Bon Jovi - River Of Love (1991)

Jon Bon Jovi began performing music live in 1975, when at the age of 13 he was playing piano and guitar in New Jersey with his first band, Raze. At 16, he met David Bryan and formed a band called Atlantic City Expressway, and then while still in his teens he played in the band John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones at clubs such as the Fast Lane and opening for local acts. By 1980, he had formed another band, the Rest, and opened up for New Jersey acts such as Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, and it was at this time that he recorded his first single, 'Runaway', in his cousin's studio, backed up by studio musicians. By mid-1982, out of school and working part-time at a women's shoe store, Bon Jovi took a job at the Power Station Studios, a Manhattan recording facility where his cousin Tony Bongiovi was co-owner. He made several demos and sent them to record companies, though they failed to make an impact, and in March 1983, Bon Jovi called David Bryan, who in turn called bassist Alec John Such and an experienced drummer named Tico Torres, both formerly of the band Phantom's Opera. With the addition of hometown guitarist Richie Sambora, who was recommended by bassist Such and drummer Torres, the band began playing showcases and opening for local talent, where they caught the attention of record executive Derek Shulman, formerly of prog rock legends Gentle Giant, who signed them to Mercury Records. 

Because Bon Jovi wanted a group name, Pamela Maher, a friend of Richard Fischer and an employee of Doc McGhee, suggested they call themselves Bon Jovi, following the example of the other famous two-word bands such as Van Halen. This name was chosen instead of the original idea of Johnny Electric, and although Pamela's suggestion was met with little enthusiasm, two years later they hit the charts under that name. With the help of their new manager Doc McGhee they recorded their debut album, 'Bon Jovi', which was released in January 1984, and their first hit single, 'Runaway', reached the top forty on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1985, Bon Jovi's second album, '7800° Fahrenheit', was released in 1985, and three singles were taken from it: 'Only Lonely', 'In And Out Of Love' and the ballad 'Silent Night'. The album peaked at number thirty-seven on the Billboard 200 and was certified Gold by RIAA, but while the album did not sell as well as the band had hoped, it allowed Bon Jovi to get out on the road touring again, headlining venues in Japan and Europe, and undertaking a six-month run of U.S. tour dates supporting Ratt. 

After two moderately successful albums, the group changed its approach and hired professional songwriter Desmond Child as a collaborator, and with Bruce Fairbairn producing Bon Jovi moved to Vancouver, Canada in 1986, to spend six months recording a third album. They named it 'Slippery When Wet' after visiting a strip club in Vancouver, and when it was released in August 1986 it spent eight weeks atop the Billboard 200. The first two singles from the album, 'You Give Love A Bad Name' and 'Livin' On A Prayer', both hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and 'Slippery When Wet' was named 1987's top-selling album by Billboard. Determined to prove that the success of 'Slippery When Wet' was not a fluke, Bon Jovi released their fourth effort, 'New Jersey', in September 1988, which peaked at number one in the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. The album produced five Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Bon Jovi the record for the most Top 10 singles spawned by a hard rock album. 

The band then mounted another worldwide tour that continued throughout 1989 and 1990, visiting more than 22 countries and performing more than 232 shows. The exhaustion of recording 'Slippery When Wet' and 'New Jersey' back to back and going on highly paced world tours took its toll, and by the end of the tour, the bandmates were exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally. Following the final tour date in Mexico, and without any clear plans for their future, the members of the band simply went home, and during the time they took off from the scene, they retreated to their own projects and showed no desire to make another album. We know that by 1992 they were back working together on their fifth album, 'Keep The Faith', but this is a good point to take a breather and collect together some of the tracks that they recorded for those first four albums that didn't make the cut. There was only one unused track from '7800° Fahrenheit', but the sessions for 'Slippery When Wet' and 'New Jersey' were more prolific, and with the addition of their contribution to the Elton John tribute album 'Two Rooms', which has been praised as one of the better tracks from the album, we have a nice collection of hard to find and unreleased recordings by the early Bon Jovi.  

Track listing

01 Game Of The Heart ('Slippery When Wet' out-take 1986)
02 River Of Love ('New Jersey' out-take 1988)
03 Never Enough ('Slippery When Wet' out-take 1986)
04 Seven Days ('New Jersey' out-take 1988)
05 Lonely In The Night ('Slippery When Wet' out-take 1986)
06 Edge Of A Broken Heart ('Slippery When Wet' out-take 1986)
07 We Rule The Night ('7800° Fahrenheit' out-take 1985)
08 Borderline ('Slippery When Wet' demo 1986)
09 Levon (Elton John cover 1991)
10 House Of Fire ('New Jersey' out-take 1988)
11 Deep Cuts The Night ('Slippery When Wet' out-take 1986)

Rock Comix - Rock 'n' Roll In Comic Form (1990)

