LEMONADE "LEMONADE"

Artist: Lemonade
Album: Lemonade
Company:Rocking Horse
Catalog: RHR 5512
Year: 1976
Genre: pop
Grade: *** (3 stars)
Condition: VG+ cover / VG+ LP
Comments: --
Quantity available: 2
Price: $100,00

Another mystery tax loss release ...  good luck finding anything on this one.  It doesn't even show up on the web's best known tax loss reference.

 

As you'd expect, 1977's "Lemonade" lacked any kind of bibliographical information - no writing credits; no performance credits; nothing on who produced it, etc.  The three scraps of info you could glean from the cover were:

 

- Copyright James J. Kaulentis

- Album concept: Abramson Studio, Design Alliance

- Cover design: Frederick Myers

 

Musically these nine tracks were decent singer/songwriter pop.  Imagine Lobo with a more fragile voice and an English degree in his pocket and you'd get a feel for material like 'Love Affair' (how could you not smile at a lyric that included the word emancipation), the pretty ballad 'In the Final Lines' and 'I Bounce from Town To Town'.  Simply because they reflected slightly more upbeat numbers 'Rebound' and 'Every Minutes of the Day' were probably the standout tracks, though they may not even have been the same artist (tax loss labels none for packaging multiple artists under one banner). Some of the set had kind of an under-produced feel including raw backing vocals making me wonder if these were demos that Rocking Horse had stumbled across and slightly spruced up.

 

For what it was worth the track listings on the sleeve and the inner label were both wrong. 

 

"Lemonade" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Love Affair

2.) In the Final Lines

3.) Rebound

4.) I Bounce from Town To Town

5.) Put Her On a Shelf

 

(side 2)
1.) Warning, Signs of Love

2.) No Words Tonight

3.) Every Minute of the Day

4.) Bit Too Eager

 

 As far as I can figure it out the proper sequence is shown below:

 

(side 1)

1.) Love Affair

'Love Affair' was a fragile keyboard driven ballad.  Pretty melody and a decent hook, but the song ultimately sank under a barely-in-tune lead vocal ...  rating: ** stars

2.) In the Final Lines

'In the Final Lines' offered up another keyboard propelled ballad.  Slower and kind of MOR-ish this one was saved by a better vocal performance and a memorable hook.   rating: *** stars

3.) Rebound

Just when you thought this was going to be an all ballad set, 'Rebound' showed these guys could tackle more rock oriented material.  Nice song with a good guitar solo that was again somewhat sabotaged by a waivery lead vocal and some bad backing vocals.    rating: *** stars

4.) No Words Tonight

The deep, heartfelt lyrics left me queasy, but 'No Words Tonight' actually had commercial potential.  If Elton John could have had a hit with 'Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word' then this one could have been a hit.  Plus it had a better guitar than any Elton John hit.    rating: *** stars

5.) Put Her On a Shelf

Be forewarned 'Put Her On a Shelf; sported a barrelhouse piano ...  Yech.    rating: ** stars

 

(side 2)

1.) Warning, Signs of Love

Side two started with another bland and forgettable ballad - 'bout the best I can say about 'Warning, Signs of Love' is that it would have made an okay Kodak moment commercial.     rating: ** stars

2.) I Bounce from Town To Town

Another ballad, but 'I Bounce from Town To Town' was mildly interesting in that it had kind of a mellow jazzy feel to it; imagine Eric Carmen before he became boring.     rating: ** stars

3.) Every Minute of the Day

Easily the standout tune, the poppy 'Every Minute of the Day' sounded like a good Raspberries outtake.  Nice guitar solo and definitely had radio potential.    rating: **** stars

4.) Bit Too Eager

The closer 'Bit Too Eager' had a distinctive raw demo feel complete with ragged vocals and unpolished instrumentation.  Nice trumpet solo ...    rating: ** stars

 

Another one that wasn't half bad and if it had been released by a major label with a bit of promotion might have actually generated some attention.

 

Got this email with respect to the LP:

 

I came across your website and thought I’d write as you seem to know more about Rocking Horse Records, particularly the album “Lemonade”. I was in the band that wrote and recorded all of the songs on the album. We were not “Lemonade”. Never were. Apparently someone got hold of a bunch of demos that my band recorded back in 75-76 and released them on this album. Can you tell me anything about this record and company?

The band was actually called “The Front Page”. We were from Spring Valley NY. There were 4 of us. Myself, 2 brothers on piano and drums and a guitarist. I played bass and sang. One brother played piano and sang (most of the leads) and the other played drums. All the songs were written in some combination by myself and the 2 brothers.

Thanks,,Gene Monteleone (September 2014)