Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Various Artists - Rarities Row Vol. 1 (2025)

Here is something a bit special from Mike Solof - a trawl through his huge collection of rare music, with something to satisfy all tastes, from heavy rock to jazz, progressive rock to powerpop, and bubblegum pop to classic singer/songwriter. They are mostly tracks that you will have heard before, but not in these versions, and so over to Mike to introduce it.
I’m starting up a new series called Rarity Row and this is volume 1! Recently I was on the hunt for a rare song in my massive collection of fourteen 14 TB hard drives and as I was searching I thought what a shame it is that I have all this cool stuff and only share bits and pieces here and there when needed. So I thought I would start a new series here that doesn’t just focus on one artist at a time, but various artists from my entire collection. Thus was the birth of 'Rarity Row'. Each Volume will contain about an hours worth of cool tunes culled from bootlegs, rare B-sides, box sets, rare singles, live cuts and just plain old out of print very hard to find albums. I already have two more volumes lined up but I thought I would see the reaction to this first before posting more. I also am doing a slightly different type of track list, as I’m going to post the name of the song, the source of the song with a picture of the source I used and maybe a tiny bit more about it if I think it’s necessary. But mostly I’m going to let the music speak for itself. I hope you dig Volume One. It was a blast putting it together!

Michael 



Track listing and brief info: 

01 Crying In The Night (Single Mix) 
Buckingham Nicks (1973) Beginnings 


'Buckingham Nicks' is the only studio album by the duo of American rock guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks, both of whom later joined Fleetwood Mac. Produced by Keith Olsen, the album was released in September 1973 by Polydor Records. The album was a commercial failure on its original release, and despite the duo's subsequent success, it has yet to be commercially remastered or re-released digitally. Recording sessions for 'Buckingham Nicks' took place at Sound City Studios, and Olsen took the opportunity to purchase a large Neve console for the facility, as he owned part of the studio at the time, and 'Crying in the Night', the opening song on 'Buckingham Nicks', was the first song recorded on the device. Various session musicians, including drummer Jim Keltner and guitarist Waddy Wachtel, assisted in recording the album, and Buckingham performed two guitar instrumentals on the album: 'Django' and 'Stephanie'. 'Django' was written by pianist guitarist John Lewis in the 1950s to honour jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, while 'Stephanie' was written by Buckingham as a love song for Nicks, as she was born as Stephanie Lynn Nicks. Buckingham wrote the song in late 1971 or early 1972 while recovering from a bout of mononucleosis that forced him to play while lying flat on his back. It was revealed on 22 July 2025 that the album had been remastered and would be released on CD, vinyl, and streaming on 19 September 2025

02 REO Speedwagon - Don't Let Him Go (Demo) 
REO Speedwagon The Classic Years 1978-1990


'Don't Let Him Go' is a song written by Kevin Cronin, and it was originally released as the opening song for REO Speedwagon's #1 album 'Hi Fidelity', and it was also released as a single, reaching #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. 'Don't Let Him Go' has appeared on several REO Speedwagon greatest hits albums, and Cronin recalls that it was the first song he wrote for 'Hi Infidelity'. Like the #1 single from the album, 'Keep On Loving You', the lyrics of 'Don't Let Him Go' are about breaking up with a longtime girlfriend. 

03 Name Of The Game - 1971 unreleased Al Kooper single mix 
1971 unreleased Al Kooper single 


Badfinger's 1971 'Name Of The Game' is the sixth track from the power pop band's  album, 'Straight Up', and was written by Pete Ham. After the release of their album 'No Dice', Badfinger began work on an untitled follow-up, with Geoff Emerick producing sessions for the songs that were to be on the album, among them being 'Name Of The Game'. It was also intended to be released as the lead single from this album, backed with 'Suitcase', a track written by Joey Molland, but despite efforts from George Harrison (who was impressed greatly by the track) to remix the song, the single, as well as the rest of the album, were cancelled due to input from Phil Spector. This single edit appeared on some reissues of 'Straight Up'. When George Harrison returned to produce a new album for Badfinger, one of the songs that he worked on was 'Name Of The Game', but upon his departure to oversee The Concert for Bangladesh, Todd Rundgren came in to finish the album, and on its completion, the album, now titled 'Straight Up', featured 'Name Of The Game' at the end of side one.

04 Stairway To Heaven #6 (with vocals) 
Led Zeppelin Studio Magik - Sessions 1968-1980 


'Stairway To Heaven' is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 8 November 1971 on the band's untitled fourth studio album (commonly known as 'Led Zeppelin IV'), by Atlantic Records. Composed by the band's guitarist Page with lyrics written by lead singer Jimmy Robert Plant, it is widely regarded as one of the greatest rock songs of all time. The initial idea was to have this quite fragile guitar that would open up this piece of music and for something that would accelerate as it went through from beginning to end, but to actually pull this idea off properly was a different story. According to Page "It's all accelerating, it's all moving, but it's not necessarily orchestrating, although it's overdubbing, increasing the texture as it goes through". 

05 Sister Golden Hair [Demo] 
America 50th Anniversary The Collection


'Sister Golden Hair' is a song by the band America, written by Gerry Beckley, from their fifth album 'Hearts' in 1975. It was their second single to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, remaining in the top position for one week. Beckley says "There was no actual Sister Gold Hair." The lyrics were largely inspired by the works of Jackson Browne. Beckley commented, "Jackson Browne has a knack, an ability to put words to music, that is much more like the L.A. approach to just genuine observation as opposed to simplifying it down to its bare essentials... I find Jackson can depress me a little bit, but only through his honesty; and it was that style of his which led to a song of mine, 'Sister Golden Hair', which is probably the more L.A. of my lyrics." Beckley adds that 'Sister Golden Hair' "was one of the first times I used 'ain't' in a song, but I wasn't making an effort to. I was just putting myself in that frame of mind and I got those kind of lyrics out of it." 

