One of the most underrated pop acts of the late '80s will get the deluxe treatment in a new box set coming from Cherry Red next year: Scottish pop trio Danny Wilson.

Complete Danny Wilson, due out February 28, will live up to its name across five discs comprising the band's two studio albums - Meet Danny Wilson (1987) and Bebop Moptop (1989) - along with two discs of B-sides and rarities and a live show featuring several unreleased performances. The set was assembled with the participation of the band's line-up (frontman/songwriter Gary Clark and multi-instrumentalists Kit Clark and Ged Grimes), who also contributed new interviews for the set's liner notes.

Hailing from Dundee, Scotland, Gary Clark and Ged Grimes were schoolmates who'd tried to strike out as musicians in London before realizing the music scene in their home country was starting to boom. With Gary's brother Kit, the group formed under the name Spencer Tracy in 1984 and started attracting label attention after a glowing review in Melody Maker. The band recorded an eclectic collection of Clark's songs for their debut, spanning from lite sophisti-pop to jazz affects and even bossa nova. Though nearly derailed due to a last minute objection by the estate of the late actor, the group quickly pivoted under the name Danny Wilson (Meet Danny Wilson was a Frank Sinatra film the Clark brothers' father enjoyed).

Sales were initially quite slow for the single "Mary's Prayer," a nonetheless irresistible slice of stirring pop buoyed by Clark's airy voice. Against all odds, the track started to gain attention in America, eventually reaching No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. (A striking trade ad featured a testimonial from a promoter at a competing label to Virgin Records.) With a slight remix for a second single release, it finally caught on with U.K. audiences, soaring to No. 3. Unusually, that was the group's commercial peak: Meet Danny Wilson's other singles, "Davy" and "A Girl I Used to Know" (which was significantly remixed for U.S. radio), failed to catch on, as did most of the tracks from 1989 follow-up Bebop Moptop, which featured a stronger band dynamic, with Kit Clark singing vocals on two tracks. (One single, the stripped-down, jaunty "The Second Summer of Love," was a minor U.K. hit.)

The band dissolved shortly thereafter - a mutual decision after demoing material for a third record, the better to maintain friendships among the members - and all three stayed in the music business. After a career-capping compilation, 1991's Sweet Danny Wilson (featuring rare B-sides and a good portion of the concert that closes Complete Danny Wilson), Gary Clark performed solo and in bands before finding success as a songwriter/producer, working with acts like Natalie Imbruglia, Liz Phair and Demi Lovato. Most famously, Clark composed much of the song score for 2016's Sing Street, a terrific coming-of-age film set in 1980s Ireland that was written and directed by Once writer/director John Carney. (A planned Broadway adaptation was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, but a retooled version will hit the West End next year.) Kit Clark also continued to write and record on his own, while Grimes in 2010 joined another Scottish band with some big '80s hits, becoming the bassist for Simple Minds.

While the trio have recorded and performed together in the years since Danny Wilson took their last bow, only one  public performance in 2014 was billed as such, and Gary Clark has maintained further reunions are unlikely - but the time has never been better to rediscover their solid discography, including 26 B-sides and remixes - many of which have never been compiled or released on CD before - and a terrific example of their live prowess at London's Town and Country Club in 1989, which featured renditions of favorites like "Mary's Prayer," "Aberdeen," "Steamtrains to the Milky Way," "I Can't Wait" and even a cover of ABBA's "Knowing Me, Knowing You."

Packaging specs for Complete Danny Wilson have not yet been revealed, but the set will be available on February 28. Pre-order links are below, with direct orders from Cherry Red offering a free Danny Wilson postcard with purchase. The full track list is below; as an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Complete Danny Wilson (Cherry Red CRCD5BOX162 (U.K.), 2025) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: Meet Danny Wilson (released as Virgin V2419 (U.K.), 1987)

1. Davy
2. Aberdeen
3. Mary's Prayer
4. Lorraine Parade
5. Nothing Ever Goes to Plan
6. Broken China
7. Steamtrains to the Milky Way
8. Spencer Tracey
9. You Remain An Angel
10. Ruby's Golden Wedding
11. A Girl I Used to Know
12. Five Friendly Aliens
13. I Won't Be Here When You Get Home

Disc 2: Bebop Moptop (released as Virgin CDV2594 (U.K.), 1989)

1. Imaginary Girl
2. The Second Summer of Love
3. I Can't Wait
4. If You Really Love Me (Let Me Go)
5. If Everything You Said Was True
6. Loneliness
7. I Was Wrong
8. Charlie Boy
9. Never Gonna Be the Same
10. Desert Hearts
11. N.Y.C. Shanty
12. Goodbye Shanty Town
13. The Ballad of Me and Shirley Maclaine

