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 eventually 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

The Sidewinders - What She Said: The Best Of The Sidewinders (1991)

The Sidewinders were formed in the spring of 1985 by guitarist Rich Hopkins and vocalist David Slutes, and they released their first record, '¡Cuacha!', on San Jacinto Records in 1988, subsequently signing to RCA/Mammoth Records, where they released two full-length albums, 1989's 'Witchdoctor' and 1990's 'Auntie Ramos' Pool Hall', with 'Witchdoctor' cracking the lower echelons of the Billboard 200 at No. 169. In 1990, Mammoth/RCA released a 7 track promo-only CD entitled 'Do Not Play This Disc - For Educational Purposes Only', and on the strength of two modern rock radio hits in 'Witchdoctor' and 'We Don't Do That Any More', the band scored exposure on MTV and VH1 and embarked on a worldwide tour, but their career was soon sidelined due to legal problems. In 1991, a North Carolina band known as Sidewinders sued the group over the use of its name, and it took two years to sort out the proceedings and secure the release of their next album, now under the name Sand Rubies. As the Sand Rubies, they released a self-titled album on Polydor/Atlas in 1993, and at one point, Pearl Jam served as their opening act. However, due to attrition over the period of the legal troubles, the rhythm section of the band had departed, and the Sand Rubies dissolved during a tour in 1993, just as two other Arizona rock bands, Gin Blossoms and The Refreshments, were attracting mainstream attention. A few one-off shows were given in 1995 and 1996 before an official Sand Rubies reunion was announced in October 1996, and a show at SXSW followed in 1997, as did a new album, 'Return Of The Living Dead', in 1998. They were able to independently release a best-of collection of tracks from their major label years, as well as an all-covers album, 'Release The Hounds' in 1999, after which the band broke up again. The Sidewinders' debut album is one of may favourite records of the late 80's in any genre, and they should have been as big as Giant Sand and Green On Red from the same period, but they just never got the breaks, and the legal issues over their name really knocked them back. I hope that this collection of some of their best work as The Sidewinders brings them to the attention of a new audience some 40 years later. 

Track listing

01 I Can Wait (from '¡Cuacha!' 1987)
02 Solitary Man (from 'Witchdoctor' 1989)
03 We Don't Do That Anymore (from 'Auntie Ramos' Pool Hall' 1990)
04 I'll Go Home (from '¡Cuacha!' 1987)
05 Don't Cry No Tears (from '3I' EP 1991)
06 Witchdoctor (from 'Witchdoctor' 1989)
07 Sara's Not Sober (from 'Auntie Ramos' Pool Hall' 1990)

08 I Guess It Doesn't Matter (from '¡Cuacha!' 1987) 

09 You're Gonna Miss Me (from '3I' EP 1991)
10 Bad Crazy Sun (from 'Witchdoctor' 1989)
11 Blood On Our Hands (from 'Auntie Ramos' Pool Hall' 1990)
12 What She Said (from 'Witchdoctor' 1989)
13 More Than That (from '¡Cuacha!' 1987)
14 7 & 7 Is (from 'Auntie Ramos' Pool Hall' 1990)

Th' Faith Healers - Pop Songs (1994)

Th' Faith Healers formed in 1990, and comprised Roxanne Stephen on vocals, Tom Cullinan on guitar and vocals, Ben Hopkin on bass, and Joe Dilworth on drums. They were a hard-to-classify rock band, with none of the fashionable influences of the early '90's, although their Krautrock fixation would go on to become a badge of hipness in the latter half of the decade. Despite their sound being out of kilter with the U.K. indie scene of their time, their records hold up much better today than those of many of their contemporaries. The group played regularly at a club called the Sausage Machine in their hometown, and when the club's owners, Paul Cox and Richard Roberts, formed a new indie label, called Too Pure, Th' Faith Healers were their first signing. Their song 'Jesus Freak' led off Too Pure's first release, the compilation 'Now That's Disgusting Music', in May of 1990, and their first single, 'Pop Song', came out that summer. They released two EP's in 1991, February's 'Picture Of Health' and October's 'In Love', and their debut album, 'Lido', finally appeared in the spring of 1992. The record's eight lengthy tracks were noisy and hypnotic grooves, noisier than the similarly sound-for-sound's-sake My Bloody Valentine and more driven than their new labelmates Stereolab, and the quartet didn't sound like anybody else at the time. 