06 French Song #04 (Alternate Mix, Stereo) 
The Monkees Present US Rhino Box set [2013 Present US Rhino RHM2 535908] 


Musicians
Davy Jones: Lead Vocal
Louie Shelton: Acoustic Guitar
Frank Bugbee: Acoustic Guitar
Michel Rubini: Organ
Max Bennett: Bass
Hal Blaine: Drums
Tim Weisberg: Flute
Emil Richards: Percussion
Producers Davy Jones, Bill Chadwick
Writers: Bill Chadwick 

07 Jack Frost And The Hooded Crow (UK Single)
20 Years of Jethro Tull box Set 


'The Jethro Tull Christmas Album' was much praised on first release, with Rolling Stone noting admiringly: “The originals simmer with eccentric, eclectic, folky energy, rocking ditties threaded through with Celtic stylings, jazzy undercurrents, Ian Anderson’s distinctive flute and wry humour.” Allmusic called it “perhaps the most satisfying Tull releases in 25 years.”  
 
08 Magic Man (Demo) 
Heart - 1975 Strange Euphoria Box Set 


'Magic Man' is a song by the American rock band Heart, released as a single from their debut album 'Dreamboat Annie'. Written and composed by Ann and Nancy Wilson, the song is sung from the viewpoint of a young girl who is being seduced by an older man (referred to as a Magic Man), much to the chagrin of her mother, who calls and begs the girl to come home. In an interview, Ann Wilson revealed that 'Magic Man' was about her then boyfriend, band manager Michael Fisher, and that part of the song was an autobiographical tale of the beginnings of their relationship. In the United States, 'Magic Man' received its first release in summer 1976, after the first US single 'Crazy On You' introduced Americans to the group's sound. It became Heart's first top 10 hit, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 6, 1976. 

09 Runnin' With the Devil 
Van Halen - Complete Zero 
Gene Simmons produced Demos (May 1976) 


In 1976, Gene Simmons of KISS was encouraged to see Van Halen as a possible act for his new label. He produced a demo that included many songs the band would eventually record for their early studio albums, including a version of 'Runnin’ With The Devil'. The demo went nowhere, but Van Halen’s momentum finally became impossible to deny. Producer Ted Templeman got them a deal at Warner Bros. after seeing one of their live performances. The first sound that you hear on the band’s debut album is a rising, ominous blare. It was Gene Simmons’ idea to open 'Runnin’ With The Devil', which is credited to all four members of the band, with a car horn. Eddie Van Halen took the idea and ran with it, improvising a device with the horns of the band members’ cars that he could manipulate for the recording. The horn rises, Michael Anthony cranks out a single repeated bass note, a mysterious piano plinks, and then the crunching main groove kicks into gear. It’s interesting upon listening to 'Runnin With The Devil', which is considered a hard rock classic, just how quiet it is in sections, especially in the verses when the music murmurs behind Roth’s pronouncements. Of course, that makes the refrains, when the undeniable rhythm locks back into place, that much more impactful. The track also limits Eddie’s soloing, just a few quick but impressive bursts. But his ability as a rhythm guitarist is on full display, as he gives the song an unforced funkiness in conjunction with the bottom end of Anthony and Alex Van Halen. There is also plenty of room for Roth’s vocal scatting and general wackiness, another key aspect of the band’s engaging nature that was on display right off the bat. These guys were going to rock out and have a blast doing it, which was in contrast to some of their more stone-faced contemporaries of the era. As for the lyrics? No, there’s nothing satanic about them. The devil is just a metaphor for the high-intensity, high-risk life chosen by the narrator. Roth doesn’t pretend there are no consequences for that choice: Yes, I’m livin‘ at a pace that kills, he boasts. That’s the price you pay when you act like there’s no tomorrow. 

10 Any World That I’m Welcome To 
Steely Dan - Steely Dan Four Outtakes 1972 
early version from demo reel, different from circulating demo 


'Katy Lied' was the first album the group made after they stopped touring, as well as their first to feature backing vocals by Michael McDonald. The album was the first one recorded by Steely Dan after guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and drummer Jim Hodder left the group as a result of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen's decision to stop touring and focus solely on recording with various studio musicians. Guitarist Denny Dias, a founding member of Steely Dan, contributed to the album as a session musician, as did vocalist McDonald and drummer Michael Jeff Porcaro, who were both members of Steely Dan's final touring band. Then only 20 years old, Porcaro played drums on every track on the album except 'Any World (That I'm Welcome To)', which features session drummer Hal Blaine. 

11 Copacabana (Demo) 
Barry Manilow - The Complete Collection and Then some… 1992. 


'Copacabana', also known as 'Copacabana (At the Copa)', is a song recorded by Barry Manilow. Written by Manilow, Jack Feldman, and Bruce Sussman, it was released in 1978 as the third single from Manilow's fifth studio album, 'Even Now ' in1978. The same year, "Copacabana" appeared in the soundtrack album of the film 'Foul Play'. The song was inspired by a conversation between Manilow and Sussman at the Copacabana Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, when they discussed whether there had ever been a song called "Copacabana". After returning to the U.S., Manilow - who, in the 1960s, had been a regular visitor to the Copacabana nightclub in New York City - suggested that Sussman and Feldman write the lyrics to a story song for him. They did so, and Manilow supplied the music. The song earned Manilow his first and only Grammy Award for Performance in February 1979. 

12 On A Clear Day - Private Concert Best Male Pop Vocal 
Exclusively for My Friends Box Set 1964 


'Exclusively For My Friends' is a series of originally six albums for the label MPS by Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. The album tracks were recorded live by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer for MPS on the occasion of private concerts with a small audience in his home studio. 

13 All kinds Of People (Unreleased)
Sheryl Crow - Lost First Album 1992 



After signing a contract with A&M Records and not wanting to release her own first attempt at a debut record thinking it was unmemorable, Sheryl Crow finally released 'Tuesday Night Music Club' in 1993. It remains her most successful effort to date and one of the best-selling albums of the 1990s, having sold more than ten million copies internationally by the end of the decade.

