Third Spain - 4-track recordings January 1986

Third Spain HQ 1986 (photographed 8/6/2012)

On the 27th and 28th of January 1986, Third Spain borrowed a 4-track Tascam Portastudio and installed it at drummer Rick Joslin's waterside residence at Manadwyn, Menai Bridge with the intention of recording a potential follow up to their debut album, released a few months previously. Tascam had introduced the Portastudio a couple of years earlier and it was beginning to revolutionise the music world, but this was Third Spain's first encounter with such technology.

Over the two days, the group managed to record seventeen songs, all written since the release of the LP and Rick's subsequent joining the group. Half way through the recording, news came in that the space shuttle Challenger had exploded on take off, killing all seven astronauts on board. This event cast a sense of foreboding over the recordings, as can be heard in the slightly ominous ambience of some of the songs.

Despite the relative economy of the new recording technology, it's interesting to note that the group still felt it necessary to condense their twenty minute live epic The Old House by the Sea into a mere three and a bit minutes in order to save tape! In the end, none of these songs were actually released and indeed got superseded by a whole new set within a couple of months. Indeed, despite the wealth of excellent material, Third Spain were never to release any further official material during their lifetime. The recordings presented here and previously here, provide a valuable archive and rare insight into one of north Wales most semi-legendary groups.

In 2012, Rick chanced upon an old cassette which he found to contain the original 4-track recordings of six of the songs from the session. These have been remixed with the aid of 21st century technology and appear here in both 1986 and 2012 mixes. Should any further multi-tracks surface in the future, further remixes will also appear here.

above: Third Spain live at the Jazz Room, Bangor 24th October 1985 with (bottom left) Mark Windows of support act The Creations

Third Spain - Manadwyn, January 27th - 28th 1986

Maeyc Hewitt - Guitar
Alan Holmes - Guitar
Rick Joslin - Drums
Ian McMillan - Bass
Scott Saunders - Vocals

1    1000 Different Things  2:42
2    Another Moon Goes By  3:53
3    Barking Up the Wrong Tree  4:42
4    Easier  2:28
5    Fire's Gone Out  4:35
6    High Horses  3:05
7    Home  4:00
8    Living in This  4:12
9    Locked Up  5:59
10    Name the Guilty Men  3:18
11    Never Met Before  2:49
12    Take It Home  2:47
13    The Good Things  4:21
14    The Old House by the Sea  3:17
15    These Shoes Will Do  3:51
16    Wednesday Evening  4:36
17    Which Way To Go  3:43

        1986 remixes

18    Home (Ian's mix)  4:01
19    Locked Up (Rick's mix)  5:58
20    Wednesday Evening (Alan's mix)  4:35

        2012 remixes from original 4-track
21    1000 Different Things (2012 remix)  2:38
22    Easier (2012 remix)  2:26
23    Fire's Gone Out (2012 remix)  4:30
24    Living In This  4:06
25    The Good Things (2012 remix)  4:19
26    The Old House by the Sea (2012 remix)  3:09


all songs by Third Spain 

get it here