A killer cover of Can's 'Mother Sky', performed at the point of delirium, brought the group's Krautrock influence to the fore. It took a while for them to follow up such a success, and Too Pure released the compilation 'L', gathering the contents of the previous singles and EP's, to fill the gap. The difficult second album didn't appear until November 1993, and 'Imaginary Friend' was darker and less manic than 'Lido', with the pounding 20-minute dirge 'Everything, All at Once, Forever' taking the group's hypnotic drones to their logical conclusion. The band must have thought so as well, as after a lengthy U.S. tour supporting the Breeders, Th' Faith Healers broke up in the spring of 1994. Cullinan formed a new band, Quickspace, while Stephens returned to art college, Dilworth opened a photography studio, and Hopkin became a tree surgeon. I still listen to their records today, as their music still sounds fresh and interesting, and it has not dated as much as many other bands of the era, so this two-disc compilation of their non-album singles and EP tracks is an extension of Too Pure's 'L' release from 1992, and includes all their non-album tracks, as well as a number of their John Peel session recordings, and some rather unusual cover versions.  

Track listing

Disc I - 1990-1991
01 Pop Song (from the 'Pop Song' EP 1990)
02 Delores (from the 'Pop Song' EP 1990)
03 Slag (from the 'Pop Song' EP 1990)
04 Jesus Freak (from the 'Now That's Disgusting Music' compilation 1990)
05 Gorgeous Blue Flower In My Garden (from the 'A Picture Of Health' EP 1991
06 Not A God (from the 'A Picture Of Health' EP 1991
07 God You Move (In Mysterious Ways) (from the 'A Picture Of Health' EP 1991
08 Reptile Smile (from the 'In Love' EP 1991)
09 Super (from the 'In Love' EP 1991)
10 Lovely (from the 'In Love' EP 1991)

Disc II - 1992-1994
01 I'm Ready (John Peel session 1992)
02 Get The Fuck Out Of My Face (John Peel session 1992)
03 Oh Baby (from the 'Mr Litnanski' EP 1992)
04 Moona-Inna-Joona (from the 'Mr Litnanski' EP 1992)
05 My Loser (from the 'Mr Litnanski' EP 1992)
06 Bulkhead (John Peel session 1993)
07 Serge (John Peel session 1993)
08 Everything... (Dub Edit) (12" promo white label 1993)
09 Ooh La La (John Peel session 1994)
10 New Number Two (John Peel session 1994)
11 Without You (John Peel session 1994)
12 S.O.S. (from the 'Go ABBA' split single with Mambo Taxi 1994)

Horace Brown - HB (1994)

Horace Brown was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of an Apostolic minister, and played a variety of instruments in his school's marching band. He made his recording debut on a single with a group named Lyk Brothers titled 'Early Family' b/w 'You Are The One (My Destiny)', and in 1991  he met fellow R&B/urban act, Jodeci's DeVante Swing, who showed interest in hearing his demo. Before releasing his own material, he sang backup on songs and albums by other artists like Terri & Monica, and Christopher Williams, and did some writing and producing, which led to a recording contract with Uptown Records, after president Andre Harrell saw him in a recording session. In 1994, while with Uptown Records, he recorded his first album, and spurred controversy when his single 'Taste Your Love' was released. The single was an ode to oral sex and was banned in parts of the South, but despite the press around the single, it failed to perform well on the charts. After one more single, 'Let Me Know', was released as a promotional 12" single, his contract was cancelled and his Uptown Records album was shelved, despite an 8-track CD and 13-track promo cassette being sent out to pluggers. When Andre Harrell of Uptown moved to Motown, he took Brown with him, and they promoted him by releasing two singles, 'One For The Money' and 'Things We Do For Love', before his self-titled debut album appeared in 1996. The album featured Sean "Puffy" Combs, remixes with Foxy Brown and Jay-Z, and the final single, 'How Can We Stop', featuring Faith Evans. Despite releasing a few more singles in the early 2000's, Brown has yet to release another album, and so it's worth giving his cancelled 1994 record a listen. 

Track listing

01 Intro 
02 Mercy, Mercy 
03 I Like 
04 Taste Your Love  
05 Let It Rain  
06 Nuttin' But A Party 
07 Another Level 
08 Taste Your Love (Ballad Version)
09 Holdin' On
10 Let Me Taste The Sweetness
11 How Am I Supposed To Know
12 I Got To Find The Way
13 Love You

As requested by Horta.

Simian - Something New (2006)

