The Underground Garden - The Underground Garden (1978)

Following on from the mysterious Monk album that I posted recently, I thought I'd set a little puzzle, and so I'm posting a pop album that could have come out in 1978, and I want to know if anyone can work out who it's by. There are some clues in the titles, and some of the songs themselves, and as an extra hint I can tell you that the backing band is made up of Chris Spedding on guitar, Les Hurdle on bass, Clem Cattini on drums, and Alan Parker on keyboards. I've called the band The Underground Garden, after one of the tracks from the album, and all of the songs have been released officially, but not under the singers name. So before you head off to Google, give it a listen and see if you can work out who is this mysterious singer/songwriter/producer. I will admit that it will probably be aimed more at UK-based visitors who were around in 1978, but everyone can give it a listen, as the songs are all pretty good pop of the period, and were actually quite successful here in the UK.    

Track listing

01 The Underground Garden>
02 Rainmaker
03 Dreaming In The Sun
04 Edinburgh Rock
05 Look Out For The Giant
06 From Wimbledon With Love
07 Miss Adelaide
08 The Return Of Cousin Yellowstone
09 The March Of The Machines
10 Exercise Is Good For You (Laziness Is Not)
11 The Jungle Is Jumping
12 Wimbledon Sunset
13 The Empty Bag Blues

The Troyes - Morning Of The Rain (1967)

The Troyes were formed in Battle Creek in 1965 by Fred Dummer on lead guitar, Jerry Younglove on rhythm guitar, Brad Keagle on bass, Lee Koteles on organ and lead vocals, and Bill Hirakis on drums, and as the members couldn't agree on a name they picked one that didn't mean anything at all. Before they reached the recording studio, Keagle left and was replaced by Gary Linke on rhythm guitar, with Younglove moving to bass, and this line-up cut two songs for release as a single on Phalanx Records. 'Why'/'Rainbow Chaser' came out on Phalanx in 1966, and climbed to number 3 in the local top 40 of September, but by the time that single was released the band had signed to a new label started by a friend of Koteles' mother, who wanted to start a record label, and so he formed Space Records. The label owner, Ray Anthony, believed in the band, and paid for studio sessions so that they could record their own material, with the aim of releasing an album by the group. Eight songs were recorded at United Sound Studios in December 1966, with a further six tracks laid down in June 1967. Two of these later recordings were released as the band's second single 'Love Comes, Love Dies'/'Help Me Find Myself' on Space Records, but it didn't match the success of their first single. At their peak The Troyes were producing a mix of far-out psychedelic rock, unhinged fuzz and garage, and moody haunting sounds, but by 1968 the were moving towards a heavier sound with their final recording 'Corn Flake', which was so named because they hailed from the home of the Kelloggs empire. They were certainly one of the Cereal City's finest exports, who should have been bigger, as for an obscure band they were a really excellent garage/beat group, and as we know exactly which songs were recorded for their proposed album, it's fairly easy to reconstruct what it would have sounded like had Space Records been able to release it in 1967 as they'd planned.  

Track listing

01 Help Me Find Myself
02 Why
03 I Don't Need You
04 Rainbow Chaser
05 Mari
06 Tomorrow
07 Someday You'll See My Side
08 Love Comes Love Dies
09 I Know Different
10 The Good Night
11 Morning Of The Rain
12 I'm Gone
13 Blanket Of My Love
14 Turn Around
15 Jezebel

Tina Charles - Hot Hits (1973)

As I mentioned in the last post from Tina Charles, in the early 70's she got a job recording vocals on the 'Top Of The Pops' and 'Hot Hits' series of albums, where anonymous artists covered contemporary hits. In his early days Elton John had also earned extra money by doing this (see his own post here), and Charles found herself not only covering songs by female vocalists, but she was the go-to singer to tackle the teenyboppers of the period, such as Donny Osmond and Michael Jackson, who were only around 13 or 14 at the time, and whose voices had not yet broken. Over a few years she covered scores of songs, which were spread over a variety of the these records, such as 'Parade Of Pops', 'Best Of '72', 'Smash Hits', 'Pick Of The Hits', and the two most popular of these cash-in records, Hallmark's 'Top Of The Pops' and mfp's 'Hot Hits'. As an example of her work in this field, here are fourteen of her covers of hits from the early 70's, all housed in a suitably retro cover

Track listing 

01 Song Of My Life (Petula Clark) 
02 Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep (Middle Of The Road)  
03 Let Me Be There (Olivia Newton John)
04 The Witch (The Rattles)
05 Paper Roses (Marie Osmond)
06 Lookin' Through The Windows (The Jackson 5)
07 Banner Man (Blue Mink)
08 Puppy Love (Donny Osmond)
09 Won't Somebody Dance With Me (Lynsey De Paul) 
10 Doctor My Eyes (The Jackson 5)
11 Come Back And Shake Me (Clodagh Rodgers)
12 Ben (Michael Jackson)
13 Why (Donnie Osmond)
14 You Can Do Magic (Limmie And Family Cooking)

