THE BUSINESS “1980-81 COMPLETE STUDIO COLLECTION” - LP

Last night we went to bed knowing that Micky Fitz, singer at The Business, has passed away. If I am right, the last news we had about the band was that they cancelled some of their gigs because Micky suffered of cancer and he wasn't feeling like getting up on a stage.

Therefore today I want to tribute the band with a review of one of their last records that came out through Daily Records. It gathered tunes from their first singles, compilations and demos of their first line-up, with Micky Fitz performing the vocals, Steve Kent as guitarrist, MArtin Smith playing the bass and Nick Cunningham at the drums.

Tunes from Side A come from their compilations “A Sudden Surge Of Sound”, “Carry On Oi!”, “Bollocks To Christmas”, the album “Official Bootleg” and Harry May single.

A1 - Out In The Cold A2 - Streets Where You Live A3 - Harry May A4 - National Insurance Blacklist A5 - Suburban Rebels A6 – Product A7 - Step Into Christmas

And on Side B we find the most surprising and unespected. We encounter tunes from their first recordings, some of them present in the "Official Bootleg", Syndicate records (1983). They don't have the sound you associate with The Business and they make a more pop or revival mod kind of music. B1 - Strangers (Demo)

B2 - Unevenly Pretty (Demo)

B3 - Out In The Cold (Demo)

B4 - 19 (Demo)

B5 - No Emotions (Demo)

B6 - Dayo (Demo)

B7 - Richard Lewis (Demo)

The insert also serves as the disc sleeve and has some photos of the band and a small story of each of the songs that appear in the record. This is a really curious piece of music that I recommend to listen and, if possible, to buy. But if you are not a Business follower it might not be worth it, because, as I said before, you will find songs that nothing have in common with the immage we have of the band in our minds.

Rest in peace, mate!