There weren’t too many classic British pop singles issued in 1974, but harmony pop epic ‘Beach Baby’ bucked the trend, reaching the UK Top 20 and becoming an even bigger hit in America, peaking at the No. 4 spot.

Arguably the ultimate Beach Boys tribute, ‘Beach Baby’ introduced a new name, The First Class – actually veteran pop hitmaker and songwriter John Carter with the aid of Chas Mills and lead singer Tony Burrows.

While other singers and musicians adopted the name to front their music in public, the Carter/Burrows/Mills combination continued to record new First Class material, including a self-titled LP that is quite possibly the finest, most ambitious British harmony pop album of the 70s.

The First Class had a couple of follow-up minor hit singles in America that failed to attract the same attention at home, where second album ‘SST’ (not even released in the US) sank without trace. By the end of the 70s, Carter had effectively laid the name to rest.

A 3CD set in a lavish digipak package featuring a new 5000 word essay, ‘Beach Baby: The Complete Recordings’ is the definitive document of both The First Class and John Carter’s myriad overlapping activities during the second half of the ’70s.

It contains an embarrassment of riches: both albums, all singles, out-takes, pseudonymous releases, a huge number of previously unissued TV/radio advertising jingles and, most fascinatingly of all, seven previously-unheard 1974 demos for the musical Bobby Dazzler, abandoned when the single of the same name unfathomably failed to chart.

CD 1:
1. BEACH BABY
2. WON’T SOMEBODY HELP ME
3. WHAT BECAME OF ME
4. SURFER QUEEN
5. THE FIRST DAY OF YOUR LIFE
6. LONG TIME GONE
7. FUNNY HOW LOVE CAN BE
8. DREAMS ARE TEN A PENNY
9. BOBBY DAZZLER
10. THE DISCO KID
11. I WAS ALWAYS A JOKER
12. BEACH BABY (single version, full-length)
13. BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY
14. LAVENDER MAN
15. ONE GOOD TIME*
16. BORN TO BE A REBEL*
17. BABY DOLL LOVE*
18. CHINESE CHRISTMAS*
19. GOING ON*
20. A QUIET LIFE*
21. LOVING*
22. BEACH BABY (single version, edit)

This quite brilliant, wonderfully-curated new collection opens on a song that will have you thinking of sunshine, white sandy beaches and pretty girls, the melodically-addictive BEACH BABY and the fervent pop of WON’T SOMEBODY HELP ME and they are followed by the lush balladry of WHAT BECAME OF ME, the atmospherically-charged SURFER QUEEN, the pop-skip of THE FIRST DAY OF YOUR LIFE, the feisty, drum-led, feelgood beauty LONG TIME GONE, the sweeping FUNNY HOW LOVE CAN BE, and then we get the free wheeling DREAMS ARE TEN A PENNY, the folk-pop hipsway of BOBBY DAZZLER, the energetic THE DISCO KID and then comes the yearning ache within the ballad I WAS ALWAYS A JOKER.

Along next is a full-length single version of BEACH BABY, the rhythmic B-side cut BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY, a song not a million miles away from Neanderthal Man, LAVENDER MAN and then we are brought forth seven previously-unreleased tracks: the rollicking good fun of ONE GOOD TIME, the glam rocker BORN TO BE A REBEL, the heartwarming ditty BABY DOLL LOVE, the Asian-flavored sing-along CHINESE CHRISTMAS, the frenetic GOING ON, the disc rounding out on the low slung ballad A QUIET LIFE, the mid-tempo balladry of LOVING, and then we get another version of BEACH BABY (single version, edit).

CD 2:
1. I WAS A STAR
2. AIN’T NO LOVE
3. CHILD’S PLAY
4. OLD TIME LOVE
5. BABY BLUE
6. LIFE IS WHATEVER YOU WANT IT TO BE
7. CARRY ON SINGING MY SONG
8. SMILES ON A SUMMER NIGHT
9. SEVEN TEN TO NOWHERE
10. AUTUMN LOVE
11. AND SHE CRIED
12. BROOK STREET* (jingle)
13. TOO MANY GOLDEN OLDIES (single version)
14. MAKE IT ON MY OWN
15. BROKEN TOY
16. LISA (I ALWAYS LOVED YOU)
17. BIRDS DREAM TOPPING* (jingle)
18. SONG ON THE WIND
19. THE SADDEST WORD
20. OCEAN OF GLASS
21. BIENVENIDO
22. SUNLIGHT DETERGENT* (jingle)
23. GIMME LITTLE SIGN
24. AVERAGE RAINFALL
25. PLEASE YOURSELF (Rowntrees Tots)* (jingle)

The second disc opens on the vibrant I WAS A STAR, the funky AIN’T NO LOVE, and the rhythmically soft flow of CHILD’S PLAY, and then brings back the funk-rock for OLD TIME LOVE, the sandy beach serenade within BABY BLUE, the soaring LIFE IS WHATEVER YOU WANT IT TO BE, the yearning love song CARRY ON SINGING MY SONG, and the sparkling SMILES ON A SUMMER NIGHT, which are in turn backed up seamlessly by the pop-rock of SEVEN TEN TO NOWHERE, the veritably orchestral ballad AUTUMN LOVE, the hankering within AND SHE CRIED, and then we get the previously-unreleased, jaunty BROOK STREET (jingle).