As a little departure from the music that I post on the blog, here are some rock-based comics that I've collected over the years. In many ways comic books and rock and roll have been natural bedfellows, with both having cultivated their own youth subcultures and underground followings. In 1976 Jethro Tull released their 'Too Old To Rock 'n Roll: Too Young To Die' album, which featured a gatefold sleeve including a comic strip by DC Comic's Dave Gibbons, but the first band to really harness the medium was KISS, and little wonder as they were pretty much a cartoon parody of a band anyway. In 1977 they made an appearance in issue 12 of 'Howard The Duck', before bagging their own title later that year, with a 40-page Super Special presenting the band as superheroes in their own adventure, battling Dr. Doom. Being KISS, they had to go over the top, and so each member of the band had some blood drawn by a nurse, and this was mixed with the ink used to print the first run of the issue, making these copies now very collectable. Not far behind was another artist who included theatricality and horror in his shows, and so in 1979 Alice Cooper made his first comic book appearance in a tale loosely based on his album 'From The Inside'. Cooper was involved with the creation of the script, which included characters who were subject of some of the album's songs, such as Nurse Rozetta, Millie And Billie, and Jackknife Johnny. 

'Rock 'N' Roll Comics' launched in 1989, and was a comic book series published by Revolutionary Comics, which was notable for its unauthorized and unlicensed biographies of rock stars, told in comic book form but well-researched and geared to adults, often with adult situations (nudity, drug use, violence, etc.). Some musicians featured in the comics, like Frank Zappa and Kiss, were supportive; while others, like the New Kids On The Block, considered the comic akin to a bootleg recording and sued the publisher. Publisher Todd Loren's legal victory in the U.S. District Court established that unauthorized comic book biographies were entitled to the same protections as other unauthorized biographies. In 1990 Led Zeppelin were the subject of one of their titles, and it also included a 'mini-comic' titled 'Crossroad', based on the legendary Robert Johnson story of his bargain with the Devil. Despite all these artists featuring in comic books in the 70's and 80's, they weren't the first band to get their own comic book, and of course that accolade has to go to The Beatles, who featured in the comic book adaptation of their 'Yellow Submarine' film in 1968. So dig out some music by these artists and settle back to read these comics based on their lives and adventures.

Track listing

01 KISS - Marvel Comics Super Special Part 1

02 KISS - Marvel Comics Super Special Part 2

03 A KISS History

04 Alice Cooper - From The Inside

05 Led Zeppelin - Rock 'N' Roll Comics

06 Led Zeppelin - The Story Of A Legend

07 Crossroad

08 The Beatles - Yellow Submarine

Soulseek hint - comix

Tami Lynn - World Of Dreams (1972)

Gloria Brown was born in Gert Town, New Orleans, Louisiana, and attended school with Allen Toussaint and Ellis Marsalis Jr. She sang in church choirs, and with visiting groups such as the Clara Ward Singers, as well as in a school production of Show Boat. She also sang gospel music on WMRY radio shows, and after substituting for an absent performer and being discovered by local musician Alvin "Red" Tyler, began performing rhythm and blues songs in local clubs. Taking the stage name Tami (or sometimes Tammy) Lynn, she was heard by Allen Toussaint and Harold Battiste, and signed for AFO Records, cutting her first single 'Baby' that same year. She became lead vocalist for the AFO Executives, making a strong contribution to their 1963 album 'A Compendium', but when AFO ran into difficulties and the team moved to Los Angeles. Lynn tagged along, although things didn't work out and she moved on. In 1964, she was working in New York, when Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records offered her a contract with the company, and her first recording there was a song written and produced by Bert Berns, who was responsible for a string of pop hits. 'I'm Gonna Run Away From You' was released in 1965 on the ATCO label, but the record made little impression, which was a shame, as the b-side was written by Lynn under her real name, and is worth a listen. A few years later she moved back to the West Coast and teamed up again with Harold Battiste, where she found work as a backing singer, supporting performers that Battiste was producing, including Sonny and Cher, and King Floyd. She sang backing vocals on Dr. John’s 'The Sun, Moon & Herbs' album, which was recorded at Atlantic’s Criteria Studios in Miami in 1971, and she crossed paths with Jerry Wexler again, when he asked her to record a new version of the song 'Mojo Hanna' that he liked, from the AFO Executives 1963 album. 

The resulting Cotillion Records single was strong and funky, but it failed to sell, and by then Lynn had been working for over ten years and still the big break hadn’t come. Then, out of the blue, her luck changed, when UK record producer John Abbey listened to 'I'm Gonna Run Away From You' and thought that it might appeal to the Northern Soul scene in England. He suggested to Atlantic that he would like to release the single on Mojo Records (a subsidiary of Polydor Records) in the UK,and Atlantic went along with the idea, and the single climbed to number four, spending over a year on the UK Pop chart. The success of the single may well have opened the door to another opportunity that came along in 1971, when Lynn was hired to sing backing vocals on the Rolling Stones album 'Exile On Main Street'. With the exposure of the single and the Stines connection, Abbey wanted to build on her UK break-through and decided to go to the USA to organise the recording of an album. He chose Malaco Studios in Jackson, Mississippi, and enlisted the help of producer Wardell Quezergue, with the songs on 'Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone' ranging from soul to pure pop, and it included the UK hit single, plus the Wexler-inspired 'Mojo Hannah'. The album was released in 1972 on the Cotillion label, but it failed to make an impact, and so Lynn went back to the session work and performing live, although she did release another album, titled 'Tamiya Lynn', in 1992. She died in Florida on 26 June 2020. This collection includes those early singles, the original 1965 recording of 'I'm Gonna Run Away From You', a 1965 promo single, two tracks from a rare French EP, and some singles and b-sides from her 1972 album.   

