PANARAMA - Can This Be Paradise (1982) Alan Parsons Project related

"Alan Parsons meets the '80s Camel"





























PANARAMA - Can This Be Paradise (1982)

Credits:
Ian Bairnson (Guitarist for Pilot (1974-77) and The Alan Parsons Project (1975-87, 1993-99)) - Guitar, Vocals
Chris Rainbow (ex Camel, also played on many LP of The Alan Parsons Project) - Vocals
Hermann Weindorf (ex-Zara-Thustra, Great Empire, Oktagon http://www.weryton.de/13941/home.html) - Keyboards, Vocals
Dieter Petereit (Stefan Waggershausen & Band, Triumvirat, Passport, http://www.triumvirat.net/petereit.htm) - Bass
Berthold Weindorf (ex-Zara-Thustra, http://www.weryton.de/13941/home.html) - Saxophone
Curt Cress (Great Empire, Oktagon, Passport, Triumvirat, http://www.triumvirat.net/cress.htm) - Drums
Engineer - Pit Floss (Peter Flos)
Mastered by Chris Blair (http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5098405/Chris-Blair-1951-2005.html)
Arranged and Produced by Bairnson/Weindorf
Executive Producer - Curtis Briggs (http://www.event-and-music.de/bio.htm)
(Orchestra Co-ordinator for Alan Parsons Project on The Turn Of A Friendly Card LP)
Photography - Cheyco Leidmann (http://www.cheycoleidmann.com/)

Notes:
Recorded at Olympia Studios Munich

VIDEO:
"I Belive In You"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm9pnq4k9Tc


Tracklist:

01 Dry Ice (Instrumental)
02 When
03 I Don't Know
04 Out of the Way
05 I Believe in You
06 In My Life
07 Run Away
08 Honesty
09 Video Fever
10 Hairy Legs (Instrumental)
Bonus:
11 Burn Me (from Protection 1985 Lp)

Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/287887629/Panarama.rar


IAN BAIRNSON:
"This is an album made and produced by Ian and his German friend Hermann Weindorf. It is interesting in many ways. Ian wrote most of the songs and even provides the lead vocal on some of them. Whilst he can be heard on backing vocals on many Kate Bush, Pilot and Project tracks, these are probably the only tracks where he can be heard singing lead parts. There is also a guest appearance by Chris Rainbow. "Dry Ice" is a great instrumental that really showcases Ian's guitar work."
(http://www.ianbairnson.com/discography/panarama/panarama.htm)

Chris Rainbow and Ian Bairnson are also friends and often worked with each other (Alan Parsons albums). Ian Bairnson guested on Rainbow's '78 and '79 albums.

This very rare album is interesting in one more way, beacuse Bairnson and Rainbow were parts of Alan Parsons Project at that time (read more about it here: http://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com/otherapp01.php). So the first Panarama album was a kind of Alan Parsons side project and came out in the same year as Alan Parsons' Eye in the Sky (1982).

And one more note about Hermann Weindorf (http://www.whalesongs.de/index.php?cat=3&cat_sub=12&cont=pers_dtl.php&id=419) and Curt Cress.
Panarama was released by Jupiter records, which also released Cress and Weindorf 's prog. rock supergroup Oktagon. Read more here:
http://www.litschman.com/interview.htm

Curt Cress from Passport is a well known jazz drummer,percussionist and producer who played on many Electronic, Funk / Soul, Jazz, Rock and synth pop records.(http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curt_Cress)
I have already mentioned him here: http://saltyka.blogspot.com/2007/11/mick-jackson-mick-jackson-1979.html and http://saltyka.blogspot.com/2007/11/patto.html

Back to the album:

"This is an album which was recorded and produced by Ian Bairnson (yes the one from The Alan Parsons Project) and a German artist called Hermann Weindorf. Ian Bairnson wrote allmost every song on the album and did the lead vocals on some of these songs, so you might understand how the album sounds. Chris Rainbow features as a guest appearance.

Actually there were two releases of the album in the same year. The second release was somewhat later in 1982 and featured two different tracks."
(http://melosprogbazaar.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=18o8sq2ou76eidpqcanlhmi491&topic=5182.msg28421#msg28421)

It starts with the beautiful but slightly melancholy Dry Ice, the next tracks are rather west coastish. The first song which is really Alan Parsons influenced: "Out of the Way".
"Run Away" is a nice song again similar to Foreigner's "I Don't Want To Live Without You". The wonderful "Honesty" is Alan Parsons influenced as well.
"Video Fever" sounding pretty good for a soundtrack."Hairy Leg" is an instrumental blues song for the evening hours.

