Jean Michel Jarre - The Twelve Dreams Of The Sun (2000)

'The Twelve Dreams Of The Sun' was a concert held by Jean Michel Jarre on the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt starting on December 31, 1999 and carrying overnight to January 1, 2000. It was attended by 120,000 people, and consisted of two parts, the Main Concert in 1999 and a Sunrise Concert in 2000. It cost approximately $9.5m to put on, and it originated when Jarre was contacted by the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak with the idea of a special project to celebrate the dawn of the new Millennium. It was to be held at the foot of the only remaining monument of the original 7 Wonders of the World - the Great Pyramids. Jarre's team had developed giant projections to be displayed on the faces of the Great Pyramids, however a heavy cloud of fog made the pyramids almost invisible, so most of the projections were discarded. On stage with him was Christopher Papendiek, Francis Rimbert, Gary Willis (the drummer from Pink Floyd), Joachim Garraud, the DJ who had helped Jarre since 'Metamorphoses', with special guest Laurie Anderson, who introduced The Dreams, plus an Arabic orchestra and choirs. The whole concept was intended to describe the 12 dreams of the sun, which is extremely important in Egyptian culture. Parts of the live concert were broadcast over the internet, and on various TV channels around the world, so the sound quality is excellent. For such a unique concept I wondered what it could have sounded like if a studio recording had been made for posterity, and so to hear my imaginary version I've removed all the crowd noise from the concert and then tidied up the tracks so that we now have a studio quality version of 'The 12 Dreams Of The Sun'. I've omitted the introduction and the countdown to the New Year that separated the Main Concert and the Sunrise Concert, so that 'Dream 8' flows into 'Dream 9', but apart from that all the music is from the original concert.  

Track listing

01 Bells
02 Je Me Souviens
03 Dream 1: The Rock
04 Metamorphose (Miss Moon)
05 Oxygene 2
06 Dream 2: The House
07 Chronologie 6
08 Dream 3: The Tree
09 Equinoxe 7
10 Chants Magnetiques 2
11 Dream 4: The Boat

12 Millions Of Stars
13 Dream 5: The Flesh

14 Souvenir De Chine
15 Oxygene 10
16 Dream 6: The Voice
17 Um Kalthoum Tune
18 Tribute To Um Kalthoum
19 Dream 7: The Sky
20 Hey Gagarin / Dream 8: The Child
21 C'est La Vie
22 Salma Ya Salama
23 Dream 9: The Bell
24 Equinoxe 4
25 Dream 10: The Snow
26 Oxygene 4
27 Tout Est Bleu
28 Dream 11: The Blood
29 (R)evolution
30 Oxygene 12
31 Dream 12: The Gate
32 Give Me A Sign
33 Oxygene 8
34 L'Orchestre Sous La Pluie
35 Second Rendez-Vous 

The Auteurs - Underground Movies (1999)

When guitarist/pianist Luke Haines left The Servants in 1991, he teamed up with his then-girlfriend Alice Readman, who played bass guitar, and former classmate Glenn Collins on drums, and formed The Auteurs. The trio benefited from a positive NME review of their third show, and their demo tape made its way to Suede, who were then on the cusp of being the hottest band around. They liked it enough to hire the Auteurs as support for a 1992 tour, which led to more and more industry interest. Rather than signing with one of the labels who were pursuing them, the trio decided to record their debut album first, and funded by money fronted by their manager, they hit the studio with producer Phil Vinall and emerged with 'New Wave'. The record's lyrically pointed, sharply melodic songs and sound captured the shabby underbelly of the Brit-pop scene, and after signing with Virgin off-shoot Hut, they released their first single 'Show Girl' in 1992, followed swiftly by the album in early 1993, which was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize. Although they provided a sharply sardonic, uncompromising counterpoint to the sunny optimism of the Brit-pop scene, they band were often lumped in with that movement, and Haines never liked this association, frequently making derogatory remarks about his peers. 

After 'New Wave', the band remained on the fringes of the music scene, and drummer Collins was replaced by Barny C. Rockford, after being headhunted from Out Of My Hair by producer Phil Vinall, and cellist James Banbury was promoted to full band member. Their next album, 'Now I'm A Cowboy', was released in 1994, and built on the themes of the previous record, and contained Haines' best known song, 'Lenny Valentino', which was also released as a single. Demonstrating, again, their difference from their musical peers, the band's next release was 'The Auteurs vs. μ-Ziq', which comprised Auteurs songs remixed by producer μ-Ziq (aka Michael Paradinas). In interviews at the time Haines claimed he found contemporary techno and house music more interesting than most Britpop bands. In 1996 The Auteurs released 'After Murder Park', produced by Steve Albini, and including 'Land Lovers', 'Unsolved Child Murder', and 'Buddha'. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios following a year during which Haines had spent most of his time in a wheelchair after jumping off a wall and breaking both ankles, and more of these darker songs were included on the 'Back With The Killer' EP, which preceded the album. 

At the same time, Haines made the 'Baader Meinhof' album as a solo artist under the name Baader Meinhof, and the Auteurs even supported Baader Meinhof at a London show in Camden's Dingwalls. The last Auteurs album was 'How I Learned To Love The Bootboys', which was released in 1999, and included the single 'The Rubettes', a gleaming confection that honoured the '70s group of the same name. The rest of the record was typically inventive and spiky, only with more fleshed-out arrangements and synthesizers. Around this time Alice Readman left the band, being replaced by various other musicians for live/touring purposes, and shortly afterwards the band broke up. Haines worked as one third of the art-pop band Black Box Recorder, and in 2001 he released the soundtrack album to the film 'Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry', rapidly followed by his first solo album proper, 'The Oliver Twist Manifesto'. 2003 saw him release 'Das Capital', a collection of re-recorded Auteurs era songs, with a couple of new tracks, apparently intended as closure for that band. Currently Haines pens a monthly column for Record Collector magazine. However, during their decade-long career they often released stand-alone singles, and added non-album tracks to their b-sides, and as Haines is now rightly regarded as one of the UK's best song-writers of the 90's, then all of these rare tracks are well worth hearing.  

