The Cowsills In Magazines

The Cowsills' lesser known '90s album 'Global' has its vinyl debut today on Omnivore Records, who have also released a Continental Drifters 'Best Of' collection. Cool Dog Sound have a Continent Drifters tribute double CD and book package, and HoZac Books share the detailed story of The Bangles.

For the past six decades, at the end of each year, I have compiled a list of my favorite albums of the year. For 2022, it was The Cowsills' Rhythm of the World from Omnivore Recordings, shown in the photo below. This was the first album from the Cowsill siblings in decades. Today, Omnivore has released their prior album, Global, for the first time on vinyl, finally giving it the proper release fans have been hoping for since the '90s. Bob Cowsill shares his insight on the historic recording.

Susan Cowsill, along with her sister-in-law Vicki Peterson Cowsill of The Bangles, are also the female vocalists for the entourage known as Continental Drifters. In addition to a new anthology collection from Omnivore, Cool Dog Sound has released a 25-song tribute compilation double CD, which accompanies a book on the group's history from author Sean Kelly, which we quote.

Vicki Peterson Cowsill is also one of the main subjects in a new book from HoZac Books on The Bangles written by Eric M. Shade, and we share a pair of excerpts.

L to R: Bob Cowsill, Susan Cowsill, Warren Kurtz, and Paul Cowsill, Happy Together Tour, Daytona Beach, Florida, June 5, 2024, photo by Donna Kurtz

THE COWSILLS

Global

Omnivore Recordings (vinyl, CD, and digital formats)

Bob Cowsill told Goldmine, "We're very excited that the people at Omnivore thought Global warranted a broader release." Bob sings the hopeful lyrics, "What I believe is love comes around to help me make it through," on the catchy "What I Believe," with Susan singing lead on the bridge.

The album has many songs about the ups and downs of relationships, which Bob admits, "That's probably because the songs were all written by two people who were in one." A struggling relationship is explored on "Rescue" with John's powerful drumming rounded out by Paul's keyboard accents.

Bob shared, "We recorded the album at the Captain & Tennille's Rumbo Recorders in Canoga Park, California, where Daryl Dragon spent most of his time. Daryl and Toni were patient and understanding." Susan's emotional vocals on "Far Away" are supplemented by Bob's fuzz guitar.

Bob recalled, "The album came to be after deciding, at the last minute, to not sign a contract with Dick Clark to be on an oldies tour. In the early '90s, we felt too young for an oldies tour; Susan was barely in her 30s. We began by working on three songs that I had started, including 'She Said to Me,' which had just my parts and we then added John, Paul, and Susan to the tracks." The up-tempo "She Said to Me" moves along like The Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville."

There was initial interest in the album in the '90s from Marc Nathan, A&R at Atlantic Records, but when his manager learned it was The Cowsills, not only was it rejected, but Nathan got fired. By the end of the decade, the group did a self-release of the album, and it has been a cult favorite for years. In John Borack’s 2018 book Shake Some Action 2.0: An Updated Guide to the 200 Greatest Power Pop Albums, 1970-2017, he wrote, 'As good as all the Global tunes are, they are dwarfed by the pop mastery of the ringing 'Is It Any Wonder?' which will stand proudly as one of the best power pop songs that the genre ever produced."

"Is It Any Wonder" is Dwight Twilley-like, which isn't surprising considering The Cowsills provided backing harmony vocals for Twilley's '80s albums. The Twilley sound continues on one of the three bonus tracks excluded from the original release, the powerful "Maybe It's You," with a strong bridge adding emphasis, along with a stellar guitar solo. In addition to the Cowsill siblings, Robby Scharf provides bass on the entertaining album, along with guest musicians and background vocalists.

1990s L to R: Robby Scharf, John Cowsill, Bob Cowsill, Susan Cowsill, and Paul Cowsill, photo by LouAnn Cowsill

In addition to Omnivore's vinyl debut of Global, plus three bonus tracks on the CD and digital formats, The Cowsills' 90-minute 2011 documentary Family Band has also recently become available for streaming through Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video.

