My Bloody Valentine - Kiss The Eclipse (1987)

In 1978, Kevin Shields and Colm Ó Cíosóig were introduced to each other at a karate tournament in South Dublin, with the duo becoming friends, and later forming The Complex, a punk rock band, with Liam Ó Maonlaí, Ó Cíosóig's friend from Coláiste Eoin. The band performed a handful of gigs, before disbanding when Ó Maonlaí left to form Hothouse Flowers, and Shields and Ó Cíosóig later formed A Life In The Day, a post-punk trio which had little success. Following A Life In The Day's dissolution, Shields and Ó Cíosóig formed My Bloody Valentine in early 1983 with lead vocalist David Conway, performing under the pseudonym Dave Stelfox. The band experienced a number of line-up changes during their initial months, with lead guitarist Stephen Ivers and bassist Mark Ross being recruited in April 1983, before Ross left in December to be replaced by Paul Murtagh, who also then left in early 1984. In March 1984, Shields, Ivers and Conway recorded the band's first demo on a four-track recorder in Shields' parents' home in Killiney, and this tape was later used to secure a contract with Tycoon Records. Soon after recording the demo, Ivers left, and Conway's girlfriend, Tina Durkin, joined as a keyboard player, and it was around this time that Gavin Friday, the lead vocalist of the post-punk band Virgin Prunes, suggested that if they wanted to make it then they needed to get out of Dublin. Shields agreed, and so the band relocated to the Netherlands after a successful show there, and they lived there for a further nine months, opening for R.E.M. on one occasion in April 1984. However, due to a lack of opportunities in Holland, as well as not having the correct documentation, they relocated to West Berlin, Germany in late 1984 and recorded their debut mini album, 'This Is Your Bloody Valentine' in 1985. It failed to receive much attention, and so the band returned temporarily to the Netherlands, before settling in London in mid-1985. 

Following their relocation to London, members of My Bloody Valentine lost contact with each other while looking for accommodation, and Tina Durkin, not confident in her abilities as a keyboard player, left the band. When the remaining three members regained contact with one another, they decided to audition bassists, as they'd lacked a regular bassist since their formation, and Shields acquired Debbie Googe's telephone number from a contact in London, inviting her to audition and subsequently recruiting her as a bassist. Rehearsal sessions were regularly held at Salem Studios, which was connected to the independent record label Fever Records, and the label's management were impressed enough with the band to offer to release an extended play record, provided the band would finance the recording sessions themselves. Released in December 1985, 'Geek!' failed to reach the band's expectations, but it did lead to them appearing on the London gig circuit, alongside bands such as Eight Living Legs, Kill Ugly Pop and The Sting-rays. Due to the band's slow progress, Shields contemplated relocating to New York City, where members of his family were living at the time, but Creation Records co-founder Joe Foster had decided to establish his own record label, Kaleidoscope Sound, and he persuaded My Bloody Valentine to record and release an EP for them. 'The New Record By My Bloody Valentine', was released in October 1986 and was a minor success, peaking at number 22 on the UK Indie Chart. In early 1987, the band signed to Lazy Records, an independent record label which was founded by the indie pop band the Primitives and their manager, Wayne Morris. 

My Bloody Valentine's first release on the label was the single 'Sunny Sundae Smile', released in February 1987, and it peaked at number 6 on the UK Indie Singles Chart, with the band touring following its release, securing a support slot with the Soup Dragons. It was on that tour, however, that David Conway announced his decision to leave the band, citing a gastric illness, disillusionment with music, and ambitions to become a writer. Conway's departure left the band without a lead vocalist, and Shields, Ó Cíosóig and Googe advertised in the local music press for a new singer. The audition process was disastrous,  and although Shields did consider forming another group, the band experimented with vocalists Bilinda Butcher and Joe Byfield, both of whom had been recommended to them by other musicians. Butcher was offered the gig after singing the Dolly Parton song 'The Bargain Store', with Byfield deemed unsuitable as a lead vocalist. Following Butcher's recruitment, Shields shared lead vocals with her, although he was initially reluctant to take on a vocal role within the band, and with the new line-up in place, the band had intended to drop the My Bloody Valentine moniker, but unable to decide on a name, they kept it "for better or for worse". Under pressure from Lazy Records to release a full-length album, the band compromised and agreed to release a single and subsequent mini-album, citing the need for time to stabilize their new line-up. 'Strawberry Wine' was a three-track single, and was released in November 1987, with the album 'Ecstasy' following a month later. Both received moderate critical acclaim, and peaked at number 13 and 12 on the independent singles and albums chart, respectively. 

However, 'Strawberry Wine' was described as the better of the two releases, as 'Ecstasy' was plagued by production difficulties, including errors in the mastering process. It was criticised as the product of "a group who appeared to have run out of money halfway through recording", and this was later confirmed to be true, as the band were funding the studio sessions themselves. This was because the band's contract with Lazy stated that the label would handle the promotion of releases, whereas the band would finance the recording sessions. Following their departure from Lazy, Rough Trade Records offered a deal to finance the recording and release of a full-length album, but the band turned it down. In January 1988, they performed in Canterbury, opening for Biff Bang Pow!, a band that featured Creation Records founder Alan McGee. After blowing Biff Bang Pow! off the stage, My Bloody Valentine were described as "the Irish equivalent to Hüsker Dü" by McGee, who approached the band after the show and invited them to record and release a single on Creation. The band recorded five songs at a studio in Walthamstow, East London in less than a week, and in August 1988 they released the 'You Made Me Realise' EP, which was received well by the independent music press, and which finally made critics stand up and take notice of the stunning guitar sounds that would become the band's trademark. It debuted at number 2 on the UK Indie Chart, and following the success of the EP, the band released their debut full-length studio album, 'Isn't Anything', in November 1988. The album was a major success, receiving widespread critical acclaim, peaking at number 1 on the UK Indie Chart, and influencing a number of "shoegazing" bands. For many, this was the start of the band's career, with everything before the Creation records being considered the work of almost a different group, but if you want to hear how they reached the point that they could create the sound that would put them on the map, then here are all the recordings that they released as singles and EPs up to 1987, on their long and winding road to success. 

Track listing 

01 No Place To Go (from the 'Geek!' EP 1986)
02 Moonlight (from the 'Geek!' EP 1986)
03 Love Machine (from the 'Geek!' EP 1986)
04 The Sandman Never Sleeps (from the 'Geek!' EP 1986)
05 Lovelee Sweet Darlene (from 'The New Record By My Bloody Valentine' 1986)  
06 By The Danger In Your Eyes (from 'The New Record By My Bloody Valentine' 1986)   
07 On Another Rainy Saturday (from 'The New Record By My Bloody Valentine' 1986)  
08 We're So Beautiful (from 'The New Record By My Bloody Valentine' 1986)  
09 Strawberry Wine (from the 'Strawberry Wine' EP 1987)
10 Never Say Goodbye from the 'Strawberry Wine' EP 1987)
11 Can I Touch You (from the 'Strawberry Wine' EP 1987)  
12 Sunny Sundae Smile (from the 'Sunny Sundae Smile' EP 1987)
13 Paint A Rainbow (from the 'Sunny Sundae Smile' EP 1987)
14 Kiss The Eclipse (from the 'Sunny Sundae Smile' EP 1987)
15 Sylvie's Head (from the 'Sunny Sundae Smile' EP 1987)

Diane Renay - I Had A Dream (1969)

Renee Diane Kushner was born on 13 July 1945 in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and started singing at an early age, taking voice lessons from Artie Singer, a voice teacher who also managed Danny and the Juniors, and had co-written their classic single 'At The Hop'. Singer encouraged her to pursue a recording career, and as record producer/songwriter Pete DeAngelis was a frequent customer at the Kushners' family jewellery store, her parents arranged for her to audition for him. DeAngelis was impressed with her talents and got her signed to the Atco Records label under the new stage name Diane Renay. Her first single for the label was 'Little White Lies', which was released in 1962, but it failed to chart nationally, as did the follow-up 'A Dime A Dozen', and Atco dropped her from the label. However, Bob Crewe, who had written and produced material for Renay's second recording session, then signed her to a new recording contract whereby he would write and produce records for her. Crewe arranged for her to be signed to the 20th Century Records label, and under his guidance the then 17 year old singer released her biggest hit 'Navy Blue' in late 1963, backed with another Crewe co-write,  'Unbelievable Guy', which came alive as an energetic, assertive production, and which featured a tougher, more confident vocal than the sweet, longing tone of 'Navy Blue'. The song told the story of a girl, lonely for her steady boyfriend away from home in the U.S. Navy and anxious to see him again, and it reached No. 6 on the Hot 100 in March 1964, soaring to No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart, and the song was followed by her debut album of the same name. Renay's only other single release to crack the national Billboard chart was another 'nautical-based' song, with 'Kiss Me Sailor' reaching number 29 later in 1964. After leaving High School she was able to concentrate on her recording career, and time was made for studio sessions with Bob Crewe in control, using top-notch backing singers including Ellie Greenwich and 14-year-old Patti Austin. 

