Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Paul Williams (1981)

Paul Hamilton Williams Jr. was born on 19 September 1940 in Omaha, Nebraska, and comes from a musical family, with his bother Mentor Williams also becoming a songwriter, composing Dobie Gray's 1973 hit 'Drift Away'. He began his professional song-writing career with Biff Rose in Los Angeles, who he met while the two of them were working together on a television comedy show. They wrote the song 'Fill Your Heart' (later covered by David Bowie) which was recorded by Rose on his first album, 'The Thorn In Mrs. Rose's Side' in 1968, and they later collaborated again on 'I'll Walk Away', which Rose recorded for his third eponymous album. Rose was instrumental in getting Williams his break with A&M Records, which resulted in him working with songwriter Roger Nichols, and together they were responsible for a number of successful pop hits from the 1970's, including several hits for Three Dog Night, with 'An Old Fashioned Love Song', 'The Family Of Man' and 'Out In The Country', as well as Helen Reddy with 'You And Me Against The World', and probably most notably for The Carpenters, giving them 'Rainy Days And Mondays', 'I Won't Last A Day Without You', and 'We've Only Just Begun'. An early collaboration with Nichols was on 'Someday Man', which was covered by the Monkees, for whom he unsuccessfully auditioned on a 1969 single, and he later worked on the music for a number of films, including writing and singing on 'Phantom Of The Paradise' in 1974, in which he starred and earned an Oscar nomination for the music, and also 'Bugsy Malone' in 1976. He also had a successful career as a recording artist, with his first album, 'Someday Man', appearing in 1970, followed by 'Just An Old Fashioned Love Song' being released the following year, and this featured his own versions of songs that had been already been hits for other artists. The album included one cover by him, of Graham Nash's 'Simple Man', so for this collection I've left that off and replaced it with a couple of his other songs from the same time period which were later recorded by Jack Jones and Art Garfunkel. 

Track listing

01 Waking Up Alone (David Soul 1981)
02 I Never Had It So Good (Dobie Gray 1973)
03 We've Only Just Begun (The Carpenters 1970)
04 That's Enough For Me (The Lettermen 1972) 
05 A Perfect Love (Gladys Knight And The Pips 1973)
06 An Old Fashioned Love Song (Three Dog Night 1971)
07 Let Me Be The One (Anne Murray 1971)
08 When I Was All Alone (Colin Blunstone 1974)
09 My Love And I (Mary Travers 1972)
10 Gone Forever (Sergio Mendes & Brasil '77 1971)
11 Talk It Over In The Morning (Jack Jones 1971)
12 Traveling Boy (Art Garfunkel 1973)

Allie X - CollXtion IV (2015)

This second collection of unreleased tracks from Allie X was also recorded in 2015, and forms volume VI in her CollXtion series.  

Track listing

01 Hunter And The Prey
02 Summer '98
03 Boom Boom
04 Double Dutch
05 Not Broken
06 After The Flame
07 Fast Cars
08 Glow
09 Intervention

10 Didn't Start The War (Interlude)

11 Coma

12 Doorbell
13 You Only Live When You Know What You're Dying For

14 Losing My MInd
15 Never Again

16 You Don't Scare Me

Black Sabbath - The Fallen (2007)

Black Sabbath were formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, and are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. Signing to Philips Records in November 1969, they released their first single, 'Evil Woman', in January 1970, and their debut album, 'Black Sabbath', was released the following month. Though it received a negative critical response, the album was a commercial success, leading to a follow-up record, 'Paranoid', later that year. The band's popularity grew, and by 1973's 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath', critics were starting to respond favourably. This album, along with its predecessor 'Vol. 4' in 1972, and its successors 'Sabotage' in 1975, 'Technical Ecstasy' in 1976 and 'Never Say Die!' in 1978, saw the band explore more experimental and progressive styles. Osbourne's excessive substance abuse led to his firing in 1979, and he was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who recorded three albums with the band before he too left, and was replaced by former Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan. 'Born Again' was released in 1983, and the following year the band split up, with Iommi assembling a new version of the group the following year. For the next twelve years, the band endured many personnel changes that included vocalists Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen and Tony Martin, as well as several drummers and bassists. In 1991, Iommi reunited with Butler, Dio and Carmen Appice to record 'Dehumanizer' in 1992, though Dio and Appice had both departed again by the end of the year. 

After the release of 'Forbidden' in 1995, which was Black Sabbath's last studio album for eighteen years, the band went on a one-year hiatus until the original line-up reunited in 1997. They released a live album, 'Reunion', the following year, and continued to tour sporadically until 2005, most of which saw them headline Osbourne's annual festival tour Ozzfest. The band went on hiatus in 2006, and in 2007 a compilation CD of material recorded by Black Sabbath during vocalist Ronnie James Dio's tenure in the band was released, which saw the band reunite and record three new tracks for inclusion on it. After the recording was completed, the members decided to tour under the name 'Heaven & Hell', so that the working partnership between Iommi and Dio on the three new songs would not be wasted, and they recorded 'The Devil You Know' album in 2009 before disbanding after Dio's death in the following year. The original line-up of Black Sabbath reunited once again in 2011, though Ward departed prior to the recording of their final studio album and 19th overall, '13'. This collection includes contributions from most of the vocalists who sang with the band, and includes b-sides, outtakes, demos, bonus tracks, and those three Dio recordings from 2007, giving a complete over-view of the history of the band. Although Ozzy only appears on one track here, he was part of the classic early line-up, and so I've used his image on the cover, which was my favourite picture of them that I found. 

Track listing

01 Weevil Woman '71 (outtake of Crow cover 1971)
02 Slapback (demo 1979)
03 The Fallen ('Born Again' outtake 1983)
04 Stonehenge (extended b-side of 'Trashed' 7" vinyl 1983)
05 Black Moon (b-side of 'The Shining' 12" vinyl 1987)
06 Some Kind Of Woman (b-side of 'The Shining' 12" vinyl 1987)
07 Cloak And Dagger (bonus track from picture disc of 'Headless Cross' 1989)
08 Bad Blood (outtake from 'Dehumanizer' 1992)
09 What's The Use (bonus track from Japanese edition of 'Cross Purposes' 1993)
10 Loser Gets It All (bonus track from Japanese edition of 'Forbidden' 1995)
11 The Devil Cried (new recording from 'Black Sabbath - The Dio Years' 2007)
12 Ear In The Wall (new recording from 'Black Sabbath - The Dio Years' 2007)
13 Shadow Of The Wind (new recording from 'Black Sabbath - The Dio Years' 2007)

Anjel - Heavenly (2003)

When original members of Destiny's Child, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson, left the group in 2000, they planned to form a new band called Anjel. They wanted a third member of the group, so Linda Casey, the mother of two members of Jagged Edge, held a talent search in Connecticut, and Natasha Ramos landed the gig. Due to personality differences, Ramos soon left the group, but before leaving she introduced them to Naty Quinones, who auditioned and was added in her place, and in 2001 Tiffany Beaudoin was introduced to them by a mutual friend, and joined after an audition. The new group made one live appearance in 2001 on 'Good Day, NY', where they talked about the album they were working on, and sang part of their song 'Missing You'. They recorded 22 songs for their album in Atlanta, with the assistance of Jagged Edge, and were preparing to release it on Columbia Records through Jagged Edge's production company 581 Productions. However, Jermaine Dupri's leaving Columbia Records caused problems with 581 Entertainment, and while these business issues were being sorted out, the individual members of Anjel decided to look into other projects. Before the issues could be resolved, 581 Records folded in 2003 and the album was cancelled, leading to the break-up of the group. Since the break-up, Beaudoin has appeared on Jagged Edge's 2003 album, 'Hard', while Luckett signed to Capitol Records in 2004 and released her platinum selling debut solo album in 2006. Quinones, now going by the name Nativida or Nati Q., still works with Phar-City and is on an independent label, Soul-Empire, while Natasha Ramos signed to Star Trak in 2005, recording an unreleased album of her own with the Neptunes in 2006. Here are twenty of the songs that the final track listing of their album would have been chosen from had it not been cancelled, and you can hear that Luckett and Roberson put their experience with Destiny's Child to good use on the sessions.  

