Various Artists - Rarities Row Vol. 4 (2026)

It's time for another dip into the vaults of Mike Solof, for volume 4 of his 'Rarities Row'.

It's been spotted that Mike sent two copies of the Tori Amos track and omitted the Jon Anderson one, so that's now been corrected, and anyone who has already grabbed this can download it again. 

 Track listing and info:

01 Underground (Demo)
Ben Folds - Fifty Five Vault

Fifty-Five Vault is a Ben Folds compilation album featuring 56 tracks, mostly 
unreleased live recordings and demos. It was released jointly with 'The Best 
Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective' as a digital-only album available via Folds' 
website. 

02 Wild West End (Demo)
Dire Straits - Originally published as The Honky Tonk Demos 2x7" Single 

Demos for Dire Straits' first album. Taken from the original silver pressed bootleg 
'Early demos' of demos for Dire Straits first album. On the 24 July 1977, Dire Straits recorded the now famous demo tapes of five songs: 'Wild West End', 'Sultans Of Swing', 'Down To The Waterline', 'Sacred Loving' (written by David Knopfler, never released afterwards) and 'Water Of Love'. In what was probably October 1977, they recorded 'Southbound Again', 'In The Gallery' and 'Six Blade Knife' for BBC Radio London. Finally, on the 9th of November 1977, demo tapes were made of 'Setting Me Up', 'Eastbound Train' and 'Real Girl'. Many of these songs reflected Mark's experiences in Newcastle, Leeds and London, and were to be 
featured on the first Dire Straits album the following year. The recordings on the
CD feature most of these demo songs, and a version of 'Setting Me Up' that is really different from the version that was later released on the first album. 

03 Girls just want to have fun (Demo)
Cyndi Lauper 1983

Robert Hazard never became a household name in the United States, but for a 
period there in the early 1980s, he was one of the biggest singers in all of 
Philadelphia. He sold 50,000 copies of his 1981 EP, 'Escalator Of Love', JUST IN 
PENNSYLVANIA ALONE. However, he never really broke out nationwide, although some 
guys that he was friends with did, with the band The Hooters having a moment there in the mid-1980s with their hit song 'And We Danced', and with a spot at Live Aid in the U.S. side concert of Live Aid (which was held, of course, in Philadelphia). The Hooters were formed by Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian, who met at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1970s. One of their classmates, who was in an early band with them, Baby Grand, was Rick Chertoff. Chertoff later became a record executive at Columbia Records where he signed The Hooters, but he also brought Hyman and Bazilian on board to work on the debut album of a young pop 
singer named Cyndi Lauper in 1983. Hyman co-wrote “Time After Time,” but Chertoff looked to Hazard for the main track off of the album. Hazard had recorded a tune called 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' in 1979, but never released it as a single, see here. Chertoff was a fan of the song at the time and when he was putting together songs for Lauper, he remembered the song and approached Hazard about it. 

Hazard recalled in 1986, “He knew about ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ for years. He always told me what a great song he thought it was. When he met Cyndi, it was a match made in heaven.” However, there was an early conflict when Lauper wanted a song-writing credit (and thus a cut of the publishing rights). Hazard recalled how he quickly shut that down, “I said, ‘Don’t do the song.’ It didn’t matter to me. She was an unknown.” Once that was settled, Hazard worked out the lyrics with Lauper, “I changed all the lyrics over the phone with her. Originally, it was from the guy’s point of view. We had to make a lot of gender changes. She took the first verse and second verse and switched them. Why, I have no idea. Melodically, it’s exactly the same.” He then complimented how Chertoff reworked the song, “It was straight rock ‘n’ roll. Rick Chertoff produced it and made it an ’80s kind of song, put in a lot of electronics. I love what he did with it.” 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun', of course, was a smash and became Lauper’s defining song for years.

04 The Way (Demo 2)
Ariana Grande - Yours Truly Sessions

'The Way' is a song by American singer Ariana Grande featuring American rapper Mac Miller. It was released on March 26, 2013 by Republic Records as the lead single from Grande's 2013 debut studio album, 'Yours Truly'. In January 2013, she met with producer Harmony Samuels, at which point he presented her with a demo of the song that featured the vocals of co-writer 
Jordin Sparks, whom the song was originally intended. The beat he had created for the single, samples Brenda Russell's 'A Little Bit of Love' either directly or indirectly, via Big Pun's 'Still Not A Player'. Grande immediately connected with the sound and asked Mac Miller to feature on the song with her, to which he responded, "Sounds like a hit to me". The song was recorded that same month, and caught the attention of Republic Records VP Charlie Walk when he heard it being played from Republic co-founder Monte Lipman's office. "It was 8:00 one night, and I heard a song coming from Monte's office through my wall. He called me down and I played a video, a DIY of Ariana Grande. We heard the song and I immediately made the 
decision to set it up and put the song out. 'The Way' received positive reviews from music critics for its 2000's R&B sound and Grande's vocals, which drew comparisons to those of 
Mariah Carey. The song became Grande's breakthrough hit and peaked at number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100, earning both Grande and Miller their first top-ten song on the chart. 