14 Avalon (Demo) 
The Semantics Demos 1990? 


The Semantics was an American pop rock band from Nashville, Tennessee  formed by Jody Spence (drums), Millard Powers (bass), and Will Owsley (guitars and vocals), Zak Starkey later replaced Spence on drums. The band recorded one album, 'Powerbill', which was released in Japan. After being dropped by their record label shortly after recording the album, the band members at the time (Powers, Owsley, and Starkey) all went on to successful careers in the music industry. Powers has performed as a bassist with Ben Folds and and has worked as a Counting Crows record engineer and producer. Owsley had a successful solo career before his death in 2010. Starkey has served as the drummer for the bands Oasis and The Who. Jody Spence and Owsley began writing songs after a couple of years of touring with Judson Spence, Jody's brother. Jody and Owsley soon got publishing contracts with Sony Music Publishing which were facilitated by Scott Siman 1990. In 1991, Siman attended a show in North Carolina, where a band called Majosha performed, which featured Ben Folds and Millard Powers. Not long after that, Siman brought Folds to Nashville and Powers later followed. Siman furnished a small demo studio that the Spence brothers, Owsley and Folds would often share. Folds would eventually introduce Millard Powers to Jody Spence and Owsley. Within a month of meeting each other, Spence, Powers and Owsley had written and recorded entire albums worth of songs at the Sony Tree studio, seven of which would later end up on the Geffen Records album 'Powerbill'. 

15 Blow Away (Demo)
George Harrison - 1979 iTunes Exclusive Bonus Track to 'George Harrison'  album 


'Blow Away' is a song by English musician George Harrison that was released in February 1979 on his album 'George Harrison'. It was also the lead single from the album. The end of 'Blow Away', written on a rainy day (that's why first verses are about clouds), was included in 'Nuns On The Run' – a comedy film with Eric Idle and Robbie Coltrane. In his autobiography, 'I, Me, Mine', Harrison says that the song arose from feelings of frustration and inadequacy resulting from a leaking roof at his Friar Park home. While viewing the downpour from an outbuilding on the property, he realised that, in surrendering to the problem, he was merely exacerbating it. With this realisation, the episode served as a reminder that he, in fact, "loved everybody" and should seek to be more optimistic. Additionally, he notes that, while he initially felt self-conscious about the song, thinking it "so obvious", the track grew on him when he recorded it. His demo of the song was released as an Harrison iTunes-exclusive bonus track on 'George Harrison'.

16 Moving - Studio Outtake 
Kate Bush - Demos 


'Moving' is a song written and recorded in 1978 by English singer-songwriter Kate Bush for her debut album, 'The Kick Inside'. Written by Bush and produced by Andrew Powell, the song is a tribute to Lindsay Kemp, her mime teacher. The finished version of 'Moving' opens with whale song (missing from the demo) sampled from 'Songs Of The Humpback Whale', an LP including recordings of whale vocalisations made by Dr. Roger S. Payne. In an interview with a magazine, Bush commented, "Whales say everything about 'moving'. It's huge and beautiful, intelligent, soft inside a tough body. It weighs a ton and yet it's so light it floats. It's the whole thing about human communication —'moving liquid, yet you are just as water'— what the Chinese say about being the cup the water moves in to. The whales are pure movement and pure sound, calling for something, so lonely and sad …”. Bush signed a contract with EMI Records in her late teens, but between recording demos with Dave Gilmour as producer and releasing her first album, she pursued her studies and gained maturity in her writing. After seeing an advertisement for Lindsay Kemp's Flowers spectacle, she decided to take mime classes with him, and six months later she took modern dance classes with Anthony Van Laast. Bush began recording her debut album, 'The Kick Inside', in 1977, and she wrote 'Moving' the same year as a tribute to Kemp. "He needed a song written to him," she said in an interview. "He opened up my eyes to the meanings of movement. He makes you feel so good. If you've got two left feet it's 'you dance like an angel, darling.' He fills people up, you're an empty glass and glug, glug, glug, he's filled you with champagne." 'Moving' was released on 6 February 1978 as a single solely in Japan, with 'Wuthering Heights' as b-side, in order to promote 'The Kick Inside'. 

17 Supper's Ready - Peter Gabriel on vocals 
recorded by the sound engineer from the soundboard. 
Genesis Live - Live at Leicester/Manchester Feb 1973 - Dutch Test Pressing 


'Genesis Live' is the first live album from the English rock band Genesis, released on 20 July 1973 on Charisma Records. Initially recorded for radio broadcast on the American rock program King Biscuit Flower Hour, but never broadcast, the album was recorded at Montfort Hall, De Leicester, on 25 February 1973, except for 'The Return Of The Giant Hogweed', which was recorded at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, on the previous day. 'Genesis Live' was the band's first album to enter the top 10 in the UK, reaching No. 9, although following its US release in 1974, it only peaked at No. 105. 'Genesis Live' was issued in the US several months after the release of 'Selling England By The Pound', which upset Gabriel as the album included songs from their old live sets, and was quickly recorded with little care given to the quality of the recordings. When Gabriel reluctantly agreed to have the album released, part of the deal was that it would not be issued in the US. The album was recorded by the Pye Mobile Recording Unit, with engineer Alan Perkins, on the tour promoting their recent album 'Foxtrot'. A handful of early radio promotional double-LP test pressings were created which included a 23-minute version of 'Supper's Ready' from the Leicester show. This album's running order was 'Watcher Of The Skies', 'The Musical Box', 'Get 'Em Out By Friday', 'Supper's Ready', 'The Return Of The Giant Hogweed', and 'The Knife', and included between-song patter by Gabriel. 'Supper's Ready' was not included in the officially released version, even though the front cover photograph was taken during a live performance of the song, with Gabriel donning the "Magog" mask.

Do let Mike know what you think of this selection. Is the mix of genres too wide? Are demos and alternate takes OK, or would you prefer new, unreleased songs? I'm sure all suggestions will be welcomed for future volumes. 

