Jay-Z - Can't Stop Won't Stop (2004)

After the release of 'The Blueprint' in 2001, Jay-Z collaborated with Chicago singer R. Kelly to release a joint studio album, 'The Best Of Both Worlds', in March 2002, and he followed that with his seventh studio release, the double album 'The Blueprint2: The Gift & The Curse' in the November. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at number one, selling over 3 million units solely in the U.S., and surpassing 'The Blueprint'. After visiting the south of France, he announced work on his eighth studio album, 'The Black Album', at the opening of the 40/40 Club, on which he worked with several producers including Just Blaze, The Neptunes, Kanye West, Timbaland, Eminem, DJ Quik, 9th Wonder, The Buchanans, and Rick Rubin. Notable songs on the album included 'What More Can I Say', 'Dirt Off Your Shoulder', 'Change Clothes', and the classic '99 Problems'. 'The Black Album' was released in November 2003, and is one of the rapper's best-loved works, and was in fact my first exposure to him when Dangermouse use the beats from it for his Beatles/Jay-Z mash-up 'The Grey Album'. At the same time as the album came out, he held a concert, billed as a "retirement party", at Madison Square Garden in New York City, which was later the focus of his 2004 documentary, 'Fade To Black'. All proceeds went to charity, and it featured a host of the best rappers and R&B artists of the time, but while it had been intended to allow him to retire from making new studio albums, various side projects and appearances soon followed. These included a greatest hits record, a second collaborative album between Jay-Z and R. Kelly, and an EP recorded with rock group Linkin Park, with the remix EP 'Collision Course', which featured mashups of both artists' songs, and which sold over one million copies in the U.S. Later in 2004, Jay-Z was named president of Def Jam Records, which led to him, Dash and Biggs selling their remaining interests in Roc-A-Fella Records and Jay-Z taking control of both of the companies. Despite 2004 being fairly light on the release of new material, there were the usual slew of out-takes by the end of the year, with some going back to 2002, so here is the fifth in this series of rarities from the career of Jay-Z.

Track listing

01 Early This Morning 
02 Hold Up (feat. R Kelly)
03 Roc Army (feat. The Roc)
04 Alone In This World (Remix) (feat. Faith Evans)
05 Hovi Baby (Remix)  
06 Get My Shit Off (feat. Timbaland)
07 You Rock My World (Remix) (feat. Michael Jackson) 
08 Can't Stop Won't Stop (Remix) (feat. Young Gunz 
09 Get Your Money Right (feat. Dr. Dre & The Game) 
10 I Can't Get Wid That (feat. Sauce Money & Jaz-O) 

11 Stop
12 PSA II 
13 Hell Yeah (Remix) (feat. Dead Prez)

Tina Charles - Nothing In The World (1974)

Tina Charles was born Tina Hoskins on 10 March 1954, in Whitechapel, London, England, and got her start is show business at the age of 15 singing on TV commercials, after which she wound up signing a deal with CBS Records. Her first single, the Northern soul-leaning 'Nothing In The World', was produced by Alan Hawkshaw and featured Elton John on piano, although further singles like 1969's 'In The Middle Of The Day' and 'Good To Be Alive', along with 1970's 'Bo-Bo's Party', didn't trouble the charts. They did, however, get her noticed by the BBC, and she began appearing on The Two Ronnies TV show, and then scored slots on tours by Tom Jones, Mud, and Engelbert Humperdinck. She shifted over to Gordon Mills' MAM label in 1971, who issued the single 'Baby Don't You Know Anymore', and as a sideline she got a job recording vocals on the 'Top Of The Pops' and 'Hot Hits' series of albums, where anonymous artists covered contemporary hits. She released the 1974 single 'One Broken Heart For Sale' on Bell Records, and put in more studio time as a session vocalist, memorably joining Linda Lewis to sing backing on Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel's 1975 hit single 'Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)'. She had previously sung in an unrecorded band called Northern Lights with Martin Jay, and the pair reteamed in 1975 under the name Airbus and issued a single, 'Bye Love', which caught on once DJs flipped it over to find the disco-fied 'I'm On Fire' on the other side. The song was reissued as a single in it's own right, with that band rebranded as 5000 Volts, and the song headed toward the top of the charts around the globe, reaching the Top Five in the U.K. and the Top 30 in the U.S. 

Charles quickly left the group for a solo career and teamed up with producer Biddu, who was red hot following the chart success of Carl Douglas' massive hit 'Kung Fu Fighting', and he decided to cast her as a powerful disco diva, which was a role that she filled perfectly. Her first single in this new guise was 1975's 'You Set My Heart On Fire', and while that song was moderately successful, it was her next release, the monumental disco anthem 'I Love To Love (But My Baby Just Loves To Dance)', which reached number one on the U.K. singles charts in February 1976, and scored in the upper reaches of many other countries. It even won a Juno Award for best-selling international single of the year, and an album of the same name was released in March 1976, going on to achieve similar success to the single. A second album, 'Dance Little Lady', which was made up of the same mix of up-tempo disco tracks and ballads, followed before the end of 1976, and it spawned two hit singles, the title track and 'Dr. Love'. To see how she eventually reached the top of the charts, here are those early, unsuccessful singles from the late 60's and early 70's, which show that she had the talent, but just needed someone to take her under their wing and spur her on to greater success. 

Track listing

01 Nothing In The World (single 1969)
02 Millions Of Hearts (With A Single Player) (b-side of 'Nothing In The World')
03 In The Middle Of The Day (single 1969)
04 Rich Girl (b-side of 'In The Middle Of The Day')
05 Good To Be Alive (single 1969)
06 Same Old Story (b-side of 'Good To Be Alive')
07 Bo-Bo's Party (single 1970)
08 Madame, Madame (b-side of 'Bo-Bo's Party')
09 Baby Don't You Know Anymore (single 1971)
10 Joe (b-side of 'Baby Don't You Know Anymore')
11 Love Me Like A Lover (single 1971)
12 Smarty Pants (single 1973)
13 One Broken Heart For Sale (single 1974)
14 Great Male Robbery (b-side of 'One Broken Heart For Sale')

The Good Natured - Prism (2013)

The Good Natured were formed in 2008, by Berkshire schoolgirl Sarah McIntosh, who was the songwriter and front-woman, alongside her brother Hamish McIntosh on bass, and George Hinton on drums. Following a couple of self-relreased singles in 2008 and 2009, they released an 8-track mini-album titled 'Your Body Is A Machine' through Fastcut Records in Japan only, and following this they signed to Parlophone/Regal in 2011, releasing their first EP, 'Skeleton', that year. Reviews commented on Sarah's compellingly mature command of the nuances of serious pop music, combined with the darker, and often more sensual, emotional and lyrical content of the gothic. The band had been making a name for themselves with their early EP's, and in particular with their cover of Sufjan Stevens' 'For The Widows In Paradise', which they reworked as 'For The Fatherless In Ypsilanti', and they'd recorded their debut album for Parlophone in 2012, but before it could be released they were dropped by the label in 2013, and 'Prism' was shelved. After this disappointment the trio of Sarah, Hamish, and George became the more upbeat, pop-oriented Lovestarrs at the beginning of 2014, but Hinton left in 2015, and so Sarah & Hamish then successfully crowdfunded a pair of EP's and an album. In 2017, after the album's release on a label that promptly went defunct, the duo rebranded again, releasing and re-releasing selected tracks on streaming services under the name Sazzie. To see how they got to that point in their career, here is the abandoned 'Prism' album from their first band The Good Natured. 

Track listing

01 Your Body Is A Machine
02 Handprints
03 Sirens
04 5-HT
05 Lovers
06 Fire In The Back Of My Head
07 Skeleton
08 Arcade Love
09 Sting
10 Video Voyeur
11 Wolves
12 Dreaming Of Your Love

The Blow Monkeys - The Grantham Grizzlers (1990)

The Blow Monkeys formed in 1981 when Scottish singer, songwriter, guitarist, bassist, and piano player Bruce Robert Howard returned to the United Kingdom after having spent five years in Australia. Taking the name Dr. Robert from The Beatles' song 'Doctor Robert', he recruited bassist Mick Anker, saxophonist Neville Henry, and drummer Tony Kiley, while he took on the vocal duties. Behind the band's stylish veneer lay something else, which became increasingly apparent from Howards' witty and incisive lyrics, and while some of the Smash Hits generation avoided politics with a capital P, The Blow Monkeys openly criticised the policies of the Conservative government, railing against social injustices and adopting an openly left-of-centre stance on issues of the day. They released their first single 'Live Today Love Tomorrow' in 1982 through the small Parasol Records label, which attracted attention from the majors, and before long they'd signed to RCA Records, who released their second single, 'Go Public!' in 1984. 'The Man From Russia' came out three months later, followed later that year by their debut album 'Limping For A Generation'. This was an edgy mix of sinister post-punk, sensual glam rock, and dramatic late 60's pop, melding Howard's teenage obsession with Marc Bolan and T Rex with a love of Australian band the Laughing Clowns, which was a legacy of his teenage years spent down under. 

