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Pat Travers / Feelin’ Right: The Polydor Albums 1975-1984

By Paul Sinclair

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The Polydor albums of Canadian rocker Pat Travers are collected in a new four-disc box set due for release next month.

Feelin’ Right: The Polydor Albums 1975-1984 contains all the studio long-players from the period (except 1980’s Crash And Burn) and also includes the 1979 live set Live! Go For What You Know.

The approach here is to shoehorn two albums on each of the four CDs and they are slightly out of sequence (Putting It Straight appears before Makin’ Magic) presumably to make it all fit. The great news is that the material is all newly remastered from original sources (by Andy Pearce) so no needledrops, as has been the case previously.

This set comes with a 16-page booklet with original album artwork and credits, along with new sleeve notes from Malcolm Dome. It will be packaged as a ‘fatbox’ double CD case and at under £15 (in the UK) is exceptional value.

Feelin’ Right: The Polydor Albums 1975-1984 is released on 23 February 2015.

Track listing

Disc: 1

Pat Travers (1975)

  • 1. Stop and Smile
  • 2. Feelin’ Right
  • 3. Magnolia
  • 4. Makes No Difference
  • 5. Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)
  • 6. Mabellene
  • 7. Hot Rod Lincoln
  • 8. As My Fire Flies
  • 9. Medley, Pts 1 & 2

Putting It Straight (1977)

  • 10. Life In London
  • 11. It Ain”t What It Seems
  • 12. Speakeasy
  • 13. Runnin’ From The Future
  • 14. Lovin’ You
  • 15. Off Beat Ride
  • 16. Gettin’ Betta
  • 17. Dedication

Disc: 2

Makin’ Magic (1977)

  • 1. Makin’ Magic
  • 2. Rock ‘N’ Roll Susie
  • 3. You Don’t Love Me
  • 4. Stevie
  • 5. Statesboro’ Blues
  • 6. Need Love
  • 7. Hooked On Music
  • 8. What You Mean to Me

Heat in the Street (1978)

  • 9. Heat in the Street
  • 10. Killer’s Instinct
  • 11. I Tried to Believe
  • 12. Hammerhead
  • 13. Go All Night
  • 14. Evie
  • 15. Prelude
  • 16. One for Me and One for You

Disc: 3

Radio Active (1981)

  • 1. New Age Music
  • 2. My Life Is On The Line
  • 3. (I Just Want To) Live It My Way
  • 4. I Don’t Want To Be Awake
  • 5. I Can Love You
  • 6. Untitled
  • 7. Feelin’ In Love
  • 8. Play It Like You See It
  • 9. Electric Detective

Black Pearl (1982)

  • 10. I La La La Love You
  • 11. I’d Rather See You Dead
  • 12. Stand Up
  • 13. Who’ll Take The Fall
  • 14. The Fifth
  • 15. Misty Morning
  • 16. Can’t Stop The Heartaches
  • 17. Amgwanna Kick Booty
  • 18. Rockin’

Disc 4

Hot Shot (1984)

  • 1. I Gotta Fight
  • 2. Killer
  • 3. Just Try Talking (To Those Dudes)
  • 4. Hot Shot
  • 5. Women On The Edge Of Love
  • 6. In The Heat Of The Night
  • 7. Louise
  • 8. Tonight
  • 9. Night Into Day

Live! Go For What You Know (1978)

  • 10. Hooked On Music
  • 11. Gettin’ Betta
  • 12. Go All Night
  • 13. Boom, Boom Out Goes The Lights
  • 14. Stevie
  • 15. Makin’ Magic
  • 16. Heat In The Street
  • 17. Makes No Difference

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24 Comments

24 thoughts on “Pat Travers / Feelin’ Right: The Polydor Albums 1975-1984”

  1. Just have heard this release. Shame for the wrong track numbers on the back. Also strange that Putting It Straight and Makin’ Magic are in wrong order. A pity also that Crash & Burn is missing. In the liner notes this album is prominent mentioned. Why not release this with C & B and leave the live album out to release that album in expanded 79 minuye version (!). For the rest: great, great, great music! Sound and mastering: absolutely great. No brickwalling or what so ever. Price: a bargain! Conclusion: finaly a good CD set to hear the early Pat Travers and his band. Thanks.