05 One (Demo Newly Remastered)
Metallica - 1987 And Justice For All… Super Deluxe Box Set and Limited gatefold 

 
'One' is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica, and released as the third and final single from the band's fourth studio album, '...And Justice For All' from 1988. Written by band members James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, the song portrays a World War I soldier who is severely wounded - arms, legs and jaw blown off by a landmine, blind, deaf, and unable to speak or move - begging God to take his life. In the music video, attempting to communicate with the hospital staff he jolts in his bed, spelling SOS in Morse code. 'One' was written in November 1987 by Metallica's principal composers Hetfield and Ulrich, who recalled “I had been fiddling around with that B-G modulation for a long time. The idea for the opening 
came from a Venom song called 'Buried Alive'. The kick drum machine-gun part near the end wasn't written with the war lyrics in mind, it just came out that way. We started that album with 
Mike Clink as producer. He didn't work out so well, so we got Flemming to come over and save our asses.”

06 River (with French Horn ending) Blue Sessions
Joni Mitchell - 1971 Joni Archives Volume 4 and Joni at 50 Demos and Outtakes

'River' is a song by Canadian singer songwriter Joni Mitchell, from her 1971 album 'Blue'. Written on piano, it has become a standard for artists in many music styles, and has become popular as Christmas music. Although never released as a single, 'River' holds second place among Mitchell's songs most recorded by other artists. In 2021, it was ranked at No. 247 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time". James Taylor, who knows the song better than just about anybody aside from Mitchell, said in a 2006 interview with The Post that “I don’t know why it’s suddenly getting picked up as a Christmas song. But some things just become identified as seasonal songs, and this is now one of them.” At the time, Taylor had just released 'James Taylor At Christmas', which included “River” — a song he’d first heard decades earlier, when Mitchell played it at her home in Los Angeles in 1970, shortly after it was written. “Most Christmas songs are light and shallow, but ‘River’ is a sad song,” Taylor told The Post. “It starts with a description of a commercially produced version of Christmas in Los Angeles, then juxtaposes it with this frozen river, which says, ‘Christmas here is bringing me down.’ It only mentions Christmas in the first verse. Then it’s, ‘Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on’ - wanting to fall into this landscape that she remembers. It’s such a beautiful thing, to turn away from the commercial mayhem that Christmas becomes and just breathe in some pine needles. It’s a really blue song.” 

For her part, Mitchell told NPR in 2014 that the song is about “taking personal responsibility for the failure of a relationship. And my generation - you know, the ‘Me Generation’ - is known to be a Peter Pan, narcissistic generation, right?” she said. “So it’s really that aspect of our inability - you know, ‘I’m selfish and I’m sad.’ Right? “People think that’s confessional, but I’d say, in my generation, you think that that’s a unique personal statement? You know what I mean? It’s like, no wonder there’s so many covers of it!” Taylor, who performed “River” in front of Mitchell last month at a tribute concert to celebrate her 75th birthday, said the song is most likely autobiographical, given that “it starts with a girl from Canada watching them try to make Christmas on La Brea in Los Angeles.” But he told The Post in 2006 that he’d never actually discussed the meaning with Mitchell, with whom he was romantically involved in the early 1970s. “Do I want to know who she made cry, who she made say goodbye? Well, I haven’t asked her that question,” Taylor said. “That’s the only mystery in it: Who was it whose heart she broke?” With a laugh, he added: “There were a lot of us.”

Watch Behind The Song Episode 32: Joni Mitchell "River" here

08 Beth (Acoustic)
Kiss - Destroyer 1980 Super Deluxe Box Set

With the 45th anniversary super deluxe edition box set of KISS' historic 'Destroyer' album coming in November, the band has served up one of the many rarities that are included with the set by way of an acoustic mix of their hit ballad, 'Beth'. The track features lead vocals by drummer Peter Criss, who worked with producer Bob Ezrin on the song-writing component and, for the first time ever, fans can hear a different version of 'Beth', led by an acoustic guitar amid a host of familiar elements. The biggest difference here is that the sweeping, cinematic 
orchestration has been removed, letting the piano melodies occupy most of the space with some gentle acoustic strumming throughout. "For the new acoustic mix of 'Beth,' the original recorded acoustic guitar track was taken from the analog multitracks and has now been fully restored and mixed with the original piano, vocal and synthesizer tracks, adding a fresh yet familiar feel to this iconic recording". 'Beth' was originally released as the B-side to 'Detroit Rock City' in July 1976, but after radio DJs began flipping over the single to play the 
Peter Criss-sung ballad, the track was released on its own and became a Top 10 hit. None of the Kiss members, besides Criss, perform on the original version of the song, which features Criss backed by producer Bob Ezrin on piano, Dick Wagner on acoustic guitar and the New York Philharmonic orchestra.

09 Soldier In The Rain (live)
England Dan & John Ford Coley - Live In The Studio 1979

'Dowdy Ferry Road' is the fifth studio album by the pop rock duo England Dan & John Ford Coley. The album's single 'It's Sad To Belong' was a moderate pop hit and a #1 smash on the 
Adult Contemporary chart. A second hit from the LP, 'Gone Too Far', reached #23 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

10 The Friends Of Mr. Cairo (live)
Jon Anderson - (WNEW FM Broadcast The Convention Hall Asbury Park NJ 6th August 1982)

Jon and Vangelis made (more or less) four complete albums together, and this is arguably the standout. The title track is a marvellous love-letter to old Hollywood movies (most specifically, The Maltese Falcon) which nobody else could have written. Besides the wonderful voice-overs, Vangelis winds the music from mysterious thriller to out-and-out nostalgia, and Jon's vocals go right along with him. From the dramatic to the personal, and yet not so personal that the listener cannot go along. A mini-movie for the ears, and then the quiet reflection that follows.