The band's sole release of 1985, 'Forbidden Fruit', introduced a more confident, well-rounded sound, and in 1986 the band released their second album, 'Animal Magic'. This was to prove to be their breakthrough record, as it included the single 'Digging Your Scene', which became their first hit record, reaching number 12 in the UK singles chart, and peaking at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their third album 'She Was Only A Grocer's Daughter' (whose title is a reference to then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher), was released in January 1987, and like its predecessor it included a song which was to become a massive hit for them, with 'It Doesn't Have to Be This Way' reaching No. 5 in the UK and No. 28 in Italy, and it was featured in the movie 'Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol'. Also in 1987, the band were asked to contribute to the soundtrack of the film 'Dirty Dancing', and given the shortest of sessions, they chose to cover Leslie Gore's 'You Don't Own Me'. They quickly forgot all about it, until the movie became the biggest-grossing film of its time, and the soundtrack stayed at No. 1 on the US charts for a staggering 18 weeks, earning the group some much appreciated royalties. Outside the group, Robert Howard released a single, 'Wait', which featured early Chicago House singer Kym Mazelle on lead vocals, and when it reached No. 7 on the UK chart, it was included on band's fourth album, 'Whoops! There Goes the Neighbourhood'. 

At the start of the new decade, dance music felt like the future, and The Blow Monkeys offered their own unique twist on it with their fifth album, 'Springtime For The World', which was released in 1990, but which turned out to be their least successful record, and shortly after its release the band split up. After briefly recording with Dee C. Lee as Slam Slam, Dr. Robert went solo, although he did contribute to Paul Weller's solo debut album, and co-wrote material with both Weller and Lee. On 18 November 2007, the original band members announced the reunion of The Blow Monkeys, as well as a new album, 'Devil's Tavern', and a tour in 2008. The record was released on 8 September 2008, being funded by pre-orders placed by fans, and its more mature sound received a favourable review in Q magazine, saying, "Their first album in 18 years still finds the frontman in fine voice; Robert continues to sound like he dresses only in velvet and smokes cigarillos." Their second album after reforming was the more upbeat 'Staring At The Sea' in 2011, and it was promoted by a new single, 'Steppin' Down', which was written about Robert's father, and they continue to tour and record, with their latest album coming out this year. As a reminder of how good the band were at their peak, here is a collection of their stand-alone singles, b-sides, and their contributions to the 'Dirty Dancing' soundtrack and an NME charity album.  

   

Track listing

Disc I - 1982-1986
01 Live Today Love Tomorrow (single 1982)
02 In Cold Blood (b-side of 'Live Today Love Tomorrow')
03 Rub-A-Dub-Shanka (b-side of 'Go Public!' 1984)
04 Resurrection Love (b-side of 'The Man From Russia' 1984)
05 Slither (b-side of 'The Man From Russia' 1984)
06 Kill The Pig (b-side of 'Atomic Lullaby' 1984)
07 My Twisty Jewel (b-side of 'Atomic Lullaby' 1984)
08 It's Not Unusual (b-side of 'Wildflower' 1985)
09 My America (b-side of 'Forbidden Fruit' 1985)
10 The Optimist (b-side of 'Forbidden Fruit' 1985)
11 It Doesn't Have To Dub That Way (b-side of 'It Doesn't Have To Be This Way' 1986)
12 Ask For More (b-side of 'It Doesn't Have To Be This Way' 1986)
13 Walking The Blue Beat (b-side of 'Wicked Ways' 1986)

Disc II - 1986-1990
01 Superfly (b-side of 'Don't Be Scared Of Me' 1986)
02 The Grantham Grizzler (b-side of 'Out With Her' 1987)
03 You Don't Own Me (from the soundtrack of the film 'Dirty Dancing' 1987)
04 Sweet Obsession (b-side of 'Some Kind Of Wonderful' 1987)
05 Huckleberry (b-side of 'Some Kind Of Wonderful' 1987)
06 This Day Today (b-side of 'This Is Your Life' 1988)
07 Let The Big Bad Dog Eat It (b-side of 'This Is Your Life' 1988)
08 Hingway! (b-side of 'It Pays To Belong' 1988)
09 Choice? (single 1989)
10 Oh Yeah! (b-side of 'Choice?')
11 Slaves No More (single with Sylvia Tella 1989)
12 Follow That Dream (from 'The Last Temptation Of Elvis' NME charity album 1990)

Antoinette - Little Things Mean A Lot (1966)

Marie Antoinette Daly was born in 1951 in Southend, Essex, and she landed her first recording contract with the Decca label in 1964, at the age of just 13. Her debut single, 'Jenny Let Him Go', included a young Jimmy Page on guitar, and was produced by Charles Blackwell, who worked on a number of gems for girl singers of the period, including French yé-yé singer Françoise Hardy and Britain’s Samantha Jones. It sounded like a cover of an American song, albeit with a distinctly British twang, and it suited Antoinette’s bratty vocals perfectly. She switched to the Piccadilly label for her next single, the Britgirl classic 'There He Goes (The Boy I Love)', which was released in September 1964, and this Shangri-Las-esque song was arguably one of Blackwell's best compositions. When it also flopped, Piccadilly turned to the US for inspiration, and she covered the Sapphires' 'Thank You For Loving Me' for her next single, which was released in 1965, as was the follow-up record 'Our House'. In 1966 she recorded her version of another US soul hit, and this time it was Tami Lynn's 'I'm Gonna Run Away From You', retitled 'Why Don't I Run Away From You', but despite suiting her effervescent style, she still couldn't get the hit that she wanted. She gave it one last try later in 1966, with her take on US girl group the Poppies' 'Lullaby Of Love' being her final 45 for Piccadilly, after which she switched labels again, this time to Columbia. Her one record for that label was a cover of Italian singer Caterina Caselli's 'L'uomo D'oro', retitled as 'Like The Big Man Said', and this time it was released under her real name of Toni Daly. When this record went the same way as the rest of her singles she was let go by Columbia, and her short career as a recording artist was over. It's a shame, as most of the songs on her records were fine examples of 60's girl pop, as you can hear on this collection of all of her mid-60's singles. 

Track listing

01 Jenny Let Him Go (single 1964)  
02 Please Don't Hurt Me Anymore (b-side of 'Jenny Let Him Go')
03 There He Goes (The Boy I Love) (single 1964)
04 Little Things Mean A Lot (b-side of 'There He Goes (The Boy I Love)')
05 Our House (single 1965)
06 What's-A Happening To Me (b-side of 'Our House')
07 Thank You For Loving Me (single 1965)
08 If You Really Love Me (b-side of 'Thank You For Loving Me')
09 Why Don't I Run Away (single 1966)
10 There's No One In The Whole Wide World (b-side of 'Why Don't I Run Away')
11 Lullaby Of Love (single 1966)
12 I'm For You (b-side of 'Lullaby Of Love')
13 Like The Big Man Said (L'uomo D'oro) (single as Toni Daly 1966)

The Onyx - Tamaris Khan (1971)

For anyone who enjoyed the recent post by The Onyx, and who wondered where all of the singles were that I mentioned in the notes, the simple answer is that I was saving them up for this post, which includes both sides of all of their singles from 1968 to 1971, including that classic title track.

