In days of old when tales were told
Things weren’t so bright
Cobbled streets, log fires for heat
And candles to provide light.

The sun did shine but snow did fall
And colder times times were felt by all
But now with cars, trains and planes
With gas and electric all has changed.

Those memories of the past
Make Christmas last
So special in our minds
Although no longer white
A warm ‘n’ wet Christmas
Is now what’s it’s like.

It’s warm, it’s wet
But lucky we met
To celebrate Christmas time
The roads were clear
And allowed us here
To raise a glass tonight (cheers!).

It’s another year to celebrate
Don’t care if warm and wet
We keep the festive spirit
But the old times never forget.

With presents and cards
Nuts and sweets
Classic films
To watch when eat
A drink of coke
Or sherry or wine
Together with turkey
At Christmas time.

Those memories of the past
Make Christmas last
So special in our minds
Although no longer white
A warm and wet Christmas
Is now what’s it’s like.

It’s warm, it’s wet
But lucky we met
To celebrate Christmas time
The roads were clear
And allowed us here
To raise a glass tonight – cheers!

It’s another year to celebrate
Don’t care if warm and wet
We keep the festive spirit
But the old times never forget.

© 2022 – Colin E. Pyle

Hi everybody,

The album mentioned above, is the 10th album that will be released tomorrow, which contains recordings between 1999 and 2013, but with vocal additions in the last year mainly.   The collaborative duo, ‘The Lost & Found’, is myself and my friend Tim (a guitarist and vocalist in this duo, but primarily a drummer in other bands) who I first formed a band with in the early 80’s.  Some of the songs were formed from Tim’s chord sequences, to which I added lyrics and accompaniments, but all the lyrics are ‘The Lost Connection’.  Most of these songs were recorded between 1999 -2000, and 6 of the songs were released in 2010 as ‘1st Demo Recordings (1999 – 2000)’, but have been remixed and slight tweaks have been made. Also, ‘SongCast’ (on which all songs were previously released) was released as a single in 2013. This has not been amended in any way, but isn’t available anymore, until tomorrow. Tim Kerley sung on many of these 12 songs but, due to only having brief moments spare to practice/record, only had one or two takes to complete them. The first 2 songs were musical creations that I added my vocal parts to a couple of decades later.  Only 2 of the tracks were recorded using a DAW from the start, instead of a 4-tracker tape recorder, but they have all been remixed and mastered using Mixcraft technology.   These songs are memorabilia that I felt had to be shared and stored in the history of time (‘…despite imperfections it’s now online’ to quote the lyrics of one of these songs).   

As with all of my albums, they were recorded in my home and no expense spared.  I have tried to improve the productions as much as possible.  I hope people are able to listen and enjoy this album, or some of the songs at least, but it was a pleasure recording them in the brief moments we had together (although too few and far between.

Thanks for reading.

Colin E. Pyle
The Lost Connection

Hi everyone,

At the end of the year I decided to put my house on sale after 22 years of buying it.  In the new year I had a buyer straight away. So now, inbetween trying to keep my musical creativity alive, I have had to deal with no income, having to sell nearly everything in my house before June and deciding whether to settle for any job , or wait until normality returns so I can look for something more in line with my interest in music.   Being successful in the music industry is hard, especially when you are not so young and still unknown.  We all try to make connections with the people who will be able to help us succeed  and, in return, help them too.  As COVID is still affecting how we live it is hard to plan anything.  My passion for creating music has been affected by the need to earn money.  I have been trying to look at music in a financial context and, in doing this, have ended-up losing interest in it.  If you love doing something it’s great, but as soon as money comes into the equation, it tends to change the enjoyment level.  You are no longer just writing things how you want them to sound, but how others want and need them to sound so then, what was an interest becomes a job.  So, based on this, what is my plan?

1/  Sell and/or get rid of virtually all my house furniture and LP/CD/Tape collection
2/  In July start looking for a job in more distant, as well as local areas
3/  Get a much better laptop/computer
4/  Focus on improving my production skills before any more releases
5/  Keep in mind collaborating opportunities and helping others to complete their songs
6/  Re-write a story I wrote in the 1990s
7/  Re-mix a few songs on ‘2020 Vision’ and re-release the album with the amendments
8/  Consider trying to form a band before 2022 (maybe)

I need to learn more about computer graphics, web design, sound production and social media promotion.  As I am constantly writing lyrics and trying to record new songs, it is hard to focus on one thing at a time.  I would like to gain more website followers, but then wonder whether there is any point.   My site is free to view and costs me money to run (and creates no income).  Alot of my lyrics have not been publicly shared so they will not be viewable to anyone but me.  I have written many controversial/mind-provoking ones in the past, and even more so recently, so it wouldn’t be sensible to share everything I write in this very sensitive world which we are currently living in.

