My review from Instagram, thought I'd share it here-
Colin Young's Development – In The Beginning
With the Internet and all the modern resources at our fingertips I'm surprised how this album appears to have gone virtually unnoticed. Its not on YouTube and I can't find a review anywhere! Which is funny because while you may not realise it, you have probably heard Mr Young's voice previously. He was the lead singer for The Foundations who sang the global hit- Build Me Up Buttercup. After that he went solo for a while before setting up Colin Young's Development (sometimes referred to as Development). They toured Argentina and South America but this their singular album was only released in Italy on the Stateside label in 1971.
You can still clearly hear hints of the pop soul of the Foundations but it's now juxtapositioned against late psych/early prog rock. To my ears its somewhat reminiscent of The Action becoming Mighty Baby if not quite in that league. So a decent 3 to 3.5 star album IMHO, but I'm sure there are those out there who will adore it. I also love the sleeve (censored for Instagram). If you look, you can see the front and back covers connect. Maybe it was originally intended to be a gatefold? There are about five for sale on Discogs at the moment. Expect to pay between €80-150 for a copy lost relic.
Interesting one Paul, it seems there were quite a few British groups that decided to 'ply their trade' in Italy The Trip and The Rokes come to mind and of course even some A-listers e.g. The Yardbirds had releases exclusive to Italy. Can Anyone add to the list?
Have no idea why the album was released in Italy only, but I have no proof they ever played here. Still is a good one and luckily I bought it when no one knew it. There is also a Colin Young single, issued in many countries (but not in Italy!), which has a B side probably coming from the same sessions, and this one you can find it on the web. If my copy of the album plays fine maybe I'll upload it on Soulseek ;)
Thanks for the feedback lads. I can only think of Mark Fry as an English speaker who recorded in Italy. I agree with you Gian that the B-side does appear to come from the same time/session. I was just wondering does anyone know anything about the cover art? It's signed "Rick B.". I'm sur I've seen sleeves with a similar style but can't quite remember where! 🤔
I am very surprised to find such a recent thread talking about this album. If anyone could share it, it would be HIGHLY appreciated! It seems as if there is no copy of this album to be found anywhere online.