| The Pool of Life | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by The Onset | ||||
| Released | 1988 | |||
| Label | Probe Plus | |||
| The Onset chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Pool of Life is the first album released by English band The Onset. It was released by Probe Plus in 1988. The album takes its name from one of the many nicknames of Liverpool, the home city of both the band and the Probe Plus label.
All words and music by Mike Badger, except "Mansion on the Hill" by Williams/Rose arr. Danny Dean.
Recorded May 1988 at the Ameritz Studio (Birkenhead)
"One of the more original of local groups... The Onset's debut LP, on Probe Plus, manages to combine hippy sentiments with gusty catchy roots music, from rock 'n' roll to country to space age talking blues. As befits a record called The Pool of Life. it manages to mix humour, compassion and style with a background of inner city reality and a slice of idealism. It all works even better on stage, with singer Mike Badger (the coolest thing in the original La's lineup) introducing a song as "the only country song Pink Floyd ever did" one minute and the next claiming everything they do was written by Hank Williams (one of them was). The LP's pretty good value with sixteen diverse tracks. The live shows are just as good."
Penny Kiley (Liverpool Echo) [1]
"Really and truly, all the Hillbilly carpings are one of the finest things that Probe Plus have delivered-this irreverent bunch must be a dream band"
Simon Jones (Folk Roots) [2]
"Dedicated to Rainbow Warriors, Freedom Fighters and Sun Dancers, The Pool of Life explores the World, the Universe and everything else, from war games to starving children, through the love of God to more human weaknesses. It is the sparsest of sounds that an eleven piece band can make - soft country accapella with lifting blues harmonica. The Pool of Life makes no harsh demands, it merely suggests that you listen. The soft shoe shuffle of tracks like Precious Love, the hard edge of Rockin Out The Depression, The Pool of Life proves to be a worldly Hobos' guide to the galaxy."
Cathi Unsworth (Sounds) [3]
The La's were an English rock band from Liverpool, originally active from 1983 until 1992. Fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mavers, the group are best known for their hit single "There She Goes". The band was formed by Mike Badger in 1983 and Mavers joined the next year, although for most of the group's history, the frequently changing line-up revolved around the core duo of Lee Mavers and John Power along with numerous other guitarists and drummers including Paul Hemmings, John "Timmo" Timson, Peter "Cammy" Cammell, Iain Templeton, John "Boo" Byrne, Chris Sharrock, and Neil Mavers.
The Fraternity of Man were an American blues rock and psychedelic rock group from the 1960s. They are most famous for their song "Don't Bogart Me", which was released on LP in 1968, and subsequently used in the 1969 road movie Easy Rider. The original members included three musicians from Lowell George's band The Factory – Richie Hayward, Warren Klein, and Martin Kibbee – who joined Elliot Ingber from the Mothers of Invention and Lawrence "Stash" Wagner. Blues leads were handled by Ingber, and psychedelic leads were played by Klein, including "Oh No I Don't Believe It". The band broke up after recording two albums.
Performance Rockin' the Fillmore is the 1971 live double-LP/single-CD by the English blues-rock group Humble Pie, recorded at the Fillmore East in New York City on May 28–29, 1971. It reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200, #32 in Canada, and entered the UK Top 40.
Probe Plus was a record label based in Liverpool, England. It was founded by Geoff Davies, an enthusiastic promoter of small, unsigned bands, who described the label as "Music to drive you to drink".
The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967–1969 is a boxed set by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1999. It is a six-CD compilation of previously released material, plus outtakes and unreleased tracks from the band's early line-up, coming in a longbox with individually boxed CDs and a booklet of extensive notes and anecdotes, written by the record's producer Mike Vernon. It represents the entire recorded output of Fleetwood Mac while they were signed to the Blue Horizon label.
Live at the Fillmore Auditorium is a live album by the American musician Chuck Berry. He was backed by the Steve Miller Blues Band. Berry's second live album, it was released in 1967 by Mercury Records.
