Allan Taylor - Win Or Lose - Hybrid Stereo SACD

Release date 2021

The idea to re-release Win Or Lose on Stockfisch Records came from Günter Pauler after I had sent him the original master-tape that I had found amongst my archive material. I thought he might be interested, mainly because the original quality of recording was so good. Furthermore, it fell within the parameters of quality that Stockfisch demand from all of their recordings, so we decided to go ahead with the idea, releasing it on the "Analog Pearls" series on vinyl and SACD.

How the original recording came to be; In the early '80s the standard of vinyl for LPs was bad, as most vinyl was re-cycled which meant it had inherent noise. I decided that the only way to make sure the recordings and pressings were of the quality I wanted was to form my own company, and "go it alone". I had compromised enough, and I decided that I would strive for perfection at every stage of producing an album. I chose the best studio in the north of England, the best cutting studio in Britain and the best pressing plant. When I contacted Nimbus about pressing my album, they said that they would only press records of Classical Music, to which I replied, I would pay whatever their price was. Consequently, my album was the first non-classical record to be pressed by Nimbus.

We recorded and mixed the album from 7th to 13th of September 1984. Most of the recording was "live", with only the harmony vocals over-dubbed (apart from a few keyboard overdubs).

It is almost forty years since that original recording, and although much has changed as regards recording techniques and equipment, I hope the songs have stood the test of time, and you, the listener, will enjoy the result. - Allan Taylor, 2020