DESIGN : BY DESIGN

 

  1. Precious And Few
  2. Pullin' Away
  3. You Take My Breath Away
  4. So Be It Baby
  5. Love For You
  6. Banging On The Old Piano
  7. Looking Thru The Eyes Of A Fool
  8. Guess I Didn't Want You After All
  9. Songs We Sang Together
  10. Never Need Another Love
  11. For A Friend

Label : EMI Records

Released : 1976

Review (Wikipedia) : Design was a British vocal group of the early 1970s and its members were Barry Alexander, Gabrielle Field, Kathy Manuell, Jeff Matthews, John Mulcahy-Morgan and Geoff Ramseyer. Their musical style has been described as folk rock 'with intricate and appealing harmonies and an interesting psychedelic twist' and 'sunshine harmony pop with a light hippy vibe' and is now called sunshine pop. Design released 13 singles and 5 albums in the UK and appeared on more than 50 television shows before they split up in 1976. Barry Alexander, Jeff Matthews and Geoff Ramseyer all played guitar in addition to singing, while Barry also played keyboards. Gabrielle Field occasionally played tenor recorder. Design was formed as a six-piece vocal group by singer and songwriter Tony Smith while he was working at the BBC in London in December 1968. The group signed a recording contract with Adrian Kerridge at Lansdowne Studios and recorded their first album Design during 1969. This led to a two-album deal with Epic Records in the USA. When Tony Smith left the group in November 1970, he was replaced by guitarist Jeff Matthews. After this line-up appeared on The Morecambe and Wise Show in 1971 Design became one of most televised groups in the UK, making guest appearances on dozens of TV shows with The Two Ronnies, Benny Hill, Val Doonican, Rolf Harris, Cilla Black, Tommy Cooper, and many others. They recorded the albums Tomorrow Is So Far Away, Day Of The Fox and In Flight before Gabrielle Field and Geoff Ramseyer left the group in October 1974. The remaining foursome recorded the album By Design before finally disbanding in October 1976.

Review (Design website) : Sometimes classed as a folk-rock band, no doubt due to their battery of acoustic guitars, Design's covers of songs by the likes of The Beatles, Steely Dan and Carole King actually outnumbered their attempts at folk material. They did, admittedly, record Tom Paxton's 'You'd Better Believe It' and the atmospheric 'Pisces Hymn' by Dave Shannon of the folk band Therapy. Most of their songs were original, however - classy mainstream pop numbers with intricate and appealing harmonies and an interesting psychedelic twist, which sometimes gave way to tweeness. The albums hint at something like a British equivalent of the American group Fifth Dimension. Their amplified backing came from such musicians as Clem Cattini, Herbie Flowers and Chris Spedding. Pictures of the band in concert show the men dressed casually, while the visual flair came from the blonde Gabrielle, the dark-haired Kathy and their colourful gowns. Chart success always eluded them but they persevered, as a list of their singles shows. By the time of their final album the group had begun to break up and the material moved more towards the middle of the road. Recommended as an introduction is their almost a capella version of 'Strawberry Fields' from their second album. 'The Minstrel's Theme' got fresh exposure on Fading Yellow, Volume 5 (CD).