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Steve Hackett – Recording Compendium, Part 5: 1984 – 1989
Part 5 of the Steve Hackett Recording Compendium deals with the time between the supergroup GTR and the album Momentum (including the long lost Feedback album).
Part 5: GTR / Feedback / Momentum | Herbst 1984 – 1989
Last Update: 09/06/2025 | Overview | back to part 4 | on to part 6
Without knowing what the future holds, Steve Hackett and Nick Magnus continue to work on new ideas, which already contain elements of the later tracks Prizefighters, Slot Machine and Don’t Fall (In Love With Me).
Yes & Asia manager Brian Lane learns of Steve Hackett‘s currently unclear situation via manager Gibbon. The situation was similar at the time for former Yes guitarist Steve Howe, who had just left the all-star formation Asia. The idea of forming a band around the two guitarists-Steves comes up. The two are open to the idea and meet for their first writing sessions. Steve Howe documents one of these early results at home in demo form…
Outlawed (Demo)
(Steve Hackett/Steve Howe) (3:51)
Recording date: 1984
Recording location: Langley Studios/Devon
Produced by: Steve Howe
Performed by: Steve Howe
First official release/Best available source: 2005 – Steve Howe Homebrew 3 (EU CD//Inside Out Music IOMCD 229)
Drummer Jonathan Mover, who had already auditioned for Hackett in the past and had recently left Marillion (making room for Hackett drummer Ian Mosley), was brought on board for the project. Mover in turn recommended Phil Spalding as bass player and Hackett contacted Max Bacon, the ex-frontman of Nightwing, with whom he had worked in 1983. Interestingly, he also had previously suggested the later Mike & The Mechanics singer Paul Carrack. From the Howe camp, Geoff Downes, the ex-Yes keyboardist and head of Asia, was snapped up as producer, who was in proud possession of a Synclavier, which enabled the two guitarists to use keyboard sounds via guitars.
At the beginning of the new year, the new band meets in the rehearsal room to work on pieces for a few months. ‘Work in progress’ versions of pieces are recorded, although not all of them are pursued further, such as Hackett’s Wasteland…
Wasteland [demo]
(Steve Hackett) (1:55)
Hackett To Bits (part 1) [demo] [parts based on Please Don’t Touch]
(Steve Hackett) (1:17)
Hackett To Bits (part 2) [demo] [parts based on Please Don’t Touch]
(Steve Hackett) (0:56)
You Can Still Get Through [demo] [parts based on Getting Through (Howe demo)]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (4:43)
You Can Still Get Through [rough mix]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (4:39)
? Make A Stand [demo]
(?) (4:38)
? Suddenly You’re There [demo]
(?) (4:34)
First official release: —
Best available source: Bootleg – GTR Debut Album Demos (CD-r/?)
Another unused idea from those days – a riff in 7/8 time – would only find a home 25 years later in Steve Hackett’s track Turn This Island Earth.
