Supergrass - Wait For The Sun (1997)

While attending Wheatley Park School just outside Oxford, 16 year-old Gaz Coombes and 18 year-old Danny Goffey were playing in the Jennifers along with Nick Goffey and Andy Davies. The band began building a reputation in the Oxford indie music scene, influenced by Ride, the Charlatans, Inspiral Carpets, the Kinks, and the Who, and also including traits of the shoegaze era, and they played gigs at various venues around Oxfordshire, often public houses and clubs. They sold a demo tape recorded and produced by Nick Langston at Stargoat Studios near Banbury, which included three songs, the fast-paced 'Flying', the funky 'Inside Of Me', and the guitar-based ballad '(Slow Song)'. The band enjoyed enough success to release the single 'Just Got Back Today' in 1992 on Nude Records, and this is now a highly sought after rarity. A second single 'Tightrope' was never released due to disagreements with Nude Records, although you can hear it on the compilation CD 'Days Spent Dreaming', and following this disappointment the band split up soon afterwards. Andy Davies went off to university and Nic Goffey went on to form a directing partnership with friend Dom Hawley, later directing many videos for Supergrass, while Coombes began working at the local Harvester, where he befriended co-worker Mick Quinn. The two realised they had common music interests and Coombes invited Quinn to come and jam with himself and Goffey. In February 1993 they formed Theodore Supergrass, but soon dropped the Theodore, as "it was a bit rubbish". Coombes brother Rob played flute for the band's début gig at the Co-Op Hall, Oxford in 1993, later moving to keyboards in January 1995 for a live Radio 1 John Peel session. Although his role in the band progressed over the years, he wasn't introduced as a band member until almost a decade later. 

In mid-1994 Supergrass issued their debut single 'Caught By The Fuzz' on the small independent local label Backbeat Records, with the song being a true story of Coombes's experience of being arrested by the police for possession of cannabis. The limited release of vinyl copies sold out quickly, thanks in part to support from John Peel on his Radio One show, and the Parlophone label soon signed the band so that they could re-release the single in the autumn of the same year. 'Mansize Rooster' followed in February 1995, peaking at number 20 in the UK Singles Chart, and third single 'Lenny' was the band's first top 10 single. The band's debut album 'I Should Coco' appeared in May 1995, entering the UK Albums Chart at number one, and achieving half a million sales in the UK and over a million worldwide. The album's fourth single, the double A-side release 'Alright'/'Time', stayed in the UK Top Three for a month, peaking at number two. Supergrass followed 'I Should Coco' with 18 months of heavy touring, appearing at festivals such as Scotland's T in the Park and the Glastonbury Festival. After performing at Rio's Hollywood Rock Festival in April 1996, Supergrass met the Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, and he apparently said to them, "I was frightened for my life when I heard there was a supergrass in the area". A photograph of Biggs and Coombes together was subsequently included in the music video for their 1996 single 'Going Out', after which the band returned to Sawmills Studio to record their follow up album 'In It For The Money'. This was released in April 1997 and was a huge success, going platinum in the UK, but confusing some fans who were expecting something similar to 'I Should Coco'. Three more singles were released from the album, with 'Richard III', 'Sun Hits The Sky' and 'Late In The Day' all reaching the UK Top 20. This first in a short series collecting the band's non-album tracks includes the b-sides from their singles between 1995 and 1997, including the free 7" which came with vinyl copies of 'I Should Coco', plus the flip of a rare Japanese single.  

Track listing

01 Wait For The Sun (b-side of 'Lenny' 1995)
02 Sex! (b-side of 'Lenny' 1995)
03 Stonefree (from free 7" single with vinyl edition of 'I Should Coco' 1995)
04 Odd? (from free 7" single with vinyl edition of 'I Should Coco' 1995)
05 Condition (b-side of 'Alright' 1995)
06 Je Suis Votre Papa Sucre (b-side of 'Alright' 1995)
07 Where Have All The Good Times Gone (b-side of Japanese edition of 'Alright' 1995)
08 Melanie Davis (b-side of 'Going Out' 1996)
09 We Still Need More (Than Anyone Can Give) (b-side of 'Late In The Day' 1997)  
10 Don't Be Cruel (b-side of 'Late In The Day' 1997)
11 The Animal (b-side of 'Late In The Day' 1997)
12 Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others (b-side of 'Sun Hits The Sky' 1997)