If you are interested in reading my lyrics that are currently private, get exclusive insights into my creative process, would like to collaborate, need help with personal projects then let me know.   Send me a message and I will try and help wherever I can.   I am not a pro but if you feel my ability could benefit you then let’s talk.   I am now listed on ‘SoundBetter’.  https://soundbetter.com/profiles/144374-colin-e-pyle

Right, better get doing something productive.   Thnaks for reading.

Colin E. Pyle
The Lost Connection

Hi subscribers/non-subscribers,

Today I amended the link names against each song titles on the main page of my website.   Hopefully, after you have read the rest of this blog it will all make sense.  To anybody wishing to check out my website here is an insight to how it works:

In summary, I will say that anything in bold writing is a title that has been recorded and the music can be heard (which has always been the case).   Where ‘Song’ used to appear the title of the album, artist name or status of the song now appears instead, eg.  2020 Vision, Lost Property and Mask Of Reality – Reality In Dreamland in regard to album names.  If the song has not been released it will say ‘Unreleased’.  Any other recordings featuring previous names or line-ups have not been released yet, but have been titled appropriately, eg. The Lost & Found, Protocol, Wicked Babies, etc. 

Here is an explanation about the different band/artist names used: 

Wicked Babies – When this name is used the track always features Steve Emm and myself (or my lyrics at the very least), sometimes an additional guitarist was in the mix and a couple of drummers appeared in one practice session each.

The Lost & Found – Myself and my guitarist/singer (and drummer) mate from the very beginning.  He was the ‘Found’ element.  Our time to meet up and record was became less and less over the years.  Some of our music I have added vocals to nearly 20 years later, as the lyrics were written at a later date (or I was unable to sing them at the time).  Any recordings we did together have all been listed as ‘The Lost & Found’ (even the jamming sessions from as far back as the 80’s featured on SoundCloud).

Protocol – From 1996 to 1998 I was in a heavy prog rock band.   Once I had learnt their already established songs I managed to filter my own ideas into the practice sessions.  We didn’t gain a vocalist for a long time so my ideas were just recorded as instrumentals.  It was only 20+ years later that I decided to add vocals to these tracks.  The songs were modified to suit the lyrics,

The Lost Connection – I became ‘The Lost Connection’ as from 2000, but regard the whole of my history as ‘The Lost Connection’.  All my writing is ‘Lost’ work and everything else is merely sub-categories.

Something Else – A period in the 1990’s that was not a part of the ‘Mask Of Reality – Reality In Dreamland’ story (although ‘Mask Of Reality’ used to be my writing name) and recorded by just myself in the early days.

If I do not specify the band name then it is just me, or a collaboration that was too insignificant to mention (but the notes on SoundCloud will tell you more about the making of the track).  Any work I did while in Innovator (2013 – 2017) has not been included within this website  as that is/was another indulgence, but I may mention this from time to time,

So, if you do ever visit my website then I hope this helps you understand how to navigate better. The songs are numbered in the order of which they were written. So 0001 was was written in 1989 and 0972 was written very recently (February 2021). Many of these lyrics may not be accessible if I have never shared them yet. They will be made accessible if and when recorded as songs. There is a brief summary of my musical history and album links preceding the list.

Feel free to ask, or comment, on anything I have said or done. Although I have released 8 albums I do not consider myself to be an artist as such (especially as i do not perform, or aim to become anything more than a songwriter). I am just someone who just passes my time recording songs.
I am now listed on SoundBetter to provide help creating songs It’s a new level adventure and I hope to rise to the challenge, especially as I am no longer employed, but am I registered songwriter.

Right, that is enough for now. Thanks for reading this post and I hope that some of my lyrics, tunes or complete songs are appealing in some kind of way or another, or inspiring possibly. Hopefully better songs and tunes will be created in the future (and the production will improves as well). More collaborations is something I am aiming for also.