In the second half of the year, the band – now called GTR – and their producer set up shop in the legendary Town House to record their first album. Insights into this process will be available in a short documentary the following year…
The Making Of GTR
First official release: 1986 – GTR The Making Of GTR (US VHS//RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video 60633)
Best available source: Bootleg – GTR The Making Of GTR (DVD-r)
The self-titled GTR album contains ten tracks, one of which is a Howe solo number…
When The Heart Rules The Mind [parts based on Follow Your Heart (Steve Howe demo)]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (5:25)
The Hunter
(Geoffrey Downes) (4:55)
Here I Wait
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (4:54)
Sketches In The Sun [Steve Howe solo]
(Steve Howe) (2:31)
Jekyll And Hyde
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe, Max Bacon) (4:42)
You Can Still Get Through
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (4:52)
Reach Out (Never Say No) [based on Reaching Out (Steve Howe demo)]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe, Phil Spalding) (4:07)
Toe The Line [based on Against The Tide (Steve Howe demo)]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (4:29)
Hackett To Bits
(Steve Hackett) (2:09)
Imagining [Bone Shaker] [parts based on The Last Word (Steve Howe demo)]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe, Jonathan Mover) (5:52)
Recording date: 1985
Recording location: The Town House/London
Produced by: Geoffrey Downes
Performed by: GTR feat. Steve Hackett (Guitar, Synthesizer, Backing Vocals), Steve Howe (Guitar, Synthesizer, Backing Vocals), Max Bacon (Vocals), Phil Spalding (Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals) & Jonathan Mover (Drums, Percussion)
First official release: 24 April 1986 – GTR GTR (US CD//Arista ARCD 8400)
Best available source: GTR GTR (Deluxe Edition) [2015 remaster] (EU 2CD//Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22508) Aug 28, 2015
For two singles, the two A-sides have been worked on again…
When The Heart Rules The Mind (Long Edit / Single Version)
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (4:27)
First official release: April 1986 – GTR When The Heart Rules The Mind (US 7“//Arista AS1-9470)
Best available source: GTR GTR (Deluxe Edition) [2015 remaster] (EU 2CD//Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22508)
When The Heart Rules The Mind (Short Edit)
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (4:00)
First official release/Best available source: April 1986 – GTR When The Heart Rules The Mind (US promo 7“//Arista AS1-9470)
The Hunter (Single Version)
(Geoffrey Downes) (4:00)
First official release: July 1986 – GTR The Hunter (US 7″//Arista AS1-9512)
Best available source: GTR GTR (Deluxe Edition) [2015 remaster] (EU 2CD//Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22508)
The Hunter (Special GTR Mix)
(Geoffrey Downes) (4:56)
First official release: July 1986 – GTR The Hunter (US promo 12“//Arista ADP-9513)
Best available source: GTR GTR (Deluxe Edition) [2015 remaster] (EU 2CD//Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22508)
At the beginning of September, the four members of Queen suddenly turn up at Town House Studios to record their next album. Steve ends up at Freddie Mercury’s birthday party on 5 September and makes friends with Queen guitarist Brian May.
There is still a lot of preparation and promotional work to do before the GTR album release in America in May. On 6 February, however, Steve will be appearing at Pete Townshend’s drug rehabilitation charity event Double O as a special guest of Marillion on stage at the Hammersmith Odeon to perform with the band I Know What I Like.
He was also invited by Box Of Frogs, a band featuring four former legends of The Yardbirds, to take part in the recording sessions for their second album (also featuring the likes of Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Rory Gallagher), playing guitar on two tracks…
Trouble
(Paul Samwell-Smith, Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty) (5:40)
Average
(Paul Samwell-Smith, Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty) (4:18)
Average (Remixed) *
(Paul Samwell-Smith, Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty) (3:51)
Recording date: 1985? 1986?
Recording locations: Battery Studios/London, Island Studios/London, Redan Recorders/?, Ridge Farm Studios/?
Produced by: Paul Samwell-Smith
Performed by: Box of Frogs feat. Steve Hackett (Lead Guitar), Ian Dury (Vocals on Average), John Fiddler (Vocals on Trouble), Max Middleton (Synthesizer & Keyboard Solo on Average), Peter-John Vettese (Synthesizer), David Clayton (Synthesizer on Trouble) & Dzal Martin (Guitar on Trouble)
First official release: 27th August 1986 – Box Of Frogs Strange Land (EU LP//Epic EPC 26375)
Best available source: Box Of Frogs Strange Land [2011 remaster] (UK CD//Esoteric Recordings ECLEC2254)
* First official release/Best available source: 13th June 1986 – Box Of Frogs Average (UK 7“//Epic A 7248)
* Best available source: Box Of Frogs Average (UK 12“//Epic TA 7248)
While the first single When The Heart Rules The Mind is turning into an international chart hit, GTR plus live keyboardist Matt Clifford are preparing for the scheduled U.S. tour. The band will kick off on 20 June in Baltimore and will be on the road until the final gig in Miami on 31 July. In addition to all the GTR tracks from the album, the setlist is filled with the unreleased Hackett number Prizefighters (here still with elements of the also unreleased Slot Machine) and Howe’s Pennants, the Hackett and Genesis classics Spectral Mornings, After The Ordeal (as a medley), …In That Quiet Earth (part 1), I Know What I Like (also as a medley) and Roundabout by Yes.
