Just a reminder....

if you can't use, or don't like, Soulseek, then links to all 1000-plus albums are in a pdf that can be downloaded via the Yandex link under the disclaimer at the top right of the blog. Recent albums are at the top, and an archive of the rest is below. 

In a similar fashion, a pdf further down contains all the notes and track listings from the '..and on guitar' series, which can be slotted into the folders so that you can easily find the original artists when you listen to them.

2Pac - 100% Black Gold (1996)

Tupac Shakur began recording under the stage name MC New York in 1989, and after signing with Atron Gregory, manager of the rap group Digital Underground, he was added to the group as a roadie and backup dancer. In January 1991 he debuted under the stage name 2Pac on Digital Underground, under the new Interscope Records label, on the group's January 1991 single 'Same Song', which also opened the group's 'This Is An EP Release'. Shakur's debut album '2Pacalypse Now' arrived in November 1991, and would bear three singles, 'If My Homie Calls', 'Trapped' and 'Brenda's Got A Baby', all of which depicted individual struggles under socioeconomic disadvantage in a distinctive poetical style. Shakur's second album 'Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z...' was released in in February 1993, and was a critical and commercial advance on its predecessor, debuting at No. 24 on the pop chart in the Billboard 200. In late 1993, Shakur formed the group Thug Life with Tyrus "Big Syke" Himes, Diron "Macadoshis" Rivers, his stepbrother Mopreme Shakur, and Walter "Rated R" Burns, releasing its only album 'Thug Life: Volume 1', in October 1994. Shakur's third album 'Me Against The World' was released in March 1995 while he was incarcerated, and is now hailed as his magnum opus, and commonly ranks among the greatest, most influential rap albums of all time. The lead single 'Dear Mama' was released in February 1995 with 'Old School' as the b-side, and is the album's most successful single, topping the Hot Rap Singles chart, and peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

While Shakur was in prison in 1995, his mother was about to lose her house, and so Shakur had his wife Keisha Morris contact Death Row Records founder Suge Knight, who advanced Shakur's mother $15,000 to pay her debts. In October 1995, Knight visited Shakur in prison again and posted the $1.4 million bond, allowing Shakur to return to Los Angeles and join Death Row, with the appeal of his December 1994 conviction pending. His fourth album 'All Eyez On Me' came out on Death Row in February 1996, and was rap's first double album, featuring Shakur rapping about the gangsta lifestyle, and leaving behind his previous political messages. In between recording tracks for his albums, Shakur was constantly taping music, and there are many hand-written track listings of proposed albums which never appeared. One of these is the legendary '100% Black Gold', which was to have followed 'All Eyez On Me', but before it could be finalised Shakur was shot four times by an unidentified assailant in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in September 1996, and he died six days later. At the time of his death, a fifth and final official solo album was already finished, 'The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory', under the stage name Makaveli, which became the first of many posthumous releases over the next decade. Yet there is still much music which remains officially unreleased, and '100% Black Gold' is one of the very best of the fan-produced albums which has used some of those tracks. The album went through many different tracklist and name adjustments, being variously known as 'Outlaw Immortal', 'Still I Rise' and 'Thug Life Vol. 2', before finally settling on '100% Black Gold', and this reconstruction follows exactly the hand-written track listing for it that Shakur left behind. 

Track listing

01 Hit 'Em Up (feat. Outlawz)
02 Wordz 2 My First Born 
03 Troublesome '96
04 Made Niggaz (feat. Outlawz)
05 When Thugz Cry
06 Never Had A Friend Like Me
07 Never Call U Bitch Again
08 Fuckin' Wit The Wrong Nigga (Part 1)
09 Mama's Just A Lil Girl
10 Who Do U Believe In (feat. Yaki Kadafi)
11 Thug n' Me (feat. Jewell)
12 Fuckin' Wit The Wrong Nigga (Part 2) a.k.a. Tongue Kissin'

Susanna Hoffs - Ghost (1994)

Susanna Lee Hoffs is best know as a co-founder of the Bangles, evolving from The Bangs, who were formed in 1981 with Debbi and Vicki Peterson, after being inspired by punk bands like The Ramones. They recorded their first full length album 'All Over The Place' for Columbia Records in 1984, but the night before it was pressed they learned of a legal claim by an East Coast boy band, also called The Bangs, that requiring a sudden change of name, so The Bangs morphed into The Bangles. They had a moderate hit with the single 'Hero Takes A Fall', but their commercial breakthrough came with the album 'Different Light' in 1986, which produced the hit singles 'Manic Monday' (which Prince had written for the group), 'If She Knew What She Wants', and 'Walk Like An Egyptian'. In 1987 Hoffs tried her hand at acting, and starred in the film 'The Allnighter', which was directed by her mother Tamar Simon Hoffs. It was critically panned and failed at the box office, but Hoffs later said that although the movie wasn't great, the overall experience of it was. In 1988 The Bangles released their third album 'Everything', and the first single from it, co-written by Hoffs, was 'In Your Room', which became a top 10 hit, and this was followed by their biggest-selling single 'Eternal Flame'. In 1989 The Bangles formally disbanded, and Hoffs started a solo career, staying with Columbia and releasing her debut solo album 'When You're A Boy' in 1991. Sessions for the follow-up proceeded throughout 1993 and 1994, but when the album was presented to Columbia they rejected it, which led to Hoffs leaving the label. The 1994 recordings showed a distinct change in style, reflecting more of her emotions in the songs, most likely as a result of the fact that she co-wrote over half of the album. It was grungier rock and had more of a bite than her first solo outing, and was riskier and more original, and this could be why Columbia rejected it, as they wanted something more along the lines of 'When You're A Boy'. When the label ordered her to return to the studio to re-record them, she refused, and was released from her contract, but in a rare move, Columbia also turned all of the songs' rights over to her (which usually they prefer to hold onto, to capitilize on any future success she might have for another label). It would be another two years before she was picked up by London Records, who released her second, eponymous album in 1996, but because she owned the rights to her songs, she was able to include reworkings of 'Enormous Wings', in an almost identical version, 'Darling One', which is a much more uptempo take, and 'Happy Place', with alternate lyrics. 'Catch The Wind' and 'Turning Over' were subsequently released as bonus tracks on the 4-track CD single 'All I Want' in 1996, but the rest of the songs have remained locked away, so here is your chance to hear what should have been Susanna Hoffs' second Columbia album in 1994. 

Track listing

01 Enormous Wings
02 Darling One
03 Sunshine 
04 Happy Place
05 Right By You 
06 Catch The Wind 
07 Without You 
08 Go
09 Sleep 
10 Ghost
11 Turning Over

The Seahorses - Minus Blue (1999)

The Seahorses were formed in 1996 by guitarist John Squire following his departure from The Stone Roses, and after recruiting bassist Stuart Fletcher, and vocalist/songwriter Chris Helme. Squire did admit early on that despite liking a couple of Helme's songs, including 'Blinded By The Sun' which he re-arranged for the album, he could see problems later if Helme wanted to record them with the band. In the summer of 1996, Squire rented a cottage in Coniston, Cumbria to write and rehearse with Helme and Fletcher, and after trying out several drummers, they finally settled on Andy Watts, who had previously gigged with Fletcher and also knew Helme. Due to Squire's past work with the Stone Roses, the band were met with intense media interest and speculation before they had recorded or released anything, and even the band name was the subject of various conspiracy theories, after the NME claimed that it was an anagram of He Hates Roses. Just weeks after Watts joined, they all headed to North Hollywood to record with David Bowie/T. Rex producer Tony Visconti, and they released their debut single 'Love Is The Law' on 28 April 1997 via Geffen Records, to whom Squire was still signed following his departure from the Stone Roses. The band's debut album 'Do It Yourself' was released in May 1997, and included the song 'Love Me And Leave Me', which was co-written with Liam Gallagher of Oasis, with whom the band toured in 1997. Shortly before the release of the single it was announced that drummer Andy Watts was leaving the group to spend more time with his family (or had been asked to leave, depending on who you believe), and he was temporarily replaced by session players Mal Scott and Toby Drummond. The band went on to play support slots with The Rolling Stones, U2, and Oasis, and in 1998 they began work on a follow-up album with another new drummer, Mark Heaney, having previewed several new songs during secret fan club gigs and festival appearances, including 'City in The Sky', '700 Horses', 'Tombraid', and two Helme compositions 'Won't Let You Fall' and 'Moth'. The band entered Olympic Studios with producer David Bottrill in January 1999 to record the album, with the working titles of 'Minus Blue' and 'Motocade', but tensions came to a head between Squire and Helme, and Squire walked out of the studio, never to return, resulting in the sessions being abandoned, and the group splitting up. The main arguments between Squire and Helme were to do with the writing process, with Squire becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the material being produced by Helme, until it reached a point where their partnership was no longer possible. Helme was also unhappy with Squire writing the majority of the band's material, and therefore picking up the majority of the publishing money, and due to this he attempted to launch a solo career whilst still in The Seahorses, later claiming that the Seahorses' management informed him that they would sue him if he started touring and playing his own material whilst still a member of the band. In 2005 some of the recordings from the abandoned sessions surfaced, and so we are now able to hear what 'Minus Blue' might have sounded like had the band managed to put their differences aside for a bit longer and complete the album. 