Best wishes to all of you!

Colin E. Pyle
The Lost Connection

Hi everyone,

This is a message to only people who showed interest in the release which this blog is referring to    Back in April 2020 I released an album of 21 tracks (19 tape recordings from 1994 – 1998 and 2 new recordings).  Due to the recordings being very old, and having diminished in quality, as well as tempo glitches when transferred onto my modern recording device, I have had to delete the original release.  Today, I have uploaded a new edition of the album with better mixes of each song.  ‘Love Music ft. LuZ’ has been edited to a shorter length which may affect previous releases of this song (‘Best Of… Part 1) but I’m yet to find out.  To anybody who downloaded/streamed songs on the original release then I hope the recordings will be updated and, therefore, improved and not hindered.  If there is a problem then the new album cover has been amended (with the double motif now appearing in each corner instead of just the bottom righthand one) so just re-stream the songs is all I can suggest.

It was categorised as a ‘Soundtrack’ in terms of musical style because the songs were recorded within a script.   To actually categorise the style of music on this album was virtually impossible with the suggestions available.  ‘Demo Tape Recordings with a story in mind’ would be the best description, but instead I just listed it as ‘Soundtrack/Singer-Songwriter.

Thanks for reading this update, which I felt I should tell you about just in case it does cause any confusion or hinderance to previous downloads. Hope you are all well and that 2021 is a much better year for us all.

Colin E, Pyle
The Lost Conneciton

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/thelostconnection/mask-of-reality-reality-in-dreamland-2

Hi everybody,
As I have no official employment at the moment and have just released a single (which was written about what led to this situation) then I thought it was time to mention it in a blog.   I’m currently on a 6 month online course and waiting for PRS registration confirmation.   Better pull my finger out and start writing some good songs/tunes and collaborating with the vast amount of good musicians/singers that I am meeting while on this music course (via zoom meetings).   Would be good to collaborate with local musicians somewhen, as that would be more practical, but meanwhile I am just trying to complete my ‘2020 Vision’ album.  Will see what musical moves to make and where things are going in 2021.  That’s all for now and hope you like the song.
Colin
The Lost Connection

The purchase/streaming link is on the SoundCloud page, but also shared  at the beginning of the week.

Hello all,

Before COVID-19 came along, many changes were already occurring in my life. Certain interests were growing and other ones were disappearing. At the end of last year I had knee (and back problems) which continued into 2020 and momentarily after my 2 month furloughing period had ended. Due to these problems I decided to give up my 14 year golf membership and stopped skiing (although this was partly due to losing most of my savings to an online scam company – stupid perhaps, but I am one of many unfortunately). The only thing that I did carry on doing, relentlessly, is creating lyrics and songs and increasing my website content. Fortunately, though, I am feeling very physically fit at the moment and working hard… but more surprises are inevitably going to occur in the coming months.

After 30+ years of writing lyrics, 40 years of learning to play the keyboard and compose music, 3 years since I created this website and, over the last 8 months, have released 7 albums which I recorded over the decade (and the latter in the 1990’s). I never had any musical aspirations while recording these songs, so I never wasted too much time on perfecting them. As most know, I am not really a singer, so this made the turning of my lyrics into songs very hard.

Due to this changing world, I am going to try and focus even more on music and release more albums. I will now endeavour to spend more time perfecting the songs, hopefully, and may even write songs that are appealing to a wider spectrum of people. I may have to get my business head on and start turning the past-time into something more (but I guess that all depends on who’s attention I am able to gain).

I have written many lyrics this year and am heading for 1000 by the end of next year, if not before, probab;y. The latest song I am working on is ‘Two Shades Of Blue’. If you are interested in my songs and/or lyrics then please can you subscribe to this website and ‘like’ or ‘follow’ me on Twitter, Facebook, SoundCloud (and ReverbNation, but maybe not for much longer). I may have to make this website more exclusive, rather than the ‘free-for-all to see’ one that it is at the moment. To anyone who does subscribe I will try to enable them to have free downloads of any future re-recordings of songs that they have already streamed/bought (and maybe more exclusive recordings if requested).

Well, that’s all I can say for now and I’ll carry on doing the best I can at work and in music, and let’s see what the future holds.

Bye everyone and thanks for reading this.

Colin E. Pyle
The Lost Connection