In addition, there were two solo acoustic sets by the two main protagonists, in which the piece San Sebastian, which would later be renamed Calvacanti, appeared in Steve Hackett’s repertoire for the first time, and also an instrumental version of the later vocal track Oh How I Love You in combination with Howe’s From A Place Where Time Runs Slow by the two Steves together with keyboard man Matt.
A recording of Here I Wait from the tour ended up on a promo 12‘ single, and the concert from 19 July at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles was broadcast on the radio a good month later, albeit without the acoustic block, the ’Spectral Ordeal” medley and the track Toe The Line. Ten years later, however, the latter will end up on an official release of the concert, on which Prizefighters and Roundabout will be missing.
Here I Wait (Live)
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (5:28)
First official release: 1986 – GTR Here I Wait (US promo 12“//Arista ADP-9531)
Jekyll And Hyde [live in Los Angeles 1986] °*
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe, Max Bacon) (5:47)
Here I Wait [live in Los Angeles 1986] °*
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (5:55)
Prizefighters [live in Los Angeles 1986] *
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (5:16)
Imagining [live in Los Angeles 1986] °*
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe, Jonathan Mover) (7:12)
Hackett To Bits [live in Los Angeles 1986] °*
(Steve Hackett) (2:21)
Spectral Mornings [live in Los Angeles 1986] °*
(Steve Hackett) (3:57)
I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) [live in Los Angeles 1986] °*
(Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett) (6:23)
Toe The Line [live in Los Angeles 1986] °
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) ()
Sketches In The Sun [Steve Howe solo] [live in Los Angeles 1986] °*
(Steve Howe) (2:44)
Pennants [live in Los Angeles 1986] °*
(Steve Howe) (4:30)
Roundabout [live in Los Angeles 1986] *
(Jon Anderson, Steve Howe) (8:38)
The Hunter [live in Los Angeles 1986] °*
(Geoffrey Downes) (6:44)
You Can Still Get Through [live in Los Angeles 1986] °*
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (6:54)
Reach Out (Never Say No) [live in Los Angeles 1986] °*
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe, Phil Spalding) (5:53)
When The Heart Rules The Mind [live in Los Angeles 1986] °*
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (6:05)
Performance date: 19th July 1986
Performance location: The Wiltern Theater/Los Angeles
Produced by: Len Handler & Steve Ship
Performed by: GTR feat. Steve Hackett (Guitars, Guitar Synth, Backing Vocals), Steve Howe (Guitars, Backing Vocals), Max Bacon (Lead Vocals), Jonathan Mover (Drums, Percussion), Phil Spalding (Bass, Backing Vocals) & Matt Clifford (Keyboards)
° First broadcast date: 25th August 1986 – Superbiscuit ’86 GTR (King Biscuit Flower Hour)
* First official release: 28th January 1997 – GTR King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents GTR (US CD//King Biscuit Flower Hour Records/BMG 70710-88021-2)
* Best available source: GTR GTR (Deluxe Edition) [2015 remaster] (EU 2CD//Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22508)
For the parts of the concert not included, you have to make do with bootleg recordings.
San Sebastian [early version of Calvacanti] [live 1986]
(Steve Hackett) (2:42)
First known performance date: 20th June 1986 (Lyric Theater/Baltimore)
From A Place Where Time Runs Slow / Oh How I Love You [live 1986]
(Steve Howe) / (Steve Hackett) (4:14)
First known performance date: 20th June 1986 (Lyric Theater/Baltimore)
Bourée (In E Minor) [live 1986] *
(Johann Sebastian Bach) ()
First known performance date: 07th July 1986 (Syria Mosque/Pittsburgh)
First official release: —
Best available source: Bootleg – GTR Brief Encounter (HD download//PRRP 033)
Performance date: 28th June 1986
Performance location: Tower Theatre/Upper Darby
* Best available source: Bootleg – GTR Pittsburgh 07.07.86 (HD download 2CD-r//)
* Performance date: 07th July 1986
*Performance location: Syria Mosque/Pittsburgh
After a visit to the TV show American Bandstand on 9 August, the band will be taking a summer break. Queen, and therefore Brian May, also end their EU tour on 9 August. Hackett and May intensify their collaboration over these weeks. And Steve is flirting with the idea of seeing GTR more as a project that could also involve other guitarists.
