View basket “Lovers Rock” 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 Cockney Rebel Psychomodo Rock And Pop | Chrysalis | 1LP Released 4th May 2018 £22.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Cockney Rebel Psychomodo £22.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Chrysalis SKU: 5060516091348 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 4th May 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Thee Oh Sees Drop Rock And Pop | Castle Face | 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 14th April 2014 £14.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Thee Oh Sees Drop £14.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Castle Face SKU: CF033 Formats: 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 14th April 2014 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Robert Wyatt Rock Bottom Rock And Pop | Domino | 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 21st March 2012 £22.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Robert Wyatt Rock Bottom £22.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Domino SKU: REWIGLP40 Formats: 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 21st March 2012 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Ela Orleans Movies For Ears Rock And Pop | Night School | 1LP Released 29th March 2019 £17.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Ela Orleans Movies For Ears £17.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Night School SKU: LSSN062 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 29th March 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Various Artists I, Tonya: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Rock And Pop | Milan | 180g, 1LP Released 30th March 2018 £25.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Various Artists I, Tonya: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack £25.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Milan SKU: 3299039999929 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 30th March 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Yes Fragile (Atlantic 75 Series) Progressive | Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series) | 180g, 2LP, 45rpm, Gatefold Sleeve Released 25th December 2025 £75.00 Pre Order View Pre/Back Orders Yes Fragile (Atlantic 75 Series) £75.00 Genre: Progressive Label: Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series) SKU: AAPA 014-45 Formats: 180g, 2LP, 45rpm, Gatefold Sleeve Released Date: 25th December 2025 Read More Pre Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Nothing But Thieves Broken Machine Rock And Pop | Sony Music | 1LP Released 8th September 2017 £19.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Nothing But Thieves Broken Machine £19.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Sony Music SKU: 88985437031 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 8th September 2017 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Joesef Permanent Damage Rock And Pop | Bold Cut | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 13th January 2023 £19.00 - £22.00 Select options Joesef Permanent Damage £19.00 - £22.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Bold Cut Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 13th January 2023 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Deep Purple Last Concert In Japan Rock And Pop | Friday Music | 180g, 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released 24th September 2012 £38.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Deep Purple Last Concert In Japan £38.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Friday Music SKU: AFRM211037 Formats: 180g, 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released Date: 24th September 2012 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Lori Lieberman Ready For The Storm Rock And Pop | Drive On Records | 180g, 2LP Released 12th June 2015 £45.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Lori Lieberman Ready For The Storm £45.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Drive On Records SKU: ADRV 115115 Formats: 180g, 2LP Released Date: 12th June 2015 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders See more in Rock And Pop Start again
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