The Magical World of The Strands/Gold Foil Embossed Artwork

Description

After recording some demos for the French promoter who had introduced him to his childhood idol Arthur Lee of the band Love in 1992, Michael Head, legendary figure of The Pale Fountains and Shack, entered the studio in Liverpool in 1993 to develop a new project called The Strands. He surrounded himself with his brother and long-time collaborator, John Head, drummer Iain Templeton, as well as two newcomers: Michelle Brown on bass and Les Roberts on flute. These recording sessions spanned two years before being interrupted when Michael received a major label record deal offer – not for The Strands, but to relaunch Shack. This unexpected turn left Stéphane Bismuth, the French promoter, with approximately 100 minutes of unfinished material, only a third of which had been mixed during sessions in Sheffield in the summer of 1995. By combining rough cuts and raw mixes recorded in Liverpool by engineer Steve Powell with finalized tracks produced by Mark Coyle (who had hired an arranger and a string section for the Sheffield sessions), Bismuth managed to assemble the album. He then created the Megaphone label to ensure its release and unveiled The Magical World of The Strands in the autumn of 1997.