Track listing

Disc I - 1992-1994
01 Glad To Be Gone (b-side of 'Showgirl' 1992)
02 Staying Power (b-side of 'Showgirl' 1992)
03 She Might Take A Train (single 1992)
04 Subculture (They Can't Find Him) (b-side of 'She Might Take A Train')
05 Car Crazy (b-side of 'Lenny Valentino' 1993)
06 Vacant Lot (b-side of 'Lenny Valentino' 1993)
07 Disney World (b-side of 'Lenny Valentino' 1993)
08 How Could I Be Wrong (single 1993)
09 High Diving Horses (b-side of 'How Could I Be Wrong')
10 Wedding Day (b-side of 'How Could I Be Wrong')
11 Chinese Bakery (single 1994)
12 Government Bookstore (b-side of 'Chinese Bakery')

Disc II - 1994-1999
01 New French Girlfriend (single 1994)
02 Underground Movies (single 1994) 
03 Brainchild (b-side of 'Underground Movies')
04 Back With The Killer Again (from the 'Back With The Killer' EP 1995)
05 Former Fan (from the 'Back With The Killer' EP 1995)
06 Kenneth Anger's Bad Dream (from the 'Back With The Killer' EP 1995)
07 Kids Issue (single 1996)
08 A New Life A New Family (b-side of 'Kids Issue')
09 Light Aircraft On Fire (single 1996)
10 Car Crash (b-side of 'Light Aircraft On Fire')
11 X-Boogie Man (b-side of 'Light Aircraft On Fire')
12 Breaking Up (b-side of 'The Rubettes' 1999)
13 Get Wrecked At Home (b-side of 'The Rubettes' 1999)

The Mystic Tide - A Psychedelic Journey With The Mystic Tide (1967)

The Mystic Tide formed in Long Island, New York, in 1965, and was led by guitarist and songwriter Joe Docko, Paul Picell on bass, Jim Thomas on rhythm guitar, and John William on drums. They formed in early 1965 as The Chosen Few, and changed their name to The Mystic Tide in late 1965, inspired by 'Mystic Eyes', the most extreme single by Van Morrison’s Them. Contrary to what might be expected, The Mystic Tide’s own song cheekily titled 'Mystic Eyes' was a moody, vaguely Zombies-esque folk-punker rather than the rave-up the band name and title would suggest. Their first two singles have none of the wired aggression running through what came next, as something seemed to happen to them between singles two and three, with 'Frustration' featuring elements of bands like The Magicians and The Blues Magoos bleeding into their sound. However, none of this directly explains where The Mystic Tide were coming from, as their sonic attack is like nothing else heard at the time. Their four self-released singles between 1966 and 1967 captured a foreboding kind of early psychedelia denoted by raw, fuzzy guitars, angsty sentiments, and a vaguely Middle Eastern-flavor. They remained largely overlooked on even a local level and disbanded in 1967, but as the years went on, their ahead-of-their-time sound became the fascination of garage rock historians and enthusiasts, and their incredibly rare singles began fetching collector's prices, and appearing on collections of obscure psychedelic bands of the 60's. In 1991, the band's eleven songs were released on a self-titled anthology, and since them a couple of demos have also surfaced, and last year yet another compilation of the singles appeared, but what I wanted to hear was just their 1967 recordings, including the demos, with an edited version of the two parts of the 'Psychedelic Journey' single sides, and the 1966 'Mystic Eyes' single added in. This would feature the band at their very best, and show their ahead of its time sound on their most innovative sides. So here is an album that could have come out a good 25 years before these tracks were eventually made available to the general public.

Track listing

01 Mystery Ship
02 You Know It's True
03 Frustration
04 Psychedelic Journey
05 I Search For New Love
06 Solid Ground
07 You Won't Look Back
08 Mystic Eyes
09 Silver Rails / Going Home
10 Running Through The Night

The Dodos - Up Close With The Dodos (1963)

The Dodos second LP, 'Up Close With The Dodos' saw many changes from their previous debut album. For one, Joseph Lemmon led the writing and sang more leads than on 'The World Wants To Know'. The album also went from recording on a two-track machine as they did on their debut to a four-track. This allowed for more texture in the recordings, and led to a leap in their song-writing. Johnny had much less lead singing on this album, but his lead guitar really made a jump in quality and in experimentation. Bippo's drumming also improved, and was recorded with a delay which gave it a much deeper and full sound. While this LP is still mainly full of "boy loves girl" type songs, there are definitely some more complex writing techniques involved. For example, 'He Told Me To Tell You' is written from the perspective of a guy telling his mate's girlfriend that their romance is over, and 'Do That Thing For You' is written from the perspective of the entire band talking to their fans (presumably the female ones). All in all, The Dodos second LP is both a step forward sonically and lyrically.

Track listing

01 Every Bit Of My Heart

02 Hold Me Close

03 Little One 

04 We Could Be So Good

05 He Told Me To Tell You

06 I Think I'm Losing You

07 I'm Gonna Be Your Guy

08 Caught In Your Web

09 Letters Of Love

10 Don't Give Up

11 Twice Before Today

12 Do That Thing For You

Wimple Winch - Lollipop Minds (1967)

In early 1963, after several name changes, Four Just Men settled in Manchester and decided to become professional musicians. At the time, the group was composed of Demetrius "Dee" Christopolus as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, lead guitarist Johnny Murphy, drummer Larry Arends, and bassist Pete Turner, and they became a popular attraction in Liverpool as they shifted through two line-up changes, with Keith Shepherd replacing Turner, and then John Kelman replacing Murphy. They toured with more prominent groups including The Rolling Stones, The Searchers and Del Shannon, but despite their initial success, the band was plagued by missed opportunities when they rejected 'Trains And Boats And Planes', a later hit for The Dakotas, and had lawsuit threats against them over their name, resulting in them having to change it to Just Four Men as another group had rights to their original choice of name. They did sign a recording contract with EMI Records in 1964, and produced two singles, which were both recorded at Abbey Road Studios, with their debut single, 'That's My Baby', being released in November 1964, and the second one, 'There's Not One Thing', following in February 1965. Both were positively received, but the release dates were in correlation with The Beatles' releases so sales were dwarfed in comparison, and they were subsequently dropped from the label, although they continued to perform until early 1966, at which point they morphed into Wimple Winch. The renamed band consisted of an altered line-up of Arends, Christopolus, John Kelman on lead guitar and newcomer Barrie Ashall on bass guitar, and the name change was brought about as a result of the band's addition of heavier and more psychedelic components into their music. 

Club owner Mike Carr, who would later become their manager, offered the band chance to be the house band at his new club in Stockport called "The Sinking Ship", which they accepted, and the club established itself when Wimple Winch opened for The Jimi Hendrix Experience at the venue. An associate of Fontana Records watched them perform and signed the group to record at Philips Studios in March 1966, during which the band completed demos for their debut single, 'What's Been Done'. It received heavy local support and was listed as a "climber" by Radio London in April 1966, but still failed to chart, and for their second release the band choose 'Save My Soul', which incorporated a protopunk structure. The single was immensely popular locally on its release but was unsuccessful nationally, although it has since been recognized as one of the more innovative tracks of the Mersey beat scene. In between performing, Wimple Winch recorded in August and December 1966, and several tracks were finished, with the Who-styled song 'Rumble On Mersey Square South' being released as the group's final single in January 1967. Things were looking good for them, but then The Sinking Ship caught fire and destroyed the group's housing and equipment, and as a result Fontana Records decided to not re-sign them when their contract expired. The band continued to tour, and recorded more demos in a personal studio, but decided to disband in mid-1967, never managing to release an album under either of their guises. Four Just Men only recorded a few songs, but Wimple Winch were much more active in the studio, and so there are enough excellent recordings to put together the album that they should have released in 1967. 

