(click on the pictures to enlarge!)
CELEBRATION (1984)Credits:
Backing Vocals, Bass - Rik Kenton
Backing Vocals, Vocals - Glynnis
Congas, Percussion - Ned Morant
Drums - Andrew Edge
Keyboards, Piano - Carol Isaacs
Keyboards - Michael Graves (alias Kwesi Graves) (track 01,08 and11)
Producer - Danny Hyde (http://www.brainwashed.com/coil/info/danny.html) , Wix
VIDEO:"Burning Bush"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWGo7tOn2cA&feature=relatedTracklist:01 My Soul Unwraps Tonight (3:24)
02 Passport (2:50)
03 Burning Bush (4:02)
04 Falling (3:27)
05 Reclaim The Night (3:54)
06 Heart Begin To Beat (2:47)
07 Hip Parade (2:53)
08 Tinman (2:33)
09 Etty (2:56)
10 Ball And Chain (4:04)
Bonus:
11 My Soul Unwraps Tonight (12" remix) (from "My Soul Unwraps Tonight" (12") (1984))
12 Heart Begins To Beat (Derrick Carter 2003 mix)HEART BEGIN TO BEAT (12") (1984)13 Heart Begin To Beat (Extended)
14 DarktownBURNING BUSH (12") (1984)15 Burning Bush (Testify) (Mad Mix II.)
16 Tears Of Love
17 Angel Chorus (feat. Glynnis) - Devil On My Shoulder (1985)
18 Angel Chorus - Devil On My Shoulder (Razormaid) (1985)
19 Yelll (Carol Isaacs) - Build It Up (1988)
20 Bassomatic (Rik Kenton) - Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Bass (1990)
21 Rik Kenton - The Libertine (1976)
22 Rik Kenton - Bungalow Love (1974) Link to download:http://rapidshare.com/files/209831706/savage_progress_-_celebrations__1984_.rarA great, but sadly forgotten masterpiece with Thompson Twins style (Savage Progress says thanks to the Thompson Twins their band & crew as you can see on the inlay sleeve!), richful in sounds and loaded with catchy melodies. Though most people describe them as a one hit wonder band, but it is far from the truth.! It contains such classics as "Passport", "Burning Bush" and "Heart Begin To Beat" etc. apart from their hit single "My Soul Unwraps Tonight".
So if you ask me, this is a wonderful new wave pop with exotic rhythms and intelligent, danceable sounds . One of the best albums of the 80s.
I would be happy to see this album as a rereleased CD with some bonus !
Some about the bonus songs:
Angel Chorus - Devil On My Shoulder is a synth-pop song and was written by Glynnis and Mark Ferda (The Wolfgang Press, Jah Wobble, Bill Laswell, Brian Eno) . It was produced by Gina X Performance fame Zeus B. Held. Anyway Mark Ferda worked also with another Savage Progress member, Ned Morant on the 1989 album of The 4 Of Us.
The rare acid house song Yelll - Build It up was written by Carol Isaacs and Matthew Seligman (ex-Thompson Twins, also appeared on Thomas Dolby's albums etc). They also worked on Ghostland's albums in the late 90s. The song was produced by Nicky Tesco who also worked with another Savage Progress member, Andrew Edge.
Bassomatic (http://www.rarevinyl.de/records/bassom10.html) - Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Bass was a progressive house song composed by William Orbit and Laurie Mayer. Rik Kenton arranged it as well as played on guitar and clavinet.
Rik Kenton's two songs: Bungalow Love '76 is a reggae tune similiar to COCKNEY REBEL's style, Libertine '74 is a rather GOOD glam-pop song along the lines of ROXY with good bass and horns
(www.angelfire.com/vt2/70sinvasion/page4.html)
Andrew Edge:"I was 'stolen' from Viva Lula by Savage Progress. At least, I like to think that. Savage Progress had only worked with a drum machine before I joined. This was the era of a multi-cultural, ethnic 'World Music' bands and performers. We were definitely multi-cultural. Glynnis was African/English - 'Ned' was Asian/English - Carol was Jewish/English and Rik and myself were.........well, we were from Nottingham and Leeds."
Quick memories:"Standing in a 'Kentucky Fried Chicken' after the first rehearsal. Rik: 'So, Andrew, I heard you used to play with The Thompson Twins.' Andrew: 'Yes - who have you played with?' Rik: 'Roxy Music.....could you add a portion of chips to that order, please?' My jaw dropped to the shop floor. I remembered hearing 'Virginia Plain' by Roxy Music when I was still living at home and dreaming of being in a band. I had met my first boyhood hero - in a shop selling fried chicken. Rik told me he once played in a Working Men's Club in Nottingham when he was just starting out. Whilst the band were playing somebody announced loudly over the Intercom: 'The pie and peas have arrived!'. Everybody left within 30 seconds. The band played on to an empty room. Supporting the Thompson Twins at the Hammersmith Odeon. It was a holy temple of music to me. Everybody had played there. We played 5 nights. It felt like clocking on for work.