Soulseek hint - solof aiwe

  

Yoo Doo Right - Fear Of Elevators (2020)

Taking their name from the song that takes up the entire second side of Can's 1969 debut, Yoo Doo Right formed in Montréal in 2016, consisting of Justin Cober (guitar, synthesizers, vocals), bassist Charles Masson, drummer John Talbot, and synth player Charles Bourassa. At the end of 2016 they released their first limited-edition cassette EP titled 'Nobody Panicked And Everybody Got On' on Second Best Records, which was recorded at Breakglass Studios and mixed by Taylor Smith and Austin Tufts of Braids. The following year they recorded the rather obviously-titled 'EP2' at the infamous Hotel2Tango, which was mixed by Godspeed You! Black Emperor's Efrim Menuck and mastered by Harris Newman, and released as a digital file. Following the departure of Bourassa, the band remained a trio, and released the track 'The Moral Compass Of A Self​-​Driving Car' in 2019, which was recorded by Sébastien Fournier of Avec le Soleil Sortant de Sa Bouche. In 2020, Yoo Doo Right shared a split 7" single with Japanese psych legends Acid Mothers Temple, which was issued by Mothland Records, and they also appeared on the label's 'Sounds From Mothland, Vol. 1' compilation, contributing the disco-influenced 'Marché, Pt. 3', featuring Jasmine Trails. In 2021 their debut album, 'Don't Think You Can Escape Your Purpose', finally appeared on Mothland, and once they had that under their belt there was no stopping them, with second album 'A Murmur, Boundless To The East' quickly following in 2022, and the most recent release, 'From The Heights Of Our Pastureland', appearing last year. As you would expect from their choice of name, Yoo Doo Right draw heavily on the repetitive rhythms and layered textures characteristic of krautrock and shoegaze, creating immersive and hypnotic pieces, and this post showcases some of their early work which didn't subsequently appear on any of their albums.  



Track listing

01 Nobody Panicked & Everybody Got On (from the 2016 cassette EP)
02 Distaval 
(from the 2016 cassette EP)
03 Fear Of Elevators 
(from the 2016 cassette EP)
04 The Ocelot That Lost A Lot 
(from the 2016 cassette EP)
05 Whilst You Save Your Skins (from 'EP2' 2017)
06 Marché des Squelettes (from 'EP2' 2017)
07 Apatride (Part 1) (from 'EP2' 2017)
08 Apatride (Part 2) (from 'EP2' 2017)
09 Apatride (Part 3) (from 'EP2' 2017)
10 Marché, Pt. 3 (from 'Sounds Of Mothland, Vol. 1' compilation 2020)
11 Speed Guru (split single with Acid Mothers Temple 2020)

Friday, September 19, 2025

The Delines - Waiting On The Blue - The Best Of The Delines (2025)

The Delines are a critically acclaimed Americana/soul/country band from Portland, Oregon, formed by novelist and songwriter Willy Vlautin, and fronted by the soulful vocals of Amy Boone. Taking time out in 2012 from his other band, Richmond Fontaine, to focus on his successful career as a novelist, Vlautin also found time to write new material that was inspired by the evocative world-weary vocals of Austin-based Boone of the Damnations. Bringing in Richmond Fontaine member Sean Oldham on drums, the Decemberists' Jenny Conlee on keys, Freddy Trujillo on bass, and Tucker Jackson on pedal steel, Vlautin formed the Delines around Boone's tough but haunting and vulnerable vocal style. The group assembled in Portland with producer John Askew to record what would become their debut album, 'Colfax'. Released at the beginning of 2014, it combined Vlautin's much-lauded tales of struggling characters from the American backwaters with Boone's emotive vocals, and following the record's release, the group embarked on a European tour that same year. They began work on a single during a set of summer shows, but these 2015 studio sessions blossomed, and the band soon had a ten-track collection on their hands, which they titled 'Scenic Sessions', and it was released that September. In 2016, Boone was involved in a car accident which left her with multiple injuries. At the time of the accident, the Delines had completed three-quarters of their next album with Askew, but Boone's lengthy convalescence led to a four-year gap between records, and they eventually returned with 'The Imperial' in January 2019, promoted a month earlier by its lead single 'Eddie And Polly'. 
Later that year, two non-album singles were released, 'A Room On The Tenth Floor' and 'Eight Floors Up', that were recorded at the sessions for 'The Imperial', but which had to left off the album for reasons of space. November 2019 also brought a spoken word recording by Vlautin of his short story, 'The Kill Switch', for which the Delines provided musical backing, and by this point Jackson had departed, and the band continued without pedal steel guitar. In April 2021 Vlautin's sixth novel, 'The Night Always Comes', was published, and initial copies came with a soundtrack CD by the Delines, which included a cover of Spiritualized's 'Broken Heart'. October that year saw the release of 'Little Earl', the lead single from their fourth studio album 'The Sea Drift', which appeared in February 2022. In late 2022, the band released a two-track single titled 'The Lost Duets', which featured 'The Golden State' and 'My Blood Bleeds The Darkest Blue', both of which were Vlautin-Boone duets, with the former recording dating back to the time of the 'Scenic Sessions'. Although 2023 was a quiet year for the Delines, it saw a limited release of their 'Night Always Comes' soundtrack on vinyl, and in December the one-off single 'Christmas in Atlantis'. In November 2024 the single 'Left Hook Like Frazier' represented the first fruits of a fifth album, and 'Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom' was released on Valentine's Day 2025. The Delines' music combines Vlautin's admired lyrics about characters from America's hinterland and their everyday struggles, with Boone's vocals, the emotion of which wrings out the pain of the characters, and once you've listened to this selection of their best work I'm sure you'll love them as much as I do.  



Track listing

01 The Imperial (from 'The Imperial' 2019) 
02 Colfax Avenue (from 'Colfax' 2014) 
03 Drowning In Plain Sight (from 'The Sea Drift' 2022) 
04 Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom (from 'Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom' 2025)
05 The Oil Rigs At Night (from 'Colfax' 2014) 
06 He Don't Burn For Me (from 'The Imperial' 2019) 
07 Little Earl (from 'The Sea Drift' 2022) 
08 Waiting On The Blue (from 'The Imperial' 2019) 
09 State Line (from 'Colfax' 2014)
10 Let's Be Us Again (from 'The Imperial' 2019) 
11 Hold Me Slow (from 'Colfax' 2014) 
12 Nancy & The Pensacola Pimp (from 'Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom' 2025)
13 Sandman's Coming (from 'Colfax' 2014)
14 Past The Shadows (from 'The Sea Drift' 2022) 

Groove Theory - The Answer (2000)