Track listing

01 Save My Soul
02 Atmospheres
03 I Really Love You
04 Lollipop Minds
05 Marmalade Hair

06 Coloured Glass
07 Those Who Wait
08 What's Been Done
09 Sagittarius
10 Bluebell Wood
11 Last Hooray
12 Rumble On Mersey Square South

Bonnie McKee - Dance Or Die (2008)

While tidying up my archive of unreleased tracks from Bonnie McKee, I found a number from 2008, which were recorded around the same time as the ones which made up the original 'Love Spell' post. As usual, they are too good just to ignore, so it's time for another album from this massively under-rated singer/songwriter, using songs which were originally intended for the follow-up album to her 2004 release 'Trouble'.

Track listing

01 Future Ex-Boyfriend 
02 Once Is Not Enough 
03 Trash Television
04 What He Did To Me 
05 Broken Record 
06 Dance Or Die
07 Gold Dust (Baby Love)
08 Surrender 
09 Without You 
10 It Is What It Is 
11 There Will Be Tears 
12 Sayonora 
13 Light Up The Night
14 DNA
15 You Won't Have Me

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Pendulum (1970)

'Pendulum' is the sixth studio album by Creedence Clearwater Revival, released by Fantasy Records on 9 December 1970, arriving five months after 'Cosmo's Factory'. During 1969 and 1970, CCR was dismissed by hipsters as a bubblegum pop band, and the sniping had grown intolerable, at least to John Fogerty, who designed 'Pendulum' as a rebuke to critics. He spent time polishing the production, bringing in keyboards, horns, even a vocal choir, and his songs became self-consciously serious and tighter, working with the aesthetic of the rock underground. 'Pendulum' was constructed as a proper album, contrasting dramatically with CCR's previous records, and it's the only one by the band not to contain any cover songs, with all of the tracks being written by John Fogerty. It's also the last album the band recorded while Tom Fogerty was still a member, as he left the group in early 1971 to start a solo career. To some fans of classic CCR, this approach may feel a little odd, since only the single 'Have You Ever Seen the Rain' and maybe its b-side 'Hey Tonight' sound undeniably like prime Creedence, for which they were rewarded with a number eight position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Given time, the album is a real grower, revealing many overlooked Fogerty gems, and while it isn't transcendent like the albums they made from 'Bayou Country' through to 'Cosmo's Factory', 'Pendulum' finds a first-class songwriter and craftsman pushing himself and his band to try new sounds, styles, and textures. This does result in one stumble, with 'Rude Awakening #2' portentously teetering on the verge of prog-rock, but the rest of the record is excellent, with such great numbers as the bluesy groove 'Pagan Baby', the soulful vamp 'Chameleon', the moody 'It's Just A Thought' and the raver 'Molina'. While this record is slightly different to previous posts, in that the extra instrumentation was added entirely at Fogerty's request, it's the fans who have clamoured to hear the songs shorn of their horn arrangements, and so this stripped down version of the album gives them a chance to hear the raw CCR on this unjustly overlooked record. 

Track listing

01 Pagan Baby
02 Sailor's Lament
03 Chameleon
04 Have You Ever Seen The Rain
05 (Wish I Could) Hideaway
06 Born to Move
07 Hey Tonight
08 It's Just A Thought
09 Molina
10 Rude Awakening #2

The Mojos - Everything's Alright (1965)

The Mojos formed as a duo under the name the Nomads in 1962, and originally consisted of bassist Keith Karlson and drummer Jon "Bob" Conrad. Before Conrad, Snowy Fleet was the drummer, but he was replaced by Conrad when he emigrated to Australia, and after that the band was joined in September 1962 by lead singer/pianist Stu James, and rhythm guitarist/vocalist Adrian Lord. They were a bit different from most of the other Merseyside bands in that their first love was American blues rather than R&B and rock & roll, preferring to cover the works of John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters. The band continued without a lead guitarist when Wood left, and at the suggestion of Beatle George Harrison, pianist Terry O'Toole was added to the line-up in August 1963. The band also changed their name in August 1963 to The Mojos, and Lord swapped from rhythm guitar to lead guitar, with this line-up recording 'My Whole Life Through', which was featured on the Oriole Records 'This Is Merseybeat' compilation album. After signing to Decca Records they released their debut single 'They Say' in 1963, and it achieved some popularity, especially after it was used for the party scene in the 1964 film 'The Comedy Man'. Despite having written the single's b-side, Lord left the group soon after its release, and was replaced by Nicky Crouch, with this line-up continuing until October 1964, recording the group's three charting singles, 'Everything's Alright', 'Why Not Tonight', and 'Seven Daffodils'. 

They also appeared in the movie 'Every Day's A Holiday', and like many of their contemporaries the group played at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany. In 1964 they released a four-track EP, but by this time the group had only scraped the Top 30 since their solitary big hit, and the label began losing interest. In October 1964, Karlson, Conrad and O'Toole left the group and James and Crouch were joined by drummer Aynsley Dunbar and bassist Lewis Collins, and this line-up recorded the singles 'Comin' On To Cry' and 'Wait A Minute', both of which were released as by "Stu James And The Mojos". In September 1966 the group broke up, with James and Crouch forming a new version with Birmingham bass player Deke Vernon and Southampton drummer Martin Smith, while Collins went into acting, and scored huge acclaim when he appeared in 'The Professionals' with Martin Shaw. The Mojos in their original incarnation were only around for a couple of years, but they will forever be remembered for 'Everything's Alright' after David Bowie covered it on his 1973 'Pin Ups' album, and it's a shame they never recorded an album, as their style of Merseybeat was a bit different to what was generally coming out of the city at the time, and so here is what a long-player from them could have sounded like in 1965.  

Track listing  

01 Give Your Lovin' To Me
02 Don't Do It Anymore
03 I Got My Mojo Working
04 Comin' On To Cry
05 Everything's Alright
06 Nothin' At All
07 Seven Daffodils
08 Nobody But Me
09 They Say You Found A New Baby
10 Forever
11 Why Not Tonight
12 That's The Way It Goes
13 The One Who Really Loves You

Stooshe - Stooshe (2012)