'Growin' Up Too Fast' was a co-write by Crewe and The 4 Season's Bob Gaudio, and tapped into a timeless dilemma facing teenage girls ('Mama said we can't get married!'), while 'It's In Your Hands' took an older, more adult-sounding approach in an attempt to sustain her middle-of-the-road persona, but ultimately this was an area which didn't really suit her. For a moment it appeared the 20th Century-Fox connection might lead to an acting career, with the studio giving her a screen test, although nothing came of it. The next single, 'Watch Out, Sally!' ranks among her best efforts, with Renay involved in a tough-girl tug-of-war over a guy named Tony, and it was a one-off release on the MGM label. Her next few singles were released on Crewe's own New Voice label, but they varied in dynamic approach and her brassier post-'maritime' hits showed unfulfilled promise. Some of her subsequent singles were hits in certain local markets such as Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Miami, but failed to break nationally. There was a one-off single for United Artists, 'Dynamite', and a dance version of the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein Showboat tune 'Can't Help Loving That Man', but then in 1969 she emerged again under Philly soul producer Thom Bell with a large-scale pop production of Harry Noble's 'Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me', backed with a cover of 'Yesterday', and although it received a smattering of radio play from disc jockeys previously entangled in her nautical spell, it wasn't a success. She left the business soon afterwards to get married and she gave birth to a daughter, but after a time she wanted to record again, and she made a few records for small labels during the 1980's, though she no longer performs in public.

Track listing

Disc One: 1962-1964
01 Little White Lies (single 1962)
02 Falling Star (b-side of 'Little White Lies')
03 A Dime A Dozen (single 1963)
04 Tender (b-side of 'A Dime A Dozen')
05 Navy Blue (single 1963)
06 Unbelievable Guy (b-side of 'Navy Blue')
07 Kiss Me Sailor (single 1964)
08 Soft-Spoken Guy (b-side of 'Kiss Me Sailor')
09 Growin' Up Too Fast (single 1964)
10 Waitin' For Joey (b-side of 'Growin' Up Too Fast')
11 It's In Your Hands (single 1964)
12 A Present From Eddie (b-side of 'It's In Your Hands')
13 Watch Out, Sally! (single 1964)
14 Billy Blue Eyes (b-side of 'Watch Out, Sally!')

Disc Two: 1965-1969
01 I Had A Dream (single 1965)
02 Troublemaker (b-side of 'I Had A Dream')

03 LIve Abd Learn (previously unreleased demo)
04 The Company You Keep (single 1965)
05 Words (b-side of 'The Company You Keep')
06 See How They Run (previously unreleased demo)

07 Happy Birthday Broken Heart (single 1965)
08 Cross My Heart, Hope To Die (b-side of 'Happy Birthday Broken Heart')
09 Soldier Boy (single 1966)
10 Please Gypsy (single 1966)
11 Dynamite (b-side of 'Please Gypsy')
12 Can't Help Loving That Man (single 1968)
13 It's A Good Day For A Parade (b-side of 'Can't Help Loving That Man')
14 Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me (single 1969)
15 Yesterday (b-side of 'Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me')

Melanie Martinez - Unhappy Meal (2015)

We return to Melanie Martinez's stash of unreleased songs for another album which could have come out in 2015/2016, and which is named 'Unhappy Meal', mostly so that I could use this superb artwork which I found online. 

Track listing

01 Haunted
02 Drowned
03 Night Mime
04 You Love I
05 (Dressed In) Mistakes
06 I Scream
07 Ring Pop
08 Patient
09 Cooties
10 Rocking Horse
11 Unhappy Meal
12 Jumprope
13 Sticks And Stones
14 Trophy Wife

Vice Versa - Aspects Of Vice Versa (1980)

Vice Versa was formed in 1977 by Stephen Singleton, Mark White, Ian Garth and David Sydenham, with Singleton and Sydenham on synthesizers, Garth on guitar and synthesizer, and White on vocals. Their first concert took place at the Doncaster Outlook club supporting Wire, and their first major Sheffield gig was with the Human League at the Now Society at Sheffield University, called "Wot, no Drummers", in reference to the fact that drum machines were used by all participating bands in place of real drums. In 1978 they supported Human League on tour, and later that year White and Singleton founded their own independent record label called Neutron Records, in order to release their music, as synth-based music was still being ignored by the major music labels. Their first release on their label was 1979's 'Music 4' EP, which was followed up by the release of a set of prints and a manifesto. In 1980, the band released a six-sided fold-out EP named '1980: The First Fifteen Minutes', featuring one song apiece from Sheffield bands Clock DVA, The Stunt Kites, I'm So Hollow, and Vice Versa themselves. This was the first proper vinyl exposure for all of these group, and eventually led to individual record deals for all of them. Around this time Sydenham decided to leave the band, and was eventually replaced by Martin Fry, who at that time was writing for his fanzine Modern Drugs, for which he interviewed White and Singleton, and then stayed on and joined the band. During 1980 Vice Versa recorded more music, releasing the cassette-only album '8 Aspects Of', followed by their only single release, 'Stilyagi'/'Eyes Of Christ', which were taken from the cassette album and remixed. While touring in the Netherlands they were invited to jam in a studio in Rotterdam, where Fry started to improvise on vocals, and after the initial surprise at the quality of his voice, they decided to make him the lead singer of the band. They then spent about a year writing new songs and thinking of a new name and concept, eventually resulting in the change of name from Vice Versa to ABC. But that's a whole other story, and this post expands the original eight track '8 Aspects Of' album by adding in the four songs from the 'Music 4' EP, one of them an extended take, plus their contribution to '1980: The First Fifteen Minutes', and one other recording from the same period, to make up a 46-minute album of superb electronic pop from 1979/1980. If you liked my earlier posts of the embryonic Human League and The Future then you'll love this, as it's very much in the same style of Sheffield-based synth-pop.  

Track listing

01 Genetic Warfare
02 Democratic Dancebeat
03 Riot Squad
04 Stilyagi
05 Jazz Drugs
06 Body Sculpture
07 Camille
08 Artists At War
09 New Girls Neutrons
10 Eyes Of Christ
11 Chainsaw Pop
12 Idol
13 Science Fact
14 Trapped In Celluloid

Microdisney - Harmony Time (1988)

Cathal Coughlan and Sean O'Hagan met at a party on New Years Eve in 1979, and with the addition of vocalist Mick Lynch they formed a trio that they named Constant Reminders. Within a few months they'd added Jack Walsh on bass and and Dave Galvin on drums, and their live gigs were taken much less seriously than future Microdisney outings would be, most likely because of Lynch's vaudevillian sense of humour compared to Coughlan's more acerbic world-view. The band stayed together for a few months, but having two frontmen was always going to be trouble, with both Coughlan and Lynch wanting to sing their own songs, and so Lynch left to join The Mean Features, later going on to become the frontman for indie-shamblers Stump. With Coughlan on keyboards and vocals, and O'Hagan on guitar, Chris McCarthy replaced Walsh on bass, and Giordai O'Laoghaire was added as a second guitarist, with the quintet renaming themselves Micro-Disney. Their style was completely different to what they would become known for, being a sort of rambling punk-funk, led by O'Hagan's lightning fast rhythm guitar, as can be heard on 'National Anthem', which was their contribution to the 'Kaught At The Kampus' 12" single, released in 1980. O'Laoghaire left the band in January 1982, soon followed by Galvin in March, and after McCarthy departed the band was down to a duo of Coughlan and O'Hagan. In May 1982 it was announced in Devoid Media magazine that they were on the verge of signing to a UK label, and in September they released their first single 'Hello Rascals' on Kabuki Records. 

