked the band to begin recording their second album, which the band had hoped to record at their country retreat in the Malvern Hills, although Phonogram insisted that it be recorded in a modern studio not far from the company's London headquarters instead. It was originally intended to be a double album titled 'Tree', with one album consisting of singer-songwriter Stephen Duffy's songs and the other one of instrumentals, primarily composed by his brother Nick. Fontana refused to release it in that format, and so the record instead became a single album, with the revised title of 'Paradise Circus', and made up of twelve tracks written by Stephen and one by Nick. Many of the instrumentals that were recorded during the sessions instead saw release on the b-sides of the singles taken from 'Paradise Circus' and its follow-up '& Love for All', as well as on the first album by Nick Duffy's spin-off band Bait. The sound that Duffy and engineer/producer Tony Phillips were attempting to achieve on the recordings was later described by Duffy as a "small folky sound without the de rigueur large ambient snare drums of the age", but as the recording sessions progressed, Fontana became unhappy with the music that the band had committed to tape, and insisted that they return to the studio to cut more commercial songs which could be released as singles, while also urging them to "Americanize" their sound - something that was reportedly parodied by Duffy in his song 'American Eyes'. Fontana also insisted that the pedal steel guitar was lowered in volume, as the wife of one of the Phonogram executives didn't like sound of the instrument (!!). As a result of this, which served to both annoy the band and delay the album's release, it didn't appear until October 1989, two years after the release of the band's debut album. When 'Paradise Circus' was reissued in 2006, its bonus tracks included an additional twelve instrumentals from the recording sessions that had been intended for the second disc of the proposed double album, and so I've extracted them and made them into a stand-alone record, with its own cover art of a Peking lilac tree. 

Track listing

01 Ponderosa Pine 
02 Night Mail/Dirty Armour 
03 Shepherd's Plaid 
04 Ounce Of Nails 
05 Spin á Cavalu 
06 Australian Worm 
07 On Milkwood Road 
08 Night Soil 
09 Rubovia 
10 Silver Dagger 

11 November 
12 Paradise Circus (Old Smithy version)

The Lilac Time - Crossing The Line (2008)

Stephen Anthony James Duffy was a founding member, vocalist, bassist, and then drummer of Duran Duran, formed after meeting John Taylor at the School of Foundation Studies & Experimental Workshop at Birmingham Polytechnic. Together with Taylor's childhood friend, Nick Rhodes, on synthesizer and Taylor on guitar, Duffy was the band's vocalist/lyricist and bassist, but when bass player Simon Colley joined, Duffy moved to drums, eventually leaving both the school and the band in 1979, just before Duran Duran signed with EMI in 1980. He went on to form Obviously Five Believers, sometimes known as The Subterranean Hawks or The Hawks, and he made his first four-track recordings with the group, who also released their only single 'Words Of Hope' in 1981. In 1982, he created the band Holy Tin Tin, with John Mulligan and Dik Davis (both then of Fashion), Andy "Stoker" Growcott (of Dexys Midnight Runners) and Bob Lamb (original producer of Birmingham band UB40). Shortening their name to Tin Tin, they signed with WEA Records in the UK, and released the single 'Kiss Me' in 1982, to little acclaim in the UK. By 1983, Tin Tin had signed with Sire Records in the US, and when 'Kiss Me' was released over there it hit the dance charts, while a second single was released in the UK, with 'Hold It' stalling just outside the UK Top 50. After a stint of working in the US, Duffy returned to England and signed a deal as a solo artist with Virgin 10, now working under the name Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy. He recorded a new version of 'Kiss Me' which was released in 1984, this time only in the local West Midlands area, followed by a nationwide release of 'She Makes Me Quiver' which peaked at no. 88 in September 1984. 

