Dynamite China Years: Complete Recordings 1988-1993 [Import]

• Track Listing

8CD complete collection of recordings released by China Records. Featuring what most consider to be the classic line-up of The Dogs D'Amour; Jo 'Dog' Almeida on guitar, Steve James on bass, the onomatopoeic Bam on drums, and of course fronted by songwriter and singer, the inimitable Tyla. Propelled by the albums' three singles 'The Kid from Kensington', 'I Don't Want You to Go' and 'How Come It Never Rains' edging their way up the charts, when The Dogs D'Amour's genre-defining 1988 "debut" 'In The Dynamite Jet Saloon' (CD2) was released in 1988, it must have looked like the band was an overnight sensation. But this couldn't have been further from the truth. The Dogs D'Amour originally formed in 1983, and had already recorded two previous "debut" albums. First was 1984's now highly collectable 'The State We're In', for Finnish label Kumibeat. Further recordings were made in 1985 and 1986 for Watanabe Records in Japan, and it's the latter where this collection kicks off. 'The (Un)Authorised Bootleg Album' (CD1) was the record originally intended for Japan. The second set in this collection is the aforementioned In 'The Dynamite Jet Saloon' (CD2), bursting with classics. A highly prolific band in their earliest days, 'Errol Flynn' (re-titled 'King Of The Thieves' in the States) (CD3) was released in 1989 as was the extended mini-album, 'A Graveyard Of Empty Bottles Vol. 1' (CD4), a collection of acoustic songs that reached the UK Top 20. 1990 saw the release of '... Straight?!!' (CD5) featuring the singles 'Victims of Success', 'Empty World' and 'Back On The Juice'. Unfortunately, and in true rock 'n' roll tradition, the band split up on stage in Los Angeles in 1991. Thankfully the band regrouped for the self-explanatory '... More Unchartered Heights Of Disgrace' (CD6) in 1993. This eight CD collection is completed with no less than two discs of rarities, live tracks and B-sides with 'Singles, B-Sides & Rarities' (CD7) and 'Even More Singles, B-Sides & Rarities' (CD8), making this the most complete and comprehensive collection of the band's recordings for China.