The Crossing

Product Information

Those vintage adventure-style drawings would become an important part of the art direction for the first album campaign. There was talk of featuring one (or several) of those on the sleeve itself, but that did not work out. a b c d "BPI Certification". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016 . Retrieved 11 August 2016. a b c d e f g h i Colin Larkin, ed. (2003). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music (Thirded.). Virgin Books. pp.60/1. ISBN 1-85227-969-9. The first single sleeve I did for Stiff Records was for Pete Townshend,” says our J.B. “He did a very strange single in 1979, which had a 13-year old girl singing lead vocals. It was called Peppermint Love, and Tony Butler was it featured on the sleeve as well! So that was the first member of Big Country I met, several years early.” Heart and Soul" – 4:33 (This version fades out earlier than the version on the 1983 cassette release)

Julian knew Stuart from his Skids days and was keen to see what he was up to in his new band. He discovered that the creative process as far as art direction had already begun when he got into the picture.Their second album Steeltown (1984) was a hit as soon as it was released, entering the UK Albums Chart at No. 1. [3] The album featured three UK top 30 hit singles, and received considerable critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, but like Wonderland (and, in fact, all subsequent releases) it was a commercial disappointment in the US, peaking at No. 70 on the Billboard album chart. [6] Pruzan, Jeff (October–November 2001). "Big Country: The Crossing". Blender. Vol.1, no.3. Archived from the original on 3 June 2002 . Retrieved 6 July 2016. Julian got involved in the music industry as soon as he left art school – or actually before, as he had started working for Stiff Records two days a week before he left college. He would go on to work full-time for Stiff for about a year.

Revisiting "The Crossing" after leaving it untouched for years finds me a bit surprised at how good it is. I liked it a lot in 1983, they were one of my favorite bands, but after years of neglect my esteem has now actually grown. All three titles are presented with scrupulous attention to the detail of the original UK first pressings and available in audiophile 180gm vinyl. Whether replacing much-loved originals, or adding to a collection afresh, these are a superior way to enjoy such enduring and influential music. When the first Big Country album The Crossing was released in July 1983, Big Country had the fan base ready to guarantee an instant Top 5 record. The album spent ten of its first 12 weeks in the UK Top 10, with three weeks at No.3 in September and October, by which time the LP had yielded another major hit in the anthemic “Chance.” RPM 100 Albums". RPM. archived at Library and Archives Canada. 39 (11). 12 November 1983. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012 . Retrieved 15 September 2011. Big Country released the non-LP extended play single " Wonderland" in 1984, [1] while in the middle of a lengthy worldwide tour. The song, considered by some critics to be one of their finest, [4] [5] was a Top Ten hit (No. 8) in the UK Singles Chart [3] but, despite heavy airplay and a positive critical response, was a comparative flop in the US, reaching only No. 86 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the last single by the band to make the US charts.

Not only was he responsible for the art for three of the most revered Big Country albums and related singles – he also created the Big Country logo based on the input the band gave him. Julian’s contribution to the classic era of the band was massive, and he deserves to be remembered as more than a mysterious J.B. who is buried somewhere in the liner notes. Julian Balme is very proud of what they created at the time. “I was really pleased with The Crossing sleeve. It was a case of, if you couldn’t have your Boy’s Own manual illustrations on there, you would have a plain colour with the logo embossed on it, and that’s what happened.” Stuart had actually come up with an idea for the Big Country logo,” Julian says. “He wanted the ‘Big’ to be wide and ‘Country’ to be tall. That was the only direction that was given, and based on that, I put down a design which is the Big Country logo that has been used pretty much since.” Message from Derek Forbes — Big Country – It's more than a journey. It's an adventure". Bigcountry.co.uk. 31 December 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014 . Retrieved 8 April 2014. On 9 July 2015, the band announced that Derek Forbes would no longer be performing with Big Country, and that all forthcoming gigs would go on with a replacement, Scott Whitley. [30] On 12 November 2021, the band announced that bassist Scott Whitley would be leaving the band to pursue other interests. His replacement is Gil Allan from Dunfermline. [ citation needed] Band members [ edit ] Current members [ edit ] Image