'Pink Skinned Man' followed in 1983, and the success of the two singles led to an invitation to go to London to record a session for the John Peel show, deciding to move there permanently once it was recorded. While there they recruited Jon Fell on bass and Tom Fenner on drums, and became a gigging band again. In January 1984 they recorded a second Peel session, and just three months later were invited back again for another session in April. By this time they'd signed a deal with Rough Trade Records, who released their debut album 'Everything Is Fantastic' in May, together with the 'Dolly' single the following month. From the middle of 1984 Microdisney started gigging extensively to build on the relative interest of their first releases, not just to make the public aware of their existence but also to win over their record label in the process, as Rough Trade seemed to be shuffling their feet over the next release, and reserving their efforts and resources for label mates The Smiths. 'Everybody Is Fantastic' did make a brief appearance in the indie charts in August, and a further Peel session was recorded in October 1984, where they previewed some excellent new material. Penniless and desperate for continuity, the band considered re-releasing a compilation of their older material themselves, and it came in the form of the provocatively titled 'We Hate You South African Bastards', put out by Rough Trade, and allowing fans to hear those rare first two singles, as well as picking up some previously unheard songs. However, the album was not representative of what Microdisney were doing at the time. Impatient for the new material to see the light of day, their situation was fuelling some increasingly bitter lyrics, commenting on the political situation in England at the time. 

January 1985 finally saw signs of progress, with a new album and single promised, and a heavy nationwide tour to follow, but it was April before the three song EP 'In The World' finally appeared, and it pretty much disappeared without trace. Things then went quiet again, while fans waited for the promised album, but before that appeared they released the single 'Birthday Girl', which was one of their best pop songs. The album finally arrived in November, with Rough Trade putting significantly more weight behind its release than their first record, and 'The Clock Comes Down The Stairs' became their first indie number one, helped in no small part by being a truly brilliant album. The success of 'The Clock Comes Down the Stairs' gave Microdisney prospects of a much brighter future as they entered 1986. James Compton (ex Darts) had joined them on keyboards, and the band were beginning to be noticed in the press, prompting Virgin Records to offer them a record deal, which was an easy decision to make bearing in mind that they'd always felt they were never given the backing they deserved from Rough Trade. Once signed to Virgin, Microdisney entered a well deserved period of rest and relaxation, with gigs few and far between, although they did play the Glastonbury festival, and they recorded their sixth Peel session In July. 1986 saw them working on and recording a new album, with 'Crooked Mile' appearing in January 1987, six months after it should have been released. 'Town To Town' was issued as a single, and was well received, almost gracing the Top Forty, and it even earned them a pleasurable appearance on the Tom O'Connor show, with no hint of a scowl, and playing in the spirit it was intended. 

Things were not as rosy as they seemed, though, as the band were unhappy with the recording of 'Crooked Mile', feeling that they had ruined some of their best songs, and despite the record having at least three other tracks good enough to be singles, they refused to release any more singles from it. By February 1987 their promotional tour had fizzled out,  and they commenced work on the follow-up record, with the first fruits being the superb return to form single 'Singer's Hampstead Home', being a vicious attack on Boy George, who lived in Hampstead at the time. Instead of the new album following right behind the single, it became a waiting game again, and it was February 1988 before they issued another single, with 'Gale Force Wind' preceding the album '39 Minutes' by a month. It was their best work in some time, with a production that captured the hard side of their nature but took nothing away from the pop melodies, and where no punches were pulled. Despite the quality of the music, it was ignored by the general public, and they were dropped by Virgin just two months after the album came out, and the disillusioned band split up in August 1988. Normally that would be a sad end to a criminally under-rated group, but with talents like Coughlan and O'Hagan involved they weren't going to stay down for long, and in no time at all Coughlan had formed Fatima Mansions and O'Hagan put together The High Llamas, with both bands going on to have the huge success that had eluded Microdisney. They should have been much more respected and admired than they were, and hopefully you can hear how good they were from this collection of rare singles, b-sides and out-takes. 

      
Track listing

Disc I - 1980-1985
01 National Anthem (from the 'Kaught At The Kampus' 12" single 1980)
02 Hello Rascals (single 1982)
03 The Helicopter Of The Holy Ghost (b-side of 'Hello Rascals')
04 Michael Murphy (previously unreleased)
05 Patrick Moore Says You Can't Sleep Here (previously unreleased)
06 Pink Skinned Man (single 1983)
07 Fiction Land (b-side of 'Pink Skinned Man')
08 Love Your Enemies (previously unreleased)
09 Pretoria Quickstep (previously unreleased)
10 Dear Rosemary (b-side of 'Dolly' 1984)
11 Harmony Time (b-side of 'Birthday Girl' 1985)
12 Money For The Trams (b-side of 'Birthday Girl' 1985)

Disc II - 1985-1988
01 Loftholdinswood (from the 'In The World' single 1985)
02 Teddy Dogs (from the 'In The World' single 1985)
03 464 (from the 'In The World' single 1985)
04 Little Town In Ireland (b-side of 'Town To Town' 1987))
05 She Only Gave In To Her Anger (b-side of 'Singer's Hampstead Home' 1987)
06 Brother Olaf (b-side of 'Singer's Hampstead Home' 1987)
07 Half A Day (b-side of 'Singer's Hampstead Home' 1987)
08 I Can't Say No (Betty Lou Version) (b-side of 'Gale Force Wind' 1988)
09 No, I Can't Say (Thank You For Speaking To Me Mustapha) (b-side of 'Gale Force Wind' 1988)
10 Can't I Say No (Hackney Aid) (b-side of 'Gale Force Wind' 1988)

Melanie Blatt - Shine (2005)

British girl group All Saints were founded as All Saints 1.9.7.5 by music manager Ron Tom, with members Melanie Blatt, Shaznay Lewis, and Simone Rainford. The group struggled to find commercial success after being signed to ZTT Records and were dropped by the label shortly after Rainford left the group. In 1996, they were joined by Canadian-born sisters Nicole and Natalie Appleton and signed to London Records under their shortened name. Part of the 1990's wave of British girl groups, their debut album 'All Saints' was released in 1997 and peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart, going on to become the UK's third-best-selling girl group album of all time. It contained three UK number one singles: 'Never Ever', 'Under The Bridge'/'Lady Marmalade' and 'Bootie Call', and 'Never Ever' is the third-best-selling girl group single of all-time in the UK. Their second album, 'Saints & Sinners', came out three years later, and was their first UK number-one album, achieving multi-platinum success, and it included the UK number-one singles 'Pure Shores' and 'Black Coffee'. Shortly after the release of their second album, All Saints announced that they were to take a break so that they "could clear the air between themselves". It was later reported that the catalyst for the break-up was a disagreement over who would wear a certain jacket for a photoshoot. 

In November 2001, London Records released a greatest hits compilation entitled 'All Hits', which also contained Melanie Blatt's first solo single, 'TwentyFourSeven', a collaboration with Artful Dodger. Springboarding off that first single, Blatt pursued a solo career to variable success, with 'TwentyFourSeven' being her biggest hit, peaking at No 6 in September 2001. She began recording her debut solo album in 2002, working with numerous producers, including Sony Music production team Xenomania, and in late 2003 she released the single 'Do Me Wrong', which reached number 18 in the UK. However, this low charting position led to her being dropped by her label, and so the album she was working on was scrapped, along with the release of her upcoming single 'Blue'. In 2005 she made a return to music with new single 'See Me', which was used in the 'Robots' movie, and she began working on a new album with independent label Swallen Ankle Ltd, written with Matt Hales from Aqualung. During 2005 she played small venues around the UK, performing songs from the album she was working on, including 'In Your Arms', 'I Don't Mind', 'Now You're Gone', 'No Lullaby' and 'Love Sweet Love'. On 24 January 2006 it was announced that All Saints had reformed and signed a record deal with Parlophone, and they subsequently began work on their third studio album, 'Studio 1'. Blatt's solo record was therefore put on hold, and following the success of their first comeback single, 'Rock Steady', which reached number three on the UK Singles Chart, and the release of 'Studio 1', it was cancelled completely. Despite All Saints breaking up again in 2009 and reforming for a second time in 2013, Blatt's solo album remains unreleased, and so for anyone who is curious as to whether it would have launched a successful solo career for her, here it is for you to judge. 