Track listing

01 You've Gotta Be With Me (single 1968)
02 It's All Put On (b-side of 'You've Gotta Be With Me')
03 My Son John (single 1968)
04 Step By Step (b-side of 'My Son John')
05 Tamaris Khan (single 1969)
06 So Sad Inside (b-side of 'Tamaris Khan')
07 Time Off (single 1969)
08 Movin' On (b-side of 'Time Off')
09 The Next Stop Is Mine (single 1971)
10 What's That You Say (b-side of 'The Next Stop Is Mine') 
11 Our House (single 1971)
12 Air (b-side of 'Our House')

Bebe Rexha - Kill Me Back To Life (2015)

Bleta  "Bebe" Rexha was born on 30 August 1989, in Brooklyn, New York City into an ethnic Albanian family from North Macedonia. She took lessons and learned to play trumpet, and subsequently taught herself to play guitar and piano, and she attended Tottenville High School on Staten Island, where she sang in the choir and took part in a variety of musicals. As a teenager she submitted a song to be performed at the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences' annual "Grammy Career Day" event, and earned the "Best Teen Songwriter" award, beating around 700 other entrants. As a result, she signed a contract with talent scout Samantha Cox, who encouraged her to enrol in song-writing classes in Manhattan. In 2010 she met Fall Out Boy's bassist Pete Wentz and worked with him for a time in the band Black Cards, and when she left the group in 2013, she signed as a solo artist with Warner Bros. Records. Some of her songs had been recorded by artists like Selena Gomez and Nikki Williams, but her most prominent song-writing credit was for Eminem's and Rihanna's 'The Monster', which was released as the fourth single from Eminem's album 'The Marshall Mathers LP 2' in 2013. In March 2014 she released her debut single, 'I Can't Stop Drinking About You', which peaked at number 22 on the US Top Heatseekers chart, and in December she released two more singles, 'I'm Gonna Show You Crazy' and 'Gone'. 

On 12 May 2015 she released her debut EP, 'I Don't Wanna Grow Up', and she also co-wrote and was featured on David Guetta's single 'Hey Mama', alongside Nicki Minaj and Afrojack. After meeting Minaj's manager, Gee Roberson, she asked if Minaj would contribute to a new song, and in March 2016 they released the single 'No Broken Hearts'. In October Rexha released 'I Got You' as a taster for her upcoming album, which was also to include 'No Broken Hearts', but the direction changed from a full studio album to a multi EP project, and 'No Broken Hearts' was scrapped, making 'I Got You' the first and only single from 'All Your Fault: Pt. 1', which was released on 17 February 2017. The EP peaked at number 51 on the Billboard 200, and she began her first solo headlining tour, promoting the EP across North America and Europe. This wasn't the first time that Rexha had ditched recordings from a proposed release, as while the 2015 EP 'I Don't Wanna Grow Up' did feature five tracks, that was only about a quarter of what was recorded for it, and so here are the other fourteen songs which were rejected at the time. Rexha does have a witty turn of phrase in her song titles, and so this album is called 'Kill Me Back To Life'. 

Track listing

01 Cry Wolf
02 Kill Me Back To Life
03 Bad Bitches Don't Cry
04 Die Tonight (Kiss Me)
05 Mistake Like You
06 Worst Way
07 24/7
08 Rome Is Burning (feat. Sam James)
09 Starlight
10 Over This Love
11 You're A Bitch
12 The Lucky Ones
13 Dead Man Walking
14 Battle Cry (feat. Havana Brown)

Tintern Abbey - Vacuum Cleaner (1968)

Tintern Abbey were formed by Don Smith after meeting David MacTavish at the Overseas Visitors Club in Earl's Court London, and each of them added another member to the group, with Smith bringing in John Dalton, and MacTavish introducing Stuart MacKay into the band. After discovering a mutual love of the poems of William Wordsworth, and in particular his 'Tintern Abbey', the group named themselves after the poem. They released only one 45rpm single on Deram Records, with a re-titled 'Busy Bee' as the lead track, and 'Beeside'/'Vacuum Cleaner' came out in December 1967. However, the Jonathan Webber-produced single failed to sell, and so although the proposed follow-up record 'Snowman' had reached mastering stage, Smith left the group. After Smith's departure, Paul Brett was added as a guitarist, and he was joined by organist Terry Goldberg, originally of the Mark Leeman Five, with this new line up recording what would have been their second single 'How Do I Feel Today'/'Do What You Must', which was slated for an April 1968 release, although in the end it never appeared. A full-length album was allegedly meant to follow in August 1968, and although recording sessions took place at Tony Pike's studios in Putney, London, by the time August rolled around the group had disbanded, and the album never appeared. Since the band's breakup, the 'Beeside'/'Vacuum Cleaner' single has been highly sought after by collectors, selling at £1000 plus, and it's been hailed as one of the best examples of British psychedelia. As such, the band has become something of a cult favourite among fans of British psyche, and so an album from them would have been most welcome. In 2006 a 7" vinyl EP of tracks recorded in 1968 was released by Paul Brett and John Dalton as a charity benefit for Oxfam, while other recordings have also since surfaced, and so we are now in a position to take the best of these 1967 and 1968 sessions and imagine what an album from the band would have sounded like if it had appeared as intended in 1968.

Track listing

01 Vacuum Cleaner
02 Tanya
03 Seeds Of Discord
04 Bodmin Blow
05 Black Jack
06 It's Just That The People Can't See 
07 Busy Bee
08 Hookah
09 Do What You Must
10 My Prayer
11 How Do I Feel Today
12 Snowman
13 Let The Wind Blow

The Settlers - On The Other Side (1976)

The Settlers started as a trio, consisting of Cynthia Kent on vocals and tambourine, Mike Jones on vocals and guitar, and John Fyffe on banjo, but almost immediately they expanded by adding Mansel Davies on double bass, although he left in 1965 to pursue a career in teaching, and was replaced by Geoff Srdzinski. The group were initially known as the Birmingham Folk Four, but after their first single, 'Settle Down', was a moderate success, they changed their name to The Settlers, and before long they were offered a six-month residency on a BBC television series, 'Singalong', which led to support bookings on tours with, among others, Dusty Springfield, Roy Orbison and The Small Faces. Although they are generally thought of as a folk group, like the successful Australian group The Seekers, with which they shared marked similarities, they also performed material which gravitated towards mainstream pop. Like contemporaries Peter, Paul and Mary, We Five, and The Byrds, they readily absorbed folk influences in various ways in the mid-1960's, and their melodic style was largely ingrained before the advent of British folk-rock in the guise of Fairport Convention and Pentangle later in the sixties. The group's first single as The Settlers was 'Sassafras', released in 1964, and they followed this with a four-track EP of Lionel Bart songs, including 'Maggie, Maggie May' and 'The Ballad Of The Liver Bird'. 

In 1966 they had a hit with their rendition of The Beatles' 'Nowhere Man', and together with The Overlanders' 1966 UK No.1 hit, 'Michelle', and the Truth's version of 'Girl', these were among the best known covers of songs from the Fab Four's 'Rubber Soul' album. However, although 'Nowhere Man' reached a high of No.5 in Radio London's non-sales-based Fab 40 in March 1966, and the group's spirited version of Gordon Lightfoot's 'Early Morning Rain' received a good deal of airplay in May 1966, The Settlers did not succeed in enjoying a Top 40 hit during the 1960's, and it was to be 1971 before 'The Lightning Tree' reached No. 36 in the UK singles chart, helped in no small way by its use as the theme tune of the British TV series 'Follyfoot'. Kent, like Judith Durham of The Seekers, attracted attention as the most recognizable face of the group, and was originally known for her fine singing voice, photogenic good looks, and tendency to wear mini-skirts, although later her public espousal of Christianity became the media focus, particularly when it brought her into contact with Cliff Richard, and she was later ordained as a priest in the Church of England. 

Shortly after recording a religious album, 'I Am Your Servant', in 1973, she left the group, and the remaining members transitioned from acoustic four-part pop folk harmony, to a more contemporary five-piece electric sound, with Mike Jones being joined by Kent's replacement Andie Sheridan, plus Paul Greedus on guitar/vocals, Chris Johnstone on bass/vocals, and George Jeffrey on drums. In 1974 they recorded an album for York Records, entitled 'The New Sound Of The Settlers', but this line-up only lasted two years, disbanding in 1976, with Jones then setting about recruiting replacements. He asked Steve Somers-Smith, a young singer/songwriter from Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, who had won the National TV talent show 'New Faces', to join him, and together they searched for a new singer, eventually finding Valery Ann (also known as Valeryan, or Valerie Anne Lawrence), who had released a single on Decca in 1965 while she was still at school. This new line-up of Valery Ann, Jones, Greedus and Jeffry then went into the studios to record 'Whichaway Billy' for Riverdale Records, and this was released as a single in October 1976, by which time Valery Ann had already left to pursue a solo career, after only nine months with the group. The band soldiered on with numerous other female singers until Patty Vetta, a rising talent on the British folk scene, joined them, but their glory days were now behind them, and so as a reminder of their heydey in the 60's, here is a selection of singles and b-sides, unfortunately omitting their first three records, which are now impossible to track down. 