Track listing

01 Reach The Top  
02 Break (Check This Out)
03 Let Em Know
04 Best Of All Time
05 I Ain't With That
06 Trippin'
07 Be With You
08 Holla Back (feat. Rocky)
09 Me & My Boyfriend
10 Missing U
11 Lonely
12 Lingerie
13 Keep It Real
14 U Can Get It (Feat. Jagged Edge) 
15 Misery Loves Company  
16 Movin On 
17 Officially (Givin' You The Keys To Me) 
18 Cryin' Shame
19 Ain't My Style  
20 Not The Way I Pictured It

Ezra Collective - Chasing The Square (2024)

Before I discovered English Teacher, my new favourite modern band was Ezra Collective, after I stumbled on their 'You Can't Steal My Joy' around two years ago. I was late to the party, as it had been released in 2019, but after getting that album and then being pointed in the direction of the band's previous EP, 2017's 'Juan Pablo: The Philosopher' by my mate in the record shop, I was eagerly awaiting their new album. 'Where I'm Meant To Be' duly arrived in 2022, and was every bit as good as I'd hoped, and it seems that I wasn't the only person to be impressed by it, as it went on to win the Mercury Prize in 2023, as the first jazz act ever to win the prestigious award. The members of the band met at the jazz programme 'Tomorrow's Warriors', run by Gary Crosby, which gave young musicians an opportunity to overcome challenges in succeeding as young jazz musicians in London. Drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso puts down the group's success to being able to freely express their musical influences from their youth, and together with bassist TJ Koleoso, keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones, trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi, and tenor saxophonist James Mollison, they fuse elements of afrobeat, calypso, reggae, hip-hop, soul and jazz to produce a unique sound. Their first release was the 'Chapter 7' EP in 2016, followed two years later by the seven track 'Juan Pablo' EP, and their debut album appeared the next year on Enter The Jungle Records. 2020 saw them release a split single with Jorja Smith, where both artists covered a jazz classic as part of the 'Blue Note Re:Imagined' series, with Ezra Collective's choice being Wayne Shorter's 'Footsteps', and they reinforced the connection by covering Smith's 'Little Things' for Radio 1's New Music Show in April 2024. That same year saw them release a new single for Record Store Day 2020, with 'Samuel L. Riddim' being a re-titled re-issue of their 2018 single 'Mace Windu Riddim', which was later added as a bonus track to the Japanese edition of 'You Can't Steal My Joy'. In 2023 the band released their first new music under their own name for two years, with the single 'May The Funk Be With You', and to celebrate the 50th anniversary release of Fela Kuti's 'Shakara' album, they recorded versions of two tracks from it, with 'Lady' being released as a single in 2023. They rounded off the year by recording their take on the Christmas classic 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen', as part of Spotify's Christmas celebration, and if you don't already know the band then this collection will introduce you to one of the best modern jazz groups around, and you can hear just why they scooped last year's Mercury Prize.     

Track listing

01 Enter The Jungle (from the 'Chapter 7' EP 2016)

02 Chasing The Square (from the 'Chapter 7' EP 2016)

03 Chapter 7 (feat. TY) (from the 'Chapter 7' EP 2016)
04 I Have A God (feat. Zara McFarlane) (from the 'Chapter 7' EP 2016)

05 Colonial Mentality (from the 'Chapter 7' EP 2016)
06 Footsteps (split single with Jorja Smith 2020)
07 Samuel L. Riddim (single 2020)
08 Dark Side Riddim (b-side of 'Samuel L. Riddim')
09 May The Funk Be With You (single 2021)
10 Lady (single 2023)
11 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (single 2023)
12 Little Things (live for BBC Radio 1's New Music Show April 2024)

Jade Ewen - Heart Lights (2009)

Jade Ewen was born on 24 January 1988 and grew up in Plaistow, London, and she started singing and taking dance classes before she was even four. She attended New City Primary School, then Brampton Manor Academy, before transferring to the Sylvia Young Theatre School on a scholarship, and while there she appeared in the television productions 'The Bill', 'Casualty', 'Mr. Harvey Lights A Candle' and 'The Ghost Hunter'. At the age of ten she went to an open audition for The Lion King, and was offered the part of Young Nala. In 2005, Ewen became a member of the girl group Trinity Stone, which signed with Sony BMG, but they disbanded in 2007, and she later recorded with rapper Kwamé. She released a digital single, 'Got You', in 2008 under Kwame's Make Noise label, and also co-wrote the song 'A Little Bit' for the girl group Booty Luv, and 'Let Me Be Me' for Jessica Mauboy. In January 2009, Ewen was approached for and participated in the process to select the UK representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, and she was selected to represent the UK with her performance of the song 'It's My Time', composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. 

She finished in fifth place at Eurovision, but that was the highest placing for the UK since 2002. Having already signed with Polydor Records before the Eurovision selection, she began working on her debut album. In September 2009, Ewen joined Sugababes as the replacement for Keisha Buchanan, and while her single, 'My Man', had already been released in the week she joined the trio, promotional activities for it were cancelled. In an interview with the BBC, she confirmed that her commitment to the Sugababes was her main priority, and that her solo album had been put on hold. Sugababe's single 'About A Girl' debuted at number eight in the UK, and was followed by their 'Sweet 7' album in early 2010, after multiple delays during 2009. Ewen remained with the group until 2013, when it was revealed that Sugababes were no longer recording in the studio together, and that the group was "pretty much done". Following the split, Ewen concentrated on theatre work, and all thoughts of her debut album were put on the back burner. Alongside the two singles which were released in 2009, a few tracks had been laid down before it was cancelled, and so we have enough to reconstruct what her debut could have sounded like had she not joined Sugababes in 2009.  

Track listing

01 My Man
02 Stolen Love
03 Ruthless
04 Got You
05 Got My Shit Together
06 I Had Him First
07 Wake Up
08 Burn It Up
09 Punching Out
10 It's My Time
11 Teardrops

Copperhead - Copperhead 2 (1973)

Following the recording and release of Quicksilver Messenger Service's 'Just For Love' and 'What About Me' albums in 1970, both of which had been recorded in a studio in Hawaii with no electricity, John Cipollina left the band, as he thought that their music had become a little rudimentary, and he also wanted to play more sessions, which didn't sit too well with the other QMS members. He started looking around for a new group to play with, and soon teamed up with Mark Unobsky on guitars & vocals, Jim Murray on guitars, tablas & harmonica, Jim McPherson on piano & vocals, David Weber on drums, and Cyrus on bass, and this ensemble recorded a number of tracks in his home studio, for a proposed album by the newly-christened Copperhead. A second attempt was made in late 1970 and early 1971, with over twenty recordings being laid down in a professional studio, and they also starting gigging around California in 1971 and 1972, building up a reputation as a promising new band. The group's only album, a self-titled effort, was not released until mid 1973, which drummer Dave Weber recalls as being something of a mistake, as by the time it was recorded they were growing tired of playing the songs chosen for it. They also suffered other problems, mostly in that the two main songwriters didn't always see eye to eye, and some of their recorded work didn't reflect the spontaneity of their live shows. Unfortunately the band got caught up in the whole drug scandal episode that surrounded CBS's Clive Davis just after the album came out, and when he was removed from CBS a lot of groups were also dropped from the label, including Copperhead. They had already started recording a second album, but with no label backing it, the band folded, and Cipollina went on to form Raven, and then Terry And The Pirates. In January 1973 they had recorded a number of tracks at Roy Chen's Studio, and a couple of months later they laid down some more at KSAN Record Plant, and these can be added to the four completed songs from their second album sessions to start a reconstruction of that second record. Before they were dropped by Columbia, Copperhead had released a one-off single titled 'Chameleon', and so by adding that we now have 45 minutes of studio recordings, which make up a very creditable follow-up to the 'Copperhead' album. The opening track is a slithering untitled instrumental, which I've named 'Sidewinder', in keeping with the snake theme of the band's name, and had they stayed together and not been dropped by Columbia, then the 'Copperhead 2' album could well have been released in late 1973.  