 
Track listing

01 Love Sweet Love 
02 I'm Leaving 
03 I Don't Mind 
04 No Lullaby 
05 Who I Am 
06 Wonderfully Mean 
07 We Two 
08 Now You're Gone 
09 In Your Arms 
10 Shine 
11 Blue
12 Do Me Wrong
13 I'll Be There
14 Twentyfourseven (feat. Artful Dodger)

Sky Ferreira - Wild At Heart (2013)

As mentioned in her last post, Sky Ferreira spent about five years trying to record her debut album, originally under the title of 'Cry Baby' in 2011, but when her record company refused to release it and offered her a five-track EP instead, she had to reluctantly accept that compromise. 'Wild At Heart' was the second attempt of her debut album, and after negotiating creative control she released her fifth single 'Red Lips', and began writing for a new album concept, pursuing a more "Blondie/rock sound". The album was supposed to be released sometime in 2012, but after numerous name changes, from 'Wild At Heart' to 'I'm Not Alright' to 'I Will', it was eventually scrapped, and five songs were extracted from the sessions and released as the 'Ghost' EP. There were two known singles which would have appeared on the album, being 'Red Lips' and 'Lost in My Bedroom', and there were apparently eleven confirmed tracks set to be on the record, with the opening song rumoured to be 'Werewolf (I Like You)', so pieced together from the leaked songs that have appeared online, here is Ferreira's second try at getting her music out there to the general public. This time I've left the five tracks from the 'Ghost' EP on the record, as they were all from the same sessions, and added six tracks to the two singles, making for a 50-minute album.   

Track listing

01 Werewolf (I Like You)
02 Red Lips
03 I'm On Top
04 On The Wire
05 Ghost
06 Femme Fatale
07 Lost In My Bedroom
08 I Can't Say No To Myself
09 Sad Dream
10 Everything Is Embarrassing (feat. Blood Orange)
11 Fucked From Above 1985
12 Cecil Diamond
13 Great Mistake

The High Llamas - No Prob-llama (2013) UPDATE

In 1988, the Irish band Microdisney, led by Sean O'Hagan and Cathal Coughlan, broke up, and for a while O'Hagan worked as a rock music journalist, before releasing a solo album in 1990 titled 'High Llamas', with the name coming from a picture of a Victorian era hot-air balloon that he saw in a magazine. Around 1991/92 the name was recycled for a new band formed by O'Hagan, alongside Marcus Holdaway, Jon Fell and Rob Allum, but as they could not afford to record a full album, they instead released the EP 'Apricots' on Plastic Records. This later had three extra tracks added and was re-issued as the 'Santa Barbara' album on the French JBM label, with the band's style at this point being conventional guitar pop, even though O'Hagan's love was for The Beach Boys, The Left Banke, and Van Dyke Parks. After meeting Stereolab founders Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier at one of their concerts, O'Hagan became their keyboard-player, and The High Llamas were put on hold. His first record appearance was on the EP 'Space Age Bachelor Pad Music' in 1993, and he remained a full-time member of the band until 'Mars Audiac Quintet' the following year. Influenced by his time with Gane, O'Hagan decided to revamp his creative aspirations for The High Llamas, and citing The Beach Boys' 1966 album 'Pet Sounds' as "the beginning of the great pop experiment, before  rock and roll got hold of the whole thing and stopped it,", he intended his new band to carry on in a similar tradition. In 1994 they released the  'Gideon Gaye' album on their own Alpaca Park label, reaching number 94 on the UK Albums Chart for a one-week stay, and while it did receive press coverage from magazines such as Q, Mojo and NME, substantial sales only occurred when it was re-released a year later. 

The band were soon tagged as part of the nascent "ork-pop" movement, described in a 1996 Billboard piece as "a new breed of popsmiths going back to such inspirations as Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, and Phil Spector, in the quest for building the perfect orchestrated pop masterpiece", and O'Hagan freely admits that Brian Wilson has been the biggest influence in his career to date. The follow-up to 'Gideon Gaye', 1996's 'Hawaii', also appeared on Alpaca Park, and reached number 62 in the UK, again for a one-week stay. This was more of a fusion between the music of the "post mid-European Stockhausen era" and the "really screwed up West Coast American sort of music", incorporating more electronic sounds than 'Gideon Gaye', while its lyrics loosely addressed themes of nomadism, nostalgia, film and musical theatre, and the effects of colonialism. As the band's American and British fanbase continued to grow, they released 1998's 'Cold And Bouncy', which pushed them further into electronics, and it was accompanied by 'Lollo Rosso', an album consisting of seven remixed 'Cold And Bouncy' tracks created by Mouse on Mars, Cornelius, Schneider TM, Jim O'Rourke, Kid Loco, Stock, Hausen & Walkman, and the High Llamas themselves. 'Snowbug' followed in 1999, and featured Stereolab vocalists Lætitia Sadier and Mary Hansen, but it was met with poor sales, and resulted in V2 Records severing their links with Alpaca Park. The band started recording for the Duophonic record label, and 'Buzzle Bee' emerged in 2000, which saw the band experimenting even more with their sound. 

Three years later 'Beet, Maize & Corn' eschewed electric guitars and synthesizers in favour of string and brass arrangements, and it also marked the arrival of an additional member, Pete Aves, on guitars and banjo. 'Can Cladders' was released on Drag City in 2007, and received generally favourable reviews, with Pitchfork claiming that it was the band's most enjoyable record in over a decade. It was another four years before 'Talahomi Way' appeared in 2011, as O'Hagan could only sustain the Llamas' career through arrangement commissions, being unable to afford commercial studios, as much of their budget was going on the strings and brass. In 2013 the group contributed their song 'Living On A Farm', to an episode of the children's television programme 'Yo! Gabba Gabba', and in 2014 they premiered a theatrical play, 'Here Come The Rattling Trees', at the Tristan Bates Theatre in London's Covent Garden, which was followed in 2016 by a studio album of instrumental adaptations of the play's songs. In 2019, Drag City released O'Hagan's second solo album, 'Radum Calls, Radum Calls', although he was swift to point out that The High Llamas were not defunct, and that he was attempting to secure the rights to the band's back catalogue from Universal Music Group in order to get them remastered and pressed on vinyl. While we wait for that to happen, here is a collection of all of their non-album b-sides and foreign bonus tracks, to remind ourselves what a great, innovative band they were. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1992-1998

01 Black Balloon (bonus track from the Japanese edition of 'Santa Barbara' 1992)

02 Cropduster (b-side of 'Checking In, Checking Out' 1995)

03 Mini-Management (b-side of 'Nomads' 1996)
04 Might As Well Be Dumbo (from the 'Bonus Tracks' cassette 1996)
05 3 Frame Offset (b-side of 'Nomads' 1996)

06 Chime Of A City Clock (from the 'Bonus Tracks' cassette 1996)

07 Frankly Mr Shankly (from 'The Smiths Is Dead' tribute album 1996)

08 Vampo Brazil ('Cold And Bouncy' out-take 1998)

Disc II - 1998-2013

01 Stop Trainer (b-side of 'The Sun Beats Down' 1998)

02 Showstop (Op Art Informal) (b-side of 'The Sun Beats Down' 1998)

03 Elliot Bridge (bonus track from the Japanese edition of 'Cold And Bouncy' 1998)

04 In The Yacht (bonus track from the Japanese edition of 'Cold And Bouncy' 1998)

05 Beachy Bunch (bonus track from the Japanese edition of 'Snowbug' 1999)

06 Shuggie Todd (bonus track from the Japanese edition of 'Snowbug' 1999)

07 Harmonium (b-side of 'Cookie Bay' 1999)
08 Damby Delight (Record Store Day single 2011)
09 Spring The Surprise (b-side of 'Damby Delight')

10 Anna Lee, The Healer (from 'Caroline Now! The Songs Of Brian Wilson' 2011)

11 Berry's Request (single 2011)

12 Caravan Now (b-side of 'Berry's Request')

13 Living On A Farm (from the children's TV show 'Yo! Gabba Gabba' 2013)

Massive thanks to antony j for providing the final single that I needed to complete this post. All files now updated to include the two new tracks. 