Stooshe was formed in May 2010 and signed to Warner Music in August 2011, with the original concept being to create an urban and soulful Spice Girls. Alexandra Buggs, Karis Anderson and Courtney Rumbold formed following a series of auditions and scouting in Topshop stores over a nine-month period., and using tracks from writing/production duo Future Cut, the group spent the next twelve months developing their look and sound. Anderson said the band's name originates from the word 'stoosh', which is urban slang for something expensive, a girl who thinks she's nicer than she is, or being stoned, and they then added 'she' on the end to represent female empowerment. The group released their first song, 'Fuck Me', on YouTube on 14 March 2011, originally featuring rapper Suave Debonair, and it was subsequently re-recorded under the title 'Love Me' with Travie McCoy for official release in 2012. A second single, 'Betty Woz Gone', was released onto iTunes on 28 October 2011, earning placement on BBC Radio 1's In New Music We Trust playlist, and follwing that, 'Love Me' was released as the lead single from their debut album. This was initially to be titled 'Swings And Roundabouts', and a release date was set for 25 June 2012, however, Stooshe later announced the album would be self-titled and would be released on 26 November 2012. 'Love Me' marked the group's first chart appearance, reaching at number five on the UK Singles Chart, and the next single 'Black Heart' did even better peaking at number three on the UK chart. It was announced in June 2012 that the group would be supporting American rapper Nicki Minaj on the UK leg of the Pink Friday Tour, followed by a support slot for Jennifer Lopez on a part of the European leg of the Dance Again World Tour. On 15 November, it was reported that the album's release would be delayed until March 2013 after their cover of TLC classic nineties track 'Waterfalls' failed to chart in the Top 20. However, the band later revealed that they delayed the release of the album themselves, to undo their record label's interference. Anderson stated "It was down to us that our album didn't come out months ago. It was ready to go, but we was listening to it and realised the label had changed a few mixes, a few structures and even taken off a few songs. We made this album before we got signed so it was important for us to still have control." The album was finally released on 27 May 2013, under the title 'London With The Lights On', but in Autumn 2013 the band split from their record label due to the disagreements over 'London With The Lights On', which received mixed reviews in the press. If you are interested in hearing the original version of the album, which included just eleven tracks from the released one, then here it is, including the 'Waterfalls' single which was later disowned by the group. 

Track listing

01 Black Heart
02 See Me Like This
03 Your Own Kind Of Beautiful
04 Waterfalls
05 Love Me (feat. Travie McCoy)
06 Perfectly Wrong
07 My Man Music
08 Kiss Chase
09 Jimmy
10 Turning On Me
11 Ain't No Other Me

Various Artists - The Murder Board (2024)

Time for a round-up of the best TV shows of 2024, and some of my favourites have continued to intrigue and entertain, with the third series of 'From' and the fourth series of 'Only Murders In The Building' both living up their predecessors. New shows that I enjoyed include the superb 'The Day Of The Jackal', and the comedy/drama UK police series 'Ludwig', while old favourites 'Squid Game' and Dexter: New Blood' made a welcome return. Once again, some of the best things about these shows was their theme tunes, with 'Patience', the UK version of the French drama 'Astrid: Murder In Paris', being one of my favourites. 'The Day Of The Jackal', 'Sweetpea', and 'Sugar' all used contemporary songs for their intros, but most of these tunes were composed specifically for the programmes by seasoned professionals, and so they are generally orchestral pieces which are pared to the bone length-wise. For tunes that are only about a minute long I've extended them so that they don't pass too quickly, while 'Street Fighter Mas' from 'Sugar' is the full six-minute version. As with the pervious two volumes, there is a comedy in here, this time 'Colin From Accounts', but these are mostly crime-based dramas, and if there are any that you haven't caught yet then do check them out, as they are all must-watch viewing. 

Track listing 

01 This Is Who I Am (Celeste) [from 'The Day Of The Jackal']
02 The Gentlemen (Chris Benstead)
03 Dexter: New Blood - End Credits (Daniel Licht)
04 Ludwig (Nathan Klein and Finn Keane)  
05 Do You See Me Now (Chinchilla) [from 'Sweetpea']
06 Sicily (Jeff Russo) [from 'Ripley']
07 Patience (Hannes De Maeyer & Ruben De Gheselle)
08 Colin From Accounts (Matt Blackman)
09 Industry (Nathan Micay)
10 Street Fighter Mas (Kamasi Washington) [from 'Sugar']

11 From - End Credits (Chris Tilton)
12 The Tourist (Dominic Scherrer)
13 Silo (Atli Orvarsson)
14 Shogun (Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross & Nick Chuba)
15 Lady In The Lake (Marcus Norris)
16 The Traitors (Sam Watts)

   

Senseless Things - Crucial Juvenalia (1995)

Senseless Things formed around the musical partnership of songwriter Mark Myers (aka Mark Keds) and Morgan Nicholls, who as 11-year-olds in Twickenham, Middlesex put together Wild Division in the early 1980's. With Keds on vocals and Nicholls on guitar, they added drummer Cass Browne and became the Psychotics, playing various venues in their local area despite still being at school. Their first gig together as the Senseless Things (named after a phrase used in Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and 'Julius Caesar') followed at the subsequently-demolished Clarendon in Hammersmith, London, in October 1986. Auxiliary members at this stage included a keyboard player, Ben, and a guitarist, Gerry, who deputised while Nicholls was studying for his O levels. When Nicholls returned in 1987 he took over the bass, while new recruit Ben Harding acquired the vacant guitarist's role, cementing the classic line-up of the band in summer 1987. Taking their musical cue from the Ramones and the Dickies, and their spiritual lead from fellow guitar outfit Mega City Four, the band's first releases were singles given away with issues of Yo Jo Jo and Sniffin' Rock fanzines, and by March 1988 the band had attracted the attention of the BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who invited them to record the first of three sessions for his programme. 

After signing a deal with the Red Recording Company, their 'Up And Coming' EP came out in 1988, followed by 'Girlfriend' the following year on Way Cool Records. Their first album, 'Postcard CV', was released in 1989, capturing the energy of their concerts by packing 10 tracks into 21 minutes, and it was rounded off by 'Too Much Kissing', which was released as a single and which was to become their signature track. In 1990 the band signed with What Goes On Records, just as the label collapsed, resulting in the aborted 'Andi In A Karmann' EP, and after signing to Vinyl Solution subsidiary Decoy Records, they released the four-track EP 'Is It Too Late?', produced by Jon Langford of the Mekons. Another label change at the start of 1991 found them signed to Epic Records, and their first album for the label saw them experimenting with other styles, including acoustic songs, and the single 'Got It At The Delmar' entered the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart. Allmusic praised 'The First Of Too Many' for its mix of bubblegum pop and gobstopping hard rock, likening the band's sound to the Who and the Replacements. Two further Top 20 singles in 'Easy To Smile' and 'Hold It Down' confirmed that 1992 was their year, topping it with a tour of the US supporting Blur. 

