Ronnie Mayor: New Album "Beyond The Limberlost" and Vinyl Reissue of "Retrospectively Yours" Compilation from former Tours & Da Biz songwriter

Ronnie Mayor, the former joint singer, songwriter and guitarist with the legendary Power Popsters Tours', one of the much-missed DJ John Peel's favourites, has two releases out now. First of all, there's a new solo album "Beyond The Limberlost" and then courtesy of Bachelor Records there's a vinyl reissue of the compilation "Retrospectively Yours" that showcases his songwriting talents with Tours, Da Biz and as a solo artist, here's some information on the compilation from the record company...

"Power Pop enthusiasts, rejoice! For the first time ever, Ronnie Mayor’s cult-favorite CD "Retrospectively Yours" gets the vinyl treatment, courtesy of Austria’s premier garage/punk/power pop imprint Bachelor Records. Originally released in 2022 as a CD-only archival compilation on Small Operations and available exclusively via Boiler Room Records, "Retrospectively Yours" dives deep into Mayor’s late-70s/early-80s tape archives. Now this essential collection is being reissued on limited edition vinyl (500 copies), bringing new life and analog warmth to 14 gems spanning Mayor’s prolific work with Tours, Da Biz, and his solo releases. Featuring all three of Mayor’s cult 7″ singles—including the John Peel favourite "Language School", the long-lost TOURS anthem "Imagination" and the ultra-rare "On the Beach" by Da Biz—this LP is an irresistible time capsule of DIY energy, sharp hooks, and pure pop passion. The album also unearths eight previously unreleased recordings from Tours and Da Biz, plus the raw rockabilly cut "Clock ‘n’ Rock", written for Surfin’ Dave but never issued until now. "Retrospectively Yours" is exactly what it claims to be: All killer, no filler. A must-have for fans of vintage UK power pop, mod revival, and punk-inflected guitar pop. Released on June 23rd 2025 via Bachelor Records, housed in a deluxe sleeve with a printed inner sleeve with liner notes about the songs and recordings."

Ronnie Mayor in 2018 - Photo by Paul Slattery

 

 

As mentioned above, Ronnie has also just released a new solo album entitled "Beyond The Limberlost" which starts off with the acoustic Country & Western opener "Hank Made It Home" and the pedal steel guitar of second song "Don't You Know You're Home" and you can tell Ronnie is in fine voice. What hits you next is the quite excellent production perfectly highlighted on "This Love Passes On" with some superb backing vocals and understated percussion. Then there's the feel good blue-eyed Soul of "I Wanna Make You Happy" with its brass section and gospel style backing harmonies. The more familiar jangling guitars make an appearance on "Love Is Gonna Pick You Up" and the uptempo album closer "A Kinder World" is based around a naggingly catchy guitar riff and is a great ending to the record.

Tours with Ronnie in the centre - Photo by Paul Slattery

Our features on the Tours reunion gig in 2018 by photographer Paul Slattery, who photographed the band back in their early days, can be found in our archive here. You can also hear Paul discussing the band and playing some choice cuts in our Retrosonic Podcast Episode 47...

 

Retrosonic Podcast · Episode 47 "This Is No Audition" with Rock Photographer Paul Slattery

Photos copyright Paul Slattery.

Tours - "Language School" / "Foreign Girls" - 7" Vinyl Reissue of Classic Power Pop / New Wave Single

Bachelor Records have just re-issued one of the greatest Power Pop singles of all time "Language School" backed with "Foreign Girls" by the sadly short-lived Tours which is available as a limited edition of 500 copies and comes with a four page booklet with liner notes and rare photos. It's a classic pairing that sums up all the very best of 1979, that golden year for melodic guitar Pop. It was a huge favourite of John Peel who played "Language School" on his BBC Radio 1 show for 50 consecutive nights, claiming it was runner up only to his beloved "Teenage Kicks" by The Undertones as one of his all time favourite single. Joint singer-songwriters Ronnie Mayor and Richard Mazda were dubbed the 'Lennon & McCartney' of Punk and Richard Branson signed them up to Virgin Records. Unfortunately, the band only managed to release one more single, the equally excellent "Tourist Information" before they split up. As regular listeners to our Retrosonic Podcast will know, my co-host and colleague, the Rock Photographer Paul Slattery, has banged on about how great Tours were for ages and we've played many songs by the band in various episodes. Paul took some great photos of Tours back in their early years and was chuffed to bits when they decided to re-form in 2018 for a gig in their native Poole, so he hot-footed it down to the south coast with camera in hand to capture rehearsals and the gig itself.

