NINE BELOW ZERO – Reissues – review

NINE BELOW ZERO – Reissues – review

NINE BELOW ZERO
Don’t Point Your Finger / Third Degree
Universal

It’s over 40 years since I bought a Nine Below Zero record. ‘Three Times Enough’ it was, on 7″ yellow vinyl. They must have played Edinburgh around about then, probably Preservation Hall, and must have been good enough to warrant a 79p investment in Ezy Ryder. Of course, they split up not long after, but I like to think it wasn’t my fault.

They got back together again a few years later and have toured and recorded steadily ever since, without coming close to their early success, but after last years re-release of their debut “Live At The Marquee”, here are their two original eighties studio albums, each with a separate disc of bonus material.

“Don’t Point Your Finger” was the one for me, a sweaty mix of covers and originals, as they gave the blues a good stomping on the likes of ‘Treat Her Right’ and ‘Sugar Mama’, with originals such as ‘One Way Street’ and ‘Three Times Enough’ showing that they could come with the goods, all on their own. Dennis Greaves never sang better and Mark Feltham never honked is horn better. The bonus CD is a live performance recorded for the BBC in 1981 at The Granary Club in Bristol, and it rocks.

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“Third Degree” never really worked for me, despite it being a more commercially successful release. You can tell by the cover that they’re aiming for the mainstream. The good news is that this reissue includes Glyn Johns’ original recording ,which the record company rejected, and it’s so much better than the original version. ‘Eleven Plus Eleven’ and ‘Mama Talk To Your Daughter’ take on a new lease of life, and I can almost forgive their diversions away from r’n’b. Almost.

They’ve got a 35th anniversary tour lined up, as well as dates with The Stranglers, so get yourself sorted now.

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