Kayakhistory

zaterdag, februari 27, 2010

Compilation CD's

After drummer Pim Koopman passed away, for a couple of months I didn't feel like doing anything with this weblog. But life goes on, and so do I. Recently, there have been some questions about Kayak compilation CD's and their contents. I'll try to shed some light...

In 1988, EMI Holland released a CD, simply entitled "Kayak". It was released in their "Compact price"-series. Quite logically, it focuses on the years 1973-1975 (Kayak's time with EMI). The same CD was re-released in 1996, with only a slightly different sleeve, and a different title: "Gold Collection".

Tracks: Moments Of Joy, Chance For A Lifetime, Serenades, Life Of Gold, Mammoth, They Get To Know Me, See See The Sun, Patricia Anglaia, Wintertime, If This Is Your Welcome, Lyrics, Mireille, Trust In The Machine, We Are Not Amused, Reason For It All, His Master's Noise, Ballet Of The Cripple
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Also in 1988, Vertigo/Phonogram released "The Best Of Kayak", with material from 1977-1981.

Tracks: Starlight Dancer, Want You To Be Mine, Ruthless Queen, Keep The Change, Phantom Of The Night, Anne, Periscope Life, Total Loss, Merlin, Seagull, Lyrics (live), Chance For A Lifetime (live), Irene (live), Eyewitness (live)
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For many fans it is hard to understand that Kayak's most successful album,"Phantom Of The Night" was never released on CD in its own right (at least, not officially). In 1988, Phonogram thought it wiser to release an 18-track compilation of songs from Starlight Dancer and Phantom Of The Night.
Tracks: the 2 albums, minus Sweet Revenge, Dead Bird Flies Forever and First Signs Of Spring

Ten years later, they (sort of) corrected this mistake with the release of "3 Originals". This double CD has the complete albums Starlight Dancer, Phantom Of The Night and Periscope Life. And some extra tracks were added: Theme from Spetters, Ballad For A Lost Friend, Ivory Dance, I Want You To Be Mine (USA version), Irene (USA version)

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The Best Of Kayak was also released in North America, in 1996. Almost exactly the same sleeve as the European CD, but with different tracks. It was released by Renaissance Records, and rumour has it that Kayak gets no royalties at all from the Renaissance releases. This CD was re-released by Renaissance in 1999, under the title "Classics".

Notable about this CD: it has some tracks from the Eyewitness album, but they include the audience noises from the original LP (not featured on the Eyewitness CD).
Tracks: Keep The Change, Starlight Dancer, Ruthless Queen, Irene (live), Lyrics (live), Chance For A Lifetime (live), Phantom Of The Night, Want You To Be Mine (European version), Eyewitness (live), Anne, Merlin, Seagull, Total Loss, Periscope Life
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In 1998, Dutch budget company Disky issued "Basic - Original Hits". Most songs are from the EMI-years, but Starlight Dancer and Ruthless Queen are also present. For some reason, this CD was released with 2 different sleeves.

The tracklist has some mistakes; Track 5 ('Trust In The Machine') includes the instrumental 'Mireille'. And track 8 ('Mireille' according to the tracklist) is actually 'Woe And Alas'...
Tracks: Ruthless Queen, They Get To Know Me, Mammoth, See See The Sun, Mireille, Trust In The Machine, Wintertime, His Master's Noise, Woe And Alas, Serenades, Lyrics, We Are Not Amused, If This Is Your Welcome, Chance For A Lifetime, Alibi, Reason For It All, Starlight Dancer
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Not a compilation in the true sense of the word: In 2000, EMI put the first 2 albums in a 2CD-box.


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"The Singles +" was released by BR Music in 2001. It is a nice collection of all the singles that Kayak released before 1982. The "+" probably stands for the inclusion of Max Werner's solo hit "Rain In May".

