New York, NY (Top40 Charts) British Eighties power pop band the Pinkees have made it into the streaming age just in time for the 40th anniversary of their only Top 10 single 'Danger Games' - thanks to star mixer Jay Reynolds (Dua Lipa/Headie One/AJ Tracey/Pal Salieu) and BMG.
'Danger Games' hit number eight in the Official UK Singles Chart in
September 1982, but after a successful Top Of The Pops appearance, the band's promising career hit the buffers amid a dispute between their label Creole Records and then High Street record store giant Our Price.
"People said our record had been hyped into the charts," says guitarist Andy Price, now 67. "After that nobody would touch us,
Radio One refused to play our follow-up single 'Holding Me Tight', and the Pinkees sort of fizzled out."
Fast forward 40 years and enter Jay Reynolds, son of Pinkees drummer Paul Reynolds, star remixer and Grammy Award-winner for his work with Dua Lipa. "It all started when Jay asked his dad why our stuff wasn't up on Spotify," says Andy Price.
First released in 1982, the Pinkees's debut album predated the CD and had never appeared on streaming services. Creole Records had been through several changes of ownership and now forms part of BMG's Sanctuary Records catalogue.
"It is great to be able to bring much-loved but often forgotten catalogues back to life," says BMG Licensing Manager Catalogue Recordings. "We were able to provide original audio files to Jay and he remixed them. The songs sound as fresh as ever."
And just to confirm it's a family affair, Andy Price's son, Justin, who now owns an outdoor advertising company in Essex has surprised his father with a huge poster advertising the album on the busy A13 road at Leigh-on-Sea, passed by 200,000 people a day.
"I must confess the internet is a whole new ball game for me," says Andy, "but hopefully it will encourage some people to listen to our music."
The Pinkees no longer exist but Price and Reynolds senior still have a band together, The Beat Patrol, who play around Essex. "We do mainly covers - Sixties and Seventies," says Price. "No Pinkees songs?" "We haven't done, but maybe we will do now."