  2. What would make me buy this again? I would imagine many contributors here ask this question to themselves often. For me, it isn’t about blu-ray or 5.1 as I don’t have the equipment, but more about the rarities, hidden gems and oddities that shed new light on a favorite record and bring me back to a time long, long ago. I had this on record, I had the CD, I have the Further Listening edition, I had the singles, domestic and import, even the EMI-America Arthur Baker Suburbia promo 12″! I now have the album and Further Listening on Spotify. I don’t even need physical product anymore – so what will entice me to buy this again? The reissue of Please has to be definitive – something most deluxe editions lack. So many lack some track – these comment threads are filled with missing this and missing that comments. Please Definitive (possible title?) must be more than just a selection of CDs in a fold-out, standard paper case. I envision something larger than the recent Songs From The Big Chair super deluxe – something larger to capture the era-defining graphic design – the album sleeves (outer and inner), the singles sleeves, the labels, the photos, the adverts (unique designs found in magazines of the time such as No. 1) along with all of the music that the album held and spawned (7″ edits, dance mixes, dubs, b-sides), demos, unreleased songs recorded at the time, the contents of the “Television” VHS, the “Disco” album, other tv highlights and interviews (both on video and audio only). A large format box would allow for a book to display the graphic design – done in such a way ad to compliment their coffee table book from a while back. Was the first issue of Literally issued at this time? Reproduce it and include it. Include everything, because as many here suggest in their posts, this is it. This is the end of an era – where there are enough folks still excited about a physical product. I doubt there will be a 40th or 50th anniversary opportunity to produce an artifact. Don’t hold back Neil and Chris. Other posters make great points about not reissuing on vinyl, I don’t need blu-ray or 5.1, I don’t have the equipment. One side note: Would love for this to incorporate all of the Bobby Orlando, ZYX label tracks as they provide true insight into the creative process. Neil and Chris would do well to be 100% involved in this, ask for fan input, and listen to the final master (no repressing!). Wow us, please!

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  5. The Canadian & German pre-order links to Amazon (at the top of this page) lead to a track listing that has the live album in its correct place, chronologically.

    I too, would have loved “Crash And Burn” included. This exclusion makes this an incomplete “Polydor Albums 1975-1984” release.

    If these sound as good as “The Essential Collection”, released on “Repertoire”, I’ll be very happy.

  6. Crash and Burn was when Travers fell out with Polydor. They didn’t promote it well, and it was basically the farewell to that part of his career. It also was the time when the Travers/Thrall/Aldridge part of the band dissolved (not forgetting Mars, but he had been with Travers since the start). It’s amazing it’s as good as it is, actually.

    The odd one is Hot Shots. I don’t recall ever seeing the original release in the UK. I’m not saying it wasn’t out there, but I certainly never got it. I have the needle drop, and it’s a low point to be honest. Radioactive is excellent though, and would have made a good companion for Crash and Burn. I think Go for What You Know should come before Hot Shots on the CD, but it’s not a deal breaker.

    I own Black Pearl on Vinyl, another classic….. Saw Travers live at the time of Go… at the Hammersmith Odean. It’s one of two concerts I consider the best shows I’ve seen (the other being Talking Heads on the Stop Making Sense tour). Travers BURNED live, and with Thrall it was simply blistering. He had the audience in the palm of his hands the whole time. Amazing times.

    And I think you’re being harsh, Robert. No doubt Paul is basing his article on information provided by the label, he can’t be an expert in everything. That he took the time to find out this information for us, and to post it, deserves kudos. I’m surprised they’re cramming this amount of music into a box and selling it so cheaply. Travers fans would have gladly bought individual discs. But I guess it’s a sign of the times.

    1. Polydor actually wanted to drop PT after the Radio Activel album due to poor sales.
      PT sued Polydor,and won, claiming he still owed them 2 albums.
      Black Pearl & Hot Shot got recorded. Polydor did little to promote them in retaliation.
      Too bad PT doesn’t own the rights to his own songs.

  7. This is pretty ironic as I just interviewed Pat for a book I am writing the other day.

    We talked about a lot of things, some of them pretty damn funny and others very cool about his career.

    As for this set, I got back in touch and he had no idea about it and said he and Polydor did not part on good terms years ago and he has no rights to the music.

    I let him know that it seems to finally be in good hands with Polydor/UMe almost always doing well by the music.

    And Andy Pearce is one of the very best. The brickwalling comment was baffling to me as he has remastered some of my favorite bands (Rainbow, Sabbath, Deep Purple, Wishbone Ash and my favorite Thin Lizzy), but to each his own.