Monk - Monk (1971) **UPGRADE TO THE UPGRADE**

I've recently discovered that the de-clicker I use to try to improve old crackly 45's has a Super-scan facility, and so the first album I wanted to try it out on was this old acetate by the mysterious band Monk. I thought the best thing would be to start right from the beginning, so I downloaded a fresh copy of it, and when splitting out the tracks I found that I'd split the third track in half, as it had a fade in the middle which made it sound like it had finished, and so from then on all the track titles were incorrect for side one. As well as correcting that, I've also tried to remove some of the louder clunks, in particular on 'Fantasy 2: The Beast', and so this upgrade is not only for the sound quality, but also to correct the track listing. When I tracked this down again there had been a recent comment added that a record label was looking to remaster this album and release it officially, but we've all heard that before, so if it doesn't happen then at least we have this copy to listen to. 

Speaking of an official release, Soulseeker Johntest has informed me that this did in fact happen in 2023, when Bright Carvings released a limited edition pressing of 227 copies of the fully remastered album, but as they are now long gone, I'm replacing my improved copy with a vinyl rip of one of the 227 copies from Youtube, and all I've had to do this time is split out the tracks and tidy up some fades. And I must admit that the more I listen to this, especially in this new, cleaned-up version, the more I think that this really is a lost classic of progressive rock.   

Track listing

01 Fantasy 1: The Journey
02 Sit Back, Relax
03 House In The Country
04 Lazy Day
05 A Light In The Window
06 Fantasy 2: The Beast
07 Jesu 
08 Lover
09 And So To Bed
10 Intermezzo
11 Don't Talk About Me
12 Through An Electric Glass Darkly

The Coral - Music From The Other Side (2010)

In 1996, school-friends Ian Skelly and Paul Duffy began jamming together in the basement of Flat Foot Sams pub in Hoylake, and over the following months they were joined by Bill Ryder-Jones on lead guitar, Ian's older brother James Skelly on vocals and main song-writing duties, and then Lee Southall on rhythm guitar. The band were known briefly as Hive before choosing the name The Coral, and the line-up was completed with the addition of Nick Power, who joined as keyboard player in 1998. After seeing the band live, Alan Wills was impressed enough to put his dream of starting a record label into action, so that he could release music from the band, and as he couldn't find anyone else to take on the job, he reluctantly offered to manage them as well. After founding his Deltasonic label, Willis released the band's first single, 'Shadows Fall' in 2001, which was followed by two extended players, 'The Oldest Path EP' later that year, and the 'Skeleton Key EP' in 2002. Their eponymous debut album 'The Coral', came out in 2002, reaching number five on the UK Albums Chart, and it was nominated for the Mercury Prize the day after its release. A successful UK tour and festival slots followed, along with the singles 'Goodbye', which just failed to crack the UK Top Twenty, a feat which 'Dreaming Of You' managed by reaching number thirteen. After a hectic year they recorded their second album 'Magic And Medicine' in 2003, and when it was released it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, and garnered much critical praise. It was largely made up of dreamlike acoustic ballads rather than the aggressive psychedelia of their debut, and the band were praised for their new-found maturity. 

They followed the release of the record with UK, European, American and Japanese tours, and a one-off festival Midsummer Nights Scream, held in a big top on the New Brighton promenade, and all four singles from the album reached the UK Top Thirty. Later in 2003 the band quickly recorded the mini-album 'Nightfreak And The Sons Of Becker', which was released in early 2004 with little promotion and no accompanying singles, and it marked another change in direction for the band, showcasing a darker, funkier and more lo-fi sound. In 2004 they began recording 'The Invisible Invasion', with Portishead's Adrian Utley and Geoff Barrow as producers, and when it came out the following year it entered the UK Album Chart at number 3. A second CD containing live versions of songs from this and previous albums was included as a bonus with early copies of the album. In June 2005 guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones took a break from the band and it was announced that he would not tour again, but might continue to help with future recordings, and he was replaced by David McDonnell for the tour supporting 'The Invisible Invasion'. 