Track listing

01 Night Train
02 700 Horses
03 Anamorphosis
04 I Want You
05 Cocksucker Blues
06 Reach Out
07 Dolphin
08 Something Tells Me
09 What Can You See? (Into The Light)
10 Tombraid

The Incredible String Band - Curlew (1972)

1972 was a pivotal year for The Incredible String Band, as having released a string of well-received albums on Elektra Records, their manager Joe Boyd severed ties with the band in 1971 and returned to the US, while Rose Simpson left the group, to be replaced by Malcolm Le Maistre, formerly of the Stone Monkey troupe. Mike Heron had taken time out to record a well-received solo album 'Smiling Men With Bad Reputations', which featured a host of session guests, among them Pete Townshend, Ronnie Lane, Keith Moon, John Cale, Richard Thompson, and Elton John on an unreleased out-take, and in 1972 Licorice McKechnie left, to be replaced by Gerard Dott, an Edinburgh jazz musician and friend of both Heron and Robin Williamson. Williamson himself also recorded a solo album 'Myrrh', which featured some of his most extraordinary vocal performances, and so to a casual observer it would seem that the band was on the verge of falling apart. However, they had managed to secure a deal with Island Records, and following the release of the soundtrack to the film 'Be Glad For The Song Has No Ending', they issued the eclectic 'Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air' in 1971 to renewed praise from the critics. So in 1972 they began laying down tracks for the upcoming 'Earthspan' album, which, compared to its predecessors, was a more generic folk album. The band was continuing its exploration into progressive rock and synthesizers in order to create a more commercial-oriented sound, which was mostly due to Heron's influence over the group, and as a result they would lose much of their trademark style that made them popular in the British underground counterculture of the 1960's. 

They recorded a couple of sessions for the John Peel Show on Radio 1, and previewed unrecorded songs such as 'Secret Temple' and 'Oh Did I Love A Dream', as well as performing a full band version of 'Rends-Moi Demain' from Williamson's solo album. Clive Palmer had left the band in their early days and formed his own group C.O.B. or Clive's Original Band, and had released their debut album 'Spirit Of Love' in 1970, but in the same year that the ISB was preparing to go into the studio for the 'Earthspan' sessions, they released their second album 'Moyshe McStiff And The Tartan Lancers Of The Sacred Heart', bringing him back to the attention of ISB fans who remembered his early involvement with the band. So although things weren't going swimmingly for the Incredible String Band, there was a lot of music from the individual musicians in that year, so I though I'd bring some of it together as a summary of what was going on in their lives. We start with a track from each of the solo albums which were around in 1972 (Heron's having been released a few months earlier), followed by an out-take from the 'Earthspan' sessions, and the un-issued track from Heron's solo album that featured Elton John. An out-take from Palmer's album follows, and then we have the ISB version of Williamson's 'Rends-Moi Demain', and another leftover from Heron's album. Another 'Earthspan' out-take, Licorice McKechnie's 'Secret Temple', is next, followed by Palmer's instrumental out-take 'Falconer's Glove', and then another track from Williamson's 'Myrhh' as he was starting to feel a bit neglected, and finally we round off with the lovely instrumental title track. This is something of an unusual post, as it mixes released album tracks, demos, radio sessions and out-takes, but it captures a moment in time for the members and former members of this unique band.

Track listing

01 Dark Dance 
02 Martha & Mary  
03 Feast Of Stephen 
04 Oh Did I Love A Dream  
05 Make No Mistake 
06 Sweet Spring 
07 Rends-Moi Demain 
08 Lady Wonder   
09 Secret Temple   
10 Falconer's Glove 
11 Cold Harbour 
12 Curlew    

Steely Dan - The Lost Gaucho (1980) UPGRADE

Thanks to king0elizabeth for letting me know that a couple of  fans have attempted to improve the sound quality of  the band version of 'The Second Arrangement' from this album, and reddit user ZestyLemon571 has nailed it by mixing the two restored versions of the song together, while Youtuber Dan The Vault has made it available to the wider audience. It does mean the the lyrics from the first version have now replaced the ones on the band version, but to be honest I'd rather have the hugely improved sound quality. This prompted me to check to see if there was a better version of the other track that let down the album, and I've found a speed/pitch corrected version of 'I Can't Write Home About You' which has also removed much of the muddiness from the vocals, so an updated version of the whole album is now available for download.    

Various Artists - Shaken, Not Stirred (2015)

In the next of Mike Solof’s guest posts on the blog, we have his exhaustive investigation into songs which were submitted to the producers of the James Bond films, but which were rejected in favour of those which went on to be forever associated with the franchise. Mike’s main work contains 59 tracks, and, as always, contains a detailed PDF with the background on each song, but to ease you in here is a sampler of that massive work, with notes extracted from his PDF. So over to Mike....