Track listing

01 Baby (single 1963)
02 Where Can I Go? (b-side of 'Baby')
03 World Of Dreams (unknown year - possibly 1967)
04 I'm Gonna Run Away From You (single 1965)
05 The Boy Next Door (b-side of 'I'm Gonna Run Away From You')
06 Nobody Wants You When You're Down And Out (promo single 1965)
07 Trouble Child (b-side of 'Nobody Wants You When You're Down And Out')
08 At The Party (from the French 'I'm Gonna Run Away From You' EP 1966)
09 Run Away (aka 'You My Love') (from the French 'I'm Gonna Run Away From You' EP 1966)
10 Light My Fire (unknown year - possibly 1971)
11 Mojo Hannah (single 1971)
12 How Many Tears (b-side of 'Mojo Hannah')
13 That's Understanding (single 1971)
14 One Night Of Sin (b-side of re-issue of 'Mojo Hannah' 1971)

The Higsons - Music To Watch Boys By (1985)

Post-punk/funk outfit The Higsons formed in 1980 at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, and were named in honour of frontman Charlie "Switch" Higson. The roster of musicians also included guitarists Terry Edwards and Stuart McGeachin, bassist Colin Williams and drummer Simon Charterton. Honing an energetic, funk-influenced approach clearly indebted to the Talking Heads, the group's first recordings were on the 'Welcome To Norwich - A Fine City' compilation album in 1981, and they issued their debut single 'I Don't Want to Live With Monkeys' on the Romans in Britain label the same year. The band then formed their own label, Waap Records, to issue the not-coincidentally-titled 'It Goes Waap!!' single in 1981. After resurfacing in 1982 with their 'Conspiracy' single, the band signed to the famed Two Tone label for 'Tear The Whole Thing Down', followed in 1983 by 'Run Me Down'. They returned briefly to Waap for 'Push Out The Boat', and then signed to Upright Records for 1984's 'Music to Watch Girls By', the debut single from their one and only album, 'Curse Of The Higsons', which had finally appeared that year. The group's quirky, bleak sense of humour clearly impressed kindred spirit Robyn Hitchcock, who recorded the tribute 'Listening To The Higsons' on his 1985 live effort 'Gotta Let This Hen Out!', but beyond a devoted cult following, the band never experienced anything approaching commercial success, and in the wake of 1985's 'Take It' single they dissolved. Charlie Higson left the music business to join comedian Paul Whitehouse in writing and starring in the BBC comedy sketch show 'The Fast Show', as well as writing a series of James Bond novels, while Terry Edwards joined Gallon Drunk in 1993, fronted his own band, and enjoyed a busy and far-ranging career as a session musician. Although The Higsons only managed to release one studio album in their lifetime, they recorded many other tracks which appeared as singles and their b-sides, and so here they all are collected together in one place, along with a few choice John Peel session tracks, as a reminder of one of the few famous bands to come from my hometown.    

Track listing

Disc I - 1981-1982
01 My Love Is Bent (At Both Ends) (from 'Welcome To Norwich - A Fine City' compilation 1981)
02 We Will Never Grow Old (from 'Welcome To Norwich - A Fine City' compilation 1981)
03 I Don't Want To Live With Monkeys (single 1981)
04 Insect Love (b-side of 'I Don't Want To Live With Monkeys')
05 The Lost And The Lonely (single 1981)
06 It Goes Waap!! (b-side of 'The Lost And The Lonely')
07 Got To Let This Heat Out (b-side of 'It Goes Waap' 12" single 1981)
08 Surrender (John Peel session 1981)
09 A Dash To The Shops (John Peel session 1981)
10 Crash (John Peel session 1981)
11 Tear The Whole Thing Down (single 1982)
12 Ylang Ylang (b-side of 'Tear The Whole Thing Down')

Disc II - 1982-1985
01 Conspiracy (single 1982)
02 Touchdown (b-side of 'Conspiracy')
03 Round And Round (Pub Mix) (b-side of 'Push Out The Boat' 1983)
04 Put The Punk Back Into Funk (Parts I & II) (b-side of 'Run Me Down' 1983) 
05 Attack Of The Cannibal Zombie Businessmen (John Peel session 1983)
06 Music To Watch Boys By (single 1984)
07 Lying On The Telephone (b-side of 'Music To Watch Boys By')
08 Clanking My Bucket (b-side of 'Music To Watch Boys By')
09 Take It (single 1985)
10 I Walk The Land (b-side of 'Take It')

