The Baseball Boys: Early Demos & Rare Tracks

Great tribute to JS... and now all the more poignant. RIP TL. One of those bands that triggers nothing but great memories and nostalgia. You can hear so many great influences on a lot of these tracks that were never so obvious on the final commercial recordings.

As a longtime fan of this band, this is a joy to listen to and a great example of how songs evolve over time! This is an album of early demos and unreleased songs, many of which sound like they were preserved on cassette for many years and lovingly transferred to the digital domain. As someone who’s been in rock bands for most of my adult life, I can relate as many of my early recordings exist solely now on audio cassette and I’m slowly transferring them to digital. Some real gems can be found here. If you’re a fan of 80s pop/rock, this will be a welcome addition your collection!

An exciting collection of demos and rarities that were mostly self produced by The Outfield (aka The Baseball Boys) often with engineer Nigel Palmer from 1980-1988 at Scarf Studios in London’s East End. The chosen compilation of tracks demonstrates the bands more straight ahead rock n’ roll approach before the eventual polished and layered production of their multi platinum selling album Play Deep (1985). The early work demonstrates a band driven by Guitarist/Songwriter John Spinks’ gift of hooks and melodies that would ultimately propel the band to sell millions of records world wide. Bassist/Lead Vocalist Tony Lewis lifts the tracks with his distinctive Sting-like vocals style as drummer Alan Jackman powers the tracks throughout with a classic driving beat. The body of work captured on this album is as strong musically as any new release that you might find in the pop/rock genre today.

I have been a fan of the Outfield since 1986 and love all of their material. This album does not disappoint. A great blend of early cuts and demos. Really like the version of “Everytime you cry” and the previously unreleased track “turn and run”. Lots to like. Buy it!

These are really great cuts!