In late 2005 the band had written an album without Ryder-Jones entitled 'The Curse Of Love', but before it could be released Ryder-Jones was persuaded to rejoin at the start of 2006 as a full-time band member, and so the group shelved those songs in order to begin work on another album, 'Roots & Echoes'. During the summer of 2007 they toured with Arctic Monkeys, and in July they released the single 'Who's Gonna Find Me' as a taster for the album, which came out the following month. In contrast to their frenetic early material, this album was a much more laid-back affair, and emphasised the maturity to the band's song-writing. Tracks such as 'Rebecca You' and 'Music At Night' were embellished with string arrangements written by Ryder-Jones, and they even opened the BBC Electric Proms on 24 October 2007 with 'Who's Gonna Find Me' and 'In The Rain', where they were joined on stage by celebrity friend Noel Gallagher. In January 2008 Ryder-Jones left the band again, apparently due to experiencing panic attacks before playing live, and finding that his desire to be part of a commercially successful band had disappeared. Drawing a line under the first chapter of their career, the Coral released a three-LP and two-CD compilation album 'Singles Collection' on 15 September 2008, featuring all but two of their singles to date, and a second CD entitled 'Mysteries & Rarities' contained 19 previously unreleased songs, demos, outtakes and live recordings of earlier songs. 

In July 2010 The Coral released their sixth album 'Butterfly House', which was produced by John Leckie, of The Stone Roses and Radiohead fame, and for this record the songs had been crafted over a two-year period, during which the band fine-honed and road-tested the material. The deluxe version of this album came with a bonus CD of five additional songs, and critical reception was largely positive, with Record Collector Magazine stating that it was a contender for "2010 album of the year". Six months after the release of 'Butterfly House', they released 'Butterfly House Acoustic', which was a limited edition acoustic re-recording of the entire album, which they completed in a single day, after positive reviews of their acoustic live performances. As predicted by Record Collector, 'Butterfly House' was named UK Album Of The Year 2010 at the Music Producers Guild Awards in February 2011. In a March 2012 interview, bassist Paul Duffy reported that a new album was in progress at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in Bristol, but in the Spring the band announced an indefinite hiatus in order to concentrate on individual projects, and their half-finished seventh album was shelved.

On 24 August 2014, Geoff Barrow announced, when standing in for Stuart Maconie on the BBC Radio 6 Music Freak Zone show, that The Coral were to release 'The Curse Of Love', which was the abandoned album recorded after Ryder-Jones left the group. This had been produced by Barrow, and after some remastering, it appeared later in 2014 on James Skelly's own record label, Skeleton Key Records. 

On 23 November 2015, the band announced their return after a five-year hiatus, and a new studio album, 'Distance Inbetween' would be released in March 2016, accompanied by UK and European tours in the Spring. Guitarist Paul Molloy joined the band during the recording of the album, replacing Lee Southall who had chosen to take a break from the group in order to focus on his personal life and solo project. In April 2018, the band announced their ninth studio album, 'Move Through The Dawn', which was then released on 10 August 2018, and they followed this in January 2021 with a new single, 'Faceless Angel', which heralded the release of their fairground-inspired double album 'Coral Island', which was released on 30 April. Despite being hailed as part of the "guitar group revival" of the early 2000's, they had little in common with their peers, and their music was a hybrid of psychedelia, dub reggae, Merseybeat and country, and their lyrics betrayed an obsession with the sea. This is particularly evident when listening to this collection of non-album b-sides from their career up to their temporary split in 2010, and to me these songs are so good that these three discs actually sound like proper albums in their own right.  