Tours "Language School" heard live again for the first time in almost 40 years! I went down to Poole with writer Dave McCullough back in 1979 to photograph the band Tours for a feature in Sounds magazine. They were unusual because there were two songwriters and two lead singers, Richard Mazda singing his own songs and Ronnie Mayor singing his. However unusual, they were a really excellent band with great tunes and a fantastic sound. - Paul Slattery

You can order the new "Language School" vinyl single and download from the Bachelor Records Bandcamp site here or from 14th Floor Music Distribution here.

 

You can read all about Paul's visit to Tours reunion rehearsals here and the gig at the King Charles in Poole here, both features include excellent photos by Paul, old and new. Don't forget Retrosonic Podcast Episode 47 where Paul Slattery discussed "Retrospectively Yours", the excellent compilation from Ronnie Mayor of Tours, the criminally underrated, short-lived Power Pop/New Wave band who Paul first photographed and championed way back in 1979. There's a special feature on the album which highlights Ronnie's songwriting skills with The Tours and Da Biz and we pick a selection of songs from both bands.

Retrosonic Podcast · Episode 47 "This Is No Audition" with Rock Photographer Paul Slattery

 

Retrosonic Podcast Episode 47 "This Is No Audition" with Special Guest, Rock Photographer Paul Slattery

Ronnie Mayor of The Tours/Da Biz - Photo by Paul Slattery

 

Welcome to Retrosonic Podcast Episode 47 where Steve is joined by Rock Photographer Paul Slattery to discuss "Retrospectively Yours", the excellent new compilation from Ronnie Mayor of The Tours, the criminally underrated, short-lived Power Pop/New Wave band who Paul first photographed and championed way back in 1979. There's a special feature on the album which highlights Ronnie's songwriting skills with The Tours and Da Biz and we pick a selection of songs from both bands. Steve talks about another great night of conversation at The Exchange in Twickenham hosted by Gary Crowley with his special guests Debsey Wykes from Dolly Mixture and Mick Talbot from The Style Council and we play a classic Dolly Mixture song. Then we have brand new releases from former bandmates in The Prisoners, Graham Day and Allan Crockford, Graham with his debut solo single and Allan with Sounds Incarcerated, the lockdown cover version project with Viv Bonsels. Then there's Autoramas, our favourite Space Age Garage Rockers from Brazil, some perfectly crafted modern day French Ye-Ye from Monsieur Paul et Les Solutions, there's the melodic Glasgow sound of Neil Sturgeon & The Infomaniacs and some blistering tuneful Punk Rock from Suzi Moon. Subscribe for free at Spotify, iTunes, Amazon music, MixCloud or direct from our SoundCloud site below:

 

Retrosonic Podcast · Episode 47 "This Is No Audition" with Rock Photographer Paul Slattery

 

Also in this episode, Paul tells us of the time he was kissed by Ronnie Spector and we have the photographic evidence to prove it as you can see below! Then he picks three of his favourite local bands from his time living in Boston including The J. Geils Band, Lyres and Duke & The Drivers. 

 

Paul in front of two of his iconic Smiths photos.

Paul also talks about a recent trip to Manchester and Stockport to see exhibitions featuring some of his iconic photos and picks a track by his favourite Mancunians, Howard Devoto and Magazine. "There's my Joy Division photos at The Stockport Museum where you can also see sound equipment used in the making of Joy Division's records. Here's some photos from the exhibition of Manchester Rock bands "There Is Light That Never Goes Out" which can be seen in the The Market, University Place, Manchester University, 176 Oxford Rd, Manchester M13 9QQ. In the photo of me with my two Oasis images there's also The Stone Roses by Kevin Cummins and Electronic by Steve Double."
 

