A small trove of well-preserved reel to reel tapes from the vaults has just been rescued by Brand X co-creator Robin Lumley.
Most notable among these are sessions from the band’s earliest recordings in their pre-Charisma days, when Phil Collins joined the jam sessions at Island Records in 1974/75.
Players involved are Phil Spinelli, Pete Bonas, John Goodsall, Percy Jones, Phil Collins, and Robin Lumley. The recording remains untitled to this day. These sessions were deemed lost in time, since Brand X left Island hastily in 1975 (read more in the Brand X History section) to record what was thought to be their first album “Unorthodox Behaviour”. Is it too late to redefine our history?
Among other tapes unearthed by Robin are sessions by Jack Lancaster and Robin Lumley, and early demos from Unorthodox Behaviour sessions, bearing producer Dennis MacKay’s notes.
The question on everyone’s lips is, “Could this warrant a new Brand X release, or Box Set in the near future?” Conveniently, Robin and Percy have recently rekindled old relationships that may hold all the keys.
This website, home of Brand X, will no doubt bring you more news of this exciting event; stay tuned!
Wonderful news!
THIS makes me really happy!
Steffen: as you can imagine, Percy and Robin can use all the exposure available. They have a lot of information to impart, and the attention from all the readers of Genesis-News readers is welcome. (The real) Brand X needs people’s support more than ever. Share, share, share, please!
This would be wonderful.
Count me in! Sounds like wonderful stuff from the clips, not just earlier versions of well-known tunes or yet-more live recordings. It would be fantastic to have some early history on the band.
This is awesome news and long overdue. Brand X needs all the support it can get and hopefully, in the not too distant future we will be able to hear all the unreleased music that is being referenced here. Can’t wait!
Great news that there is an official Brand X website! Can’t wait to hear any new (old) recordings!!
Incredible!!! When will we saw it?
Amazing news! Looking forward to it eventually being released.
I would love an extensive box set of Brand X — It’s long overdue. Count me in on the preorder!
Nice.
Hi Percy & Robin,
thanks for tempting us with the offer of NEW/OLD Brand X first-ever recordings!
I will definitely join the queue for this, but please don’t wait too long – the clock is ticking …
Look forward to seeing you guys back in action again soon.
Hey, remember any of these London gigs – I do!
Best,
Martin.
30.05.76 Brand X + Curved Air – Roundhouse
01.10.78 Brand X + Peter Hamill – Rainbow (w/Mike Miller – Goodsall had a broken leg but came on to take a bow)
28.04.80 Brand X + Bruford – The Venue
Ha! It’s not just “tempting”. The thing is, sorting out the rights takes a while. This involves a number of musicians, many of which are under existing contracts. Since this music has never been published, the details are a bit involved. Then comes the question of what company shall release this… A release can be costly. Arrangements need to be made to distribute the music, etc. It may be that going independent will work out best for Percy and Robin – Brand X is tired of getting ripped off by management companies so it would be nice if the next album could actually benefit the musicians for once. Patience, patience, please. It will come out!
Perhaps a digital only release, on Bandcamp or a similar platform?
But that’s another sure way to make sure the musicians and their families see next to nothing. Furthermore, releasing recordings on these platforms offers no guarantees in the long run that they won’t sell their catalog to larger conglomerates. This has already happened to so many bands who no longer control any of their releases as a result. But the most pressing issue are the music rights. Simple, but hard to resolve quickly.
SO are we thinking 2024? 2025? 2026?!
Hi Joan. It’s hard to explain in a short message. You have to keep in mind a few things: Brand X is no longer a band represented by a large record company with deep pockets (Charisma Records) or by a major management agency (Hit & Run). Brand X pay their own lawyer fees, and are left to fend alone against the likes of our former agents who recently caused us a lot of harm, as they tried to take the band away from its owners. Fans don’t usually think much about legalese, contracts, publishing, mechanical rights, ownership, etc., but these things remain realities that are usually handled by agents or record labels… Here, any move forward is handled by Percy Jones, and/or the estates of Robin Lumley and John Goodsall. Sorting-out rights for these old recordings takes time, and lots of money, just like engineering time to restore 1/4 inch 50 year old tape masters takes time and money (and quite a few favours by top professionals). We ask that you remember that when things seem to take too long, people behind the scenes are having to front money to make a step in any direction. And if you know anything about the current state of the music industry, you’ll know that fans have far more disposable income than the musicians they love. Imagine if you can the costs involved with putting out albums independently and in a way that doesn’t allow grifters to take everything, as is usually the case when you turn over the administrative work to businessmen, and you’ll understand why things take time. I hope this makes sense. Work is ongoing. Progress will be made. A date probably closer to 2026, as you suggest, is more likely than one in 2024 although the time is not lost: since we made the original announcement, we found even more music. That said, in the near future, Percy will make some announcements that will (or should) begin to give fans something to help them hang in there patiently. If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for our newsletter, and also check out our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thebandbrandx/ We’re also on Twitter https://x.com/The_Band_BrandX and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thebandbrandx/ (so you don’t miss a thing) like us and give us a review if you find it in your heart to do so.
Hi BX!
I hope all has been well. Any updates to this? It’s been about a year since you replied. With Robin now gone (R.I.P), I am again worried this won’t see the light of day?!
Hello Robin and Percy,
please make a new record right now with all those old vault gems, it sounds very very good and the selling could be huge, ciao!
Marcello, Italy
Man, I hope they release this! I can’t wait to hear more!
Fantastic news. As Percy continues the legacy, I hope these recordings will be made available for purchase.
Looking forward to seeing what comes of this wonderful news!
When will this music be available to die-hard fans who desperately want (need) to hear it or their lives will be forever meaningless…
Saw you at Sellersville Theatre in Sellersville, Pa on June 10, 2017. Meet and greet afterwards was so awesome.
Hi Brian. As always,”money”. It’s of tne hard for fans to fathom how hard it is for bands (defunct bands included) without a label to raise the money to secure all the music rights and deal with the print costs, storage, and fulfillment of orders on new products. The simple fact of obtaining clearance on all the rights on these early recordings is a mountain of work and efforts. We’re on it, and we also need to finance hours in the studio to remaster some parts of the material. A normal band gets it done in a few months because their record company just dips into their pocket and produce the $75K needed or so. That’s how it goes. We’ll get there.
Any ETA on “getting there”?
A Fantastic web site.!! Hanging in China with my girlfriend..!!
Cheers, Andrew!