Psychedelic pop experimentalists Simian came into full fruition after members of the Manchester University live breakbeat project King Rib bumped into Simon Lord, after the trio had heard Lord's compositions, and the quartet opted to work together under the name of Simian. Comprising Lord on vocals and lead guitar, James Shaw on keyboards, Alex MacNaughton on bass, and James Ford on drums, the outfit were informed by and resembled experimental artists of the '60s like Silver Apples and the United States Of America, just as much as those of the current times, from Luke Vibert to the Beta Band. Simian debuted on the U.K.'s Source label in 2000 with the 'Watch It Glow' EP, followed by a second EP, 'The Wisp', which was released a full year later, followed four months later by their acclaimed debut LP, 'Chemistry Is What We Are'. The record was well received by critics and the public alike, with the striking cover featuring a selection of remarkable hybrid animals. Astralwerks picked up the head-scratcher of a record for release in the U.S., and then in 2001 the band recorded a cover of Prince's 'Under The Cherry Moon' for the tribute album, 'If I Was Prince'. In late 2002 the group released their second album 'We Are Your Friends', promoting it on a tour of the U.S. at the beginning of the following year. The title of the album comes from the lyrics of one of its songs, 'Never Be Alone', which would later be made famous by Justice when they released a remix of the track retitled as 'We Are Your Friends', and which was credited to 'Justice vs. Simian'. Unfortunately, a third album was not forthcoming, and Simian drifted apart in 2005, with Ford and Shaw later regrouping as the production act Simian Mobile Disco, under which name they released a number of albums on the Wichita label between 2007 and 2018. Somewhat belatedly, they achieved some recognition when in 2005 their song 'La Breeze' was featured in a Peugeot 1007 television advert, and also in an advert for Dove in 2007. I still highly rate both of Simian's albums, and so this collection of b-sides and EP tracks perfectly rounds off their all too short career. 

Track listing

Disc I - 2000-2001
01 In Siam (from the 'Watch It Glow' mini LP 2000)
02 Grey (from the 'Watch It Glow' mini LP 2000)
03 Won't (from the 'Watch It Glow' mini LP 2000)
04 Untitled (from the 'Watch It Glow' mini LP 2000)
05 The Tale Of Willow Hill (from 'The Wisp' EP)
06 Turn Around (from 'The Wisp' EP 2001)
07 What A Dream (from 'The Wisp' EP 2001)
08 Over The Hills (b-side of 'One Dimension' 2001)
09 Reasons (b-side of 'One Dimension' 2001)
10 The Long Road (b-side of 'One Dimension' 2001)

Disc II - 2001-2006
01 Under The Cherry Moon (from the 'If I Was Prince' tribute album 2001)
02 Out Of Bed (b-side of 'Never Be Alone' 2002)
03 Coins (b-side of 'Never Be Alone' 2002)
04 We Don't Want Your Help (b-side of 'Never Be Alone' 2002)
05 Since When (b-side of 'Never Be Alone' 2002)
06 Something New (b-side of 'Mr. Crow' 2002)
07 Into The Ground (b-side of 'Mr. Crow' 2002)
08 Song And Dance (b-side of 'Mr. Crow' 2002)
09 Queen May (b-side of 'Mr. Crow' 2002)
10 We Are Your Friends (Original Remix) (Justice Vs Simian single 2006)

Hudson-Ford - Lost In A Lost World (1981)

John Ford was born on 1 July 1948 in the South West London district of Fulham and grew up in a household where his father played piano and his four sisters were singers. When he was 14, his father bought him a Höfner 500/1 bass, a guitar that was particularly popular at the time because it was used by Paul McCartney, and in 1964 he joined with some school mates to form a band called Jaymes Fenda and the Vulcans, releasing two singles which were both written by Ford. In October 1966 he stepped in to replace the bass player of a South London R&B/soul band called the Five Proud Walkers, and he made his debut when the band opened for Champion Jack Dupree. The Five Proud Walkers was a popular club band and played a constant stream of gigs in and around London, but in the spring of 1967 they toured England with Pink Floyd and decided to make the shift to psychedelic music, changing their name to Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera, and recruiting Richard Hudson on drums. The band released three albums and several singles, but in May 1970 Ford and Hudson left the band to join The Strawbs. Ford's influence on the band, primarily known as a folk rock group, shifted them into a new direction in the progressive/art rock scene, penning songs such as 'Heavy Disguise'. In 1973 he and Hudson wrote some songs for the forthcoming album by The Strawbs, and originally the duo's 'Part Of The Union' was intended to be recorded by Ford and Hudson as The Brothers, but the other members of The Strawbs decided it would fit on their new album and so re-recorded it themselves, and when it was released as a single it became their biggest hit. Shortly after 'Bursting At The Seams' was released, Hudson and Ford left The Strawbs to start their own group which they called Hudson-Ford. 

Before long they were writing catchy pop songs and they soon had enough to fill their debut album 'Nickelodeon', which was released in 1973. Two singles were extracted from it, with 'Pick Up The Pieces' reaching the UK Top Ten. They followed this with their second album 'Free Spirit' in 1974, which included the Top 20 single 'Floating In The Wind', and two more albums followed in 1975 and 1977, although after the release of 'Daylight' the band quietly dissolved. As punk wiped out many of the progressive acts of the early and mid 70s, Hudson, Ford and Terry Cassidy combined together with Clive Pearce on drums to produce the 1979 album 'Bad Habits' as The Monks, and it spawned a surprise number 19 hit with the single 'Nice Legs, Shame About The Face'. They carried on the psuedo-punk format of the Monks for a follow up album, but 'Suspended Animation' wasn't released in the UK, making its biggest impact in Canada, where the band were huge, playing stadium gigs as big as the Strawbs ever achieved. Hudson, Ford and Cassidy's next project was dabbling with 1930's style music as High Society, when apparently the three were sitting around one rainy afternoon, supposedly writing Monks material, when they came up with the 30's-style ' Never Go Out In The Rain', and a rich seam of song-writing was unlocked. They released two singles and recorded an album as High Society, but it wasn't released until 1997. This album explores all aspects of the duo's work, including their contribution to The Strawbs' 'Bursting At The Seams', their recording of 'Part Of The Union' as The Brothers, singles and rare b-sides from Hudson-Ford, the flip of The Monks' 1979 hit, and songs from the two singles from High Society. 