Track listing

Disc I - 2000-2003   

01 The Ballad Of Simon Diamond (b-side of 'Shadows Fall' 2000)

02 A Sparrow's Song (b-side of 'Shadows Fall' 2000)

03 The Oldest Path (from 'The Oldest Path' EP 2001)

04 God Knows (from 'The Oldest Path' EP 2001)

05 Short Ballad (from 'The Oldest Path' EP 2001)

06 Flies (from 'The Oldest Path' EP 2001)

07 Good Fortune (b-side of 'Goodbye' 2002)

08 Travelling Circus (b-side of 'Goodbye' 2002)

09 Answer Me (b-side of 'Dreaming Of You' 2002)

10 Follow The Sun (b-side of 'Dreaming Of You' 2002)

11 Dressed Like A Cow (from the 'Skeleton Key' EP 2002)

12 Darkness (from the 'Skeleton Key' EP 2002)

13 Sheriff John Brown (from the 'Skeleton Key' EP 2002)

14 Simian Technology (bonus track from Japanese edition of 'The Coral' 2002)

15 See-Through Bergerac (b-side of 'Don't Think You're The First' 2003)

16 Run Run (b-side of 'Pass It On' 2003)

17 Heartaches And Pancakes (b-side of 'Pass It On' 2003)

Disc II - 2003-2005

01 Witchcraft (b-side of 'Don't Think You're The First' 2003)

02 Teenage Machine Age (b-side of 'Don't Think You're The First' 2003)

03 Tiger Lily (b-side of 'Don't Think You're The First' 2003)

04 Who's That Knockin' (b-side of 'Secret Kiss' 2003)

05 See My Love (b-side of 'Secret Kiss' 2003)

06 Not The Girl (b-side of 'Secret Kiss' 2003)

07 Boy At The Window (b-side of 'Bill McCai' 2003)

08 Nosferatu (b-side of 'Bill McCai' 2003)

09 When The Good Times Go Bad (b-side of 'Bill McCai' 2003)

10 From A Leaf To A Tree (b-side of 'Bill McCai' 2003)

11 The Case Of Arthur Tannen (b-side of 'Something Inside Of Me' 2005)

12 The Box (b-side of 'Something Inside Of Me' 2005)

13 The Conjurer (b-side of 'Something Inside Of Me' 2005)

Disc III - 2005-2010

01 Gina Jones (b-side 'In The Morning' 2005)

02 The Image Of Richard Burton As Crom (b-side 'In The Morning' 2005)

03 Leeslunchboxbyblueleadandthevelcrounderpants (b-side 'In The Morning' 2005)

04 Who's Gonna Find Me (single 2007)

05 Ghostriders In The Sky (b-side of 'Who's Gonna Find Me')

06 Laughing Eyes (b-side of 'Who's Gonna Find Me')

07 The Voice (b-side of 'Who's Gonna Find Me')

08 Far From The Crowd (Acoustic) (b-side 'Jacqueline' 2007)

09 Pictures From The Other Side (b-side 'Jacqueline' 2007)

10 The Visitor (b-side 'Jacqueline' 2007)

11 The Dance Lingers On (b-side of 'Put The Sun Back' 2008)

12 One Winter's Day (b-side of 'Put The Sun Back' 2008)

13 Being Somebody Else (single 2008)

14 Depth Of Her Smile (b-side of 'Being Somebody Else' 2008)

15 The King Has Died (b-side of '1000 Years' 2010)

16 Feel A Whole Lot Better (b-side of 'Walking In The Winter' 2010)

Angel Haze - Roses Will Rise Again (2015)

Raykeea Raeen-Roes Wilson, known professionally as Angel Haze, was born on 10 July 1991 in Detroit, Michigan, and the family moved around frequently, mainly due to their mother running away from the church. Haze began writing as a form of therapy and expressed an interest in creative writing, poetry and journalism, and their first poem was published at the age of 13 after winning a school competition. By 18 they were freestyle rapping and uploading videos to Youtube, and then distributing music on the internet through sites such as Tumblr, where a fan base began to form. From 2009 to 2012 they put out a number of mixtapes for free download on the internet, including 'New Moon', 'Altered Ego', 'King', and 'Voice', and in July 2012 they released the free mixtape 'Reservation' to critical acclaim, while in August 2013 'Echelon (It's My Way)' was released as the lead single from the debut album 'Dirty Gold'. The entire album was leaked in December 2013, prior to a scheduled March 2014 release, and so the release date was advanced, and it appeared through Island Records and Republic Records on 30 December 2013 to positive reviews, although it only sold just over 500 copies in the first week. On 14 September 2015 a mixtape titled 'Back To The Woods' appeared online, and it was announced that the project was just "something to share before a sophomore", and indeed the title of their second album had already been announced as 'Roses Will Rise Again'. In March 2017. Haze then released the 'Resurrection' single, which was taken from the second album, but nothing much has appeared since then, apart from a lone single in 2021, so it seems like the 'Roses...' album has been shelved. We know about half of the proposed track listing, so by adding in some other unreleased recordings from the same period, here is an approximation of Angel Haze's sophomore effort from 2015. 

Track listing

01 Head Chef 
02 Weight 

03 War Inside (feat. Troy Nōka) 
04 Brooklyn
05 Resurrection
06 Power
07 Candlxs
08 Practice
09 Trust Issues
10 New Slaves
11 Gxmes
12 Unthinkable

Turquoise - Tales Of Flossie Fillett (1969)

Turquoise was a British pop-psych group who only officially released two singles in their short existence as a band, but the four songs on those two releases became beloved by collectorsu of the genre. The group were initially called The Brood, and was formed in North London's Muswell Hill area in 1966 by Jeff Peters, Ewan Stephens, and Vic Jansen, with fourth member Barry Hart joining later. They were all friends and neighbours of the Kinks' Ray and Dave Davies, and Dave actually produced a batch of demos for The Brood in 1966, with a second lot being produced by the Who's Keith Moon and John Entwistle a year later in 1967. Eventually The Brood was signed to Decca Records, and after a name change to Turquoise, released two double-sided singles, '53 Summer Street'/'Tales Of Flossie Fillett' and 'Woodstock'/'Saynia', but neither release really took off, and the band called it quits in 1969. Peters and Hart went on to form Slowbone, releasing an album, 'Tales Of A Crooked Man', in 1974, but those two singles refused to fade away, and collectors of 1960's British psyche/pop re-discovered them, making Turquoise a sort of long-lost cult band. They had recorded other tracks while laying down those other four songs, and so there is enough material out there to imagine what an album from the band could have sounded like if the record-buying public who love the singles so much now had been around in 1968 to buy them.  

