Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

For some unknown reason, a small American record label has decided to put out everything that Tonio K has ever recorded! Having caught up with his back catalogue, it seems like we’re still raiding the vaults, rather than sending Mr K into a studio to make a “proper” album! Having said all that, this mixture of demos and songs that he’d intended for other artists is filled with enough glorious moments to make it worth investigating. In case you haven’t discovered Tonio K’s music, here’s a quick recap. Originally his energetic, theatric, searing, new wave-influenced songs ripped a well-needed hole in the rock’n’roll firmament and brought critical, if not commercial, success in the late ‘70’s/early ‘80’s. Salvation may have tempered his temper but didn’t prevent Tonio K from indulging in some prophetic cynicism, at targets worth hitting, on his two albums given a release in the Christian marketplace in the mid ‘80’s. Since then, he’s managed to avoid fame or fortune with any of his releases, but has consistently written some wonderful material, some of which has made it here. Since some of these songs were aimed at other artists, it isn’t surprising that this set is eclectic and it only shows Tonio K’s abilities as a writer. Working with Charlie Sexton and amazingly pitching two songs at Tina Turner, one of them, “Murder My Heart” has a sassiness and if I close my eyes I can just about picture TT shimmying to the groove. Hmmm. Elsewhere “16 Tons Of Moneys” is a typical piece of Tonio boogie with searing lyrics. For me, I always enjoy his leftfield stuff, and the sheer cleverness of his observations and the dryness of his wit on tracks like “Indians And Aliens” and “Student Interview (With The Third Richest Man In The World)”. But he’s also capable of great tenderness which seeps through his music, albeit disguised by a layer of cynicism. If you’ve never checked into his music, you’ll love it if you like the honesty of Martyn Joseph or The Vigilantes Of Love, and TK remains one of THE great unsung songwriting heroes of the past two decades- unless Tina finds the demo!

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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