• Lyrics,  Update

    Tales Of The Unexpected (Song 796)

    20 March 2022

    You maybe on track, then derailed
    You think you’ve passed, but discovered you’ve failed
    You maybe married, but in time divorce
    You feel at ease, but then you’re forced
    Into the unexpected
    You feel loved but then neglected
    On a winning streak, but then rejected
    And then you question what the heck’s going on
    In life? Divorced with no wife
    Everything you do makes you think twice
    Now never knowing what lies ahead
    You feel healthy, but you could soon be dead…
    Tomorrow, gotta rise above sorrow
    Try not to wallow in what is and what isn’t anymore
    Time to learn from the mistakes before
    When all’s gone you’ve got to be strong
    And after the demise, rise
    Above pessimism and depression
    Learn and lean towards progression
    That’s the endeavour – easier said than done, but
    Whatever may happen you never know
    Try your best and see what shows
    Life is a game and for winning we aim
    For contention’s key avoiding greed
    Instead of trapped we need to be freed
    Have the inclination to slowly progress…
    Into a life of happiness.

    Life – tales of the unexpected.

    © 2018 – Colin E. Pyle

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  • Update

    DistroKid earnings so far

    1 March 2022

    Hi everyone,

    Without any promotion (due to production quality not being worthy of such) this is the earnings of ‘The Lost Connection’ so far:

    $6.00 = Best 5
    $4.92 = Lost Property + $5.36 (my purchase)
    $3.79 = Best 1
    $3.75 = Mask Of Reality – Reality In Dreamland
    $3.45 = Best 4
    $3.22 = 2020 Vision + $0.13 Single
    $3.00 = Best 2
    $2.90 = Best 3     ($0.71 + $2.19)
    $1.02 = The New Lost World
    $0.30 = The Lost & Found

    ‘Lost Property’ was my first release in December, 2019. It was a collection of songs that I thought wouldn’t suit anyone else and my personal property. I rushed to release it before the decade ended so I could start a fresh from 2020 onwards. Some of the songs were scrappy, some more polished and some were just okay.

    The next 5 ‘Best Of 2011- 2019’ albums were a collection of most of the songs from this period. It was only meant to be 2 albums but, fortunately, I am glad I did release an additional 3 albums. Part 5 has reaped the most income and contained my least regarded songs. Part 4 is also doing better than Part 2 & 3. Many of the songs had been recorded very quickly and, due to having lost the master recordings, I had to reinforce the vocals to make them more audible, but sometimes it made them sound too cluttered as not perfectly synchronised.

    ‘Mask Of Reality – Reality In Dreamland’ was originally recorded on tape in the 90’s, but the final piece wasn’t added until 2020. This enabled this story-based album to be released (after production tweets, as the tape recordings had perished). I’m glad I did finally release these 21 tracks as I spent over 4 years writing and recording it.

    ‘2020 Vision’ I had to release before 2020 had ended, as it was relevant to that year. I did the best I could in the time I had. Improvements could have been made, but I had to move on to newer material. Each album I regard as a milestone in regard to where I am in life (or was) and, if there are imperfections, then so be it. It was as good as I could manage in that period to which the album had significance.

    ‘The New Lost World’ consisted of songs recorded mainly during the latter period of COVID. It was me dedicating virtually all my time to music and trying to learn new things and mingle with other musicians online (during a 6 month sync-writing course). Many of the songs were made relevant to my situation between 2020 – 2021, although sometimes written as subject tasks, or for specific briefs. It also contains songs which I first wrote (lyrically) 3 decades before. I tried to piece them together to form a story on a parallel to reality. ‘Mr. Retro’ was more of an extra which I threw on the end.

    ‘The Lost & Found History’ was the last release, (end of September 2021). It is a collection of tape recordings dating as far back as 1999. They were great collaborative sessions that, although 7 of the songs had been released before, were no longer available to stream. Some of the songs were just practice session recordings and, until recent years, a couple were just instrumentals. Fortunately, I created lyrics, but I didn’t get around to recording the vocals until more recent years. As ‘The Lost & Found’ (a track about the collaborative duo which we had become) had gained the most ‘likes’ on SoundCloud, I felt I had to release it, together with all of my other songs which we had recorded together.

    So, that is the story behind each album so far and it is interesting to see which albums gain the most attention considering the background behind the making of each one. There will be another album soon, but a bit more random as opposed to having a significant storyline, but I’ll try my best to form some kind of message.

    Thanks for reading and I hope I can record songs that are more worthy of promotion on the next album. Bye for now.

    Colin E. Pyle 
    The Lost Connection

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  • Update,  Work in progress

    ‘Best Of’ 10 albums based on Streamings:
    https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/zQHcD

    13 February 2022

    Hi all subscribers and a welcoming ‘hello’ to new subscriber, Balvir Singh.

    I have to confess, I am a statistics geek. I am always curious as to which songs are gaining the most attention without being given any proper promotion. As many of you know, most of my songs were recorded within my home, with less than adequate recording equipment, and in very short spaces of time. This led me to expect the more polished songs would stream more but, this has not always been the case so far.