Track listing

01 Tales Of Flossie Fillett
02 53 Summer Street
03 Sunday Best
04 Stand Up And Be Judged
05 The Sea Shines
06 Sister Saxophone
07 Flying Machine
08 Village Green
09 Woodstock
10 Saynia
11 What's Your Name
12 Mindless Child Of Motherhood

Peanut - I'm Not Sad (1971)

Katherine Farthing was born on 11 March 1951 in Port Of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, and her family emigrated to the UK in 1962. She began recording in 1965, signing to Pye Records, and released her first single 'Thank Goodness For The Rain' in July 1965. She followed this with 'Home Of The Brave' in October, before moving to Columbia Records in 1966 for 'I'm Waiting For The Day'. Her final single under the name Peanut was 'I Didn't Love Him Anyway' in January 1967, after which she joined The Rag Dolls, who had a couple of singles released in 1967 and 1968. In 1971 she teamed up with her brother Mac, and recorded a version of the Middle Of The Road chart-topper 'Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep' as Mac & Katy Kissoon, and although it wasn't a hit in the UK, it did reach number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their next single together, 'Freedom', failed to chart in either country, although it was a hit in Europe, and they finally achieved major success with their 1975 smash hit 'Sugar Candy Kisses', after which they went on to have a successful career as a duo, releasing many more hit singles and albums. This collection tracks her rise to stardom, from those early singles as Peanut, through to her work with The Rag Dolls, a 1969 single under her new name of Kathy Kissoon, and finally some early attempts at fame with her brother Mac.  

Track listing 

01 Thank Goodness For The Rain (single 1965) 
02 I'm Not Sad (b-side of 'Thank Goodness For The Rain')
03 Home Of The Brave (single 1965)
04 I Wanna Hear It Again (b-side of 'Home Of The Range')
05 I'm Waiting For The Day (single 1966)
06 Someone's Gonna Be Sorry (b-side of 'I'm Waiting For The Day')
07 Two Four Six Eight (unreleased 1966)
08 I Didn't Love Him Anyway (single 1967)
09 Come Tomorrow (b-side of 'I Didn't Love Him Anyway')
10 Never Had So Much Loving (single by The Rag Dolls 1967)
11 Don't Let It Rain (single as Kathy Kissoon 1969)
12 Will I Never See The Sun (b-side of 'Don't Let It Rain')
13 Keep On Laughing Baby (single as Mac & Katie Kissoon 1970)
14 Acts Of Violence (b-side of 'Keep On Laughing')
15 Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep (single as Mac & Katie Kissoon 1971)

16 Walking Around (b-side of 'Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep')
17 I've Found My Freedom (single as Mac & Katie Kissoon 1971 

18 Love Came Today (b-side of 'I've Found My Freedom')

Jay-Z - Can't Stop Won't Stop (2004)

After the release of 'The Blueprint' in 2001, Jay-Z collaborated with Chicago singer R. Kelly to release a joint studio album, 'The Best Of Both Worlds', in March 2002, and he followed that with his seventh studio release, the double album 'The Blueprint2: The Gift & The Curse' in the November. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at number one, selling over 3 million units solely in the U.S., and surpassing 'The Blueprint'. After visiting the south of France, he announced work on his eighth studio album, 'The Black Album', at the opening of the 40/40 Club, on which he worked with several producers including Just Blaze, The Neptunes, Kanye West, Timbaland, Eminem, DJ Quik, 9th Wonder, The Buchanans, and Rick Rubin. Notable songs on the album included 'What More Can I Say', 'Dirt Off Your Shoulder', 'Change Clothes', and the classic '99 Problems'. 'The Black Album' was released in November 2003, and is one of the rapper's best-loved works, and was in fact my first exposure to him when Dangermouse use the beats from it for his Beatles/Jay-Z mash-up 'The Grey Album'. At the same time as the album came out, he held a concert, billed as a "retirement party", at Madison Square Garden in New York City, which was later the focus of his 2004 documentary, 'Fade To Black'. All proceeds went to charity, and it featured a host of the best rappers and R&B artists of the time, but while it had been intended to allow him to retire from making new studio albums, various side projects and appearances soon followed. These included a greatest hits record, a second collaborative album between Jay-Z and R. Kelly, and an EP recorded with rock group Linkin Park, with the remix EP 'Collision Course', which featured mashups of both artists' songs, and which sold over one million copies in the U.S. Later in 2004, Jay-Z was named president of Def Jam Records, which led to him, Dash and Biggs selling their remaining interests in Roc-A-Fella Records and Jay-Z taking control of both of the companies. Despite 2004 being fairly light on the release of new material, there were the usual slew of out-takes by the end of the year, with some going back to 2002, so here is the fifth in this series of rarities from the career of Jay-Z.