11 Leather (Demo)
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes Demos

Tori Amos approached Atlantic Records in December 1990 with a 10-track demo tape. She recalled "Many of these songs are different from the released versions. Some are longer, some are mixed differently, many have different lyrics. Little did I know that ladies that work in the other entertainment industry would listen and dance to 'Leather' it around their poles. And people stop me all the time. Even very recently I was getting wine not far from here, and somebody said, “I teach pole dancing classes to your music, and 'Leather' was one of those songs". So I think there was a side to me that was trying to - in the shedding - to also really 
collect my shadow portions. And I would go visit them and take these sides that I had judged. And one side that had been very crucified was the sexual side that did not yet understand erotic spirituality, did not know how to bring this into being. Very far away - years away from this. Little did she know when she was writing 'Leather' that we would be years and years away from knowing how to integrate that.

12 Everybody’s World (live)
The Grays - 1993 Live Radio gig pre first (and only album)

The Grays were a short-lived rock band comprising singer/songwriters/multi-instrumentalists 
Jon Brion, Jason Falkner, Buddy Judge, and Dan McCarroll. They released only one album, the out-of-print but highly regarded 'Ro Sham Bo' in 1994 on Sony/Epic Records. The intention of the band was to be a democratic collective of musicians, rather than a hierarchical group with a leader and backing musicians. This was due in part to the group's dissatisfaction with being in a band - particularly Falkner who had just come out of a tumultuous period with the band Jellyfish. The band members would often swap instruments depending on the need of the individual song and would contribute to each other's songs. Despite glowing reviews from critics, 'Ro Sham Bo' was a commercial disappointment and was the only album released by the band. The album would later go out of print. In retrospect, Falkner reflects that the band was not truly a democratic collective as he felt he was the true leader of the group. This was due in part to the fact that the album's producer, Jack Joseph Puig, admitted to enjoying 
Falkner's tracks the most, giving him one more song than the others on the album. This created animosity amongst the members, specifically Brion, who was the first to leave the group. This coupled with the band's lack of commercial success led to their breakup shortly thereafter.

13 Tubular Bells Part One - Demo
Mike Oldfield - (Rough First Mix) (Original Demo Part One)

Tubular Bells is the debut studio album by the British musician Mike Oldfield, released on 25 May 1973 as the first album on Virgin Records. It comprises two mostly instrumental tracks. Oldfield, who was 19 years old when it was recorded, played almost all the instruments. In his 
flat in Tottenham in north London, Oldfield recorded demos of four tracks he had been composing in his head for some years, using the tape recorder, his guitar and bass, some toy percussion instruments, and a  Farfisa organ borrowed from  the Whole World keyboardist 

David Bedford. The demos had a longer piece he had provisionally titled 'Opus One'. Oldfield was inspired to write a long instrumental after hearing 'Septober Energy', the 1971 album by Centipede, He was also influenced by classical music, and by 'A Rainbow In Curved Air', the 1969 album by the experimental composer Terry Riley, on which Riley played all the instruments himself and used tape loops and overdubs to build up a long, repetitive piece of 
music. Late in 1971, Oldfield joined the band of Arthur Louis, who were recording demos at the Manor Studio. The studio was being constructed in the former squash court of an old manor house in Shipton-on-Cherwell, Oxfordshire, which had recently been bought by the young entrepreneur Richard Branson and which was being turned into a residential recording facility run by his music production team of Tom Newman and Simon Heyworth. 

Oldfield was shy and socially awkward, but struck up a friendship with the producers after they heard his guitar playing. Oldfield asked Newman to listen to his demos, but they were in his Tottenham flat, so one of Louis' roadies drove Oldfield to London and back to retrieve them. Newman and Heyworth made a copy of the demos onto 4-track tape, and promised Oldfield that they would speak to Branson and his business partner Simon Draper about them. After the album was released, Newman said he preferred the demo versions: "They were complete melodies in themselves – with intros and fade-outs or ends. I liked them very much and was a little nonplussed when Mike strung them all together." Oldfield spent much of 1972 working with his old bandmates from the Whole World on their solo projects while trying to find a record label interested in his demos. Oldfield approached labels including EMI and CBS, but each rejected him, believing the piece was unmarketable without vocals. Increasingly frustrated and short of money, Oldfield heard that the Soviet Union paid musicians to give  public performances, and was at the point of looking through the telephone directory for the phone number of the Soviet embassy when Draper called him with an invitation to dinner with Branson on Branson's houseboat moored in London. 

Branson told Oldfield that he liked the demos, and wanted Oldfield to spend a week at the Manor recording 'Opus One'. 'Tubular Bells' was recorded on an Ampex 2-inch 16-track tape recorder with the Dolby noise-reduction system, which was the Manor's main recording equipment at the time. Oldfield had Virgin hire instruments including guitars, keyboards and percussion instruments, and has recounted differing stories over the years regarding the inclusion of the tubular bells; in 2001 he suggested that they were among the instruments he asked Branson to hire, but in 2013, he said that he saw them among the instruments being removed from the studios after John Cale had finished recording there, and asked for them to be left behind. Oldfield, Newman, and Heyworth spent their evenings drinking in a pub, after which they returned to the Manor and recorded through the night. Heyworth recalled several disasters, including one instance where half a day's work was accidentally erased. Final mixing was an involved process, with the faders operated by Oldfield, Newman, Heyworth, and two others simultaneously. 