 
Track listing

01 Woman Called Freedom (single 1965)
02 I Know I'm Right (b-side of 'Woman Called Freedom')
03 Nowhere Man (single 1966)
04 Call Again (b-side of 'Nowhere Man')
05 Early Morning Rain (single 1966)
06 Without You (b-side of 'Early Morning Rain')
07 On The Other Side (single 1966)
08 Can't Stop Following You (b-side of 'On The Other Side')
09 Always On My Mind (single 1966)
10 You Can't Win (b-side of 'Always On My Mind')
11 'Til Winter Follows Spring (single 1966)
12 Do You Want To Know The Reason (b-side of ''Til Winter Follows Spring')
13 Major To Minor (single 1967)
14 I Love Oo Kazoo Cos O Love Me (b-side of 'Major To Minor')
15 Penny To My Name (b-side of 'As Long As There's Love' 1968)
16 Nessie The Monster (single 1970)
17 Whichaway Billy (single 1976)
18 Hobbit Land (b-side of 'Whichaway Billy')

Thanks to Unknown, who suggested a Settlers post, and which I shot down as being too hard to track down their original material, but I stumbled on a stash of their singles, so here it is. 

 

Rickie Page - I Cry Inside (1965)

Rickie Page was born June Evelyn Kuykendall in Lindsay, Oklahoma on 7 November 1929, and she began singing as soon as she could talk, singing along to the radio, accompanied by her father. The whole family would often get together for hoe downs, where it seemed everyone could either sing, play some instrument, or both. The family moved to Fresno while June was growing up, and she had dreams of becoming a songwriter, which led her to leave home for Hollywood in search of fame and fortune, with nothing in her pocket but ten dollars cash. She took a job waiting tables at a Jewish deli that was popular with folk in the music business at the time, and it was there in 1956 that she served a milkshake to a guy who gave her a five dollar tip and then asked the hostess about her. He was George Motola, and after hearing about June's aspirations as a songwriter, he invited her up to his office for an interview. She eventually went with a friend to accompany her, and she was surprised to find that he worked in the same office as Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, who were writing material for the Coasters and Elvis Presley. She played Motola some of her compositions, but he wasn't very interested in them, and instead he liked her voice enough to offer her the chance of becoming a singer, and it was at this point that she decided to pick a stage name that sounded youthful, and came up with Rickie Page. In the end Motola relented, and he and Page starting writing songs together, coming up with over 100 between them. 

One of the many songs they wrote together was 'Johnny Johnny Johnny' for the G Notes in 1958, with all vocals being done by Page, and with Eddie Cochran sitting in and playing guitar on the session. He loved the song and asked permission to record it, which he did, changing the name to 'Jeannie Jeannie Jeannie' and it was almost a top 30 hit in the UK. Page's singing career took off in the late 50's, with releases on Liberty, Dot, Zephyr, and Rendezvous, sometimes recording with her sister Sonya, and sometimes with some combination of her three daughters. She also released records under a number of aliases on the Con, Landa, Decca, Epic, Era, Fleet, Hit, Landa, Spar, United Artists, and VIP labels, using a huge variety of names, including The Georgettes, The Bermudas, Joanne And The Triangles, The Majorettes, Beverly And The Motorscooters, Becky And The Lollipops, June And Joy, and The Page Sisters. Even her own records appeared under a variety of name, with solo releases as Rickie Page, Ricky Page, and even Ricki Page. She worked with many other artists and producers over the years, including Darlene Love and Phil Spector, The Blossoms, The Righteous Brothers, and Sonny And Cher, and throughout 1963 Page and Motola also ran their own record label, Troy Records. In September 1965 the pair moved to Nashville, and in 1968 she did a budget cover of Jeannie C Riley's 'Harper Valley PTA' on Spar Records, which managed to get a lot of local airplay in Seattle and Vancouver. This spurred her on to a later career in country music, and she became a member of The Nashville Edition, singing with the Jordanaires, and appearing regularly on the Hee-Haw television show. This collection of her music concentrates on her solo career under the various spellings of Rickie Page, her pseudonyms Bridget, Cinders, Sheila North, and Rick And Al, as well as an early recording by The Page Sisters, and a duet with Bill Carey. 

Track listing

01 Sweet Sweetheart (single by The Page Sisters 1957)
02 Wee Willie (single 1957)
03 I'm Old Enough Now (b-side of 'Wee Willie')
04 Never Like This (b-side of 'Toy Telephone' 1958)
05 (It's No) Sin (single 1958)
06 I Promise (single as Bill Carey & Ricky Page 1958)
07 Forever (single 1959)
08 Yes I'm Lonesome Tonight (single 1960)
09 Standing On A Mountain Top (b-side of 'Yes I'm Lonesome Tonight')
10 I Understand (Just How You Feel) (b-side of 'Every Time (You're Mine)' 1961)
11 Why Did You Lie (b-side of 'Je Vous Aime' 1961)
12 Little Boy (single as Bridget 1962)
13 All I Do Is Dream Of You (single as Rick And Al 1963)
14 My Boyfriend (single 1963)
15 I Won't Play Second Fiddle (single as Sheila North 1964)
16 Golly Gee (b-side of 'I Won't Play Second Fiddle')
17 I'll Follow You (single as Cinders 1964)
18 I Cry Inside (single 1965)
19 I'm His Girl (No One Knows Him But Me) (b-side of 'I Cry Inside')

Kanye West - Donda: With Child (2021)

A month after 'Jesus Is King' was released in 2019, Kanye West began working on his tenth studio album, and after calling on producer BoogzDaBeast to join him, in March 2020 they began recording new music in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, before he returned to Wyoming with his family due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial version of 'Donda' was set for release on 24 July 2020, under the title of 'God's Country', but it experienced multiple delays and continuous alterations to its songs and track-list prior to its final release. The album's style has been described as an amalgamation of hip hop, gospel, progressive rap, and pop, and incorporates elements of trap and drill. It is both minimalist and maximalist, with darker lyrical content and production in comparison to West's prior efforts, in addition to a reduced use of drums and complete absence of profanity. Themes explored include the convergence of West's Christian faith, righteousness, his estrangement from his then-wife Kim Kardashian, and his late mother Donda West, after whom the album is named. After missing the first release date, West held further recording sessions at Bighorn Mountain Ranch in Greybull, Wyoming in July 2020, with Lil Baby recording a verse for 'Hurricane', and in September he recorded music with Buju Banton and Saint Jhn in Jamaica. Work on the record was then postponed until March 2021, when he resumed recording amid his divorce from his wife Kim Kardashian, and in July he held a listening event for the re-named 'Donda' at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, after which he took up temporary residence in one of the locker rooms, converting it into a studio for finishing the recording and mixing with producer Mike Dean. 

After failing to meet the album's scheduled release date of 23 July 2021, West continued to record and live in Mercedes-Benz Stadium up until the second listening party held there on 5 August 2021. 'Donda' was released on 29 August 2021 by GOOD Music, after experiencing several delays to it's release date, and it was West's last release with the label, following the expiry of his contract. The album was met with polarizing reviews from music critics, with some criticizing it mercilessly, while others hailed it as the rapper's best album since 'Yeezus'. The 'Donda: With Child' era has a lot of unreleased content, the majority of which would leak around September 2023, and fans have been compiling alternative running orders for an expanded album ever since. Some are happy just to use the original leaks, while others have remixed them, or added extra instruments, but for this post I've listened to a number of different versions, and tried to use just the music that West recorded. I haven't used any tracks that appeared on the official release under the same title, even if the music was drastically different, and that means that this album is a completely stand-alone piece, possibly more in line with the original 'God's Country', as it includes a number of songs from those sessions. The cover is the original iconic green-red-blue artwork that ended up being replaced with an all-black image on the album's official release. 