Track listing

01 Early This Morning 
02 Hold Up (feat. R Kelly)
03 Roc Army (feat. The Roc)
04 Alone In This World (Remix) (feat. Faith Evans)
05 Hovi Baby (Remix)  
06 Get My Shit Off (feat. Timbaland)
07 You Rock My World (Remix) (feat. Michael Jackson) 
08 Can't Stop Won't Stop (Remix) (feat. Young Gunz 
09 Get Your Money Right (feat. Dr. Dre & The Game) 
10 I Can't Get Wid That (feat. Sauce Money & Jaz-O) 

11 Stop
12 PSA II 
13 Hell Yeah (Remix) (feat. Dead Prez)

Tina Charles - Nothing In The World (1974)

Tina Charles was born Tina Hoskins on 10 March 1954, in Whitechapel, London, England, and got her start is show business at the age of 15 singing on TV commercials, after which she wound up signing a deal with CBS Records. Her first single, the Northern soul-leaning 'Nothing In The World', was produced by Alan Hawkshaw and featured Elton John on piano, although further singles like 1969's 'In The Middle Of The Day' and 'Good To Be Alive', along with 1970's 'Bo-Bo's Party', didn't trouble the charts. They did, however, get her noticed by the BBC, and she began appearing on The Two Ronnies TV show, and then scored slots on tours by Tom Jones, Mud, and Engelbert Humperdinck. She shifted over to Gordon Mills' MAM label in 1971, who issued the single 'Baby Don't You Know Anymore', and as a sideline she got a job recording vocals on the 'Top Of The Pops' and 'Hot Hits' series of albums, where anonymous artists covered contemporary hits. She released the 1974 single 'One Broken Heart For Sale' on Bell Records, and put in more studio time as a session vocalist, memorably joining Linda Lewis to sing backing on Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel's 1975 hit single 'Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)'. She had previously sung in an unrecorded band called Northern Lights with Martin Jay, and the pair reteamed in 1975 under the name Airbus and issued a single, 'Bye Love', which caught on once DJs flipped it over to find the disco-fied 'I'm On Fire' on the other side. The song was reissued as a single in it's own right, with that band rebranded as 5000 Volts, and the song headed toward the top of the charts around the globe, reaching the Top Five in the U.K. and the Top 30 in the U.S. 

Charles quickly left the group for a solo career and teamed up with producer Biddu, who was red hot following the chart success of Carl Douglas' massive hit 'Kung Fu Fighting', and he decided to cast her as a powerful disco diva, which was a role that she filled perfectly. Her first single in this new guise was 1975's 'You Set My Heart On Fire', and while that song was moderately successful, it was her next release, the monumental disco anthem 'I Love To Love (But My Baby Just Loves To Dance)', which reached number one on the U.K. singles charts in February 1976, and scored in the upper reaches of many other countries. It even won a Juno Award for best-selling international single of the year, and an album of the same name was released in March 1976, going on to achieve similar success to the single. A second album, 'Dance Little Lady', which was made up of the same mix of up-tempo disco tracks and ballads, followed before the end of 1976, and it spawned two hit singles, the title track and 'Dr. Love'. To see how she eventually reached the top of the charts, here are those early, unsuccessful singles from the late 60's and early 70's, which show that she had the talent, but just needed someone to take her under their wing and spur her on to greater success. 

Track listing

01 Nothing In The World (single 1969)
02 Millions Of Hearts (With A Single Player) (b-side of 'Nothing In The World')
03 In The Middle Of The Day (single 1969)
04 Rich Girl (b-side of 'In The Middle Of The Day')
05 Good To Be Alive (single 1969)
06 Same Old Story (b-side of 'Good To Be Alive')
07 Bo-Bo's Party (single 1970)
08 Madame, Madame (b-side of 'Bo-Bo's Party')
09 Baby Don't You Know Anymore (single 1971)
10 Joe (b-side of 'Baby Don't You Know Anymore')
11 Love Me Like A Lover (single 1971)
12 Smarty Pants (single 1973)
13 One Broken Heart For Sale (single 1974)
14 Great Male Robbery (b-side of 'One Broken Heart For Sale')

The Good Natured - Prism (2013)