They followed detailed tracking charts and the process was restarted if one person made even a slight mistake. Heyworth recalled difficulty in cutting the album due to vinyl's limited dynamic range, and insisted on heavy vinyl normally used for classical records. Oldfield played the majority of the instruments as a series of overdubs, which was an uncommon recording technique at the time. In total, 274 overdubs were made and an estimated two thousand "punch-ins", although Newman said "it was really only 70 or 80" in total. Despite various guitars being listed on the album sleeve, such as "speed guitars", "fuzz guitars" and "guitars sounding like bagpipes", the only electric guitar used on the album was a 1966 blonde Fender Telecaster which used to belong to Marc Bolan and to which Oldfield had added an extra Bill Lawrence pickup. The guitars were recorded via direct injection to the mixing desk. To create the "speed guitar" and "mandolin-like guitar" named in the sleeve notes, the tape was recorded at half speed. An actual mandolin was used only for the ending of 'Part Two'. Oldfield also used a custom effects unit, the Glorfindel box, to create the "fuzz guitars" and "bagpipe guitars" distortion. In 2011, Oldfield's Telecaster was sold for £6,500, and the money was donated to the mental health charity  SANE. 

According to the engineer Phil Newell, the bass guitar used on the album was one of his Fender Telecaster Basses. Oldfield recorded side one, known as 'Opus One' at the time, during his one allotted week at the Manor in November 1972. He was particularly interested in 

starting the piece with a repeating riff, and devised the opening piano sequence after experimenting with an idea for several minutes on Bedford's Farfisa organ. He wanted a slight variation on its 16/8 time signature by dropping the sixteenth beat, and chose the key of A minor as it was easy to play. Oldfield recorded the opening riff on a Steinway grand piano, but struggled to perform in time. Heyworth solved the problem by placing a microphone next to a 
metronome in another room and feeding it into Oldfield's headphones. The short honky-tonk piano section was included as a tribute to Oldfield's grandmother, who had played the  instrument in pubs before World War II. The staff and workers at the Manor made up the "nasal choir" that accompanies it. Oldfield had difficulty in producing a sound from the tubular bells, as he wanted a loud note from them but both the standard leather-covered and bare metal hammers did not produce the volume that he wanted. 

In the end, Newman obtained a heavier claw hammer and Oldfield used it to produce the desired sound intensity but cracked the bells in the process. The track closes with a segment featuring comedic rocker Vivian Stanshall, formerly of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, introducing each instrument being  played one by one. The idea originated when the band were due to use the Manor after Oldfield, and had arrived while he was still recording. Oldfield had liked the way Stanshall introduced the instruments one at a time on the Bonzos' song 'The Intro And The Outro' on 1967's Gorilla', and told Newman that he would like Stanshall to do the same. Newman agreed, but had to persuade the shy Oldfield to ask him if he would carry out the request. Stanshall readily agreed to the idea and is credited on the liner notes as "Master of Ceremonies", but Newman recalled that the job proved to be more difficult than anticipated, as Stanshall forgot the names of the instruments and introduced them at the wrong points. Oldfield wrote a list of the instruments in order, indicating where he should introduce them. The way in which he said "plus... tubular bells" inspired Oldfield to use it as the album's title.

Ian Bairnson - ...and on guitar (1993) R.I.P.

John Bairnson was born on 3 August 1953 in Lerwick in Shetland, and was named John as were all the men in his family, but when he joined Pilot he used the opportunity to change his name to Ian. He grew up in Levenwick, also in Shetland, before his family moved to Edinburgh, Midlothian, when he was nine years old, following the death of his father. He learned how to play the guitar when he was six, but was also proficient on keyboards and saxophone, and following stints with a few bands in his youth, such as East West and Ears, by the early 70's he was earning his living as a session musician. In 1974 he joined former Bay City Rollers musicians David Paton and Billy Lyall to record some tracks for their band Pilot's debut album 'From The Album Of The Same Name', contributing the harmony guitar parts to their hit single 'Magic', and adding his guitar to 'High Into The Sky'. By the time they came to record their follow-up album 'Second Flight', Bairnson was a full-time member of the band, and their hit single 'January' was taken from the album, topping the UK singles charts in 1975. During this time with Pilot, he first collaborated with record producer Alan Parsons on his debut album 'Tales Of Mystery And Imagination - Edgar Allen Poe', and it was this relationship that helped incorporate most of Pilot's members (bassist/lead singer Paton and drummer Stuart Tosh) into the Alan Parsons Project. As a guitarist, he was featured on every Alan Parsons Project album, including the 1984 side project Keats and Eric Woolfson's rock opera 'Freudiana', contributing the distinctive guitar solo on the track 'I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You' on their 'I Robot' album in 1977. 