While The Cowsills felt that they were too young in the prior century to be on an oldies tour, throughout most of this century, Bob, Paul, and Susan have been part of the Happy Together Tour, which has featured many acts from the ‘60s and ‘70s including the lone surviving Monkee Micky Dolenz, The Buckinghams, Mitch Ryder, and so many more like singer-songwriter, guitarist, and co-founder of Grand Funk Railroad, Mark Farner, who we will feature in our Goldmine Fabulous Flip Sides interview series next week. The Cowsills will be bringing their harmonies to the Happy Together Tour again next year.

AUTHOR SEAN KELLY / VARIOUS ARTISTS

White Noise & Lightning: The Continental Drifters (paperback book)

We Are All Drifters: A Tribute to the Continental Drifters (2 CD compilation)

Cool Dog Sound (book and double CD combination, music available digitally through Bandcamp)

f Susan Cowsill and sister-in-law Vicki Peterson Cowsill, who married drummer John Cowsill in 2003, are the two female vocalists, since 1993, for the entourage known as Continental Drifters. Sean Kelly's book tells the story of the group, with quotes from the band members and rare photos. The accompanying double-CD showcases 25 of the group's songs, performed by a variety of artists, including relatives of the band.

"Drifters" by Annie Clements & the Auxiliary Drifters, serves as a Continental Drifters theme song, written by Peter Holsapple and Susan, with a nice electric piano touch. At the beginning of the book, Kelly quotes Susan, "What matters most in the end is the love, the connection, and the camaraderie. The whole foundation of the original reason for the Continental Drifters was the journey, not the destination."

"Anything" by Bobby Houck is given a folk-rock treatment on this composition from Holsapple and Vicki. Kelly stated, "It's obvious on songs such as 'Anything' that the Drifters were veering subtly into folk-rock territory."

"Spring Day in Ohio" by Jolene, written by Susan, has a '90s sound, blending elements of R.E.M. and Hootie & the Blowfish, who Holsapple has been a touring guitarist for. Susan said regarding the autobiographical song, about her abusive father, "The song is an unexpected gift from becoming a Continental Drifter, my own brand of self-healing that I tapped into, that I didn't have prior to that, which was writing songs. 'Spring Day in Ohio' was pretty much my tribal cry. If you don't know that it's about my journey with my parental male unit, you can think it's anything, because that's the beauty of songs."

"The Rain Song" by Rob Laufer is given a Dylan-like delivery, emphasizing the lyrics, on this composition by Susan and Vicki. Vicki recalled, "Susan called me around four in the morning, in a panic, and said, 'I think I have a song. I don't know what to do. I'm sorry to wake you up.' I asked, 'Do you have a tape recorder in the house, anywhere?' " The start of a post-boyfriend pop piece was born, beginning with Susan's lyrics, "I don't think about us anymore and frankly the topic has become a bore. You don't come up much in my conversations and I don't think about you on vacation, but when it rains that's when I remember. I remember you."

"Mixed Messages" by Garrison Starr, a talented female vocalist, nicely delivers this catchy composition from Vicki. In addition to Continental Drifters' recordings of "The Rain Song" and "Mixed Messages," and these new versions, both songs also appeared on The Bangles' 2003 reunion album Doll Revolution.

"Who We Are, Where We Live" by Debbi Peterson & The Minus 5, composed by Debbi's sister, fellow Bangle Vicki, features a fuzz guitar from The Minus 5 and a deep vocal from Debbi. Vicki, who wrote it in the early '90s, after experiencing the loss of her fiance to Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia said, "The song is the anthem of people who've lost very close loved ones. It felt like a club. Susan and I were in that club; she'd lost family members and her first love to cancer, when she was very young. It's not a club you want to be in, but it's kind of nice to know that there are others who share your experience."

John Cowsill, Kim Richey, Steve Wynn, Rosie Flores, and Don Dixon are also among the 25 artists on the tribute CD. If you also want a collection of songs by the original band, Omnivore Recordings has released White Noise & Lightning: The Best of Continental Drifters.

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