In this day and age, many old classic albums are getting the update. In fact, so many of the overlooked “classics” are getting attention that they haven’t had before if only to give the fans a good new version of whatever they released. Labels like Omnivore, the Cherry Red stable of labels, and others have done a great job of providing updated versions of those albums. But labels, you have done a disservice to yourself and to fans by not going to the classic ONLY album from David + David – Boomtown. And I, for one, don’t understand that exclusion.
Boomtown was released by A&M Records in July of 986 and featured the songwriting and performance art of David Baerwald and David Ricketts. This one-off album was successful enough to have yielded three singles, all high on the Billboard US charts at the time. those tracks included “Welcome To The Boomtown” (No. 8), “Swallowed By The Cracks” (No. 14), and “Ain’t So Easy” (No. 17) – [hear below]. They enjoyed success in Australia as well, peaking at 27 on their charts.
Shortly after the release of Boomtown, the pair disbanded. And to date, have never revisited their successful formula for the fans of the duo. Boomtown is an album that I revisit myself quite frequently. In fact, it was a listen to the album today that led to this post and wondering.
So, labels that revisit and revitalize these kinds of unheralded classics that had a solid bedrock of fans, why haven’t you reissued a definitive edition of Boomtown. I’m hopeful there are a few outtakes from the sessions, and some live performances that can be added to an expanded edition of Boomtown. Please.
It is possible that the pair might rejoin – like they almost had in 2016 – and give us another David + David classic to enjoy.
Please, don’t let Boomtown be “swallowed by the cracks”.