In 1978 Bairnson played the guitar solo on Kate Bush's hit single 'Wuthering Heights', going on to play on her first four albums, and in 1981 he started a collaboration with Eurovision winners Bucks Fizz, playing guitar on their 1981 eponymous record, and co-writing two of their Top 20 hits, 'If You Can't Stand The Heat' in 1982, and 'Run For Your Life' in 1983. His session work continued after Pilot took a break in 1977, and during this part of his career he played on more than a hundred albums in different styles, for artists such as Yvonne Keeley, Joe Cocker, Jon Anderson, Chris DeBurgh, Mick Fleetwood, and Neil Diamond, as well as playing live with Sting, Eric Clapton, Beverley Craven, and even appearing on Paul McCartney's 'Mull Of Kintyre' single. When anyone from The Project needed a hand, you could be sure that he would help out, and so Andrew Powell called him up for both the 'Ladyhawke' film soundtrack, and also his own 'Best Of The APP' album. When The Alan Parsons Project came to an end and Parsons was looking to start over, Bairnson was instrumental in helping write the next chapter of Parsons' sound, and on the 1993 'Try Anything Once' album, he not only played, but contributed four songs including 'Siren Song', and the live concert favourite 'Turn It Up'. He lived in Spain from 2003 to 2013, where he had a recording studio, and continued working as a session guitarist, but in 2018 his wife Leila announced that he had been diagnosed with a progressive neurological condition that affected his communication skills, so he would no longer play in public. On 7 April 2023 Bairnson passed away at the age of 69, following a long battle with dementia. I've always thought that Pilot were a very under-rated band, and am particularly fond of Bairnson's guitar-work on their 1976 album 'Morin Heights', and so I hope that this collection of his work for other artists throughout his musical career will serve as a fitting tribute to a guitarist who was well known amongst his peers for his fluid guitar style, but who never seemed destined to reach the heights of some of his contemporaries.

Track listing

Disc One
01 High In The Sky (from 'From The Album Of The Same Name' by Pilot 1974)
02 The Raven (from 'Tales Of Mystery And Imagination' by The Alan Parsons Project 1976)
03 Solo Casting (from 'Solo Casting' by William Lyall 1976)
04 95 In The Shade / Daylight (from 'Daylight' by Hudson-Ford 1977)
05 Kite (b-side of 'Wuthering Heights' by Kate Bush 1978)
06 I Wish It Would Rain (from 'Hobo With A Grin' by Steve Harley 1978)
07 Carry On (from 'Crusader' by Chris De Burgh 1979)
08 White Trails (from 'White Trails' by Chris Rainbow 1979)
09 Hear It (from 'Song Of Seven' by Jon Anderson 1980)
10 Maximum Penetration (single by Maximum Penetration 1980)

11 Far Side Of The Bay (from 'Elaine Paige' by Elaine Paige 1981)

Disc Two
01 Cassiopeia Surrender (from 'The Visitor' by Mick Fleetwood 1981)
02 Getting Kinda Lonely (from 'Bucks Fizz' by Bucks Fizz 1981)
03 Dry Ice (from 'Can This Be Paradise' by Panarama 1982)
04 One Way Out (from 'No Mystery' by Rick Cua 1983)
05 Fight To Win (from 'Keats' by Keats 1984)
06 End Titles (from the soundtrack to the film 'Ladyhawke' 1985)
07 Grand Prix (from 'Computer Energy' by Uwe Buschkötter 1986)
08 The Pages Of Your History (from 'Trouble In Paradise' by Anri 1986)
09 Upper Me (from 'Freudiana' by Freudiana 1990)
10 Lost Without You (from 'Love Scenes' by Beverley Craven 1993)

XYZ - Telephone Secrets (1982)

In December 1980 Yes bassist Chris Squire met Jimmy Page by chance at a party, and the idea of forming a group together was mooted, to be called XYZ, which was short for eX-Yes-Zeppelin. Squire brought along drummer Alan White, and they also recruited former Greenslade keyboard player and vocalist Dave Lawson. Squire was the main writer for the group, and Page believed the band needed a strong vocalist, so sought out his old pal Robert Plant, and although he did attend one rehearsal on 28 February 1981, he decided not to join the group, citing his dislike for the complexity of the music, and because he was still deeply hurt by the recent death of his long-time friend and band-mate John Bonham. Without a firm commitment from Plant, and with contractual issues on who should manage the group (Peter Grant or Brian Lane), the project was shelved, but not before four demo recordings had been made with Squire on vocals. With XYZ's future in limbo, Squire and White recorded a Christmas single called 'Run With The Fox' in October 1981, and they then asked guitarist Trevor Rabin to join them and form the band Cinema, along with old Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye. Rabin initially attempted to rework the XYZ material along with his solo songs for the new group, and they recorded a few demos, but they then decided to invite Jon Anderson into the group, and Cinema evolved into a new line-up of Yes. The demos produced from the Cinema sessions included 'Make It Easy' and 'It's Over', with lead vocals by Rabin, and an early version of 'It Can Happen' featuring Squire on vocals, which have since appeared on Yes re-issues, but they also recorded a 20-minute instrumental called 'Time', and another unreleased track entitled 'Carry On'. In 1983 the new Yes line-up released the '90125' album, which included the introduction from 'Time' as an instrumental called 'Cinema', as a tribute to the aborted band. Other XYZ and Cinema songs turned up later, with one instrumental being reworked to become part of 'Mind Drive' on the 1997 Yes album 'Keys To Ascension', while 'Can You See' became 'Can You Imagine' on 2001's 'Magnification'. Part of another XYZ instrumental was used as the intro to The Firm's 'Fortune Hunter', which was fair as Squire has mentioned that Page brought the riff to the band anyway. This album collects together all of the above-mentioned tracks except 'Time', which has never surfaced, and as the whole thing started with that chance meeting by Squire and Page, I'm counting it as a lost XYZ album, as Squire and White are constant members throughout the recordings.  