Blues Jam in Chicago is a studio recording by the British rock band Fleetwood Mac, originally released in two single-LP volumes by Blue Horizon in December 1969. It was the result of a recording session in early 1969 at Chess Records in Chicago with Fleetwood Mac, then a young British blues band, and a number of famous Chicago blues artists from whom they drew inspiration. The album has also been released, with slightly different track listings, under the titles Blues Jam at Chess Volumes One and Two and Fleetwood Mac in Chicago, the latter by Sire Records in 1976.
The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions is an album by blues musician Howlin' Wolf released in 1971 on Chess Records, and on Rolling Stones Records in Britain. It was one of the first super session blues albums, setting a blues master among famous musicians from the second generation of rock and roll, in this case Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Charlie Watts, and Bill Wyman. It peaked at #79 on the Billboard 200.
The Head Cat is an American rockabilly supergroup formed by vocalist/bassist Lemmy, drummer Slim Jim Phantom and guitarist Danny B. Harvey. Lemmy died in 2015 and as of 2017, former Morbid Angel member David Vincent took Lemmy's place as vocalist and bassist.
Walkingseeds were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1986 in Liverpool.
Michael Clifford Badger is an English singer-songwriter, artist and sculptor from Liverpool, England. Co-founder of The La's he went on to form alternative country/roots rockabilly band The Onset in 1988 and Mike Badger and The Shady Trio in 2010. In addition he is co-owner of Liverpool's independent Viper Label with Paul Hemmings.
The Onset were an indie rock band formed in 1987 by Mike Badger after he left his former band the La's. Badger teamed up with locals Danny Dean on guitar, Hamish Cameron on piano and Colin Becket on drums. The first demo "Let's Go Home" can be found on the 2006 compilation CD, Lo Fi Electric Excursions by Mike Badger & Friends.
Paul Jeremy Hemmings is an English musician and photographer. He composed the theme song for the BBC soap opera Doctors.
The Pool Of Life Revisited is the second album released by Mike Badger and The Onset and their first on CD. It was released by the Probe Plus Label in 1994.
The Onset is the third album released by Mike Badger and The Onset. It was released by the Generator Label in 2005. The CD presents a selection of songs recorded during the period 1989 to 1994.
Lo Fi Acoustic Excursions is the first of two albums released by Mike Badger featuring a compilation of his various musical incarnations including the La's and The Onset, its sister album being Lo Fi Electric Excursions. Lo Fi Acoustic Excursions was released by the Generator Label in 2004. It contains a collection of songs, outtakes, ideas and sketches from 1983 to 2003.
Lo Fi Electric Excursions is the second of two albums released by Mike Badger with a compilation of his various musical incarnations including the La's and The Onset, its sister album being Lo Fi Acoustic Excursions. Lo Fi Electric Excursions was released by the Generator Label in 2006.
Mike Badger's Country Side is an album which features a compilation of Mike Badger's country style songs from 1988 to 2008, including previously unreleased material from his solo projects and his back catalogue with The Onset. It was released on the Generator Label in 2008.
Ophiuchus are a folk/roots rock group from Castle Combe, Wiltshire, England, formed in 1986 by twin brothers - guitarist Jon and bassist Simon Cousins, with saxophonist Pat D'Arcy and photographer, graphic designer Martin Tom Sawyer.
Simon Cousins is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who was a member of Liverpool indie country rock band The Onset and folk rockers Ophiuchus. He studied music at the Liverpool Music College and has a degree in philosophy from Liverpool University. His solo work is in an acoustic, folk / country genre, described by Tim Peacock of Whisperin and Hollerin' online magazine as "showcasing a fluid finger-picking style and a gentle, unobtrusive voice which nonetheless carries a determined presence." Seph Ong of Glasswerk National stated that Cousins' songs were "derived from real life experience" and that as a performer he "presents a series of tales that gradually unravel to build a story of the mystery of life." Cousins performed at the Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, England, in 2010, 2011 and 2016.