The Green Telescope - Thoughts Of A Madman (1988)

The Green Telescope were a garage beat band from Edinburgh, Scotland, who formed in the early 80's, and consisted of Lenny Helsing on guitar and vocals, Bruce Lyall on organ and Colin Blakey on bass. Before any records were made, Blakey left and was replaced by Alan McLeann, and the group then added a drummer in Gavin Henderson, although Steve Fraser temporarily took over from McLeann, playing bass on the three tracks the group recorded for the 1985 Psycho label compilation, 'The Waking Dream'. Those three compilation recordings had gained them something of a following, and in January 1986 they redorded a session for the Andy Kershaw radio show. Following this the band released their debut single, 'Face In A Crowd' b/w 'Thoughts Of A Madman', on Wump Records, and featuring new drummer Mal Kergan. Later the same year they released four new songs on the 'Two By Two' EP, which was released by Imaginary Records. In 1988 they contributed their take on Syd Barrett's 'Scream Thy Last Scream' for the Imaginary Records tribute album 'Beyond The Wildwood', but this was to be their last recording as The Green Telescope, and they disbanded shortly afterwards, immediately regrouping as The Thanes Of Cawdor, and then later shortening that to The Thanes. Under this name they released their first album, 'The Thanes Of Cawdor', in 1987, and this saw them win support slots with the Soup Dragons and Primal Scream, and become one of Scotland's best and most respected bands. To hear how they got to that stage of their career, here is everything that The Green Telescope recorded in the late 80's.  

Track listing

01 Face In A Crowd (single 1986)
02 Thoughts Of A Madman (b-side of 'Face In A Crowd)
03 Turnin' Out (from 'The Waking Dream' compilation 1985)
04 Can't Step Off The Path (from 'The Waking Dream' compilation 1985) 
05 I'm A Living Sickness (from 'The Waking Dream' compilation 1985)
06 Two By Two (from the 'Two By Two' EP 1986)
07 A Glimpse (from the 'Two By Two' EP 1986)
08 Make Me Stay (from the 'Two By Two' EP 1986)
09 Thinkin' About Today (from the 'Two By Two' EP 1986)
10 Scream Thy Last Scream (from 'Beyond The Wildwood' tribute to Syd Barrett 1988)
11 Who Knows? (Andy Kershaw session 1986)
12 X+Y=13 (Andy Kershaw session 1986)
13 Try To (Andy Kershaw session 1986)
14 Horror Asparagus Stories (Andy Kershaw session 1986)

King Sunny Ade & His Green Spot Band - The Master Guitarist Vol. 2 (1971)

As promised, here is the second volume of 'The Master Guitarist' series from King Sunny Ade and His Green Spot Band, also from 1971. 

Track listing

01 Ile Labo Sinmi Oko
02 Dr. Sehindemi / Oshodi Lo'Lepetedo / Late Rex Lawson / Aiye E Ma Ma Pacor

Flyte Reaction - Astral Storm: The Best Of Flyte Reaction (2001)

In the wake of the 80s psychedelic revival that unearthed gems such as Robyn Hitchcock’s Soft Boys, Paul Roland, and The Bevis Frond, a young guitarist from Cambridge was noticed by cult magazines such as Bucketful Of Brains, and was praised by them. Mick Crossley, under the moniker of Flyte Reaction, debuted at the court of the Frond in 1991 with a real ode to psychedelia, 'Songs In A Circle', which was acclaimed by critics, and which managed to create an avid following. The next year Splendid Records was formed in order to release 'Strawberry Lip Salvation', and then in 1993 they followed it with 'Spectral Footwear', and in 1995 with 'Create A Smile', which was beautiful poppy psych with that warm analog home-recorded feel. Unfortunately the interest in psychedelia began to fade, and so Crossley went out in style by signing to Nick Saloman's Woronzow records and releasing his best album, the excellent 'Sensilla'. It mostly alternates between slow, folk-infused, psychedelic pop songs and uptempo, rollicking jams, and with the first category Crossley excels, as on 'Swim Around The Moon' and the R.E.M. meets Captain Beefheart 'Observatory Crest', while 'Flow' finds a quiet, philosophical groove, and 'Let It Go' is a heart-filling, nostalgic anthem. Generally it strays a little from the feel of their previous albums into purer pop, but still very much in a psychedelic vein. After a lengthy hiatus, Crossley returned in 2015 with a 500-copy limited edition CD entitled 'Magnetophon Distances', only to disappear again immediately afterwards. To introduce you  to this best-kept secret of the neo-psychedelic scene, here is a collection of some of the band's best work from the five albums recorded in their first decade.  

