ROX Alive: Pale Wizard's celebration of Budgie's album "Never Turn Your Back on A Friend" is out in June!

BUDGIE – NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON A FRIEND – 50 YEARS LATER
ALUNAH, GREAT ELECTRIC QUEST, ADMIRAL SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVELL & MANY MORE!

In June 1973, a little trio from Cardiff in Wales called Budgie released their third album 'Never Turn Your Back on a Friend'. Recorded at the legendary Rockfield Studios, this album firmly cemented their legacy as a dynamic force to be reckoned within the hard rock movement of the early seventies. With their music being covered by the likes of Van Halen, Iron Maiden and Metallica, it is clear that Budgie have left an enduring mark upon the music world as we know it.

'Never Turn Your Back on a Friend' built upon the hard rocking and progressive elements of their first two records, helped along nicely by the now legendary opening song 'Breadfan'.

Tragically in 2022, their lead singer, bassist and founding member Burke Shelley passed away at the age of 71. Now in 2023, exactly fifty years after it's original release, we plan to pay tribute to this awesome album.

Pale Wizard Records is a labour of love for its co-founders Tim Hilleard and Dan Flitcroft. In 2021 we released our first '50 Years Later' LP which was a tribute to the classic Alice Cooper album 'Killer'. This was followed up with last year's tribute to Bowie's incredible 'Ziggy Stardust'. We intend for the '50 Years Later' series to continue paying tribute to amazing albums that deserve attention. We enlist a fantastic roster of hard-working bands from the underground heavy rock scene. Some of which we've shared the stage with ourselves, some of which we have previously admired from afar.

The 7 original songs are brought to life here by some of the absolute best the modern hard rock, stoner and psych underground has to offer. Additionally, we have enlisted some great artists to provide bonus tracks for this release.

Lead single for this release is Birmingham’s very own Alunah tackling ‘Breadfan’. We hope you’ll agree that their track represents a fantastic contemporary, hard rocking version of an all-time classic. Budgie’s music lends itself well to a female led vocal, which is a tribute to the under appreciated high octane voice of Burke Shelley.

It is available on digital alongside CD and 12” vinyl variants to pre order now. Additionally, the CD and digital versions come packed with three additional bonus tracks.

Tracklisting: