By RUSSELL BAILLIE
(Herald rating: * * * * )
Basically Th'Dudes' Kiwi rock legacy comes down to those five jukebox-familiar tunes — Be Mine Tonight, Right First Time, That Look In Your Eyes, Walking in Light and Bliss — and frankly there's precious little evidence of any forgotten gems on this compilation.
And that includes as its two final tracks live versions of Walking in Light and Be Mine Tonight (under original title Quite Frankly).
However, the 19 tracks do remind us that the late-70s outfit was — care of axemen Dave Dobbyn and Ian Morris — an adventurous guitar band which, while occasionally falling back on pub-rock plod, delivered records that still sound good without a nostalgia filter.
That's especially so on the jangle'n'drone of Be Mine Tonight and the crazy-paving That Look In Your Eyes.
While as the disco-rock of Waiting in Light still shows, frontman Peter Urlich remains this country's finest tribute to Mick Jagger.
With illuminating and entertaining liner notes from Morris (the others chip in their two-cents worth) it's a smartly presented compilation, a tidy little summation of one band's time in the sun. Those were th'days.
Label: Festival Mushroom
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