Track listing

01 Lady Fuschia (from 'Bursting At The Seams' by The Strawbs 1973)
02 Part Of The Union (as The Brothers 1973)
03 This Is Not The Way (To End A War Or To Die) (b-side of 'Pick Up The Pieces' 1973)
04 Take It Back (7" single edit 1973)
05 Make No Mistake (b-side of 'Take It Back')
06 Burn Baby Burn (single 1974)
07 Floating In The Wind (7" single edit 1974)
08 Waterfall (single 1976)
09 Lost In A Lost World (b-side of '95º In The Shade' 1976)
10 Sold On Love (single 1976)
11 When The Lights Go Out (from the 'Repertoire' sampler album 1977)
12 You'll Be The Death Of Me (b-side of 'Nice Legs Shame About The Face' by The Monks 1979)
13 I Never Go Out In The Rain (single as High Society 1980)
14 Powder Blue (b-side of 'Gotta Get Out Of This Rut')
15 Got To Get Out Of This Rut (single as High Society 1981)

Sun Dial - Plains Of Nazca: The Best Of Sun Dial (2016)

Gary Ramon's first band was Modern Art, and after releasing a number of cassette albums (I still my copy of 'Oriental Towers') and their first album in 1987, 'Stereoland', was limited to a run of 300 copies in a hand-painted sleeve. It contained jangly '60s-influenced pop originals in line with contemporaries like the Bachelor Pad, and was followed the next year by a German edition of 500 copies of 'All Aboard The Mind Train', which marked the real start of Ramon's journey. Reeking of lysergic consumption, the album contained original songs, plus a cover of the Monkees' 'Circle Sky', and in 1994 the album was remixed, remastered and re-pressed in an edition of 500 for his own Acme label. Modern Art then became Sun Dial at the start of the new decade, and as a trio they recorded 'Other Way Out', which conjured up memories of Pink Floyd's 'Piper At The Gates Of Dawn' and The Nice's 'Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack'. When I first got this album I thought it was the best recreation of the psychedelic sound of the late '60s by a modern band that I'd ever heard, and I stand by that today. It was followed in 1993 by 'Return Journey', featuring tracks that were was also recorded in 1990, and it included exploratory waves of effect-filled guitar solos, plus a cover of 'Magic Potion', a 1969 nugget by the Open Mind.  'Reflecter' and 'Libertine' were career sidesteps, and were both self-produced as a quartet with guitarist Chris Dalley, bassist Nigel Carpenter and drummer John Pelech. 'Reflecter' takes a contemporary Manchester detour, accenting the loudly textured guitar drones and echoey vocals, in songs like 'I Don’t Mind' and 'Easy For You', with a brisk and modern dance-influenced tone. 

If 'Reflecter' was a minor breach of stylistic faith, though, 'Libertine' was a gimmicky sounding big-budget studio affair with electronics taking a place of honour right behind the guitars, and it attempted a more radical revamp, nodding toward shoegazer rock and ambient techno, with precious little of what distinguished Ramon's previous work. 'Acid Yantra', however, was a fine return to form, as Ramon cast off contemporary musical life for a ride on a hallucinogenic magic carpet. With 'Libertine' drummer Craig Adrienne and new bassist Jake Honeywill in tow, Ramon returned to the organic simplicity of analogue 8-track recording, and at times his fluid, acid-drenched guitar recalls Funkadelic’s Eddie Hazel in his 'Maggot Brain' glory. Their next release was a live album recorded in London at the band's only live show of 1995, and 'Live Drug' consists of songs from 'Acid Yantra' as well as such earlier items as 'Slow Motion', 'Fireball' and 'Exploding In Your Mind'. After a long gap the band returned in 2003 with another great album in 'Zen For Sale', but for 2010's 'Sun Dial' they ditched the psyche and recorded a metal album, which lost them quite a few fans along the way. Perhaps realising that those fans preferred his early work, Sun Dial returned in 2012 with 'Mind Control', which was Ramon's second career highlight, after 'Other Way Out'. Starting with the great opener 'Mountain Of Fire And Miracles', this is followed by 'Radiation' which heads towards Germany and enters the mysterious land of early 70's Kosmische, with flute laden mellotron and trance inducing drums, and then back for some motorik action with sitar on the title track. Following that return to form the band have released new albums every few years, with their most recent studio recording being 'Message From The Mothership' in 2023. Fans of late 60's psyche and prog should already know about Sun Dial, but if you don't then this career retrospective should introduce you to one of the best modern psyche bands around. The 'Reflector' and 'Libertine' albums are not without their moments, and so they have one track apiece, but I've concentrated on the psychedelic side of their output, as that is by far my personal preference.

