The Analog Kid blog has been featuring out-of-print ’80s albums on “The Lost Boys” series for quite a while, and now it’s time for the ’70s to join the party! “Lost In The Flood: Hard-To-Find ’70s Albums” will give you the chance to listen to some great music from the ’70s that can no longer be easily acquired on-line or at your local record store (especially since many of you probably no longer even HAVE a local record store!).
Ronnie Lane had initially asked Pete Townshend to produce a solo album for him after his departure from The Faces, but the project transformed itself into the collaborative 1977 album Rough Mix. Many other famous musicians of the era make guest appearances on the album, including Charlie Watts, Eric Clapton, John Entwistle, and Ian Stewart.
After the depressing lyrical content on most of 1975’s The Who By Numbers, it’s nice to hear Townshend having fun again on Rough Mix. “Keep Me Turning” and “Misunderstood” are classic Pete songs, and “Street In The City” provided the template for a song format Townshend would explore in great detail on his massively underrated 1982 album All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes.
Ronnie Lane first began experiencing symptoms from multiple sclerosis around the time of Rough Mix, and he managed to hold on for twenty years before succumbing to the disease in 1997. This great album stands as a testament to Ronnie’s talent, and it’s a real shame that Rough Mix is now out of print. You can listen to this classic for free here on the Analog Kid blog, and then perhaps you can go make a donation to help fight MS here:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Donate
Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane: Rough Mix
MCA Records, 1977
1. “My Baby Gives It Away” (Townshend)
2. “Nowhere To Run” (Lane)
3. “Rough Mix” (Townshend/Lane)
4. “Annie” (Clapton/Lambert/Lane)
5. “Keep Me Turning” (Townshend)
6. “Cat Melody” (Lane/Lambert)
7. “Misunderstood” (Townshend)
8. “April Fool” (Lane)
9. “Street In The City” (Townshend)
10. “Heart To Hang Onto” (Townshend)
11. “Till The Rivers All Run Dry” (Holyfield/Williams)
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Bonus Tracks!
The first rule of The Analog Kid blog is that if you write about a song on the Analog Kid blog, you share the song on the Analog Kid blog.
The Faces: “Ooh La La” (Lane/Wood)
From the album Ooh La La
Warner Brothers Records, 1973
The Who: “Imagine A Man” (Townshend)
From the album The Who By Numbers
MCA Records, 1975
Pete Townshend: “The Sea Refuses No River” (Townshend)
From the album All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes
Atco Records, 1982
Pete Townshend: “I Like It The Way It Is” (Townshend)
From the album Scoop 3
Hip-O Records, 1994
One of my favorite Pete Townshend songs. “I Think I Like It The Way It Is” was recorded in 1978 and sat in the vaults until its release on the Scoop 3 demos compilation in 1994. It would have fit beautifully on the Rough Mix album.
The Analog Kid 
Triple bonus points for “The Sea Refuses No River.” That is all.
“Chinese Eyes” is sooooooooooooooooo good…
“Street In The City” is such a great song. Reminds you that Pete knew how to incorporate strings into pop tunes in a really cool way (although I believe it was his father-in-law, Jon Astley, who did the orchestration). I love “My Baby Gives It Away” too. A great song to ride around air jamming to, along with “Rough Mix” (go, Eric, go!) Bonus points for “Ooh La La”, which is in the running for least remembered, least played, certifiable rock classics. How is that not a classic rock station staple? Ditto “Rock and Roll” by Velvet Underground.
Just found your site and I wanted to thank you for helping me indulge in my nostalgia. I’d nearly forgotten Townshend’s All the Best Cowboys (which I believe I have on Vinyl somewhere). I can’t believe that I hadn’t listened to it in years.
Somehere else on you site, I found The Producers material which I had been searching for for such a long time. They were a popular band in my area when I was in high school/early college and I remember seeing them play on a steamboat in New Orleans. Great memories….thanks!