At the end of 1984, Duffy recorded a third version of 'Kiss Me', produced by J.J. Jeczalik and Nicholas Froome, which was released in February 1985, and the song finally cracked the UK Top 10, peaking at number 4, and staying in the Top 10 for five weeks. His first album, 'The Ups And Downs', came out in 1985 and reached number 35 in the UK, while at the same time he formed a design office with his brother Nick, exhibiting paintings, drawings, photographs, and video at the album's launch. Dropping the "Tin Tin" from his name, he released the single 'Unkiss That Kiss', as Stephen A.J. Duffy, following that with the album 'Because We Love You' in 1986, for which he was credited simply as Stephen Duffy. In 1986, Duffy began writing and recording music that would become The Lilac Time's first album, released on Swordfish Records, with 'The Lilac Time' coming out in November 1987, and subsequently being reissued in remixed form by Fontana in February 1988. The group originally consisted of Stephen Duffy, his elder brother Nick Duffy, and friend Michael Weston, who recorded the first album together, with Michael Giri and Fraser Kent joining when the band was ready to go on tour. Their second album 'Paradise Circus' was released in October 1989, and was initially intended to be a double album, titled 'Tree', and consisting of one album of songs by Stephen Duffy and one of instrumentals, mostly composed by Nick, but it ended up being condensed into a single record at the record company's insistence. It's generally regarded by critics as being bolder and fuller-sounding than the band's first album, with a greater country & western influence. Many of the instrumentals that were recorded during the sessions saw release on the b-sides of singles taken from 'Paradise Circus' and its follow-up '& Love For All', but after its release in 1990 the band were dropped by Fontana. 

They were then briefly signed to Creation Records, with their sole release on the label being the 'Astronauts' album in 1991, after which the band temporarily split up, and Duffy pursued a solo career for a second time. In 1999 The Lilac Time regrouped with Claire Worrall and Melvin Duffy (no relation to the brothers), and after signing to spinART Records they recorded 'Looking For A Day In The Night' with producer Stephen Street. 'Lilac 6' appeared in 2001 on yet another label, this time on Cooking Vinyl Records, while the melancholic 'Keep Going' was released in 2003 under the name Stephen Duffy and The Lilac Time on Folk Modern. For the next few years the band took a break while Duffy collaborated and toured with Robbie Williams, and on his return the band released 'Runout Groove' in October 2007 on the Bogus Frontage label. In 2009 Stephen handed over leadership duties to his brother NIck, who released 'Sapphire Stylus' as Nick Duffy And The Lilac Time, while yet another label change resulted in 'No Sad Songs' coming out on Tapete Records in 2015, while their most recent record was 'Return To Us', appearing in October 2019. Throughout their career The Lilac Time have often added non-album songs to the b-sides of their singles, although these became fewer as the years progressed, and so this collection therefore concentrates on their most prolific period of 1987 to 1991, with a few later offerings added to the end. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1987-1989
01 Railway Bazaar (b-side of 'Return To Yesterday' 1987)
02 Reunion Ball (b-side of 'Return To Yesterday' 1987)
03 Gone For A Burton (b-side of 'Return To Yesterday' re-issue 1988)
04 Rooftrees (b-side of 'Return To Yesterday' re-issue 1988)
05 Rain On A River (b-side of 'You've Got To Love' 1988)
06 Tiger Tea (b-side of 'Black Velvet' 1988)
07 Street Corner (b-side of 'Black Velvet' 1988)
08 Black Dawn (b-side of 'Black Velvet' 1988)
09 The Queen Of Heartless (b-side of 'The Days Of The Week' 1989)
10 The World In Her Arms (b-side of 'American Eyes' 1989)
11 Crossing The Line (b-side of 'American Eyes' 1989)
12 Big Yellow Taxi (b-side of 'American Eyes' 1989)

Disc II - 1990-2008
01 Julie Written On The Fence (b-side of 'It'll End In Tears' 1990)
02 Cover (b-side of 'It'll End In Tears' 1990)
03 Bed Of Roses (b-side of 'All For Love & Love For All' 1990)
04 Oeil Biques A Bacs (b-side of 'The Laundry' 1990)
05 Only Passing Through (b-side of 'The Laundry' 1990)
06 Hurricaned Rice (b-side of 'The Laundry' 1990)
07 Bird On A Wire (b-side of 'Madresfield' limited 7" single 1990)
08 The Rain Falls Deepest On The Shortest Haircut (b-side of 'In Inverna Gardens' 1991)
09 Hard For Her (b-side of 'A Dream That We All Share' 1999)
10 Ratoon (b-side of 'A Dream That We All Share' 1999)
11 Talkin' Pessimism & Pain Blues (from the 'Happy Birthday Peace' EP 2008)
12 Run Out Groove (from the 'Happy Birthday Peace' EP 2008)