Yesterday I spent a good part of the day pursuing Brand X.
Brand X, if you don't know, was a British instrumental rock band in the 1970s, mainly famous for hosting Phil Collins between gigs with Genesis. Phil was not a founding member, and didn't own the name, and other drummers filled in when he was not available -- but it's still mostly-known as "Phil Collins's Supergroup."
They did a half dozen albums, toured the US and UK, then disbanded. The core trio, who owned the name, went on to other projects, each releasing several solo or other-band albums -- none of which was as good as the original Brand X. Brand X retained its cult status through the ensuing years.
Then something funny/odd/weird began happening. In the '90s, with CDs coming on the market, a number of old live and new live albums began appearing, both legally and bootlegged. There were some new band members, but the core trio seemed to be behind the new touring unit.
The music they played -- exclusively -- was off the original 1970s LPs. Note-for-note.
Then there appeared a website, purporting to be by the original trio, saying their ex-manager had absconded with their trademarks and was releasing "fake Brand X" music and t-shirts and stuff. But here's the thing: it's been impossible to tell what's fake and what's legitimate. They all play the same music.
That's kinda where I left Brand X when I stopped following them in the 1990s. I had a couple of the bootlegs, but they were execrable quality, so I never investigated others as they appeared.
Well, it turns out, somewhere in there, maybe the original Brand X trio began releasing live recordings that were right off the mixing desk and fabulous quality. I spent several hours yesterday poking around the interwebs and discovering some truly wonderful live recordings, some from the seventies but others recorded as recently as 2017. Still playing the original ouevre but with some variation and innovation. By bypassing the icky low-fidelity bootlegs I was able to put together a half dozen new live albums that are no shit pretty great.
But I'm still not certain what's legal and what's put out by their ex-managers with no royalties to the band. Doesn't matter to me -- I downloaded them off YouTube and my Ukrainian site anyway....
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