The Good Natured were formed in 2008, by Berkshire schoolgirl Sarah McIntosh, who was the songwriter and front-woman, alongside her brother Hamish McIntosh on bass, and George Hinton on drums. Following a couple of self-relreased singles in 2008 and 2009, they released an 8-track mini-album titled 'Your Body Is A Machine' through Fastcut Records in Japan only, and following this they signed to Parlophone/Regal in 2011, releasing their first EP, 'Skeleton', that year. Reviews commented on Sarah's compellingly mature command of the nuances of serious pop music, combined with the darker, and often more sensual, emotional and lyrical content of the gothic. The band had been making a name for themselves with their early EP's, and in particular with their cover of Sufjan Stevens' 'For The Widows In Paradise', which they reworked as 'For The Fatherless In Ypsilanti', and they'd recorded their debut album for Parlophone in 2012, but before it could be released they were dropped by the label in 2013, and 'Prism' was shelved. After this disappointment the trio of Sarah, Hamish, and George became the more upbeat, pop-oriented Lovestarrs at the beginning of 2014, but Hinton left in 2015, and so Sarah & Hamish then successfully crowdfunded a pair of EP's and an album. In 2017, after the album's release on a label that promptly went defunct, the duo rebranded again, releasing and re-releasing selected tracks on streaming services under the name Sazzie. To see how they got to that point in their career, here is the abandoned 'Prism' album from their first band The Good Natured. 

Track listing

01 Your Body Is A Machine
02 Handprints
03 Sirens
04 5-HT
05 Lovers
06 Fire In The Back Of My Head
07 Skeleton
08 Arcade Love
09 Sting
10 Video Voyeur
11 Wolves
12 Dreaming Of Your Love

The Blow Monkeys - The Grantham Grizzlers (1990)

The Blow Monkeys formed in 1981 when Scottish singer, songwriter, guitarist, bassist, and piano player Bruce Robert Howard returned to the United Kingdom after having spent five years in Australia. Taking the name Dr. Robert from The Beatles' song 'Doctor Robert', he recruited bassist Mick Anker, saxophonist Neville Henry, and drummer Tony Kiley, while he took on the vocal duties. Behind the band's stylish veneer lay something else, which became increasingly apparent from Howards' witty and incisive lyrics, and while some of the Smash Hits generation avoided politics with a capital P, The Blow Monkeys openly criticised the policies of the Conservative government, railing against social injustices and adopting an openly left-of-centre stance on issues of the day. They released their first single 'Live Today Love Tomorrow' in 1982 through the small Parasol Records label, which attracted attention from the majors, and before long they'd signed to RCA Records, who released their second single, 'Go Public!' in 1984. 'The Man From Russia' came out three months later, followed later that year by their debut album 'Limping For A Generation'. This was an edgy mix of sinister post-punk, sensual glam rock, and dramatic late 60's pop, melding Howard's teenage obsession with Marc Bolan and T Rex with a love of Australian band the Laughing Clowns, which was a legacy of his teenage years spent down under. 

The band's sole release of 1985, 'Forbidden Fruit', introduced a more confident, well-rounded sound, and in 1986 the band released their second album, 'Animal Magic'. This was to prove to be their breakthrough record, as it included the single 'Digging Your Scene', which became their first hit record, reaching number 12 in the UK singles chart, and peaking at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their third album 'She Was Only A Grocer's Daughter' (whose title is a reference to then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher), was released in January 1987, and like its predecessor it included a song which was to become a massive hit for them, with 'It Doesn't Have to Be This Way' reaching No. 5 in the UK and No. 28 in Italy, and it was featured in the movie 'Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol'. Also in 1987, the band were asked to contribute to the soundtrack of the film 'Dirty Dancing', and given the shortest of sessions, they chose to cover Leslie Gore's 'You Don't Own Me'. They quickly forgot all about it, until the movie became the biggest-grossing film of its time, and the soundtrack stayed at No. 1 on the US charts for a staggering 18 weeks, earning the group some much appreciated royalties. Outside the group, Robert Howard released a single, 'Wait', which featured early Chicago House singer Kym Mazelle on lead vocals, and when it reached No. 7 on the UK chart, it was included on band's fourth album, 'Whoops! There Goes the Neighbourhood'. 

At the start of the new decade, dance music felt like the future, and The Blow Monkeys offered their own unique twist on it with their fifth album, 'Springtime For The World', which was released in 1990, but which turned out to be their least successful record, and shortly after its release the band split up. After briefly recording with Dee C. Lee as Slam Slam, Dr. Robert went solo, although he did contribute to Paul Weller's solo debut album, and co-wrote material with both Weller and Lee. On 18 November 2007, the original band members announced the reunion of The Blow Monkeys, as well as a new album, 'Devil's Tavern', and a tour in 2008. The record was released on 8 September 2008, being funded by pre-orders placed by fans, and its more mature sound received a favourable review in Q magazine, saying, "Their first album in 18 years still finds the frontman in fine voice; Robert continues to sound like he dresses only in velvet and smokes cigarillos." Their second album after reforming was the more upbeat 'Staring At The Sea' in 2011, and it was promoted by a new single, 'Steppin' Down', which was written about Robert's father, and they continue to tour and record, with their latest album coming out this year. As a reminder of how good the band were at their peak, here is a collection of their stand-alone singles, b-sides, and their contributions to the 'Dirty Dancing' soundtrack and an NME charity album.  