 

 

Here Paul explains the early impact of Rock 'n' Roll on his life. "It must have been 1956 or '57. I was six but my neighbour Joe was a rocker and ten years older than me. He'd just got a new Dansette and he stacked up a load of his Elvis records for me to listen to. I'll never forget "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and after listening to that I knew somehow that rock and roll would play a major part in my life although at the time I didn't know actually quite how much that would be. It took me another couple of years before I bought my first Elvis record "Hound Dog" from saving my pocket money and doing odd jobs for neighbours and I bought records regularly after that. There was no pop music on the BBC and you had to listen to Radio Luxembourg if you wanted to hear anything that wasn't your mum and dad's era. My dad helped me string up an outside radio aerial so we could get a better Luxembourg signal. By 1960 we were listening to Elvis, the Shadows, Cliff Richard, Adam Faith, Duane Eddy and my favourite of the year must have been Johnny Preston's "Running Bear" the beat was just amazing. 1961 and '62 were more of the same although Billy Fury who I thought was so cool had crept in by then. So had the Everly Brothers, Chubby Checker, Ray Charles. My fave of 61 was John Leyton's "Johnny Remember Me" recorded in a bathroom by Joe Meek and my fave of '62 was Little Eva and "The Locomotion". 1963 though everything changed."

 

Ronnie Spector photographed by Paul Slattery

"For me it wasn't just The Beatles, I was just blown away by The Crystals. They were amazing cool black American girls with fantastic harmonies and a shimmy that was out of this world. "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me" were scorchers. I was thirteen and thought these were the most amazing records I'd ever heard. I went straight down to the record shop and bought them. One early Saturday night in the autumn I was watching "Juke Box Jury" with the family on the telly, there was always a couple of good records played every week but when "Be My Baby" came on I was just blown away. I went out and bought the record the next day and played it over and over and over again. I couldn't get enough of it, I must have worn the stylus out playing that record. I noticed the same name on the record as on The Crystals records but Phil Spector wouldn't mean anything to me until I got a bit older. I saw the Ronettes later on the TV and loved them, and that record eventually became my favourite pop record of all time. A few years after I started my rock photography career I found out that Ronnie Spector was going to play a gig at the Venue in Victoria London so I just had to go and take pictures of Ronnie. Halfway through the gig I noticed Ronnie was looking right at me, she crouched down right next to me and let me take a photo of her and the next thing planted her lips firmly against mine with the tenderest of kisses. I couldn't believe it but it was recorded on film by fellow rock photographer David Corio, who got this amazing shot of me and Ronnie."

Ronnie Spector & Paul Slattery photographed by David Corio

"I was so sad when I heard about Ronnie's death recently as memories of  me first hearing "Be My Baby" and that gig at The Venue flooded back. There is a great Wiki article on "Be My Baby" here, I didn't know that The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson also loved this song, as you can read in this article he was obsessed with it. I always knew Brian Wilson and myself would be soul brothers!" Ronnie Spector images. One by me and the one of me and Ronnie kindly donated by David Corio. For more info on David Corio's  photography please check out his official web-site or Instagram.

 

Tracklisting 

(Please Click on the highlighted links for info on how you can buy the featured music)

Tracks 1-6 from "Retrospectively Yours" by Ronnie Mayor

1. Da Biz "Can't Wait Till The Summer Comes"

2. The Tours "Language School"

3. Da Biz "This Is No Audition"

4. The Tours "Foreign Girls"

5. The Tours "Imagination"

6. Da Biz "Driven To Tears"

7. Graham Day "You Lied To Me"

8. Autoramas "Sem Tempo"

9. Neil Sturgeon & The Infomaniacs "I Just Wasn't Being Myself" 

10. Sounds Incarcerated "The Real Thing"

11. J. Geils Band "First I Look At The Purse"

12. Duke & The Drivers "What You Got"

13. Lyres "How Do You Know?"

14. Dolly Mixture "How Come You're Such a Hit With The Boys, Jane?"

15. Suzi Moon "Gold Record Autograph"

16. Monsieur Paul et Les Solutions "Pourquoi, Pourquoi"

17. Magazine "The Light Pours Out of Me"

18. The Ronettes "Be My Baby"

With many thanks to Paul Slattery and David Corio for the excellent photographs, copyright as stated. Retrosonic Podcast has a valid PRS Licence. Subscribe for free at Spotify, MixCloud, Apple Podcasts, iTunes or SoundCloud. You can also follow Retro Man Blog on Facebook & Instagram

