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The Bad And Lowdown World Of The Kane Gang / 3CD deluxe

By Paul Sinclair

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The Kane Gang were label mates of Prefab Sprout, signed to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne’s successful Kitchenware stable in the early 1980s. Their 1985 debut album The Bad And Lowdown World Of The Kane Gang spawned four top 75 hit singles and reached No. 21 in the UK album charts.

Cherry Red Records are issuing a three-CD deluxe celebration of this album in October which will feature an enormous amount of additional material including previously unreleased band demos, non-album tracks, a handful of remixes and a 1984 gig at Glasgow’s Strathclyde University (which is mostly unissued). The set has been compiled and collated by founder members Dave Brewis, Martin Brammer and Paul Woods who were also interviewed for the sleeve notes.

 The Bad And Lowdown World Of The Kane Gang is reissued on 27 October 2014.

Track listing

Disc 1

ALBUM

  1. GUN LAW
  2. TAKE THIS TRAIN
  3. HOW MUCH LONGER?
  4. LOSERSVILLE
  5. PRINTER’S DEVIL
  6. RESPECT YOURSELF
  7. CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN
  8. SMALL TOWN CREED
  9. CREASE IN HIS HAT

BONUS TRACKS

  1. BROTHER BROTHER
  2. DRINK
  3. MIGHTY DAY
  4. AMUSEMENT PARK
  5. GIVING UP
  6. WHY DO YOU (SPEND YOUR LOVE ON ME)?
  7. WE’LL TAKE THIS TRAIN

Disc: 2

DEMOS

  1. RIBBON OF DREAMS *
  2. ARE YOU TAKING ANYTHING FOR THAT? *
  3. BLOOD MONEY *
  4. BLOW A KISS *
  5. GRAVY TRAIN *
  6. I CAN’T PAY THE PRICE *
  7. MY SUGAR *
  8. STAND ON THE LAND *
  9. WE’RE READY *
  10. YOU MAKE HIM CRY *
  11. YOU MAKE ME STRONG *
  12. LEAD ME ON *
  13. NOTHING I WOULDN’T DO *

REMIXES

  1. 1,000,000 CHICKENS CAN’T BE WRONG
  2. BRIDE OF SMALLTOWN MUDWRESTLES WITH ABBOTT & COSTELLO IN OUTER SPACE (3D Mad Mix 11 Creed)
  3. RESPECT YOURSELF (Dutch Mix)
  4. GUN LAW (Joseph Watt US remix)

*previously unreleased

Disc: 3

LIVE AT STRATHCLYDE UNIVERSITY 17/11/84

  1. LOSERSVILLE *
  2. SMALLTOWN CREED *
  3. HOW MUCH LONGER *
  4. AMUSEMENT PARK *
  5. WE’LL TAKE THIS TRAIN *
  6. CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN *
  7. GUN LAW *
  8. PRINTER’S DEVIL *
  9. BROTHER BROTHER
  10. RESPECT YOURSELF *
  11. HEAVEN HELP US ALL
  12. MIGHTY DAY *
  13. SMALLTOWN CREED (Encore) *

*previously unreleased

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18 Comments

18 thoughts on “The Bad And Lowdown World Of The Kane Gang / 3CD deluxe”

  1. I have 3 versions of brother brother (7″, 12″ & live) and we’ll take this train or take this train (7″, 12″ & LP). Which versions are featured on this release?

  6. Growing up in the US, the only song I’d heard from them was Motortown. When I heard Closest Thing T0 Heaven a few years ago, I had to investigate the Kane Gang. I eventually bought the fine “Miracle of the Kane Gang” 2-CD set that features their 2 LPs plus b-sides.

    Still, I’ll double-dip for this set for the extras. And in the hope they do a similar release for Miracle, ‘cuz I’d really like to have the various versions of Motortown on CD!

    Finally, I’d like to echo William’s comment regarding Silent Running’s Shades Of Liberty; it’s such a great mid-80s record. It’s never been issued on CD as far as I know, and it also deserves a full expanded edition. Cheers!

