In 1979, there was a buzz about Tours that made them one of the hottest properties in the music industry. John Peel played the self-released 'Language School' single for 50 consecutive nights, declaring it at the time his second favourite 45 of all time behind the Undertones' 'Teenage Kicks' The band were tracked down to Poole, Dorset by major and indie labels, including Virgin, Polydor/Fiction, Sire and others - and a feeding frenzy ensued. Signed to Virgin on an 8 album deal, the dual singer-songwriter attack of Ronnie Mayor (rhythm gtr/vocals) and Richard Mazda (lead gtr/vocals) led Virgin CEO Simon Draper to describe the pair as "the punk Lennon-McCartney". 1980 should have been Tours' year. Boasting a killer live show and incredible strength in depth, they had a seemingly endless collection of two-minute pop classics. Yet the band were doomed never to make it to 1980, torn apart by a conflict of egos, and by a deep mistrust of industry dabbling with the band's line-up and sound. The unreleased songs were lost - the band mythologised on countless compilations and, more recently, the internet powerpop scene - until now...
01 Language school (1979 own label 45 a-side) 02 Tourist information (1979 virgin 45 a-side) 03 Can't get through 04 Don't stay home 05 You know 06 She said (1979 virgin 45 b-side) 07 I lose control 08 Bitter & twisted 09 Sliding in the vee 10 Changed my mind 11 Face in the crowd 12 Foreign girls (1979 own label 45 b-side)
13 On the beach 14 My dream bonus tracks 15 Jimmy's younger brother 16 She said / love on the rebound 17 The last one 18 Agony column