The bonus song was the opening track on their second '84 album which is still missing. Please let me know if you have, or at least some other songs from it.
Same with "In This World" and its instrumental version which appeared only on the alternative version of Panarama's 1982 LP.

One more note for the credits. Italo disco fans perhaps know that Herman Weindorf, Berthold Weindorf and Curt Cress contributed on Righeira's 1983 album. Earlier Weindorf and Cress also guested on Harry Thumann 1979 LP.

"Anyone partial to Bairnson should get hold of the Panarama album "Can This Be Paradise" which he made with German Keyboard player, Herman Weindorf in the 80's. Both of them sing and another excellent muscician from the Parsons fold, Chris Rainbow also sings lead on a couple of tracks. It's a cracker and stronger than many of the Alan Parsons albums."
(http://www.itbites.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=45157&sid=9f358f27ad2fa537f9357e5fe1a23fc3)

"This album is quite enjoyable ! From melodic rock to instrumental fusion, all songs are good to very good. I saw from http://www.ianbairnson.com/recordings/pana.htm there are two versions of this album, the original seems the better one. I have the re-releasesd version which I think is already good enough. The replaced songs are Dry ice and Honesty."

"Ian Bairnson and Hermann Weindorf play their own compositions on this album.
Very much in the style of the Alan Parsons Project in that time. Nice album."

More review (Japanese):
http://yokohama.cool.ne.jp/january/session.special.html




BONUS:























Various - FEUER UND EIS / FIRE AND ICE (Original Soundtrack) (1986)

Genre:
Pop
Style:
Electro, Synth-pop, Disco

Credits:
Artwork By [Cover Design] - Petra Louis
Artwork By [Photos] - Barry Stott , Willy Bogner

Track 01:
Producer, Written-By - Harold Faltermeyer/ Vocals - Marietta/ Written-By - Tom Whitlock
Tracks 02,08,10:
Producer, Vocals, Written-By - Gary Wright
Track 05:
Producer, Vocals - Gary Wright/ Written-By - Gavin Sutherland
Track 06:
Producer, Vocals, Written-By - Gary Wright/Vocals - Laurie Alda/Written-By - Tom Kean

PANARAMA songs (tracks 03,04,07,09):
track 03: Producer, Written-By - Curtis Briggs, Hermann Weindorf/Vocals - Hermann Weindorf , Tina Toule
tracks 04,07,11: Producer - Curtis Briggs/Producer, Written-By - Hermann Weindorf/ Vocals - Panarama
track 09: Producer, Written-By - Curtis Briggs , Hermann Weindorf/Vocals - Mario Lehner/Written-By - Willy Bogner

Notes:
Original-Soundtrack aus dem gleichnamigen Willy Bogner-Film

Tracklist:

01 Marietta - Fire And Ice (4:07)
02 Gary Wright - Ski Dancing (4:00)
03 Panarama - Heavens Forever (3:59)
04 Panarama - Mistral (3:33)
05 Gary Wright - Sailing (4:45)
06 Gary Wright - And Laurie Alda Back To The Magic (4:20)
07 Panarama - Snow Chase (2:12)
08 Gary Wright - The Way I Feel (3:26)
09 Panarama - Ski Dance (Edit) (3:02)
10 Gary Wright - Dreamweaver (4:20)
11 Panarama - Neptune Suite (4:45)

Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/287879594/firi.rar

More info of Marietta:
http://www.myspace.com/mariettawaters

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marietta_Waters

More info for Gary Wright (ex-Spooky Tooth):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Wright

http://www.thedreamweaver.com/




ALBUMS:
Can This Be Paradise (1982)
Protection (1984)



IAN BAIRNSON

Legendary guitarist Ian Bairnson (born August 3 1953 in Levenwick, Shetland Isles, Scotland) has been one of the most sought after sessionists in the music industry, working with a myriad of artists from a plethora of musical genres. Producer, engineer, and composer and long time collaborator Alan Parsons has said of Ian, "he is arguably the best guitarist in the UK".
Although born in the Shetlands, Bairnson grew up in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.

His commercial success started in 1974, with the band Pilot. During this time with Pilot, he collaborated with Parsons, the producer on their debut self-titled album. It was this relationship that helped move most of the band's members (bassist/lead singer David Paton and drummer Stuart Tosh) into The Alan Parsons Project.