Track listing 

01 Sidewinder 
02 Chameleon
03 My Own Twisted Way 
04 Read Between The Lines 
05 Drunken Irish Setter
06 Local Color 
07 Puttin' It To You
08 California Blues
09 Heebies Jeebies 

10 Bigelow 6-9000
11 Keeper Of The Flame

The Neptunes - Love, Euphoria (2001)

The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1992. Williams and Hugo met at a summer camp for the school of the Gifted and Talented in Virginia Beach, where Williams played drums and Hugo played tenor saxophone. On entering a local talent contest in 1992 as the Neptunes, they were discovered by Teddy Riley, whose studio was close to Williams' school, and through working with Riley, the Neptunes wrote Wreckx-n-Effect's 1992 song 'Rump Shaker' while still in school. They also worked with Riley's group Blackstreet, co-writing the single 'Tonight's The Night' from their self-titled debut album. In 1998, they produced New York City-based rapper Noreaga's single 'Superthug', as well as Ol' Dirty Bastard's 1999 single 'Got Your Money' featuring singer Kelis, and this led to the duo producing the entirety of her debut studio album, 'Kaleidoscope', in 1999. In 2000, the Neptunes produced Jay-Z's single 'I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)' from his fifth studio album, 'The Dynasty: Roc La Familia', as well as Mystikal's 'Shake Ya Ass', from his fourth studio album, 'Let's Get Ready', and in 2001, N.E.R.D. released their debut studio album, 'In Search of...', featuring production from the Neptunes. In the same year they gained their first worldwide hit with Britney Spears' single, 'I'm a Slave 4 U', for her eponymous third studio album, 'Britney'. By this time they had also produced a number of tracks from a variety of lesser known artists, many of which remain unreleased, as the artists' record companies couldn't fit them into their release schedules, so in the first of three compilations, here are a dozen Neptunes productions from 1997 to 2001 which have yet to see an official release. 

Track listing 

01 The Funeral (Clipse aka Malice & Pusha T)
02 New Glasses (Alana Davis feat. Pharrell)
03 Make This Run (Royce da 5'9 feat. Pharrell, Le Femme Nikita & Kelis)
04 I Wish It Would Rain Down (Brian McKnight)
05 Hostage (Clipse feat. Tammy Lucas)
06 Seeing Things (Elan feat. Pharrell)
07 I Don’t Know What (Krayzie Bone feat. Kelis )
08 Love, Euphoria (N.E.R.D.)
09 Love Don't Love Me (Eric Benet feat. Clipse & Pharrell)
10 Here Inside (Alana Davis)
11 Got Caught Dealing (Part 1) (Clipse feat. Pharrell & Tammy Lucas)
12 Turn Out The Lights (Tammy Lucas)

The Runaways - Yesterday's Kids (1975)

In early 1975, rock music impresario Kim Fowley had an idea for assembling an all-female rock band, in a time when, according to guitarist Joan Jett, there were no young girls at all playing guitar or any sort of instruments. Fowley met lyricist Kari Krome at a party held for Alice Cooper, put her on salary, and had her begin looking for female performers, and when Krome met Joan Jett she brought her straight to Fowley, where she successfully auditioned for Fowley by playing ukulele to a Sweet album. She later picked up rhythm guitar as her instrument, and soon afterward, in the parking lot of the Rainbow Bar and Grill, Fowley met Sandy West, who agreed to play drums. Fowley had Jett rehearse with West at the latter's home in Huntington Beach, and then he turned to two radio stations to advertise for further auditions, which brought lead vocalist/bassist Micki Steele (later of The Bangles). The trio were christened The Runaways in August 1975, and Fowley touted the new group as "an all girl answer to Grand Funk", with the band signing to Kim Fowley Productions for management in September 1975. The line-up of Jett, West, and Steele made their live debut playing the Whisky a Go Go in late September, opening for Fowley's previous conceptual band the Hollywood Stars. In late 1975 the three-piece went into Cherokee Studios in West Hollywood, California, and with the help of Mark Andes on bass they laid down ten demos, with vocals alternating between Jett and Steele. 

At the end of October Steele left due to creative differences and was replaced by lead vocalist Paul Goldwin, with Peggy Foster added as bassist in November. By this time Lita Ford had joined the group as lead guitarist, allowing Jett to focus on rhythm guitar, and after Goldwin left, Fowley and Jett discovered Cherie Currie at the teen nightclub The Sugar Shack and brought her in as lead vocalist for the group. Two weeks later, Foster left and was replaced by Jackie Fox, whom Fowley's colleague Rodney Bingenheimer found at the parking lot of the West Hollywood nightclub the Starwood. With the classic line-up of the band now in place, Denny Rosencrantz agreed to sign The Runaways to Phonogram/Mercury Records in December 1975, and they recorded their debut album 'The Runaways' in January 1976, and released it in March through Mercury. Five of the songs from the 1975 demos were re-recorded by the new line-up for that debut album, but the rest have remained hidden away. Other recordings have also surfaced over the years, and I've added a couple that were recorded after the band had only been together for a week to the end of this album, as although the sound quality was particularly bad, they are a historical record of Steele's time with the group. I've boosted the vocals and cleaned them up as much as possible, and they now don't sound too bad, but the other ten tracks are superb quality for their age. 

Track listing

01 Who Do You Voodoo

02 Born To Be Bad
03 California Paradise
04 I'm A Star
05 American Nights
06 Yesterday's Kids
07 Secrets
08 Thunder
09 You Drive Me Wild
10 Rock 'n' Roll
11 Is It Day Or Night
12 Let's Party Tonight

Jess Mills - Twist Of Fate (2013)

Jessica Rosemary Frances Mills was born in 1981, and grew up in Kentish Town, North London. She is the daughter of Labour MP Tessa Jowell and lawyer David Mills, and attended Acland Burghley School, where she met Niomi McLean-Daley, better known as Ms. Dynamite, and they became friends. After graduating from Sussex University, she began working in a local pub to fund a continued interest in music on the side, and after a steady string of collaborations with various musicians throughout the 2000's, she eventually got her real break when she toured with Leftfield in 2010. In 2011 she signed a record deal with Island Records, who released her singles 'Vultures' and 'Live For What I Die For' that year, and she also recorded a cover of The Cure's 'A Forest', of which Robert Smith himself has admitted to be a fan. Her debut album, 'Twist Of Fate', was originally set to be released on 28 January 2013, but due to her label's poor promotion of her single 'For My Sins', the album was pushed back and ultimately shelved. Since her departure from Island Records, she has signed with Warner/Chappell Music, and her first release with this label is a free download of 'Sweet Love', an original song that incorporates lyrics from Anita Baker's song of the same name. We have a rough guide to the track-listing of the album, which would have included all the singles she released in 2011 and 2012, and I've added that Cure cover, as well as 'Sweet Love', even though that was fractionally outside the timeframe of the record, as it would be a shame to ignore it because of that.   