US band Groove Theory formed in New York City in 1993, when Amel Larrieux met Bryce Wilson while she was working at Rondor Music as a receptionist. Larrieux had been working at the music publishing company since the age of 18, and a publisher at the company had signed Wilson as a producer, and knew he was interested in forming a group, so he approached Larrieux, who he knew was a singer-songwriter, with one of Wilson's production tracks. Wilson hoped to use the group as a chance to utilize his production talents, while Larrieux wanted a chance to shine in R&B, and so Wilson thought it would advantageous for Larrieux to both write, sing, and arrange each song instead of shopping around for different singers and songwriters. The group signed a recording contract with Epic Records, and in 1995 they released their self-titled debut album 'Groove Theory', featuring the gold-selling hit single 'Tell Me', which reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100, and number three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Subsequent singles 'Baby Luv' and 'Keep Trying' also charted, and the album also went on to be certified gold. In 1999 Larrieux left the group to pursue a solo career, being replaced by Makeda Davis, and the new line-up signed with Columbia Records and recorded a new album, 'The Answer', which was due to come out in 2000. Displeased with Columbia's track record at the time with urban projects, Wilson asked for a release from the label, and so the album's release was cancelled, although a single entitled '4 Shure' was released to minor chart performance. 'The Answer' featured a more commercial sound than their debut, but this was to be expected with the change in personnel, and it had been said to show influences from Aaliyah, Timbaland and Missy Elliott.
 


Track listing

01 II Da Club 
02 Goin' Together 
03 Shy Type  
04 Body Shots  
05 If I Knew  
06 4 Shure (feat. Glaze NY)  
07 Road Ain't Crowded  
08 Jokes On You  
09 Hedonism  
10 Hoppin' In My Car  
11 Love/Hate

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Creedence Clearwater Revival with Booker T. Jones - Fantasy Session (1970)

On 30 January 1970 Creedence Clearwater Revival invited Booker T. Jones, Donald "Duck" Dunn and Steve Cropper of the Booker T. & the M.G.s to hold a jamming session at the Factory in Berkeley, California, although Booker T. drummer Al Jackson wasn't able to participate due to sickness. It was quite a natural collaboration since CCR had always admired this Stax label house band, and John Fogerty and others in the band had already met Steve Cropper at Stax Studios in Memphis 1969 and exchanged phone numbers. In the jam session at the Factory, they played rock and soul, 12-bar blues, covers of Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding, plus their own songs, and after the session finished at 2am, the bands played a basketball game at the Factory, and later the following day CCR performed one of their finest gigs at Oakland Arena in California. The session might have influenced later recordings by CCR, as it's sometimes suggested that John Fogerty's interest in putting Hammond B3 on 'Pendulum' was a direct nod to Booker T. & the M.G.s, and the mutual admiration both bands had for each other, and the two groups combined forces again in summer 1970 when they toured together in the US. The session was filmed and recorded professionally, although it has only been available on poor sounding bootlegs for years, but this copy has much better sound quality, and I've also tidied it up to remove a lot of the extraneous chatter between the tracks, so enjoy this meeting of two classic bands at the peak of their powers. 



Track listing

01 Jam Warm Up
02 Ninety-Nine And A Half (Won't Do)
03 Proud Mary
04 Travelin' Band
05 Born On The Bayou
06 Down On The Corner
07 Ninety-Nine And A Half (Won't Do) (Reprise)
08 I Put A Spell On You
09 Final Jam 

Huang Chung - Yellow Bell (1984)

Guitarists Jeremy Ryder and Nick Feldman first met when Ryder answered Feldman's advertisement for musicians in the classifieds section of the weekly British music magazine Melody Maker in 1977. They were joined by Bud Merrick on bass and Paul Hammond (ex-Atomic Rooster) on drums, forming the Intellektuals, but in less than a year they'd broken up, and Ryder and Feldman then joined up with drummer Darren Costin, bassist Leigh Gorman, keyboardist Simon Campbell and vocalist Glenn Gregory, to form 57 Men. This band lasted for about eighteen months before splitting, with Gorman going on to play bass in Adam And The Ants and Bow Wow Wow, while Gregory later became the lead vocalist for Heaven 17. Ryder, Feldman and Costin stayed together and renamed themselves Huang Chung, taken from the first note of the Chinese classical music scale, and which translates as "yellow bell" in English. At the beginning of Huang Chung's career, all the members performed under pseudonyms, with Ryder being "Jack Hues" (a play on Emile Zola's 1898 open letter J'Accuse...!), Nick Feldman was "Nick DeSpig", and Darren Costin was "Darren Darwin", and later, just "Darwin". The band signed to the 101 Records label, and their first recording was 'Baby I'm Hu-man', which appeared on a 101 Records compilation album in 1980, with three live tracks subsequently appearing on another 101 Records compilation in 1981. 
Later in 1980 the independent record company Rewind Records signed the band for a two-single deal, and their debut single for the label was 'Isn't It About Time We Were on TV?', followed by 'Stand Still' later that year. Neither single charted, but the group had begun to attract the attention of Arista Records, who signed them on a two-album deal in early 1981. Around the same time, the group expanded to a quartet, with the addition of saxophonist Dave Burnand, and in keeping with the all-pseudonymous nature of the band, Burnand was known as "Hogg Robinson" for the first Arista single, and later, simply as "Hogg". Under the direction of producer Rhett Davies, Huang Chung issued two singles on Arista in 1981, neither of which charted, followed by a Roger Bechirian-produced third single in 1982 which suffered the same fate. The band's self-titled debut studio album was issued in 1982, and it included the three non-charting Arista A-sides, one of the Arista B-sides, and six other new tracks. Like the associated singles, the 'Huang Chung' album failed to chart. In late 1982 the band returned to the studio to start work on their second studio album for Arista Records, and a new single, 'Dance Hall Days', was produced by Tim Friese-Greene and appeared as both a 7" and 12" single in October, but it too failed to trouble the charts. 
After the failure of 'Dance Hall Days', the group's manager, David Massey, convinced Arista to close their contract with Huang Chung, and instead placed the band with American label Geffen Records, making the group the second UK-based act to be signed to Geffen worldwide after Asia, although Burnand left the group around this time, citing "musical differences". At this juncture, the band changed the spelling of their name to Wang Chung, at Geffen's suggestion, to make the pronunciation easier for English speakers, and Feldman and Costin opted to be billed under their real full names, with only Jack Hues keeping his pseudonym. The band spent most of 1983 recording their second studio album, 'Points On The Curve', which was released in July 1983, and a re-recorded version of 'Dance Hall Days' finally gave them the hit that they needed, reaching No. 16 in the US and No. 21 in the UK. The popularity of the song gave Wang Chung the ability to spend two months touring the United States on their own, and then later with the Romantics and Berlin, and more hit singles and albums followed on from this success. This post covers their early years as Huang Chung, and collects all the non-album tracks that the band recorded between 1980 and 1984, including some radio and TV appearances where they performed exclusive songs for broadcast. 



