I recall hearing Sorrows, as I knew New York punk by the time they were around on the NY scene, and I’m glad to make these memories a little more solid and be rewarded with a great album. If you want to hear what punk was like before synth-pop took over, this is the album to get.

Arthur Alexander, one of the leaders of the band, was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.

Andrea Weiss: For those who don't know the history of Love Too Late... the real album, could you say a few words about it?

Arthur Alexander: In a nutshell… in 1981 Sorrows went to London to record Love Too Late, our followup to Teenage Heartbreak. We had a legendary producer, Shel Talmy, at the helm and there was no stopping us now. Unfortunately, as it often happens with legends, they tend to turn out not all they were cracked up to be, and this legend was one of those - a crack of shit. The sessions were an unmitigated disaster, the band essentially disappeared, replaced by Talmy with studio musicians and singers and under layers of keyboards and synths. The result, an album that sounded like a wedding band on a bad day, with our name on the cover. As expected, the record was a total flop, and the only thing it achieved was destroying the band in the process.

In the years that followed no Sorrows albums were ever re-issued, on CD or vinyl (though, in case of Love Too Late?... Thank God!), so when in 2016 we regained the rights to our songs it was time to do this one justice and give people Love Too Late… the real Sorrows album and put that piece of fake crap with our name on it out to pasture, permanently.

For your readers interested in all the gory details I’d suggest checking out the documentary Big Stir Records just released: SORROWS: The Real Story of The Real Album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLHM-YOufsk

AW: What were you listening to then, and were influenced by?

AA: I’m a child of the 60s, so my main heroes were all the Brit bands: Shadows, Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Who, Yardbirds, etc. But I was also deep into American blues and rock & roll: Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Eddie Cochran. I was also really into ABBA, just as the whole punk/new wave started to happen. Even though they were my contemporaries I was definitely affected by bands like Sex Pistols, Clash, Heartbreakers and Talking Heads.

AW: It’s great that the band and Big Stir were finally able to get the rights to Love. How did you feel when you knew the album was finally yours?

AA: It was a long and uphill struggle so it felt great to be finally rid of the shackles that kept us from doing this album justice, putting it out and telling the story behind it.

AW: This is the kind of punk that really isn't made anymore, and while that's too bad, there is still a lot of good music around. How do you feel punk has changed since the album was originally recorded?

AA: Like with any music genre, it evolved, not necessarily for the better. I mainly miss good songs. There’s a lot of good playing, lot of well produced records. I just don’t hear much that I would want to hear more than once.

AW: I love that the music is so wild and unruly, and it sounds like the band was really going for it. Was CBS looking over your shoulder the whole time, or left you alone and then nixed the finished album?

AA: No, that’s not how it went down at all. CBS didn’t look over our shoulder or nix the finished album. They decided behind our backs to turn us into some kind of a pre-fab product they thought would give them a successful record. They ended up with a band in rebellion and a huge flop of a record on their hands.

If you’re referring to Love Too Late… the real album when you say: “it sounds like the band was really going for it,” you’d be right. You’re hearing Sorrows going for the jugular! Like we intended the first time around. The fact that you can actually sense it really tells you the whole story.

AW: The lyrics snarl for the most part, other times are contemplative, and don't mince words, which is great. It sounds like CBS didn't want that either, but less punky ones. Was that annoying?

AA: No, this was one thing they didn’t interfere with. They interfered enough without it. Frankly, at that point we could have used nursery rhymes and it wouldn’t have made any difference.

AW: Would it be fair to say that punk has changed for the better, or not?

AA: I don’t think it did, based on what I hear, but then again, there’s so much stuff out there it may not be a fair assessment. May be I just don’t get to hear enough the good stuff.

AW: Would you tell a young band to go for a major label, if a deal was offered to them?

AA: Hard question. Obviously, it’s a tough thing to resist, if you get offered major label deal. I know something about it! ;) I would advise them to make small and careful steps. Get with a small label that really believes in you and your music, where you’re not just a number on a spreadsheet. If you’re successful at that level, and as your visibility increases, you will get noticed. You will also have more leverage. And that’s a good place to be at when they (the majors) start going after you instead of you chasing after them.