GOLDSMITH: Life is Killing Me 20th Anniversary special Edition w. unreleased songs CD. Great N.W.O.B.H.M. Check audio and 2 video reviews. RECOMMENDED

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GOLDSMITH: Life is Killing Me + Music Man 7″ ORIGINAL– N.W.O.B.H.M .

1. Life Is Killing Me 04:13
2. Please Don’t 03:41
3. You Won’t Catch Me 03:34
4. Fly Away 03:36
5. Music Man 03:31
6. All I Want 04:39
7. Pretty Dancer 03:52
8. No Way Out 07:19

9. Everybody Needs It 05:13
10. Give Me Your Love 04:23

11. Evil Woman 05:47
Total playing time 49:48

and a video review:

Goldsmith is an interesting NWOBHM act with a sound very much still influenced by the 70s British hard rock school, with songs rooted in softer vocals, nice  melodies and catchy choruses. Tracks like  “Please Dont” are a good example of this sound; incredibly catchy, with little metal in the mix, but nonetheless some well executed guitar work, and some vocals almost, just almost reminiscent of late 70s Priest. Songs like this are suitable party music, quite laid’ back, rather than shattering your brain with that speedy, thrashy type NWOBHM sound.

In contrast, You Wonna Catch Me  and the band’s claim to fame and title track  Life is Killing Me  are harder hitting numbers, with crunchier guitars and faster pace on offer. However the 70s influenced rock sound is still detectable. The former is still heavily reliant on its catchy, and frequently repeated harmonised chorus  You won’t catch me baby (repeat). It mates this with a strong guitar lead, and riffs with a certain distinct pace. Life is Killing Me is an excellent classic NWOBHM number deserving to be on any â˜Great Hits of NWOBHM type compilation (and probably is). Again, a mixture of melodic vocal harmonies in the 70â™s tradition, with punchy NWOBHM guitars and thunderous pace make for an excellent number, and very much define the Goldsmith approach to music. I really enjoy the lyrics in this one, and certainly give a hats off to vocalist Pez Hodder. It deals with being run-down due to a life (presumably of hard rock, hard liquor and fast women â“ one would assume).

The ballad’s (Fly Away) inclusion on this compilation is done at precisely the right spot at track 4. While a decent effort, with plenty of feel in the vocals of Pez Hodder, and the building of intensity leading to the guitar lead, this ballad is repetitive to some extent, and would match say, a similar effort by â˜Priest. Plus I don’t really care for the chorus lyrics; Fly away  far away- Fly away Fly high which are a bit soft for my tastes. It is my assertion that the main body of material present on the compilation offers enough softness and melody to be supplanted by a ballad this soft and chorus heavy. The slow number All I Want is perhaps a better effort, with acoustic minor notes laid down alongside some more deep feeling lyrics giving us a more emotive ballad.

On to some other highs now, Pretty Dancer is an enjoyable hard rockin number with plenty of rock n roll subject matter, dealing with drinkin at a local strip bar, and infatuation with one particular local stripper. Really enjoy the lyrics in this one, and the guitar riffs which fit somewhere between Nugent, Rainbow, and Deep Purple. A great party song, showcasing some really enjoyable boogie lead-work and strong vocals, this is another one of the band’s winners.

Overall, an enjoyable, great collection from yet another unknown NWOBHM band. This collection likely includes all singles/demos of the band so is the most complete and convenient document of their official works. The quality of some of the tracks is not great, but that’s not something that ever really bothered me. Goldsmith sits more in the melodic hard rock side of the NWOBHM genre, as opposed to the harder Cloven Hoof, Avenger or Blitzkrieg side of things. Plenty of hard rockin boogie guitar and strong guitar lead-work by Pete Adams, and thoroughly enjoyable vocals courtesy of Pez, also of Bitches Sin; another obscure NWOBHM act I truly enjoy. Tracks like â˜No Way Outâ™ and the title track are probably their heaviest, yet are still firmly rooted in melody and mid-tempo. The band has a talent for writing songs in this vein though, and it is certainly an art form in itself. Collectors of NWOBHM should probably consider giving this one a listen, that is, if you can find it.

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GOLDSMITH interview:
This is the band initiated by former Bitches Sin member Pez Hodder. Goldsmith had their first exposure to a wider audience through the “”60 Minute Plus”” compilation cassette, followed by the independently released “”Life Is Killing Me”” single in 1982. The band was in the process of circulating a follow-up EP which even made it onto the pre-press, acetate stage but never got into circulation. Well over 20 years, the band got picked up by the Obscure NWOBHM releases – record label to finally get those songs out. The following interview with Pez, bridges the gap between the very first vinyl – exposure and the recently circulated Golsmith CD.

* Getting back to the Bitches Sin days, how did you get in touch with the Toomey brothers, and was Bitches Sin your first (Metal) band?

Perry : Yeah it was my first HM band, I can’t remember how I first got in to the band but I was looking to join a band but the only one available was with Sin and playing bass guitar. As a lead guitarist I had to learn bass pretty quick !

