Reviews
Wondrous Face (biography)
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This 29-track CD brings together for the first time the A and B sides of Billy's 11 EMI singles, adding for good measure seven excellent bonus tracks from the era. Eight tracks - Hurtin' Is Loving, It Just Don't Matter Now, Beyond The Shadow Of A Doubt, Baby Do You Love Me, One Minute Woman, Bye Bye, Why Are You Leaving and Old Sweet Roll make their first appearance on CD. The 12-page booklet has an authoritative commentary, and there are a couple of superb photographs, including the cover, which has been supplied by 60s celebrity photographer Ian Wright. This Peaksoft release (catalogue PEA009) has been officially licensed by the Billy Fury Estate. Available now from the Peaksoft website and Amazon.
The CD is shared with the extraordinarily appalling soundtrack of the Lulu film, Gonks Go Beat. There is an 12-page booklet with commentary by Kieron Tyler.
It was designed by Universal to accompany other albums in the Classics and Collectibles series, which include Engelbert Humperdink and the Walker Brothers. Delays have meant that other Billy Fury releases have appeared in the meantime. New tracks are Straight To Your Arms, which was taken straight from an acetate, and I Will Always Be With You, for which I believe we are to thank Vic England, of the Billy Fury In Thoughts Of You fan club.. I'll Be So Glad has been available informally on tape since about 1982, but this version is from the Decca master tape, which has been located. Chris Eley of the Sound Of Fury fan club has been a major collaborator with Universal in assembling the compilation, and he has contributed the sleeve notes, as well as a photograph that is being published for the first time. Chris tells me that CD1 is designed to be of general appeal, including many of the well-known hits, while CD2 is orientated towards rhythm and blues, and country, styles which Billy loved and performed well, but for which he has received too little recognition in the past. Click here to order from Amazon, and earn commission for our Alder Hey charity fund.
1. Halfway To Paradise 2. Maybe Tomorrow 3. Margo
4. Colette 5. That's Love 6. A Wondrous Place 7. A Thousand Stars 8. Don't Worry Billy Fury - His Wondrous Story 25th Anniversary Special Edition A new CD is due to be released on September 11, with all of the Decca singles A and B sides, to commemorate the presentation of a gold disc marking Billy's overall sales for the label. It will be available for about £10, including post, from the discounters. The only missing titles are Hippy Hippy Shake/Glad All Over. This was widely available in the UK, but was officially for export only. The listing follows. In view of discussions on the message board, when several people remarked that they already had all of the tracks, I satisfied my curiosity by working out the minimum number of exiting CDs that you would need to own to hear both sides of all of the Decca singles. The superb 40th Anniversary CD (CD17 under this site's classification) has 49 of the 60 tracks. You would then need Halfway To Paradise (CD7) for Push Push, Open Your Arms, Sleepless Nights, Magic Eues and If I Lose You, The Other Side Of Billy Fury (CD11) for Away From You, Didn't See The Real Thing Come Along and She's So Far Out She's In, Nothin' Shakin' (CD16) for You Better Believe It Baby and Hippy Hippy Shake (not on the new CD), The Sound Of Fury + 10 (CD2) for Last Kiss and Baby How I Cried, and In Thoughts Of You (CD9) for Hippy Hippy Shake (not on the new CD). The problem for a new collector is that only CD17 is easily available. In the next few days, I'll do a similar exercise for the Parlophone/Fury/Warner singles.
SILLY BOY BLUE ON BOWIE COMPILATION
This is also the first time it has been remastered for issue other than on vinyl, so the Castle Music CD, Oh You Pretty Things (CMQCD 1311) is the only clean, non-crackly version on the block. Previously, it has been available only on the original single and on the Missing Years LP. There's a glam-rock cover, with Billy apparently wearing a fetching off-the-shoulder number.
The interesting 12 pages of sleeve notes include an excerpt of a letter from Larry Parnes. Silly Boy Blue is the acknowledged A-side of the single (One Minute Woman was on the flip side). Parnes' letter reads: "I'm sorry to say that EMI decided to flip this record to the B-side in my absence on vacation. "Both Billy and I are most upset about this, but if the B-side doesn't happen within four weeks, we have asked them to flip back to SIlly Boy Blue." I imported my copy from the States, but by the time it arrived, Amazon UK had it in stock...of course! - 6 February 06.