The band released their third album 'Empire Of The Senseless' in 1993, but the second single from it caused some controversy, with 'Homophobic Asshole' receiving critical acclaim, but failing to chart highly, and while the follow-up single, 'Primary Instinct', had a more radio-friendly title, it also had little commercial success. In 1995, the band released a final album, 'Taking Care Of Business', accompanied by two singles, 'Christine Keeler' (renamed from 'Christian Killer') and 'Something To Miss', and following farewell tours of Japan and the UK the band went into permanent hiatus. Keds very briefly became a member of The Wildhearts before forming Jolt, Trip Fontaine, The Lams, Like A Bitch and, most recently, Deadcuts. Harding went on to join 3 Colours Red in their original incarnation from 1996 to 1999, and Nicholls joined Vent 414 with Miles Hunt from The Wonder Stuff until 1997. Browne was a vital part of Gorillaz for a decade, and in 2019 formed the band Loup GarouX with Ed Harcourt. Senseless Things reformed (with Micky Wyle replacing an unavailable Nicholls) for a secret four-song performance at Islington Academy, London on 4 March 2007, as part of a gig to celebrate the life of former Mega City Four frontman Darren "Wiz" Brown, who died in December 2006. Cover art for the first two Senseless Things albums and most single releases around the same period was provided by comic artist Jamie Hewlett, creator of Tank Girl and later Gorillaz, and I've adapted one of his single sleeves for this album. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1987-1990
01 All Over You (free single with Sniffin' Rock Fanzine #6 1987) 
02 Where The Secret Lies (from the 'Up And Coming' EP 1988)
03 I Want To Go Back (from the 'Up And Coming' EP 1988)
04 I Don't Want To Talk About It (from the 'Up And Coming' EP 1988)
05 You Don't Want Me (from the 'Up And Coming' EP 1988)
06 When You Let Me Down (from the 'Up And Coming' EP 1988)
07 I'm Moving (free flexi-disc with YoJoJo magazine 1988)
08 Low-Time (free flexi-disc with YoJoJo magazine 1988)
09 (All You've Got To Do Is) Stay Together (free flexi-disc with YoJoJo magazine 1988)
10 Girlfriend (single 1989)
11 Standing In The Rain (b-side of 'Girlfriend')
12 Cruel Dub (b-side of 'Too Much Kissing' 1989)
13 Break It Away (from the various artists 'PSSST' EP 1989)
14 Tricia Don't Belong (from the abandoned 'Andi In A Karmann' EP 1990)
15 You Owe Me (from the abandoned 'Andi In A Karmann' EP 1990)
16 Never Know Why? (from the abandoned 'Andi In A Karmann' EP 1990)

Disc II - 1990-1991
01 Is It Too Late? (single 1990)
02 Andi In A Karmann (b-side of 'Is It Too Late?')
03 Ponyboy (b-side of 'Is It Too Late?')
04 Leo (b-side of 'Is It Too Late?')
05 Celebrity (b-side of 'Is It Too Late?')
06 Can't Do Anything (single 1990)
07 Can't Explain (b-side of 'Can't Do Anything')
08 Tangled Lines (b-side of 'Can't Do Anything')
09 Remember Me (free flexi-disc with issue #3 of Submerge fanzine 1991)
10 Mystery Train (b-side of 'Everybody's Gone' 1991)
11 I'm On Black And White (b-side of 'Everybody's Gone' 1991)
12 Beat To Blondie (b-side of 'Got It At The Delmar' 1991)
13 Can't Remember (b-side of 'Got It At The Delmar' 1991)
14 Easy To Smile (single 1991)
15 Hazel (b-side of 'Easy To Smile')
16 Mollylove (b-side of 'Easy To Smile')

Disc III - 1992-1995
01 Hold It Down (single 1992)
02 Crucial Juvenalia (b-side of 'Hold It Down')
03 Splitting Hairs (b-side of 'Hold It Down')
04 Apache (from the 'Ruby Trax' compilation 1992)     
05 Body Bag (b-side of 'Homophobic Asshole' 1992)
06 Just Flirting (b-side of 'Homophobic Asshole')              
07 Too Much Like I Know You (b-side of 'Primary Instinct 1993)
08 High Enough (b-side of 'Christine Keeler' 1994)
09 Jerk (b-side of 'Christine Keeler' 1994)
10 The Revivalist (b-side of 'Christine Keeler' 1994)
11 Can't Go Back (b-side of 'Christine Keeler' 1994)
12 Driving On The Right (b-side of 'Christine Keeler' 1994)
13 Never Haunted (b-side of 'Something To Miss' 1995)
14 Answering Machine (b-side of 'Something To Miss' 1995)

The Ides Of March - Strawberry Sunday (1968)

In 1964 four schoolfriends decided to form a band, and so with Jim Peterik on vocals and guitar, Larry Millas on guitar and vocals, Bob Bergland on bass and vocals, and Mike Borch on drums and vocals, the group adopted the name the Shon Dels. In 1965 they released the single 'Like It Or Lump It', backed with 'No Two Ways About It', on their own Epitome Records label, and at this time they were palying garage rock with a strong British Invasion influence. In 1966 they changed their name to The Ides Of March, after Bergland had read Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar' in English class, and this seemed to herald an increase in the group's popularity, and so a second single was issued, with 'You Wouldn't Listen' coming out on the regional Harlequin Records label. The A-side received some airplay in Chicago, and so Parrot Records signed the band and reissued the 45 for the nationwide market, resulting in it rising to number five on the Chicago singles charts, and just missing the Top 40 across the country, topping the nationwide listings at 42. Their second single for Parrot, 'Roller Coaster', appeared a few months later, and while the A-side was another hit in Chicago, peaking at number 14 in the Windy City, this time it failed to make the national charts. Three more singles for Parrot followed, with 'You Need Love' in 1966, and then two more in 1967 with 'My Foolish Pride' and 'Hole In My Soul, but while the group was still a major draw in their hometown, their ability to sell records seemed in doubt, and they cut ties with Parrot. 

After signing with Kapp Records, the next Ides of March single was the moody pop number 'Nobody Loves Me' in 1968, backed with the semi-psychedelic 'Strawberry Sunday'. It was their first and last release for Kapp, but 'Nobody Loves Me' did point the way to the future with its use of a trumpet in the arrangement. Later that year, with the popularity of horn-based rock bands like Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago on the rise, the band added two trumpet players, John Larson and Chuck Soumar, to give their sound an extra punch. This new sound was enough to gain them a record deal with Warner Bros., and their first full-length album, 'Vehicle', arrived in early 1970. The title track was issued as a single, and it quickly became a smash hit, spending ten weeks on the charts and peaking at number two. Suddenly the Ides Of March were stars across the United States, and they soon found themselves touring the nation and sharing stages with luminaries such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, and the Grateful Dead. The group wasted little time cutting a follow-up album, and their second disc, 'Common Bond', hit stores in 1971. The soft-rock of the 'L.A. Goodbye' single took the emphasis off the horns in favour of a mellower sound, and although it earned a solid amount of airplay, 'Common Bond' didn't spawn a major hit single like 'Vehicle', and so Warner Bros. dropped the band. They did manage to sign a recording contract with RCA Victor, and released more albums in the 70's, but by waiting until 1970 to record their first long-player, it meant that we never got to hear an album by the band before they added the horn section. Hopefully this will put that right with a record that could have been issued in 1968, using the single tracks and the odd unreleased recording that they had amassed by that time. 