I love James Bond themes. Absolutely adore them, they're some of my favorite songs. So it should go without saying that I find their history and backstory even more interesting. But I think the most intriguing thing about James Bond themes, however, is not the ones that actually made it into the movie, but the themes that don't make it into a film. So over the past few months (since a little while before SPECTRE) I've been collecting as many rejected themes as possible, and I'm going to lay them out here, because who wouldn't want to know about these gems? I'll go through the films in release order, and I've included songs here that I can definitely confirm were rejected, and I'll cite my sources for that.
Thunderball 1965
‘Thunderball' was the fourth Bond film released, and as Shirley Bassey's rendition of 'Goldfinger' really solidified what a Bond theme should be, it should not be a surprise, then, that she was asked to return for 'Thunderball'. John Barry wrote this piece after seriously considering that he could not write a theme with the phrase 'Thunderball' in the title. It was simply too vague for him. So he teamed up with Leslie Bricusse and wrote this 'Goldfinger'-esque piece that focused on Bond rather than the film. The name of the song comes from an Italian journalist, who apparently dubbed James Bond 'Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'. However, there were some issues with Bassey's singing, and so Barry turned to Dionne Warwick to re-record the same theme, and expanded on the instrumental opening to time the lyrics with Binder's opening sequence. Saltzmann and Broccoli heard the song and decided, with very little evidence, that a Bond theme that didn't use the title of the movie would not succeed, and the song was briefly relegated to the closing titles, until Bassey sued and the song was removed. Instrumental versions of 'Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' can still be found on the 'Thunderball' soundtrack.
You Only Live Twice 1967
'You Only Live Twice' actually had a rather rapid theme selection process. As with 'Thunderball' the theme was written pretty early, and the only rejected song comes from a different singer than the final version, except for this one. No one really knows where it came from, apparently Lorraine Chandler recorded it in the 70's, and then in mid-80's RCA was digging through its archives and turned up this recording, and when they released it on vinyl it became a cult hit.
The Man With the Golden Gun 1974
This is one of the more famous rejected themes, for varying reasons, not the least of which was that it was performed by Alice Cooper. But the story behind this song is interesting. John Barry did not return to score 'Live And Let Die', and from what I can gather it was a combination of him being busy, and a disagreement with Saltzman over 'Diamonds Are Forever', and he returned to the series with 'The Man With The Golden Gun'. He set forth immediately writing the title theme, later filled in with lyrics by Don Black and performed by Lulu. It's not a favorite of the franchise, and Barry had consistently stated that it was his least favorite Bond soundtrack. While the producers were courting people to create the title theme, Alice Cooper decided to give it a shot. He would claim for a while that his theme was supposed to be the actual title theme, until it was snatched away at the last minute by Lulu., but this claim seems to be unsubstantiated, and since then Cooper has gone on to say that his song wasn't actually finished by the time the producers signed their contract with Lulu.
For Your Eyes Only 1981
This is one of the strangest rejected themes, as when it came time to write the score for 'For Your Eyes Only', John Barry was unfortunately unable to participate, as he was  dealing with some tax issues, and suggested Bill Conti instead. Produces wanted Debbie Harry to sing a Conti-penned theme, but she refused and wrote her own theme with her bandmates. When it was pitched to Conti, he was less than impressed, turning it down and going on to write his own, originally intended for Donna Summer, but United Artists suggested Sheena Easton, and so a theme was born.
Never Say Never Again 1983
Prior to the release of 'Never Say Never Again' in 1983, Stephen Forsyth and Jim Ryan wrote what was intended to be the film's theme song, but their tune was axed when Michel Legrand, who created the film's score, threatened to sue. Originally Warner Brothers had informed Forsyth and Ryan's attorney that the song was to be used as the title song in the picture, but shortly before its release they were informed that the song could not be used because Michel Legrand, who wrote the score, threatened to sue them, claiming that contractually he had the right to the title song. Phyllis Hyman was their first choice to sing the song, and after hearing it sung to her while she was having breakfast in her manager’s office, she agreed to sing it, and without any rehearsal, and only having heard the song sung once at the breakfast audition, delivered it in one perfect take.
The Living Daylights 1987
The title song of the film was recorded by Norwegian pop group A-ha, but originally British pop duo Pet Shop Boys was asked to compose the soundtrack, but backed out when they learned that they should not provide a complete soundtrack but merely the opening theme song. In a departure from conventions of previous Bond films, the film used different songs over the opening and end credits, and the song heard over the end credits, 'If There Was A Man' by the Pretenders, had originally been considered as film's title song. However, the producers had been pleased with the commercial success of Duran Duran's 'A View to a Kill', and felt that a-ha would be more likely to make an impact in the charts, so 'If There Was A Man' was relegated to the closing theme. 
GoldenEye 1995
'GoldenEye' was sort of a pseudo-reboot of the series. They weren't calling it a reboot, but it was the first film made after the fall of longtime Bond enemy, the Soviet Union. Hence Bond needed to be brought into the modern era, and while looking for a theme for the movie, Ace of Base submitted a demo. Ace of Base were a pretty well known band now, but when 'GoldenEye' was in production it had only been a year since their debut album. It appears that they were really banking on this film being a success to kind of kickstart their career, but their label had other plans, and forced the band to withdraw the submission, since they strongly believed the film would flop and ruin Ace of Base. How wrong they were.
Tomorrow Never Dies 1997
This was the first Bond film to be scored by David Arnold, probably the second most prolific Bond soundtrack composer, after John Barry, and he intended to write a full, brassy, Bassey-eque Bond theme. The producers wanted a more well known name for the theme, and in the end we got Sheryl Crow, but for this movie the producers opened the door for anyone to submit a theme to the movie, receiving offers from, among others, Pulp, Saint Etienne, Swan Lee, The Fixx, Duran Duran, and the one featured here by k.d. lang, which is everything a classic Bond theme should be. It's bold, brassy and sultry, and after the producers chose the new theme, they moved this one to the end credits. Chris Rea was also in contention with his song, 'Shadows Of The Big Man', as the producers were keen to hear from anyone who thought they might have a song worthy of inclusion.
The World is Not Enough 1999
Let's be honest, whatever you think of 'The World is Not Enough', Garbage was a pretty leftfield choice to begin with, but Straw were an indie rock band who only ever released one album, and who submitted this piece for consideration. It was rejected in the end, probably because composer David Arnold and resident Bond lyricist Don Black finally had their chance to write their own Bond theme after the 'Surrender'/'Tomorrow Never Dies' experiment.
Die Another Day 2002
While the opportunity to provide the theme song for 'Die Another Die' eventually went to Madonna, there was a submission by synth-pop duo Red Flag, and although I should mention that I can't confirm this was actually rejected for 'Die Another Day', the evidence certainly points that way, as the production title of 'Die Another Day' was 'Beyond The Ice', and there is also the  blatant Bond references in the lyrics, such as "You only live twice" and "licence to thrill". 
Casino Royale 2006
This song was submitted by Sandra, a German singer who covered the song 'Sleep With Me', originally recorded by Edyta Górniak, and re-titled it 'Casino Royale'. It was apparently up against two other offerings by different artists, but it was one of the ones to be rejected, with Chris Connell eventually getting the gig with 'You Know My Name', which is a shame as it definitely has that 'Bond' feel to it. 
Quantum of Solace 2008
For 'Quantum Of Solace' the producers had three great songs to choose from, with this one from Jo Harrop, as well as Eva Almer's 'Forever' and Shirley Bassey's 'No Good About Goodbye', but they decided to go for 'Another Way To Die' by Alicia Keys and Jack White. However, this is a great song with very much of a 'Bond' feel to it, and it even managed to feature the unusual title in the lyrics.
Skyfall 2012
When Muse recorded 'Supremacy' for their 'The 2nd Law' album, drummer Dominic Howard told The Sun that their track should lead the way for a new Bond flick, as it had a little bit of a Bond vibe – with a crazy 'Live And Let Die' part in the middle. In his view it should be used for the next James Bond film, even hinting that it had been submitted to the filmmakers. However, according to the producers, Adele had always been their first choice, and they've denied that Muse’s 'Supremacy' was ever in contention for the coveted spot.
SPECTRE 2015
Radiohead have said that they were asked to record a Bond theme for SPECTRE and it just didn't work out, as it's likely that it didn't quite capture the theme the studio wanted for the film. Sam Mendes attempted to use the song elsewhere in the film, but decided it would be too distracting, saying it was "an utter nightmare ... we had this beautiful song and we weren't able to use it. But it's somehow cooler for Radiohead to have written a song that wasn't used." 

 
Track listing
 
01 Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Dionne Warwick (Thunderball 1965)
02 You Only Live Twice - Lorraine Chandler (You Only Live Twice 1967)
03 The Man With The Golden Gun - Alice Cooper (The Man With The Golden Gun 1974)
04 For Your Eyes Only - Blondie (For Your Eyes Only 1981)
05 Never Say Never Again - Phyllis Hyman (Never Say Never Again 1983)
06 Where Has Everybody Gone - The Pretenders (The Living Daylights 1987)
07 The Golden Eye - Ace Of Bass (GoldenEye 1995)
08 Surrender - k.d. lang (Tomorrow Never Dies 1997)
09 Shadows Of The Big Man - Chris Rea (Tomorrow Never Dies 1997)
10 The World Is Not Enough - Straw (The World Is Not Enough 1999)
11 Beyond The Ice - Red Flag (Die Another Day 2002)
12 Casino Royale - Sandra (Casino Royale 2006)
13 Quantum Of Solace - Jo Harrop (Quantum Of Solace 2008)
14 Supremacy - Muse (Skyfall 2012)
15 SPECTRE - Radiohead (SPECTRE 2015)
 
This post is really just a sampler of Mike's full collection, which runs to 59 tracks, and covers many more songs from these and other films, as well as some from the related video games. His full album is also in the folder, under his title of 'James Band's Greatest Misses, Rarities...And Moore', so after the taster, dive in for the main course.

Soulseek hint   shaken aiwe

Andrew Gold - ...and on guitar (1981)

Andrew Maurice Gold was born on August 2, 1951 in Burbank, California, and eventually followed his parents into show business, as his mother was singer Marni Nixon, who provided the singing voice for numerous actresses, notably Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Deborah Kerr in The King and I, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, while his father was Ernest Gold, an Austrian-born composer who won an Academy Award for his score for the movie 'Exodus'. He began writing songs at the age of 13, and while in school in the UK for one year, the 16-year-old Gold scored his first recording contract on the strength of a selection of demos he submitted to Polydor Records' London office. That contract resulted in the single 'Of All the Little Girls', which was recorded with his friend and collaborator Charlie Villiers, and released in 1967 under the name Villiers and Gold. By the early 1970's, Gold was working full-time as a musician, songwriter and record producer, as well as being a member of the Los Angeles band Bryndle, alongside Kenny Edwards, Wendy Waldman and Karla Bonoff, who released the single 'Woke Up This Morning' in 1970. Four years later he played a major role as multi-instrumentalist and arranger for Linda Ronstadt's breakthrough album 'Heart Like A Wheel', as well as her next two albums. After Ronstadt's 'Hasten Down The Wind', he began a career as a solo artist, but was still loyal to Rondstadt, playing the majority of instruments on her only No. 1 Billboard hit single 'You're No Good', as well as playing in her band from 1973 until 1977, and then sporadically throughout the 1980's and 1990's. In 1975 Gold played most of the instruments on Art Garfunkel's solo hit 'I Only Have Eyes For You' and also released his eponymous debut solo album. His second studio album 'What's Wrong with This Picture?' came out in 1976, and contained the hot single 'Lonely Boy', which reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1977. The same year he played guitar on two cuts of Eric Carmen's album 'Boats Against the Current', including 'She Did It', and in 1978 his single 'Thank You for Being A Friend' from his third album 'All This And Heaven Too', peaked at No. 25 in 1978, and later gained more popularity as the theme song for 'The Golden Girls' TV series, as performed by Cindy Fee. His biggest hit in the UK was 'Never Let Her Slip Away', which peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart on two occasions, firstly by Gold himself in 1978 and again by dance-pop group Undercover in 1992, with Gold's friend Freddie Mercury being an uncredited background singer. 