NOW SOLD OUT
I Must Be Dreaming ha s a special significance to billyfury.com. The song was announced in 1964 as Billy's next realease, but I'm Lost Without You appeared in the shops instead. Alan Coombe, however, had a radio recording, which was included as a bonus track on the billyfury.com tribute album, Without You, in 2002. A real breakthrough came in 2006, when the astounding version included on this CD was discovered. The second Billy Fury lost gem is In Thoughts Of You, a fascinating alternative version, which did not come to light until 2006, of his final top 10 hit in 1965. It's Only Make-Believe is a Fury standard, reaching the top 20 in 1964. This unique alternative version was discovered by John Hetherington (singer Johnny Storme). I have taken the opportunity to release at last the privately-recorded studio demo of My Life by Tony Tait (Tony Damond, lead singer of Billy's backing group, The Gamblers). This is a powerful performance that demands a wider hearing and I am delighted to provide it. Tony died in 1999. The first known copy of Billy's dynamic recording of the Jerry Lee Lewis number, Break Up, was given to me by Mrs Mavis Tait, Tony's widow. This has been presented in streaming audio on billyfury.com since that time, and makes a deserved appearance on this CD. The plaintive Nobody's Child is a favourite of
many Fury fans. This extraordinary stereo version, however, is unique.
Paypal
members should log on to their accounts, choose Make A Payment, and make the
payment to sales@peaksoft.co.uk. Cecilia and Ken Darvell. Margaret Dewick (For Jean and Albie). Di and Ann (Remembering Billy always, with much love). Brendan Dodd (Billy will always be the greatest). Vince Eager. Chris Eley and Linda Shawley. Vic England. Sophie Evans (Once upon a dream).Richard Furnell. Ken and Kath Griffin. Roy Harvey. Daniel Heeney (Magical wishes). John Hetherington (The sound of Fury lives on). Ann and Peter Hodkin. Marguerite Holloway. Cathy Homann (In thoughts of you). Geoff and Judith Howlett (For Fury fans everywhere). Barbara Hughes (Treasured memories). Nancy Ingleby (Remembered always). Jill Kiddle (Billy Fury fan for ever). Diane James. Dave Jay. John Loaring. Jill and Gail (There'll never be another Billy). Perry Luff (Simply the best). Will McNeil. Nigel Morgan. Sue Moulson (Gone but never forgotten). Moya, President, The Billy Fury Fan Club, est 1959 (Billy - in my heart for ever). Steve Morris (For my wife Ali). Eddie Muir. David Otter. Allen Page. Paul "Conrad" Parker (Fury lives for ever). Pierre Petrou (In Memory of my mum, Helen, who introduced me to the music of Billy Fury). Martin Pettitt. Tony Philbin. Fran Quinn (All my hopes). Michael J. Ramsay MD (To all Billy's fans in the US). Marie Richardson (In thoughts of Billy always). Michael Rowland (To Billy's Mum: Your Billy is still the greatest). Roger T. Ryder. Sheila Smith. Janet Stone (In thoughts of you Billy and my mum Eileen Hocking). Kevin Summerfield (Legends never die). Pauline Swindells (Remembering all the dreams that were woven around Billy). Jean Todd (Loved the music from the start). Jenny Warwick. David Wyatt. Chris and Hazel Whitehouse. Harry and Rita Whitehouse. Harry and Maureen Whitehouse. Louise Whitehouse and Paul Beal. Richard Whitehouse. Angela Williams. Peter Williams. David Woodfine. David Wyatt. Pat Young.
This is one of a whole raft of CDs to result from the BBC giving Decca access to their archives, although the 1959 sequences were supplied by someone who has a CD of the tracks that have been on billyfury.com for a year or two. The price seems to range from £9.99 upwards. If you order from Amazon using the link below, commission will aid our appeal for Alder Hey hospital. The track list is: 1. C'mon Everybody (Saturday Club 09/05/1959) Forty-one atmospheric tracks, beautifully recorded and presented, with a 12-page mono booklet, and insightful notes by Spencer Leigh. This is a real winner, and a must for every collection.
