Propaganda - Anonymous (1998)

Propaganda was formed in Düsseldorf, West Germany, in 1982, by Ralf Dörper (a member of the pioneering German industrial band Die Krupps), alongside artist Andreas Thein and vocalist Susanne Freytag. Early recordings in Germany attracted the attention of DJ John Peel and journalist Chris Bohn (aka Biba Kopf), and with the inclusion of classically trained musician and composer Michael Mertens and singer Claudia Brücken, music journalist Paul Morley signed the band to Trevor Horn's newly formed ZTT label in 1983. The group relocated to the United Kingdom and released the single 'Dr. Mabuse', named after the fictional character made famous by filmmaker Fritz Lang, and it reached the Top 30 in the UK Singles Chart. Before the year was out, Thein was asked to leave the band due to musical differences, and with Mertens now filling the gap left by his departure, the band forged ahead with recording their follow-up single and debut album. However, both of these were to be delayed as a result of the unexpectedly huge success of ZTT's most famous signing, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, as the label was forced to spend all its limited resources on promoting and marketing them, meaning that Trevor Horn was not available to produce Propaganda's album. Stephen Lipson took his place along with Andy Richards playing keyboards, and the band's second single, the more pop-oriented 'Duel', was released in April 1985, becoming their most recognisable release. The first week of July 1985 finally saw the release of the band's debut album, 'A Secret Wish', which received considerable critical acclaim and some commercial success, and which reached number 16 on the UK Albums Chart. 

Following a year on the road, a remix album, 'Wishful Thinking', was released in November 1985, and although it was originally intended for the American club market, the album was also released in Europe against the wishes of the group themselves. The year 1986 started positively, with the single 'p:Machinery' gaining the number 1 chart position in Spain, but in late 1985 their management introduced the band to the London-based music lawyer Brian Carr, who explained to the group members that under their current contracts with ZTT, they could go on making records for the rest of their lives and never make any money from them, and so based on this information the band asked ZTT to renegotiate the contracts, which the company declined to do. Soon afterwards Claudia Brücken left Propaganda to pursue a solo career, and after a protracted legal battle, which saw the remaining members of Propaganda under an injunction by ZTT for fourteen months, they were finally released from their contract to ZTT in the summer of 1987. In 1988, the band signed to Virgin and began recording new material, resulting in a new album, released in 1990 called '1234'. In 1998, Mertens, Brücken, and Freytag reunited, signed an options deal with East West, and began working on new material. Several tracks were completed, including one produced by Tim Simenon and featuring Depeche Mode's Martin Gore on guitar, and a video for one song, 'No Return', was produced in Morocco and directed by 'Keyser Soze' in December 1998. However, no album materialized and, in January 2002, Brücken announced, "The reunion was worth a try, but did not work out'. A number of the finished tracks have leaked, and so I've collected them here, resulting in what could have been the band's third studio album, now titled 'Anonymous'. 

 
Track listing

01 Cloud 9
02 Ignorance
03 Who's The Fool
04 Beast Within
05 No Return
06 To The Future
07 Turn To The Sun

08 Anonymous
09 Dream Within A Dream 

Steve Howe - ...and on guitar (1991)

In April 1970, Steve Howe replaced Peter Banks in Yes, and his career really started to take off. His playing style soon became instantly recognisable, and he has since become an integral part of the band, playing on every album from 1971's 'The Yes Album' until the band split up in 1981. While he was still finding his feet in Yes, Howe and Rick Wakeman contributed to the recording of Lou Reed's self-titled debut album as session musicians, working together for the first time, and the same year he had played lead guitar on folk duo Curtiss Maldoon's first eponymous album. A couple of years later he played on two instrumental albums, one by his band-mate Rick Wakeman on his first solo records, and also on an album by Johnny Harris, who recorded easy listening versions of popular hits of the the 60's and 70's. It was rather an odd gig, but his contribution to Jethro Tull's 'Love Song' was professional if nothing else. In 1975 the members of Yes took a break to record solo albums, and as well as releasing his own superb 'Beginnings', Howe also found time to help out Yes drummer Alan White with his own solo album, playing on a song to which Jon Anderson also contributed vocals. After that there was a busy seven year period with Yes which meant that he couldn't moonlight on other artist's records, but in 1982 he was asked to play on a song from the The Dregs 'Industry Standard' album, after which guest appearances tended to be spaced out at one every few years, appearing on albums by Propaganda, Billie Currie, Andy Leek and Animal Magic in the mid to late 80's. One particularly fine effort is to be found on the first 'Guitar Speak' compilation album from 1988, where guitarists were invited to contribute one piece of music each, and his 'Sharp On Attack' is one of the best pieces on there. In 1991 Queen invited Howe to listen to rough mixes of their new album, and asked if he'd like to add something to the title track 'Innuendo', to which he readily agreed. He has since said that he was proud to have played his classical guitar solo on the song, and as it was his last guest appearance for seven years, it's the perfect conclusion to the album. One appearance that I've had to omit was his acoustic guitar solo on Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 'Welcome To The Pleasuredome' album, as it was unfortunately just too long to fit on here, but it's another example of the fact that unlike a lot of guitarists in this series who tended to stick to the genre that they were most know for, Howe seemed to have no qualms about playing on records by folk, pop, easy listening, rock, or 80's indie artists, adding something special to each record that he played on.   

Track listing

01 Long Long Time (from 'Curtiss Maldoon' by Curtiss Maldoon 1971)  
02 Berlin (from 'Lou Reed' by Lou Reed 1972)
03 Love Song (from 'All To Bring You Morning' by Johnny Harris 1973) 
04 Catherine Of Aragon (from 'The Six Wives Of Henry VIII' by Rick Wakeman 1973)
05 Song Of Innocence (from 'Ramshackled' by Alan White 1975)
06 Up In The Air (from 'Industry Standard' by The Dregs 1982)
07 The Murder Of Love (from 'A Secret Wish' by Propaganda 1985)
08 Airlift (from 'Transportation' by Billie Currie 1988)
09 Sharp On Attack (from the compilation album 'Guitar Speak' 1988) 
10 Say Something (from 'Say Something' by Andy Leek 1988)
11 There's A Spy (In The House Of Love) (from 'Animal Logic' by Animal Logic 1989)  
12 Innuendo (from 'Innuendo' by Queen 1991)