Track listing

01 Celestial Sphere (from 'Songs Within A Circle' 1991) 
02 Fruit Bat Tropicana (from 'Create A Smile' 1995)
03 Astral Storm (from 'Spectral Footwear' 1993)
04 Water From Your Well (from 'Sensilla' 2001)
05 New Sunrise (from the 'Succour' compilation 1996)
06 Riverside (Inside You) (from 'Strawberry Lip Salvation' 1992)
07 Sunflower Sweet (from 'Create A Smile' 1995)
08 Soul Within (from 'Songs Within A Circle' 1991) 
09 Shape Of Me  (from 'Spectral Footwear' 1993)
10 Seremony Of The Sea (split single with The Ectomorph 1991)
11 Let It Go (from 'Sensilla' 2001)
12 Inner Spaceman (from 'Strawberry Lip Salvation' 1992)

Easterhouse - Coming Up For Air (1989)

Easterhouse was formed in Stretford, near Manchester by Ivor Perry, and named after the Easterhouse area of Glasgow. He invited his brother Andy Perry to join him in order to improve the lyrical content of their songs, as he was intrigued by communism, and inspired by Bob Marley's direct delivery of political content. His political stance reflected the perspectives of the then active Revolutionary Communist Party, with particular regard to Irish politics, and with the addition of Mike Murray on rhythm guitar, Gary Rostock on drums, and Peter Vanden on bass, the line-up was complete. They played one of their first gigs on 30 August 1983 at Dingwalls in London supporting The Smiths, after Ivor had convinced Morrissey to let them have the opening spot. They released their first single 'Coming Up For Air' on their own Easter Rising label in 1985, and followed this with the 'In Our Own Hand's EP on London Records the same year, before signing to Rough Trade for the rest of their career. Their singles on the new label,, 'Whistling In The Dark' and 'Inspiration', were both Top 5 independent chart hits, and their energetic first album, 'Contenders', featuring their signature song, '1969', and has been compared to The Chameleons, New Model Army, and The Smiths. It met with modest success in the band's own country, but unsurprisingly it failed to leave much of an impression in the U.S. Ivor Perry, whose occasionally contrasting ideals and ideas had been at odds with his brother's, left the group after 'Contenders' to join fellow ex-Smiths guitarist Craig Gannon in the Cradle, while Murray, Rostock, and Vanden would eventually leave as well, with Andy Perry bringing in drummer Dave Verner and guitarists Steve Lovell, Lance Sabin, and Neil Taylor to replace them. All the shakeups delayed the making of second album 'Waiting For The Redbird', which wasn't released until 1989, and which was reliant on a more contemporary and programmed sound, giving it a more stilted atmosphere. As a result, it has aged poorly, although ironically the 'Come Out Fighting' single charted higher in the States than any Smiths effort, cracking the Billboard Hot 100 at number 82, and reaching the Top Ten of the modern rock chart. Shortly after the album's release, the group broke up for good. Although they only released two album in their five year career, there were enough fine songs tucked away on the b-sides of their singles to make up a third, and this collection of them will remind us of what a great band they were. 

Track listing

01 Coming Up For Air (single 1985)
02 Endless March (b-side of 'Coming Up For Air')
03 Evening Watch (Richard Skinner session 1984)
04 Man Alive (b-side of 'In Our Own Hands' 1985)
05 One More Time (b-side of 'In Our Own Hands' 1985)
06 Ain't That Always The Way (Apocalypse) (b-side of 'Whistling In The Dark' 1985)
07 Confrontation (b-side of 'Whistling In The Dark' 1985) 
08 Inspiration (single 1986)
09 Easter Rising (b-side of 'Inspiration')
10 Johnny I Hardly Knew You (b-side of 'Inspiration')
11 New World In The Morning (b-side of 'Come Out Fighting' 1989)
12 My Revolution (b-side of 'Waiting For The Red Bird' 1989)
13 Still On The Roof (b-side of 'Waiting For The Red Bird' 1989)

Y Kant Tori Read - Y Kant Tori Read (1988)

Myra Ellen Amos was born on 22 August 1963 in Newton, North Carolina, and when she was two years old her family relocated to Baltimore, Maryland, where her father had moved his Methodist ministry from its original base in Washington, D.C. Her older brother and sister took piano lessons, but Tori did not need them, as from the time she could reach the piano, she taught herself to play. By the time she was two, she could reproduce pieces of music she had only heard once, and at the age of three she was composing her own songs. At five, she became the youngest student ever admitted to the preparatory division of the Peabody Institute, where she studied classical piano from 1968 to 1974. At thirteen, Amos began playing at gay bars and piano bars, chaperoned by her father, and in 1977 she won a county teen talent contest, singing a song called 'More Than Just A Friend'. As a senior at Richard Montgomery High School, she co-wrote 'Baltimore' with her brother, Mike Amos, for a competition involving the Baltimore Orioles, and although the song didn't win the contest, it became her first single, released as a 7-inch record pressed locally for family and friends in 1980, with another Amos-penned composition as a b-side, 'Walking With You'. It was at this time that she adopted the name Tori, after a friend's boyfriend told her she looked like a Torrey pine, a tree native to the West Coast. 