18 September 06
Ozit announced various options for ordering, but they seem presently not to be fulfilling any orders, except those placed through Ebay auctions. The quoted retail price is £14.75, none seem to
be available except through Ebay, on which the Buy It Now price is £30.
In my view, the best policy for the moment is to wait and see. - updated 10
August 06.
Track listings are as shown on the ilustrations. Each has a full-colour Billy Fury booklet, and each copy is hand-numbered. He emphasises that the CDs include tracks that have never previously been issued and that Ozit are releasing them in cooperation with the Wycherley family. The first six cost £14.75 each, post free within the UK, and they can be ordered now direct from Ozit by mail or telephone order. They will not be available in the shops.  Cheques or postal orders to should be made payable
to Recordrange and posted to Recordrange, PO Box 116,
Northwich, Cheshire CW9 5UG. Telephone orders by Switch or credit card can be
made to 01565 734066, 01565 734577 or 07970 219701.
Orders are being taken now. The seventh CD will be available only to those attending Albie's show in Southport on June 17. - 21 December 05.
Was it worth it? Well, CD2 consists of the Percy Phillips acetates and the demos cut for the Sound Of Fury LP, which have already been issued by Ozit, plus part of the Stuart Colman interview, which has been available on billyfury.com for several years. CD1 is a different matter, as it brings to us programmes recorded by Billy for Radio Luxembourg. These have been cleaned up to some degree, but are best regarded as echoes of that wonderful time, when we really DID have our trannies under the pillow to listen to Brian Alldis play the new top 20 every Sunday night when Dad thought we were asleep. There are a few tracks that have never been
officially been issued before, but if I had to choose one that justified the
issue of this CD, it would be the ethereal Maybe Tomorrow. - November 7 2005.
This triple album (our CD29) appeared for mail order sale through Readers Digest in October 2004. It contains most of the songs on the 40th Anniversary album, but at double the price (£30 + post). There are no new photographs, or original material in the sleeve notes. If you'd like to order a copy, Readers Digest would prefer you to call their premium rate telephone number 08705 113366, as the longer they keep you hanging on, the bigger the cut they get. However, the geographical number 0207 7158000 should connect you to the same office, and it's even worth trying the freephone number 0800 181151. (Thanks for these suggestions to www.saynoto0870.com.) - 11 April 2005. RARITIES AND TEENAGE JOTTINGS CD Two versions of the Ozit CD are now available: 1 A 21-track version, with a 10-page booklet. This has 19 of the tracks of the second version, plus All My Time and Bye Bye. This costs £14.75 by post from Recordrange, PO Box 116, Northwich, Cheshire.
Ordering details are below. I understand that the price is equivalent to buying a ticket for the gig, then buying the CD there. There are 23 tracks on the special issue (Ozit CD223), which was offered for sale at Albie's gig on Saturday March 6, 2004 at Rivington, near Bolton. A four-page wraparound, with three photographs of Billy, and one of Albie and Mrs W beside the Liverpool statue leads in to a 10-page fold-out, whose main feature are Billy's teenage jottings. One of these is recognisable as the basis for the lyrics to Turn My Back On You, while the other is an early effort towards Maybe Tomorrow. There are some other fascinating photographs, including one of Billy backstage with Marty Wilde and Jimmy Tarbuck at the Essoldo, Birkenhead, in 1958. One feature that isn't present is a discussion of the tracks, so with the benefit of all the knowledgeable input I have been able to attract from elsewhere (many thanks to Chris Eley) here is stab, which may be subject to correction. 1 Break Up - The unreleased Decca recording that visitors to this site have been hearing for a few months. 2 Turn My Back On You- live from Boy Meets Girls. Previously unreleased. 3 God Created Woman - no previous official release. 4 Pretty Blue Eyes - Duet with unknown artist. Not previously released. 5 Colette (version 1) - Identical to version 3 (track 21). Previously released on CD in 1966 on Jack Good's Original Oh Boy. 6 Lady - A-side of Parlophone single. Previously on CDs Rough Diamonds And Pure Gems and Halfway To The Hits. NOT ON VERSION 1. 7 Green-Eyed American Actress- No previous official release. Available on this site in streaming audio for a couple of years. 