Track listing

01 Donda / Blood Of The Lamb 
02 With Child / Precious 
03 Run (Cops Flash Put 'Em Up) 
04 Life Of The Party 
05 In God's Country 
06 God's Country 
07 Alien 
08 Welcome To My Life 
08 New Body 
10 12,000 Acres  
11 Our King 
12 Eternal Life 
13 This Is The Glory
14 Wake The Dead 
15 Spread My Wings/Off The Meds

Denim - Denim Take Over (1997)

Denim were formed in the early 90's following the disbanding of Lawrence Hayward's first band, the highly-regarded Felt. Known for the frequent disputes with his bandmates during the decade-long run of his first band, it came as little surprise that for his next project, he was not merely the uncontested leader, but the sole constant member. Denim was not a band in the traditional sense, but instead, Hayward worked with a revolving cast of musicians for Denim's various studio projects and live appearances. The band also found Hayward setting aside the lush but wiry guitar-based pop that was Felt's calling card, and instead founded a new sound inspired by glam rock, 70's pop, and distaff offshoots of early new wave, with the eclectic music tied together by Hayward's dryly witty, often bitterly satiric lyrics. Denim made its debut in 1992 with the album 'Back In Denim', in which Hayward celebrated the '70s with the song 'The Osmonds', and revealed his contempt for what followed on 'I'm Against the 1980's'. Recorded over the space of two years and released by Boys Own Records, the album fared well with critics but didn't sell especially well, and it wasn't until 1996 that Denim released their second record, the sprawling and eclectic 'Denim On Ice', which was issued by Echo Records, a UK imprint affiliated with Japan's Pony Canyon Records, but once again, record buyers proved less enthusiastic than critics. In early 1997, Denim shifted labels once again, this time to EMI, and their label debut was the collection of b-sides and unreleased tracks, 'Novelty Rock', but by late summer of 1997 Denim were gearing up for the release of their third album, 'Denim Take Over', and in advance of its release they planned to release 'Summer Smash' as the lead single. Copies were sent to radio and press in anticipation of an early September release date, but while initial reaction suggested Denim might have had a hit on their hands, the single was derailed by the death of Princess Diana in a car crash on 31 August 1997. Following Diana's death, EMI decided that releasing a song called 'Summer Smash' would be in poor taste, and they not only cancelled the release of the single and destroyed all copies still in their hands, but they shelved 'Denim Take Over' permanently. Following this frustrating turn of events, Hayward retired Denim, though he did re-record a few songs from the unissued album with his subsequent project, Go-Kart Mozart, but if you have fond memories of Denim and want to hear that third album, then here it is. 

Track listing

01 Denim Take Over
02 Island In The Sun
03 Delta Echo Echo Beta Alpha Neon Kettle
04 Lorra Laughs, Cilla
05 Summer Smash
06 West Brom Blues
07 Olly Olly
08 Transgressions
09 Sun's Out
10 City Centre
11 Synth Wizard
12 Robot Voice
13 City Of The Dead
14 Men Look At Women

Tuesday's Children - Bright Eyed Apples (1969)

Tuesday's Children were formed in 1966 by Phil Cordell, Mick Ware and Derrick Gough, who had been in a North London band called Steve Douglas And The Challengers, who later changed their name to The Prophets. The Prophets did some recording with producer Joe Meek, but nothing was ever issued, and when Steve Douglas and Freddie Fields left, the remaining members reformed the band as Tuesday's Children, adding Paul Kendrick on bass guitar and Derrick Gough on drums. The band signed to E.M.I. in 1966, and their debut single, 'When You Walk In The Sand', was written by Phil Cordell and was recorded at Maximum Sound studio in The Old Kent Road, London. It was released on the Columbia label in August 1966, and the flip was another Phil Cordell-penned track, 'High And Drifting'. 'When You Walk In The Sand' was in the Radio London Fab Forty for 2 weeks, but despite this moderate success, Cordell quit the band in summer of 1967 and subsequently had solo hits as Springwater. In August 1967 Tuesday's Children re-formed, drafting in Bob Hodges on Hammond organ, Phil McKenzie on tenor sax, and Roger Davies on baritone sax. Trumpet player Hilary Roy also joined and did four gigs with the group in September 1967, and 'Baby's Gone' was recorded at Abbey Road studios in September/October 1967, with the whole band playing on the session, alongside some brass players from producer Jack Dorsey's band. The song was written by Peter Callander and Mitch Murray and was released on the Pye label in November 1967, backed by Mick Ware's 'Guess I'm Losing You'. By December 1967, Tuesday's Children had become a four-piece again with the departure of Roger Davies and Phil McKenzie, and this line-up recorded two songs at the Chappel studio in New Bond Street in July 1968. By then the band were signed to Philips Records, who released their final single 'Bright Eyed Apples', but this song was relegated to the b-side after the other track 'She' had featured in the short film '29', which starred Alexis Kanner of the TV series 'Softly Softly' and 'The Prisoner'. By 1969, Tuesday's Children were changing direction, adapting to the new sounds and trends of the music scene, and they eventually renamed themselves Czar, and purveyed a much heavier sound, releasing a classic self-titled album in 1970. Had Tuesday's Children had a bit more luck after the, albeit, limited success of that first single then they might have stuck around long enough at Philips/Mercury to release this album.  

Track listing

01 In The Valley Of The Shadow Of Love
02 She
03 Doubtful Nellie
04 Ritual Fire Dance  
05 Mr. Kipling
06 When You Walk In The Sand
07 Bright Eyed Apples
08 High And Drifting
09 Baby's Gone
10 Guess I'm Losing You
11 Strange Light From The East
12 Ain't You Got A Heart

Vanessa Amorosi - Change (2002)

Vanessa Joy Amorosi was born on 8 August 1981 in Melbourne, Australia, and by the age of four she and her younger sisters, Mellissa and Natasha, were taking tap, jazz and classical ballet classes run by her uncle. At the age of 12 she started to perform in shopping centres and local council concerts under the supervision of her family, and in 1997 she signed a management contract with MarJac Productions and recorded a promo CD titled 'Get Here', which secured her a deal with Transistor Music Australia. In 1999 she released her debut single 'Have A Look', which became a Top 20 hit and went gold in Australia, and she followed that with 'Absolutely Everybody', an anthemic dance song, which reached the Top 10. When it was released internationally it also reached the Top 10 in many European countries, including the UK and Germany, where it received a gold certification. Two more singles followed, with 'Shine' and the double A-sided single 'The Power'/'Every Time I Close My Eyes' becoming major Australian hits, and a remixed version of 'Shine' was used by the airline Ansett Australia in a commercial. In 2000 she released her official debut album 'The Power', which went to number one on the Australian album charts, and she received six ARIA nominations at that year's awards. Her largest audience came in September 2000, with performances at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and at the Paralympic Games, and later that year she also made a special appearance at the Goodwill Games Opening and Closing ceremonies in Brisbane. 

In October 2001 she released an Australian only compilation album, with 'Turn To Me' featuring some new songs, and tracks from 'The Power', which were previously unreleased in Australia. In 2002 she recorded her second studio album, 'The Change', but it was only ever released in Germany, and contains the previous released singles 'One Thing Leads 2 Another', which debuted at No. 67 on the German Singles Chart, and the Australian exclusive single-release 'Spin (Everybody's Doin' It)', which became a top 50 hit on the ARIA Charts, and peaked at number 64 on the German Top 100. In February 2003 she travelled to Germany to perform her third single 'True To Yourself' on the hugely successful long-running show 'Wetten, dass..?', which screens throughout Europe. 'Change' was set to be released in Australia later in 2003, but for reasons unknown it remains unreleased there, and it never seems to have been considered for a UK or US release. In January 2006 she revealed that she had signed with manager Ralph Carr, having completed seven years with MarJac Productions, and in November she signed to Universal Music Australia, who released her second studio album 'Somewhere In The Real World' in May 2008. Despite her long absence from the music scene, after singing 'Kiss Your Mama!' on Australian Idol she returned to the charts, with the single release peaking at number 15. 'Change', however, was now long forgotten, and it's a shame that it received such a limited release, as it's a great album, and to show you just how good, here it is for you to enjoy.  