Track listing

01 Can You See (Page, Squire, White, Lawson)
02 Mind Drive (Page, Squire, White, Lawson)
03 Telephone Secrets (Page, Squire, White, Lawson)
04 Fortune Hunter (Page, Squire, White, Lawson)
05 Run With The Fox (Squire, White)
06 It Can Happen (Squire, White, Rabin, Kaye)
07 Make It Easy (Squire, White, Rabin, Kaye)
08 It's Over (Squire, White, Rabin, Kaye)
09 Carry On (Squire, White, Rabin, Kaye)

Yes - The Psychedelic Years (1969)

In September 1967, Chris Squire joined Mabel Greer's Toyshop, a psychedelic group that included Peter Banks, singer Clive Bayley and drummer Bob Hagger. They played at the Marquee club where Jack Barrie, owner of the La Chasse drinking club a few doors down, saw them perform, and was impressed with their musicianship. One evening at La Chasse, Barrie introduced Squire to Jon Anderson, a worker at the bar who had sung with The Gun and also released a few solo singles, but with little success. The two found they shared common musical interests including Simon & Garfunkel, The Association and vocal harmonies,and in the following days they developed 'Sweetness', a track later recorded for the first Yes album. As the band developed, Anderson and Squire brought in drummer Bill Bruford, keyboardist Tony Kaye and Banks for rehearsals, eventually deciding to drop the name Mabel Greer's Toyshop.

After Tony Kaye joined Winston's Fumbs they recorded their one and only single 'Real Crazy Apartment', and shortly after that came out Kaye was invited to attend rehearsals with members of Mabel Greer's Toyshop, a London-based psychedelic rock band, who were forming a new, full-time group. He was approached by bassist Chris Squire after singer Jon Anderson had met Kaye some time before and suggested him, and after a successful audition, he joined Squire and Anderson in the new band.

When Peter Banks left The Syndicats he formed a new band with ex-The Selfs bassist Chris Squire, calling themselves The Syn. They were joined by keyboardist Andrew Pryce Jackman, Steve Nardelli on vocals and Gunnar Jökull Hákonarson on drums, and they recorded two singles, 'Created by Clive'/'Grounded' and 'Flowerman'/'14 Hour Technicolour Dream', in 1967 before calling it a day a year later. Squire meanwhile joined friends Clive Bayley (rhythm guitar) and Bob Hagger (drums) in Mabel Greer's Toyshop, and Banks came to join them, although he briefly left to play with the band Neat Change on their sole single 'I Lied to Aunty May'. Banks then returned to Mabel Greer's Toyshop, and with the loss of Bayley and the addition of organist/pianist Tony Kaye, they started to write new music together, adding to a repertoire which already included Squire/Bayley's 'Beyond And Before' and Anderson/Squire/Bayley's 'Sweetness'.

Meanwhile, Steve Howe's band The In-Crowd had renamed themselves Tomorrow and adopted a psychedelic rock sound, writing more original songs and changing their stage clothes. In 1967, they released two singles, the classic 'My White Bicycle', and it's follow-up 'Revolution, the latter co-written by Howe. During the recording of a new single with producer Mark Wirtz, Howe was asked by Wirtz to record some guitar as a session musician, which he eagerly accepted, and the session led to him recording a selection of singles for EMI, which included his first song 'Mothballs', also known as 'So Bad'. He played guitar on Keith West's single 'Excerpt From A Teenage Opera', which went to No. 2 in the UK, and Howe and his Tomorrow bandmates also took part in a pie fight scene in 1967's satirical comedy film 'Smashing Time'. After Tomorrow split in 1967, Howe played on several songs by their singer Keith West, and by 1968, with his reputation as a guitarist on the rise, he was invited to join Bodast, a trio who went by the name of Canto for a short period. They signed a record deal with Tetragrammaton Records and put down a selection of songs in 1969 at Trident Studios for an album with West as producer, but the label went out of business shortly before its release. After Bodast split, Howe auditioned for The Nice as a potential new member, but decided it wasn't for him, and left the next day, being offered an audition with Jethro Tull, which he failed to attend when he learned the guitarist they wanted would not contribute to the songwriting. He also had a try out with Atomic Rooster while Carl Palmer was a member, but that didn't gel, and so in 1970 he toured as a member of American soul singer P. P. Arnold's backing band, alongside future members of Ashton, Gardner and Dyke, and in April of that year he was approached by Yes to replace the recently-departed Peter Banks. 

When Jon Anderson returned to London a year after the Warriors split up in Germany in 1967, he met Jack Barrie, owner of the La Chasse drinking club in Soho, who had befriended the rest of the Warriors after they had relocated to the city. With no money or accommodation, Barrie allowed Anderson and ex-Warrior Brian Chatton to stay with him, and Anderson helped out by working at La Chasse. During this time he got talking to Paul Korda, a producer for EMI Records, who took him on to sing several demos, and after that he travelled to the Netherlands to join Les Crunches, a band he had met in London. On hearing that some of his demos were to be released as singles by Parlophone Records under the pseudonym Hans Christian, he promptly returned to England, but despite positive reviews in the press neither was successful. In May 1968, Barrie introduced Anderson to Chris Squire, bassist of the London-based rock band Mabel Greer's Toyshop, which had previously included guitarist Peter Banks, and as the two talked they found they shared common musical interests such as Simon & Garfunkel and the idea of vocal harmonies. After some gigs as lead singer in Mabel Greer's Toyshop the members started talking of forming a new band, and in June 1968 they hired Bill Bruford to replace founding drummer Robert Hagger.

William Scott Bruford was born on 17 May 1949 in Sevenoaks, Kent, and decided to take up drumming at the age of thirteen after watching American jazz drummers on the BBC2 jazz TV series, Jazz 625. He cites Max Roach, Joe Morello, Art Blakey, and Ginger Baker as his favourite and most influential drummers as a youngster, and after his sister bought him a pair of drum brushes as a birthday present he gradually built a full drum kit. During his time at boarding school he befriended several fellow jazz fans, and they performed as a four-piece named The Breed from 1966 to 1967 until he was no longer able to attend all their gigs. In 1968 he auditioned for a place in The Savoy Brown Blues Band, but only lasted three gigs as he messed with the beat, and so he joined psychedelic rock band Paper Blitz Tissue in time to record their only single 'Boy Meets Girl'. After he left that band he settled into a flat in north London and placed an advertisement for drum work in the Melody Maker, which was spotted by Jon Anderson, then a member of Mabel Greer's Toyshop. Following a meeting with the rest of the band, Anderson was so impressed with Bruford that he invited him to play with the band that very evening at the Rachel McMillan College in Deptford. Following the gig, Bruford had several offers to join soul bands but chose to remain with Anderson and Squire, who took charge in forming a new band with Peter Banks and Tony Kaye.

After dropping the name Mabel Greer's Toyshop they settled on Yes as the new name, and everything was now in place for the newly-christened band to rehearse, and to start writing material for their first album, destined to become the starting point for a long and illustrious career for all the current and subsequent members. Rick Wakeman joined in 1971, and so is outside the scope of these collections, even though I stretched it slightly to include Steve Howe, who was not actually a founding member of the band, but did join just after their first album had been released. In 1981 Howe obtained the recordings of the songs taped for the Bodast album, and remixed and released them himself, but for these compilations I've just used tracks where he was involved in the songwriting as well as playing on the song, otherwise half the album would be Bodast tracks. If nothing else, these four albums show that every member of Yes had paid their dues over the years, slogging away in various moderately successful or unappreciated bands, and so fully deserved the success and acclaim then they eventually achieved.  

Track listing

Winston's Fumbs (Tony Kaye)
01 Real Crazy Apartment (single 1967)

The Syn (Chris Squire, Peter Banks)
02 Created By Clive (single 1967)
03 Grounded (b-side of 'Created By Clive')

Tomorrow (Steve Howe)
04 My White Bicycle (single 1967)
05 Claramont Lake (b-side of 'My White Bicycle')

Paper Blitz Tissue (Bill Bruford)
06 Boy Meets Girl (single 1967)

Hans Christian (Jon Anderson)
07 Never My Love (single 1968)
08 All Of The Time (b-side of 'Never My Love')

Mabel Greer's Toyshop (Chris Squire, Peter Banks)
09 Beyond And Before (demo 1968)
10 Get Yourself Together (demo 1968)
11 Jeanetta (demo 1968)

Canto (Steve Howe)
12 The Spanish Song (recorded 1968)

Bodast (Steve Howe)
13 Nether Street (recorded 1969)
14 Beyond Winter (recorded 1969)

Neat Change (Peter Banks)
15 I Lied To Aunty May (single 1968)

Enjoy / Enjoy

Track listing

Winston's Fumbs (Tony Kaye)
01 Snow White (b-side of 'Real Crazy Apartment' 1967)

The Syn (Chris Squire, Peter Banks)
02 Flowerman (single 1967)
03 14 Hour Technicolour Dream (b-side of 'Flowerman')

Tomorrow (Steve Howe)
04 Revolution (single 1967)
05 Three Jolly Little Dwarfs (b-side of 'Revolution')

Paper Blitz Tissue (Bill Bruford)
06 Grey Man (b-side of 'Boy Meets Girl' 1967)

Hans Christian (Jon Anderson)
07 (The Autobiography Of) Mississippi Hobo (single 1968)
08 Sonata Of Love (b-side of '(The Autobiography Of) Mississippi Hobo')

Mabel Greer's Toyshop (Chris Squire, Peter Banks)
09 Images Of You And Me (demo 1968)
10 Electric Funeral (demo 1968)

Canto (Steve Howe)
11 Power Of Music (recorded 1968)

Bodast (Steve Howe)
12 Tired Towers (recorded 1969)
13 Nothing To Cry For (recorded 1969)

Neat Change (Peter Banks)
14 Sandman (b-side of 'I Lied To Auntie May' 1968)

Yes - The Beat Years (1966)

Anthony John Selvidge (Kaye) was born on 11 January 1945 in Leicester, and at a very young age was left his grandmother's grand piano, which he played on when he was little. At age four, Kaye began formal piano lessons, and took part in his first concerts at twelve in solo and duet piano performances. His aim was to study at the Royal College of Music in London and become a concert pianist, but he developed an interest in other music once he heard jazz musicians Count Basie and Duke Ellington. By the early 1960s, Kaye had abandoned his classical background in favour of pop and rock music, and after moving to London, he used to visit The Marquee club to watch bands play, including keyboardist Graham Bond whose style became a strong influence. Kaye landed a position in The Federals through an advertisement in Melody Maker and played on their singles recorded between 1963 and 1967, mainly in a covers and comedy showband style, and after passing through Yellow Passion Loaf and Johnny Taylor's Star Combo, he joined Jimmy Winston in Winston's Fumbs. 

Christopher Russell Edward Squire was born on 4 March 1948 in Kingsbury, north west London, and from the age of six his only musical experience was singing in a church choir. He didn't consider a music career until the age of sixteen, when the emergence of the Beatles and the Beat music boom in the early 1960's inspired him to "be in a group that don't use music stands". A school friend recommended Squire to take up the bass after pointing out his tall frame and large hands, thinking they were ideal for playing the instrument, so Squire purchased his first bass. After being suspended from school for having long hair, he never returned, and landed a job selling guitars at a Boosey & Hawkes shop in Regent Street, where he used the staff discount to purchase a new Rickenbacker bass. Squire's first band was The Selfs, a rock and rhythm and blues band that featured Andrew Pryce Jackman on keyboards and Martin Adelman on drums. In 1965, following several personnel changes, Squire, Jackman and Adelman teamed up with singer Steve Nardelli, guitarist John Painter, and drummer Gunnar Jökull Hákonarson to form a new group, the Syn. 

Peter William Brockbanks (Banks) was born on 15 July 1947, and grew up in Barnet, North London, learning to play the  acoustic guitar and banjo as a teenager. His musical career started with the Nighthawks in 1963, and he played his first concert at the New Barnet Pop Festival before leaving them to join the Devil's Disciples in 1964. That band consisted of Banks on guitar, John Tite on vocals, Ray Alford on bass and Malcolm "Pinnie" Raye on drums, and they recorded two songs on an acetate, Arthur Alexander's 'You Better Move On' and Graham Gouldman's 'For Your Love' (which would later be a hit for the Yardbirds). About a year later, Banks joined The Syndicats, replacing their guitarist Ray Fenwick, who had himself replaced Steve Howe, who would later replace Banks in Yes.

Stephen James Howe was born on 8 April 1947 in Holloway, North London, and was exposed to a wide variety of music during his childhood by way of his parents record collection. After he left primary school, he wanted to become a guitarist, and so his parents bought an F-hole acoustic at age 12 as a Christmas present. Two years later he bought a solid body Guyatone, his first electric guitar, which was followed with a Gibson ES-175D in 1964, one of the guitars that he would became most identified with. Later that year he became a member of his first professional band, the north London-based r'n'b group The Syndicats, who were produced by Joe Meek. The band recorded three singles, and the b-side of one of them, 'True To Me', was Howe's first co-writing credit with the band's singer Tom Ladd. In 1965, he left the band and accepted an invitation to join The In-Crowd, a soul and covers band who released a rendition of Otis Redding's 'That's How Strong My Love Is', which just missed the UK Top 40.

John Roy Anderson was born on 25 October 1944 in Accrington, Lancashire, and as a youngster he became a fan of several musicians, including Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, The Everly Brothers, and Jon Hendricks. He attended St. John's School, but was not a strong academic, and while there he made a tentative start in a musical career, playing the washboard in Little John's Skiffle Group. At fifteen he left school, and had no particular desire to become a singer until his brother Tony took up singing and joined the Warriors, a local group also known as the Electric Warriors. After one of the backing vocalists left the group, Anderson filled in the position, and found music more enjoyable and a better choice for money than manual labour. The group performed mainly cover songs, and recorded two singles in 1965, 'You Came Along' and 'Don't Make Me Blue'. After the Warriors split in Germany in late 1967, the band returned to England while Anderson stayed behind, briefly singing in the Party, a band from Bolton who were playing in Germany.

Track listing

The Federals (Tony Kaye)
01 Boot Hill (single 1963)
02 Keep On Dancing With Me (b-side of 'Boot Hill')
03 Brazil (single 1963)
04 In A Persian Market (b-side of 'Brazil')
05 Marlena (single 1964)
06 Please Believe Me (b-side of 'Marlena')

The Selfs (Chris Squire)
07 I Can't Explain (demo 1964)

The Devil's Disciples (Peter Banks)
08 You Better Move On (single 1964)

The Syndicats (Steve Howe, Peter Banks)
09 Maybelline (single 1964)
10 True To Me (b-side of 'Maybelline')
11 On The Horizon (single 1965)

The Warriors (Jon Anderson)
12 You Came Along (single 1965)

The In Crowd (Steve Howe)
13 Stop! Wait A Minute (single 1965)
14 You're On Your Own (b-side of 'Stop! Wait A Minute')
15 Why Must They Criticide (single 1965)
16 I Don't Mind (b-side of 'Why Must They Criticise')

Enjoy / Enjoy

Track listing

The Federals (Tony Kaye)
01 Twlight Time (single 1964)
02 Lost And Alone (b-side of 'Twilight Time')
03 The Climb (single 1964)
04 Dance With A Dolly (b-side of 'The Climb')
05 Bucket Full Of Love (single 1965)
06 Leah (b-side of 'Bucket Full Of Love')

The Selfs (Chris Squire)
07 Love You (demo 1964)

The Devil's Disciples (Peter Banks)
08 For Your Love (b-side of 'You Better Move On' 1964)

The Syndicats (Steve Howe, Peter Banks)
09 Crawdaddy Simone (b-side of 'On The Horizon' 1965)
10 Howlin' For My Baby (single 1965)
11 What To Do (b-side of 'Howlin' For My Baby')

The Warriors (Jon Anderson)
12 Don't Make Me Blue (b-side of 'You Came Along' 1965)

The In Crowd (Steve Howe)
13 That's How Strong My Love Is (single 1965)
14 Things She Says (b-side of 'That's How Strong My Love Is')
15 Am I Glad To See You (previously unreleased 1966)
16 Blow Up (previously unreleased 1966)