8 Nothin' Shakin' - The other unreleased Decca track that this site made available in streaming audio last year. (As I emphasised at the time of this CD's release, I have had no involvement in the issue of these tracks on CD.) 9 Baby Let's Play House - Live track from Boy Meets Girls. No previous official release. 10 Getting Sentimental Over You- Parlophone track produced by Hal Carter. No previous official release. Available on this site in streaming audio for a couple of years. 11 I'll Go Along With It - B-side of Parlophone single Loving You. Also on CDs as track 6. 12 My Babe - Live from Boy Meets Girls. No previous official release. 13 Colette (version 2)- With Marty Wilde. No previous official release. 14 Goin' Round The Bend - Unreleased 1982 recording. Believed to be written by Billy. No previous official release. Available on this site in streaming audio for a couple of years. 15 Mighty Cold - No previous official release. 16 She Loves Somebody- Released on Missing Years LP. Probably written by Billy. NOT ON VERSION 1. 17 Wond(e)rous Place - Released on Missing Years LP. 18 Fascinating Candle Flame - short version. No previous official release in this form. 19 Goin' Round The Bend - acoustic version. No previous release. 20 Baby Get Yourself Together- Released on Missing Years LP. NOT ON VERSION 1. 21 Colette version 3 - identical to version 1, but prefaced by a snippet from an interview that will be recognised by visitors to this site. NOT ON VERSION 1. 22 Fascinating Candle Flame - short version. No previous official release in this form. 23 My Babe by Jason Eddie. Live at Worcester Park Club. The extra tracks on Version 1 are: All My Time. Probably recorded in 1969-71, possibly for an album that never surfaced, at Mayfair Studio. Bye Bye. Written by Billy. On Missing Years LP. A fascinating, well-produced package that is clearly a must-have for the completist. To buy, cheques should be made payable to Billy Fury Ltd and posted to PO BOX 116, Northwich, Cheshire CW9 5UG, UK. Credit card orders can be telephoned to 01565 734066. - March 15 2004. Updated 10 May 2004.
Some of these tracks, say Zoom, have never previously been issued. If you have a CD + G player, the words appear on screen - if not, you still have the backing track to sing along to. The tracks are:
The CD is available for £14.99 post free from this site's sponsor, Peaksoft.- 9 June 03.
A version with identical content is being released through normal retail sources, but without the replica signature on the front, or commemorative print in the booklet. The top illustration is of the special edition booklet, and the lower one is the normal retail one. CD1 is a 12-track amateur recording of Billy's last public live performances, at the Sunnyside, Northampton, on December 2 and 4, 1982, and the quality is surprisingly good.
Chris Hewitt of Ozit tells me that the tracks have also appeared on pirate CDs at car boot sales, etc. I'm afraid I'm probably responsible for the limited number of the "Unplugged" version that were issued, as I queried the copyright position with the vendor, and he told me that while he felt relaxed about his rights, he did not want to invite trouble. Whatever....the tracks are well worth owning, as they throw some new light on Billy's accomplishments. A few tracks on both CDs are songs that appear on legal recordings for the first time. I'm not going to list them, as full details appear on the CDs, track listings, and A-Z pages. Ozit assured people who attended the concert that no further copies of this CD would be sold - which justifies the premium price charged. The general retail version is due for issue this month. - 3 June 03. LUXEMBOURG TRACKS ON CD Sanctuary Records have announced that they will release recordings of some of Billy's performances on Radio Luxembourg on a £7.99 CD in May. I have no other firm information, but I believe that these a recordings made from the radio when Billy was performing with the Tornados in 1962. Ex-Tornado Roger Lavern had a copy of a tape several years ago. Our own Luxembourg files of 1961 recordings, by the way, are available through the Unreleased Tracks link on the Sounds page. - 10 March 03. A CD called The Sound Of Fury Demos (SELCD 608) was released by Castle Select, a division of Sanctuary, in early December, 2002. It combines the early tracks already released on two Ozit CDs, Wondrous Place Live (CD0052 - CD18 in this site's numbering scheme) and Billy Fury Sings A Buddy Holly Song (CD56 - our CD22) with a lengthy extract from the Stuart Colman interview (Polydor POSP488 - our L24) Billy's brother Albie has told me that action is being taken against Sanctuary for breach of copyright. Whenever any conflict of interests arises, the policy of this site will always be to support the interests of Billy's family, and although the existence of the CD will remain recorded, I shall not be supplying copies. 6 December 02