Track listing 

01 How Could This Be Love
02 For My Sins  
03 Chasing The Hurricane  
04 Live For What I'd Die For
05 Where Have You Been
06 Pixelated People
07 Vultures
08 A Forest
09 Gabriel
10 Silent Space  
11 Sweet Love
12 End Credits

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Billy Joel (2023)

In 1976 Billy Joel released his fifth studio album, and fourth for Columbia Records, 'Turnstiles', which sold modestly and peaked low on the US charts, prompting Columbia to consider dropping him if his next release sold as poorly. He wanted the new album to feature his touring band, formed during the production of 'Turnstiles', consisting of drummer Liberty DeVitto, bassist Doug Stegmeyer, and multi-instrumentalist saxophonist/organist Richie Cannata, and so seeking out a new producer he first turned to veteran Beatles producer George Martin, before coming across and settling on Phil Ramone, whose name he had seen on albums by other artists such as Paul Simon. Recording took place over three weeks in July and August 1977, and featured DeVitto, Stegmeyer and Cannata, with other studio musicians filling in on guitar when needed. Four of the songs were released as singles in North America, with the opening song, 'Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)', centered around Anthony, a grocery-store employee from Long Island who "dreams of making it big", receiving pressure from his family to move out and go his own way, while 'Just The Way You Are' was inspired by Joel's love for his wife at the time, Elizabeth Weber, and she also inspired the song 'More Than A Woman'. The seven and a half minute epic 'Scenes From An Italian Restaurant', was stitched together from three shorter songs, 'The Italian Restaurant Song', 'Things Are OK In Oyster Bay' and 'The Ballad Of Brenda And Eddie', into one of his best know pieces. When 'The Stranger' was released in September 1977 it spent six weeks at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200, and it is considered Joel's critical and commercial breakthrough record. All four singles that were released in the US became Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, with 'Just The Way You Are' making it to number 3. It remains his best-selling non-compilation album to date, and with so many memorable songs on it, it's no surprise that many of them have been covered over the years, by artists as diverse as Barry White and Umphrey's McGee. 

Track listing

01 Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) (Alex Goot 2014)    
02 The Stranger (I_Like_It_Here 2020) 
03 Just The Way You Are (Barry White 1978)
04 Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (Umphrey's McGee 2019)
05 Vienna (Couch 2023)
06 Only The Good Die Young (Taryn Southern 2015)       
07 She's Always A Woman (Lynda Carter 1978)
08 Get It Right The First Time (The Billy Joel Experience 2019)
08 Everybody Has A Dream (The Manhattans 1978)

Allie X - CollXtion III (2015)

Following the cancellation her 'The Hard Way' album, Allie Hughes developed her synth-pop and electronic inspired band, ALX, in late 2011. The group released their debut and only single, 'I Will Love You More' in March 2012, and had their final known live performance at the Hillside Festival in July, where they performed seven unreleased original songs and one cover. In July 2013 Hughes moved to Los Angeles to pursue a full-time career as a songwriter, but despite this she didn't stop working on her solo material, and as she had not been satisfied with her sound, she also spent time learning about sound design and production. Adopting the stage name Allie X, she began working with producers Cirkut and Billboard, whom she had met during her time in Los Angeles, and in early 2014 she released her debut single under the Allie X name, titled 'Catch'. On its release 'Catch' received praise from multiple sources, including both music critics and other artists such as Katy Perry, who praised the track on Twitter, calling it her "spring jam". Prior to the release of Hughes's debut EP, 'CollXtion I', two singles were released, with 'Prime' appearing on 18 March and 'Bitch' following on 6 April 2014. 'CollXtion I' was then released a year later, on 7 April 2015 in Canada, with the worldwide release being pushed back to 21 April, but when it was eventually issued it was well received, with Edmonton Journal's Julia LeConte calling it "a smartly written seven-song EP that offers up a smorgasboard of indelible hooks" and goes on to say Hughes's song-creating ability matches her spectacular voice. 

By the time that 'CollXtion I' was released, Hughes had amassed a large collection of songs which had been recorded between 2014 and 2015, and so she announced a project called 'CollXtion II: Ʉnsolved', which saw her release a collection of demos and songs on Spotify over the course of the summer, in order to shortlist the songs that her fans wanted to see on the 'CollXtion II' album. This project ended on 6 November 2016, with Hughes saying no new music would be released until the album was out, and it was first teased by her in February 2017, with it being officially announced for a 9 June release date. Before 'CollXion II' was released, 'Paper Love' was issued as the lead single from it, with 'Need You' following in May, and the album duly appeared on 9 June as announced. Now that her debut album as Allie X was out, she could think ahead to her second studio album, and 'Focus' was released as its first single in June 2018, but she still had all those songs from 2014/2015 which were sitting there doing nothing, and as she was writing new material for her second album, they were not being used, so I've taken them and compiled a further four volumes in the 'CollXtion' series, with volumes III to VI following on from the 'I' EP and the 'II' album, and 'Volume III' starts off with a collection of tracks recorded in 2015.

Track listing

01 Oh My God
02 Thief
03 Sorry
04 Debut
05 To Better Times
06 This Is The Jam
07 Remember Forever (feat. Noonie Bao)
08 Prove Me Wrong
09 Civil War
10 When/How
11 East Of Eden (Naked Lunch)
12 Stranger
13 Following The Noise
14 Break My Heart (feat. Johan Lindbrandt)
15 Reborn

Gary Moore - Road To Pain (2001)

Gary Moore first met Phil Lynott when he joined Skid Row in 1968, where Lynott was the vocalist, and the two soon became friends and shared a bedsit in Ballsbridge. After a medical leave of absence, Lynott was asked to leave Skid Row by the band's bassist Brush Shiels, who had taken over lead vocal duties, following which the band signed a recording contract with CBS, and they released their debut album 'Skid', which reached number 30 on the UK Albums Chart. After their follow-up album '34 Hours' came out in 1971, Moore decided to leave the band, opting to start a solo career. After leaving Skid Row, Lynott had formed the hard rock group Thin Lizzy, and when guitarist Eric Bell left the group, Moore was recruited to help finish their ongoing tour in early 1974. During his time with the group, Moore recorded three songs with them, including 'Still In Love With You', which he co-wrote and which was included on Lizzy's fourth album 'Nightlife' in 1974. Moore then left Thin Lizzy in April 1974, as he felt that it wasn't good for him healthwise, but in 1977 he rejoined them for a tour of the US after guitarist Brian Robertson injured his hand in a bar fight. After finishing the tour, Lynott asked Moore to join the band on a permanent basis, but he declined, although when Robertson left for good in 1978, Moore took his place once again. This time he was with them for long enough to record the album 'Black Rose: A Rock Legend', and this post includes a demo that Moore recorded for the album that wasn't included on the final track listing. 

In the middle of a tour to promote the album, Moore abruptly left Thin Lizzy, as he'd become fed up with the band's increasing drug use, and the effects it was having on their performance. Between stints in Thin Lizzy, Moore had released his first proper solo album 'Back On The Streets' in 1978, which spawned the hit single 'Parisienne Walkways', which featured Phil Lynott on lead vocals and bass. After leaving Thin Lizzy in 1979, Moore relocated to Los Angeles where he signed a new recording contract with Jet Records, and recorded the album 'Dirty Fingers', which was shelved in favour of the more "radio-oriented" G-Force album, which came out in 1980. 'Dirty Fingers' was eventually released in Japan in 1983, followed by an international release the next year, and after moving to London and signing a new recording contract with Virgin, he released his second solo album 'Corridors Of Power' in 1982. While not a major success, it was the first album to feature Moore on lead vocals throughout, as well as his first solo release to crack the Billboard 200 chart. In 1984, he released 'Victims Of The Future', which marked another musical change, this time towards hard rock and heavy metal, and it also saw the addition of keyboardist Neil Carter, who would continue to push Moore in this new musical direction. 