Track listing

01 Roller Coaster
02 Things Aren't Always What They Seem
03 Hole In My Soul
04 My Foolish Pride
05 I'll Take You Back
06 Girls Don't Grow On Trees
07 Strawberry Sunday
08 You Need Love
09 I'll Keep Searching
10 One And One Does Not Make Three
11 Give Your Mind Wings
12 I'm Gonna Say My Prayers
13 High On A Hillside
14 Nobody Loves Me
15 You Wouldn't Listen

Thanks to Paul from albumsthatshouldexist for pointing me in the direction of a new colourization programme called Kolorize, so I've tested it on this post. If you want the new cover then just download it from this page. 

A gift from PowerPopTom - Part 6

PowepPop Tom has been busy again, making covers for albums from the blog if you want to burn them to a CD, and they now sometimes include a picture for the clear tray. Here are a few examples of the nearly two dozen new ones that he's done.  

In this collection:

Aerosmith - The Aerosmithsonian Archive

Aerosmith - Right Key, Wrong Hole

Brian Eno - MUsic For Films

Copperhead - Copperhead 2

The Doors The Soft Parade

The Flying Burrito Brothers - Together Again

Frank Zappa - ...and on guitar

George Harrison - ...and on guitar

Guns 'n Roses - Use Your Illusion III

Halfnelson - A Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing

Johnny Winter - ...and on guitar

John's Children - Strange Affair

Phil Manzanera - ...and on guitar

Pilot - Scorpio

The Police - Crime Scene

The Police - Shadows In The Rain

Queen - The Miracle

Ray Davies - Return To Waterloo

Ron Wood - ...and on guitar

The Runaways - Yesterday's Kids

Scott Walker - Sings Songs From The Movies

The Pretty Things - Emotions

The Stripes - The Stripes

Trevor Rabin - 90124

Soulseek hint - cd covers

Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother (1970)

Now that I've 'fixed' most of the albums which the artists claimed to have been ruined by the addition of extra orchestration against their wishes, I'm turning to albums that the fans have wanted to hear shorn of their extra instrumentation, beginning with a classic from Pink Floyd. 

Pink Floyd started work on their new album after completing their contributions to the soundtrack for the film Zabriskie Point in Rome, which had ended somewhat acrimoniously. They headed back to London in early 1970 for rehearsals, and the title track of 'Atom Heart Mother' resulted from a number of instrumental figures the band had composed during these rehearsals. Recording of the track commenced at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in London, and was somewhat cumbersome, as it was the first recording to use a new eight-track one-inch tape and EMI TG12345 transistorised mixing console (8-track, 24-microphone inputs) in the studio. As a result, EMI insisted the band were not allowed to do any splicing of the tape to edit pieces together, and so Roger Waters and Nick Mason had little choice but to play the bass and drums for the entire 23-minute piece in one sitting, with the other instruments being overdubbed later. By March, they had finished recording the track, but felt that it was rather unfocused and needed something else, and as the band had been impressed with Ron Geesin's composition and tape-editing capabilities, he was handed the completed backing tracks that the band had recorded, and asked to compose an orchestral arrangement over the top of it, while the band went on tour to the US. David Gilmour came up with some of the melodic lines, while the pair of them along with keyboardist Richard Wright worked on the middle section with the choir. 

During the recording of his work in June with the EMI Pops Orchestra, the session musicians present were unimpressed with his tendency to favour avant-garde music over established classical works, and, combined with the relative difficulty of some of the parts, harassed him during recording. John Alldis, whose choir was also to perform on the track, had experience in dealing with orchestral musicians, and managed to conduct the recorded performance in place of Geesin. The orchestral arrangements feature a full brass section, a cello and the 16-piece John Alldis choir, while Pink Floyd mainly provide the backing tracks. Side two opens with three five-minute songs: one by each of the band's three resident songwriters; then closes with a sound effects-dominated musical suite primarily conceived by Mason and credited to the whole group. Waters contributes a folk ballad called 'If', playing acoustic guitar, while Wright's 'Summer '68', features prominent use of brass in places. According to Mason, Gilmour, having had little song-writing experience at that point, was ordered to remain in EMI until he had composed a song suitable for inclusion on the album, coming up with the folk-influenced tune 'Fat Old Sun', and the the final track, 'Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast', is divided into three segments, each with its own descriptive title, joined by dialogue and sound effects of then-roadie Alan Styles preparing, discussing, and eating breakfast. Although the band often played 'Atom Heart Mother' live, both with and without an orchestra, I wanted to hear the original recording as just played by the band, and so have removed the strings, brass and choir from it, as well as stripping the brass section from 'Summer '68'.  

Track listing

01 Atom Heart Mother
02 If

03 Summer '68
04 Fat Old Sun
05 Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast

The Mirage - The World Goes On Around You (1968)

The Venders were formed in the Hertfordshire village of Hunsdon, and featured Del Vincent on lead vocals, Pat Hynes on lead guitar, his brother Pete Hynes on rhythm guitar, Percy Bishop on keyboards, Colin Felstead on bass, and a third Hynes brother, Dave, on drums. Playing local venues and the occasional American air force base, one of the Venders' more successful peers were the Diamonds, featuring lead guitarist Ray Glyn Mynott, who owned a Fender Stratocaster, then hard to come by in the United Kingdom. When Pat Hynes hurt his finger and was unable to play a gig, the Venders asked Mynott to fill in for him, and they were happy enough with his work to invite him to join the band full-time. Mynott agreed, and after shuffling a few members, the new Venders line-up was Pete Hynes on lead vocals, Mynott on lead guitar, Pat Hynes on rhythm guitar, Dee Murray on bass, and Dave Hynes on drums. They made their debut as the opening act for the Tornados on Christmas Eve 1964, and early the following year they decided they wanted a hipper sounding name, and so rebranded themselves The Mirage. Several members were working as session musicians in their spare time, and this moonlighting put them in contact with Dick James, one of England's most successful music publishers. James had installed a recording studio in his London office complex in order to cut song-writing demos, and The Mirage became one of James' house bands, as well as being signed as staff songwriters for his firm. 

After meeting at the studio, the band struck up a friendship with Graham Nash and Allan Clarke of the Hollies, and on their recommendation, The Mirage landed a record deal with CBS. Their first single, 'It's in Her Kiss' (a gender-switched cover of the Betty Everett hit) was issued in June 1965 to little success, although their Nash/Clarke-produced second release, 'Go Away', earned respectable radio airplay. Despite the modest success of 'Go Away' and the use of a Mirage recording, 'I'm Gonna Leave Her', in the hit film 'Georgy Girl', CBS was reluctant to authorize a third single, and the band bided their time, writing songs and committing them to tape at the Dick James studio. CBS eventually let them go, and music entrepreneur Larry Page, an associate of James, signed them and made a deal to release their material through Phillips Records. Dick James handled publishing for the Beatles, and for their first Philips single he arranged for them to be able to cover 'Tomorrow Never Knows' from the then-unreleased 'Revolver', with a band original 'You Can't Be Serious' on the flip. However, conflicting opinions at Phillips led to the single not appearing until December 1966, and as by that time the Beatles' recording of the tune had been out for some months, The Mirage recording suffered at the marketplace. 