Track listing

01 One Thing Leads 2 Another  
02 Turning Up The Heat  
03 Spin (Everybody's Doin' It)
04 Dream  
05 Change  
06 Lifted Up  
07 Back In Love  
08 Who's Lovin' You  
09 True To Yourself  
10 Follow Me  
11 Bitter Twist 
12 Sometimes Happiness

Frumious Bandersnatch - Can-A-Bliss (1968)

Originally from Lafayette, California, Frumious Bandersnatch named themselves after a character from Lewis Carroll's short poem 'Jabberwocky', having previously been known as All Night Flight. Lead guitarist David Denny was joined by local guitarists Jimmy Warner and Bob Winkelman to create a trio of raging fuzz guitars which blew the minds of any heads lucky enough to experience their winding compositions, and after they were joined by bassist Ross Valory and the group's lynchpin drummer Jack King, the ensemble recorded their sole EP in early 1968, and paid for 1000 copies to be pressed up. These flew off the shelves of Bay-area record shops and completely sold out after only a few weeks, but despite all the positive feedback, including gigs at many of the Bay's biggest venues, the group's manager, Jim Nixon, hampered the group's chances for a major-label record contract, despite several attractive offers. The band lingered for awhile before folding in late 1969, with some members going on to play in Faun, the arena-rocking legends Journey, and the Bay-area acid-rockers The Steve Miller Band. While a nice collection of their outtakes and live performances have been released as 'Golden Songs Of Libra' and 'A Young Man's Song', nothing on either of these compilations compares to the group's sole vintage vinyl offering. 

The EP opens with Jack King's 'Hearts To Cry', which was one of their finest moments, and this is followed by the short, swinging 'Misty Cloudy', before filling side two with the seven minute tour-de-force which is 'Cheshire', once again inspired by Lewis Carroll's famous cat. Luckily for us the band also laid down some other tracks while recording the EP, and these were spread over the two compilations, but by taking just the studio recordings, starting with an alternate take of 'Hearts To Cry', and including two lengthy pieces in the style of 'Cheshire', we can make up an album-length collection of the band's studio work from 1968, which they never managed to release during their lifetime. Frumious Bandersnatch have always been one of my very favourite Bay Area bands, and so I was thrilled to find that The Ultimate Psychedelic Vinyl HQ site has ripped an original copy of the band's EP in its original stereo incarnation, as the versions on Big Beat's 'Nuggets From The Golden State: The Berkeley EPs', were transferred from analogue tapes, with post-production done by David Young, and were in fact stereo remixes completely different from the original vinyl. So as a special treat, I'm including this rip of the original vinyl EP with the album, so we now have just about everything that the band recorded in the studio. The sole exception is a song, which if I recall correctly, they wrote as an advertisement for a local paper company, and while it's actually pretty good, it doesn't really belong here, and you can soon find it online if you really want to hear it. So if you have the slightest interest in late 60's West Coast psyche and you haven't heard this band, then prepare to have your mind blown. 

Track listing

01 Hearts To Cry
02 Chain Reaction
03 Woodrose Syrup
04 Pulpit Huff
05 Now That You've Gone
06 45 Cents
07 Black Box
08 Can-A-Bliss

plus Original 1968 EP

01 Hearts To Cry (Take 2)
02 Misty Cloudy
03 Cheshire

Jay-Z - Addicted To The Game (2001)

Jay-Z spent much of 2001 involved in disputes with other rappers, starting with a clash with Prodigy, after he took an issue with a Jay-Z line from 'Money, Cash, Hoes' that he felt alluded disparagingly to Mobb Deep and Prodigy's dispute with Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, and Death Row Records. Jay-Z later performed the song 'Takeover' at Summer Jam 2001, which initially attacked Prodigy, and had a line which referred to Nas, who criticized him on 'We Will Survive', to which Nas responded with a diss of his own, and Jay-Z straightaway added a verse to 'Takeover' that dissed Nas, and which would start a feud between the two rappers which lasted for four years. In September 2001 Jay-Z released his sixth studio album, 'The Blueprint', which he'd written in just two days, and which sold more than 427,000 copies, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200. Eminem guest performed and produced the track 'Renegade', while four others were produced by Kanye West, and it included future favourites 'Izzo (H.O.V.A.)', 'Girls, Girls, Girls', and 'Song Cry'. In October 2001, Jay-Z pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for stabbing record producer Lance Rivera at the Kit Kat Klub in New York City in 1999, but despite his sentence of three years probation for the crime, Rivera later recanted the allegations in 2023. By the end of this eventful year there were a dozen or so unreleased tracks from the 'Blueprint' sessions floating around the internet, so here is the fourth collection of out-takes from the rapper, this one covering the year 2001.    

Track listing

01 20 Bag Shorty (feat. Boo Gotti) 
02 People's Court 
03 Murda Marcyville (feat. Memphis Bleek & Geda K)
04 Show You How
05 Rock Steady (feat. Mary J Blige)
06 It's Obvious (feat. Rell) 
07 Mi Amor (feat. Angie Martinez) 
08 Addicted To The Game 
09 I Get High (feat. Memphis Bleek, Freeway & Young Gunz)
10 Supa Ugly 
11 Murda Marcyville (Remix) 

Diana Dors - I Feel So Mmm... (1981)

Diana Dors was born Diana Mary Fluck on 23 October 1931, and was an English actress who cast very much in the role of the British blonde bombshell to rival Americans stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and Mamie Van Doren. From the age of eight, Hollywood actresses Veronica Lake, Lana Turner, and Jean Harlow became her heroines, and she enjoyed going to the cinema to watch them. Towards the end of the war she entered a beauty contest to find a pin-up girl for Soldier Magazine and she came in third place, which led her to work as a model in art classes, and she began to appear in such local theatre productions as 'A Weekend In Paris' and 'Death Takes A Holiday'. Her screen debut was in the noir film 'The Shop at Sly Corner' in 1947, and it was while signing the contract with the studio that she changed her name to Dors, after her maternal grandmother. She later joked that it was because "the studio were afraid that if her real name of Diana Fluck was in lights and one of the lights blew ...". At the age of 15, Dors signed a contract with the Rank Organisation, and joined J. Arthur Rank's "Charm School" for young actors, subsequently appearing in many of their films. Rank promoted her to leading roles in 1949's 'Diamond City', the story of a boom town in South Africa in 1870. In April 1952 she appeared in a stage revue with Wally Chrisham, 'Rendezvous', which eventually made it to London, and a review in Variety said that she made the "only noteworthy contribution" to the play, which ultimately only had a short run. In March 1953, Dors did a cabaret act in Glasgow, and she began touring a variety act, and performed variations of this act throughout her career. 

This also led to a 78rpm single being released in 1953, with the suggestive 'I Feel So Mmm...' as the A-side, but despite the record showing that she had a fine singing voice, it was to be seven years before she signed a record deal with Pye Records, and recorded the now much praised 'Swingin' Dors' album. A couple of singles were released from it, and then another three year gap ensued, while she continued her film career, and branched out into acting on TV shows, such as 'Burke's Law' and 'The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'. Her recording career continued sporadically, with new records coming out in 1964 and 1966, but by 1968 she was appearing in the stage musicals 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' and 'Doctor Doolittle'. From 1970 to 1972  Dors starred in three series of the UK TV sitcom 'Queenie's Castle' as the titular Queenie, and during this period she also appeared in episodes of UK dramas 'Z Cars', 'Dixon Of Dock Green', 'Just William', 'The Sweeney', 'Hammer House Of Horror', and 'Shoestring'. She released another single in 1977, followed four years later by her last recording 'Where Did They Go' in 1981. Unusually for a recording artist of her fame, her musical career spanned 30 years and yet only consisted of seven singles, but as there were cast recordings issued of the two musicals that she starred in, we also have examples of her theatre work to add to those 45's. So here is a summary of the musical career of one of the most glamourous British film stars of the 40's, 50's and 60's, and I don't think I'll be the only person to remark on what a surprise it is to find out what a fine voice she had. 

