AN album released by a Caithness rock band 33 years ago has just had a new lease of life after a chance posting online.

James Sutherland, the lead vocalist in Z-ROX, put some pictures of the four-piece group on the Thurso Heritage Society web page and it generated a huge amount of interest. The photos and other memorabilia received over 500 likes and requests for the band, which was formed in 1986 and played until 1997 at venues all over the north, to get "the music back out there."

Z-ROX, who also featured David Craig on lead guitar and keyboards, Sandy Christie on drums and backing vocals and Gordon McIntosh on bass and backing vocals, decided to upload and stream their 1988 recording of Face the Future. They included a 2010 remix which David did from the original tapes. "We are delighted to say that the album is now available to stream online,"said David.

"When we first started playing together, both James and I were keen to write and play our own songs. We played a mix of our material and cover versions which were always popular with the crowd. By summer 1988 we had enough of our own material to record an album. We had already spent time in 1986 recording four tracks at Cairngorm Music in Granton-on-Spey, which was picked up and played by Moray Firth Radio at the time. Later in 1986, we also recorded two further tracks in Thurso's Sailing Shoes Studio run by the late Tommy Robertson. And we had tried out all the songs with local audiences over the years, so we knew they were popular. Although James and I were the main songwriters, Gordy and Sandy added their own input to structure the songs as they are now - so everyone contributed, " recalled David who pointed out that Z-ROX members previously played in local bands such as The Blonde Brothers, Kix and Number 22.

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He said: "By far the most experienced blues/rock/jazz musician in Caithness then was (the late) Johnny 'Fats' Sutherland. He had installed a 12-track tape machine at his then home studio at Greenland, and offered us the best opportunity to get the songs recorded locally and in the best quality we could afford. Johnny also had some kind of distribution deal with Grampian Records in Wick so we got him to record the album, which he mastered digitally - probably a first for Caithness - and he arranged the distribution of 500 cassette tapes of the album."

Face the Future was recorded over a four week period in August 1988. The tape was manufactured at Grampian Records in Wick and the band sold copies of it at their gigs across the Highlands and Islands.

The album was launched in October 1988 and received coverage in the local and regional press but after more than three decades is available again online.

David added: "We hope that the original audience will rediscover this, and also that the younger generation - many of whom were yet to be born when we recorded Face the Future - will find it enjoyable and perhaps an interesting take on what their parents used to dance to."

James, who now lives and works in Cambodia, said: "It was the first full-length all original rock album written, produced, and manufactured in the county. Johnny Sutherland produced it at his Sane Asylum Studios near Castletown, the original sleeve artwork was by Duncan McLachlan, and the tape was manufactured by Grampian Records in Wick in a limited edition of 500, and sold at gigs throughout the north and the islands."

He added: "It's now available for the very first time since then on digital streaming platform Spotify. You can find the album by searching Face The Future Z-ROX."

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