  8. Pat Travers live album is called GO FOR WHAT YOU KNOW,not WHAT YOU WANT ,get it right .It seems the article is littered with errors.

    The writer of the article needs chastising to say the least

    1. Sorry about the mistake on the title of the live album (and the year). Now corrected. Not sure the article was ‘littered’ with errors, but anyway…

  9. I hope that “Go For What You Want” is a typo from Paul Sinclair & NOT by Polydor….. also the year is wrong…. it’s ’79 not ’78!! How embarrassing!! Please get it right before printing!! Thanks

  10. Pat Travers what can i say, having a look at the best of box set and selected albums can’t believe how busy he has been the last couple of years
    with the release of 2 studio and 2 live albums with a companion live in concert dvd and yet another live album due this or next month and the above inclusive, i am with you Dean he may not have been a “household”
    name but gee as far as i an concerned he’s an incredible player, i too am
    a little surprised that “Crash & Burn” his break through album is not included but the icing on the cake is the killer live album with Pat Thrall.
    Could they have done various formats? including bd etc in 5.1?

  11. Good to know, James. Either way I’ve pre-ordered.

    It also should be mentioned, the live album “Go for What You Know” (not go for what you WANT) isn’t a recording you’d want to miss. The version of Boom Boom Out Go the Lights is extraordinary. You’ve simply got to have it!

    I also look at the way they’re done their two-fers here – and I’m going to reverse myself. I wrote earlier that it might have been better to go chronologically, but I now think they’ve got it right. A single CD with both Makin Magic and Heat in the Street is too monstrous a prospect – how perfect is that?!? Also, the debut album and Puttin It Straight are a better match than any other, they sound more alike that the debut and Makin Magic would. Radioactive and Black Pearl is also a perfect match.

    No – they have it right, imo. I’m a huge fan of this music, and I can’t say a big enough THANK YOU to the people putting this together and getting it done. It’s enough to bring a tear to a mans eyes.

  12. Brickwalled? Which Andy Pearce masterings are you basing this on? He is hands down the best mastering engineer for rock music in this country. Thin Lizzy, Dio, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Y&T, Magnum to name a few examples of superb, dynamic, punchy sounding remasters. I have yet to hear any of his work that I don’t like so roll on this one, I’m in!

  13. I don’t have any complaints here. This material has been VERY poorly treated up until this point.

    Okay so it could be better – Chronological ordering. The book style presentation (as the Tull’s are). And with Crash and Burn. But honestly, this is a budget release, and we’re getting to hear this finally in something other than as a needle drop.

    On Crash and Burn – the early Pat Travers albums recently came out as Mini LP’s in Japan. Strangely I was on Amazon the other week and the Crash and Burn SHM was down to £10 new. I ordered it thinking it was a mistake, but the real deal showed up. Also – Crash and Burn was one of the few early albums that got a proper CD release back in the 90’s, and I can tell you that sounded great. It was the 2004 releases that are best avoided. I think you’ll be able to plug that hole okay. I don’t think these albums are particularly well suited to the Mini LP format, since few of them included any inserts (Nothing in the first album, a lyric sheet in Makin Magic, Puttin It Staight, and Heat in the Street, and that’s it!) I’ve not played the SHM yet though – and this entire set is selling for less than one SHM release!

    The first album contains my favorite version of JJ Cale’s Magnolia. And Makin’ Magic is worth the price of admission alone.

    Here’s hoping the mastering is good, because given the shameful release history of these, this might well be the last chance of a decent version on physical media.

    Thanks for looking into this, Paul – much appreciated, and one pre-order in place.

    1. I think what Dean says is the logic behind the missing Crash and Burn. It’s the one album that has had a decent CD release in the past.

      1. Is released today and I have it. The guy or girl who made the back sleeve of the cd made a ton of mistakes: Live! Go for what you know is now called Live! Go for what you want and it has now got 9 numbers and no number 2. Jesus, how many mistakes can you make on one sleeve !!! But, the mastering, don’t say who has done that, only that it has been done at Abbey Road, is from the original masters, I think. No LP noise form the former “remasters”, just compare Who’ll take the fall from this one and the “remaster” from Lemon Recordings from 2008, the ones that Pat Travers approved of himself. I have the Crash and Burn official Polydor release and it sounds fine, but it should have been on this release too. They
        should have rather skipped Live! Go for what you want, uh, I mean Live! Go for what you know. Shame on you Universal for this !!!

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