Girl: Wasted Youth - Expanded

Hot on the heels of the rather tasty expanded reissue of Girl’s Sheer Greed debut, Cherry Red/HNE now turn their attention to the UK band’s follow up release, 1982’s Wasted Youth. Not content with that though the label have also scooped up the 1997 ‘leftovers’ album Killing Time alongside a further four discs of live releases and bootlegs that pretty much document the time between the band forming in 1980 and splitting just a couple of years later.

For album number two the core of the band - singer Phil Lewis, guitarist Phil Collen and brothers Simon (bass) and Gerry Laffy (guitar) - were joined by newly recruited drummer Pete Barnacle (Gillan, Spear Of Destiny, Yngwie Malmsteen) (although it’s Bryson Graham who actually played on the album) as they teamed up with producer Nigel Thomas with the intention of building on their heavied up glam sound. In many ways that’s exactly what Wasted Youth achieved, the influence of The Sweet drifting through a riff driven bunch of chant along numbers. Opener “Thru’ The Twilite� and the angry shout of “Ice In The Blood� set the standard, but it’s the strongly Sweet flavoured “Overnight Angels� that hits it out of the park as this record came close to matching its predecessor without ever quite topping it. Still, Wasted Youth is an excellent illustration of what might have been for a band that fell too late to be picked up by the UK glam zeitgeist, or be swept along by its younger, more American led brother.

Not long after, Collen would head for Sheffield to replace Pete Willis in Def Leppard, leaving Girl to bring Pete Bonas into the fold in the hope of forging on in to the future. However it wasn’t to be, with Lewis heading to LA and the aptly named LA Guns alongside his arch friend Traci Guns. However, prior to this Girl had been working on other tracks for a proposed third album and along with songs left behind from their first two records they were all brought together under the album name Killing Time some 17 years after the split. Rather satisfyingly it proved an excellent 20 song collection and one that suggested that if Girl had one failing it was being able to select their best material, with the likes of “Juliet�, the strutting “Killing Time� and bubblegum metal of “Love Is A Game� (like “Juliet�, written by Russ Ballard) arguably better than much of what made the band’s official releases. With excellent covers of “Nutbush City Limits� and The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me� there’s a huge amount to get stuck into on what could have been seen as a throwaway odds and sods collection.

If the studio releases from Girl remain underrated, it is actually their live prowess that truly stuck in the mind of those who saw them. Hence it’s the four discs of live performances included in this beautifully presented clam shell box (with poster, rather than booklet with liner essay unfortunately) that really stops you in your tracks. First released in 2001 the grit and polish of Live At The Marquee Club, London 1981 remains an uncompromisingly good time romp through a mix of what were at the time live favourites from the band’s debut album and unheard Wasted Youth tracks. The sound may not be as sharp as a well produced live extravaganza but Girl could still cut deep. With Lewis a likeable rogue of a frontman and Collen and Laffy ripping out the riffs and solos, the energy in the sweat soaked room comes across strongly, as does the hard hitting effect of “Ice In The Blood� and more seductive “Standard Romance�.

Oddly the next disc takes us a year further back into the past, Live In Tokyo 1980 greeted with near hysterics from the enthusiastic Japanese crowd as “My Number� and “Overnight Angels� jostle for the mantle of being this band’s strongest offering. Originally a bootleg only release, there’s no denying the hardness of the sound on this show and yet if you crave a frantic, believable band in full live force, then it’s is too good to miss. From there we get a whole host of 1982 live work, disc five featuring a Live At The Greyhound, Fulham set. It also finds a slightly more out of control Lewis still being the ring leader as then unheard tracks such as “Naughty Boy� and “The Sound Of Cars� (both of which can be found on Killing Time) slip neatly in alongside the more recognisable songs. Previously released through, if memory serves, Simon Laffy’s website around 2013 (I bought a copy along with a swanky postcard) the guitar sound here is rich and full and for me makes this the strongest full show in this collection.