By the time she was 17, she had a stock of homemade demo tapes that her father regularly sent out to record companies, and producer Narada Michael Walden responded favourably, cutting some tracks with her, although none were released. Eventually, Atlantic Records responded to one of the tapes, and A&R man Jason Flom flew to Baltimore to audition her in person, which resulted in her being signed to the label. In 1984, Amos moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career, and in 1986 she formed the group called Y Kant Tori Read, named for her difficulty with sight-reading. In addition to Amos, the group consisted of Steve Caton (who would later play guitars on all of her albums until 1999), drummer Matt Sorum, bass player Brad Cobb and, for a short time, keyboardist Jim Tauber. The band went through several iterations of song-writing and recording, and in July 1988, the band's eponymous debut album, 'Y Kant Tori Read', was released. Following the album's commercial failure and the group's subsequent disbanding, Amos began working with other artists, including Stan Ridgway, Sandra Bernhard, and Al Stewart, as a backup vocalist. Despite the disappointing reaction to Y Kant Tori Read, Amos still had to comply with her six-record contract with Atlantic Records, which, in 1989, wanted a new record by March 1990.

The initial recordings were declined by the label, which Amos felt was because the album had not been properly presented, and so it was reworked and expanded under the guidance of Doug Morris and the musical talents of Steve Caton, Eric Rosse, Will MacGregor, Carlo Nuccio, and Dan Nebenzal, resulting in 'Little Earthquakes', an album recounting her religious upbringing, sexual awakening, struggle to establish her identity, and sexual assault. This was her commercial and artistic breakthrough, entering the British charts in January 1992 at Number 15, and when it was released in the US in February it slowly but steadily began to attract listeners, gaining more attention with the video for the single 'Silent All These Years', and it was beginning a long and successful career for the singer. Although the producer of 'Y Kant Tori Read', Joe Chiccarelli, stated that Amos was very happy with the album at the time, she has since criticized it, once remarking: "The only good thing about that album is my ankle high boots". However, it's still a decent Tori Amos record, and so for any fans who though that 'Little Earthquakes' was the first record that she recorded and released, here is her actual debut album from four years earlier. 

Track listing

01 The Big Picture
02 Cool On Your Island
03 Fayth
04 Fire On The Side
05 Pirates
06 Floating City
07 Heart Attack At 23
08 On The Boundary
09 You Go To My Head
10 Etienne Trilogy: The Highlands, Etienne, Skyeboat Song

The Mo-Dettes - White Mice (1981)

The Mo-dettes were a multinational all-female post-punk band, formed in 1979 by guitarist Kate Korris, an original member of the Slits and brief member of the Raincoats, and bassist Jane Crockford, a former member of Bank of Dresden, having met on the set of 'The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle' while working as production assistants. The line-up was completed with the addition of Swiss-born vocalist Ramona Carlier and June Miles-Kingston on drums, and they quickly recorded their first single, 'White Mice'/'Masochistic Opposite', which was self-released on their own Mode label, and distributed by Rough Trade. 'White Mice' remains the group's best-known song, and it champions sexual autonomy, although the band members were critical of partisan feminist politics. Following plays on the John Peel show on Radio 1, he soon offered them a session spot in January 1980, broadcasting versions of 'Norman (He's No Rebel)', 'Dark Park Creeping' (later released as a single), 'Kray Twins' and 'Bitter Truth', and with these being well-received, further sessions followed on 26 August 1980 and 11 July 1981. The band signed to Decca Records subsidiary Deram and released one album, 'The Story So Far', in November 1980, consisting chiefly of pop-punk originals, as well as covers of the Rolling Stones' 'Paint It Black' and Édith Piaf's 'Milord', and with the girls' likenesses rendered in candy-coloured Manga-style cartoons on the cover. 

It received poor reviews, largely centred on the production, described in one quarter as "weak and uninspired", and the band themselves conceded that it was much less than they'd hoped for. The sped-up, charmless version of 'White Mice', retitled 'White Mouse Disco', that they were forced to include by the record company didn't help matters, but it's an artifact of its time, and the quality of the songs shines through the mediocre production. Also in 1981, billed as Bomberettes, they provided backing vocals on the track 'Fighter Pilot' on John Cale's album 'Honi Soit'. After just missing the UK Top 40 with the single release of 'Paint It Black', their final record was 'Tonight', released in June 1981, and giving them a minor hit. For this single, Decca had asked the band to alter their sound to "traditional saccharine girl pop", leading to some tension in the group, but they gave in, even to the point of lounging on a mountain of plush velour for the single's cover. 