Undaunted, the group cut a second single for Phillips, with 'Hold On' arriving in March 1967, and two months later saw the release of 'The Wedding Of Ramona Blair', a charming bit of pop psychedelia which was spun regularly by British pirate radio outlets. It received a smattering of BBC Light Programme play, but it wasn't enough to make it the success it deserved to be. With no hits to their name Phillips dropped The Mirage, and the various members had to make a living as sessionmen, cutting publishing demos, and backing other artists in the James/Page stable, including acting as backing musicians for Reg Dwight's unreleased album 'Regimental Sgt. Zippo, which was eventually released in 2021 as by Elton John. The Mirage landed a new record deal when Larry Page brought them aboard for his new Page One label, but much to the group's annoyance, the A-side for their 1968 Page One debut was a bit of pop fluff called 'Mystery Lady' that was co-written by Page under the nom de plume Larry Stein. Their second Page One release, September 1968's 'Here Comes Jane', wasn't even released under their own name, with the group credited as the Yellow Pages, and when a month later Page One released 'Carolyn', another substandard number written by Page, the band were at the end of their tether, and deliberately broke up just to free themselves of their contract with Page.

A few months later, Ray Glynn, Dave Hynes, Pete Hynes, keyboard player Kirk Duncan, and bassist Jeff Peters signed with Carnaby Records, a new label launched by music promoter Mervyn Conn, and as they were unable to use the name The Mirage, the band called themselves Portobello Explosion. Their first release for Carnaby was 'We Can Fly', a Hynes brothers original backed with a cover of the Bubble Puppy's Texas psych hit 'Hot Smoke And Sassafras', but it made little impression, and following Hynes and Duncan's love of the Band's first two albums, they shifted their music to resemble their rustic country-rock, and so another name-change was needed, this time to Jawbone. Their sole eponymous album came out in 1970, and was a unique mixture of Beatles-influenced pop and rootsy Americana, but reviews were tepid, and Jawbone played no live gigs in support of the release, resulting in the band breaking up. Because they were recording demos at the same time as releasing their singles, by 1968 they had amassed a collection of material that would have made an excellent album, and this is what it would have sounded like.  

Track listing

01 The World Goes On Around You
02 I See The Rain
03 The Wedding Of Ramona Blair
04 Ebaneezer Beaver
05 My Door No. 4
06 Chicago Cottage
07 Can You Hear Me
08 You Can't Be Serious
09 Mrs Busby
10 Gone To Your Head
11 One More Time
12 Is Anybody Home
13 Hello Enid
14 What Do I Care
15 Love Is Where You Find It

Loaded Dice - We Look Good (1979)

Loaded Dice were a hard-working power pop band that were touted as being the next big thing from Western Australia. The formed in 1974, and started out as covers band primarily playing 60's beat, but specialising in Beatles songs. After going through a few line-up changes and settling on Dick Haynes on bass, Marty Mather on guitar, Phillip Flanagan on guitar and Dave Eamus on drums, with all members providing vocals, they started to gather a large local fan base. Around 1979 they signed a record deal with WEA Records in Australia, and released their debut album 'No Sweat' later that year. A couple of singles were issued from it, but neither 'Telephone' nor 'Mam'selle' troubled the charts, and despite the fact that they had some very good songs and were able to make the crowd rock in their hometown, they found it harder to get the local crowds interested when they moved to Sydney. They gave it a good go, but after poor sales pushed their album into the bargain bins, they eventually disbanded and returned home. In 2008 a stash of out-takes and demos was discovered and released on Father And Son Recordings, and tucked away in there were quite a few tracks that could easily have appeared on their official album, so it was easy to extract them and compile what could have been their follow-up to 'No Sweat', appearing some time in 1979 or 1980. 

Track listing

01 It's Alright
02 The Girl Next Door
03 Never Been Kissed
04 Rock And Roll Lady
05 Public Holiday
06 You Look Good
07 It Must Be Love
08 Good Girls Go For Bad Boys
09 Mr. Wilkins
10 Young Girls
11 Promises
12 Fooling
13 Someone Who Loved Me More
14 You Only Hurt Yourself
15 Joe Cool
16 Love Is Hard To Find

The Dodos - The World Wants To Know (1963)

As most people should have worked out by now, the recent post by The Chyknhawks was an AI generated pastiche of The Byrds, and there are few of these on the net at the moment, with a '1967 single' by The Brothers Gee, which bears more than a passing resemblance to late-60's Bee Gees, while Feel Flows takes on the Beach Boys at their own game. The Beatles are not spared either, and have the biggest catalogue, although to be honest they are the least convincing imitations. That's not to say that the songs are not worth hearing, and the spoof biography has been put together with tongue very much in cheek, while the covers have been lovingly created to look of the period that the 'album' came out. So here is the first album from The Dodos, 'released' in 1963, accompanied by this bio.   
Released on August 13th 1963, the debut album by the Dodos was a resounding success both critically and financially. Shooting straight to number one on the UK charts, it was the first of many number one albums. Considering the group consisted of very young men (the youngest at 16 and oldest at 20), the fact that the entire album was made up of self penned songs was truly extraordinary, and would inspire greatness from their contemporaries who until then had filled albums with filler and cover tracks. At this time, the music business was fuelled by singles, as most record buyers couldn't afford full albums, and most albums as said before were mainly full of filler surrounding hit singles. The Dodos began a trend in the English music scene to treat albums as something just as special as singles, and were the first UK band to record different versions of songs for their singles and albums. This was suggested by their producer Tolly Williford Gipson, and the boys loved the idea, and it became an industry standard later in the UK. Yet another example of the Dodos being innovators in music. The album was famously recorded in one feverish day, with a few overdubs done the following day. Recorded on a BTR-2 Reel To Reel tape machine, the rhythm track was recorded on one track with the vocals on the other. this allowed T.W.G. to bring vocals up or down in the mix, ensuring a clean vocal performance on every recoding.

Track listing

01 The World Wants To Know
02 Am I The Bad Guy
03 More Than You Know

04 Empty Spaces
05 I Know A Place
06 Listen To My Heart
07 I Want To Make You Mine
08 Smiles and Glancing Looks
09 I Saw Her Dancing There
10 Why Me
11 Love Me Now
12 Don't Leave Me Now

Count Five - Enchanted Flowers (1968)

In the early 1960's school students John "Mouse" Michalski and Roy Chaney had played guitar and bass respectively in a succession of local bands such as Johnny & the GTOs and the Renegades, specializing in surf instrumental music. They changed their name to The Squires and added Kenn Ellner as a singer, and tried picking up on the British Invasion sound, and in late 1964 they added Irish-born guitarist, singer, and songwriter Sean Byrne, and the band made a local name for themselves over the ensuing year. In 1965 organist Phil Evans quit for personal reasons and drummer Skip Cordell joined another group, and with the addition of his replacement, Butch Atkinson, the group changed their name to Count Five. It was around this time that Byrne was putting the finishing touches to a song he'd been outlining in his head, ultimately called 'Psychotic Reaction', and when it was finished it became a showcase for the band's abilities, especially guitarists Michalski and Byrne, and they began working it up into the crescendo of their stage act. At first it didn't seem to do much good, as the group was turned down by Capitol Records, Fantasy Records, and a handful of other California-based companies, but after working out a new arrangement of 'Psychotic Reaction' with the band, local DJ Brian Lord got the song and the group placed with Double Shot Records, a Los Angeles-based label. 