UPDATES 2

When I went on holiday I took a number of my old posts with me, and listening to them by the pool on headphones, I noticed a few things which I'd missed when listening through my speakers. I've therefore corrected the various imperfections, and as there was only one track per album that needed to be fixed I've put them all in one folder on Mega, and Soulseekers can just take the upgraded tracks that you need from the updated folders. The full albums have also been corrected, if you want to try them for the first time. The tracks that have been upgraded are:

UB40 - The Earth Dies Screaming (1982)

The transition from the vocal part of 'My Way Of Thinking' to the dub part was not a smooth as it could have been, so that's now been fixed.

Kossoff - Tuesday Evening (1973)

Listening to this again made me realise that a couple of the edits were very noticeable, and so I've re-done the whole thing to try to make them a bit more seamless. I think one works much better, and although the other is better then it was, it's still not perfect, but is probably the best that I can do. 

Steeleye Span - Bonny Moorhen (1984)

The sound on 'Stookey' sounded a bit thin compared to the other tracks, so I've boosted the bass to bring it more in line with the rest of the album. 

Hot Chocolate - I Want To Be Free (1973)

The first track 'Love Is Life' was not the best quality, so I've sourced a new, better version.

Bryan Ferry - Alphaville (1995)

There was a brief gap around 1'41 of 'Love War', which I hadn't noticed before, so I've sourced a complete version of the song. 

George Michael - Trojan Souls (1993)

The original recording of 'You Slipped Away From Me' only had one verse and then a very long instrumental passage. I felt that the instrumental part was way too long, and there was not enough vocal, so I've repeated the verse and faded down the ending to make a more concise version which now sounds more like a finished song. 

And finally, massive thanks to Barry Ryan and Sparks fan Helmut, who has provided me with a completely remastered version of Barry Ryan's 'Give Me A Sign' album, with upgraded versions of the songs that I could only find in poor quality. Not only that, but he has also let me have a new recording of the Sparks album that they made in 1968 as Halfnelson, which is now finally available at the correct speed.  

Both of these albums have been replaced in full on Soulseek and Mega, so help yourself to the upgraded version of these two, and marvel at the difference in them. 

pj 

James - Folklore (2001)

James were formed in 1982 in Whalley Range, Manchester, when Paul Gilbertson persuaded his friend Jim Glennie to buy a bass guitar and form a band with him. Their line-up solidified when Gavan Whelan joined on drums, and they played a string of gigs under the names Venereal and the Diseases and Volume Distortion before settling on the name of Model Team International, then shortened to Model Team. They performed mostly improvised material derived from jam sessions, supporting The Fall at an early gig at Manchester Polytechnic, and their line-up remained fluid, with vocalists and other musicians drifting rapidly in and out, until the band encountered Tim Booth at a student disco. Gilbertson invited him to the band's scout hut in Withington to join them as a dancer, but he was soon promoted to lead singer, and in August 1982, after a brief period under the name Tribal Outlook, the band renamed themselves James, after rejecting Tim, Paul and Gavan (too heavy metal). A gig at the Haçienda caught the attention of Tony Wilson of Factory Records, and he offered the band an album deal with Factory, but they were worried about tarnishing their material in the studio and settled instead for a three-track EP. Their debut release, the 'Jimone EP', was recorded at Strawberry Studios, Stockport, in August 1983 and released on Factory Records in September, and it led to the band providing support for The Smiths between February and April 1985 on the Meat is Murder tour. 

Although they were now being touted as the "next big thing", several complex issues slowed their progress, particularly  Gilbertson's drug problems, which presented the band with no choice but to ask him to leave, while Booth and Glennie had joined a sect named Lifewave, that imposed many restrictions on their lifestyle and threatened the band's stability. Gilbertson was replaced by the band's guitar tutor Larry Gott, and their second EP, 'James II', was released over a year after the first, and was accompanied by a feature on the cover of the NME. Reviews were once again positive, and Factory were eager for James to record an album with them, but the band believed Factory were purely image-based and left the label, striking a deal with Sire Records. Their third release, the 'Sit Down EP' (no relation to the song of that name) came out in February 1986 and was followed by their debut album, 'Stutter', in July of that year, which reached number 68 in the UK Albums Chart. Low on money and lacking coverage and promotion, the band recorded their second album, 'Strip-mine', and attempted a more conventional song structure in an attempt to please Sire, but the album almost went unreleased, until after a slight remix to make it sound more radio-friendly, Sire released it in September 1988, over a year after its initial completion. It didn't fare as well as their first, only reaching number 90 in the UK albums chart, and after finding a clause for ending their contract, the band left Sire. In November 1988, Whelan became involved in an on-stage fight with Booth and was asked to leave the band, being replaced by David Baynton-Power a few months later. 

During the following year James greatly expanded their line-up and sound palette by hiring three new members: guitarist-violinist-percussionist Saul Davies (whom Gott recruited from an amateur blues night), keyboard player Mark Hunter, and ex-Pale Fountains trumpeter/percussionist Andy Diagram, and this new seven-piece line-up went into the studio to record their third album. Before it was released, the singles 'Sit Down' and 'Come Home' became strong hits in the independent charts, and the latter featured on the compilation album 'Happy Daze'. The album 'Gold Mother' was intended to be released on Rough Trade, but owner Geoff Travis believed James could only reach an audience of 20,000 to 30,000, although the band believed they had more potential than this and bought the rights to the album from Rough Trade. A successful winter tour in 1989 attracted a deal with Fontana Records, and 'Gold Mother' was released in June 1990 just as the 'Madchester' movement, with its wave of popular Manchester-based indie bands, brought James to public attention and won them mainstream recognition. Top 40 hit singles followed, and the band's newfound success was re-affirmed when they played two sold-out dates at the Manchester G-Mex at the end of the year. In March 1991, the popularity of 'Sit Down' led to a re-recorded version being released as a single, reaching number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. The band spent the rest of the year recording their next album, 'Seven', which was released in February 1992, reaching number 2 in the UK Albums Chart, after which the band embarked on their first Stateside tour. They returned to England refreshed and ready to record their new album with Brian Eno, whom they had originally approached to produce 'Stutter', but who had been unavailable. Eno set about bringing out the ambience in their music, and took them through a recording process that the band later described as a "journey of self-discovery". 

The process resulted in not one but two albums: the "song" album 'Laid' and the experimental 'Wah Wah', which showcased the band's improvised jams recorded on the spot then mixed by Eno, with Booth's vocals later being added to the results. 'Laid' was released in September 1993 to positive reviews, and as well as being a success in the UK, it also broke the band in the US, shipping over 600,000 copies and charting at number 72 in the Billboard 200. 

The band spent most of 1994 touring the States, and when 'Wah Wah' was eventually released in September 1994 it was to a lukewarm reception. Rhe recording of the follow-up album faced difficulties from the start, with two key members of the James organisation resigning: guitarist and key composer Larry Gott, and manager Martine McDonagh. Booth also announced that he wished to take a break in order to record an album with Angelo Badalamenti, and then in 1995 the band discovered they owed a £250,000 tax bill. Determined to continue despite the setbacks, the band set up studio in Baynton-Power's house, and former Sharkboy guitarist Adrian Oxaal was drafted in to replace Gott, while Booth returned periodically from the States to add his vocals. 'Whiplash' appeared in February 1997, and proved to be a successful comeback album, reaching the UK top 10, as did the single 'She's A Star', and the band toured to promote the album, recruiting Michael Kulas as rhythm guitarist while in the States. Booth suffered a neck injury while dancing on stage in the US, resulting in a series of tour dates being cancelled as he underwent emergency surgery, and the band being offered a place instead on the Lollapalooza tour. 