By this time they considered the single and accompanying photo-shoot nothing more than a joke, and so when, two months later, Decca wanted to hear a fuller sound, the group reluctantly asked guitarist Melissa Ritter to join. She played her first show as a Mo-dette just four days after joining the band, but the tensions soon re-appeared, and with Carlier leaving in February 1982, and Crockford stepping in as a temporary vocalist before Sue Slack joined the line-up, the writing was on the wall. By November of that year The Mo-Dettes had disbanded, leaving behind a legacy of inventive, unorthodox pop-punk. Crockford married Daniel Woodgate of the ska band Madness in 1980, with the marriage lasting for 15 years, while Miles-Kingston returned to the studio where she played drums and sang backing vocals on Fun Boy Three's 'Our Lips Are Sealed', and later she joined The Communards. However, she is now best known for being a go-to session drummer, with her work as a session musician showcasing her versatility. The Mo-Dettes had an extremely short recording career of just three years, but with their Peel Sessions, non-album b-sides, and some tracks taped for Radio 1 DJ Richard Skinner, (one of them an early version of the flip of their 'Tonight' single), there is enough rare material for one more album by the band to sit next to 'The Story So Far'. 

Track listing

01 L'Intro (John Peel session 1981)
02 White Mice (single 1979)
03 Bitta Truth (b-side of 'Paint It Black' 1980)
04 Twist And Shout (b-side of 'Paint It Black' 1980)
05 Two Can Play (b-side of 'Dark Park Creeping' 1980)
06 Raindrops And Roses (My Favourite Things) (John Peel session 1980)
07 Vicious Circle (Richard Skinner session 1981)
08 The Waltz (Richard Skinner session 1981)
09 Nasty Children (John Peel session 1981)
10 White Rabbit (John Peel session 1981)
11 Yellow Smile (John Peel session 1981)
12 Tonight (single 1981)
13 Waltz In Blue Minor (b-side of 'Tonight')

Amorphous Androgynous & Noel Gallagher - Shoot A Hole Into The Sun (2015)

In 2009 the final Oasis single, the Noel Gallagher-sung 'Falling Down', was offered to various remixers to do what they wanted with it. Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans, also known as '90's dance superstars The Future Sound Of London, recorded an epic remix of the song, which they turned into a 22-minute mini-album. Despite doubts that perhaps the band only wanted a five-minute remix, Gallagher was so impressed that he released it on its own 12" format. When Noel finally pulled the plug on Oasis in 2009 and went solo, there was the suggestion that he was always itching to expand his musical horizons, and he launched his solo career with a press conference in July 2011, announcing that he'd already recorded his debut album 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' with Dave Sardy, and that he'd also pretty much finished its follow-up, a collaboration with Amorphous Androgynous. Despite their previous success, the new project was almost immediately put in doubt, when industry insider Peter Cornish-Barlow reported that Noel's team weren’t keen on the collaboration, and that no-one other than Noel liked the reworked material that Amorphous Androgynous had done. Later that year, though, Noel was still talking up the record for a 2012 release, saying that the sound was similar to High Flying Birds, but more psychedelic and tripped out. A month on, he was dialling it back, but only a little, saying that he probably shouldn't have announced it, but he thought "It's finished, so fuck it, here's what I've been working on". The first we heard of the collaboration was 'Shoot A Hole In The Sun', a remix of 'If I Had A Gun', which was tacked on to the single 'Dream On' as a b-side, and meanwhile the album was still being spoken about, with Noel suggesting it would finally be ready for 2013. 

An Amorphous Androgynous remix of 'AKA... What A Life!' emerged as the b-side of 'Everybody's On The Run' in 2012, but a month later we got the first whispering from Noel that the album itself might be shelved altogether. Because he'd been busy with other things, he hadn't been involved in any of the mixing, and when he heard the mixes he wasn't happy with any of them. After that, everything went pretty quiet for a couple of years, but then Noel suddenly stirred the pot again in early 2015, complaining about the AA mixes of the album, saying that when they delivered the first mix, they'd managed to pull off the trick of recording the quietest CD of all time. Apart from the two remixes that came out as b-sides, the only things Noel salvaged from the sessions were 'The Mexican' and 'The Right Stuff', both of which he reworked for his second album 'Chasing Yesterday'. Having held their peace for most of Noel's various announcements, Amorphous Androgynous finally piped up, saying that "Gallagher still fascinated them, but the only thing holding him back was himself. It's like he became too afraid to be weird". They tried to force Gallagher to write new material, but he dragged his heels and failed to stretch himself, and so the collaboration fell apart. At one point he announced that there would never be a bootleg of the album, as he owns the master, and had destroyed it, but later, in an August 2018 interview, he said that he'd found a copy of the album in his sock drawer. Despite the fact that we'll almost certainly never get to hear the actual album that they recorded together, the tracks that have been released give us an idea of what it might have sounded like, and so by taking those five recordings and compiling them together, we have a 54-minute "album" from Amorphous Androgynous & Noel Gallagher to take the place of that shelved record. 