Copies can be supplied through this site for £9.45 including post. For information, please click here. The tracks were picked by Chris Eley, who has also written the sleeve notes. He has aimed for an easy listening collection of 28 tracks. High points are versions of Your Words and Don't Tell Me Lies that are on CD for the first time. The full listing is: Forget Him, Like I've Never Been Gone, Give Me Your Word, I Love How You Love Me, I'll Never Fall In Love Again, Once Upon A Dream, Didn't See The Real Thing Come Along, Let Me Go Lover, In Thoughts Of You, Halfway To Paradise, Because Of Love, Run To My Lovin' Arms, Don't Tell Me Lies (fast version), Do You Really Love Me Too, I Will, We Were Meant For Each Other, That's The Way It Goes, Be Mine Tonight, I'm Lost Without You, I'll Never Quite Get Over You, Devil Or Angel, Last Night Was Made For Love, When Will You Say I Love You, Jealousy, Your Words, I'll Never Find Another You, Wondrous Place and Maybe Tomorrow. The front cover is a blue-tinged portrait by Chris Giles, inspired by Billy in Play It Cool mode. Looks a bit dodgy to me. |
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Track listing is: Since You've Been Gone, plus 19 tracks from singles: Maybe Tomorrow, Margo, Colette, That's Love, Wondrous Place, A Thousand Stars, Halfway To Paradise, Jealousy, I'd Never Find Another You, Letter Full Of Tears, Last Night Was Made For Love, Once Upon A Dream, Because Of love, Like I've Never Been Gone, When Will You Say I Love You, In Summer, Do You Really Love Me Too, It's Only Make-Believe, In Thoughts Of You. AT £7.99 (Amazon's price - it could be a couple of pounds more in the shops) that's a pretty good deal. You do have to wonder, though, how many CDs there will eventually be on the market called Best Of Billy Fury. I complained to Decca about the sleeve notes. To be fair, I expected them to ignore me, but they have e-mailed me to acknowledge my complaint and to promise to correct errors when the notes are reprinted. The most serious mistake is to record Billy's birth year as 1941 instead of 1940. This sort of basic error is to be expected on the umpteenth repackaging of the K-Tel tracks by a company that couldn't care less, but it should never occur on something issued by Decca There are several other fundamental mistakes - primarily with the timing of the release of The One And Only LP, and with the suggestiont that a character called "Rocky Tempest" appeared in the film That'll Be The Day. The sound, I have to say, is of the highest quality. I am also impressed that Decca have taken the complaints to heart and have undertaken to put them right. |
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FINAL PERCY PHILIPS TRACKS ON NEW CD
It features 15 Billy Fury tracks, plus 12 by his brother Albie. It is available from Amazon for £11.99 plus post or by mail order from Ozit for £14 plus 75p post. Cheques should be made out to Recordrange and posted to Billy Fury Ltd, PO Box 116, Northwich, CW9 5UG, or pay by credit card or Switch by calling 01565 734066 or by faxing 01565 734196. This is a superb CD, containing a great deal of valuable material. I also have to declare that I am an Albie Wycherley fan, so the inclusion of 12 tracks by Billy's brother is a welcome bonus. The Wondrous Place Live CD featured two of the tracks that Billy recorded as a boy in Liverpool at the Percy Philips studio and the four remaining tracks from this acetate are on the new CD. These are Love's A Callin', Playin' For Keeps, Paralysed and Baby. Anyone unfamiliar with the history of these tracks should read Chris Eley's excellent Rare And Unreleased feature on this site. The other tracks are all unreleased versions. Peggy Sue, Halfway To Paradise, Slow Boat To China, When I Fall In Love, I May Be Wrong and Am I Blue, from recordings made in about 1961, are described on the CD as "tryouts of material considered for commercial release by Decca". These tracks have been heard in the past by several people, and they are believed also to have been used on the Radio Luxembourg show, Billy's Pad. In common with several people who have contacted me, I have difficulty in relating the lead vocal on Peggy Sue to Billy's voice at any particular stage of his career. The remaining five tracks, What Did I Do, Since You've Been Gone, Love Love Love, What I Need and You Wonder Why were demos made for the guidance of backing musicians at the recording of the Sound Of Fury 10-inch LP, although these titles did not subsequently appear on the CD. These five are the tracks mentioned by Terry Wilson as the ones he heard on a tape with the seven