The band then returned to the studio to begin work on their next album, 'Millionaires', which was released in October 1999. The album did not reach the phenomenal sales level predicted, but still entered the UK Album charts at number 2, and sold over 150,000 copies. After the disappointing performance of 'Millionaires' the band chose to start anew in their approach to their next album, working with Eno once again, and they spent most of 2000 writing songs, then performing them live before actually recording them. The album, 'Pleased To Meet You', was released in July 2001, but only reached number 11, which was the lowest position for a James studio album since their signing to Fontana. Shortly after their last album release, James reached the end of their contract, and Booth announced he was leaving the band to concentrate on other projects of his own. They played a farewell tour of the UK at the end of the year, and their final hometown gig, at the Manchester Evening News arena on 7 December, was recorded for a live CD and DVD, 'Getting Away With It... Live'. The albums 'Gold Mother', 'Laid', and 'Whiplash' were re-released by Mercury Records the following year, all containing bonus tracks, and the 18-track B-sides compilation 'B-Sides Ultra' came out the following year. Although the band reformed in 2007 for a series of live shows, which later evolved into a full-blown re-union and further album releases, this seems the perfect point to pause and post this massively upgraded version of that b-sides collection, now expanded to a five-disc set of every non-album track that the band recorded up to 2001.  

Track listing

Disc I - 1983-1989
01 What's The World (from the 'Jimone' single 1983)
02 Fire So Close (from the 'Jimone' single 1983)         
03 Folklore (from the 'Jimone' single 1983)
04 Hymn From A Village (from the 'James II' single 1985)
05 If Things Were Perfect (from the 'James II' single 1985)
06 Chain Mail (single 1986)
07 Hup Springs (b-side of 'Chain Mail')
08 Uprising (b-side of 'Chain Mail')
09 Justhipper (b-side of 'So Many Ways' 1986)
10 Island Swing (b-side of 'What For? 1988)
11 Mosquito (b-side of 'Ya Ho' 1988) 
12 Left Out Of Her Will (b-side of 'Ya Ho' 1988) 
13 New Nature (b-side of 'Ya Ho' 1988) 
14 Promised Land (b-side of 'Come Home' 1989)
15 Slow Right Down (demo) (b-side of 'Come Home' 1989)

Disc II - 1989-1990
01 Sit Down (single 1989)
02 Sky Is Falling (b-side of 'Sit Down')
03 Goin' Away (b-side of 'Sit Down')
04 Sound Investment (b-side of 'Sit Down')
05 Weather Change (demo) (included free with the 1990 James souvenir tour programme)
06 Whoops (Live) (b-side of 'How Was It For You' 1990)
07 Lazy (b-side of 'How Was It For You' 1990)
08 Undertaker (b-side of 'How Was It For You' 1990)
09 Dreaming Up Tomorrow (b-side of 'Come Home (Flood Mix)' 1990)
10 Fireaway (b-side of 'Come Home (Flood Mix)' 1990)
11 Lose Control (single 1990)

12 Sunday Morning (b-side of 'Lose Control')

Disc III - 1991-1993
01 All My Sons (b-side of 'Sound' 1991)
02 Tonight (b-side of 'Sit Down' 1991)
03 Be My Prayer (b-side of 'Born Of Frustration' 1992)
04 Fight (b-side of 'Ring The Bells' 1992) 
05 Once A Friend (b-side of 'Ring The Bells' 1992) 
06 Goalies Ball (b-side of 'Seven (Remix)' 1992)
07 William Burroughs (b-side of 'Seven (Remix)' 1992)
08 Still Alive (b-side of 'Seven (Remix)' 1992)
09 America (b-side of 'Sometimes' 1993)
10 Building A Charge (b-side of 'Sometimes' 1993)
11 Wah Wah Kits (b-side of 'Laid' 1993)
12 The Lake (b-side of 'Laid' 1993)
13 Seconds Away (b-side of 'Laid' 1993)
14 Assassin (b-side of 'Jam J' 1993)

Disc IV - 1997-1998
01 Chunney Chops (b-side of 'She's Star' 1997)
02 Van Gogh's Dog (b-side of 'She's Star' 1997)
03 Your Story (b-side of 'Waltzing Along' 1997)
04 Where You Gonna Run? (b-side of 'Waltzing Along' 1997)
05 Long To Be Right (b-side of 'Waltzing Along' 1997)
06 Gone Too Far (b-side of 'Tomorrow' 1997)
07 Honest Pleasure (b-side of 'Tomorrow' 1997)
08 All One To Me (b-side of 'Tomorrow' 1997)
09 Fishknives (b-side of 'Tomorrow' 1997)
10 Runaground (single 1998)
11 Egoiste (b-side of 'Runaground')
12 Destiny Calling (single 1998)

Disc V - 1999-2001
01 I Defeat (b-side of 'Just Like Fred Astaire' 1999)
02 Long To See (b-side of 'Just Like Fred Astaire' 1999)
03 Mary (b-side of 'Just Like Fred Astaire' 1999)
04 Goal Goal Goal (b-side of 'Just Like Fred Astaire' 1999)
05 All Good Boys (b-side of 'I Know What I'm Here For' 1999)
06 Imagine Ourselves (b-side of 'I Know What I'm Here For' 1999)
07 Downstairs (b-side of 'I Know What I'm Here For' 1999)
08 Stolen Horse (b-side of 'I Know What I'm Here For' 1999)
09 Wisdom Of The Throat (b-side of 'We're Going To MIss You' 1999)
10 Pocketful Of Lemons (b-side of 'We're Going To MIss You' 1999)
11 Make It Alright (b-side of 'Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)' 2001
12 So Swell (b-side of 'Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)' 2001
13 Stand (b-side of 'Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)' 2001

The Swimming Pool Q's - High Dive (1989)

The Swimming Pool Q's were formed in 1978 by Jeff Calder (vocals, guitar, saxophone, theremin) and guitarist Bob Elsey, who recruited Billy Jones on bass guitar, and Robert Schmid on drums, with vocalist/keyboard player Anne Richmond Boston joining just prior to the release of their first single 'Rat Bait'. This was released in 1979 on their own Clorinated label, and the superb Beefheart-influenced track brought them critical praise, securing them support slots with Devo and The Police. When Jones left he was replaced by Peter Jarkunas, and the band signed to Danny Beard's DB Records to release their debut album 'The Deep End' in June 1981. Although it only sold around 20,000 copies, I got my hands on one of them and it has always been a favourite of that early 80's jangle-pop scene, although the band themselves would rather be described as "folk pop gone country". After two years without a further release, and with Jarkunas and Schmid replaced by J.E. Garnett and Billy Burton, the band returned in 1984 with the single 'The Bells Ring' and the eponymous album 'The Swimming Pool Q's', released on their new label A&M Records. They toured with Lou Reed as support act on his New Sensations tour, and a second album for A&M, 'Blue Tomorrow' appeared in 1986, but it failed to meet A&M's expectations, and the band was dropped from the label. They then signed to Capitol Records, and released their third album 'World War Two Point Five' in 1989, and although Boston had left by this point, she designed the album sleeve for them. After a couple more years with nothing really happening for them, the group split up in 1992, reforming in 1998, and releasing the 'Royal Academy of Reality' album five years later, in 2003. In 2001 an expanded version of 'The Deep End' was released, which included 13 bonus tracks, but I completely missed this and so it's taken me 20 years to hear them. For anyone in the same boat, who loved the band in the 80's but didn't know about the 2001 re-issue, I've extracted the previously unreleased tracks and am posting them as a completely new album, which could have slotted in between their first and second records. If you don't know the band then listen to that first single 'Rat Bait' here, and wonder why they weren't much bigger than they were back in the day.   