In 1981 Gold produced, co-wrote, sang and played on three songs that appeared as bonus tracks on the re-issue of the hit-making pop-rock band 10cc's 1981 album 'Ten Out Of 10', after which Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman invited him to become a member of the band, but business conflicts prevented him from joining their ranks. In late 1983 10cc broke up, and in the aftermath, Gold and Gouldman formed Wax, who recorded and toured for five years, enjoying international success, particularly in the UK, where the duo had several hits including 'Right Between The Eyes', and their biggest hit 'Bridge To Your Heart'. Gold played on Cher's hit 1989 album 'Heart Of Stone' and during the early '90s he wrote and composed hits for Trisha Yearwood as well as Wynonna Judd, for whom he co-wrote the No. 1 single 'I Saw The Light' with Lisa Angelle. In the 1990's, Gold once again joined forces with ex-bandmates Karla Bonoff, Wendy Waldman and Kenny Edwards to re-form Bryndle and release their first full-length album 'Bryndle', but left the band in 1996 to release the children's Halloween-oriented novelty album 'Halloween Howls With John Waite', featuring the track 'Spooky Scary Skeletons', and the same year he released his sixth solo album '....Since 1951'. In 1997 he released the 60's influenced psychedelic 'Greetings From Planet Love' under the pseudonym 'The Fraternal Order Of the All' on his own QBrain Records label, and if you love what XTC did with The Dukes Of Stratosphere then you really do have to hear this truly brilliant album. Gold essentially played all the instruments and sang all of the vocals on original songs in the style of his favorite 1960's bands such as The Beatles, The Byrds and The Beach Boys, and it's all done with much love and respect. He continued to record and release solo albums in the 2000's, as well as forming a Byrds tribute band Byrds Of A Feather, which performed in the Los Angeles area. In the late 2010's he was diagnosed with kidney cancer, and although he responded well to treatment, on 3 June 2011 he died in his sleep from what is suspected to have been heart failure, at the criminally young age of 59. Gold truly was the consummate musician, being able to play a large variety of instruments, as well as writing and producing hits for himself and other artists, and helping them out whenever he could by playing piano, drums, ukelele and acoustic guitar on their albums, and this tribute includes just a small selection of them where he added his electric guitar to their songs.   

Track listing

Disc One
01 Of All The Little Girls (single by Villiers & Gold 1967)
02 Woke Up This Morning (single by Bryndle 1970)
03 Sweet Turnstyle Blues (from 'Gypsy Moth' by Stephen Ambrose 1972)
04 Train Song (from 'Love Has Got Me' by Wendy Waldman 1973)
05 Isn't It Always Love (from 'Isn't It Always Love' by Karen Alexander 1975)
06 Highway Affair (from 'Farewell Fairbanks' by Randy Edelman 1975)
07 Jesus For Tonight (from 'Michel Polnareff' by Michel Polnareff 1975)
08 Love Out In The Street (from 'Playing Possum' by Carly Simon 1975) 
09 Roll Um Easy (from 'Prisoner In Disguise' by Linda Ronstadt 1975)
10 Looking For The Right One (from 'Breakaway' by Art Garfunkel 1975) 
11 On And On (from 'Careless' by Stephen Bishop 1976)

Disc Two
01 If You Have Crying Eyes (from 'Black Rose' by John David Souther 1976) 
02 Complainte Pour Ste-Catherine (from 'Kate & Anna McGarrigle' by Kate & Anna McGarrigle 1976)
03 I Hear The Laughter (from 'Endless Flight' by Leo Sayer 1976)
04 She Did It (from 'Boats Against The Current' by Eric Carmen 1977) 
05 Isn't That So? (from 'Glenda Griffith' by Glenda Griffith 1977)
06 I Can't Hold On (from 'Karla Bonoff' by Karla Bonoff 1977)
07 Runnin' And Hidin' (from 'Mr. Lucky' by Fools Gold 1977) 
08 Don't Make Me Over (from 'Shot Through The Heart' by Jennifer Warnes 1979)
09 I Did My Part (from 'Heartbreak Radio' by Rita Coolidge' 1981)
10 Runaway (bonus track from 'Ten Out Of 10' by 10cc 1981)

Slipknot - Crowz (1997)

In 1991 drummer Joey Jordison founded a thrash metal band called Modifidious, adding local guitarist Craig Jones after their original one left to join the more well known Atomic Opera. Another drummer, Shawn Crahan, also formed his own band Heads On The Wall, playing funk metal cover songs at clubs and releasing a demo tape in July 1992. A fourth Des Moines band called Vexx played death metal with Anders Colsefni on drums, Paul Gray on bass, and Josh Brainard on guitar and vocals, with Colsefni later taking over vocal duties, and all these bands met up at The Runway club and often jammed together. By 1995, Crahan and Gray had started a band named the Pale Ones, adding vocalist Colsefni and guitarist Donnie Steele, and not long after their inception, Gray invited Jordison to a rehearsal because the band was interested in experimenting with additional drum elements. In late 1995, Jordison suggested changing the band name to Slipknot after their song of the same name, and in December they began recording material at SR Audio in their hometown, financing it themselves to the tune of $40,000. In February 1996, guitarist Donnie Steele, a Christian, left Slipknot after discussions regarding the band's lyrics with the producer, Sean McMahon, and Mick Thomson was brought in as the replacement guitarist. After a complicated time with mixing and mastering, the band self-released 'Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.' on Halloween 1996, receiving a small amount of airplay on local radio stations off the back of the demo, but no interest from record labels. The band returned to the studio to develop new material, and it was at this time that they sought more melodic vocals for their music, and as a result, Corey Taylor was recruited from fellow Des Moines band Stone Sour, relegating Colsefni to backing vocals and percussion, with him eventually leaving in September 1997. The gap on percussion was filled by Greg Welts, and in early 1998 the band produced a second five-track demo tape exclusively for record labels, although they had been recording throughout 1997 with both Colsefni and Taylor on vocals. 

The band began to receive a lot of attention from record labels, and in February 1998, producer Ross Robinson offered to produce their debut album after attending rehearsals in Des Moines, and in late June Slipknot received a $500,000, seven-album deal from Roadrunner Records. Over the years the 1997 demos have been bootlegged, with the 11 track tape with Colsefni earning the name of 'The Gold Disc', due to the colour of the CD that it was pressed on, and the similarly titled 'The Silver Disc' having eight tracks with Taylor on vocals, some of which were sung on top of the Colsefni tracks after his were removed. Some of these recordings have also turned up on bootlegs with the title 'Crowz', which was a word coined by Joey Jordison as an inside joke in October 1995. The band later wrote 'Crowz' on various demos and papers, and even including it in 'Dogfish Rising' on 'Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.', with some people even thinking that it was the title of Slipknot's supposedly scrapped sophomore album. Nowadays, 'Crowz' is generally used as an umbrella term by fans to refer to that era of Slipknot and the songs they produced prior to signing to Roadrunner, and so it's the perfect title for this album, which takes the best tracks from the Gold and Silver discs, to get a very real feel of the emergence of the band at a time where they were in the middle or major line-up changes. This mix of Colsefni's and Taylor's vocals show the more melodic sound that they were aiming for when they recruited the latter, particularly on 'Me Inside', where I've included takes by both of them. I know that Slipknot are very much an acquired taste, and probably won't appeal to a lot of visitors, but I do like a bit of nu-metal now and then, and you can't deny that this band are one of the best of the genre.   