The final disc in this six CD set culls together a further twelve 1982 live cuts in an effort to make up a strong sounding full set, with the opening four coming from the Birmingham Odeon, then six from two shows at Hammersmith Odeon, before we head back to Birmingham for the final pair. It makes for another excellent experience, although it does highlight the amount of inevitable track repetition that occurs throughout this reissue. Two demos close things out, “Madam Karone� and “Make It Medical� welcome additions to what can probably be looked upon as the final word on Girl and their much underrated and all too short career.

Track Listing
TRACK LIST DISC ONE - WASTED YOUTH
1. THRU’ THE TWILITE
2. OLD DOGS
3 ICE IN THE BLOOD
4. WASTED YOUTH
5. STANDARD ROMANCE
6. NICE ’N’ NASTY
7. MCKITTY’S BACK
8. 19
9. OVERNIGHT ANGELS
10. SWEET KIDS

DISC TWO - KILLING TIME
1. JULIET
2. NUTBUSH CITY LIMITS
3. MAD FOR IT
4. WHITE PROPHET
5. GREEN LIGHT
6. THIS TOWN
7. AEROPLANE FOOD
8. MAKE IT MEDICAL
9. NOTHING BUT THE NIGHT
10. BIG NIGHT OUT
11. I GOT LOVE
12. LUCKY
13. KILLING TIME
14. NAUGHTY BOY
15. KING RAT
16. MOGAL
17. LOVE IS A GAME
18. BLACK MAX
19. THE SOUND OF CARS
20. YOU REALLY GOT ME

DISC THREE - LIVE AT THE MARQUEE CLUB, 1981
1. ICE IN THE BLOOD
2. ICEY BLUE
3. MAD FOR IT
4. OVERNIGHT ANGELS
5. OLD DOGS
6. BIG NIGHT
7. SWEET KIDS
8. WASTED YOUTH
9. NICE ’N’ NASTY
10. MY NUMBER
11. STANDARD ROMANCE
12. THRU’ THE TWILITE

DISC FOUR - LIVE IN TOKYO 1980
1. WASTED YOUTH
2. HEARTBREAK AMERICA
3. NICE ‘N’ NASTY
4. BLACK MACK’S
5. LITTLE MISS ANN
6. WHITE PROPHET
7. OLD DOGS
8. PASSING CLOUDS
9. STRAWBERRIES
10. DOCTOR DOCTOR
11. LOVELY LORRAINE
12. MY NUMBER
13. 19
14. HOLLYWOOD TEASE
15. BORN TO BE WILD
16. OVERNIGHT ANGELS

DISC FIVE - LIVE AT THE GREYHOUND 1982
1. BIG NIGHT OUT
2. OVERNIGHT ANGELS
3. ICE IN THE BLOOD
4. MY NUMBER
5. NAUGHTY BOY
6. LITTLE MISS ANN
7. STANDARD ROMANCE
8. WASTED YOUTH
9. THE SOUND OF CARS
10. KILLING TIME
11. ICEY BLUE
12. 19
13. NUTBUSH CITY LIMITS
14. HOLLYWOOD TEASE

DISC SIX - LIVE AT THE BIRMINGHAM ODEON 1982
1. BIG NIGHT
2. OVERNIGHT ANGELS
3. MY NUMBER
4. STANDARD ROMANCE
LIVE AT THE HAMMERSMITH ODEON 1982
5. WASTED YOUTH
6. SWEET KIDS
7. THE SOUND OF CARS
8. KILLING TIME
9 DOCTOR DOCTOR
10. NUTBUSH CITY LIMITS
LIVE AT THE BIRMINGHAM ODEON 1982
11. NUTBUSH CITY LIMITS
12. KILLING TIME
BONUS TRACKS
13. MADAME KARONE (DEMO)
14. MAKE IT MEDICAL (DEMO)

Added: January 30th 2020
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Wasted Youth @ Cherry Red
Hits: 1131
Language: english

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