Disc 3-4: B-Sides/Edits/Mixes

1. I Won't Forget
2. Pleasure to Pleasure
3. Monkey's Shiny Day
4. Mary's Prairie
5. Kathleen (House Mix)
6. Living to Learn
7. Kooks
8. Get Happy
9. Growing Emotional
10. I'll Be Waiting
11. The Lonesome Road
12. A Girl I Used to Know (Single Mix)
13. If Everything You Said Was True (Radio Edit)

1. A Girl I Used to Know (U.S. Remix with Guitar Solo)
2. Mary's Prayer (Paul Staveley O'Duffy Remix)
3. Nothing Ever Goes to Plan (Blix Mix '86)
4. Aberdeen (The Way it Should Have Been)
5. I Can't Wait (Remix) *
6. If You Really Love Me (Let Me Go) (New York Mix)
7. From a Boy to a Man
8. Monkey's Shiny Day (Original Demo Version)
9. Steam Trains to the Milky Way (Original Demo)
10. Broken China (Original Demo)
11. A Fragile World (Portastudio)
12. St. Jude (Portastudio)
13. The Second Summer of Love (The Dundee Demo)

Disc 3, Track 1 from "Davy" single - Virgin VS965 (U.K.), 1987
Disc 3, Track 2 from "Davy" 12" - Virgin VS965-12 (U.K.), 1987
Disc 3, Track 3 from "Mary's Prayer" single - Virgin VS934 (U.K.), 1987
Disc 3, Track 4 from "Mary's Prayer" 12" - Virgin VS934-12 (U.K.), 1987
Disc 3, Tracks 5-6 and Disc 4, Track 4 from Strepzil Logic EP - Virgin VST1095 (U.K.), 1988
Disc 3, Track 7 and Disc 4, Track 2 from "Mary's Prayer" CD single - Virgin VSCD934 (U.K.), 1988
Disc 3, Tracks 8 and 11 from "Never Gonna Be the Same" 12" - Virgin VST1203 (U.K.), 1989
Disc 3, Track 9 from "The Second Summer of Love" 12" - Virgin VST1186 (U.K.), 1989
Disc 3, Track 10 from "The Second Summer of Love" single - Virgin VS1186 (U.K.), 1989
Disc 3, Track 12 from Virgin U.K. single VS1011, 1987
Disc 3, Track 13 from Virgin U.K. single VS1502, 1989
Disc 4, Track 1 from Virgin U.S. single 7-99399, 1987
Disc 4, Track 3 from "Never Gonna Be the Same" single - Virgin VS1203 (U.K.), 1989
Disc 4, Track 6 from "If You Really Love Me (Let Me Go)" EP - Virgin VST1363 (U.K.), 1989
Disc 4, Track 7 from Sweet Danny Wilson - Virgin CDV2669 (U.K.), 1991
Disc 4, Tracks 8-10 from The Dundee Demos 10" - Virgin VS934-10 (U.K.), 1988
Disc 4, Tracks 11-12 from "Never Gonna Be the Same" 10" - Virgin VSA1203 (U.K.), 1989
Disc 4, Track 13 from "The Second Summer of Love" 10" - Virgin VSA1186 (U.K.), 1989

Disc 5: Live at The Town and Country Club, London, England - 10/1/1989 and live bonus tracks

1. Never Gonna Be the Same *
2. Broken China
3. Davy
4. I Was Wrong
5. Lorraine Parade
6. Steamtrains to the Milky Way
7. Charlie Boy *
8. Knowing Me Knowing You
9. Imaginary Girl/Everything You Said *
10. Aberdeen
11. I Can't Wait
12. Mary's Prayer
13. Loneliness
14. The Second Summer of Love (Live at Caird Hall, Dundee, Scotland - 9/16/1989)
15. Don't Know Who I Am (Live in Studio 5, Tyne Tees Television)

Tracks 1, 7 and 9 previously unreleased
Tracks 2, 4, 10, 13 and 15 from Sweet Danny Wilson/Three-in-a-Bed Romp - Virgin CDVX2669 (U.K.), 1991
Tracks 3 and 5 from "I Can't Wait" CD single - Virgin VSCD1226 (U.K.), 1989
Tracks 6 from "I Can't Wait" single - Virgin VS1226 (U.K.), 1989
Track 8 from "I Can't Wait" 12" - Virgin VST1226 (U.K.), 1989
Track 11-12 and 14 from "If You Really Love Me (Let Me Go)" EP - Virgin VST1363 (U.K.), 1989