When they released the song as the band's debut single it eventually made number five nationally and number one in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, they were never able to follow up the hit with anything even remotely as successful, and although an album was rushed out, featuring the hit plus some ill-conceived originals, nothing that the group did subsequently seemed to work. They tried reusing the same formula, working in a slightly more folk-rock vein, and even attempting some fresh guitar pyrotechnics (on 'The World' and 'Pretty Big Mouth' and, in a psychedelic vein, on 'Peace Of Mind'), plus a pair of pretty fair Who covers, but by 1967 it was clear that the group's days were numbered. They carried on releasing singles on Double Shot during 1967 and 1968, but the strain of maintaining music careers while attending college, which they had to do in order to keep their draft deferments, took its toll, as did the dwindling bookings, as memory of 'Psychotic Reaction' faded. In the end, after an attempt by the label to keep Byrne as the only active member, Count Five ceased to exist. Although they never managed to record another 'Psychotic Reaction', some of their later singles were not bad, and if we take those and add some previously unreleased recordings from the same timeframe then Double Shot could have put together a second album from the group some time in 1968. As the label never got round to it then it's up to me to do it for them. 

Track listing

01 People Hear What I Say
02 Merry-Go-Round
03 Hold Me Close
04 Teeny Bopper, Teeny Bopper
05 Revelation In Slow Motion
06 Declaration Of Independence
07 You Can't Get Me
08 Contrast
09 Enchanted Flowers
10 Move It Up
11 So Much
12 God Alone (Above)
13 Mailman
14 You Must Believe Me

TG4 - Time For The New (2002)

TG4 was an American R&B female quartet, consisting of Keisha Henry, Davida Williams, Sevyn Streeter (aka Ambee), and Ashley Gallo. The group was assembled by Chris Strokes and was signed to T.U.G. Entertainment, where Stokes served as their manager. He offered Streeter the first spot in the T.U.G./A&M group after she opened for B2K and IMX at a concert in Orlando, Florida in early 2001. Davida, Ashley, and Keisha fell in line after a string of successful auditions, and the name TG4 is short for Tom Girls 4. The group's only major single was 'Virginity', which peaked at number 88 on the US Billboard R&B chart in 2002, as their second single, '2 Minutes', failed to chart on any Billboard chart, and after the group parted ways with their original label, their album, 'Time For The New', was shelved indefinitely. Williams left the band to focus on her acting career, and the remaining members renamed themselves Tomgirls 4 Eva, and they were signed to the Soul Chemistry label, although they didn't stay together for long, and disbanded shortly afterwards. Streeter signed a deal with Jive Records and the RichCraft label in 2007 as a member of Rich Harrison's girl group, RichGirl, and although the group did not release a full album, work on a self-titled debut had begun in 2009, with a planned release in 2010 or 2011. As a precursor to that cancelled RichGirl album, here is what could have been TG4's debut release from 2002. 

Track listing

01 Intro 
02 Can't Trust A Friend (feat. Needa S)
03 Zip it Up (feat. Needa S)
04 Virginity
05 Pop The Question
06 Busted
07 Sweat
08 Way Gone
09 Two Minutes
10 My Pillow
11 Best Friends
12 Secretly

Yes - Time And A Word (1970)

After the release of their debut album 'Yes' in July 1969 for Atlantic Records, Yes resumed extensive touring across the UK. The line-up of the group at this time included lead vocalist Jon Anderson, guitarist Peter Banks, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Bill Bruford, and organist Tony Kaye, and towards the end of 1969 they booked time at Advision Studios in London, during gaps between shows, to record their second record. At Advision, Yes were joined by producer Tony Colton, a friend of Anderson's who was also the singer of the rock band Heads Hands & Feet, and audio engineer Eddy Offord was also brought in to assist Colton in the album's production, because of his skills and hard work. The group continued to follow their early musical direction of performing original material and rearranged cover versions of songs by pop, jazz, and folk artists, and the album eventually consisted of eight tracks, with two covers, as did their debut. A discussion amongst Squire, Anderson, and Colton during the writing process led to the decision of incorporating orchestral arrangements into some of their new songs, as Anderson felt that Banks and Kaye had not worked together to create a strong sound that their new arrangements required. To attempt to solve this, the group thought about using a Mellotron, and tested one out, but the idea fell through. Instead, a brass section of session players and a string section formed of students from the Royal College of Music were hired to perform arrangements written and conducted by Tony Cox. 

Banks did not support the idea of an orchestra and thought it merely followed what rock bands Deep Purple and the Nice had already done, and also he argued that it merely played parts originally written for the guitar or organ, leaving his active participation on the album a minimum, or his guitar buried in the album's mix. Banks also disagreed with the decision to have Colton produce the album, and claimed that he lacked the experience, with his ability being questioned by Squire, who recalled one incident during the mixing of 'No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed', which Colton mixed using "a crappy pair of cans that did not reproduce bass", rather than using the studio's monitoring equipment. He then asked for more bass, but Squire and Howe noticed that the bass levels on the monitors were already high, and the bass is still noticeably overpowering on that track. The album's six original tracks are credited to Anderson, along with either Squire or David Foster, Anderson's former bandmate in The Warriors, and Anderson's lyric content began to move from simple love themes to topics of greater scale. The album received a mixed reception, but a review by Roy Carr in New Musical Express in August 1970 hailed it as one of the best releases of the year. Following the recording of the album in early 1970, tensions within the band increased, and Banks was asked to leave, with Steve Howe replacing him that June. To hear what Banks wanted the album to sound like, I've removed all the strings and brass, and boosted the organ to fill out the gaps, so that we now have 'Time And A Word' as just played by the band themselves. The general consensus is that the one track to benefit from the orchestration is 'Clear Days', but I've still removed it just so that you hear what it would have sounded like in a stripped-down version. To distinguish it from the standard edition I've housed it in the US version of the cover, which features Steve Howe, even though he didn't play on the record.  

Track listing

1 No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed
2 Then
3 Everydays
4 Sweet Dreams
5 The Prophet
6 Clear Days
7 Astral Traveller
8 Time And A Word

Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb (2023)

As a special treat here is something that I found on Youtube recently, where DoctorBlue has taken a number of live performances of 'Comfortably Numb' and mixed them all together to make a 26-minute take of the song, most of which comprises the guitar solo. Not much else to say about it, other than I've removed the applause at the end so that the bombastic ending perfectly rounds off what's gone before. 

Track listing

01 Comfortably Numb