The disc continues onward with the flowery TOO MANY GOLDEN OLDIES (single version), the mid-tempo pop of MAKE IT ON MY OWN, the funky guitar sounds of BROKEN TOY and then comes the low slung AOR of LISA (I ALWAYS LOVED YOU), the previously-unreleased BIRDS DREAM TOPPING (jingle), the shimmering SONG ON THE WIND, the buoyantly earnest THE SADDEST WORD, the pan pipe-imbued OCEAN OF GLASS, this second disc rounding out on the beaming, ABBA-esque BIENVENIDO, the previously-unreleased SUNLIGHT DETERGENT (jingle), the joyous disco-pop of GIMME LITTLE SIGN, closing on the happy AVERAGE RAINFALL and another previously-unreleased cut, PLEASE YOURSELF (Rowntrees Tots) (jingle).

CD 3:
1. WE LIKE TO DANCE (Milk Is Our Way)* (jingle)
2. DISCO KID
3. MIDNITE MUSIC
4. SINGER SEWING MACHINES* (jingle)
5. OH CALIFORNIA
6. I’M IN LOVE AGAIN
7. KIT-E-KAT MUNCHIES* (jingle)
8. THE SOUND OF SUMMER
9. LET’S GO BRITISH CALEDONIAN* (jingle)
10. SIDEWALK JOHNNY
11. MIDNITE MUSIC
12. VAUXHALL CHEVETTE (Whatever You Want It To Be ) #1* (jingle)
13. CRAWFORDS CHEDDARS* (jingle)
14. IF I DON’T HAVE YOU
15. BIRDS EYE COD* (jingle)
16. SUNDAY CHILD
17. GREASY DOLLAR BILL
18. EVER READY BATTERIES* (jingle)
19. TOP FORTY ANGEL
20. TYPHOO 1* (jingle)
21. TYPHOO 2* (jingle)
22. SILVER SURFER
23. SILVIKRIN* (jingle)
24. CONEY ISLAND
25. MALIBU* (jingle)
26. I CAN’T BELIEVE MY EYES
27. WAKE UP AMERICA
28. RIGHT GUARD DEODORANT* (jingle)
29. THE SONG WAS WRONG
30. WOMAN MAGAZINE* (jingle)
31. SHINE ON ME WOMAN
32. ONE MORE MILE TO FREEDOM
33. CRACKER JACK POPCORN* (jingle)
34. VAUXHALL CHEVETTE (Whatever You Want It To Be) #2* (jingle)
35. TOO MANY GOLDEN OLDIES (full-length version)
*PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

The third, and final disc, opens on the Mud-esque vibe of the previously-unreleased WE LIKE TO DANCE (Milk Is Our Way) (jingle), the Showaddywaddy-esque DISCO KID, the vibrant MIDNITE MUSIC, and then we get another previously-unreleased ad in the form of SINGER SEWING MACHINES (jingle), before the Beach Baby-hued melodies of OH CALIFORNIA, the lushly-orchestrated I’M IN LOVE AGAIN are brought forth, and then we get the previously-unreleased KIT-E-KAT MUNCHIES (jingle), the rocker’s rumble of THE SOUND OF SUMMER, the previously-unreleased LET’S GO BRITISH CALEDONIAN (jingle), and both the hard-edged foot-tapper SIDEWALK JOHNNY and another rendition of the rockabilly MIDNITE MUSIC.

In amongst a batch of previously-unreleased jingles, of which their VAUXHALL CHEVETTE (Whatever You Want It To Be ) #1 (jingle), the CRAWFORDS CHEDDARS (jingle), BIRDS EYE COD (jingle) lead the way, the lazy Sunday ambience of IF I DON’T HAVE YOU, and the mid-tempo haze of SUNDAY CHILD and then the heat is turned up for the finger-licking guitar work within GREASY DOLLAR BILL are included, plus the soft pop rock of TOP FORTY ANGEL, the always-enjoyable surf-romp SILVER SURFER and the upbeat CONEY ISLAND, with this portion of the disc rounding out with more previously-unreleased jingles: EVER READY BATTERIES (jingle), TYPHOO 1 (jingle), TYPHOO 2 (jingle), SILVIKRIN (jingle) and the light and breezy MALIBU (jingle).

Up next are the languishing beauty of I CAN’T BELIEVE MY EYES and the rock flashback of WAKE UP AMERICA, and chin-out rocker THE SONG WAS WRONG, with the RIGHT GUARD DEODORANT (jingle) sandwiched between, and then they lead into the WOMAN MAGAZINE (jingle), before the drum-led pop-rock of SHINE ON ME WOMAN, the cloud-pop-soar of ONE MORE MILE TO FREEDOM, the whole collection closing on the two previously-unreleased jingles CRACKER JACK POPCORN and VAUXHALL CHEVETTE (Whatever You Want It To Be) #2, and the full-length version of TOO MANY GOLDEN OLDIES.

This is the first-ever complete 3CD anthology of ‘Beach Baby’ harmony pop hitmakers and features both First Class LPs, all singles, pseudonymous releases and numerous previously unreleased tracks including advertising jingles and songs from an aborted 1974 musical.

Official 3CD Purchase Link