Prisoners: There Is A Time (10" on Munster)

Band: Prisoners
Label: Munster
Title: There Is A Time

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Band:Prisoners
Title:There Is A Time
Reviewed By:Denzil Watson
Date Published:17/12/2001

Label:Munster
Format:10"
Release Year:Label
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Eighteen years have now passed since The Prisoners first appeared on the Medway live circuit as a raw and frantic four-piece. The band, whose influences ranged from 70' s punk to groovy 60's such as the Small Faces, featured one James Taylor on Hammond organ - now of James Taylor Quartet fame-and managed their own quartet of LP's before splitting amid bitter arguments with their then record company Countdown. The band have become one of the business's best kept secrets - in no little part due to the lack of availability of their material.

The re-issue of their first (French only) single from 1983 by Munster Records, coupled with the added attraction of two previously unreleased tracks, is just what every Prisoners fan was wanting - the original single long deleted and nigh-on impossible to get hold off. This neat 10" EP comes on clear vinyl and features group photos of the band circa 1983 (front) and 1985 (back) plus a previously unseen band photo on the label. Meanwhile Allan Crockford and Graham Day, now treading the boards with Wolf Howard as the wonderful garage three-piece The Solarflares, are not so happy. The recordings were licensed from the now infamous French label Skydog Records with neither band consent nor knowledge.

Side one kicks off with the break-neck 'There's a time', one of the band's grooviest and most under-rated songs. One that still sounds fresh and vital seventeen years down the line, driven along by Symons' tireless drumming and Taylor's creeping organ motif. Next to feature is the original single B side version of 'Revenge of the Cybermen' (a track later re-recorded in 1985 for the Prisoners' excellent "Electric Fit" EP), a frenetic, buzzing instrumental which brims with energy and melody and that would have made the perfect sound-track for any of a number of those sci-fi B-movies.

Side two features long-lost Prisoners gem 'I'm looking for you'. Opening with its pulsing drums and Foxton-esque base-line, the song unfolds with its swirling organ riff catching the Prisoners wearing their mod influences on their sleeve. The second cut on side two is a fairly uninspiring and under-produced rendition of live favourite - a cover of ? and the Mysterons' '96 Tears' - one for the completists.

The Prisoners burned brightly in the mid 1980's and while these songs may never see the light of day again in live form they are here on vinyl for old fans and new converts alike to marvel at.

For anyone wanting more information about The Prisoners, Denzil runs a Prisoners website which can be found at http ://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/3042/index.html

Track Listing:

01) There's A Time
02) Revenge Of The Cybermen
03) I'm Looking For You
04) 96 Tears

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Galileo 7:Interview
Carl Bookstein speaks to former Prisoners and Solarflares bassist Allan Crockford about his psychedelic-influenced band Galileo 7 and their just released third album, 'False Memory Lane'

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Wisermiserdemelza - CD

There Is A Time - 10"

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