• A 34-track Expanded Deluxe 2CD version of Monsoon’s ground breaking ‘Third Eye’ album that was originally released in 1982.
• Featuring the original 10-track album plus a comprehensive selection of bonus tracks including B-Sides, remixes, edits and instrumental versions.
• Also included are six previously unreleased tracks including the four songs that the band recorded for a Capital Radio Session in 1982.
• With a fully illustrated 32-page CD booklet featuring a brand new Q&A with Sheila Chandra.
Monsoon led by singer Sheila Chandra (best known for her role in the BBC’S Grange Hill) along with record producer Steve Coe and bass guitarist Martin Smith was a brave and pioneering pop trio that blended traditional music from the Indian sub-continent with 80s British pop.
Additionally, they drew on the best musicians they could find from both East and West.
Monsoon’s first EP ‘Ever So Lonely’/’Sunset Over The Ganges/Mirror of Your Mind/Shout till You’re Heard’ had been distributed by Rough Trade. In December 1981, the band re-arranged and re-recorded ‘Ever So Lonely’ at Rockfield Studios with co-producer Hugh Jones, released by Mobile Suit Corporation (Phonogram) in 1982 and, though surrounded by synth-pop singles, and predating the term ‘World Music’ by a full five years, was a smash hit around the world, reaching No.12 in the UK singles chart.
Two further singles followed; ‘Shakti (The Meaning Of Within)’ and a cover of The Beatles’ ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ along with the debut album ‘Third Eye’ but due to differences with their label, Phonogram, Monsoon dissolved later in 1982.
With the full involvement and co-operation of lead singer Sheila Chandra, Cherry Red are delighted to re-issue this expanded deluxe 2CD edition of the Third Eye album by the band that opened up the UK’s cultural consciousness to new possibilities – and changed it forever.