Track listing

01 Model Trains (Are Better Than Rock & Roll) (previously unreleased 1979)
02 Tussle (I Wear Glasses) (previously unreleased 'The Deep End' out-take 1981)
03 Stingray (b-side of 'Little Misfit' single 1982)
04 White Collar Drifter (previously unreleased 1978)
05 Home-In (from 'Squares Blot Out The Sun' compilation album 1980)
06 Working In The Nut Plant (from demo cassette 1982)
07 Going Through The Motions (previously unreleased 1979)
08 Short Stuff (previously unreleased demo 1982)
09 1789 (previously unreleased demo 1989)
10 Building With A Clock On Top (previously unreleased demo 1982)
11 I'm A Q (live at Rose's Cantina, Atlanta 1978)

Melanie Martinez - Zzzz (2015)

Melanie Adele Martinez was born on 28 April 1995 in Astoria, Queens, moving to Baldwin, New York, on Long Island, when Martinez was four. She attended Plaza Elementary School, crediting her teacher Mr. Nadien with teaching her how to sing, and in kindergarten she began writing poetry. At fourteen she taught herself how to play guitar by studying chord diagrams of songs she enjoyed, and she wrote her first song by adding her poetry to one of the chord diagrams. In 2012, during her junior year of high school, she participated in the MSG Varsity Talent Show, a televised talent competition, but was eliminated in the second round. She then auditioned for the third season of 'The Voice' in an untelevised open call, held at Javits Center, and several months after the initial audition, while at Roosevelt Field Mall, she received word that she had advanced to the second round. After multiple callbacks she was finally selected to audition on the show itself, singing Britney Spears' 'Toxic', with three of the four judges hitting their "I Want You" button, and Adam Levine being chosen to be her coach. After working her way through the Battle Round, the Knockout Round and the the Live Rounds, she was eliminated by audience vote in week five. After the show, Martinez began working independently on original material, which she says she spent the majority of 2013 writing, and she released her debut single, 'Dollhouse', in February 2014. In April she signed to Atlantic Records and released her debut EP, also called 'Dollhouse', a month later on 19 May 2014. In June 2015, she released the single 'Pity Party', which sampled Lesley Gore's 'It's My Party', and followed this with 'Soap' and 'Sippy Cup' as tasters for her debut album 'Cry Baby', which was released on 14 August 2015. 

It was received with moderate critical acclaim and debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200, later being certified Platinum by the RIAA. In May 2016, she released her second EP, 'Pity Party', exclusively in Ireland, Mexico and the UK, and a month later she announced that she had started working on, and recording, her second album. In November 2016 she released her third EP, 'Cry Baby's Extra Clutter', which was a physical vinyl release of the bonus tracks from 'Cry Baby', as well as 'Gingerbread Man', a Christmas-themed single which was initially released in December 2015 on SoundCloud, but later released as a solo single in January 2016. In October 2016, Martinez released a commercial for her fragrance, Cry Baby Perfume Milk, noting that the "idea for this perfume has been cultivating in my brain since the moment I finished writing 'Cry Baby'", and the perfume was directly distributed by her record label, Atlantic, making them the first record label to distribute a fragrance. On 15 May 2019, she released a teaser trailer for her second album, 'K–12', which was eventually released in September 2019, and debuted at number 3 on Billboard 200. However, it turned out that when she was writing and recording tracks for 'Cry Baby', she had written many more songs than could possibly fit on the album, and as she pretty much took 2016 off to concentrate on her perfume and make-up brands, those songs were consigned to the vaults. When she returned to music in 2018 she wrote all new material for 'K12', and so the 'Cry Baby' out-takes remained unheard until they started to leak onto the internet. Most of them are too good to stay hidden, so I've taken the best of them to compile two more albums which could have bridged the gap between 'Cry Baby' and 'K12', and we start with the enigmatically-named 'Zzzz', adorned with a suitably literal cover. 

Track listing

01 Arts & Crafts
02 Blue Knees (Band Aid)
03 Toy Chest
04 Bombs On Monday Morning
05 Run
06 Schizo
07 99¢ Store
08 Psycho Lovers
09 Zzzz
10 Rotten Milk
11 Where Do Babies Come From
12 Seesaw
13 Coloring Book

Force - Endless Voyage Of Dreams (1981)

Force came together in 1979, in Upplands Väsby, Stockholm, and was formed by vocalist Joey Tempest, guitarist John Norum, bass guitarist Peter Olsson, and drummer Tony Reno. They started by playing covers in their rehearsal room, in order to learn their instruments, and when Tempest suggested that they should do their own stuff, he brought some of his songs to the rehearsal room, and they started writing their own material. Demos were recorded in 1980 and 1981, and they were sent to several record companies, but they were told that in order to be published they had to cut their hair and sing in Swedish. Two years later, Olsson left the band and was replaced by John Levén, and just a couple of months later, Levén joined Yngwie Malmsteen's band Rising Force, and Malmsteen's former bassist, Marcel Jacob, joined Force. This only lasted for three months, however, as Levén apparently had issues with Malmsteen, so he and Jacob traded places again. In 1982, Tempest's girlfriend entered Force in the Swedish rock talent contest Rock-SM, and competing against 4,000 bands, they won the contest thanks to two songs, 'In The Future To Come' and 'The King Will Return'. Tempest also won the individual award for Best Lead Singer, and Norum won the award for Best Guitarist. The prize was a record deal with Hot Records, and as they had changed their name to Europe just before the contest (taken from the Deep Purple album 'Made In Europe'), they signed to Hot Records under that name. Their self-titled debut album was released the following year, and sold well both in Sweden and Japan, reaching number 8 in the albums chart in the band's home country, while the single 'Seven Doors Hotel' became a Top 10 hit in Japan. It was to be another three years before they made their international break-though with the triple platinum selling album 'The Final Countdown', along with the single release of the title track topping the charts in 25 countries, and which was based on a keyboard riff composed by Tempest back in their Force days in 1981. To hear how they progressed from those early days as a covers band to international stardom with one of the most famous riffs in hard rock, here are the demos that they recorded in 1980 and 1981 as Force.  

Track listing

01 Hold On
02 Give Me A Break
03 The Roses

04 Midnight Show

05 Strange
06 Rock On

07 Black Rose

08 Mystery
09 Endless Voyage Of Dreams
10 Can't Work It Out
11 Power Of Rock

Various Artists - A Dance Album For People Who Don't Really Like Dance Music (2001)

I can't say that dance music is one of my favourite genres, but every now and then a track comes along that piques my interest, and 'Sandstorm' by Darude was one such piece when it emerged in 1999. It was different enough to stand out from the pack and quickly became a favourite of mine if I wanted to blast something out of the stereo while driving. 'Barber's Adagio For Strings' by William Orbit, from the same year, was another track that made me stop and take notice, by using a classical piece of music as the basis for a dance remix, and so suddenly there were two dance instrumentals that I liked. Gradually I heard more tracks that had that something a bit different about them, such as the only two tracks that The Tamperer ever released, one of which had the most ridiculous lyrics, Robert Miles' lovely 'Children', or the classic Basement Jaxx banger 'Red Alert', but the thing that linked them all was that they had a memorable melody, and weren't just a drum and bass workout. I knew that I would never want to buy a dance music album just to own these few recordings, so I collected just the tracks that I liked and compiled them into an album that I could enjoy, even though I would never count myself as a dance music fan. Most of the tracks are fairly well-known, as hearing them on the radio would have been my only introduction to them, and so the collection turned into a sort of 'greatest hits' for me, but it's telling that the majority of these tracks were released in 1998 and 1999, making those years the apogee of the dance music scene as far as I was concerned. Even after revisiting this album some 20 years later, there aren't any more recent tracks that I would have wanted to add to it, so if, like me, there are only about a dozen pieces of dance music that you've ever really liked in the past quarter of a century, then give this a try and relive that productive period for the genre at the end of the last century. All together now....'WHAAAAT's she gonna look like with a chimney on her.....'.   

Track listing

01 Sandstorm - Darude (1999) 

02 On The Beach - York (1999) 

03 Children - Robert Miles (1995)
04 ResuRection - PPK (2001)
05 Feel It - The Tamperer feat. Maya (1998)
06 Sunchyme - Dario G (1997)
07 Red Alert - Basement Jaxx (1999) 
08 Barber's Adagio For Strings - William Orbit (1999) 
09 Phat Planet - Leftfield (1999) 
10 If You Buy This Record (Your Life Will Be Better) - The Tamperer feat. Maya (1998)
11 9pm (Till I Come) - ATB (1998)
12 Ecuador - Sash! (1997)

Sky Ferreira - Cry Baby (2011)

Sky Tonia Ferreira was born on 8 July 1992, in Venice, Los Angeles, and was largely raised by her grandmother, who had been Michael Jackson's personal hairstylist for over 30 years. After she expressed interest in singing as a child and, with Jackson's encouragement her grandmother enrolled her in opera lessons. She began maintaining a Myspace profile where she uploaded demo versions of self-written tracks, and shortly before her 15th birthday, she wrote a letter to producers Bloodshy & Avant requesting that they offer her a recording contract, and in 2009 she signed to Parlophone and began finalizing the debut studio album that she says was first begun when she was 14 years old. In 2010, she ventured into the film and modelling industries after starring in the independent film 'Putty Hill', and also appearing in the magazines Dazed and Interview. After releasing the tracks '17' and 'One', the latter having peaked at number 64 on the UK singles shart, Ferreira announced that her debut studio album would be released on January 11, 2011, and its lead single 'Obsession' peaked at number 37 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. These plans never came to fruition, however, due to Capitol Records believing that the aforementioned singles were not commercially successful enough for an album release. This led to the release of the EP 'As If!', consisting of five songs which would have appeared on the scrapped album, and which received favourable critical reviews. At the same time she was also continuing her modelling career, featuring in the advertising campaign for the Calvin Klein "CK One" product line alongside Cassie Ventura, and the following year she appeared in the Adidas "Originals" commercial with rappers Big Sean and Snoop Dogg. 

