***Design -Day of the Fox/ In Flight (2 albums)***

Design -Day of the Fox-In Flight

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DESIGN was a British six-piece vocal harmony group in the early 1970s and its members were Barry Alexander, Gabrielle Field, Kathy Manuell, Jeff Matthews, John Mulcahy-Morgan and Geoff Ramseyer.

Design - vocal group magazine photoTheir music has been described as ‘sunshine harmony pop with a light hippy vibe’ and ‘melodic folk-pop with a shimmering, almost psychedelic, West Coast feel’. Design released five albums and thirteen singles in the UK and appeared on more than fifty television shows before they split up in 1976.

Singer and songwriter Tony Smith formed Design while he was working at the BBC in London in December 1968. The group then signed a recording contract with Adrian Kerridge of Lansdowne Studios and recorded their first album Design during the summer of 1969. This led to a two-album deal with Epic Records in the USA.

In November 1970, shortly before the first album was released, Tony Smith left the group and he was replaced by guitarist Jeff Matthews, who had been with John and Geoff in the group Free Expression.

This was Design’s most successful line-up and after their appearances on The Morecambe and Wise Show in 1971 they became one of the most televised groups in the UK, guesting on dozens of programmes with The Two Ronnies, Val Doonican, Benny Hill, Tommy Cooper, and many others.

They toured with Gilbert O’Sullivan, starred in cabaret and at the London Palladium, and recorded the albums Tomorrow Is So Far Away, Day of the Fox and In Flight before Gabrielle Field and Geoff Ramseyer left the group in October 1974.

Barry, John, Kathy and Jeff carried on as a four-piece group and recorded one more album By Design before finally splitting up in October 1976. Since then, Design’s albums have become much sought after by record collectors and they have been highly praised by music critics in magazines and books such as Shindig and Galactic Ramble.

In June 2011 Design's first four albums were reissued for the first time on CD and download by RPM Records. The albums Design and Tomorrow Is So Far Away are available on RPM Records Retro 897 and the albums Day of the Fox and In Flight on RPM Records Retro 898. A third CD of singles and unreleased tracks is planned for release in 2012.

Now once again you can enjoy the glorious sunshine harmonies of the six-piece group described by Noel Edmonds on BBC Radio One as ‘one of the best vocal groups in the world’.



Track Listings
1. NATURE'S CHILDREN
2. DAY OF THE FOX
3. I Feel The Earth Move
4. Can This Be Love
5. Pisces Hymn
6. Meet My Friends
7. If You Think About Me
8. Fallen Angel
9. Yellow Bird (Have You No Home)
10. You'd Better Believe It
11. When Morning Comes
12. Wherever You May Go
13. A Famous Myth
14. Teach Me How To Fly
15. Archie Franks
16. Dirty Work
17. Don't Apologize
18. Second Love
19. End Of The Party
20. I'll Be Back Again
21. I Am The Greene Manne
22. Losing You
23. After The Rain

link above pics. also don't miss their first two albums!!

Design -Design/Tomorrow is So Far Away (2 LPS) -Rare vinyl rip of band featured on Fading Yellow 5)

Design -Design. Sunshine Psych Pop, vocal harmony and sparkly acoustic fans will fairly gag when they hear this masterpiece. It would definitely fall into the Free Design and Collage domain but like the others, occupies its own unique locale and that locale might be called 'Art'. The musical arrangements are stunning and the vocal arrangements are creative but never inaccessible. The songwriting ranges from perky to zany to introspective to ethereal and on and on - exemplary.

Tracklisting:
1. Coloured Mile
2. Willow Stream
3. Marguaretta
4. The Lonely
5. Thinkin
6. Matchbox Man
7. The Minstrel's Theme
8. Speak
9. Buttercup Stranger
10. Children Of The Mist
11. Dawn Chorus

All songs by A.C. Smith except The Minstrel's Theme by Barry Johnston
Musical Director: Sydney Dale
Vocal Arrangements: Tony Smith

DESIGN: Kathy Manuell, Gabrielle Field, Tony Smith, Barry Johnston, Geoff Ramseyer and John Morgan Original B&W Graphic: Karenlee Grant

Design - Tomorrow Is So Far Away -Two of the original group members have been replaced but the essence is the same. The opening track, Take A Boat is as sensational as any cut from the 1st album as are a number of the others like Sad Fisherman and Love Is. There is an artful cover of the Beatle's Strawberry Fields Forever and a lush and faithful cover of The Groop's The Jet Song. One more cover is Paul McCartney's Man We Was Lonely that the group does beautifully by - a sight better than Paul himself did with this substandard, throw-away tune. Also of note is the album's title track, the lovely and tender Tomorrow Is So Far Away.

track listing :

Take A Boat
Jet Song
Celestina
Ladybird Don't Fly
Strawberry Fields Forever
Tomorrow Is So Far Away
Sad Fisherman
Butterfly Catcher
The Time Has Come
Man We Was Lonely

musicians

Barry Alexander : vocals
Gabrielle Field : vocals
Kathy Manuell : vocals
Geoff Ramseyer : vocals
Chris Spedding : guitars
Alan Parker : guitars
Herbie Flowers : bass
Tony Campo : bass
Clem Cattini : drums
Roger Coulam : keyboards
Alan Hawkshaw : keyboards


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