In 1985, Moore released his fifth solo album 'Run For Cover', which featured guest vocals by Phil Lynott and Glenn Hughes, and following Lynott's death in 1986, Moore dedicated his sixth solo album, 'Wild Frontier', to him. Despite the success of this album, and his next, 1989's 'After The War', Moore had grown tired of his own music, and so for his next record he returned to his blues roots and released 'Still Got The Blues', which saw him collaborating with the likes of Albert King, Albert Collins and George Harrison, and it proved to be the most successful album of his career, selling over three million copies worldwide. He followed it with 1992's 'After Hours', which went platinum in Sweden and gold in the UK, where it became his highest-charting entry in the UK Charts, reaching number four. After releasing a tribute album to his friend and mentor Peter Green, with 1995's 'Blues For Greeny', and experimenting with electronic music on 1997's 'Dark Days In Paradise' and 1999's 'A Different Beat', he again returned to his blues roots with 2001's 'Back To The Blues', 2004's 'Power Of The Blues' and 2006's 'Old New Ballads Blues'. This collection of demos, outtakes and b-sides spans the whole of Moore's post-Skid Row career, from that 1978 demo for Thin Lizzy, through the various line-ups and guest vocalists on his solo albums, his G-Force side-project, and his own vocal takes of the two Lynott-sung tracks from his 'Back On The Streets' album. 

Track listing

01 Bad Is Bad (Thin Lizzy demo 1978)
02 Track Nine (b-side of 'Back On The Streets' single 1978)
03 Road To Pain ('Back On The Streets' outtake 1978)
04 Track Ten ('Back On The Streets' outtake 1978)
05 Don't Believe A Word (Gary Moore vocal 1978)
06 Parisienne Walkways (Gary Moore vocal 1978)
07 Spanish Guitar (single 1979)
08 The Woman's In Love (G-Force demo 1980)
09 Trust Your Lovin' (b-side of 'You' by G Force 1980) 
10 Don't Take Me For A Loser (Gary Barden vocal 1982)
11 Don't Ever Give Your Heart Away (Glenn Hughes demo 1985)

12 Livin' With The Blues ('Back To The Blues' outtake 2001)

13 Oh Pretty Woman (demo 1990)

Tamar - Ridiculous (1999)

Tamar Estine Braxton was born on 17 March 1977, and was the youngest of six children. She began singing as a toddler, eventually joining their church choir, where their father was a pastor, and she and her four sisters (Toni, Traci, Towanda, and Trina) formed a group and signed their first record deal with Arista Records in 1989. In 1990, they released their first single, 'Good Life', which peaked at No. 79 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart, but marketing was a problem for Arista because of the ten year age difference between the eldest and youngest sisters, and subsequently The Braxtons were dropped by the label. In 1991, during a showcase with L.A. Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Toni Braxton was chosen and signed as the label's first female solo artist, after being told that their label was not looking for another girl group since it had just signed TLC. After Toni's departure from the group, the four remaining members became backup singers for Toni's first tour, music videos, and promotional appearances. In 1993, LaFace Records signed The Braxtons, although the group never released an album or single for the label, and when L. A, Reid moved on to work for Atlantic Records, he convinced executives at LaFace to allow him to take the group with him. In 1996, Tamar, Trina, and Towanda returned with a new album entitled 'So Many Ways', which peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and the title track was released as a single, which made it to No. 83 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it did much better in the UK, where it reached number 32 on the UK Singles Chart.
In 1999, Tamar met Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, and with him producing she recorded her solo debut album, 'Ridiculous', so-named for the many different musical styles featured on it. It spawned two buzz singles in the form of 'Let Him Go' and 'Just Cuz', in the hope of garnering attention from the public, but when the songs failed to gain any impact on urban radio outlets, the album was pushed back, and eventually cancelled. Instead of shelving the album, Dreamworks Records kept two old tracks, added some new ones, and renamed it 'Tamar', and when the Jermaine Dupri-produced lead single 'Get None' was released and began to pick up airplay, Braxton announced the album would be released in early 2000. It featured production from Missy Elliott, Tim & Bob, and Tricky Stewart, and peaked at number 127 on the Billboard 200, but when the album's second single 'If You Don't Wanna Love Me', failed to gain significant radio airplay, the label dropped her from their roster. In 2001, she began to work alongside her sister Toni on a number of songs and music video cameos, and also performed, co-wrote and sang background vocals on songs for all of Toni's albums from 2000's  'The Heat' to 2010's 'Pulse'. In 2010 she signed to Universal Records, where she released a single. 'The Heart In Me' in July, and following a move to Epic Records in 2013 she finally released her second album, 'Love And War', which was a commercial success in the United States, only being kept off the number one slot on the Billboard 200 by Ariana Grande's 'Yours Truly'. It had taken a while, but she finally had the success that she'd worked for, and so we can now look back and listen to her abandoned debut album, 'Ridiculous', and see if we can work out just why the record company lost faith in it. 

Track listing

01 Reap What You Sow (Intro)
02 No Disrespect (feat. Missy Elliott & Lil' Mo) 
03 Respect Me 
04 Let Him Go (feat. Solé) 
05 Tonight (You and Me) 
06 Now I Only Dance for You 
07 Just Cuz 
08 It's Time (feat. Grand Puba & Antoinette Roberson) 
09 Call Me (feat. Sam Salter) 
10 Don't Cry 
11 Count The Ways 

Tangerine Dream - Chimes And Chains (1983)

German krautorck legends Tangerine Dream are more known for their hundreds of live bootlegs that have flooded the internet than for their studio rarities and out-takes, but there are in fact a number of singles, compilation contributions, bonus tracks from deluxe re-issues, and one-off soundtrack singles and EP's, that can make up an extremely enjoyable compilation. It was put together to compile all the Tangerine Dream music that was released outside the regular albums during the first decade or so of their career, from the best possible sources and with the best possible quality. All the tracks here are therefore taken from samplers, compilations, singles and promos that were released by the band during that period, and alternate versions of album songs were included only when they were a different mix, an extended version or an edited version. 'Ultima Thule' is the original 1971 mix, not the 2000 remix, and I've mixed parts one and two into one seven-minute piece. 'Oszillator Planet Concert' was recorded live on 21 June 1971, and was included on the German triple vinyl 'Ossiach Live' album. 'Overture' was part of the at-the-time unreleased 'Oedipus Tyrannus' project, recorded in June 1974, and was included on the Virgin sampler album 'V' in 1975. 'Stratosfear' and 'The Big Sleep In Search Of Hades' were taken from the 'Stratosfear' album and issued in edited versions on a 7" single. Similarly, 'Encore' and 'Hobo March' were extracted from the 'Encore' album, retitled and issued in edited form as both sides of a 7" single. The extended version of 'Dr. Destructo' just has a portion of the original track duplicated to make it longer, so not really a remix, but just extended for this promo, while the last six pieces are all soundtracks from the German TV series 'Tatort', from releases in 1982 and 1983. The original release of this collection was as a double album, but I felt that most of the good stuff was on the first disc, with a lot of the tracks on disc two being from the 'Risky Business' soundtrack, which I've already posted in full, but it you do want to hear the whole double album then it can easily be found on Soulseek.  