Track listing

01 Plains Of Nazca (from 'Other Way Out' 1990)
02 Never Fade (from 'Reflecter' 1992)
03 Believer (from 'Libertine' 1993)
04 You're Still Wondering (from 'Zen For Sale' 2003)
05 Autopilot (from 'Made In The Machine' 2016)
06 Magic Potion (from 'Return Journey' 1993)
07 Mountain Of Fire And Miracles (from 'Mind Control' 2012)
08 Rollercoaster (from 'Acid Yantra' 1995)
09 Exploding In Your Mind (from 'Other Way Out' 1990)
10 North Eastern (from 'Return Journey' 1993)
11 Let It Go (from the 'Fazer' EP 1992)
12 Reflections (from 'Zen For Sale' 2003)
13 Regenerator (from 'Made In The Machine' 2016)
14 Yantra Jam (from 'Acid Yantra' 1995)

You Slosh - Up In The Slosh (1991)

You Slosh formed in December 1986, and consisted of Duncan Rayson and Martin Howe on keyboards, Michael Gill on fiddle and bouzouki, Mike Harvey on bass, Pat Walker on drums, and multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley on uilleann pipes, bouzouki, electric guitar and occassional vocals. Based around the pipes and whistles of Donockley, they played a mix of Celtic folk and prog rock, and were well-known around the York area in the late 1980's. Donockley composed long, involved pieces for guitars and ethnic instruments, while the sound made by the other members of the band was big and exciting. They were an immensely popular college group, but in late 1991 they mysteriously disbanded, just when they were starting to receive national attention. Donockley went on to join Iona and also play with Barbara Dickson, the Enid, Maddy Prior, Midge Ure, and Adrian Edmundson's Bad Shepherds, and is currently a member of Finnish symphonic heavy metallers Nightwish. In 1989 You Slosh released their debut album on the On Them label, which was a live recording captured at the Tivoli in Buckley the same year, but many of the tracks featured on it had previously been recorded onto demo cassettes, which were often sold at their gigs, and so this album is made up of two of those demo tapes, essentially making it a studio version of that live album. 

Track listing

01 The Break
02 Up In The Slosh
03 Above Leaves
04 Dust
05 Larl Boy In The Slammer
06 Time To Laugh
07 Hearthquake
08 The Ivy Leaf

Thanks to geofmcm for bringing this band to my attention, and for the music.

Robin Trower - Earth Below Blues (1974)

After Robin Trower finished up the UK dates in mid-August 1974 tour in support his 'Bridge Of Sighs' album, fired drummer Reg Isidore, and he and bassist/vocalist James Dewar flew to Los Angeles to audition new drummers. Trower had decided he wanted an American drummer with a distinctively American feel, and after auditioning several applicants, Trower got a call from Bill Lordan, formerly of Sly Stone's band. Trower later told an interviewer that Lordan phoned him up and boasted that he was the best man for the job and to look no further, and he more than backed up this bold claim during his audition, and immediately clinched the gig. In September 1974, Trower, Dewar, Lordan, and producer Matthew Fisher (keyboardist in Trower's old band Procol Harum) assembled in London and rented a church to rehearse in and jam. The London rehearsals were designed to work out a new sound for the band, to help the new line-up gel, and to firm up ideas for their third album, 'For Earth Below', which Fisher was producing. The church wasn't abandoned, but it wasn't being used for services, and it had a great acoustical sound, so after rehearsing for a few weeks they returned to Los Angeles to start recording the album at The Record Plant in Hollywood, with Matthew Fisher producing. The record was laid down very quickly, and Trower was out on tour by early November, with the album being released in February 1975. A lot of the rehearsals were taped for later analysis, and three of the jams feature Fisher on keyboards, so as they are all excellent recordings I've compiled them into a 50-minute instrumental album from Trower and the band, enjoying themselves and getting to know each other in 1974. 

