Earthrise is a concept album originally released in 1985 in the UK[1] (USA 1984),[3] written by former Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) member Richard Tandy and David Morgan, both from Birmingham, UK. Morgan also wrote songs for 1960s band The Move. The album was inspired by the iconic photo of the Earth taken during the 1968 Apollo 8 mission.[4]
| Earthrise | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1985[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1981–1983[2] | |||
| Studio | Ridge Farm, Sussex, England; RJ Jones, London, England; Chipping Norton, Oxford, England; Jarm East, London, England; Grimm Doo West, Birmingham, England | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 44:58 | |||
| Label | FM-Revolver (UK) Straight Ahead (US) | |||
| Producer | Dave Morgan, Richard Tandy, Steve Lipson | |||
Richard Tandy and David Morgan chronology | ||||
| ||||
| 2011 Special Edition | ||||
 | ||||
The album's story is about a space explorer who longs to return to his one love on Earth, only to eventually find that true love has always been with him — inside. The album's synthesizer-heavy rock sound is similar to ELO's 1981 album Time. Although the album was well received by ELO fans,[5] it was not a commercial success, largely due to the absence of marketing.[2] Rock Legacy released a remastered special edition on CD in 2011.
On November 9, 2019, to commemorate the 50th year of the Moon landings, the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire performed an orchestral version of Earthrise with Tandy and Morgan.[6]
Track listing
editThe track order of the original 1986 release, on LP and cassette with the FMRevolver label, is:
Original track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Earth Rise" | 2:06 |
| 2. | "Under the Blue" | 1:17 |
| 3. | "Asteroid" | 1:57 |
| 4. | "Suddenly" | 3:34 |
| 5. | "Escape from the Citadel" | 2:47 |
| 6. | "Caesar of the Galaxy" | 2:44 |
| 7. | "One Thousand Worlds" | 3:30 |
| 8. | "Spaceship Earth" | 4:35 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Zero Zero" | 3:07 |
| 2. | "The Third Planet" | 2:33 |
| 3. | "Ria" | 2:48 |
| 4. | "Princeton" | 6:00 |
| 5. | "Pictures in My Pillow" | 4:00 |
| 6. | "The Secret" | 3:54 |
| Total length: | 44:58 | |
CD issue
editThe remastered CD, released on 18 August 2011, contains the following tracks, some of which are previously unreleased or bonus.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Spaceship Earth" | 4:32 |
| 2. | "Earth Rise" | 1:52 |
| 3. | "Under the Blue" / "Asteroid" | 3:12 |
| 4. | "Starclipse" / "Purpose" | 3:36 |
| 5. | "Escape from the Citadel" | 2:45 |
| 6. | "One Thousand Worlds" | 4:01 |
| 7. | "The Third Planet" | 2:29 |
| 8. | "Suddenly" | 3:32 |
| 9. | "Princeton" | 5:21 |
| 10. | "Wheels" | 2:05 |
| 11. | "Caesar of the Galaxy" | 3:00 |
| 12. | "The Secret" | 3:49 |
| 13. | "Zero Zero" (plus 29 seconds of silence added) | 3:07 |
| Total length: | 40:09 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Pictures in My Pillow" | 4:03 |
| 15. | "Ria" (instrumental + backing vocals) | 3:11 |
| 16. | "Starclipse" (outmix) | 2:59 |
Personnel
editPersonnel list according to the 1986 reissue liner notes.[7][8]
Earthrise
- Richard Tandy - keyboards, bass guitar, guitar, producer
- Dave Morgan - keyboards, vocoder, vocals, guitar, producer
- Haydon James Simpson / Jim Simpson - drums, guitar, on "Zero Zero"
- Tony Clarkin - guitar on "Ria"
- Bob Wilson - guitar
- Martin Smith - guitar on Secret (uncredited on re-issue)[3]
- Shirley Miller - backing vocals on "Princeton"
- Carl Wayne - vocals on "Princeton"
- Kevin Peek - guitar on "Princeton"
- Richard Bailey - keyboards, guitar on "Princeton"
- Graham Preskett - keyboards, string arrangements on "Princeton"
- David Bellinger - keyboards on "Spaceship Earth"
- Brian Badhams - bass guitar on "Princeton"
- Mike Giles - drums on "Princeton"
Production
- Stephen Lipson - engineer, producer
- Chris Bellman - mastering
Release history
edit| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1984 | Unknown | Unknown | |
| United Kingdom | 1985 | LP, Cassette | FM-Revolver | [1] |
| United States | 1986 | LP, Cassette | Straight Ahead | |
| United Kingdom | 1992 | CD | Prestige Records | |
| 18 August 2011 | CD | Rock Legacy | ||
| United States | 24 July 2020 | CD | Prestige Elite | [9] |
References
edit- ^ a b c "Tandy & Morgan/ The Tandy Morgan Band". Revolver Records. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
- ^ a b "Earthrise - Tandy Morgan". Rock Legacy. 13 April 2011. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ a b "Earth Rising". Earthrise. 20 January 2012. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
- ^ "Earthrise". grimmdoo. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
- ^ "Former ELO Guitarist Unveils Magnificent 'Seven'". giggingni. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
- ^ "conservatoire". grimmdoo. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
- ^ Earthrise (liner notes). Tandy and Morgan. Straight Ahead. 1986. SAR-001.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Earthrise (back cover). Tandy and Morgan. Straight Ahead. 1986. SAR-001.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Earthrise – Richard Tandy & Dave Morgan". prestige-elite.com. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
External links
edit- Earthrise on Blogspot.
- David Morgan on YouTube.