Tracks: Lyrics, Mammoth, See See The Sun, Wintertime, We Are Not Amused, Chance For A Lifetime, Still My Heart Cries For You, Do You Care, Starlight Dancer, Want You To Be Mine, Ruthless Queen, Phantom Of The Night, Anne, Spetters (actually "Lost Blue Of Chartres"), Periscope Life, Total Loss, Seagull, The King's Enchanter, Who's Fooling Who, Rain In May (Max Werner solo)
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If you are looking for a nice Kayak compilation, "Greatest Hits And More" (Universal, 2001) could be a good one. A double CD with 33 songs from 1973-2000. Includes the only song that Kayak sang in Dutch: "Boezem" (1976).
Tracks: CD1: Mammoth, Lyrics, See See The Sun, Wintertime, Mountain Too Rough, Chance For A Lifetime, Life Of Gold, Relics From A Distant Age, Evocation, Ivory Dance, Boezem, Nothingness, I Want You To Be Mine (USA version), Irene (USA version), Starlight Dancer, Dead Bird Flies Forever, Where Do We Go From Here

CD2: Ruthless Queen, Anne, Phantom Of The Night, No Man's Land, Stop That Song, Lost Blue Of Chartres, Periscope Life, Niniane, Seagull, Total Loss, Only You And I Know (live), Eyewitness (live), Frozen Flame, Close To The Fire Sweet Revenge (live), When Hearts Grow Cold (live)
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Three years later, in 2004, Universal came up with yet another compilation CD: "The Universal Masters Collection". A rather random selection from the years 1976-1980.
Tracks: Starlight Dancer, Want You To Be Mine, Ruthless Queen, Do You Care, Relics From A Distant Age, Back To The Front, No Man's Land, Nothingness, Keep The Change, Dead Bird Flies Forever, Turn The Tide, Ballad For A Lost Friend, Stop That Song, Phantom Of The Night, Anne, Periscope Life, Total Loss

And EMI didn't want to stay behind: they also released a compilation in 2004: "The Very Best Kayak Album Ever" is the rather ambitious title... But at least it is a mix of songs that Kayak recorded for different record companies. And it has the long version of "Bulldozer", which makes it worth the purchase.
Tracks: Chance For A Lifetime, Wintertime, Anne, Mammoth, See See The Sun, Lyrics, Royal Bed Bouncer, Starlight dancer, Ruthless Queen, Trust In The Machine (incl. Mireille), Serenades, Reason For It All, Life Of Gold, Want You To Be Mine, We Are Not Amused, If This Is Your Welcome, Bulldozer (long version)
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The year 2008 saw the celebration of "50 years of Dutch Popmusic". Nine "classic" bands were put back in the spotlight by Universal, with the release of a compilation CD. Kayak was one of them...
Tracks: Relics From A Distant Age, Do You Care, Back To The Front, Nothingness, Starlight Dancer, I Want You To Be Mine, Dead Bird Flies Forever, Turn The Tide, Sweet Revenge, Ruthless Queen, Phantom Of The Night, No Man's Land, Keep The Change, Lost Blue Of Chartres, Anne, Periscope Life, Stop That Song, Total Loss

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As far as I know, the latest compilation is from 2009. And it's good-old Renaissance again, who released another (illegal?) compilation in the Americas. I think the proper title is "Phantom Of The Night - The Very Best Of Kayak". Some people actually thought that it was "The Best Of Phantom Of The Night", but that seems a bit strange if you look at the tracklist:
Keep The Change, Phantom Of The Night, Starlight Dancer, Want You To Be Mine (European version), Anne, Merlin, Chance For A Lifetime, Ruthless Queen, Periscope Life, Total Loss, Lyrics, Eyewitness (live, with audience sounds), Seagull, See See The Sun, Do You Care, Irene (Eyewitness version, with audience sounds), Still My Heart Cries For You, Wintertime, We Are Not Amused

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And let's not forget the "Anniversary Box" from 2008. Apart from the brilliant Paradiso show, the box contains 2 CD's with tracks chosen by fans. Also includes an unreleased song ("Dear Lover"), and 3 songs that were previously available on Japanese CD's only.
CD1: See See The Sun, Lovely Luna, They Get To Know Me, Mountain Too Rough, If This Is Your Welcome, Life Of Gold, Still My Heart Cries For You, Relics From A Distant Age, Daughter Or Son, Phantom Of The Night, Daphne, Anne, Lost Blue Of Chartres, Love's Aglow

CD2: Frozen Flame, Forever, Icarus, Tradition, Avalon, The Last Battle, Friend Of The Stars, When Hearts Grow Cold (live), Broken White, Cried For Love, Love Lies, Never Before, Dear Lover.

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