  7. I’ve never understood why The Kane Gang didn’t have more success in the UK, a great act. Fingers crossed Cherry Red are working on a similar package for Miracle.

  9. Great album from a band in the Kitchenware stable (Prefab Sprout, Martin Stephenson, Hurrah). Consistent quality throughout its tracks of authentic blue eyed soul covering a variety of styles, from the 80s electro funk of “Gun Law “and “Smalltown Creed”, to the Chic-esq “How Much Longer”, a Stax cover “Respect Yourself” and Smooth folk soul of “Closest Thing to Heaven”. Add intelligent lyrics. Even the sleeve is classy! Very underrated band and I am personally thrilled with the 3CD set. I’ve seen talk on the web of the band reforming this year for a very low key one off gig in Durham. Would love to see them tour this. Once again Cherry Red do an excellent job.

  10. I loved the Kane Gang, they were an extremely under-appreciated band of the mid-80s…including the excellent 2nd album Miracle which was the sound of Summer ’87 in a lot of ways for me.

    3CDs feels like overkill on this, though. Not only does it bump up the overall price, it turns the welcome re-issue of a great album into just part of a demos/rarities/live collection which seems bloated given the band only had 2 albums, and there is already a sort-of Anthology out there from a few years ago.

    I guess modern-day economics just don’t allow for seperate releases anymore; acts would have split all this content into different albums once upon a time.

  14. Cherry Red do it again, Love the kane gang and i’m off to pre-order this right now!!, So many extras to look forward to.

    Now if they could just get the license to give this expanded treatment to Shades Of Liberty by Silent Running I’ll be in the closest thing to music heaven i’ve ever known for eternity :-p

  15. Great news. I think Closest Thing To Heaven is one of THE standout singles from the 80’s – such an amazing vocal and overall vibe. Strangely has been hard to find on any mp3 download sites. I only managed to find a low res file.

    Looks like a good SDE

    1. Agreed on Closest Thing To Heaven. I love the summer of 1984. Still have a C90 cassette with songs recorded from the Top 40 run down and 30 years back I fell in love with TCTTH and it still remains in my alltime favourite 10 songs of all time. I have the song on an 80s compilation cd. I bought this album on vinyl secondhand but shamefully I haven’t listened to it yet. Must now dig it out as I’m interesting in getting this reissue.

      1. I love the summer of 1984. So many memorable tunes that haven’t been frequently compiled.
        K-Tel should have released a second volume of Hungry For Hits during October. That would have allowed them steal a march on Now 4 and the first Hits Album. In a parallel universe Hungry For Hits 2 could have looked like this:

        Record 1 Side 1
        01 Black Lace – Agadoo
        02 Tracey Ullman – Sunglasses
        03 Nena – Just A Dream
        04 Spandau Ballet – I’ll Fly For You
        05 Chris De Burgh – High On Emotion
        06 Status Quo – Going Down Town Tonight
        07 Billy Idol – Eyes Without A Face
        08 Kane Gang – Closest Thing To Heaven

        Record 1 Side 2
        09 Pointer Sisters – Automatic
        10 Phil Fearon and Galaxy – Everybody’s Laughing
        11 Trevor Walters – Stuck On You
        12 Special AKA – What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend
        13 Windjammer – Tossing and Turning
        14 Animal Nightlife – Mr Solitaire
        15 Jeffrey Osborne – On The Wings Of Love

        Record 2 Side 1
        01 Mighty Wah! – Come Back
        02 Lloyd Cole And The Commotions – Perfect Skin
        03 The Smiths – William It Was Really Nothing
        04 Bluebells – Cath
        05 Depeche Mode – Master and Servant
        06 Blancmange – The Day Before You Came
        07 Ultravox – Lament
        08 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Never Turn Away

        Record 2 Side 2
        09 Shakin’ Stevens – A Letter To You
        10 Shakatak – Down On The Street
        11 Divine – You Think You’re A Man
        12 Hazell Dean – Whatever I Do (Wherever I Go)
        13 Sade – When Am I Going To Make A Living?
        14 Break Machine – Break Dance Party
        15 Ollie and Jerry – Breakin’. . . There’s No Stopping Us

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