From 8 to 29 September, GTR is finally on tour in Europe. Steve (with his own manager Gibbon) feels increasingly uncomfortable in the ‘band corset’ and prefers to share his free time with his wife Kim rather than with the rest of the band. The concert on 22 September in Munich is broadcast on TV and will be released on DVD in Japan 22 years later.
Jekyll And Hyde [live in Munich 1986]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe, Max Bacon) (5:47)
Here I Wait [live in Munich 1986]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (5:55)
The Hunter [live in Munich 1986]
(Geoffrey Downes) (6:44)
When The Heart Rules The Mind [live in Munich 1986]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (6:05)
Prizefighters [live in Munich 1986]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (5:16)
Imagining [live in Munich 1986]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe, Jonathan Mover) (7:12)
Hackett To Bits [edit] [live in Munich 1986]
(Steve Hackett) (2:21)
Roundabout [live in Munich 1986]
(Jon Anderson, Steve Howe) (8:38)
You Can Still Get Through [live in Munich 1986]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (6:54)
Reach Out (Never Say No) [live in Munich 1986]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe, Phil Spalding) (5:53)
Performance date: 22nd September 1986
Performance location: Alabamahalle/Munich
Produced by:
Performed by: GTR feat. Steve Hackett (Guitars, Guitar Synth, Backing Vocals), Steve Howe (Guitars, Backing Vocals), Max Bacon (Lead Vocals), Jonathan Mover (Drums, Percussion), Phil Spalding (Bass, Backing Vocals) & Matt Clifford (Keyboards)
First broadcast date: 22th September 1986 – Live aus dem Alabama (live broadcast//BR TV)
First official release/Best available source: 2008 – GTR Live (JP DVD//WHD Entertainment, Inc. IEBP10015)
Rehearsals for the next GTR album are scheduled for October, but Steve Hackett doesn’t show up. He finds distraction in a project with the London Symphony Orchestra, which wants to record a Genesis tribute album under the direction of ex-Jethro Tull keyboardist David Palmer, for which Steve is to take over the guitar parts. Palmer’s arrangements are based on the Genesis repertoire from 1970 to 1980 inclusive, which interestingly means that Steve also has to try his hand at guitar parts from the band’s phase after his departure.
Guide Vocal / Turn It On Again
(Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford) (5:54)
Mad Man Moon
(Tony Banks) (9:10)
Entangled
(Steve Hackett/Tony Banks) (5:17)
Medley [i]
(3:49)
a) Los Jigos
(David Palmer?)
b) Duke’s Travels
(Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford)
c) Fountain Of Salmacis
(Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett)
d) The Knife
(Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel)
e) Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers…
(Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford)
f) Los Jigos
(David Palmer?)
Follow You, Follow Me
(Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford) (4:13)
I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
(Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett) (3:56)
Medley [ii]
(11:05)
a) Snowbound
(Mike Rutherford)
b) Scenes From A Night’s Dream
(Tony Banks, Phil Collins)
c) Say It’s Alright Joe
(Mike Rutherford)
Horizons [1986 version]
(Steve Hackett) (2:42)
Can-Utility And The Coastliners
(Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford) (5:49)
Undertow / Supper’s Ready [part VII: As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs]
(Tony Banks) / (Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett) (6:13)
Recording date: late 1986
Produced by: David Palmer
Performed by: The London Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Palmer feat. Steve Hackett (Guitars), Mo Foster (Bass), Brett Morgan (Drums), Tony Hymas (Keyboards), Trevor Bastow (Keyboards), Charterhouse School Choir, Ian Anderson (Flute) & Daniel Phillips (Soprano Vocals)
First official release/Best available source: 1987 – The London Symphony Orchestra We Know What We Like: The Music Of Genesis (EU CD//RCA RD86242)
While the rest of GTR are working on new material, Steve Hackett prefers to concentrate on his own material. Again together with Nick Magnus, he works – time and money permitting – on new songs that have developed since the autumn of ’84. And for some instrumental parts, but above all all lead vocals, he brings support to individual studio sessions, e.g. the current rhythm section of Marillion, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band frontman Chris Thompson, Bonnie Tyler and of course Brian May.