subsequently included on the Wondrous Place Live CD. (See report below.) Those tracks shown in italics have never been released in any version. It would be interesting to have on CD the tracks recorded by Billy's guests for the Luxembourg shows, as these are also believed to be on the source material from which these songs were taken. The Albie Wycherley tracks are also described as rareties. Four - Come On Baby, Watcha Gonna Do, True To You and Singing The Blues - were on singles produced by Joe Meek when Albie fronted Jason Eddie and the Centremen. These have been previously issued on a 1997 CD, Gem CD016. I Know I've Got A Heart is taken from Albie's superb CD I Never Met Colette, which I would recommend to anyone. Other tracks are 1960s recordings Heart And Soul, Playin' The Clown, Marble And Iron, Who Needs Love, She's So Beautiful, Mr Bus Driver, and A Wondrous Place, which was recorded live at a concert in 2000. There is also a 16-page booklet containing memorabilia from the scrapbooks of Billy's family. All in all, an essential item for any collector. |
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Jess Conrad CD |
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Review and purchase details of Colin Paul and the Persuaders' tribute CD. |
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The CDs are in a very smart box, but unfortunately, it is virtually impossible to open the box without tearing it. One CD has 14 of the K-Tel tracks, which Planet issued as PML1107 a couple of months earlier. They have not even troubled to re-order the tracks - it's exactly the same CD. The second CD has the same 26 tracks as the Going For A Song CD (GFS 307) described below. There are no sleeve notes and no one in his right mind would believe that this compilation represents Billy "at his best". The one point in its favour is that the double issue costs less than £6. |
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This is, in effect, a re-issue of the deleted 1991 Magnum Force CDMF 072 CD Rough Diamonds And Pure Gems, bringing together the tracks of the Sticks 'n' Stones and Loving You LPs, and the two tracks of the Suzanne In The Mirror EP which would otherwise be missed. This release is appealing, but it will probably not be found in conventional record shops, but in garages and on market stalls, etc. Going For A Song will supply only the trade. About 30 copies of the CD have been sold through this site to aid the Bronze Fund, but remaining stocks have been passed to Chris Eley of the fan club. The sleeve notes are also very interesting - especially to me, as I unknowingly wrote them. Chunks of Billy's biography from this site are reproduced word for word. One of the few changes they made was to get his age wrong. Unbelievable? Click this link for the proof.
Billy's first LP, the 10" The Sound Of Fury, was re-issued by Decca on 24 July 2000, in a replica of the original sleeve, and with the original issue number, LF1329.
At the same time, Decca issued a double CD 844 990-2, with the original LP artwork. The first CD has the LP tracks, and the second has ten stereo tracks - eight are versions of the LP tracks, one is an alternative take of That's Love, and the last is an alternative take of Maybe Tomorrow. The nine other tracks are My Christmas Prayer and B-sides that were not included on the 40th Anniversary double CD. A full listing appears on the Tracks page. Bith the CD and the LP benefit enormously from Chris Eley's impressively authoritative and literate notes. A CD, Wondrous Place Live, was released by Ozit Records, officially on 17 April, 2000 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of Billy's birth - although it had been available for a short period before. There are eight tracks recorded live by a member of the audience at Lewisham Town Hall on February 5, 1974, and which have been given to Billy's family. A further seven tracks are early demo recordings, found by Billy's mother and brother in the attic of his Mrs Wycherley's home. A BBC news clip (link below) on this states that the recordings have "just" been found. However, Terry Wilson, in Canada, wrote to the Billy Fury egroup that he had heard five further tracks on a tape several years ago. He said the unissued demos were: What I Need (It's You I Need) What Did I Do Since You're Gone (Since You've Been Gone) Love Love Love You Wonder Why Terry points out that the last two songs were never re-recorded by Billy. "It is interesting to note that of the 12 demos, a total of seven (studio versions) were issued on the nine-song Sound Of Fury album. The only two songs on the album not on the demo tape are You Don't Know and Turn My Back On You. "Each song is introduced by