The Cowsills Prep Release of Lost ‘90s LP

Global due out on Nov. 8 via Omnivore Recordings

October 3, 2024 Ron Hart 0 Comments 1998, 2024, Atlantic Records, Bob Cowsill, Global, Omnivore Recordings, Susan Cowsill, The Cowsills

The Cowsills in the ’90s (Image: The Cowsills)

Celebrated rock ‘n’ roll family band The Cowsills is preparing for the release of Global, the group’s great lost album of the 1990s, on Nov. 8 via Omnivore Recordings.

The journey of Global began in 1990, and a cache of demos singer/guitarist Bob Cowsill was working on when the band was offered a spot on Dick Clark’s nostalgia package tours playing only their hits. They agreed to set aside the new music in favor of the tour, but when they were about to sign the contract, nobody had a pen to use.

“The contract was in front of us, and we were ready to do it,” Bob Cowsill recalls. “Nutty as this sounds, they couldn’t locate a pen, then Dick had to go do something. It was decided we’d take a break and sign it after lunch. That’s when we started talking–Did we really want to do this? Should we take the oldies moniker on now? We felt young for an oldies tour, Susan [the youngest] was only 36. That’s when I said ‘Well, I got these songs.’ So, we walked out of that lunch, said no to Dick Clark and said ‘Okay, let’s do this.’”

The Cowsills all quit whatever day jobs they were working and became a full-time band again. And the demos they almost shelved for Dick Clark would eventually become Global, a collection of 14 songs written primarily by Bob and his wife Mary Jo, with contributions from Barry and Paul Cowsill. The album was recorded at Rumbo Recorders, owned by Daryl Dragon (“The Captain” of Captain & Tennille). The Cowsills began booking live shows, and anyone who came for nostalgia was in for a surprise.

Sadly, a reformed ‘60s act trying to land a major label deal in the alternative ‘90s proved to be a futile effort, though Atlantic Records was interested until the A&R guy got fired. What’s worse was the album’s main benefactor was arrested by the FBI for insurance fraud. Funding for the LP vanished in a flash, and the tapes sat in the studio for years.

The Cowsills Global, Omnivore Recordings 2024

Then the Internet came along, and the band had a new way of distribution. Bob rescued the album and brought in mastering legend Doug Sax to work on the DAT rough mixes. The Cowsills created a label, Robin Records, and a website to sell the CD-only album, of which only very few were made. While preparing the release, Bob made the eleventh-hour decision to leave out three of the 14 songs. The missing three are finally reinstated on the new CD and streaming editions of Global.

With full cooperation from the band and Executive Producers Rock Positano and James Ferr, Global has been restored and remastered by multiple Grammy-winner Michael Graves and is definitively back. Bob, John, Paul and Susan Cowsill, as well as veteran bassist Robby Scharf are joined by guests Vicki Peterson (The Bangles, Continental Drifters), Berton Averre (The Knack), Peter Holsapple (The dB’s, Continental Drifters), members of the extended Cowsills family, and even John Stamos, who was one of the biggest names in Hollywood at the time of recording. It’s a joyous noise spanning decades of pure pop and songcraft.

Featuring updated artwork, the packaging contains new liner notes from my old boss at Rock.com, Brett Milano, and Bob Cowsill outlining, explaining and bringing this “lost” album’s story to life.

Watch the lyric video for the single “What I Believe” below.

Global tracklist:

1. What About Love

2. Under The Gun

3. She Said To Me

4. You’ve Got No Time

5. Cross That Line

6. What I Believe

7. I Be Low

8. Far Away

9. Rescue

10. Is It Any Wonder