Myles Hunter (ex Avalon Canada), bassist Martyn Jones and guitarist Rob Kennedy founded MICHAEL FURY (named after a character in James Joyce's short story, "The Dead") in 1979. They did the predictable round of club gigs throughout Canada until split up in 1983.
Hunter met keyboard wiz Howard Helm (ex Zon) one year later and start to play with him the songs he has been written. Together decided to call Kennedy and Jones back, and with the addition of drummer Dave Mihal reform MICHAEL FURY.
An initial demo was picked up by a local small label and the result is "Affairs In Babylon", released in 1984.
MICHAEL FURY toured constantly throughout the country, but they began getting an identity crisis as people mistook the group name 'Michael Fury' for Myles Hunter himself.
To compound matters the label tried to push the band as a solo act. This didn't sit well to the group (Hunter included), then a major US label offers a deal to the band, they brought back the rights to the album and signed a new contract.
The disc was re-mixed and re-recorded for the most part, and modified with new songs, "Affairs In Babylon" was re-issued under the band name REFUGEE, with new drummer Brian Doerner (Helix).
As REFUGEE, Hunter & Co. released another album in 1987; "Burning From The Inside Out". Both REFUGEE releases are considered classic '80s AOR gems by fans of the genre (I totally agree).
But let's talk about this MICHAEL FURY album.
For the re-release of "Affairs In Babylon" under the Refugee moniker, 5 tracks were replaced by 5 new ones, and what a new songs!, the best they ever recorded in my opinion, the Refugee release is far superior, with an updated remix job and the new tracks getting big production. A classic indeed.
However, the exclusive 5 songs on this LP are very good too, and that's why I am posting here the original MICHAEL FURY recording. Besides, this album is really hard to find.
The sound is not so 'big' (self produced and mixed), and more direct than lush and polished. According to Hunter, he still prefer some of the original FURY's versions instead of the later re-recorded as REFUGEE.
As example; 'These Are The Good Times' (later popularized by Eric Martin, but written by Mr. Hunter) features completely different arrangements here.
Maybe not many readers will be interested in this post (Michael who?) because this album version is unknown and rarely mentioned on some specialized rock magazine / website. Big mistake, since "MICHAEL FURY - Affairs In Babylon" is a collector's item, and contains very good '80s Melodic Rock / AOR music.
Ripped from vinyl (never released on CD), de-crackled and de-clicked by myself, including artwork.
01 - Affairs In Babylon
02 - Through The Thunder Of Another Night
03 - Pictures And Prints *
04 - There's Gonna Be A Fire Tonight *
05 - These Are The Good Times
06 - (Janie) Here We Go Again
07 - Hot Words
08 - ... And We All Go Down To The River *
09 - White Wine And Roses *
10 - Love Comes Down *
Tracks marked with * are exclusive to this LP
Myles Hunter : Lead Vocals, Mustang (¿?)
Martyn Jones : Bass, Vocals
Rob Kennedy : Guitars, Vocals
Howard Helm : Keyboards
Greg Bociek : Keyboards on 6
Dave Mihal : Drums
Bear : Percussion, Noises & Effects
MICHAEL FURY - Affairs In Babylon (1984)
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Wednesday, March 07, 2018
MICHAEL FURY - Affairs In Babylon (1984) restored audio
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13 Comments:
Hello, camelblue!
Thank you very much for this rarity. I've always been a big fan of the two Refugee albums (especially the first one).
Unfortunately the 2007 CD re-issue of "Affairs in Babylon" finally was only a vinyl rip, because the German label MTM never got a copy of the original tapes. :-(
Just a note: A re-recording of "We All Go Down To The River" was a bonus track on this release. If you don't have this CD issue, let me know.
Best wishes
1980-F
P.S. I know, I still owe you some "Blue Rose". Be patient...
I've had a CD-R of this album and Refugee's 'Affairs...' as a 2 on 1 for ages, also declicked and decrackled if memory serves me right.
But I'm sure you've done a much better job.
Now if only someone would clean up the MTM release (subtle hint) so it would sound like the real deal -- an actual CD release, that is.
For now, thanks for the effort you put into this one.
@ 1980-F :
Glad you like it.
To be honest, this isn't one of my best restoring jobs at all.
Done pretty quickly, still many noises can be heard, but it's just fine, audible.
Thanks for the offer, already got the MTM 2005 reissue (as mp3), a real shame, not only full of cracks, the mastering job is muddy and plain normalized.
And yes, Blue Rose... haha. Don't worry, I am like a tibetan monk.
@ troynew :
Forget a restoring from the MTM release.
As said above, not only they picked up a wasted vinyl, also gently destroyed the original signal noise peaks (the ones to work on) with a cheap processor, it's unrecoverable.
Maybe if we could find a good vinyl rip...
This is a very hard album to find. I bought the cassette back when it came out, from one of those stores on Yonge Street that predated HMV. I found a 12" vinyl of Exiles in the Dark a few years back and played that but I really wanted to hear Dream on Anastasia, a song I have not heard for probably 15 years.
Hello this link is dead can you please repost it ? Same for your vinyl rip of Refugee debut, sounding better than the horrible MTM release. thanks
Updated
thanks Camel!!!!
Just a note: Myles Hunter passed away December 20th 2017 in Toronto. No other details released about his death.
His 1985 album Northern Union is in my opinion the highlight of his career artistically.
Murf
Murf thanx for the (sad) update, I forgot bout his passing away...sic and RIP Myles. BTW his Northern Union opus was from 1990 so post Refugee, not 1985 (that's a mistake on Discogs). cheerz
Strippoli: You're right on 1990 for Northern Union. I looked quickly at Discogs instead of my own collection downstairs. Whoops.
Thanks,
Murf
Good morning from Canada! Any chance for a reup? Many Thanks!
-- Greg
Nunca tinha ouvido falar dessa banda e apesar dela não ser muito conhecida é muito boa, daqueles tipo rock alternativo e também de ouvir na estrada.
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