View basket “Johnny Winter And Live” has been added to your basket. Virtual Summer Sam Millar SKU: 27.00 27.00 £27.00 £27.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Earache Released Date: 27th September 2024 Buying Format: 1LP 1LP Coloured Vinyl Buying Options Choose an option1LP1LP Coloured VinylClear Virtual Summer quantity Add to basket ReservePre Order Add to your Wishlist Description Product Info Picture a time when you could have a good time all the time. It was an era when fast cars rolled under neon lights, yachts were a sensible housing decision and fighting for your right to party was a full time occupation. This mythical age had an equally flamboyant soundtrack to match, and it blared from boomboxes and dashboards in every time zone. It was the 1980s, and bands like Van Halen, Toto and Def Leppard personified a summertime sound built on big beats, bigger melodies and choruses so epic that singing along was the law, and places like Vegas, Hollywood, and Miami Beach became hedonistic epicenters of a global, sonic heatwave. Cruelly overlooked among these hard-partying capitals is the little town of Wigan, just outside of Manchester – average annual rainfall: lots. It was there that multi-talented musician Sam Millar was born, and where that 80s vibe has found new life in the form of his debut solo record. It’s called Virtual Summer, and it’s 14 slabs of the slickest sounds this side of a hot pink Mustang with the top down and the stereo way, way up. “Wigan’s just a little town, it’s not the nicest place – I know you don’t expect this sort of thing to come out of here, but that’s why it did,” says Millar. “Half the time it’s raining and miserable, so Virtual Summer is like tapping into summer whenever you need to, just put it on and it’s always there for you.” Raised on a parental diet of Slade, Springsteen and Sabbath, it wasn’t long before Millar soon discovered his own hard rocking obsessions, and if there’s a familiar ring to any of Virtual Summer’s dopamine cannon blasts then it’s because it’s the culmination of the guitar-slinging maverick’s lifelong adoration for the finely honed melodic perfection of the giants of AOR, and Toto in particular. “I guess you could call it cheesy, but there’s something about being able to sing a song after you’ve heard one chorus, the feeling it gives you – it’s just so positive,” he says. Of course this didn’t all happen overnight. Millar has played and toured as a guitarist for years in other bands, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that his love of the sunny-side-up sparked the idea to try his own hand at that perfect balance of catchy choruses and timeless melody. He wrote, recorded and released a debut taster EP entirely off his own back, and the response to the EP and ensuing live shows was nothing less than ecstatic. It soon caught the attention of Earache Records. The rest was history. “I’ve written, produced and played everything myself,” he says, “There isn’t really a scene for this, and that’s a good thing – it’s feelgood radio pop, and there’s a place for that now. Just listen to Taylor Swift or The 1975 – those big gated snare drums – it sounds so different from so much other pop music and that’s a great thing.” And from the Van Halen-loving fireworks of album-opener The Killing Floor to the synth-laden slickness of Deja Vu, it’s an album that wears its heart on its sleeve, and it makes no apology for where it comes from. “Fooling Yourself is quite heavy, but in my head I wanted it to be a rocked up version of ABBA. People probably think I’m mad, but I love ABBA! Dancing On My Own is quite heavily Huey Lewis and the News and Hall and Oates territory, and there’s a track called When The Summer Ends that channels all my Toto into one song. My music may be tongue-in-cheek, but it’s no joke. I can’t call it a guilty pleasure, because why would you feel guilty about that?” Artist Sam Millar Genre Rock And Pop Label Earache Buying Options 1LP , 1LP Coloured Vinyl Format 1LP Condition New Country UK Track Listings The Killing Floor Fooling Yourself Something I'll Regret When the Summer Ends Chardonnay Showbiz Forget You Dancing On My Own Deja Vu Neanderthal Man Meet Me Halfway Share this On Facebook On Twitter Via Email More from Rock And Pop View Product Quick View Graham Dee Connection, The The 60s Collection Rock And Pop | Acid Jazz | 1LP Released 19th October 2011 £12.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Graham Dee Connection, The The 60s Collection £12.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Acid Jazz SKU: AJXLP262 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 19th October 2011 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Ben's picks View Product Quick View King Hannah Big Swimmer Rock And Pop | City Slang | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 31st May 2024 £24.00 - £25.00 Select options King Hannah Big Swimmer £24.00 - £25.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: City Slang Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 31st May 2024 Read More Select options Nearly New View Product Quick View Alvin Lee Band, The Free Fall Blues | Avatar | 1LP Released 4th April 2024 £7.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Alvin Lee Band, The Free Fall £7.00 Genre: Blues Label: Avatar SKU: nn283911 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 4th April 2024 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View Codeine Barely Real Rock And Pop | Numero Group | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 14th July 2023 £22.00 - £23.00 Select options Codeine Barely Real £22.00 - £23.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Numero Group Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 14th July 2023 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Manic Street Preachers Resistance Is Futile (Limited White Vinyl) Rock And Pop | Columbia | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 13th April 2018 £25.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Manic Street Preachers Resistance Is Futile (Limited White Vinyl) £25.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Columbia SKU: 19075809911 Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 13th April 2018 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View Lewis Watson Midnight Rock And Pop | Cooking Vinyl | 2LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released 24th March 2017 £21.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Lewis Watson Midnight £21.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Cooking Vinyl SKU: COOKLP656 Formats: 2LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released Date: 24th March 2017 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Ataxia Ataxia: AW II Rock And Pop | Record Collection | 1LP Released 21st January 2013 £15.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Ataxia Ataxia: AW II £15.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Record Collection SKU: RCM499763 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 21st January 2013 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Blood Sweat & Tears 3 Rock And Pop | Speakers Corner | 180g, 1LP Released 26th January 2012 £34.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Blood Sweat & Tears 3 £34.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Speakers Corner SKU: KC30090 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 26th January 2012 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Jovanotti Oh, Vita! 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