Track listing

01 SlipKnot / Gently (Colsefni demo)
02 Coleslaw (Colsefni demo)
03 Carve (Colsefni demo)
04 Prosthetics (Taylor demo)
05 Do Nothing / Bitchslap (Colsefni demo)
06 Me Inside (Taylor demo)
07 Tattered And Torn (Colsefni demo)
08 Only One (Taylor demo)
09 Gently (Taylor demo)
10 Interloper ('Apple Of My Eyes' demo)
11 Wait And Bleed (demo)
12 The Me Inside (Colsefni demo)
13 Snap (early version)
14 Hate (Taylor demo of old Stone Sour song)

Michael Jackson - Joy (1990)

After the success of his seventh album 'Bad' in 1987, Michael Jackson wanted more independence and control over the creative process, so he separated from longtime producer Quincy Jones to avoid the perception that his success depended on him. Jackson began working on new tracks in 1989 for an album that was conceived as a greatest-hits collection, 'Decade', with a handful of new songs, similar to Madonna's 'The Immaculate Collection'. It was scheduled for a late 1989 release but was delayed several times, and after a November 1990 release date failed to materialise it was dropped entirely, and Jackson determined that his new material would constitute a full album, to be called 'Dangerous'. He enlisted Bryan Loren to co-produce, and throughout 1989 he recorded rhythm tracks with Loren at Westlake Studios, where they taped 'Work That Body', 'She Got It', 'Serious Effect', 'Do Not Believe It', 'Seven Digits', and 'Man In Black'. Loren wanted to recapture the organic R&B feeling of Jackson's albums 'Off The Wall' and 'Thriller', while Jackson was keen to add hip-hop to the record, and so invited LL Cool J to rap on 'Serious Effect' and 'Truth About Youth'. Although Loren's material was strong, it was not up to Jackson's standards, as he was searching for a newer sound that would be as compelling as 'Rhythm Nation' by his sister Janet, and so in the end none of Loren's recordings made the album. Jackson discovered new jack swing, a more aggressive and urban sound, and in June 1990 he hired Teddy Riley to co-produce, and work carried on at Ocean Way Record One in Sherman Oaks, reworking some of Loren's work such as 'She Got It' and 'Serious Effect', and continuing work on 'Jam' and 'Dangerous'. The release date was set for 28 November 1991, Thanksgiving Day, and of the roughly 60 to 70 songs that were recorded for for 'Dangerous', fourteen ended up on the record, while some were released later, including the environmental anthem 'Earth Song', and 'Superfly Sister', 'Ghosts', and 'Blood On The Dance Floor' were released in the remix compilation 'Blood On The Dance Floor: HIStory In The Mix'. Another Loren co-write that was recorded in 1989 was 'Mind Is The Magic', which was written for magicians Siegfried & Roy's 'Beyond Belief Show' in Las Vegas. When they released their German album 'Dream And Illusions' in 1995, Jackson gave them permission to include the song, and it was later released as a single, reaching No. 80 in France in 2010. By adding that to the other Loren out-takes mentioned earlier we can make up an album that would have slotted in perfectly between 'Bad' and 'Dangerous', featuring songs that carried on the sound of 'Bad' and 'Thriller', before Jackson reinvented it to give 'Dangerous' the new jack swing that he wanted.  

Track listing

01 Bumper (Intro)
02 Mind Is The Magic
03 Serious Effect (feat. LL Cool J)
04 Work That Body
05 Someone Put Your Hand Out
06 She Got It
07 Joy
08 If You Don't Love Me
09 For All Time
10 Monkey Business

Boy George - Covers Up (2021)

Boy George has announced that he's recording an album of cover versions several times in his career, but never followed through, although he has often included covers on his albums, as well as gifting them to tribute albums, film soundtracks, and posting them on his Instagram account. As he's never got around to doing it himself then it's up to us to do it for him, and so this collection includes demos, internet leaks and Instagram posts to make George's very own 'Pin Ups', titled 'Covers Up'. The earliest recording on here is from 1988, and the latest is from March 2021, while the choices run the gamut from 60's pop through to 70's glam and 80's electro-pop, and is book-ended by his individual take of a couple of soul classics, so while we wait for the official covers albums to arrive this should tide us over nicely. 

Track listing

01 I Can't Stand The Rain
02 Love Is A Stranger
03 Children Of The Revolution
04 It Ain't Me Babe
05 Somebody To Love
06 Down By The Riverside
07 Sorrow
08 The Crying Game
09 Make Up
10 What Becomes Of The Broken-Hearted

The cover is a superb piece of artwork by Mark Ashkenazi.

Pet Shop Boys - Remix (1987)

I recently discovered a superb 12-minute fan-made remix of the Pet Shop Boys 'Rent' online, and so it didn't take long before I started to wonder if any of their other songs had been given the remix treatment and posted online, and not surprisingly there are literally hundreds of them out there. Their songs seem to be the perfect inspiration for fans to go to town and remix them to within an inch of their lives, from their very earliest recordings right through to some of their most recent work, and you can easily find trance, techno and dance remixes of their songs without too much effort. Undoubtedly my favourite period of theirs was the late 80's, where they produced an outstanding run of hit singles from 1985 to 1989, and so a quick trawl through the net uncovered remixes of six of my favourite tracks, which I then mixed together into one 50-minute hit-filled megamix of the best of the Pet Shop Boys. 

Track listing

01 Rent (remix by Unreleased Versions)

02 Suburbia (remix by gulymix)

03 It's A Sin (remix by themotownboy1)

04 West End Girls (remix by Dinei Silva Master Mix)

05 Always On My Mind (remix by Ramsey Hagar)

06 Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money) (remix by Unreleased Versions)

David Spinozza - ...and on guitar (1976)

David Spinozza was born on 8 August 1949 in Port Chester, New York, and began his professional recording career as a teenager in the 1960’s, swiftly becoming a sought after New York studio musician and soon signing with A&M Records as a solo artist. He has become known for being a versatile musician, with credits that span every facet of the music and entertainment industries, and as well as adding guitar to numerous recordings over the past 50 years, he's also produced, arranged, orchestrated, conducted, co-written and played guitar for a Who's Who of acclaimed artists such as James Taylor, Carly Simon, Garland Jeffries, Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Bonnie Raitt, Bette Midler, B.B. King, Judy Collins, Jim Croce, George Benson and three out of four Beatles. His guitar is heard on countless classic hits, most notably Don McLean’s 'American Pie', John Lennon’s 'Mind Games', Paul McCartney’s 'Another Day', Paul Simon’s 'Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard' and his iconic solo on Dr. John’s 'Right Place Wrong Time'. One of his earliest gigs was playing with Paul McCartney during sessions for his 'Ram' album in 1971, and when the chance came to work with Lennon two years later, as Yoko Ono prepared her 'Feeling The Space' album and Lennon his 'Mind Games', Spinozza discovered that Lennon was not aware he had previously worked with McCartney, and was afraid he would be fired if Lennon found out, given their recent feuding in the media, but when Lennon did learn of it his only comment was that McCartney "knows how to pick good people". The relationship with Ono carried on after 'Feeling The Space', where he contributed to her 'A Story' album, recorded during 1974 but not released until 1998, served as her bandleader during a residency at Kenny's Castaways, and rehearsed her band to tour her native Japan, although they parted ways when the tour began. In 1978 he released his first solo album 'Spinozza' on A&M, which was a jazz-oriented album with some vocal tracks, and he has also made contributions to the soundtracks of the movies 'Dead Man Walking', 'Happiness', and 'Just The Ticket'. Spinozza has played on literally hundreds of albums in his career, and so for this post I've only selected tracks from 1970 to 1976 where he was a featured soloist, and to show his versatility in a variety of genres I've split this three disc set into one album of jazz, one of soul and one of pop music.   

Track listing

Some Jazz
01 Ahunk Ahunk  (from 'Consummation' by Thad Jones & Mel Lewis 1970)
02 Man's Hope (from 'Push Push' by Herbie Mann 1971)
03 Lover Man (from 'All The King's Horses' by Grover Washington, Jr. 1972) 
04 Monkey (from 'White Elephant' by White Elephant 1972)
05 Hanky's Panky (from 'Superstition' by Shirley Scott 1973)
06 A Sunday Afternoon Feeling (from 'Journey' by Arif Mardin 1974)
07 Draggin' The Line (from 'Until It's Time For You To Go' by Rusty Bryant 1974)
08 Chile Con Carmen (from 'Joy Of Cookin'' by Joe Thomas 1974)
09 Who Knows What Goes When The Doors Close (from 'Brother Where Are You' by 

                                                                                                             Oscar Brown Jr. 1974) 

Some Pop
01 Come To My Bedside, My Darling (from 'Donal Leace' by Donal Leace 1971)
02 Roller Derby Queen (from 'Life And Times' by Jim Croce 1973)
03 Something So Right (from 'There Goes Rhymin' Simon' by Paul Simon 1973)
04 Get On The Right Thing (from 'Red Rose Speedway' by Paul McCartney & Wings 1973)
05 A Man Can't Always Be (from 'Lifesong' by Cashman & West 1974)
06 Rainy Day Man (from 'Streetlights' by Bonnie Raitt 1974)
07 Genesis (from 'The Second Coming' by Jerry LaCroix 1974)
08 Think I'm Gonna Have A Baby (from 'Hotcakes' by Carly Simon 1974) 
09 Me And My Guitar (from 'Walking Man' by James Taylor 1974)
10 Great Big Man (from 'Homeless Brother' by Don McLean 1974)
11 The Closest Friends (from 'Lucy Simon' by Lucy Simon 1975)
12 Angel Spread Your Wings (from 'Judith' by Judy Collins 1975)
13 Let Me Just Follow Behind (from 'Songs For The New Depression' by Bette Midler 1976)
14 Say The Words (from 'This One's For You' by Barry Manilow 1976)
15 Early Evening Light (from 'Marriott' by Steve Marriott 1976) 