* Your stint with Bitches Sin was a short-time happening, what made you part ways with the band, as they were on the verge of major success gauging the overall response to the “”Twelve Pounds And No Kinks!”” demo and the ’81 “”Always Ready”” 7″”?

Perry : To this day I don’t know why I was kicked out of the band and I don’t have any contact as the Toomeys thought I was slagging off Bitches Sin when I started Goldsmith which was not the case. I’m glad to see they are still active and releasing a digitally enhanced CD of the “”£12 And No Kinks”” / Radio 1 material. It was always enjoyable playing in the band both live & in the studio and despite their ill will I still wish them every success. The band always gave 100% and rehearsed the set until we could play it backwards. I still believe that if Sin had been based in London they would really have gone places. My favourite Sin tracks are “”Strangers On The Shore”” & “”Ice Angels””.

* Goldsmith seemed like a ‘microwave’ project, processing a whole set of songs including a 4-track demo, a contribution to the Neat “”60 Minute Plus”” (cassette) compilation, and another two songs to appear as a single, all within one year, 1982, was there any unreleased, penned songs adopted from the Bitches Sin Set and transported to the Goldsmith repertoire?

Perry : No it was all new material written by myself & Mike Henderson the drummer. We did at least 3 separate sessions in the Neat studios in Newcastle. The first was the 4 track demo with “”No Way Out””, “”Everybody Needs It””, “”Evil Woman”” and “”Give Me Your Love””. The 2nd session was “”Life Is Killing Me”” and “”Music Man”” (the single) and the third if I remember right was the unreleased “”You Won’t Catch Me””, “”Fly Away””, “”Please Don’t”” and “”Pretty Dancer””. We also went in to a local basic studio & cut a backing track for an unreleased track called “”Shoot To Kill””.

* Regarding recording sessions for both the Heavy Metal records-label (with Bitches Sin) and the Neat records-label (with both Bitches Sin and Goldsmith), it would seem to be fairly easy to land a recording deal, or at least a single-outlet, yet the Goldsmith 7″” was independently released, how come neither one of the labels showed serious interest, or did they?

Perry : I didn’t like the Neat records deal which demanded money up front from the band for recording costs and pressing the single and a derisory to me royalty rate of 12% of the dealer price which was 6% artist royalty and 6% writers royalty and I was not prepared to give Neat the publishing rights. Neat were in a no lose position with everything they released but that ´s the music biz !!!

* Did you shop any demos or rehearsals around to any other record-labels?

Perry : Of course and we received polite “”no thanks”” letters from Bronze records etc.

* How many originals did the Goldsmith repertoire count at its peak?

Perry : About 14-20.

* There was plans to release another single in ’83 on 12″” format, including the songs “”You won’t catch Me””, “”Fly Away”” and “”Evil Woman””, this release even got to the acetate stage; how come the EP never got released, did the band have any record deal at that point, was a deal called off last minute, was it a financial thing or a lack of label interest?

Perry : Lack of money and by that stage the band was not really getting any interest generally. “”Life Is Killing Me”” did not provide enough money to press the 12″”.

* How many copies of the Goldsmith 7″” “”Life Is Killing Me”” were released and were any of these distributed overseas, Europe, USA?

Perry : 2000 were pressed,1000 in the picture sleeve and 1000 without. A lot went to Europe Germany Holland Poland etc and to the US as well. The single was even sold in Australia! I had about 300 copies left over which I kept until recently and have made more money out of them than I did at the time.

* How come Goldsmith disbanded and when did this happen?

Perry : We were going nowhere and I got side tracked doing other things musically. Without gigs its hard to keep up the interest. I think the band was dead by the middle of ´83.

* What happened after Goldsmith, band/music-wise?

Perry : I moved to London and recorded music then & now for my own amusement and will be releasing a CD of my latest stuff soon. Making music digitally has given me the opportunity to be more creative.

* Then, in the now, there s this Goldsmith CD-release / re-issue; does this mean the band is back together again?

Perry : The band is not likely to reform as musically I am now somewhere else. I don’t have any contact with the rest of the guys other than Mike these days. A lot of NWOBHM stuff is re-appearing now & I was approached by a label to release it.

* So, what is the background of the material on the CD? Is it all originals?

Perry : Everything we recorded except “”Shoot To Kill”” and an alternate vocal take of “”Evil Woman””. All the recordings except for 3 songs are from the original master tapes but 3 are from other sources as Neat lost the master tapes when they borrowed them for the “”60 mins plus”” cassette.

* How did you experience the NWOBHM thing in the early years of it’s development, during it’s hayday  and now, as a retrospective?

Perry : We never saw it as a movement as such because Goldsmith was more Heavy Rock really; if we had been around 2 years later we would have been seen as Rock not NWOBHM. There were some great times and playing live was a buzz. I’m proud that we were able to go down well playing all our own material.