Track listing

01 Ultima Thule (Parts One & Two) (German single 1971)
02 Oszillator Planet Concert (from the 'Ossiach Live' album 1971)
03 Overture (from the 'V' sampler album 1975) 
04 Stratosfear (single edit 1976)
05 The Big Sleep In Search Of Hades (single edit b-side of 'Stratosfear')
06 Encore (UK single edit 1977)
07 Hobo March (single edit b-side of 'Encore')
08 Baryll Blue (from the 2019 re-issue of 'Cyclone' 1978)
09 Haunted Heights (from the 2019 re-issue of 'Cyclone' 1978)
10 Chimes And Chains (from the 2019 re-issue of 'Force Majeure' 1979)
11 Dr. Destructo (US promo 12" 1981)
12 Das Mädchen Auf Der Treppe (German 12" EP, from the TV series 'Tatort' 1982)
13 Flock (from 'Das Mädchen Auf Der Treppe' German 12" EP)
14 Katja (from 'Das Mädchen Auf Der Treppe' German 12" EP)
15 Speed (from 'Das Mädchen Auf Der Treppe' German 12" EP)
16 Daydream (German single 1983, from the TV series 'Tatort' 1983)
17 Moorland (b-side of 'Daydream', from the TV series 'Tatort')

My Jealous God - The Idiot's Ball (1992)

My Jealous God were formed in South London around 1989 by Jim Melly on vocals and guitar, Danny Burke on lead guitar, Chris O'Donnell on bass and Andrew Berkley on drums, and they played the sort of music that was always going to get them accused as being Southern chancers jumping on the Madchester bandwagon. Rough Trade snapped them up and released their first single 'Everything About You' in 1990, followed by 'Pray' in October of that year, and this was the track which gained them some attention. After a label change to Fontana, 'Easy' followed in 1991, before 'Pray' was resurrected in 1992 for a remix with new lyrics, but it was withdrawn shortly after release, although some copies have since surfaced. During their time at Fontana they recorded an album titled 'The Idiot's Ball', and this was slated for an April 1992 release, but just after review copies were sent out it was shelved by the label after the group broke up. After the band folded, singer Jim Melly embarked on a career in journalism and went on to edit 'Inside Edge' magazine, later writing a book on The Faces titled 'Last Orders, Please', which was published in April 2003. To remind ourselves of one of the many unsung bands who joined the Madchester scene in the early 90's, here is My Jealous God's shelved 'The Idiot's Ball' album from 1992. 

Track listing

01 Easy
02 Asked For
03 Carol Caviare
04 Pray
05 Suppose
06 Afraid
07 Petrol Bomb
08 I've Got Everything
09 The One I Love
10 Watching
11 Daisies

Kerli - Utopia (2013)

Kerli Kõiv was born in Elva on 7 February 1987, and was first introduced to music by her kindergarten teacher, who told her mother that Kerli had "nice pitch" and that she was interested in taking her to various singing competitions. She dropped out of school at the age of 16 to pursue her musical career, competing in the singing competitions Laulukarussell and the Baltic song contest Fizz Superstar, winning both of them. She then moved to Stockholm where she competed in Melodifestivalen in 2003 but was eliminated in the second semifinals, but reached the final in 2004's Eurolaul – a televised competition that determines the song that will represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest – with her song 'Beautiful Inside'. After two miserable years in Stockholm, she moved to the United States at 18, where she continued to perform and write songs, ultimately getting an audition with L.A. Reid, who signed her to the Island Def Jam Music Group in 2006. She worked with producer, songwriter, and mixer David Maurice on an autobiographical set of songs, the first of which were released on a self-titled EP in 2007, and she finally released her debut album, 'Love Is Dead' on 8 July 2008, following her debut single 'Walking On Air', which charted at number 75 on the European Hot 100. In March 2010, 'Almost Alice', a compilation album featuring music inspired by Disney's 'Alice In Wonderland' was released, containing two songs performed by Kerli, 'Tea Party' and 'Strange', performed with Tokio Hotel. 

After the release of 'Love Is Dead', Kerli began working on her second studio album, and 'Army Of Love' was made available for free download on her official website, before being released as a single for purchase on 12 April 2011. A song titled 'Skyscraper' was written by Toby Gad, Lindy Robbins, and Kerli for the 'Utopia' album, but she instead gave it to American musician Demi Lovato for her album 'Unbroken', and the same happened with 'I Feel Immortal', which was gifted to Finnish musician Tarja for her album 'What Lies Beneath'. 'Zero Gravity' was rescued from a previous project and was supposed to be the first single from the new album, but it was later announced the both this and 'Army Of Love' were only buzz singles, and not official releases. The album was complete by May 2012, and in September it was confirmed that a single from it, titled 'The Lucky Ones', would be released on 29 October 2012, with the album to follow in the Spring of 2013. However, in December the whole record leaked online and so the label decided to cut a number of the tracks and release it as an EP instead, and this appeared digitally in March 2013 and physically the following May, but in the Baltic states and Finland only. So that we can hear what a full album could have sounded like, here is the complete 'Utopia', as it was intended to sound in the Spring of 2013, and as about half of this album has been officially released, I've added her contribution to the 'Almost Alice' album, plus one of those songs written for the record but given away.

Track listing

01 The Lucky Ones
02 Can't Control The Kids
03 Sugar 
04 Kaleidoscope 
05 Love Me Or Leave Me 
06 Zero Gravity
07 Speed Limit
08 Last Breath 
09 Supergirl 
10 Chemical
11 Here And Now 
12 Tea Party
13 Skyscraper

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Townes Van Zandt (2022)

John Townes Van Zandt was born on 7 March 1944 in Fort Worth, Texas, into a wealthy family, and after the family relocated from Fort Worth to Billings, Montana in 1952, his father gave him a guitar, which he practiced while wandering the countryside. After attending the Shattuck School in Faribault, Minnesota, he enrolled at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1962, and wrote poetry and listened to records by Lightnin' Hopkins and Hank Williams. In the spring of his second year, his parents flew to Boulder to bring Townes back to Houston, worried about his binge drinking and episodes of depression, and he was admitted to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where he was diagnosed with manic depression. He received three months of insulin shock therapy, which erased much of his long-term memory, but in 1965 he was accepted into the University of Houston's pre-law program. After his father died in January 1966 at age 52, he quit school and went on the road for the first time, having been inspired by his singer-songwriter heroes to pursue a career in playing music. His early gigs in Houston clubs mostly consisted of covers of songs written by Hopkins, Bob Dylan, and others, as well as original novelty songs like 'Fraternity Blues', and in 1968 he met songwriter Mickey Newbury in a Houston coffee shop, and he persuaded Van Zandt to go to Nashville, Tennessee, where he was introduced to the man who became his longtime producer, "Cowboy" Jack Clement. With Clement producing, Van Zandt recorded sessions in the studio which became his debut album, 'For The Sake Of The Song', released in 1968 by Poppy Records. The next five years were the most prolific of Van Zandt's career, as Poppy released the albums 'Our Mother The Mountain', 'Townes Van Zandt', 'Delta Momma Blues', 'High, Low And In Between', and 'The Late Great Townes Van Zandt'. It's his third album which has some of his most covered songs, and the fact the many of them are by modern artists, such as The Magic Numbers, Laura Marling, and Bright Eyes shows the esteem in which he is still held as a legend of American song-writing. 

Track listing

01 For The Sake Of The Song (Azure Ray 2002)  
02 Columbine (Mike Molaro 2021)  
03 Waiting Around To Die (Nathan Hamilton 2020)  
04 Don't Take It Too Bad (Steve Earle 2009  
05 Colorado Girl (Laura Marling 2014)  
06 Lungs (Jonell Mosser 1996)  
07 I'll Be Here In The Morning (The Stonemans 1970) 
08 Fare Thee Well, Miss Carousel (Bright Eyes 2022)  
09 (Quicksilver Daydreams Of) Maria (The Magic Numbers 2010)  
10 None But The Rain (Robin & Linda Williams 1975)

Jean Michel Jarre - La Cage (1976)

Jean-Michel Jarre was born in Lyon on 24 August 1948, and is the son of composer Maurice Jarre. When he was five his parents separated and his father moved to the United States, leaving him with his mother, and he didn't see his father again until he was 18. His musical education was fraught, and he struggled with classical piano studies, although he later changed teachers and worked on his scales. As a young man Jarre earned money by selling his paintings, exhibiting some of his works at the Lyon Gallery, and also by playing in a band called Mystère IV. In 1967 he played guitar in a band called The Dustbins, who appear in the film 'Des garçons et des filles', and he mixed instruments including the electric guitar and the flute with tape effects and other sounds. More experimentation was followed in 1968, when he began to use tape loops, radios and other electronic devices, and in 1969 he joined the Groupe de Recherches Musicales, founded and led by Pierre Schaeffer, inventor of musique concrete. Around this time he was introduced to the Moog modular synthesizer and spent time working at the studio of influential German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne. In the kitchen of his apartment in Rue de la Trémoille, Jarre set up a small makeshift recording studio. linking his EMS VCS 3 and EMS Synthi AKS synthesisers to Revox tape machines, and for a 1969 exposition at the Maison de la Culture in Reims, Jarre wrote the five-minute song 'Happiness Is A Sad Song', after which he composed and recorded his first single 'La Cage'/'Erosmachine', a mixture of harmony, tape effects and synthesisers, which was released in 1971. That same year he was commissioned by choreographer Norbert Schmucki to perform a ballet called 'AOR' (in Hebrew "The Light'), and he also composed background music for ballet, theatre, television programs, department stores, and advertising jingles for Pepsi-Cola, Nestlé and RTL. 