Slot Machine [take 1]
(Steve Hackett, Brian May) (4:08)
Slot Machine [take 2]
(Steve Hackett, Brian May) (3:58)
Slot Machine [edited version]
(Steve Hackett, Brian May) (3:31)
Cassandra [take 1]
(Steve Hackett) (4:06)
Cassandra [take 2]
(Steve Hackett) (2:54)
Don’t Fall (In Love With Me) [take 1]
(Steve Hackett?) (4:26)
Don’t Fall (In Love With Me) [take 2]
(Steve Hackett?) (3:19)
? Oh How I Love You [rough mix?]
(Steve Hackett) (3:59)
Prizefighters [take 1 feat. Bonnie Tyler]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (5:14)
Prizefighters [take 2]
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (5:04)
? Notre Dame Des Fleurs [rough mix?]
(Steve Hackett) (3:18)
Recording date: 1986
Recording location: Island Studios/London (Brian May), Eelpie Studios/London (Bonnie Tyler), ?
Produced by: Steve Hackett *& Brian May
Performed by: Steve Hackett (Guitars, Vocals) feat. Nick Magnus (Keyboards, Programming), Ian Mosley (Drums on Cassandra), Brian May (Guitar on Cassandra & Slot Machine, Backing Vocals on Slot Machine), Chris Thompson (Vocals), Bonnie Tyler (Vocals on Prizefighters), Pete Trewavas (Bass on Cassandra), Terry Pack (Bass on Prizefighters), The Phil Henderson Orchestra (Strings on Prizefighters)
First official release: —
Best avvailable source: Bootleg – GTR Oh! How I Love You (CD//Highland HL469)
The process of recording and rearranging the new songs will continue into next year. For example, the current verse parts of Don’t Fall (In Love With Me) will still be completely replaced, but in a few years they will have a new home in the song Solid Ground.
During another stay in Brazil in the new year, there is a final collaboration with Ritchie for a song on his upcoming album…
Meantime (1987 Version)
(Richard Court, Fernando Pessoa) (4:28)
Recording date: 1987
Recording location: ?
Produced by: Renato Ladeira, Roberto Lly, William Forghieri & Ritchie
Performed by: Ritchie (Richard Court) feat. Steve Hackett (Guitar)
First official release/Best available source: June 1987 – Ritchie Loucura & Mágica (BR LP//Philips 832 263-1)
While Steve continues to work on a rock solo album with Nick Magnus, he feels compelled to officially disband the band due to GTR’s financial difficulties, even though the rump line-up around Steve Howe would like to capitalise on the success of the previous year. But even with the new band name Nerotrend, the project was at an impasse and disbanded after a few demo sessions without Hackett.
Steve Hackett‘s new songs Stadium Of The Damned and The Gulf are only recorded in tandem with Nick, without any other guests, and extend the existing material to an album-worthy playing time. Without a manager, Steve tries to find a label that would release the album, which is to bear the name Feedback, under conditions that suit him. But despite the commercial qualities of the material, the endeavour proves to be hopeless for performers like him in the mid-80s…
Cassandra
(Steve Hackett) (4:08)
Prizefighters
(Steve Hackett, Steve Howe) (5:13)
Slot Machine *
(Steve Hackett, Brian May) (4:23)
Stadium Of The Damned
(Steve Hackett) (4:43)
Don’t Fall (In Love With Me)
(Steve Hackett?) (4:26)
Oh How I Love You
(Steve Hackett) (3:58)
Notre Dame Des Fleurs
(Steve Hackett) (3:12)
The Gulf
(Steve Hackett) (7:19)
Recording date: 1986 & 1987
Recording location: Island Studios/London (Brian May), Eelpie Studios/London (Bonnie Tyler), ?