Track listing

01 Isn't It About Time We Were On TV? (single 1980)
02 Drive Me Crazy (b-side of 'Isn't It About Time We Were On TV?')
03 Stand Still (single 1980)
04 I Don't Wanna Be Like You (B-side of 'Stand Still')
05 Journey Without Maps (b-side of 'Hold Back The Tears' 1981)
06 Baby I'm Hu-man (From 'Live At The '101': Bandits At 10 O'clock' 1980)
07 I Don't Believe A Word (From 'Live At The '101': Live Letters Warts 'N' All' 1981)
08 You've Taken Everything (From 'Live At The '101': Live Letters Warts 'N' All' 1981)
09 There Is A Nation (b-side of 'Dance Hall Days' 1983)
10 Separate Lives (from 'BBC In Concert' 1981)
11 Down Here Alone (from 'BBC In Concert' 1981)
12 Wrong (from the TV program 'Night Network' 1981)
13 The Ornamental Elephant (b-side Of 'Don't Let Go' 1984)

Thanks to geofmcm for providing the inspiration and music for this post. 

Friday, September 12, 2025

The Peddlers - Wasting My Time (1974)

The Peddlers formed in Manchester in April 1964, as a trio consisting of drummer Trevor Morais, who had previously played with Faron's Flamingos and Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, after Ringo Starr left to join the Beatles, bassist Tab Martin, and Roy Phillips on vocals and keyboards, ex of The Saints, The Tornados, and The Soundtracks. The group named themselves The Song Peddlers, and after signing to Phillips Records they released their first single 'Rose Marie'/'I'm Not Afraid' in 1964. The group then changed its name to The Peddlers, and had some minor success with their debut single, 'Let The Sun Shine In', which was written by Teddy Randazzo, and which featuring a considerably different sound to their debut. In 1966 the group began a residency at Annies Room, and also played at The Scotch Of St James and The Pickwick, where they recorded their first album 'Live At The Pickwick' with an introduction by Pete Murray. Following the release of their debut album the group released six singles and an EP on the Philips record label, often featuring studio versions of tracks from the live record, before joining CBS in 1967. The first single for the new label was their version of 'What'll I Do' backed with 'Delicious Lady', which they promoted with appearances on a number of TV and radio shows, including Saturday Club, Dee Time, Pop North and The Joe Loss Show. 
In April they embarked on a tour with Nina Simone and Dick Gregory, before heading to the United States for a six-week engagement at the Flamingo Club in Las Vegas, followed by two weeks in Miami, Florida. In 1968 they released the album 'Freewheelers', consisting of standards arranged by Keith Mansfield, and the follow-up, 1968's 'Three In A Cell', included a version of 'On A Clear Day You Can See Forever', from the 1965 musical of the same name, which was later sampled for its bass and Hammond organ riff. The third and final CBS album, 'Birthday', was released in 1969, and brought the band two UK Top 40 singles in 'Girlie', and 'Birth', which reached No. 17. Following 'Birthday', The Peddlers returned to Philips, where they released the albums 'Three For All' in 1970, and 'Suite London' in 1972. Morais left during an Australian tour in 1972, and was replaced on drums by New Zealander Paul Johnston, and after one more live album in 1974, The Peddlers disbanded in 1976. As their first album didn't appear until 1967 then their early singles were not included on it, and so they and their b-sides are ripe for anthologising, and if you add in the studio versions of tracks from their 1967 live album, then we have a two-disc collection of music from this iconic UK jazz/soul trio. 



Track listing

Disc I - 1964-1967
01 Let The Sun Shine In (single 1964)
02 True Girl (b-side of 'Let The Sun Shine In')
03 Whatever Happened To The Good Times (single 1965)
04 Song For The Blues (b-side of 'Whatever Happened To The Good Times')
05 Over The Rainbow (single 1965)
06 You Must Be Having Me On (b-side of 'Over The Rainbow')
07 If You Live (from the 'Swinging Scene' EP 1966)
08 I Love Paris (from the 'Swinging Scene' EP 1966)
09 Little Ole Me (from the 'Swinging Scene' EP 1966)
10 Georgia On My Mind (from the 'Swinging Scene' EP 1966)
11 Adam's Apple (single 1966)
12 Anybody's Fool (b-side of 'Adam's Apple')
13 I've Got To Hold On (single 1966)
14 Gassin' (b-side of 'I've Got To Hold On')
15 What'll I Do (single 1967)
16 Delicious Lady (b-side of 'What'll I Do')
17 Irresistable You (single 1967)
18 Murray's Mood (b-side of 'Irresistable You')
19 Nine Miles High (b-side of 'You're The Reason I'm Living' 1967)

Disc II - 1968-1974
01 Handel With Care (single 1968)
02 Horse's Collar (b-side of 'Handel With Care')
03 That's Life (single 1969)
04 Wasting My Time (b-side of 'That's Life')
05 Steel Mill (b-side of 'Birth' 1969)
06 Rainy Day In London (b-side of 'Tell The World We're Not In' 1970)
07 Let Me Be Turned To Stone (single 1971)
08 Hello Sophie (b-side of 'Let Me Be Turned To Stone')
09 Have You Ever Been To Georgia (single 1971)
10 Manah (b-side of 'Have You Ever Been To Georgia')
11 Back-Alley Jane (single 1972)
12 Nothing Sacred (b-side of 'Back-AlleyJane')
13 Sing Me An Old Song (single 1973)
14 It's So Easy (b-side of 'Sing Me An Old Song')
15 Is There Anyone Out There (single 1974)
16 Just A Thought Ago (b-side of 'Is There Anyone Out There')


