Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods - Farther On mp3 download

SING

This album, their 3rd (and final) released as an original band, before nostalgia tours and Bo using new lineups as his "Heywoods", is an overlooked gem, and not what people would expect from these guys, which could be why it bombed. After a hit & bomb phase on ABC/Dunhill (later MCA then Geffen), where they had a hit album and then 3 bomb singles and a shelved 1975 album, they switched labels to Capitol for a fresh start. Working with Chapman & Chinn, who were looking for fresh clients after their big moneymaker Sweet dumped them to write their own records, rightfully so, these guys bonded because Bo chose for his band not to be the songwriting type. Plus, the band was looking to freshen up their own style to go with switching up the labels and I think it works. Moving on from their Bay City Rollers & Grass Roots meets Chicago hybrid, they incorporate a harder edge and inspiration from UK glam bands like Sweet and Queen, keeping the harmony & soul elements intact in the new sound. They also do a few unexpected covers, like Sweet's Chapman & Chinn-penned hit "Teenage Rampage" (like Sweet do), Buddy Holly's "Oh Boy" (like "Bohemian Rhapsody" and it works), Todd Rundgren's "Hello It's Me" (straight), and more. It's a great 11-track album that would have appealed to hipsters or cool music fans, if they heard it. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and they parted ways with Capitol, and haven't released an original album ever since, just bomb singles on a variety of labels and in different styles like country, with nothing sticking, then breaking up, reforming in 1996 as a nostalgia act, touring and releasing CDs of covers and rerecordings. If this album DID sell at least decently, things would have turned out very differently for these guys...unfortunately, they were not given the opportunity to evolve further, which is not exactly fair. I compare this album to Chicago's 1980 album "14", which was that band embracing cool punk and new wave styles, but it bombed and were dropped from Columbia, despite a new fresh deal, and they survived but switched things up and went 80s mainstream. If "14" sold, they would have maybe been a cool postpunk horn rock band, but that's just contemplation, yet they survived because they were songwriters. These guys, not, so they got lost. If "Farther On" sold, they could have been a cooler, more reputable band, instead of a nostalgia act.