A Foot In Coldwater - All Around Us (1974)

In 1971 Alex Machin and Paul Naumann of the Toronto band Leather were struggling along with a new act called Island (which also included Ed Clemens and future Zon member Kim Hunt). The members of Nucleus heard about Machin and Naumann, auditioned them at their farm in Pickering and soon the new five-piece were searching for a record deal. They soon signed with Frank Davies' Daffodil Records who rechristened the group A Foot In Coldwater -- which is an old English term meaning 'bad luck'. They recorded their self-titled debut in 1972 and the band's first single "(Make Me Do) Anything You Want" reached the Canadian charts as Top-25.

Later came other moderately successful singles such as "Isn't Love Unkind (In My Life)", and "Love Is Coming" which were both released in 1972 and would end up on the band's sophomore release 'The Second Foot In Coldwater' LP in 1973.

The disappointment in what should have been initial success was re-thought and the band proceeded with a third album, 1974's 'All Around Us', which was padded with their three charting singles -- "Isn't Love Unkind (In My Life)", "Love Is Coming" and a shortened version of "(Make Me Do) Anything You Want". The latter tune being re-issued as a single and climbing, this time, to Canada's Top-10.

Despite the revived success of the band, Daffodil was in financial trouble and AFIC only managed one more single, "Midnight Lady" b/w "All Around Us", in 1975 before Daffodil went bankrupt and the band were searching for a new label. It would be nearly a year of internal band turmoil (resulting in Bob Horne's departure in the summer of 1976) before A Foot In Coldwater would land back on deck again. Rush's Anthem label grabbed the new four-piece unit for the Paul Naumann produced 'Breaking Through' LP in 1977.

A single release of the title track did nothing as Anthem focused on its marquee act, Rush, and the band soon folded.

The band reunited in 1988 for a southern Ontario tour, featuring Taylor, Machin, Naumann, and Leggat. They took a break in the fall of that year but continued doing short tours thereafter with keyboardist Rick Lamb (ex-Hellfield) who unfortunately died of cancer in 2004; singer Alex Machin became the new lead vocalist for fellow classic rock act Moxy; the Leggat Brothers now play in a new act called The Mississippi Hippies.

Check out this exceptional album from 1974, "All Around Us", featuring the truncated remake of "Make Me Do (Anything You Want)". This is pure Canadian gold.

192kbps @ http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CU0XPSZZ