Mandrake Handshake - Monolith (2022)

Mandrake Handshake are a dynamic, shape-shifting collective from Oxford, with a shifting membership of somewhere between seven and ten musicians. Their line-up includes Row Janjuah (lead guitar/vocals), Trinity Oksana (lead vocals), Elvis Thirlwell (percussion), Joe Bourdier (drums), Rudy Mae Symonds (backing vocals), David Howard-Baker (saxophone/flute/keys), Moogieman (modular synth/keys), Charlie Arrowsmith (rhythm guitar/comet), and Jake Kavanagh (bass), and they've already made waves with two critically acclaimed EPs, in 'Shake The Hand That Feeds You', which was released via Nice Swan Records in 2022, and 'The Triple Point Of Water', released by Glasshouse Records later the same year. However, these were just a taster for their debut album, 'Earth Sized Worlds', which appeared via Tip Top Recordings in 2025. It's a heady, kaleidoscopic journey through cosmic grooves and hypnotic rhythms, and cements their reputation as fearless sonic explorers, with an intoxicating fusion of metronomic beats, Stereolab-inspired vocals, and a melting pot of Brazilian samba and 70's funk. 'Hypersonic Super-Asterid', is an eight-minute pulsating standout, and deserved to be the lead single despite it's uncompromising length, and the rest of the tracks draw on the motorik drive of Krautrock and the ethereal textures of Tangerine Dream. As an introduction to the band, here are their first two EPs collected together on one album, and if you are taken with their spellbinding tapestry of psychedelic wonder and cosmic imagination then give their album a try. 



Track listing

01 Mandragora
02 Eclogue 11
03 Gonkulator
04 Monolith
05 Emonzaemon
06 Vitamin Sunday
07 Row's Tinted Glasses / Diogo Jota

Tuesday, September 9, 2025

The Velvet Underground - Yesterday's Parties (1966)

I recently came across a bootleg of two lengthy, semi-improvised recordings by The Velvet Underground, which they played as part of Andy Warhol's Plastic Exploding Inevitable in April and November 1966. The sound quality was excellent for its age, and it reminded me that I had a similar piece on another bootleg from Valleydale Ballroom in Columbus, Ohio from the same year. I therefore though that it was only logical to add this to the other two pieces, for an hour and a quarter of some of the very earliest recordings from the legendary Velvet Underground. There isn't much else to say about this, other than it's the VU as you've probably never heard them before, and so well worth at least one listen. 


  
Track listing

01 The Nothing Song
02 Untitled
03 Melody Laughter

Kiley Dean - Changes (2006)

As I mentioned in my previous post from Kiley Dean, in 2005, she started work on her second album under the name 'Blue Eyes', and released a single 'Lookin' For Love' to radio as a taster for her new record. The album, titled 'Changes', was due to be released in 2006, and a second single was released, with 'Who I Am', being sent out to various radio stations. After the album was completed Dean left Beat Club Records and signed with Mathew Knowles' Music World Entertainment label, and they agreed to take on the release of 'Changes' and issue it under her own name, but after six months she left the label, and so they shelved the record. In 2010 she released the 'Changes' album digitally on the ReverbNation store, but it was only for a limited time, and it's now unavailable, so the time is ripe for a reappraisal. It would have been a relatively short album, with only nine tracks plus an acoustic version of 'Escape', so I've added a couple of contemporary recordings to the end, and here it is for you to enjoy.  



Track listing

01 Dangerous 
02 Be Alone
03 Changes
04 Just Like That
05 Escape
06 Tug of War 
07 Who I Am
08 Stay Away from My Boyfriend
09 Over 
10 We All Need Love
11 Just A Little
12 Goodbye

Friday, September 5, 2025

The Rolling Stones - Give Me A Hamburger To Go (1971)

I've recently come across another stash of out-takes from The Rolling Stones, with most of these being recorded at Olympic Sound Studios in 1970, during sessions for the 'Sticky Finger's album. Some are early versions of tracks which later appeared on their studio albums, and other have never seen the light of day. Stand-outs include a 1968 extended version of the 'Let It Bleed' track 'Loving Cup', an early take of 'Tumbling Dice titled 'Good Time Woman', and instrumental versions of 'Let It Loose' and 'Sweet Black Angel'. Some of the tracks had already appeared on my earlier post 'Travelin' Man', and so I've removed them and added in a special version of 'You Got The Silver' with a Mick Jagger vocal, and that left a very reasonable 42-minute album. One 1968 out-take caught my eye, with the unusual title of 'Give Me A Hamburger To Go', so I've titled the album after that song, and that gave me the opportunity to produce this cover based on it. 



Track listing

01 Loving Cup (1969 early long version)
02 Shake Your Hips (long version)
03 You Got The Silver (Mick Jagger vocal)
04 Sweet Black Angel (instrumental version)
05 Good Time Woman (early version of 'Tumbling Dice')
06 Sweet Virginia (early version)
07 Stop Breaking Down (early version with no harp)
08 Give Me A Hamburger To Go (1968 out-take)
09 Let It Loose (instrumental version)
10 Shine A Light (early version)

Daisy Dares You - Rush (2010)

Daisy May Keeley Coburn was born on 27 October 1993 in Great Dunmow, Essex, and came from a musical family, with her mother once working as a backing singer for Duran Duran and The The. She learned to play the guitar and piano when she was six years old, and on Boxing Day 2007 she played a song she had been writing called 'Hurt' to family and friends. A friend of her mother's, Matthew Marston, heard the song and invited her to his home studio to record it, and that led to collaborating with Marston on songs  written for her debut album, 'Rush'. After picking up widespread promotional coverage in the media from The Times, the BBC, and The Guardian as a young artist to watch for in 2010, she signed to Jive, a subsidiary of Sony Records, and her first single 'Number One Enemy', featured British rapper Chipmunk, reached the top 20 in the UK. Her musical genre varies from teen-pop to pop rock to electropop, and comparisons have been made between her and British singer-songwriter Lily Allen, as well as Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne. 'Rosie' was released as her second single in May 2010, and her album was scheduled to appear in June, but for reasons unknown she was dropped from Jive Records and the album was cancelled. A six-track sampler CD was issued to the press in advance of the proposed release date, and so by adding in a couple of live versions of songs from the official track-listing, plus a few early demos, we can put together a 43-minute approximation of Daisy Dares You's scrapped debut album from 2010.