Some Soul
01 Too Many Days (from 'Labelle' by Labelle 1971)
02 You've Got A Friend (from 'Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway' by 

                                                                                  Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway 1972)
03 Cold Sweat (from 'Get On The Good Foot' by James Brown 1972)
04 The Get Out Of The Ghetto Blues (from 'Free Will' by Gil Scott-Heron 1972)
05 I'm Only A Woman (from 'Margie Joseph' by Margie Joseph 1973)
06 Right Place, Wrong Time (from 'In The Right Place' by Dr. John 1973)
07 Grind It Out (from 'The Soulful Crooner' by Nick Holmes 1973)
08 As Long As He Will Stay (from 'New Beginnings...' by Morgana King 1973)
09 I Know It's You (from 'Extension Of A Man' by Donny Hathaway 1973)
10 The Masquerade Is Over (from 'Let Me In Your Life' by Aretha Franklin 1974)
11 Somebody New Is Lovin' On You (from 'I'm In Need Of Love' by Lou Courtney 1974)
12 Early Ev'ry Midnight (from 'Feel Like Makin' Love' by Roberta Flack 1975)

Swegas - Swegas (1969)

Swegas was formed in 1969 by Nick Ronai and Joe Spibey, taking their name from a plural form of the Anglo-Saxon word 'sweg', which means 'sound', 'noise', or 'music'. Spibey (trumpet) and Ronai (trombone) had been members of the Fulson Stilwell Band before joining the soul band Cat Road Show, and when they left to form their own band they added Alan Smith on tenor sax and Jonny Toogood on guitar, plus a few other pick up players while they looked for permanent members, and so in mid 1969 they advertised for an organist and bassist, and Keith Strachan and Roy Truman applied and got the gig. They'd played together in various bands since being at college and were looking for something a bit more adventurous, which they found in Swegas, who were attempting to fuse jazz and rock in the manner of Blood Sweat And Tears and The Chicago Transit Authority, who were both in their early stages of development in the US. They secured a deal with B&C Records in October 1969 and recorded an album at Advision Studios in Regent Street, with a line-up of Spibey, Ronai, Smith, Toogood, Strachan and Truman, plus Chris Dawe on trumpet, Nick Thomas on tenor sax, John Legg on baritone sax, and Chrys Chrysostomou on drums. The album was not destined for release, however, and Spibey, Smith and Toogood left the group shortly afterwards, followed later by Chrysostomou. Undeterred, the remaining members recruited Stewart Wilkinson on guitar, Ron Shillingford on tenor sax, and Maurice McElroy on drums, and managed to get a deal with First Class Management, rehearsing endlessly on new material in a room at the London Ambulance Service in Waterloo Road. They signed record and management deals with the Barry Class Organisation in March 1970, and following a tour of Germany they went into Tangerine Studios in Dalston to record their 'Child Of Light' album, which was released in 1970 on Trend Records. A second album 'Beyond The Ox' followed in early 1971, but then things started to go wrong for the band, with their band bus suffering a collision in Hamburg and being virtually written off, following which Barry Class and First Class Management pulled the plug when the band returned from Germany, and after one final gig in Bristol in September 1971 the band broke up. Listening to their records you can hear that they were a very accomplished group, and Ronai had a talent for writing and arranging, but they never had the breaks and so leave just the two albums as their legacy. However, that unreleased first record has since surfaced, and listening to it you can hear that even at that early stage of their existence they were a tight little band, playing all original material, and if they'd just had a little encouragement they could have become the English BS&T.

Track listing

01 Planetarium 
02 There's Nothing In It
03 What You Gonna Do 
04 Old Flames 
05 Over The Points 
06 The Summer Of My Days
07 The Naz 
08 Keep Out Of Sight 
09 Grey Lust

Barry Ryan - Give Me A Sign (1972)

Barry Ryan and his twin brother Paul were born in Leeds on 24 October 1948, the sons of pop singer Marion Ryan and antiques dealer Fred Sapherson. Their father left when Barry and Paul were two, and they were brought up until they were 11 by their grandmother, moving to London when the boys were 16. Their mother suggested they try a career as singers, with her boyfriend and then husband, impresario Harold Davison, managing them, and he secured a contract with Decca Records in 1965 under the name of Paul & Barry Ryan. Within two years they'd amassed eight Top 50 singles in the UK, with their best sellers being 'Don't Bring Me Your Heartaches'. 'I Love Her', and 'Have Pity On The Boy'. Feeling that he couldn't cope with the stress of show business, Paul left the group and Barry continued as a solo artist, enabling his brother to stay out of the limelight and concentrate on writing songs. Their greatest achievement as a composer-singer duo was with the heavily orchestrated and melodramatic 'Eloise', which was a number 2 hit in 1968. Paul reputedly wrote 'Eloise' in three days, after being played the Richard Harris version of 'MacArthur Park' by Harris himself, and being determined to write something as good. In 1969 Barry recorded a whole album of songs written by his brother, with 'Barry Ryan Sings Paul Ryan' being one of his best records, and Paul continued to write nearly all of Barry's singles and albums right up to the early 70's. As well as 'Eloise', four other singles were lifted from the '...Sings Paul Ryan' album, and the titles alone show that Paul was not content just to pen 'moon/june' lyrics, with further singles including 'The Hunt' (1969), 'Magical Spiel' (1970), and 'Kitsch' (1970). Ryan was also popular in Germany and France, with his first solo single 'Goodbye' being almost impossible to find other than in the German version, and he recorded a number of other songs in German and Italian for those markets. Around 1976 he withdrew from singing, and from the late 70's he maintained a successful career as a fashion photographer, with his photographs appearing in such magazines as Ritz and Zoom. Ryan died on 28 September 2021 after complications from a lung disorder, and so this collection of rare singles and b-sides is a tribute to a performer who will forever be associated with his biggest hit, but as you can hear from these songs, had much more to offer than just that one single. 

Track listing

01 Goodbye (single 1968)
02 I'm So Sad (b-side of 'Goodbye')
03 Love I Almost Found You (b-side of 'Eloise' 1968)
04 Love Is Love (single 1969)
05 I'll Be On My Way Dear (b-side of 'Love Is Love')
06 Oh, For The Love Of Me (b-side of 'The Hunt' 1969)
07 Magical Spiel (single 1970)
08 Caroline (b-side of 'Magical Spiel')
09 Lay Down (b-side of 'We Did It Together' 1970)
10 Give Me A Sign (b-side of 'Kitsch' 1970)
11 Loneliest Night Of The Year (b-side of 'Red Man' 1971)
12 Annabelle (b-side of 'It Is Written' 1971)
13 I'm Sorry Susan (single 1972)
14 Bye And Bye (b-side of 'Sanctus, Sanctus Hallelujah' 1972)

Eminem - King Mathers (2007)

After releasing 'Encore' in 2004, Eminem planned to take some time off from recording his own music to become a hip hop producer for other rap acts, especially for the artists signed to his own label Shady Records. However, after cancelling the European leg of the Anger Management Tour in the summer of 2005 because of exhaustion and an addiction to prescription sleeping drugs, he entered something of a hiatus and this was put on hold. The following year, the rapper's remarriage to his former wife Kimberly Scott lasted only eleven weeks before a second divorce, while his best friend and fellow rapper Proof was later shot and killed during an altercation outside a Detroit nightclub. Devastated by both these events, Eminem relapsed into prescription drug abuse and became increasingly reclusive. Speculation on an upcoming album had been reported since mid–2007, both from announcements made by artists 50 Cent and Stat Quo, and also by rapper Bizarre, who stated that the release of his group D12's third studio album was on hold because Interscope Records wanted to release Eminem's album first. With all the problems going on in his life, and with him being more miserable than ever before, it's no surprise that this was reflected in the content of his music, with the songs sounding more serious, and often quite depressing. During a call to the radio station WQHT Hot 97 in September 2007, Eminem stated that he was in limbo and was not sure whether he would release any new material in the near future, although he was constantly working in the recording studio. He said that he had come to terms with his personal issues, but in December 2007 he was hospitalized following an overdose of methadone, and in early 2008 he began a 12-step program to recover from his addiction. The album that he had been working on was scrapped while he recovered, and by mid 2008 he was ready to start recording again with Dr. Dre producing, and following his recovery he'd started writing verses at such a pace that he often took more time to record the lyrics than to write them. There was therefore no need to revisit the music that he'd recorded in 2007, and it remained unheard until YouTuber John Banana assembled various leaks and songs known to be recorded at that time, and put together a possible 'King Mathers' album. If the album had been released in 2007, it could well have divided fans, as it could be considered an improvement on parts of 'Encore', but was nowhere near the quality of his first three albums. Luckily he found his groove again for 2009's 'Relapse', so just enjoy 'King Mathers' for what it is - an album that he needed to make to come back with 'Relapse'. 