He also formed The Popcorn Orchestra to record a cover version of Gershon Kingsley's Moog instrumental 'Popcorn', although Hot Butter had the international hit with it the following year. From 1972 to 1975 he wrote music and lyrics for artists like Françoise Hardy, Gérard Lenorman, Christophe and Patrick Juvet, and he also appeared on Samuel Hobo's 1972 single 'Freedom Day' and Triangle's 'Recreation' the same year. In 1973 he released his first solo album, 'Deserted Palace', as well as composing the soundtrack for 'Les Granges Brûlées', and he also composed the song 'Zig Zag Dance', which he seemed so determined to have a hit with that he released it nearly half a dozen times, either under pseudonyms such as Jo Sherman, The Electric Choo Choo Band and The Superfly, or playing on recordings of it by artists Foggy Joe and Tony Lopez. 1974 saw another mystery band appear, but once again 1906 was just Jarre with another single, 'Cartolina', while his next few appearances on record were collaborations with stage illusionist Dominique Webb, Gerard Lenorman, Blue Vamp and Bill And Buster. In 1976 he recorded and released his low-budget solo album 'Oxygène', recorded at his home studio with analogue synthesizers like the EMS VCS 3 and the EMS Synthi AKS, and taped on a Scully 8-track recorder. It was initially turned down by several record companies, until Jarre decided to meet with Francis Dreyfus, the head of the Disques Motors label, to see if he could release the album, and it was accepted. The first pressing of 50,000 copies was promoted through hi-fi shops, clubs and discos, and by April 1977 it had sold 70,000 copies in France. It was to be his breakthrough record, launching him to international stardom, and so he no longer needed to pretend to be one-man bands or work with other artists. This collection of his early work shows the effort that he put in to get to that point in his career, and there are glimpses of what was to come in some of these pieces, so enjoy these early efforts from Jean Michel Jarre, and so you don't get completely fed up with 'Zig Zag' I've only included two versions of it.  

Track listing

01 Happiness Is A Sad Song (for the Maison de la Culture exposition 1969)

02 La Cage (single 1971)

03 Erosmachine (b-side of 'La Cage')
04 Pop Corn (single as The Pop Corn Orchestra 1971)
05 Black Bird (b-side of 'Pop Corn' as The Pop Corn Orchestra)
06 Freedom Day (single with Samuel Hobo 1972)
07 Recreation (single with Triangle 1972)
08 Le Matin Du Premier Jour (b-side of 'Recreation' with Triangle)
09 Zig-Zag Dance (single as Jo Sherman, with Christopher Laird 1973)
10 Ping-Pong Song (b-side of 'Zig-Zag Dance' as Jo Sherman 1973)
11 Zig-Zag (Instrumental) (single as Electric Choo Choo Band 1973)
12 Cartolina (single as 1906 1974)
13 Helza (b-side of 'Cartolina' as 1906)
14 Hypnose (single with Dominique Webb 1974)
15 La Belle Et La Bete (single with Gerard Lenorman 1975)
16 Jolly Dolly (single with Blue Vamp 1976)
17 Lady (single with Bill And Buster 1976)

Ray Davies - Return To Waterloo (1985)

'Return To Waterloo' is the only album ever credited solely to Kinks singer/songwriter/guitarist Ray Davies, and it contains "music from the motion picture" of the same name. The film was written and directed by Davies, and depicts the daydreams and nightmares of a commuter taking a one-hour train trip from the London suburbs to Waterloo train station. The format allows Davies to write a series of story-songs, including 'Going Solo' and 'Missing Persons', both of which refer to the commuter's daughter who had left home, while 'Sold Me Out' and 'Not Far Away' are punk rock rave-ups expressing the anger of the young people on the train, and 'Expectations' is a Davies reflection on one of his favourite subjects, the decline and fall of the British Empire. This would have been an excellent Kinks album, and in fact three of the songs had appeared on the last Kinks album, 1984's 'Word Of Mouth', but 'Return To Waterloo' is credited as a solo Davies record, possible because his brother Dave reputedly refused to play on it, and so despite the fact that the rest of the The Kinks did contribute, it would be pushing it to call it a Kinks album. The hour long feature film was a unique approach to the synthesis of music, video and cinema, and instead of dialogue, the story is told through music and lyrics. The haunting songs take renowned actor Ken Colley on a suspenseful journey through his imagination, as he confronts reality and fantasy, love and violence, and it also features Valerie Holliman, Dominique Barnes, Tim Roth and (briefly) Ray Davies himself as a busker. It was broadcast just the once by Channel 4 on a Sunday evening on 04 November 1984, and has become something of a cult classic, particularly among Kinks fans, and so this expanded edition of the "soundtrack" album is a god-send. It includes songs which were not on the original album, and the tracks which were on there are either remixed or alternate versions. It's been put together with a lot of attention to detail, and includes sound-bites of dialogue, sound effects, and ambient segues which all enhance the listening experience, whether you've seen the film or not.  

Track listing

01 Intro (Unreleased Extended Version)
02 Return To Waterloo (Edited Mix)
03 Ladder Of Success (Unreleased Recording)
04 Going Solo (Alternate Mix)
05 Missing Person (Alternate Mix)
06 Sold Me Out (Alternate Mix)
07 Lonely Hearts (Extended Alternate Mix)
08 Good Times Are Gone (Unreleased Recording)
09 Not Far Away (Alternate Mix)
10 Expectations (Alternate Mix)
11 Return To Waterloo (Reprise) (Unreleased Recording)
12 Voices In The Dark (Alternate Mix)
13 Outro (Unreleased Recording)

Allie Hughes - The Hard Way (2011)

In 2008 Allie Hughes took part in CBC Television's 'How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?', the Canadian version based on the UK series of the same name, which was searching for a singer to play the part of Maria in the stage show of 'The Sound Of Music'. She performed 'My Favourite Things' from the show and 'It's Oh So Quiet' by Björk, but was eliminated after two weeks. She released her second demo album that same year, titled 'Ladies And Gentlemen', which included some songs from her first album alongside some new recordings. In 2009 she recorded her debut studio album, collaborating with Leon Taheny, Dave Newfeld of Broken Social Scene, and Adam King of Run With Kittens. It was titled 'The Hard Way', and was initially set to be released in late 2010, but was then delayed to 2011, until it was ultimately scrapped later that year. She released a 4-track self-titled extended play in 2010, which included four songs from the proposed album, and which are the only officially released tracks from the project. Following the cancellation of 'The Hard Way', Hughes developed her synth-pop and electronic inspired band, ALX, in late 2011, releasing their debut and only single, 'I Will Love You More' in March 2012, and they had their final known live performance at the Hillside Festival in July, where they performed seven unreleased original songs and one cover. In July 2013 Hughes moved to Los Angeles to pursue a full-time career as a songwriter, but despite this she didn't stop working on her solo material, and after adopting the name Allie X she began working with producers Cirkut and Billboard. In early 2014 she released her debut single under the Allie X name, 'Catch', and it received praise from multiple sources, kick-starting a second career under the new name. She finally managed to get her music officially released by Twin Music Records, issuing numerous singles and three albums, and so as a reminder of what she was doing when she started out, here is her second shelved album, 'The Hard Way' from 2011, and you can definitely hear the progression of her music, from that idiosyncratic debut to this much more mature and assured sophomore effort.   