Track listing

01 Earth Below Blues
02 Substrata Jam
03 The Realm Beneath

Raye - Dark Dance Songs (2021)

Rachel Agatha Keen (professionally known as Raye) was born on 24 October 1997 in Tooting, London, to a Ghanaian-Swiss mother and an English father from Yorkshire. Surrounded by music, Raye first showed interest in becoming a recording artist at the age of eight, and she wrote her first song for a concert in Year 6, performing it at the Southwark Cathedral. At age 14, she was chosen to enter the BRIT School, where she studied for two years before dropping out due to feeling "confined". She spent most of her teenage years learning how to write songs professionally in studio sessions on the weekends. In November 2014, at the age of 17, Raye independently uploaded her debut EP, 'Welcome To The Winter', to SoundCloud, writing, recording, and co-producing the seven tracks. Olly Alexander, the then-lead singer of the UK band Years & Years, discovered her song 'Hotbox' through Hype Machine, and sent it to his record label, resulting in Raye subsequently signing a contract with Polydor Records. In 2015, she released the single 'Alien', featuring Avelino, and covered the Years & Years song 'Shine', later opening for the band's show at Shepherd's Bush Empire. Raye's following EP, 'Second', was released in August 2016 through Polydor, but she struggled to get the label to release an album by her, even though she constantly presented then with completed records throughout the seven years that she was signed to them. 

She kept up her profile by performing concerts, and appearing as a guest on other artist's recordings, such as Charli XCX's 'After The Afterparty', and she appeared on the 'VIP' remix to the song with Rita Ora and the rapper Stefflon Don. She also starred in the music video for the Stormzy song 'Big For Your Boots', and featured on the track 'Dreamer' from Charli XCX's collaborative project 'Number 1 Angel' in 2017. She released her own singles 'The Line' and 'Decline' in 2017, and her third EP 'Side Tape', premiered in 2018, following the release of the single 'Cigarette', in collaboration with the singers Mabel and Don. In June 2021 Raye publicly spoke up on X (formerly Twitter) about unfair treatment from her then-label, Polydor Records, revealing that they had been blocking the release of multiple albums made by her over the course of seven years. It got quite messy in the end, and she hit a breaking point, where she was so angry and frustrated that in protest, on 30 June 2021, she went live on Instagram to share some of the songs the label refused to release, which included 'Fantastic' and the demo for 'The Thrill Is Gone'. 

One of the last records that she presented to Polydor was to be a dance album, where she needed to hand in songs which were 115 BPM or above, and as far as her constraints allowed, she set out to make an album that was going to be called 'Dark Dance Songs'. The closest thing she had as a guide was the song 'Black Mascara', which later appeared on her official debut album. When she finally extricated herself from her Polydor contract she signed to Human Re Sources Records and finally released her debut full length album 'My 21st Century Blues', which was met with instant acclaim, and was nominated for the 2023 Mercury Prize. As well as releasing some of her songs on Instagram, 200 of her tracks leaked online, allowing us to hear the contents of the many rejected albums that she'd tried to release through Polydor. In the start of what could be a long-running series, here is the unreleased 'Dark Dance Songs' album from 2021, including the demo version of 'The Thrill Has Gone', which includes a Kylie Minogue sample which had to be removed from the official version which later appeared on 'My 21st Century Blues'.

Track listing

01 Uncomfortable (Intro)
02 Walk Away
03 Dark Nights
04 Down
05 The Thrill Has Gone
06 Young & Naive
07 Black Mascara
08 Your Loss (Silly Man)
09 California Dreamin'
10 When You Say It Like That
11 Many A Man
12 No Man
13 Fantastic

The Band - Return To Jericho (1993)

In 1985, the Band went into the studio for the first time since 1977 with the intent of recording tracks for an eventual album, as Richard Manuel had recently expressed interest in writing new material for the group, and had written 'Breaking New Ground' with Gerry Goffin and Carole King. However, on 4 March 1986 Manuel died by his own hand, and the Band abandoned efforts to make an album for several years. In 1990, Sony offered the group a recording contract, and they hired fellow Hawks member Stan Szelest to replace Manuel on keyboards, and proceeded to record new material with songwriter Jules Shear, but these recordings were rejected by Sony, who suggested the group take submissions from various songwriters. However, bad luck dogged the group again, when Szelest died of a heart attack while sessions were ongoing. The Band then requested release from Sony and found a new contract with Great Pyramid Records, and without Manuel or Robbie Robertson as songwriters, the group relied mostly on outside sources, such as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Bruce Springsteen, and their friends Bob Dylan and Artie Traum, and a few sessions also involved Champion Jack Dupree. 'Country Boy', a song from the 1985 sessions with Manuel on vocals, was also selected for inclusion on the album, and John Simon, who had produced the Band's first two albums, was again brought in to produce along with Aaron L. Hurwitz. The album was finally completed in 1993, with new members Richard Bell on keyboards, Randy Ciarlante on second drums, and Jim Weider on lead guitar. 