    I often wonder if my lyrics do play a big part in the likeability of my songs. My favourite songs are not always the same as the listeners’ and, in this playlist, I have only included 2 songs from each album. Inevitably, some songs on my first album have been listened to, and liked, more due to having been released over 2 years ago and, may contain loads of my best songs, but I have had to include no more than 2 (although 5 of the songs were put on the 2011- 2019 five album collection) so a couple more sneaked into the playlist from ‘Lost Property’.

    It’s at this point I hope all subscribers/listeners will try and find the songs that they like the most and make them become the more popular ones. I hope that when I compile a ‘Best Of’ it will be THE VERY BEST OF and not songs that are less credible and unworthy of a place in this playlist.

    On to more current activities, I’m working on a new album. I won’t say too much yet, as I am still working on the songs mixes, playlist order and album title. Once I have had time to perfect each new song I won’t know if to include older unreleased songs or just keep it as brand new ones. The playlist is ‘Whatever Happened!?’ on SoundCloud (just incase anyone is curious). It does contain some edgy lyric songs with some offensive language, so I may have second thoughts and include older unreleased instead. I will probably write another blog regarding the songs being considered for the next release soon.

    Also, I have started to publish more of my lyrics as they are written, so more of my website can be read and enjoyed. Many of the song titles were just stored as drafts on Facebook, but I am slowly making the older ones available for public viewing within this website. The total of lyrics written is now 1017.

    Thanks for reading this blog and following me and/or subscribing to my website. Bye for now.

    Colin E. Pyle The Lost Connection

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  • Song collaboration,  Update,  Work in progress

    ‘Shattering’
    (https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/GAm4G)

    19 January 2022

    Hi everyone.

    Here is a song which was created from music to another song which was never released. The original song was, ‘Cracks’. The riff (which was played over 2 chords) was catchy and simplistic. Am Italian lady, who was on the same sync-writing course as me, was looking for a dark sounding tune. When I sent her the tune featured in this song, she decided it was worth turning into a new song. I wrote similar lyrics to the original (which was about cracks appearing in a relationship). Jodylynn helped me shape the song and had some lyrical input too. I tried my best to sing it how she wanted, but a professional singer is being seeked to add their vocals instead.

    I will probably release this version on my next album (although improvements maybe made beforehand) whereas the other version, if it happens, will be used more for sync opportunities instead, hopefully. In Italy, where Jodylynn lives, COVID is causing a hindrance on this endeavour, but hopefully new vocals will be added eventually.

    That’s all for now. Thanks for reading this blog update and I hope you like the new song developments.

    Colin E. Pyle
    The Lost Connection

    PS. Another song, a collaborative effort, is my main focus at the moment. Eventually, it will feature guitar and vocals of my co-writing friend. I will do a blog about that song next.

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  • Update

    The next album

    14 January 2022

    Hi everybody,

    Many of you reading this blog will know I have released 10 albums now. Some songs were not included on any of these albums because they weren’t recorded well enough, inappropriate, or just didn’t fit in well with other songs

    However, over the last year I have, amongst recording new songs, improved some of the older ones. The only problem is there is no distinctive theme, or story linking them together (which I always aim to do, even if very loosely). I may record some more songs to create a common-thread or theme, but the playlist is nearly an hour long already.

    I may have to either settle for a more random selection of songs, or disregard some of the older songs until a more appropriate time. I have included a song (which was recorded in 2016) in homage to a friend who committed suicide last year, as he was the guitarist/vocalist on this song and played a big part in my musical progression and, thus, injected motivation into my creativity, back in 1991 – 1993.

    This playlist my change (due to the reasons mentioned above) before it becomes an album. There are 2 Christmas songs featured on it, which is not normal, as well as a waltz tune at the end, which doesn’t sit very comfortably, I sense I’m going to have to refine it a bit. I will try and perfect the Christmas songs to the best of my ability, so they can be released by next Christmas.

    For now I’m gonna rummage through my lyrics (and see what other people think) to decide whether to record new and more appropriate songs for the next album. ‘We Won’t Stop’ is the only musical collaboration within this playlist and may change significantly in due course (when additional guitar and vocal parts are added, hopefully).

    I’ve gotta think fast, while I have the time, as my hand is still in a plastic cast. I can still compose the music for lyrics, but just hard playing it with only one hand.

    Right, that is the situation at the moment. I think I have done as much as I can to each song on the playlist for now, but I will have to strive to get the Christmas songs as perfect as possible. I don’t usually aim for perfection, but when it comes to Christmas ones, great new songs are needed. Perhaps I’m aiming a bit too high, but why not!!? It makes a change.

    Any suggestions will be welcomed and I thank you for reading this blog.

    Colin E. Pyle (The Lost Connection)

    Whatever Happened?!, a playlist by The Lost Connection on #SoundCloud
    https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/eS1dL

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  • Update

    A Warm And Wet Christmas (Song 1012)

    3 January 2022

    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

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  • Update

    https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/thelostconnection/the-lost–found-1999—2013-recordings (now called ‘The Lost & Found History’ (2021)

    26 September 2021

    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

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  • Update

    So, the months ahead are looking like…

    15 March 2021

    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

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  • Update

    Website Update Explanation (and my current situation)

    12 February 2021

    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


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  • Update

    New updated release! Mask Of Reality – Reality In Dreamland

    29 January 2021

    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

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