Track listing

01 Intro
02 Careful What You Wish For
03 I Get Money (Remix)
04 Everything
05 Cut Back (Freestyle)
06 50 Ways
07 Paul (Skit)
08 Syllables (feat. 50 Cent, Ca$his, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, Stat Quo)
09 Give Me The Ball
10 Ballin' Uncontrollably
11 The Apple
12 Difficult (feat. Obie Trice)
13 G.O.A.T.
14 Hip-Hop (Freestyle)
15 It's Been Real

InI - Center Of Attention (1995)

InI was an American hip hop group composed of Rob-O, Grap Luva, Ras G a.k.a. I Love H.I.M., Marco Polo (now known as Jolomite), and DJ Boodakhan. The group started working on their debut album together with producer Pete Rock in the mid-1990's, and signed a deal with Rock's newfound imprint Soul Brother Records through Elektra. In 1996 'Fakin' Jax' was issued as the lead lead single from their album and it became an underground hit, although that appeared to be the last bit of good luck that the band experienced. Management shifts at the label were blamed firstly for the album changing title from 'The Life I Live' to 'Center Of Attention', and then ultimately to it's complete cancellation. Rock had a particular issue with Sylvia Rhone's vision for the label, and so his relationship with Elektra Records quickly turned sour, which led to his distribution deal with them ending, along with the demise of Soul Brother Records. As a result, the two releases Rock was working on at the time, InI's 'Center Of Attention' and Deda's 'The Original Baby Pa', never came out due to legal complications surrounding the ownership of the masters. Despite the initial lack of an official release, the album eventually became one of the most bootlegged albums in hip-hop's history, and in 2003 it finally saw an official release after being included on 'Lost & Found: Hip Hop Underground Soul Classics', a double LP of Pete Rock's mid-1990's production work. Although Pete Rock is not an official member of the group, it became synonymous with his name, as he produced almost every track on the album, and his younger brother Grap Luva formed a crucial part of the band. After 'Center Of Attention' was shelved the group members went their separate ways, with only two of them staying on the music scene to pursue solo careers. Grap Luva released a few limited 12" singles in the new millennium and aspired toward achieving his true interest in being a beat boy and producer, while Rob-O released numerous singles and an 8-track album named 'Superspectacular' through the St. Nick Entertainment imprint. Although the album did eventually secure a semi-official release, that's not the end of the story, as it emerged that here was a vinyl test pressing made at the time of recording which included short interludes between nearly all the tracks, and when the CD came out in 2003 these were all removed, along with two of the actual songs, and the whole track-listing was re-ordered. The removal of the 'interludes' was particularly galling to Rock, as a lot of them were his only appearances on the album, supplying 'Vocal Skit' and 'Vocal Outro' on his own. Other differences in the two releases are that the test pressing includes 'Mind Over Matter' and 'Center Of Attention', which weren't on the 1995 bootleg, while the bootleg did include 'No More Words', which was not on the test pressing. Lastly, the 2002 CD re-issue omitted 'Keep On', but added in two otherwise unavailable songs, which means that to own all the tracks you need all the different pressings of the album, and so to save you the trouble of hunting them all out, here is the definitive version of 'Center Of Attention', with every track and interlude included in one place, and you can now hear just why it's so highly regarded. 

Track listing

01 Intro

02 The Life I Live
03 No More Words
04 Interlude
05 Square One
06 Freestyle Interlude
07 Fakin' Jax
08 Step Up
09 Interlude
10 Kross Roads
11 Interlude
12 Vocal Skit
13 Center Of Attention / Interlude
14 Mind Over Matter
15 Freestyle Interlude
16 Midtro
17 Grown Man Sport (feat. Meccalicious)
18 Interlude
19 Think Twice
20 Interlude
21 To Each His Own (feat. Large Professor & Q-Tip)
22 Interlude
23 Props
24 Keep On
25 Freestyle Interlude
26 What You Say
27 Don't You Love It
28 Microphonist Wanderlust
29 Vocal Outro

Dave Mason - ...and on guitar (1984)

David Thomas Mason was born on 10 May 1946 in Worcester, and was a professional musician by his teens, making his recording debut with 'Opus To Spring' in 1963 with the instrumental group the Jaguars. It was with this band that he first encountered drummer Jim Capaldi, and the two became members of the Hellions, who played around the U.K. and in Hamburg, West Germany, as well as cutting a few singles in 1964 and 1965. Mason quit the Hellions in the spring of 1965 to study music formally, while also sitting in occasionally with another band featuring Capaldi, Deep Feeling. In early 1966 he took a job as road manager for the Spencer Davis Group, where he met Steve Winwood, and when Winwood left The Spencer Davis Group in March 1967, he took Mason with him to form Traffic with Capaldi and flautist Chris Wood. After their first single 'Paper Sun' was a UK hit, they followed it with Mason's 'Hole in My Shoe', which hit number two in the U.K. Mason stayed in the band long enough to record Traffic's debut album 'Mr. Fantasy', but left just as it was being released, recording a solo single 'Little Woman' in early 1968. He then rejoined Traffic, staying with them until the band broke up in late 1968. After that he moved to Los Angeles and joined Delaney & Bonnie & Friends in 1969, and then in 1970 he signed a solo contract with Blue Thumb Records and released his debut solo album 'Alone Together', which reached number 22 and went gold in the U.S. Despite this success, he continued to work in group contexts, serving temporarily as second guitarist in Eric Clapton's band Derek And The Dominos, recording with George Harrison on 'All Things Must Pass', and forming a duo with Cass Elliot, releasing their album 'Dave Mason & Cass Elliot' in February 1971. During this time he was a busy session guitarist, starting almost as soon as Traffic ceased to exist, and as he was a friend of Jimi Hendrix he was invited to play 12-string acoustic guitar on his recording of 'All Along The Watchtower', as well as singing and playing on 'Crosstown Traffic'. In 1969/1970 he toured with Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, and contributed a searing solo to their 'Comin' Home' single, as well as playing with Eric Clapton on Derek And The Dominos' single 'Tell The Truth'/'Roll It Over'. In the early 70's he was very much a part of the US West Coast singer/songwriter collective, not only with his own albums, but also featuring on records by Graham Nash, David Crosby, David Blue, Bobby Keys, and his old friend Jim Capaldi. In 1973 he was the guest guitarist on jazz pianist Dave Brubeck's 'Two Generations Of Brubeck' album, showing that he was as much at home with jazz as he was with rock. He also added his guitar to Wings' hit single 'Listen To What The Man Said', and helped out Stephen Stills, Ron Wood, and Donovan in the late 70's/early 80's. Although Mason is pretty much a household name for his work with Traffic and his solo career, I was surprised at just how much he'd spread himself around in the 70's, and so this is a fine celebration of his work from that period.  