Among the material are four new originals written by the group: 'Remedy', written by Weider and producer John Simon, 'The Caves Of Jericho', co-written by Helm and Bell with Simon, 'Too Soon Gone', co-written by Szelest with Jules Shear, and 'Move To Japan, written by Helm, Szelest, and Weider with Simon and Joe Flood. Two contributions came from outside songwriters, with Artie Traum's 'Amazon (River Of Dreams)', and 'Shine A Light', composed by Marty Grebb and Daniel Moore, and the rest of the album consists of covers of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, and The Delmore Brothers. The record was generally well-received, with critic Mark Deming writing that while Robertson's strong song-writing and stinging lead guitar were sorely missed, the remaining musicians and guests performed well, and 'Jericho' did unexpectedly prove that the Band could function very well without Robertson. Some time after the release of the album, a selection of alternate versions and outtakes appeared, although none of them are final mixes, and there seems to be little overdubbing and backing voices, so they might be classed more as rehearsals. There rarely seem to be two drummers, and Garth Hudson plays a lot of accordion throughout the first half, while a number of them feature a horn section. These previously unheard tracks have been examined by theband.hiof.no website, and their comments are as follows: 

The Bruce Hornsby cover 'Night On The Town' has a lead vocal by Ciarlante, but this version takes too many directions and is ultimately too messy to get anywhere, although there's a great bit of wild organ from Hudson. 'Circle Of Time' is a loping mid-sixties style soul influenced song. Rick Danko sings lead, supported (I think) by a female singer. The prominent instruments are bass, drums and guitar with less piano and a touch of synth with a horns sound. Jim Weider bends some very un-Band like guitar sounds. If this had made it through to 'Jericho' it would definitely have been one of the best tracks on the album. 'The Tide Will Rise' is another Bruce Hornsby cover, with a lead vocal from Levon Helm, and is a song to Hornsby's ancestors, the watermen of Virginia. With words like 'they say we're a dying breed, they say we're gonna disappear' it reminds me of 'Cahoots', complete with tinkling orientalish synth and guitar sounds. They've put out worse than this in the past - most of 'Islands' and 'Cahoots' for starters. 'Nobody Sings 'Em Like Ray' was co-written by Jim Rooney, and is a jazzy tribute to Ray Charles, with Hudson performing powerfully on horns. Three voices share equal honours, Helm, Danko and probably Ciarlante. It's very catchy, and has great lyrics, and it's incomprehensible that it wasn't used. 'Keep The Home Fires Burning' opens with a jaunty sax lead, and vocals are shared, with a C&W feel on the chorus. 'Stuff You Gotta Watch' is the only alternate take that I've included, as it opens in Sgt Pepper style with a voice announcing 'the triumphant return of the Kenny Wayne Orchestra!' then goes into a very live sounding big band pastiche of 'Stuff You Gotta Watch', which is faster and better than the album cut. 

Lastly we have 'Soul Deep', which is a cover of the classic Box Tops' song, and I've also included live versions of 'Remedy' and 'Blind Willie McTell', which were issued on a rare promotional 7" single to publicise the album. 

Track listing

01 Night On The Town
02 Circle Of Time
03 The Tide Will Rise
04 Remedy (live)
05 Keep The Home Fires Burning
06 Nobody Sings 'Em Like Ray
07 Stuff You Gotta Watch
08 Blind Willie McTell (live)
09 Soul Deep

All About Eve - Silver Songs (1992)

Julianne Regan, a former journalist, played bass in an early line-up of the gothic rock group Gene Loves Jezebel, before leaving to form The Swarm with Manuela Zwingmann of Xmal Deutschland. This partnership was the precursor to All About Eve, who were named after the 1950 film starring Bette Davis, and the line-up was completed with the addition of former Aemotti Crii guitarist Bricheno and bassist Gus Ferguson. In 1985 the band released their debut single , 'D For Desire' on the Eden label, but shortly afterwards Zwingmann and Ferguson left, with the latter joining Test Department. Bricheno suggested Andy Cousin as a replacement for Ferguson, and so as a three-piece plus a drum machine, they released the singles 'In The Clouds' in 1986) and 'Flowers In Our Hair' in 1987, with the music on showing an ethereal gothic sound, sometimes compared to the music of the Cocteau Twins and Siouxsie and the Banshees. After Regan sang backing vocals for The Mission's 'God's Own Medicine' album, she suddenly started to receive greater attention and the band were signed to Phonogram. A real drummer was added at this time, with Mark Price taking the role, and their self-titled debut album, which was produced by Paul Samwell-Smith, was released in 1988. As well as 'In The Clouds', it included four more UK hit singles, in the form of 'Wild-Hearted Woman', 'Every Angel', 'Martha's Harbour', and 'What Kind Of Fool'. The album itself reached No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart, with much of its lyrical material drawing from hippie ideals, white magic and dreamlike fairy tales. 