The Electric Shakes at The Fighting Cocks, Kingston: Review & Photos by Paul Slattery

The Electric Shakes photographed by Paul Slattery

The Electric Shakes and Tours are related as Mark Spiers a.k.a Basher plays in both bands (you can read all about the exciting news of the Tours reunion in our feature here). Mark was only 16 when he played for Tours, at the time he reminded me of another young powerhouse drummer Michael Shrieve who was 20 when he appeared at Woodstock with Santana. The first Electric Shakes self-titled mini album was released back in 2014 and we've featured some of the tracks from that in previous episodes of our Retrosonic Podcast. This year they released a proper ten track LP entitled "Electrohypnosis" and the band have been doing a lot of gigs including just recently supporting ex Kyuss and QOTSA bassman Nick Oliveri. I went down to see them last month at The Fighting Cocks, the legendary SW London Rock hot-spot and I was not disappointed.

The Electric Shakes photographed by Paul Slattery

The Electric Shakes photographed by Paul Slattery

The band describe their music style as 'Dirty heavy garage rock and fuzzed up psyched out punk blues' and I can honestly say that they are not wrong. Their music is a little more heavy rock than most of the bands I go and see, but being a huge Motorhead fan it’s great to see Steve and Eric duelling it out at the front of the stage, Basher keeping himself busy with a sustained attack on the drumkit AND backup vocals. The songs that stood out for me were "The Doctor", a real belter of a song which they follow with the bluesy "The 157". The pace then slows down for the rocking "In The Blood" then right back up to full throttle with "Shot me Down" (which you can hear in Episode of Retrosonic Podcast) a great slice of Punk Rock Psychedelia where Basher and Eric get to do a drum and bass duet and the song at just a tad over three minutes is over too quickly. The band storm into "Magpie" and the then into their superb last number "Blue Meanie" another speedy prime cut of Rock and Roll. What a fast- paced gig, the band do eleven songs and it’s all over in about 50 minutes! This is high energy playing – I’m exhausted just watching them! A really great gig.

The Electric Shakes photographed by Paul Slattery

The Electric Shakes photographed by Paul Slattery

You can buy "Electrohypnosis" and their first album "The Electric Shakes" at their Bandcamp site here. They will be gigging again soon so check out their web-site here for more info and news.

- Paul Slattery December 2017

Retrosonic Podcast Episode 8: "The World's So Far Below Her, It's Not Her Scene"

Steve from Retro Man Blog, Adam from The Jetsonics and Rock Photographer Paul Slattery with the usual eclectic mix of tunes and waffle...In Episode 8 we have some Garage Rock from The Fallen Leaves, Les BOF! and Shocking Blue, raucous Punk Rock from The Phobics, The Cortinas, The Snivelling Shits and Adam & The Ants. Some classic Trojan Reggae from The Fabion, a Clash favourite from The Equals, a Power Pop hidden gem from The Tours, influential Rockabilly from Charlie Feathers, some Psych-Folk from 5th Dimension, Mod Soul from The Fay Hallam Trinity and a Glam stomping riot from Giuda...!

There's also chat about the stunning Giuda gig at The Buffalo Bar, the Joe Strummer London W11 Mural unveiling party, ex-Sparks and Revillos members get together as Crash 74 at the 12 Bar Club and there is news about our exciting album launch party for THEE SPIVS at The Half Moon Putney on June 29th. This Episode is available to download for FREE from our Retrosonic Podcast Soundcloud site...Enjoy...!

Coming Soon..."Sparks: the Early Years" a Retrosonic Podcast special edition with Harley Feinstein, the original drummer with Sparks, or Halfnelson as they were then called. Harley gives us a fascinating insight into the early formation of Sparks, their first two albums on Bearsville and their very first visit to the U.K. Harley also tells us about his latest band Crash 74, featuring Nicky Forbes of The Revillos, and their triumphant London gig at the 12 Bar Club last month.