After supporting Tina Turner at The Venue in Victoria, London, Tina's record company had a party upstairs after the gig. I brushed past Rik and Tina's piano player. I bumped into them slightly. Rik said: "Don't worry, it's only the drummer." Tina's piano player grabbed me by the arm and said to me: "Hey man, you're good!" Ahhhh.... The tour of Europe. Being made to feel totally welcome everywhere we went. Going into the back of the camper and crying to myself everyday because the emotional strain was overwhelming; Christmas/Birthday/drunk/ego-surges/happy/bored/excited - every single day - every hour - for a month. John Lennon: "It's all too much, for me to take." Seeing my face on a 'K-Tel - Hits of 1984' album cover. Stardom at last. Being lost in the middle of some German town and forgetting which hotel I was staying at."
(http://andrew-edge.blogspot.com/2007/07/savage-progress.html)"Led by bassist/songwriter Rik Kenton — one of the two bassists on the first Roxy Music album over a decade earlier — Savage Progress plays dance-rock with much the same loose and funky feel as the Thompson Twins. The quartet incorporates glints of various Third World musics, adding character to the otherwise plain melodies and banal lyrics. Vocalist Glynnis sings like a member of Bananarama; the band (whose lineup fields bass, keyboards and percussion) is facile and flexible, making easy transitions from the calypso of "Falling" to the eerie Arabia of "My Soul Unwraps Tonight" to the Bow Wow Wow-styled "Heart Begin to Beat." By not allowing themselves to become too involved in any of these flavors, Savage Progress remains light and likable, but they will need stronger songs to keep from being just a well-produced shell of appealing styles"(http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=savage_progress)
""Celebration" was one of the best records of the its era. "Heart begins to Beat" was, and still is, a classic!"
"The first track is "Heart Begin To Beat" which was also released as a single. This song is one reason that the band is still remembered these days as it is such a great "unclassic" and was used by the DJs of the arising house scene in the middle of the eighties such as Larry Heard/Mr. Fingers and Frankie Knuckles. The song has got such an incredibly cracking beat that it is no wonder that it was dropped oftenly in house clubs like the "Power Plant" or the "Muzic Box". I really love those mixes from that era. It was a time were the DJs created a unique style by searching the past for useful tunes they could play out next to the latest modern house tracks. It was a great mixture of old italo-disco songs, some decent disco classics, industrial and new wave-ish songs like "Heart Begin To Beat". The track is very unique in its concetration on rhythmical elements and the cold and "fey" voice of Carol Isaacs combined with a funky bass riff. You won't get the lines "begin to beat let my heart begin to beat, begin to beat let my heart begin to beat..." out of your head, trust me! This tune is still a killer on every dancefloor today. i found a copy of the 12" for 1€ on a flea market over here in düsseldorf. Quite a good find i guess.
The second track "Hip Parade" is taken from their LP Celebration. It's the standout track of the record for me. The song is unbeatable in its supercooled new-wave-extravaganza! Carol Isaacs sings like an original Snow Queen on valium over a straight beat with some nice synthesizer action going on. You can even here some nice ice wind echoes in the background if you listen intensively enough! I guess it's really Isaacs' distinctive voice which makes the music so cool. Also in the actual sense of freezing you, hehe."(http://kosmonautenschule.blogspot.com/2008/02/savage-progress.html)Biography:Savage Progress was a pop group in the 1980s from England that had hits in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.The band 
started with the meeting of Kenton and Glynnis Thomas (later to be known only as Glynnis) in 1982. They later recruited Ned Morant, who was not a professional percussionist, but was eager to learn and fitted in with the visual style of the band.They recorded a few basic demos over Christmas in 1982, at The Point studio in Victoria, London, with a young tape operator called Danny Hyde.He used the free time he was allowed by the studio to record four basic tracks. At that time the Point studio was under the control of Rupert Merton, who owned the Point Music publishing company.After hearing their demos he asked them to record more songs. Merton was then the Thompson Twins publisher, and later signed Freur/Underworld.As Savage Progress had no drummer, they invited Andrew Edge to join.
Edge used to rehearse in The Point studio a few years before with the Thompson Twins, and was a friend of Alex Burak, the chief engineer.