The following year their second top 10 album, 'Scarlet And Other Stories', was released, and the band toured around the UK to promote it. In 1990 Bricheno left the group, and was replaced by The Church's Marty Willson-Piper, and this line-up recorded their third album 'Touched by Jesus' in 1991, featuring a guest performance from David Gilmour on two tracks. Following a change of label to MCA Records, the group released 'Ultraviolet' in 1992, and then continued working on new material for a prospective fifth album, but Regan soon left, and although remaining members continued for a couple more months without Regan's input, they disbanded in early 1993. The album they had been working on was subsequently released under the group name Seeing Stars. Regan went on to form Mice, and to work with Bernard Butler, and Cousin joined a reformed Mission, touring extensively and contributing to their albums 'Neverland' and 'Blue', before the band split up again. In 2002 Regan and Cousin released their first studio recordings in a decade, with the EP 'Iceland', which was a collection of 'winter songs', including reworkings of 'December', and cover versions of Wham!'s 'Last Christmas', Queen's 'A Winter's Tale', and 'Walking in the Air'. However, it is the late 80's version of the band that fans revere, and so this collection of non-album singles, b-sides and rarities should take them back to the heyday of their favourite group.  

Track listing 

Disc I - 1985-1987
01 D For Desire (single 1985)
02 Don't Follow Me (March Hare) (b-side of 'D For Desire')
03 Suppertime (demo 1986)
04 Our Summer (single 1987)
05 Lady Moonlight (b-side of 'Our Summer')
06 Set Sail (demo 1987)
07 Devil Woman (b-side of 'Flowers In Our Hair' 1987)
08 Paradise (b-side of 'Flowers In Our Hair' 1987)
09 End Of The Day (b-side of 'In The Clouds' 1987)
10 Love Leads Nowhere (b-side of 'In The Clouds' 1987)
11 Calling Your Name (b-side of 'In The Clouds' 1987)

Disc II  - 1988-1991            
01 Wild Flowers (b-side of 'Every Angel' 1988)
02 Candy Tree (b-side of 'Every Angel' 1988)
03 More Than This Hour (b-side of 'Every Angel' 1988)
04 Another Door (b-side of 'Martha's Harbour' 1988)
05 The Garden Of Jane Delawney (b-side of 'What Kind Of Fool?' 1988)
06 Drowning (b-side of 'December' 1989) 
07 The Witches Promise (b-side of 'December' 1989)
08 Elizabeth Of Glass (b-side of 'Farewell Mr. Sorrow' 1991)
09 All The Rings 'Round Saturn (b-side of 'Farewell Mr. Sorrow' 1991)
10 Silver Song (b-side of 'Farewell Mr. Sorrow' 1991)

Disc III - 1991-1992
01 Drawn To Earth (b-side of 'Strange Way' 1991)
02 Nothing Without You (b-side of 'Strange Way' 1991)
03 Light As A Feather (b-side of 'Strange Way' 1991)
04 If I Had You (previously unreleased 1991) 
05 Different Sky (previously unreleased 1991)
06 Frida Of Blood And Gold (b-side of 'The Dreamer' 1991)
07 Road To Damascus (b-side of 'The Dreamer' 1991)
08 Ascent/Descent (from the 'Phased' EP 1992)
09 Moodswing (b-side of 'Some Finer Day' 1992)
10 Dive In (b-side of 'Some Finer Day' 1992)

DeeGees - Hail Satin (2021)

It will be Record Store Day here in the UK in a couple of weeks, and so for this post I'm going back to 2021, and an album that was released as part of that year's Record Store Day. 'Hail Satin' was an album by the DeeGees, a side project of the rock band Foo Fighters. It consists of five cover versions of songs originally written and recorded by members of the Gibb family (four from the Bee Gees and one Andy Gibb solo record) and five songs from the Foo Fighters' 2021 album 'Medicine At Midnight' on the flip of the vinyl, recorded live at Studio 606. The name DeeGees is a play on both the Bee Gees and Dave Grohl's initials, and the album title is also a play on satin (a common fabric of the disco era) and the phrase "hail Satan". Foo Fighters had already performed Andy Gibb's 'Shadow Dancing' during Linda Perry's Rock 'n' Relief livestream, and they also played 'You Should Be Dancing' on Jo Whiley's Sofa Session show on BBC Radio 2, so covering Bee Gees songs wasn't unprecedented. Dave Grohl said that while recording 'You Should Be Dancing' he had never, ever in his life sung like that, but it was the easiest song he had ever sung in his entire life, and that he should have been singing like that for the last 25 years. The covers are played straight and with reverence, and Grohl tackles the vocals in the style of the Gibbs, while drummer Taylor Hawkins provides the lead vocals on 'Shadow Dancing'. The end result is a dancey romp showing off the dynamic potential of this unique blend of alt-rock and disco sensibilities. Original copies are extremely hard to come by, and go for around £150 when they are offered for sale, so here is an easier way to hear this intriguing set of Bee Gees covers. 

Track listing

01 You Should Be Dancing
02 Night Fever
03 Tragedy
04 Shadow Dancing
05 More Than A Woman
06 Making A Fire 
07 Shame Shame
08 Waiting On A War 
09 No Son Of Mine
10 Cloudspotter