"I recently shipped all my old master tapes from the warehouse in London, where they had lain for decades, to my basement here in Nashville. Among the 2 inch tapes - O stars of joy! - I found a complete set of 24-track masters for the "Globe of Frogs" album.

It was recorded in 1987 with Morris Windsor and Andy Metcalfe (the surviving Egyptians from the OG 1984 five-piece) who both had been in the Soft Boys with me back in 1970s Cambridge. The two of them were an ace rhythm section and our musical rat-runs together ran deep.

Released on A&M records in early 1988, "Globe of Frogs" was my major label album debut after 10 years on indies.

"Globe of Frogs" broke a lot of ice for myself and the band. Some of that ice subsequently froze over again. But the album did its work, and then tapered away into history. By the time I rediscovered the 2” master tapes, it had been out of print for some years. Listening to the record almost four decades after we made it, however, it felt like it could do with refreshing beyond simply remastering. It needed a remix.

So Brad Jones and I have sonically updated it at Alex the Great Recording Studios in Nashville. Brad sweetened the vocals where he could, softened the tone of the bass, shed some of the 1980s digital patina from the drum sound, and pruned a few overdubs to highlight the organic interplay between the guitar, bass and drums that comprise the backing tracks.

It has been remastered by John Baldwin at Infrasonic in Nashville.