Track listing

01 I Feel So Mmm... (single 1953)
02 A Kiss And A Cuddle (And A Few Kind Words From You) (b-side of 'I Feel So Mmm...')
03 So Little Time (single 1964)
04 It's Too Late (b-side of 'So Little Time')
05 Security (single 1966)
06 Garry (b-side of 'Security')
07 Do It Again (from the cast recording of 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' 1968)
08 Jazz Baby (from the cast recording of 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' 1968)
09 At The Crossroads (from the cast recording of 'Doctor Dolittle' 1968)
10 Fabulous Places (from the cast recording of 'Doctor Dolittle' 1968)
11 I Think I Like You (from the cast recording of 'Doctor Dolittle' 1968)
12 Passing By (single 1977)
13 It's A Small World (b-side of 'Passing By')
14 Where Did They Go (single 1981)
15 It's You Again (b-side of 'Where Did They Go' as Diana & Gary Dors)

Jesus Jones - Starting From Scratch (2004)

Jesus Jones were one of the leading purveyors of the early 1990's alternative dance scene, and were formed in late 1988, when while on holiday in Spain, Mike Edwards, Gen, and Al Doughty decided to leave the band they were in at the time, and form their own. The name of the band came about when they realised that they were three "Joneses" sitting on a beach in Spain surrounded by people called Jesus, and once they were back in London they advertised in the music press for a guitarist, and Jerry De Borg joined the band. Edwards had recently met Iain Baker in a pub in North London, and they had got talking as fellow skateboarders, and Edwards asked Baker to join as the keyboardist. This line-up recorded their first album 'Liquidizer', which was released on Food Records in 1989, and it was greeted with critical acclaim, in particular the single 'Info Freako', which featured buzzing rock guitars with samples and a hip-hop sensibility, which was relatively new at the time. In the spring of 1990, Jesus Jones recorded their second album, 'Doubt', but their record label was forced to delay its release until the beginning of 1991, but it sold well, helped by the success of the 'Right Here, Right Now' single, which reached No. 2 in the US and No. 31 in the UK. Other singles from Doubt included 'Real, Real, Real' and 'International Bright Young Thing', which became two of their biggest hit singles in the UK, reaching No. 19 and No. 7 respectively. The follow-up to 'Doubt' was 1993's 'Perverse', a darker and more industrial based album, which, though a big seller, did not reach the worldwide hit status of 'Doubt', although it was one of the first rock albums recorded entirely digitally. 

Possibly due to the poorer sales of the 'Perverse' album, the band took an extended hiatus and did not return to the recording studio until December 1996. After the recording of their fourth album, drummer Gen left the band before the album was released, and when 'Already' did appear in 1997, it signalled the end of their record deal with Food/EMI, and they parted company. The band broke up shortly afterwards, although the members remained in contact, and they came back with new drummer Tony Arthy in 2001, releasing the low-selling 'London' album on indie label Mi5 Recordings, while EMI issued the greatest hits compilation 'Never Enough: the Best of Jesus Jones' as a spoiler to their re-formation. Following the release of the 'Culture Vulture EP' in 2004, no new studio material from the band would appear until 2016, when they released 'How's This Even Going Down?' and 'Suck |It Up' from new album 'Passages', which eventually came out in 2018, followed shortly by a collection of demos titled 'Voyages' the same year. The single 'Right Here, Right Now' was resurrected in 2006 as an advertising jingle for the American retailer Kmart, in an image campaign for CBS News, in promotional advertisements for the now defunct television channel, TechTV, and by the Ford Motor Company in their 2010 televisual advertising campaign, all of which helped keep the band's name alive. During their 15 year career they released quite a few singles, nearly all of which had exclusive non-album tracks or significantly differing remixes on the b-sides, and so as a reminder of one of the founders of the indie/dance scene, they are all collected together here, along with a couple of their idiosyncratic covers gifted to compilation albums. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1989-1990
01 Broken Bones (b-side of 'Info Freako' 1989)
02 Info Sicko (b-side of 'Info Freako' 1989)
03 Enough - Never Enough (b-side of 'Never Enough' 1989)
04 It's The Winning That Counts (b-side of 'Never Enough' 1989)
05 Cut And Dried (b-side of 'Bring It On Down' 1989)
06 None Of The Answers (b-side of 'Bring It On Down' 1989)
07 Beat It Down (b-side of 'Bring It On Down' 1989)

08 I Don't Want That Kind Of Love (from 'The Food Christmas EP' 1989)
09 Dead People's Lives (b-side of 'Real Real Real' 1990)
10 Barry D Next To Cleanliness (b-side of 'Real Real Real' 1990)
11 Move Me (b-side of 'Right Here Right Now' 1990) 
12 Damn Good At This (b-side of 'Right Here Right Now' 1990) 

Disc II - 1990-1993
01 Maryland (b-side of 'International Bright Young Thing' 1990)
02 Need To Know (b-side of 'International Bright Young Thing' 1990)
03 IBYT 12 (b-side of 'International Bright Young Thing' 1990)
04 Who? Where? Why? (The 7" Crisis Mix) (single 1991)
05 Caricature (b-side of 'Who? Where? Why?')
06 Kill Today (b-side of 'Who? Where? Why?')
07 Phoenix (b-side of 'The Devil You Know' 1992)
08 Want To Know (Knowledge Mix) (b-side of 'The Devil You Know' 1992)
09 Voodoo Chile (from the 'Ruby Trax' compilation 1992)
10 Starting From Scratch (b-side of 'The Right Decision' 1993)

Disc III - 1997-2004
01 Natural State Of Grey (b-side of 'Chemical #1' 1997)
02 Change Of Season (b-side of 'Chemical #1' 1997)
03 We Are So Fragile (from the Gary Numan tribute album 'Random' 1997)
04 Man On The Moon (b-side of 'The Next Big Thing' 1997)
05 Far Out In Nowhere (b-side of 'The Next Big Thing' 1997)
06 Together (b-side of 'The Next Big Thing' 1997)
07 Wired And Windburned (b-side of 'In The Face Of All This' 2002)
08 Come On Home (single 2002)
09 Culture Vulture (single 2004)
10 Find The Dial (b-side of 'Culture Vulture')
11 Head In The Sand (b-side of 'Culture Vulture')
12 Halfway House (b-side of 'Culture Vulture')

Azie Mortimer - Put Yourself In My Place (1973)

Azie Mortimer was a nightclub singer who performed jazz when appearing live, but recorded primarily as a soul or R&B singer out of Chicago. She recorded for a variety of record labels at the start of her career, issuing one-off singles on the Bigtop, Regatta, Troy, Palette and Swan labels between 1960 and 1963, before being given a chance by some of the bigger labels like Epic and RCA Victor. In the end she went back to Troy Records in 1968 for a couple more records, before moving on to Number One Records for three singles in 1969. In 1971 she released her sole album, 'Feeling Of Jazz', which as the title suggests was a jazz vocal record, despite the fact that nearly all of her singles were in the soul and R&B genre. In 1967 she married renowned academic Mort Kaplan, and she predeceased him by a few months, with them both passing away in 2017. Mortimer left behind a largely ignored body of work, possible because she didn't have a steady label behind her who could promote her records, but this hour long collection showcases some of the fine music that she produced in her decade long career in the 60s'. And in case you're wondering, the intro to 'The Best Years (Of Our Lives)' is supposed to sound like that.   

Track listing 

01 Lips (single 1960)
02 Wrapped Up In A Dream (b-side of 'Lips')
03 Treat Me Like You Love Me (single 1961) 
04 Little Playboy (single 1962)
05 A Forever Kind Of Love (b-side of 'Little Playboy')
06 Mama, What Should I Do (single 1962)
07 When You're Talking Love (b-side of 'Mama, What Should I Do')
08 Put Yourself In My Place (single 1963)
09 Bring Back Your Love (b-side of 'Put Yourself In My Place')
10 (I Get The Feeling) You're Ashamed Of Me (single 1965)
11 The Other Half Of Me (b-side of '(I Get The Feeling) You're Ashamed Of Me')
12 Little Miss Everything (single 1966) 
13 The Best Years (Of Our Lives) (b-side of 'Little MIss Everything')
14 Untouched By Human Love (single 1968) 
15 That's That (Get Off My Back) (single 1969)
16 Eternally (b-side of 'That's That (Get Off My Back)')
17 I Don't Care (single 1970)
18 Prove It (b-side of 'I Don't Care')
19 You Can't Take It Away (single 1970)
20 A One Way Love (Is A Wrong Way Love) (b-side of 'You Can't Take It Away')
21 Haunted (single 1973)
22 Cool It (b-side of 'Haunted')
23 Telling A Lie (single 1973)
24 Set This Happiness Inside Me Free (single 1973) 
25 Moments (b-side of 'Set This Happiness Inside Me Free')

The Myddle Class - Gates Of Eden (1967)

In the early 60's The King Bees got together, consisting of Dave Palmer on lead vocals, Rick Philp on guitar, Chris Irby on bass guitar (soon replaced by Charles Larkey), Danny Mansolino on organ, and Mike Rosa on drums. They soon became known for their exciting live shows, which included songs such as 'Shout', 'She's Not There' and the original, 'It's The Season', and after a show at the Berkeley Heights CYO in December 1964, the band met the New York Post columnist Al Aronowitz, who, despite his lack of experience in the business side of music, became the group's manager. He introduced the band to Carole King and Gerry Goffin, the well-known husband-and-wife song writing team, and they agreed to write songs and produce the group. In late 1965, the King Bees changed their name to the Myddle Class to distinguish themselves from Danny Kortchmar's King Bees, who just had just released a record on RCA Victor, and in October, Goffin and King signed the Myddle Class to their new label, Tomorrow Records. Their first single, 'Free As The Wind', backed with a full-band rendition of Bob Dylan's 'Gates Of Eden', was released on Tomorrow in December 1965, and the Goffin/King penned A-side was a well-produced piece of garage-informed folk rock. The song became a hit in Albany, New York, but despite a glowing Billboard review, it failed to catch on outside the region, and so the band played at many of New York's leading clubs, such as the Night Owl and Cafe Au Go Go, to enhance their live reputation. 

