'' Hungry Hearts '' is the ninth studio album by the British group The Searchers and the group's first LP featuring new lead vocalist and guitarist

Spencer James Spencer Frederick James (born 15 April 1953) is an English singer and musician. He has been the lead singer of veteran pop band The Searchers since 1986. James was also a member of the one-hit wonder band The First Class that scored a No. 4 hit w ...

. The album was released only in West Germany and Benelux. It contained mainly new original material (half of the songs were written by the band members) and it turned out to be the last studio effort by The Searchers.

Overview

1985 marked a big change for the Searchers. Disillusioned

Mike Pender Michael John Prendergast (born 3 March 1941), known professionally as Mike Pender, is an English singer and guitarist. He was an original founding member of Merseybeat group the Searchers. He is best known as the lead vocalist on many hit s ...

, co-founder of the band, lead singer and guitarist, left and was replaced by Spencer James, who previously had success with

The First Class The First Class were a British pop music studio-based group, put together by songwriter and record producer John Carter. They are best known for their hit song "Beach Baby," a top 20 hit in both the US and UK. Career The First Class was the ...

(famous for their hit single

Beach Baby "Beach Baby" is a song by the British band The First Class. Written by John Carter and his wife, Gillian (Jill) Shakespeare, the song became the band's only substantial hit. The subject of the lyrics is not holiday love, but a broken love relatio ...

). The band toured again and their long-term success in Germany secured them a new record contract with the German company

Coconut Records Coconut Records is a German record label formed in 1981 by producers Tony Hendrik and Karin Hartmann. The label has released multiple genres of music, including dance, schlager, eurodance, electronica, Hi-NRG, Dance-pop and R&B. Artists ...

. "It was great to get the chance to marry new technology with our old harmonies and sound," said Frank Allen for BBC few years later. "That worked out pretty well." Once for the last time, the band tried to find a way to the young generation and recorded an album in a modern style with a specific eighties sound incl. additional work on

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

and

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

. But while young listeners were not interested in their new music, their longtime fans were a little discouraged by the modern sound.

Recording and release

The album was recorded mainly at Coconut Studio in Hennef near Bonn. Spencer James sang lead on all tracks except "Every Little Tear" and "Baby, I Do" sung by Frank Allen, several German musicians were also guests in the studio. Not having the time available to spend an extended period in a studio, they resorted to completing the work in a manner they had never tried before. "Basic computer-generated drum tracks were laid down ahead of our arrival by our appointed producer, Hans Steingen, along with synthesised string and keyboard pads to provide a bedrock on which we could add our own contribution," wrote Frank Allen in his autobiography. "Guitars, both six string and twelve string, were layered on top of the prepared tracks followed by lead voices and harmonies which naturally incorporated the trademarks of our long-established sound." Record was finished in 1988, but did not appear in stores until 1989. ''Hungry Hearts'' was the first Searchers album to be released on LP and CD simultaneously, three singles helped to promote album in Germany: "Forever In Love" (released in October 1988), "No Other Love" and a new version of their classic hit " Needles and Pins" (both in 1989). The Searchers filmed a video clip for "Forever In Love" and promoted it on the German television. Unfortunately, neither the album nor the singles met with commercial success and did not make the charts in Germany (and was not even released in the UK or the US). Despite the album's failure, a couple of songs have been added to setlist for The Searchers' live shows. Although the band was active until 2019 and released several low-cost concert albums, ''Hungry Hearts'' remained their last studio album.

Track listing

Personnel

The Searchers *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

, lead guitar,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

* John McNally – lead and rhythm guitar, vocals * Frank Allen –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, vocals *

Billy Adamson Billy Adamson (27 May 1944 – 11 November 2013) was a Scottish musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for the English pop rock band The Searchers (band), The Searchers. He joined them shortly after their most famous peri ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Additional musicians and production *Vocals – Chris Baker (tracks: 6, 12) *Backing Vocals – Stefan Scheuß (track: 9), Elke Schlimbach (track: 11) *Guitar – Pete Brough (track: 9), Robby Musenbichler (tracks: 6, 12), Stefan Scheuß (track: 11) *Keyboards – Harry Baierl (track: 12), Hazel Stoner (track: 6), Hans Steingen (various tracks), George Kochbeck (various tracks) *Mixed By – Gary Jones (tracks: 1, 3, 7, 10) *Producer – Tony Hendrik and Karin Hartmann (tracks: 1, 3, 7, 10), Hans Steingen (tracks: 2, 5, 9, 11), Levy (track: 4), Theo Werdin (tracks: 6, 12)

References

{{Authority control The Searchers (band) albums 1988 albums