 
Track listing

01 AKA... What A Life!
02 The Right Stuff
03 Shoot A Hole Into The Sun
04 The Mexican
05 Falling Down (A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding In Your Brain mix)

King Sunny Ade & His Green Spot Band - The Master Guitarist Vol. 1 (1971)

In 1982 Island Records released the album 'Juju Music' by King Sunny Ade And His African Beats, which introduced the music of this West African musician to a worldwide audience. For many, like me, it was the first that I heard of this joyous outpouring of rhythmic guitar-based music, and although it represented the first worldwide release for Adé, he was already established in his native Nigeria as its "biggest musical draw and juju music's reigning monarch". The album was a critical and commercial success, peaking at #111 on Billboard's "Pop Albums" chart, and The New York Times described it as "the year's freshest dance-music album", crediting it in 1990 with having launched the "World Beat movement in the United States". 1983's 'Synchro System' was more of the same, and these two records have made regular returns to the turntable in the intervening years. What I didn't realise until recently is that Ade had been releasing records in his native Nigeria for many years before we Westerners discovered him. Sunny Adé was born in Osogbo to a Nigerian royal family from Ondo and Akure, making him an Omoba of the Yoruba people. He left grammar school in Ondo City under the pretence of going to the University of Lagos, and it was there that his eclectic musical career began. It started with Moses Olaiya's Federal Rhythm Dandies, a highlife band, but he left them in 1967 to form his own band, The Green Spots. 

Over the years, for various reasons ranging from changes in his music to business concerns, the band changed its name several times, first to African Beats and then to Golden Mercury. His music is characterized by, among other instruments, the talking drum – an instrument indigenous to his Yoruba roots, and the guitar and its peculiar application to jùjú music. He introduced the pedal steel guitar to Nigerian pop music, and has also included synthesizers, clarinet, vibraphone, and tenor guitar into the jùjú music repertoire. Over the past few months I have collected nearly thirty of his albums, released between 1971 and 1981, and as they are extremely hard to find, and all contain some great Afrobeat guitar-work, I'll be posting them not only for fans of the "Master Guitarist", but also as an introduction to a genre that you might not have heard before. Many of these album segue the songs together, so they only have two tracks, with each one consisting of four or five songs played one after the other. I'm starting with the 'Master Guitarist' series, then working my way through the rest of the releases chronologically, and I hope that you enjoy these posts, as I love this music and want to introduce it to a wider audience who weren't around in the 80's to hear those Island albums. 

Track listing

01 Sunny Ti De / Kolawole Bickersteth / Egbe Aburi / Ka Ma Gbagbe Atijo / Dele Davies
02 A Kunle A Tewo Adura
03 Prince Remi Aladesuru
04 Gbe Mi Debute Ogo
05 Tonni Ani
06 S. K. Dada

Department S - Sub-Stance (1981)

Department S evolved from a previous punk/ska combo, Guns for Hire, fronted by Vaughn Toulouse and also featuring former Madness drummer John Hasler, along with Mike Herbage on guitar, who wrote Guns for Hire's only single, 'I'm Gonna Rough My Girlfriend's Boyfriend Up Tonight', which was released on Korova Records in 1980. The group morphed into Department S with the addition of bassist Tony Lordan, drummer Stuart Mizon and keyboardist Eddie Roxy, taking their name from the British spy-fi adventure television series 'Department S'. They debuted at the Rock Garden in London on 24 September 1980, and before long they signed to Demon Records, who released their debut single, 'Is Vic There?', in December 1980. It was produced by former Mott The Hoople members Buffin and Overend Watts, and the b-side was a cover version of T.Rex's 'Solid Gold Easy Action', giving the whole release a glam-rock vibe. The single began to climb the UK Singles Chart, reaching No. 22, and this initial success led to the better-equipped RCA Records reissuing the single in March 1981. A session for John Peel followed in December 1980, but in early 1981 Roxy was replaced by Mark Taylor, and the band's second single, 'Going Left Right', was issued in June on Stiff Records. It failed to chart as high as 'Is Vic There?', although it did receive positive reviews. The band began recording a debut album, 'Sub-Stance', in 1981 with David Tickle producing, but the sessions were divisive and Lordan left, replaced partway through by Jimmy Hughes. A third single, 'I Want', was released by Stiff in November 1981, but modest sales, as well as differences of opinion with the label, resulted in the band being dropped by Stiff, but not before £50,000 was reputedly spent on the album, which Stiff refused to release. After a London concert on 18 March 1982, Herbage left, and the band split several months later. Toulouse later worked as a DJ under the name the Main T, and in 1983, as the Main T Possee, he released the single 'Fickle Public Speaking' which reached No. 89 on the UK chart. He also released a solo single, 'Cruisin' The Serpentine', in 1985, but sadly died in 1991 from an AIDS-related illness, aged just 32. The tracks from 'Sub-Stance' were first officially released by Mau Mau Records in 1993 as part of the compilation album 'Is Vic There?', which also included several b-sides, and I wouldn't normally post an "unreleased" album which had eentually seen an official release, but on hearing it I thought that it was such a great record that it deserved wider recognition than just being part of an obscure compilation album. 

Track listing

01 Of All The Lost Followers
02 Just Pretend
03 Romany Blood
04 I Want
05 Fighting Irish
06 Is Vic There?
07 Going Left Right
08 Age Concern
09 Somewhere Between Heaven And Tesco's
10 Whatever Happened To The Blues
11 Ode To Koln
12 Clap Now