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

Hi all,
Well, now I have cleared most of my backlog of songs by releasing them on 6 albums (and thank you to all YouTube viewers) I am now starting to create a totally different style of music with a local guitarist.  His production experience is far greater than mine and, after two jamming sessions, some good ideas are starting to develop.  They may only be instrumentals but it is early days.  Good to start a new project and not be just a one man band anymore.  Hopefully tunes (and maybe songs) will be uploaded later in the year.  Due to a new hard-drive installed my recording interface no longer works so new one arriving tomorrow, although the recording taking place at the moment is using the other musicians keyboards and computer.   I may find time to continue to record and upload my own new songs and tunes though.  Thanks for reading this and hope our future musical creations can be enjoyed by some of you out there.
Colin E. Pyle
The Lost Connection

Hello everyone,
Since December 2019, 6 albums will have been released within 10 weeks. ‘Lost Property’ was released in mid December and the 5 ‘Best Of’s…’ will all be available by the middle to late February.  They can all be heard on Spotify already, but 13 other online shops soon.  While preparing to release my collection of in-home recordings my laptop started to play-up. This hindered album cover creation and production process. Some of the songs were old recordings that had not been perfected and, therefore, I had to tweak the production (and add additional vocals) the best I could before finally releasing these songs. A few were amended in the first month of 2020, but the songs were created and originally recorded between 2011 – 2019. (although some of the lyrics dated back to 1989). The originally intended albums (The Beginning Part 1, 2 and 3 and ‘Under The Influence Of…) were segregated and spread over 5 ‘Best Of’s…’ instead. Only one album is ongoing and will not be released until the original recordings have been improved and when the story is more complete (if ever!).  ‘Love Music’ is a song that was featured in ‘Reality In Dreamland’ although recorded 21 years later than the story was completed (although a previous version had been recorded).

The last 2 months have not been easy, as I have had to try and design the album covers (making sure the design met the specification required), decide the playlist orders and amend song recording levels and mixes to make all approximately the same volume (and the same as other modern downloads) and lyrics audible and reasonably in tune. Unfortunately, some of the best lyrics may not have been on the best recordings and vice versa. Due to various problems with equipment over the years, I no longer have the master copies of the songs and, therefore, as re-recording them would take far too long. I have had to just release them regardless of minor faults.

If I do record any of these songs in future months, or years, then there is a good chance that they will be released as well. For now, excluding a few dozen songs I recorded over the last 10 years (excluding various collaborations), this is just a large demonstration of what I have managed to do as an amateur songwriter, who was (and is) very lacking in musical production experience, never been a singer/vocalist and never been a qualified keyboard player.   When you can’t get together with the right people you just have to do it all yourself.

There was going to be a ‘Something Else Before (The 1990’s)’ album but the old tape recordings do not sound very good compared to today’s production quality.  I may, however, release ‘Mask Of Reality – Reality In Dreamland’ despite the poorer sound quality.

Hopefully, the songs can be enjoyed on a lyrical or musical level, if not both.  I sense I will be taking a break from songwriting for a while, but I have started to collaborate with a local guitarist. Hopefully good sounds will be recorded soon!!

Thanks for reading and hope you like what you hear, if and when you get the time.   Due to the songs not being professionally recorded I can understand if people don’t like them.  This is not a money making venture, just me trying to justify my last 30+ years of writing lyrics and creating songs.

Colin E. Pyle
The Lost Connection

Hi all,

As you know, I released ‘Lost Property’ last month and now, this month, I have released ‘The Best Of…’ in 3 parts.  Some of the songs were not produced, or performed, perfectly and may have contained minor errors, but it was capturing my endeavours of the last decade.  There are many other songs yet to be released from this period, and some of which may actually sound better than ones featured on ‘The Best Of…’ albums.  This is because they either did not have so many ‘likes’ or listens, were insignificant in the grand scheme of things, or about sensitive subjects and best saved for separate albums at a later date.  95% of the recordings I am reasonably happy with considering the fact that were not professionally recorded, nor destined to be released in the first place.  While I am endeavouring to record new songs, with a 2020 Vision theme and hopefully collaborating with other musicians, I will continue to upload the older songs as previously intended.

Thanks,
The Lost Connection