In November 2011, Ferreira announced that her debut studio album would be released in 2012, with a lead single planned to precede it that February, later revealing that the title of the album was to be 'Wild At Heart'. After releasing the music video for the track 'Red Lips' in June, she stated that she had renamed the record 'I'm Not Alright', but with her debut studio album still unreleased, she announced that her second extended play 'Ghost' would be released in October, and it peaked at number 71 on the Alternative Albums Billboard 200, with its second single 'Everything Is Embarrassing' being tipped as being the song which could well be her breakout moment. In June 2013, Ferreira starred in the short film 'IRL' playing Angel, and that month, she once again renamed her debut studio album, this time to 'I Will', and stated that it would be released later in the summer. One last name change occurred in October, and 'Night Time, My Time' finally appeared on 29 October on Capitol Records. On its release it received favourable reviews from music critics, and Rolling Stone listed it as the fifth-best debut album of 2013, noting its potent blending of synth-pop elements with a more grunge-inspired indie rock sound. It had been a long, hard road but Ferreira finally had an album to her name, but the previous two attempts weren't just idle rumours, as all the songs had been written and recorded for 'Cry Baby', which was the title of the 2011 record, and for 'Wild At Heart', and the tracks have leaked over the years, enabling us to hear for ourselves the build-up to what eventually became her first official album, 'Night Time, My Time'. I'll start by posting 'Cry Baby', housed in the cover that was shot for the actual album, but not including the five songs that were extracted for the 'As If!' EP as it's already 50 minutes long without them. 

Track listing

01 One
02 First Base
03 Dynamite State
04 Touch & Go
05 17
06 Paper Doll
07 Sick Of You
08 Elevator
09 Too Many Boys
10 American Dream
11 Shiny Toy
12 Whatcha Gonna Do

13 Obsession

Goodbye Mr. MacKenzie - Green Turn Red (1993)

Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie formed in Bathgate in 1984 out of the remnants of local post-punk acts Lipstick and Irrelevant, relocating to Edinburgh shortly after the release of their debut split single with Lindy Bergman 'Death Of A Salesman', which came out on West Lothian College's Scruples label, after they spotted a newspaper advert looking for demos. The band were led by vocalist/guitarist Martin Metcalfe, alongside keyboard player Rhona Scobie, bass player Chuck Parker and drummer Derek Kelly, alongside backing vocalists Shirley Manson and Hilary McLean. Both Jamie Waterson (bass) and Ewan Drysdale (keyboards) had been members prior to the single, and Manson had previously been a member of Autumn 1904 and the Wild Indians, who produced one single and one side of a shared album. A second single, 'The Rattler', was recorded for the Precious label, and although a couple of reviewers detected a Bruce Springsteen influence, Metcalfe was never a huge fan. The single was produced by Wilf Smarties, fresh from recording Wet Wet Wet demos, and who was looking to be involved with a more edgy outfit, and he managed the band for a while, but they parted company over a clash of  their musical tastes. After acquiring new management in 1987, they moved on to Clandestine Records for a limited edition 12-inch, 'Face To Face', with the proceeds going to the Rape Crisis Centre, in keeping with the song's theme. They then signed to Capitol via A&R man Simon Potts in February 1988, and at this stage Big John Duncan (ex-The Exploited) joined on guitar, and Fin Wilson became their bass-player. 

They were initially subject to substantial backing, both from Capitol and the press, culminating in a session for the Janice Long show and appearances on The Tube and The Chart Show. Three singles preceded the release of their debut album , with a re-recording of 'The Rattler' breaking the UK Top 40, and 'Good Deeds And Dirty Rags' was released in 1989, reaching the UK Top 30. The band proved unable to sustain this commercial success, however, and although 'Goodwill City', a biting condemnation of the rising AIDS problem affecting Edinburgh, was excellent, its commercial performance was disappointing after their breakthrough with 'The Rattler'. The lack of chart success led to them moving sideways within EMI to Parlophone for the follow-up singles 'Love Child' and 'Blacker Than Black', and sessions commenced in Berlin at the end of 1989 for their second album. Although 'Hammer And Tongs' was completed quite quickly, it was not issued until March 1991, when MCA subsidiary Radioactive bought the band out of their EMI contract and released the album. When it did emerge the critics were impressed, with Nick Terry writing in Select that "while Marti Pellow of Wet Wet Wet favours sweetness, smiles and Beatles covers, Martin Metcalfe of Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie prefers snarls, Iggy Pop, Nick Cave and a few bars of David Bowie's 'Heroes'". 

A new song was recorded on a return trip to Berlin, with the 1991 single 'Now We Are Married' being the band's attempt at perfect pop, and despite most people thinking it would be a great song to walk down the aisle to, it was really about Metcalfe's opposition to marriage, feeling that marriage was not about making a commitment to each other, but it was more like making a pact with the devil. Rhona Scobie left during the European tour to promote 'Hammer And Tongs', and the band were forced to move to their own Blokshok imprint, with the 1993 releases on the label, the live album 'On The Day Of Storms', and their next studio record 'Five', both failing to revive interest outside of the band's existing fanbase. By 1995 they had trimmed down to Metcalfe, Kelly and Finn, alongside guitarist Neil Duncanson, but ongoing problems with drug and alcohol rehabilitation meant that by 1998 Goodbye Mr. MacKenzie were no more, leaving us with one final studio album 'The Glory Hole'. Shirley Manson went on to form Garbage with Butch Vig, Steve Marker and Duke Erikson, while Metcalfe and Kelly are now part of the Isa And The Filthy Tongues project, alongside Portland born singer Stacey Chavis. Goodbye Mr. MacKenzie were yet another under-rated and mostly forgotten band of the late 80's that should have been able to capitalise on the success of their brilliant single 'The Rattler', but they just never got the breaks, and so this collection of rare singles and b-sides can give us an idea of what they could have achieved. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1984-1989

01 Death Of A Salesman (split single with Lindy Bergmann 1984)
02 The End (We Never Got The Way That We Should Go) (b-side of 'The Rattler' 1986)
03 Face To Face (single 1987)
04 Green Turn Red (b-side of 'Goodbye Mr. MacKenzie' 1988)
05 Stars And Bars (b-side of 'Goodbye Mr. MacKenzie' 1988)
06 Pleasure Search (b-side of 'Open Your Arms' 1988)
07 Here Comes Deacon Brodie (b-side of re-recording of 'The Rattler' 1989)  
08 I'm Sick Of You (b-side of 'Goodwill City' 1989)
09 What's Got Into You (b-side of 'Goodwill City' 1989)
10 Insidious Thing (b-side of 'Goodwill City' 1989)

Disc II - 1989-1993
11 Strangle Your Animal (bonus track with vinyl edition of 'Good Deeds And Dirty Rags' 1989)
12 Somewhere In China (out-take from 'Good Deeds And Dirty Rags' 1989)        
13 Heroes (b-side of 'Love Child' 1990)
14 Green Green Grass Of Home (b-side of 'Blacker Than Black' 1990)
15 Mad Cow Disease (b-side of 'Blacker Than Black' 1990)
16 Friday's Child (b-side of 'Now We Are Married' 1991)
17 Candlestick Park (II) (b-side of 'Now We Are Married' 1991)
18 Candy Says (b-side of 'Now We Are Married' 1991)
19 Mystery Train (b-side of 'Goodwill City Live' 1993) 
20 Working On The Shoo-Fly (b-side of 'Goodwill City Live' 1993)