Background
Spencer was living in Italy in 1977, and had begun to write new songs and work towards forming a new band. He was joined there by Michael Fogarty, whom Spencer considered the perfect partner for his new musical venture, the two having met in the UK in 1975. Fogarty was born in Tennessee in 1951, and had spent the previous ten years playing in a number of soul and country groups.
This was Spencer's first recorded work in seven years, and was musically far removed from his previous work. It showed his continuing preference for parodying other bands; in this case the songs on Side 2 bear a strong resemblance to the contemporary sound of Fleetwood Mac, i.e. a breezy Californian rock style with female vocalists, and a solid thumping drum sound reminiscent of Mick Fleetwood. A coincidence seems unlikely given Spencer's past membership of that band, with the fact that his female backing vocalists are credited as "The Songbirds" – "Songbird" was a very popular Fleetwood Mac song from the Rumours album just a couple of years earlier.
Spencer and Fogarty sang on several tracks, but for the hit single "Cool Breeze", the lead vocal was taken by Jeanne Hendricks. Hendricks performed on a number of tracks, and was featured in the album photographs, but was not credited as a vocalist. She also sang with Spencer on the follow-up single, "Travellin'".
The album features a heavy disco production treatment given to the songs on Side 1, which Spencer was very unhappy with. "Sunshine" was a reworking of "When I Looked to See the Sunshine" from the Jeremy Spencer and the Children album of 1972.
"Cool Breeze" and "Travellin'" were issued as singles in various territories, and "Cool Breeze" charted at Number 21 on the U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Charts, although the album was not a commercial success.
"Flee" was reworked by Spencer as "Refugees" for his 2012 album Bend in the Road.
Read more about this topic: Flee
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In the true sense one’s native land, with its background of tradition, early impressions, reminiscences and other things dear to one, is not enough to make sensitive human beings feel at home.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“... every experience in life enriches one’s background and should teach valuable lessons.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)