   

Track listing

Disc I - 1982-1986
01 Live Today Love Tomorrow (single 1982)
02 In Cold Blood (b-side of 'Live Today Love Tomorrow')
03 Rub-A-Dub-Shanka (b-side of 'Go Public!' 1984)
04 Resurrection Love (b-side of 'The Man From Russia' 1984)
05 Slither (b-side of 'The Man From Russia' 1984)
06 Kill The Pig (b-side of 'Atomic Lullaby' 1984)
07 My Twisty Jewel (b-side of 'Atomic Lullaby' 1984)
08 It's Not Unusual (b-side of 'Wildflower' 1985)
09 My America (b-side of 'Forbidden Fruit' 1985)
10 The Optimist (b-side of 'Forbidden Fruit' 1985)
11 It Doesn't Have To Dub That Way (b-side of 'It Doesn't Have To Be This Way' 1986)
12 Ask For More (b-side of 'It Doesn't Have To Be This Way' 1986)
13 Walking The Blue Beat (b-side of 'Wicked Ways' 1986)

Disc II - 1986-1990
01 Superfly (b-side of 'Don't Be Scared Of Me' 1986)
02 The Grantham Grizzler (b-side of 'Out With Her' 1987)
03 You Don't Own Me (from the soundtrack of the film 'Dirty Dancing' 1987)
04 Sweet Obsession (b-side of 'Some Kind Of Wonderful' 1987)
05 Huckleberry (b-side of 'Some Kind Of Wonderful' 1987)
06 This Day Today (b-side of 'This Is Your Life' 1988)
07 Let The Big Bad Dog Eat It (b-side of 'This Is Your Life' 1988)
08 Hingway! (b-side of 'It Pays To Belong' 1988)
09 Choice? (single 1989)
10 Oh Yeah! (b-side of 'Choice?')
11 Slaves No More (single with Sylvia Tella 1989)
12 Follow That Dream (from 'The Last Temptation Of Elvis' NME charity album 1990)

Antoinette - Little Things Mean A Lot (1966)

Marie Antoinette Daly was born in 1951 in Southend, Essex, and she landed her first recording contract with the Decca label in 1964, at the age of just 13. Her debut single, 'Jenny Let Him Go', included a young Jimmy Page on guitar, and was produced by Charles Blackwell, who worked on a number of gems for girl singers of the period, including French yé-yé singer Françoise Hardy and Britain’s Samantha Jones. It sounded like a cover of an American song, albeit with a distinctly British twang, and it suited Antoinette’s bratty vocals perfectly. She switched to the Piccadilly label for her next single, the Britgirl classic 'There He Goes (The Boy I Love)', which was released in September 1964, and this Shangri-Las-esque song was arguably one of Blackwell's best compositions. When it also flopped, Piccadilly turned to the US for inspiration, and she covered the Sapphires' 'Thank You For Loving Me' for her next single, which was released in 1965, as was the follow-up record 'Our House'. In 1966 she recorded her version of another US soul hit, and this time it was Tami Lynn's 'I'm Gonna Run Away From You', retitled 'Why Don't I Run Away From You', but despite suiting her effervescent style, she still couldn't get the hit that she wanted. She gave it one last try later in 1966, with her take on US girl group the Poppies' 'Lullaby Of Love' being her final 45 for Piccadilly, after which she switched labels again, this time to Columbia. Her one record for that label was a cover of Italian singer Caterina Caselli's 'L'uomo D'oro', retitled as 'Like The Big Man Said', and this time it was released under her real name of Toni Daly. When this record went the same way as the rest of her singles she was let go by Columbia, and her short career as a recording artist was over. It's a shame, as most of the songs on her records were fine examples of 60's girl pop, as you can hear on this collection of all of her mid-60's singles. 

Track listing

01 Jenny Let Him Go (single 1964)  
02 Please Don't Hurt Me Anymore (b-side of 'Jenny Let Him Go')
03 There He Goes (The Boy I Love) (single 1964)
04 Little Things Mean A Lot (b-side of 'There He Goes (The Boy I Love)')
05 Our House (single 1965)
06 What's-A Happening To Me (b-side of 'Our House')
07 Thank You For Loving Me (single 1965)
08 If You Really Love Me (b-side of 'Thank You For Loving Me')
09 Why Don't I Run Away (single 1966)
10 There's No One In The Whole Wide World (b-side of 'Why Don't I Run Away')
11 Lullaby Of Love (single 1966)
12 I'm For You (b-side of 'Lullaby Of Love')
13 Like The Big Man Said (L'uomo D'oro) (single as Toni Daly 1966)