Produced by: Steve Hackett *& Brian May
Performed by: Steve Hackett (Guitars, Vocals) feat. Nick Magnus (Keyboards, Programming), Ian Mosley (Drums on Cassandra), Brian May (Guitar on Cassandra & Slot Machine, Backing Vocals on Slot Machine), Chris Thompson (Vocals except Stadium Of The Damned, The Gulf & Notre Dame Des Fleurs), Bonnie Tyler (Vocals on Prizefighters), Pete Trewavas (Bass on Cassandra), Terry Pack (Bass on Prizefighters), The Phil Henderson Orchestra (Strings on Prizefighters)
First official release: 9th October 2000 – Steve Hackett Feedback ’86 (UK CD//Camino Records CAMCD21)
Best available source: Steve Hackett Feedback ’86 (EU CD//Inside Out Music IOMCD 368)
As there is still no prospect of a viable label deal for Steve months later, he inevitably has to put the project on ice. Cassandra will be re-recorded six years later (the guitar riff will also find a new use on Omega Metallicus in 1999), and part of Don’t Fall (In Love With Me) will become Don’t Fall Away From Me four years later.
The two 1987 songs will be heard for the first time in a revised version as bonus tracks on a re-release of the Till We Have Faces album even before the 13-year delayed release of the Feedback album…
The Gulf (1994 Remix)
(Steve Hackett) (6:30)
Stadiums Of The Damned (1994 Remix)
(Steve Hackett) (4:37)
Remix date: 1994
Remixed by: Steve Hackett & Jerry Peal?
First official release: 30th May 1994 – Steve Hackett Till We Have Faces [1994 remaster] (EU CD//Kudos PERM CDL19)
Best available source: Steve Hackett Till We Have Faces [1994 remaster] (EU CD//Inside Out Music IOMCD 367)
From the middle of the year, Steve is now concentrating on his less expensive acoustic output. Since his first acoustic album Bay Of Kings from 1983, he has also written several pieces for classical guitar, such as Concert For Munich (already played on the ’83 acoustic tour) and Calvacanti (formerly San Sebastian). New pieces are composed and worked out and then recorded at the end of the year in London’s Raezor Studios…
Cavalcanti
(Steve Hackett) (6:13)
The Sleeping Sea
(Steve Hackett) (3:26)
Portrait Of A Brazilian Lady
(Steve Hackett) (5:14)
When The Bell Breaks
(Steve Hackett) (3:03)
A Bed, A Chair & A Guitar
(traditional, Steve Hackett) (2:42)
Concert For Munich
(Steve Hackett) (4:54)
Last Rites Of Innocence
(Steve Hackett) (5:26)
Troubled Spirit
(Steve Hackett) (2:30)
Variation On A Theme By Chopin
(Steve Hackett) (4:55)
Pierrot
(Steve Hackett) (2:52)
Momentum
(Steve Hackett) (2:41)
Recording date: 1987
Recording location: Raezor Studios/London
Produced by: Steve Hackett & John Acock
Performed by: Steve Hackett (Acoustic Guitar, Guitar Synth) feat. John Hackett (Flute)
First official release: 28th March 1988 – Steve Hackett Momentum (UK CD//Start SCD 15)
Best available source: Steve Hackett Momentum [1994 remaster] (EU CD//Inside Out Music IOM724)
The hope that his acoustic music would be released on a speciality label was fulfilled when ex-manager Brian Gibbon, who had turned back to the business side after GTR and founded a secondary label, was able to give him the opportunity to release his new album Momentum on his new label ‘Start’ (for ‘State Of The Art’).