In 1966, the Myddle Class released a follow-up single, 'Don't Let Me Sleep Too Long', which the band took from a demo by the Blues Project that later became their hit 'Wake Me Shake Me', and this hard-rocking single more accurately reflected the band's live sound, and reached #2 on the Albany charts, but like their first single did not reach a wider market. After Goffin and King's distribution deal with Atco fell apart, they were able to sign a deal with Cameo-Parkway to distribute the Tomorrow label, but the band encountered a number of discouraging setbacks around this time. They had a successful audition with producer Tom Wilson for MGM Records, but apparently Al Aronowitz did not allow the deal to go through, while in February 1967 they opened for the Animals, but their set was marred by technical problems in the microphones and public address system, resulting in poor reviews for the band's performance. In April 1967, the Myddle Class released one last single, with a cover of The Temptations 'Don't Look Back' as the A-side, backed by their own 'Wind Chime Laughter'. 

By late 1967, with some of the band's members either away at college or pursuing other musical ventures, the Myddle Class was rarely performing live, and what little active time they had was used to record demos for Goffin and King songs intended for other artists. Palmer and Philp signed a publishing with Screen Gems-Columbia, the same publishers representing Goffin and King at this time, but a promise from Don Kirshner to sign the group to Colgems never materialized. Danny Kortchmar replicated Philp's guitar parts for the Myddle Class' last recordings in 1969, and an album was planned for the summer, but any future chances of the band re-activating were dashed when guitarist Philp was murdered by his former roommate in Boston in May. By this point, the band's enthusiasm was had long receded, and they broke up shortly afterwards, with Dave Palmer going on to join Steely Dan as the vocalist on their early records. The band had already recorded enough material for an album-length release by 1967, but most of these recordings were released as singles, leaving little over for a long-player, but as most of us won't have heard those singles then this album hangs together extremely well as a summary of their work up to the end of 1967.   

Track listing

01 Gates Of Eden
02 I Happen To Love You
03 Lovin' Season
04 Don't Look Back
05 Wind Chime Laughter
06 Man On The Bridge
07 You Better Know
08 Free As The Wind
09 Don't Let Me Sleep Too Long
10 An Angel Walks Beside Me
11 Who Does He Love
12 Fun & Games

Denim - Denim (2005)

'Denim' was the stage name used by Rhashida Stafford from 2003 to 2010, while she was signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records. In late late 2003 she started working on her debut album, and a taster single was released in the form of 'Friends (You Ain't Right)', but before it was completed it was shelved by the record label, with some of the songs later appearing on mixtapes and promo CD's over the next couple of years, while others have remained unreleased. At the same time as laying down tracks for her album, she also collaborated with her labelmates Memphis Bleek, Young Gunz and Kanye West, appearing on their songs, but her biggest exposure came with her contribution to the soundtrack of the 2011 film 'Footloose', where she was the featured singer on her co-composition 'Dance The Night Away'. Since then not much has been heard from her, but most of the songs from that abandoned debut album have since surfaced, and so here is an approximation of what Denim's first full length record could have sounded like. 

Track listing

01 Friends (You Ain't Right) 

02 Keep It Movin' (feat. Nicole Wray)

03 Microphone

04 Brooklyn's Finest (interlude)

05 Your Lady

06 I Should Have Listened 

07 Many Men 

08 Who I Am 

09 Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh (Freestyle) 

10 Love Games (feat. Freeway)

11 Hell's Angel

12 Thru Da Wire (Freestyle) 

13 Time To Shine 

14 Giving U All (I Am) 

The Onyx - Kaleidoscope Of Colours (1967)

I was quite pleased at how my recent post from Jason Crest turned out, where I extracted the songs recorded for their unreleased album from the various compilation albums that are doing the rounds, and made a record that was more rooted in one particular period of their career. It does seem to me that when a record company decides to release a retrospective of an obscure group from the 60's they tend to chuck everything that they can find into the mix, and so we end up with singles, b-sides, demos, acetetes, alternate versions and mixes, multiple versions of the same songs, and sometimes even what the lead singer got up to when the band broke up! I have a number of these compilations, and it is a chore having to skip the inferior tracks or the multiple takes, and so I've decided to take the raw material and use it to compile an album that the group could have recorded at a certain point in their career, using just the best songs and recordings. Sometimes this does mean that the result is very much in the spirit of an actual 60's album, and might only be 35-40 minutes long, but that just adds to the authenticity of the album. I'm starting with a band who are mostly known for their classic 1969 single 'Tamaris Khan', but this music is from earlier in their career.   
The Onyx were a psychedelic rock band formed in Wadebridge, Cornwall, England in 1965. They were descended from a band called The Jaguars, which consisted of Tony Priest on vocals, Fritz Philips on drums, Cliff Webb on lead guitar, Rob Hancock on bass, and Anthony Jewel on rhythm guitar, with the addition of 13 year old guitarist Alan Hodge. After winning a battle of the band contest in Cronwall, they went through a number of line-up changes, and they eventually settled on Priest on vocals, with Steve Cotton on lead guitar, Mike Black-Borow on bass, Pete England on rhythm guitar, and Chris Cotterell on drums, with the new band beinf christened The Onyx Set, named after an Onyx ring owned by band member Black-Borow. After more changes in the line-up they shortened their name to The Onyx and the classic line-up was formed, with Preist and Cotton being joined by bassist Dick Bland and drummer Roger Dell (after a pre-Queen Roger Taylor turned them down), plus a returning Alan Hodge. The band evolved from doing cover versions of popular contemporary beat bands in their early days to psychedelia, and in 1967 they used Bob Potter's studio to record demos of some of the songs that they had been working on, including the live favourite 'Kaleidoscope Of Colours', which was a great piece of pop-psych, and included their only foray into phasing. Another track recorded during these sessions was the quirky progressive pop number 'Climb That Tree', which would be covered the following year by She Trinity on the b-side of their 'Hair' single, with the girls using the Onyx backing track for their recording.

Through Potter's contacts the band hooked up with songwriter Guy Fletcher and lyricist Doug Flett, who were fresh from working with Wishful Thinking, and they agreed to work with the band on what would become their first single. The Flett/Fletcher penned and produced 'You've Gotta Be With Me'/'It's All Put On' was released by Pye Records in 1968, but despite healthy local sales and an airing by Alan Freeman on the Top Of The Pops radio show, the record failed to fully take off. 'My Son John' followed later that year, to much the same reception, and so Fletcher and Flett decided to try something different, and moved in a more psychedelic direction with their next song 'Tamaris Khan', which gave guitarist Alan Hodge's Stratocaster and fuzz box their first opportunity to be let loose on record. It was released in 1969, and was the first single to include a band composition on the b-side, with their own 'So Sad Inside'. The single received some very positive press, with its excellent production, tight harmonies, searing guitar and a title hinting at something slightly lysergic without being too suggestive, but perhaps it was a bit too psychedelic for daytime radio, and not psychedelic enough for the underground. 'Tamaris Khan' has since become regarded as the band's high-point, and so that is a good place to take a break and re-evaluate their earlier work, most of which was recorded in 1967 in Bob Potter's studio, and so here is an album made up from the demos they laid down in that year, all housed in a suitable psychedelic cover. 

Track listing

01 Kaleidoscope Of Colours  
02 In Harmony
03 Travellin' Along
04 Billy
05 Life's Anticipation
06 I Put A Spell On You
07 On Our Way
08 Loneliness Cuts Like A Knife 
09 These Are The Things  
10 He's A Salesman
11 I Just Die
12 Porcelain Monuments
13 Louisa La Belle
14 I Used To Know Her
15 I Just Had To Laugh
16 Climb That Tree