Track listing

01 Overture
02 Rolling Days  
03 Damaged Nail 
04 The Hard Way 
05 Stars (feat. Darcy Rego) 
06 Elevator 
07 I Will Love You More 
08 Headmaster 
09 O Chad 
10 Mistake  

David Bowie - The Leon Suites (1994)

David Bowie and Brian Eno were two of music’s most avant-garde figures, and throughout their lifelong friendship they often collaborated, most notably on Bowie's Berlin records. After reuniting at Bowie's 1992 wedding, they started emailing each other about what they felt was missing from music, and in a bid to reignite some artistic bravery that they clearly felt was lacking, they decided to embark on an album together without so much as "a gnat of an idea". They put together a band consisting of Bowie/Eno, Reeves Gabrels, Mike Garson, Erdal Kizilçay & Sterling Campbell, and began recording at Mountain Studios, in Switzerland, and the resulting album was far more fleshed out than its initial beginnings, being a narrative-focused cyberpunk curiosity built largely of interviews the pair conducted with patients at a wing of a Vienna psychiatric hospital, who were well-known for their outsider art. 'The Leon Suites' was a bold attempt to bring more conceptual artistry to the modern album, a bizarre offering that was influenced by murder, Twin Peaks, and hospital interviews. The two musicians put together a three-hour recording consisting of mainly spoken word passages and strange jams, employing the cut-up technique employed by William Burroughs and Brian Gysin, relying on an app Bowie had co-developed, called the Verbasizer. It allowed him to auto-generate random sentences to bulk out tracks or use its words to trigger an idea that formed the shape of a song. Eno was said to hand out cards to backing musicians each morning with their unique backstory, which contained instructions like: "You are the disgruntled member of a South African rock band. Play the notes that were suppressed". 

He also used the Oblique Strategies cards that he and artist Peter Schmidt had pioneered in 1975, which involved using a series of prompts on cards drawn only when faced with a creative blockage. Everything was highly improvised and written by Bowie in the studio, and he described what emerged as an almost obsessive interest in ritualistic, outsider artists. He told Vox magazine: "It's like a replacement for a spiritual starvation that's going on, like a tribe with dim memories of what their rituals used to be. They're sort of being dragged back again in this new, mutated, deviant way, with so-called gratuitous sex and violence in popular culture and people cutting bits off themselves. For me, it seems like a natural kind of thing". There were five suites recorded for 'Leon...', but two were deleted, with three receiving a final mix and then being presented to the record company for release, but they were not as forward-thinking as Bowie, and rejected the project as being too uncommercial. He therefore scrapped the whole thing and started work on something that the record company would accept, with snippets from 'The Leon Suites', including some of its narrative arcs and characters, ending up appearing on his 1995 album '1. Outside'. Although these tracks are often touted as 'Outside' outtakes, its more true to say that 'Outside' was based on outtakes from 'The Leon Suites', which was an album in its own right, and if the record company had accepted this as Bowie's next album, then '1. Outside' would never have happened. It's great that we can now get to hear these tracks, in the best quality so far, as these come from a CDR provided by Adam Bedstroke, and so thanks to him for letting these demos be shared amongst fans.

Track listing

01 Suite 1: I Am With Name  
02 Suite 2: Leon Takes Us Outside 
03 Suite 3: Enemy Is Fragile 

Elvis Presley - Memphis Revisited (1969)

In 1968, Elvis Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker arranged a deal with NBC for a Christmas television special starring Presley in front of a live audience. Parker originally planned to have Presley sing Christmas carols only, but the producer, Steve Binder, convinced him to perform songs from his original repertoire, and the high ratings received by the special, plus the success of its attendant LP, re-established Presley's popularity with his fans. For the previous half-decade, Parker had decided that Presley should only record soundtrack albums, as he viewed films and their soundtracks as complementary, with each helping to promote the other. However, the commercial success of these had steadily diminished throughout the 60's, and following the success of the TV special, he was persuaded to leave the RCA studios and record a new, non-soundtrack album at a different location. During a January 1969 meeting at Graceland, Presley told his producer, Felton Jarvis, that he did not want to record his next album at RCA, and American Sound Studio in Memphis, which was at the peak of a hit-producing streak, was suggested as an alternative. RCA contacted the studio's producer Chips Moman, and he was so keen to work with Presley that he postponed a session with Neil Diamond in order to put aside ten days to record with him. He was to be backed by the studio's house band, the 827 Thomas Street Band (informally known as the Memphis Boys), which consisted of Reggie Young on guitar, Tommy Cogbill and Mike Leech on bass, Gene Chrisman on drums, Bobby Wood on piano, and Bobby Emmons on organ. 

Recording began on 13 January 1969, when Presley arrived at the studio nursing a cold, but he worked through the next two days before his cold worsened, and on 15 and 16 January the house band recorded backing tracks for subsequent sessions without him. Presley returned on 20 January, recording 'In The Ghetto' in 23 takes and finishing the vocal track for 'Gentle On My Mind', and on 22 January he recorded Eddy Arnold's 'I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)' and the non-album single 'Suspicious Minds'. He then took a break from recording for a vacation trip to Aspen, Colorado to celebrate his daughter Lisa Marie's first birthday, and recording re-commenced on 17 February, completing about a dozen songs before the sessions ended on 22 February. Moman moved away from the usual Presley pop recordings aimed at an established audience, and he incorporated a Memphis sound integrating soul, country, gospel and rural and electric blues. Many arrangements lean heavily on the rhythm section, with lesser contributions from strings, brass and woodwinds, and arrangers Glenn Spreen and Mike Leech changed Presley's image on the tracks with the addition of violas, cellos and French horns. The single 'In the Ghetto' was released on 14 April 1969, with 300,000 copies shipped by RCA, and in its second week of release it entered the US charts, where it remained for thirteen weeks, eventually reaching number three, and it also reached number two on the British Singles chart. 

'From Elvis In Memphis' was released on 2 June 1969, topping the UK Albums Chart, and reaching number thirteen on Billboard's Top Albums. Although it received mixed reviews at the time, with The Los Angeles Times' Pete Johnson criticizing the music arrangements that he considered inconsistent with Presley's original Sun Records style, or the contemporary Memphis Sound produced by Stax Records, 'From Elvis In Memphis' has continued to receive praise in retrospective reviews. Following the release of the album, some of the songs which were left off the track listing were released as singles, with 'Don't Cry Daddy' reaching No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and 'Kentucky Rain' becoming a moderate hit in 1970. That same year ten unused track from the 1969 sessions were issued under the title 'Back In Memphis', and while it pales in comparison to 'From Elvis In Memphis', it's still a fine collection of songs, with his rendition of Mort Shuman's 'You'll Think Of Me' being a soaring, passionate recording. Even after extracting these ten tracks from the studio leftovers, there were still a few completed tracks which were left behind, and so for this mopping up exercise I've taken all the non-albums singles which were recorded in Memphis, added an alternate take of 'Suspicious Minds', plus a couple of outtakes and b-sides, and in a controversial move I've included a version of the aborted vocal take of 'Poor Man's Gold' which has been completed using AI. It might rankle with the purists, but it is exceptionally well-done, and perfectly rounds off this one final Memphis album from The King. 

Track listing

01 Rubberneckin'
02 Mama Liked The Roses

03 I'll Be There

04 Kentucky Rain
05 Suspicious Minds
06 Don't Cry Daddy
07 Poor Man's Gold
08 My Little Friend

09 If I'm A Fool (For Loving You)
10 Medley: It's My Way/This Time/I Can't Stop Loving You
11 Who Am I?
12 Hey Jude