Track listing

Disc One
01 Crosstown Traffic (from 'Electric Ladyland' by Jimi Hendrix Experience 1968)
02 Sing To Me, Woman (from 'Thinking Back' by Gordon Jackson 1969)
03 Hello Little Girl (from 'Word Of Mouth' by Merryweather 1969)
04 Comin' Home (single by Delaney & Bonnie & Friends 1969)
05 Freedom (from 'Bobby Lester' by Bobby Lester 1970) 
06 Plug Me In (from 'All Things Must Pass' by George Harrison 1970)
07 Roll It Over (b-side of 'Tell The Truth' by Derek And The Dominos 1970)
08 All Life Is One (from 'Warm Waters' by Charles Lloyd 1971)
09 Military Madness (from 'Songs For Beginners' by Graham Nash 1971)
10 Don't Be A Hero (from 'Oh How We Danced' by Jim Capaldi 1972)
11 Steal From A King (from 'Bobby Keys' by Bobby Keys 1972)

Disc Two
01 Immigration Man (from 'Graham Nash - David Crosby' by Crosby & Nash 1972)
02 Outlaw Man (from 'Nice Baby And The Angel' by David Blue 1973)
03 Blue Rondo A La Turk (from 'Two Generations Of Brubeck' by Dave Brubeck 1973)
04 No Show Tonight (from 'Phoebe Snow' by Phoebe Snow 1974)
05 Ain't That Loving You (out-take from '461 Ocean Boulevard' by Eric Clapton 1974) 
06 Listen To What The Man Said (from 'Venus And Mars' by Wings 1975)
07 Hideaway From Love (from 'Black And White' by Mike Finnigan 1978)
08 You Can't Dance Alone (from 'Thoroughfare Gap' by Stephen Stills 1978)
09 F.U.C. Her (from 'Gimme Some Neck' by Ron Wood 1979)
19 Boy For Every Girl (from 'Lady Of The Stars' by Donovan 1984)

Rihanna - Angel (2019)

By March 2019 fans of Rihanna had been waiting for a new album for quite some time, and the thirst for a new project from her was tangible. In February it was reported that her new full-length release was already done, and so when a record surfaced in iTunes fans bought it in their droves, sending it to No. 67 on the Worldwide iTunes Albums Chart. It soon transpired, however, that it wasn't an official release, but an unauthorized album full of unreleased Rihanna music which was posted under the name of Fenty Fantasia, Fenty being Rihanna's real name. As expected, the release was deleted from the service shortly afterwards, and it emerged that a lot of the songs on the release, which was titled 'Angel', had previously surfaced online in some way or another, with some of them dating as far back as 2009, but the quality of the music and packaging fooled fans into thinking it was a legitinate release. When word of the album started to make it to social media, a fan asked Rihanna directly what's going on with 'Angel', to which she replied simply "Shit's crazy". Nearly three years later we're still waiting for the follow-up to 2016's 'Anti', so for now this will have to tide us over until it finally makes an appearance.  

Track listing

01 Answer
02 Sexuality
03 Bitch I'm Special
04 Bubble Pop
05 Winning Women
06 Just Be Happy
07 Don't Even Try
08 Here We Go
09 Goodbye
10 Whipping My Hair
11 Hating  On The Club
12 Angel

Hint for Soulseek - try whipping aiwe

Twiggy - Beautiful Dreams (1978)

Lesley Hornby was born on 19 September 1949 and raised in Neasden, and her mother taught her to sew from an early age, being able to use this skill to make her own clothes, and sparking her interest in fashion. In January 1966, aged 16, she had her hair coloured and cut short in London at Leonard of Mayfair, owned by celebrity hairdresser Leonard, and as the hair stylist was looking for models on whom to try out his new crop haircut, a professional photographer Barry Lategan took several photos of Hornby, which the hairdresser hung in his salon. Deirdre McSharry, a fashion journalist from the Daily Express, saw the images and asked to meet the young girl, and after arranging to have more photos taken, the publication featured an article and images of Hornby, declaring her "The Face of '66". Hornby's career quickly took off, and with her streamlined, androgynous sex appeal, and change of name to Twiggy (from "Twigs", her childhood nickname), she was soon seen in all the leading fashion magazines, commanding fees of £80 an hour, bringing out her own line of clothes called "Twiggy Dresses" in 1967, and taking the fashion world by storm. She began modeling extensively, quickly gaining international recognition, and her appearance on the cover of the U.S. edition of the leading fashion magazine Vogue (April 1967) heralded her rise to fame. She extended her celebrity into a singing career, releasing an award-winning debut single 'Beautiful Dreams' in 1967, and following this with 'When I Think Of You' later the same year. In 1970, Twiggy retired from modeling, and Ken Russell cast her in the starring role of his campy homage to musicals of the 20's and 30's, 'The Boy Friend'. 

Released in 1971, the film found Twiggy not just acting but singing and dancing as well, and while the film was a disappointment at the box office, for the most part critics were kind to Twiggy's work in the film. Three of her songs from the soundtrack album were later released as singles, and in 1971 she cut a one-off single for Bell Records, 'Zoo Dee Zoo Zong'/'Little Pleasure Acre'. In 1974 she was given her own musical variety series on BBC television, and after the show was renewed for a second season, she signed an international recording contract with Phonogram, with her 1976 self-titled debut album being a commercial success in the U.K., and spawning the hit single 'Here I Go Again'. A follow-up album titled 'Please Get My Name Right' was released in 1977, with the backing being supplied by the American group Clover, who would also back Elvis Costello on his debut album 'My Aim Is True' later the same year. A third album for Mercury was recorded but not released, though a single from the sessions, 'Tomorrow Is Another Day', was issued in late 1977. After cutting a single with longtime friend David Essex in 1978,  she recorded a disco album with production help from Donna Summer and Juergen Koppers, but with disco losing ground in the marketplace, the album went unreleased until 2007, when it was eventually issued as 'Heaven in My Eyes'. Through much of the 1980's she concentrated on her acting, and the singing career took a backseat, so this collection encapsulates her time in the music business, with her singles and b-sides from that first 1967 offering up to her retirement following the release of the David Essex song 'Falling Angel' in 1978. As the singles from 'The Boy Friend' were very theatrical, I've edited out a lot of the dancing in 'A Room In Bloomsbury' and faded 'I Could Be Happy With You' so that we just have the music.  

Track listing

01 Beautiful Dreams (single 1967)
02 I Need Your Hand In Mine (b-side of 'Beautiful Dreams')
03 When I Think Of You (single 1967)
04 Over And Over (b-side of 'When I Think Of You')
05 Zoo De Zoo Zong (single 1971)
06 Little Pleasure Acre (b-side of 'Zoo De Zoo Zong')
07 A Room In Bloomsbury (single by Twiggy & Christopher Gable 1972)
08 You Are My Lucky Star (single 1972)
09 All I Do Is Dream (b-side of 'You Are My Lucky Star')
10 I Could Be Happy With You (b-side of 'Overture "The Boyfriend" 1972)
11 It's De-Lovely (from the soundtrack to the 'Cole Porter In Paris' TV special 1973)
12 In Love Together (b-side of 'Here I Go Again' 1976)
13 A Woman In Love (single 1977)
16 Falling Angel (single 1978)
17 Virginia (And The Circus Side Show) (b-side of 'Falling Angel')

Uriah Heep - Fives Miles (1979)

In 1979 Uriah Heep were riding high following the release of three successful albums with vocalist John Lawton, and 'Firefly', 'Innocent Victim' and 'Fallen Angel' were all fine examples of the more 'pop' orientated, stylish sound that Ken Hensley was striving for in the latter part of the 70's. A fourth album was recorded in 1979, provisionally titled 'Five Miles', but for reasons which remain unclear it was shelved, although that decision could well be to do with the major line-up changes which occurred in 1980, when Lawton was replaced as vocalist by John Sloman, and both Lee Kerslake and Ken Hensley quit the band, with the subsequent release 'Conquest' being generally perceived as the band's worst album. Had this one appeared it could have completed a quartet of great records from the group, with things kicking off if fine fashion with 'Let It Ride', which sounds a bit like Lawton's prior band Lucifer's Friend in it's use of group back up vocals. 'Life Is A Dream' has what sounds like a nice duel between Mick Box and Ken Hensley on guitars threading through a very upbeat and infectious melody, and 'That's How I Am' features Hammond organ in the background, an incredibly beautiful and well constructed acoustic Mick Box solo, and a powerful vocal performance from Lawton, at the top of his game. The following 'You And I' is another lovely song, with orchestration in the background, and Box and Hensley adding some nice countryish duelling on guitar. 'Your Love' is a nice driving piece, with another good Lawton performance, and 'I'll Never Forget' is one of those Heep tunes where the back up vocal hamonizing takes it to another level. 'Fools' and 'Feelings' were both later re-worked for the 'Conquest' album, and so you can compare both vocalists to see who delivers the better versions. 'I Won't Change' closes the album with a lead vocal from Hensley, and features a confessional lyric, with him admitting "I'm just an honest guy trying to stay true to who I am". The album has been bootlegged over the years, often under the name of 'Ten Miles High', and with 'Fallen Angel' out-takes tagged onto the end, but in 2005 another 'Five Miles' recording was included on the 'Chapter And Verse' box-set, so this version also includes 'LA Woman', which is missing from all the other boots, and I've also restored the original title. It might be leveled at the band that they'd produced a more lightweight affair, but that was the direction they were going for at the time, and it certainly didn't deserve to be locked away as there is plenty on here for fans to enjoy. 

Track listing

01 Let It Ride 
02 Life Is A Dream 
03 Feelings 
04 You And I 

05 LA Woman
06 That's How I Am  
07 I'll Never Forget  
08 Your Love  
09 Tonight 
10 Fools  
11 Been Hurt  
12 I Won't Change