Momentum is due to be released in March of the new year and will be followed by a tour. This is where Billy Budis comes into play for the first time as tour manager. Steve’s Momentum tour with brother John Hackett starts at the end of April, takes the two of them through England, Italy and the Netherlands and ends in Brussels, Belgium, at the end of May. In addition to previously released material, there is already new output to be heard on the tour: Still Life, Silver, The Carrot That Killed My Sister and an Electric Improvisation. No official recording of this tour will be released, which makes it necessary to use bootleg recordings for the ‘live only’ tracks…
Still Life [early version of An Open Window] [live 1988] *
(Steve Hackett) (6:43)
First known performance date: 1st May 1988 (Opera House/Manchester)
Jazz On A Summer’s Night [live 1988] *
(Steve Hackett) (3:13)
First known perfomance date: 26th October 1983 (University/Warwick)
Electric Improvisation [live 1988] *
(Steve Hackett) (14:21)
First known performance date: 1st May 1988 (Opera House/Manchester)
Silver [live 1988] **
(Steve Hackett) (3:29)
First known performance date: 1st May 1988 (Opera House/Manchester)
The Carrot That Killed My Sister [live 1988] *
(Steve Hackett) (4:09)
First known performance date: 1st May 1988 (Opera House/Manchester)
Performed by: Steve Hackett (Acoustic Guitar, Guitar Synth) feat. John Hackett (Flute)
First official release: —
* Best available source: Bootleg – Steve Hackett ? (HD download 2CD-r//)
* Performance date: 20th May 1988
* Performance location: Teatro Orfeo/Milan
** Best available source: Bootleg – Steve Hackett New Morning Paris 19.09.1988 (HD download 2CD-r//SHRP07 Revised)
** Performance date: 19th September 1988
** Performance location: New Morning/Paris
Over the summer months – interrupted only by a gig on 24 July in Scotland – Steve worked on further new acoustic pieces, as he would be on the road without his brother John for the planned second leg of the tour and the corresponding pieces in the setlist would have to be replaced. These include Harmonics, The Vigil, End Of Day and Peace. The tour starts on 26 August at the Glasnost Rock Festival in Taillinn and ends on 19 September. No official recordings of this second Momentum tour will be released either…
Harmonics [early version of Bacchus / Puck] [live 1988] *
(Steve Hackett) (6:43)
First known performance date: 14th September 1988 (Modernes/Bremen)
Improvisation [live 1988] *
(Steve Hackett) (3:13)
First known perfomance date:
The Vigil [live 1988] *
(Steve Hackett) (14:21)
First known performance date: 14th September 1988 (Modernes/Bremen)
End Of Day [early version of All Is Mended] [live 1988] **
(Steve Hackett) (3:29)
First known performance date: 14th September 1988 (Modernes/Bremen)
Peace [live 1988] **
(Steve Hackett) (3:29)
First known performance date: 14th September 1988 (Modernes/Bremen)
Bourée (In E Minor) [live 1988] *
(Johann Sebastian Bach) (4:09)
First known performance date: 07th July 1986 (Syria Mosque/Pittsburgh)
Performed by: Steve Hackett (Acoustic Guitar, Guitar Synth)
First official release: —
* Best available source: Bootleg – Steve Hackett New Morning Paris 19.09.1988 (HD download 2CD-r//SHRP07 Revised)
* Performance date: 19th September 1988
* Performance location: New Morning/Paris
** Best available source: Bootleg – Steve Hackett ? (//)
** Performance date: 14th September 1988
** Performance location: Modernes/Bremen
He is likely to spend the rest of the year working on new songs with Nick Magnus.