His guitar work, emphasis, and influence is evident all throughout the Project's long history, however critics feel his strongest performances came from the early 1990s, when the Project became the Alan Parsons Band. Critical acclaim is drawn to songs from the album Try Anything Once (especially "Mr. Time" and "Jigue"), as well as songs from the follow-up album On Air (especially "Cloudbreak" and "Blown By The Wind").
Collaborations
Besides working with Alan Parsons, Bairnson has also worked with the following artists:

Yvonne Keeley, Scotch Mist, Jack Harris, David Courtney, William Lyall, Marylin Miller, Arlan Greene, Hudson-Ford, Paul McCartney & Wings, Don Black & Geoff Stephens, Steve Harley, Kate Bush, Rab Noakes, Chris De Burgh, Chris Rainbow, John Townley, Lenny Zakatek, Eberhard Schoener, Maximum Penetration, Les Lavin, Jon Anderson, Bucks Fizz, Elaine Paige, Paris, Mick Fleetwood, Bob Fish, Bananarama, Esther Ofarim, Bardo, Panarama, Akira Inoue, Prelude, Rick Cua, David Van Day, Julia Downes, Andrew Powell, Bobby Gee, Keats, Kenny Rogers, Mari Iijima, Uwe Buschkotter, David Sylvian, Anri, James Reyne, Nobuhide Saki, Thomas Anders, Masamichi Sugi, Eric Woolfson, Yukio Sasaki, Yui Asaka, Kyoko Koizumi, Chage & Aska, Marie Claire, Tom Jones, David Paton, Tam White, Marian Gold, Stefano Pieroni, Beverley Craven, Jim Diamond, Marajan, Takafumi Ishida, Mary Mac, Jargon, Manolo Garcia, Alfonso XII, Carola, and Liverpool Express.

Bairnson's proficiency as a saxophone player was made evident on The Time Machine, his collaborative effort with Parsons. More recently, he is doing session and touring work with a number of different bands, the latest being that of the band Junk (Ian Bairnson, Jesús Gabaldón, Pau Chaffer, Sarah Rope, Ángel Celada).
(http://en.allexperts.com/e/i/ia/ian_bairnson.htm)

Guitarist for Pilot (1974-77) and Alan Parsons Project, The (1975-87, 1993-99). Also played guitar for Kate Bush.

More info:
http://www.ianbairnson.com/discography/ofarim/ofarim.htm

http://home.hetnet.nl/~nickgielkens/who_bairnsonian.htm

http://www.theavenueonline.info/site1/bios/bairnson.htm


CHRIS RAINBOW (Chris Harley)

Chris Rainbow (born Christopher James Harley, 18 November 1946 in Glasgow) is a Scottish rock singer/musician who had two minor hit songs, 'Give Me What I Cry For' and 'Solid State Brain' in the 1970's. Apart from his solo career he also made frequent vocal contributions to The Alan Parsons Project, starting on their 1979 Eve album through to their 1987 album Gaudi, and Eric Woolfson's Freudiana (1990) (an APP album in all but name).

He adopted the name "Rainbow" to avoid confusion with Steve Harley, saying, "Steve Harley was at his peak and I didn’t want any confusion. The name Rainbow was found one evening as me and some friends were watching TV and the reporter’s name flashed on the screen as ‘Christopher Rainbow’, so that was that."

Before joining the Project, Rainbow was involved in a band called Hope Street for a year. Following this, he released 3 solo albums Home of the Brave in 1975, Looking Over My Shoulder in 1977, and White Trails in 1979, characterised by evocative songwriting and lush vocal harmonies, often reminiscent of Brian Wilson. Tracks from the latter two albums are collected on The Best of Chris Rainbow, 1972-1980, which has appeared in single and double CD sets and includes radio spots, and rare and unreleased material. At this time Rainbow received much wider recognition for his music through the support of Kenny Everett, then on Capital Radio in London, who featured his music extensively. Some of the jingles that Rainbow made for Capital at this time were later released on an album of out-takes, demos and unreleased material.

Rainbow recorded and toured with Camel, including singing some lead vocals on studio albums The Single Factor (1982) and Stationary Traveller (1984). He worked with Camel keyboardist Ton Scherpenzeel on his 1984 album Heart of the Universe in a duo format, performing five lead vocals.

More recently, Rainbow produced several albums for Scottish Gaelic rock group Runrig.

Chris Rainbow also runs the Vital Spark Music Studio (http://www.vitalsparkmusic.co.uk/) on the Isle of Skye. He is currently writing again and hopes to release new album in 2008.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Rainbow)

More info:
http://home.hetnet.nl/~nickgielkens/who_rainbowchris.htm

http://www.theavenueonline.info/site1/bios/rainbow.htm