Track listing 

01 Number One Enemy (feat. Chipmunk)
02 Rosie
03 You'll Be Fine
04 Who Will Buy
05 Rush
06 Daisy Dares You (Pegasus & Rokchild remix)
07 Idiot
08 Talk About The Weather
09 Over You  
10 Next Few Minutes
11 Hurt
12 Stuck & Still

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Van Morrison & The Chieftains - Songs Of Innocence (1988)

Van Morrison first met The Chieftains at an Edinburgh rock festival, and they later joined up in Belfast during Morrison's No Guru tour. Following the tour, Morrison and Paddy Moloney met up and discussed recording an album together, with both of them having a list of songs that they wanted to include, and they eventually reached a consensus to cover two of Morrison's previously released tracks, with 'Irish Heartbeat' later becoming the title of the album, and the rest would be traditional Irish songs. According to Moloney, making the album was a way for Morrison to rediscover his Irish roots, having played blues, rock 'n' roll, jazz and more importantly soul, for many years, and so he wanted to come home to his Irishness with The Chieftains. The album was recorded on dates from September to December 1987 and in January 1988, and was released later that year. It consists of eight traditional Irish songs, plus re-workings of the Morrison songs 'Celtic Ray' and 'Irish Heartbeat', with 'Carrickfergus' being described by critic Denis Campbell as "a melancholic air worthy of Otis Redding". 'On Raglan Road' was adapted from a poem by Patrick Kavanagh and is the story of a man ensnared by a beautiful revenant, whom he had mistaken for a creature made of clay. 'Irish Heartbeat' received positive reviews from most critics, one of whom called it "some of the most haunting, rousing, downright friendly music of the year", and in the NME's round-up of albums of the year of 1988 it was ranked number 2. On 15 September 1988 Morrison and The Chieftains played a gig together at The Ulster Hall, Belfast, which was recorded for Ulster Television, and also broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK. For anyone who missed it, or just wants to hear this meeting of two of Ireland's most revered musical exports, here is the whole concert. 



Track listing

01 Tore Down A La Rimbaud 
02 In The Garden 
03 Rave On John Donne 
04 Did Ye Get Healed 
05 Star Of The County Down 
06 She Moved Through The Fair 
07 Ta Mo Chleamhnas Deanta 
08 I'll Tell Me Ma 
09 Carrickfergus 
10 Celtic Ray 
11 Marie's Wedding 
12 Boffyflow & Spike 
13 Goodnight Irene 
14 Moondance  

Neal Ford & The Fanatics - We Will If You Want To (1968)

At the end of 1964, Neal Ford (lead vocals), a veteran of the local pop scene with other groups like the Ramadas and the VIPs, formed the first line-up of Neal Ford & The Fanatics, which consisted of Johnny Stringfellow (lead guitar), Jon Pereles (rhythm guitar, vocals), W. T. Johnson (bass guitar), Dennis Senter (keyboards), and John Cravey (drums). Though not as experimental as Austin's The 13th Floor Elevators, the band possessed an appreciation for the British Invasion groups, and played organ-driven instrumentals, and an R&B-inspired set typical of other garage rock acts. At first, the group went relatively unnoticed performing cover versions of songs by The Animals, The Zombies, and James Brown locally in their own club named Teen Scene, until record producer Ray Rush saw promise in the developing band, specifically their spontaneous live act. As a result, Neal Ford & The Fanatics recorded the song 'I Will Not Be Lonely' at ACA-Recording Studios, and released the single in May 1965 on GINA records. It was among the first in Texas to note a "British influence", and received airplay in Houston which helped it reach the regional charts. Shortly thereafter, Ford was called up for the Naval Reserve, and so the band's recording activities came to a standstill until he was released in late 1965. When he returned, Senter was replaced by Steven Ames, while his older brother, Richard "Dick" Ames, created Tantara Records to release the group's second single, the folk rock tune, 'Bitter Bells', in January 1966. 
Through the summer of 1966, Neal Ford & The Fanatics' profile rose steadily, with extensive airplay in Houston, multiple appearances on the Larry Kane Show, and well-attended shows at a venue called the Catacombs, alongside nationally successful acts including The Beach Boys and The Lovin' Spoonful. By the summer of 1966, Ames had departed to pursue a management position for The Moving Sidewalks, and he was replaced by Vox organ virtuoso Lanier Greig, who created a new sound for the band, and collaborated with the members to pen more original compositions. In October 1966 the band recorded demos of songs including 'I Can't Go On' and 'Good Men (Are Hard To Find)', in order to earn a contract with the national label, Hickory Records. Two regionally successful singles followed, with 'I Will If You Want To' receiving national attention in September 1966, and 'Gonna Be My Girl' reaching number one in Houston in early 1967. 
Their debut album, 'Neal Ford & The Fanatics', was released in November 1967 on Hickory Records, but their next single, 'Wait for Me', failed to produce the national breakthrough the group anticipated, and none of their later offerings in 1968 met with the same acclaim as 'Gonna Be My Girl'. The band continued to perform on the local club circuit, but in 1969 Ford quit and eventually produced a solo album in 1971, while more songs without Ford were recorded but not distributed, and in October 1970 the group disbanded. Ford continued to play with various bands into the '70's, including the Neal Ford Foundation, which released an album in 1972, but for the most part they will be remembered for their earlier, edgier singles, and garage aficionados still acknowledge their versatility. During sessions for their 1967 album they recorded more material then was needed, and so by adding some of those tracks to a selection of their later singles, there's enough left over to imagine what a second album could have sounded like had it been released in 1968. 



Track listing

01 Good Men (Are Hard To Find) 
02 Mary Wanna Marry Me          
03 Don't Tie Me Down 
04 Movin' Along
05 Save Your Affection
06 The Jones 
07 I Can't Go On  
08 I Will If You Want To
09 Little World Girl  
10 Woman 
11 I'll Put My Boots On Backwards
12 Better Slow Down  
13 For You  
14 Pain  
15 Buttercup
16 The Seasons