In the first few months of the new year, another orchestral tribute album will be recorded under the direction of David Palmer. Together with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, this time Steve takes on the role of guitar legend David Gilmour and sets Pink Floyd classics to music…
Run Like Hell
(David Gilmour, Roger Waters) (4:47)
Another Brick In The Wall (incl. The Happiest Day Of Our Lives)
(Roger Waters) (7:30)
Goodbye Blue Sky
(Roger Waters) (4:08)
Money
(Roger Waters) (6:50)
Hey You
(Roger Waters) (6:13)
Wish You Were Here
(David Gilmour, Roger Waters) (4:37)
On The Turning Away
(David Gilmour, Anthony Moore) (4:02)
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1 – 5)
(David Gilmour, Richard Wright, Roger Waters) (9:56)
When The Tigers Broke Free / Eclipse
(Roger Waters) (6:02)
Recording date: January – April 1989
Recording location: C.T.S. Wembley/Middlesex, Lansdowne Studios/London, Jacobs Studios/Farnham, Mayflower Studios/London
Produced by: David Palmer
Performed by: David Palmer & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra feat. Steve Hackett (Guitar) a.o.
First official release: 1989 – David Palmer And The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Objects Of Fantasy (The Music Of Pink Floyd) (EU CD//RCA Victor RD87960)
Best available source: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Music Of Pink Floyd (EU CD//RCA Victor 07863 57960 2)
The situation regarding the release of Steve Hackett‘s Feedback album in 1989 has not changed. Nevertheless, he is working with Nick on new material, which will remain unreleased or not go beyond demo status for the time being.
Valley Of The Kings [original mix] *
(Steve Hackett) ()
In The Heart Of The City (Original Version) **
(Steve Hackett) (4:19)
Theatre Of Sleep [1998 mix?] ***
(Steve Hackett) (3:04)
[more demos?]
(Steve Hackett) ()
Mixed by: * / ** Billy Budis, *** Roger King
Performed by: Steve Hackett feat. Nick Magnus (Keyboards, Programming), ** Nick Sykes (add. Keyboards) & *** Bimbo Acock (Clarinet)
* First official release/Best available source: —
** / *** First official release/Best available source: 1998 – Steve Hackett Guitar Noir [1998 remix/remaster] (UK CD//Camino Records CAMCD12)
However, the main focus is soon on a charity project initiated by Steve: a protest song against the repatriation of Vietnamese boat refugees who had fled to Hong Kong and are forced to live in poor conditions in refugee camps there. Steve wants to generate donations with a new recording of the classic song Sailing and invites a whole host of music celebrities to take part. The project is given the name Rock Against Repatriation…
Sailing
(Gavin Sutherland) (4:12)
Sailing (Instrumental)
(Gavin Sutherland) (4:14)
Recording date: late 1989
Recording location: Surrey Sound Studios, Real World Studios/Box, Maison Rouge
Produced by: Steve Hackett with Billy Budis & David Yorath
Performed by: Rock Against Repatriation feat. Steve Hackett (Guitar, Backing Vocals), Nick Magnus (Keyboards, Programming, Strings Arrangement), Simon Phillips (Drums), Pino Palladino (Bass), Brian May (Guitar), Steve Rothery (Guitar), Phil Manzanera (Guitar), Howard Jones (Piano), Bonnie Tyler (Vocals), Paul Carrack (Vocals), Jim Diamond (Vocals), Fish (Vocals), Steve Hogarth (Vocals), Kevin Godley (Vocals), Mark King (Vocals) Curt Smith (Vocals), Ian Sutherland (Vocals), Justin Hayward (Vocals), Judie Tzuke (Vocals, Backing Vocals), Marillion (Backing Vocals), Paul Muggleton (Backing Vocals), Tom Conti (Backing Vocals), The London Chamber Orchestra (Strings) & The Pride Of Murray (Bagpipes)
First official release/Best available source: 19th February 1990 – Rock Against Repatriation Sailing (UK CDS//I.R.S. Records EIRSCD 139)
With the completion of the recordings at the end of the year, the sometimes difficult 80s come to an end for Steve and with them the collaboration with some of his long-time companions. For financial reasons, Nick Magnus had to look for other sources of income and found what he was looking for in the synthesiser tribute project Project D. The plan to build a studio in Steves own home in Twickenham with Billy Budis and produce it himself also makes the collaboration with producer John Acock obsolete in future. They also want to break new ground in terms of management and label. Billy Budis is now following in the footsteps of Brian Gibbon…
Compiled and written by Steffen Gerlach
Header image: Helmut Janisch
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