Billy just like the demos on the CD," writes Terry. The CD also includes two tracks from the first-ever demos Billy made, cut to a 78rpm disc in a Liverpool shop, P. F. Phillips of Kensington. The four other tracks on the demo will appear on a future release, according to notes on the CD. Billy's original guitar was also found in the attic and repaired, although it will not be played again, because it is too fragile. A sound file and a video file of a piece broadcast on BBC local television on March 24 are now available. The CD is available by post for £11.98 including post (a discount of over £3) from Key Mail Order. This is very much a CD for the Billy Fury fan. The backing on the concert recordings is loud and not of the highest standard, but from my point of view, the tracks are pure spine-tingling gems. However, this is not a commercial issue. Members of the public who are familiar with little other than Halfway To Paradise and the Toyota ad will not be won over. 01 Sticks And Stones 02 In Thoughts Of You 03 Wondrous Place 04 That's All Right 05 Halfway To Paradise 06 Like I've Never Been Gone 07 Unchain My Heart 08 Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow 09 Well All Right 10 Cheating With Love 11 My Advice 12 Phone Call 13 Don't Say It's Over 14 Don'tTell Me Lies 15 I Know It's Love 16 I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone 17 Have I Told You LatelyThat I Love You 01-08 are tracks recorded on a Grundig tape recorder by a member of the audience at Lewisham Town Hall on 5 February 1974. 09-15 are demo tapes, discovered in the attic of Mrs Jean Wycherley's home. 16-17 are two of the six tracks recorded by Billy, aged about 17, on a 78rpm record in a booth in a Liverpool shop. A four page feature on the release of the CD appears in the June issue of the UK magazine, Record Mart And Buyer. This includes reminiscences by Joe Brown and Marty Wilde.
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The
I've Gotta Horse soundtrack songs were finally issued - without any
fanfare - as an official CD in February 2009, as RPM Retro 845. All
of the tracks except the finale medley have, in fact, previously been
available on different CDs, but this issue collects them
together. 
Although
this new 62-track double CD is due to appear on November 17, it is, in
fact, a project that was virtually complete three years ago.
The Odeon DVD is being reissued on January
28th, to mark the 25th anniversary of Billy's death, with some extras, and
a 29-track CD. This consists mainly of the Decca singles, plus Love
Or Money, Forget Him and Devil Or Angel. One for the completist,
this has a list price of £19.99, but it is widely available at a heavy
discount.
I
believe that the issue of Silly Boy Blue, Billy's 1968 Parlophone single, on
this compilation of Bowie covers marks its first appearance on CD.
Other
artists on this 23 track compilaiton include Lulu, Ronnie Hilton and Donovan.
Our
six-track CD should be considered essential listening by an Fury fan.
This
new double CD from Universal (Decca) went into the shops on September 18.
Ozit are releasing six new CDs of rarities in time for Christmas, with a seventh to follow in June.
We
waited long enough for this CD (CMQDD1170) which has had so many release dates
that it became a matter of believing it when we saw it.
2
The
special concert release, although as Ozit, the publisher, have some spare
copies, they are offering them at £36.15 each. 
This
is a very nice release of backing tracks for 11 of Billy's songs, of far higher
quality than the Legends disc that many of us will have.
Ozit released a double album (Ozit CD220) at the
Liverpool Philharmonic concert that followed the statue unveiling in April 2003.
CD2 we have seen before - although not
officially. The tracks were released as "Billy Fury Unplugged"
by an individual who said his father had bought the tapes at an auction of items
owned by a former member of Billy's management team. I believe that only
16 copies were released, and these have fetched up to £90 in Ebay auctions.
Decca's long-delayed release of the Billy
Fury CD, Love Songs, began appearing in the shops in the week that started on
September 30, 2002. 
Decca finally released their Best Of Billy Fury CD at the end of September, 2001 - this had been delayed since June.
Ozit Records, who produced the Wondrous Place
Live CD, issued a new CD on Wednesday 8 August.
A two-volume CD, the absurdly-titled Billy Fury At His Best (2X 2004-2) was issued by Planet Media in November 2000.
A
The
sleeve uses modern "tuck-in" construction techniques, but a
photographically-reproduced fake faded fold-over appears on the back of
the sleeve. I hope that the picture (left) illustrates the point.