Billy Thorpe - Tangier (2010)

Here it is. Finally. Billy Thorpe's musical opus, TANGIER. a decade in the making, TANGIER is a work of breathtaking scope. It is the final defining statement in the extraordinary music career of the late, great Billy Thorpe. TANGIER is a hypnotic, beautiful, bewildering musical trip. Prepare to be swept away on an aural journey like no other, bringing together dozens of musicians from different cultures, orchestras, choirs, epic symphonic pieces from another time and place, other worldly sounds and rhythms, rock jams, funk outs, unforgettable ballads. Centre stage in this musical maelstrom is the unmistakable voice and spirit of the irrepressible and visionary Billy Thorpe. Sadly, of course, the irrevocable heartbreaking fact at the core of the story behind TANGIER, the unavoidable void, is that the great Billy Thorpe himself cannot be here with US to bask in the fruition of his expansive labour. However, in TANGIER, Billy Thorpe has left US a truly extraordinary work. It is the pinnacle of an unparalleled career spanning five decades - from a child star in Brisbane in the 1950s, Australia's biggest pop star in the '60s, our biggest rock star in the early '70s, a new wave rocker in America in the '80s, a best-selling author back in Australia in '90s, star and producer of the Long Way to the Top tour in the '00s. For all that music and history and experience, Billy knew TANGIER would define his legacy. He had road-tested several of the songs during live shows and the immediate reaction from his audiences was incomparable to anything he'd ever experienced. Billy spent his final years obsessed with TANGIER. #in early 2007, he was all set to finish it. After seven years of tireless work and refinement, after literally thousands of hours of writing and demoing and recording the many multilayered elements that go to the breadth of TANGIER, he was very nearly there. But then the unfathomable. In the early hours of 28 February 2007, the world lost Billy Thorpe. And time stood still. In the wake of the national and international mourning that followed, once the shell-shock started to subside, some of Billy's closest friends and music associates began discussions with his family about the idea of completing TANGIER on Billy's behalf. Everyone who knew Billy knew that TANGIER meant the world to him. With this resolve, a conglomerate of family, friends, musicians, music industry heavyweights and a couple of superstars set about piecing together and putting the finishing touches to Billy Thorpe's almost finished masterpiece. And now, finally, here it is. Billy Thorpe's TANGIER. ARIA Award winning producer Daniel Denholm was brought in to pull all the pieces together. Daniel, a celebrated composer and arranger in his own right, set about reconstructing Billy's vision. More extraordinary multinational players from around Australia and the world were brought into the mix. Among them, the great Mick Fleetwood, Billy Thorpe's former band mate in the early-'90s LA rock outfit, the Zoo. Other guest performers on TANGIER include Egypt's Tawadros brothers, Venezuelan-born flautist Pedro Eustache, Sydney violinist Richard Tognetti, as well as Australian singers Vanessa Amorosi, Brian Cadd, Connie Mitchell, Ian Moss and Melinda Schneider.