"Andrew Edge joined them on drums for less than one year, but left because of the subliminal tension between the other band members. Edge went on to join Savage Progress, who later toured with the Thompson Twins as their support act on the 1984 UK tour. This came about because both bands had the same publishing company, Point Music. Its owner (Rupert Merton) would later sign the band known as Underworld."(http://www.discoogle.com/wiki/Thompson_Twins)
Edge later introduced Carol Isaacs to the group, as they had both previously worked together in a band called Viva Lula, which had been signed to Arista records the previous year
They were a mixed-race group of musicians who used traditional pop styles as well as reggae, Caribbean dance rhythms and African rhythms.The racial mix within Savage Progress was never fully stressed in the media, but had a definite effect on their music: Glynnis was born in Botswana to English-African parents, Kenton is from Nottingham, England, Isaacs is English-Jewish, Morant has Indian parentage, and Edge is from Leeds, in northern England. This mix of differing cultures proved to be advantageous for Savage Progress´ music, as Kenton infused their songs with as many cultural influences as possible. Larry Heard commented on his early influences, which include the Savage Progress song, "Heart Begin To Beat".
Savage Progress joined the Thompson Twins on the "Into The Gap" tour of Britain (February, 1984) as support act. Savage Progress biggest hit was "My Soul Unwraps Tonight", which was written by Rik Kenton (born October 31, 1945). Kenton was a former member of Roxy Music.
After signing a publishing contract with Point Music, the band signed a contract with '10 Records' (a subsidiary of Virgin Records) and released their first single, which was, "My Soul Unwraps Tonight".The first album—Celebration—was partly-produced by Paul "Wix" Wickens, who later played/plays keyboards for Paul McCartney.
Savage Progress supported Tina Turner at The Venue in Victoria, London, and joined the Thompson Twins on the "Into The Gap" tour of Britain (February, 1984) as support act.[12] In October of the same year they went on a tour of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, to capitalize on the success of their single releases.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Progress) 
(Photo of Savage Progress from Bravo (05. july '84))
ANDREW EDGEis a musician from Leeds, England who has played pop music, dance, synth pop and ballads. After playing in local Leeds jazz-rock bands and Working Men's Club bands, he moved to London in the late 1970s, and joined the Thompson Twins. After one year Edge left the group and joined Viva Lula, who released three singles (on Arista Records) and supported Big Country on a tour of Britain. Edge then joined Savage Progress, who supported the Thompson Twins on a tour of Britain in 1984, and in the same year embarked on a tour of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, to support their album and single releases there.Although a percussionist, Edge changed to vocals and writing songs after he moved from London to Linz, Austria. He started the group YOYO in 1990, signing with EMI records, before working with Robert Ponger (producer of Falco). Edge later released a solo album in 1996; Northern Sky, on BMG records (Austria).(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Edge)
Before savage progress Edge had played with the Thompson Twins (toured about 8 months with them), and Viva Lula, as well as drumming for various artists.
moved to Austria to start a singing career, signing with EMI (YOYO) and later, BMG (as a solo artist) and singing on various recordings:
Boys Will Be Boys
Big View - August Grass (7") (1982) (with Thomas Bailey of Thompson Twins)
Viva Lula, originally titled Uropa Lula (with Carol Isaacs), releasing four singles on Arista Records.
Freur/Underworld. Played original backing track drums on the single ( 'Doot - Doot')
Julian Cope - World Shut Your Mouth (last song) (1984)
Nicky Tesco (www.myspace.com/nickytesco)
Thomas Leer (1 song)
The Chills- The Pink Frost (1984)
Hipsway - The Honey Thief (1986)
Stump (concerts)
Died Pretty (toured with them)
YoYo - Yoyo (1990)/ Missing Ep (1993)(with members of The and Red Flag)
Wagner And Beat-HovenCamorra
Walkner.Möstl - Heaven Or Hell (2000)
Karl Moestl* - Touching This (2003)
solo:
Northern Sky (1996)More info:http://www.andrewedge.com/
http://andrew-edge.blogspot.com/RIK KENTON (Richard Kenton)was a member of Houndogs in the early 60's (http://www.billyfurystory.co.uk/index.php/category/graham-wyvill/)
He guested on:Armada (?)
Woody Kern - The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk (1967)
G.F. Fitzgerald - Mouseproof (1970)
Neil harrison - All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go (1974)
Had a brief stint in Roxy Music, hired May 1972 and fired Jan 1973.
After Roxy Music, Kenton recorded Bungalow Love in 1974 for Island Records (1974 /UK Island 7 Inch , WIP6214).In 1976 Kenton recorded "The Libertine/Messin' Around" (7" single) (www.chrisspedding.com/session/rk/rk.htm). His band members for the recording included Chris Spedding/guitars, Jim Cregan/guitars, Herbie Flowers/bass, and Tony Newman/drums.
Orchestra JB - Come Alive (1990)
and worked with Bassomatic on one track of Set the Controls for the Heart of the Bass in 1990, but has not released any solo material.More info:???? 
CAROL ISAACS (http://flickr.com/photos/indigospike/397062523/ and http://flickr.com/photos/indigospike/1399277333/)
went on to work with many other artists, such as Sinéad O'Connor, Sam Brown, Squeeze,The Latin Quarter.
She now plays with Indigo Girls (since 1999) and divides her time between LA and London where she is also an illustrator.(http://www.boredteenagers.co.uk/small%20hours.htm)
She played on: Small Hours (1980)
Viva Lula (with Andrew Edge)
Second Image - Second Image (1983) (http://saltyka.blogspot.com/2008/06/second-image.html)
Yelll - Build It Up 12" (1988) (Written-By - Carol Isaacs)
Sam Brown - April Moon (1990)
Squeeze - Play (1991)
Abdel Ali Slimani - Mraya (1995)
Natacha Atlas - Halim (1997)
Latin Quarter - Bringing Rosa Home (1997)
Sunhouse - Crazy On The Weekend (1998)
Ghostland - Ghostland (1998)
Indigo Girls - Come On Now Social (1999)
Indigo Girls - Become You (2002)
Caroline Lavelle - Brilliant Midnight (2001)
Ghostland - Guide Me God (2002)
Ghostland - Interview With an Angel (2003)
Sinead O'Connor - Goodnight, Thank You, You've Been a Lovely Audience (2003)
Indigo Girls - All That We Let In (2004)
Indigo Girls - Despite Our Differences (2006) (http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/artist/Carol%20Isaacs/a/Carol%20Isaacs.htm)More info:????
REPOSTED
KEN LASZLO
Ken Laszlo (1987)
Maxi Versions
AZTEC CAMERA
Stray
Dreamland
NONE NIGHT OF FLEXIPOP vol. 3, 4, 5
vol 3.
vol 4.
vol 5.
MISSING PERSONS
Color InYourLife(1986)
Spring Session M (1982)
Rhyme& Reason (1984)
NEW MUSIK - Warp (1982)
APB - Something To belive In (2006)
DARONDO - Let My People Go (2006)
THE TWINS - 12 Inch Collection
YUKIHIRO TAKAHASHI
Cine Techno Love
Saravah (1977)
MAMA BUBO - Planeta Haj (1985)
ABECEDARIANS - Eureka EP
BIONIC BOOGIE:
Bionic Boogie (1977)
Hot Butterfly (1978)
Tiger,Tiger (1979)
COLONY 5 - Lifeline (2002)
BABBLE
Ether (1996)
Love Has No Name (1996 cd single)
The Stone (1994)
ake them out to be, but unfortunately it's hard for any band to shake such a tag."The Promise" is great; "Years later" has a huge chorus; "In A Whirlpool" is about as passionate and masterful as The Sound's "Golden Soldiers." (And its title seems to be an homage to The Sound's "Whirlpool.") There's a lot to dig into on this album. A nice touch is that the last song on each side ends with a lengthy, spacey (improvised?) ambient coda, which helps to balance out the band's almost unrelenting urgency. The singer's most obvious vocal idol is Ian McCUllough (of Echo & The Bunnymen).
NO SHELTER (1989, re-released in 2004)
.JPG)
SINGLES, B-SIDES
News.Now Frank runs a Salt Recording studio in Sutton in Dublin. He’s developed a wonderful comfortable studio (http://www.saltrecordingstudio.com/) with both Digital (Protools) and analogue ( 2 inch Tape) equipment. Frank also runs a ‘Rock School’ where budding musicians can learn from an expert.We’ve supplied Frank with Apogee converters, a custom Auralex acoustic treatment and he’s currently looking at Neve and Portico converters. Take a peek at saltrecordingstudio.com (www.audiowarehouse.ie/clients.html)
started with the meeting of Kenton and Glynnis Thomas (later to be known only as Glynnis) in 1982. They later recruited Ned Morant, who was not a professional percussionist, but was eager to learn and fitted in with the visual style of the band.They recorded a few basic demos over Christmas in 1982, at The Point studio in Victoria, London, with a young tape operator called Danny Hyde.He used the free time he was allowed by the studio to record four basic tracks. At that time the Point studio was under the control of Rupert Merton, who owned the Point Music publishing company.After hearing their demos he asked them to record more songs. Merton was then the Thompson Twins publisher, and later signed Freur/Underworld.As Savage Progress had no drummer, they invited Andrew Edge to join.
