Vigrass & Osborne - "Men Of Learning"

Andy: Paul Vigrass & Gary Osborne were friends of Elton John, who as I understand it brought them to the attention of his then-U.S. label, UNI. "Men Of Learning" is from their released-on-the 1971/1972 cusp U.S. LP "Queues" (UNI 73129). This album's main claim to fame was that it included the original version of "Forever Autumn", which was later to be performed by Justin Hayward in 1978, included as part of the "War Of The Worlds" audio project. Although I have never seen this album on CD, there is unconfirmed info on the 'Net that states that it was issued on CD in Japan (as Vivid Sound VSD-732.) "Men Of Learning" is a catchy, folky slice of pop, produced by Jeff Wayne, that reminded me some of Crosby, Stills & Nash. I will send you an mp3 dub of my 45 in the next day or two, sir.

As long as Andy brought up Vigrass & Osborne, I thought I'd mention their other two Uni singles. "Virginia" was the second single from the Queues LP, but only managed a quickie #39 stay on BB's easy listening chart.

Perhaps V&O's best effort came via a non-LP 45 (Uni 55355) that didn't chart at all. From the moment I first heard "Mister Deadline" (the catchy intro sounds as if Crosby, Stills & Nash are singing the Five Americans' "Western Union") I was hooked, and ordered a copy of the single in late 1972. However, MCA wasn't interested in promoting the record, and it quickly disappeared. I highly recommend the 45 if you can find a copy. (A YouTube video exists, but it is so chopped to pieces that it does a disservice to the record.)