Various Artists - Rarities Row Vol. 2 (2025)

Welcome back to volume 2! For those that missed it the first time around… 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. Volume 2 features more great (and less known) artists - folks you might be familiar with, like Prince, Talking Heads, Steely Dan, and the Eagles, and those you might not be as familiar with (but should be!) like The Carpenters and Suzanne Vega. And even a few you’ve never heard of (BUT DEFINITELY SHOULD!) like Millard Powers, and his track is so strong, I chose it as my leadoff for this volume. Millard comes from a family tree that sprouts some of my favourite fun type of music…Power Pop. In other volumes of The Row I’ll feature Owsley, The Semantics and Ben Folds, three more from the Power Pop genre that I dig so much, and I know you will too! But for now, let’s just get on with the music. It was a blast putting this volume together...and to know that there are so many more to come. 

Enjoy! 

Michael 

Track list and a bit more info: 

01 She’s So Clean 

Millard Powers - from 'Millard Powers' (Out Of Print) 

Avery Millard Powers III (born December 24, 1965) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and student at the Grammy-nominated recording engineer. While at  University of North Carolina at Greensboro in the 1980's, he collaborated with fellow student Ben Folds and with Alabama-based singer songwriter Owsley, both of which he continued to work with as a musician and as a producer for the next several decades. Since 2005, he has played bass guitar in the band Counting Crows. Powers released a self-titled solo album in 2001, playing all instruments (bass, guitar, drums, keyboard), recording, producing, mixing, and engineering the album himself in his apartment in Nashville, Tennessee. No other artists were featured on the album.  

02 Get Up Kate (Demo) 

The Eagles 1972 - Rare and Unreleased (mostly Live) - recorded 1971, unreleased. 

A rocker with a Frey lead vocal, 'Get Up Kate' was cut as a studio track for the debut LP but was never officially released. A live version, featuring harmonies by Linda Ronstadt, appears on one of her compilations, and the band’s studio version can be found online. The story goes that after returning from their London sessions with Glyn Johns, the band went back to the studio with producers Bill Halverson and Wally Heider to record additional tracks, but 'Get Up Kate' (written by Frey), was shelved. High harmonies give the choruses snap and the dual-guitar stuff has spunk. The Eagles recorded a record of unreleased songs, covers and originals, at the famous Wally Haider Studios before their debut album was released in 1972 . 'Get Up Kate' was a song that Frey had occasionally sung with Linda Ronstadt's band, and The Eagles also performed it a few times in 1972. 

03 Dallas - Never on CD 

Steely Dan 6-72 Single and Plus 4’s EP 

'Dallas' is the first single by Steely Dan, sung by drummer Jim Hodder. The song was not on the band's debut album 'Can't Buy A Thrill' but was included on the 1978 Japan-only compilation 'Steely Dan'. It, and its b-side, 'Sail The Waterway', was also included on a 12-inch single version of 'Haitian Divorce' released in the UK. It was recorded by Poco in 1975 on their 'Head Over Heels' album. Personnel:

Donald Fagen – electric piano, piano, backing vocals 

Walter Becker – bass guitar 

Jeff Baxter – pedal steel guitar, guitars 

Jim Hodder – drums, percussion, lead vocals 

David Palmer – backing vocals 

Tim Moore – backing vocals 

04 Left Of Center (Live) 

Suzanne Vega 1983 EP 

'Left of Center' is a song written by Suzanne Vega and Steve Addabbo, which was released as part of the soundtrack to the 1986 film 'Pretty In Pink'. It features Joe Jackson on piano and was released as a single in May 1986, reaching No. 35 in Australia, No. 28 in Ireland, and No. 32 in the United Kingdom. 

05 Live To Tell (Demo) 

Madonna 1986 

 'Live To Tell" is a song by American singer Madonna from her third studio album, 'True Blue' (1986), and also featured in the crime drama 'At Close Range', starring her then-husband Sean Penn. In mid-1985, after completing the Virgin Tour, Madonna began working with musician and producer Patrick Leonard, who had served as the tour's musical director. The two first collaborated on 'Love Makes The World Go Round', which Madonna performed at the Live Aid benefit concert in July. Around this time, she married actor Sean Penn, whom she had met on the set of her 'Material Girl' music video. Leonard, meanwhile, was aiming to transition into film scoring, and composed an instrumental piece intended for Paramount's 1986 film 'Fire With Fire'. However, the studio rejected the track, feeling it didn't fit the movie's tone. Madonna, intrigued by the composition, offered to write lyrics for it and proposed using the song for 'At Close Range', a crime drama starring Penn. According to author Rikky Rooksby, she wrote the lyrics "on the spot", crafting a melody and bridge inspired by the film’s themes of family secrets and emotional trauma. "Sometimes when I'm writing songs, I'm just channeling", she later said, adding that the lyrics reflected personal pain and yearning, whether autobiographical or fictional. After recording a demo, she played it for director James Foley and Penn, who responded positively. Penn called Leonard, who at the time was working with Michael Jackson on his 1987 album 'Bad', and invited him to meet. When asked who would sing the song, since the lyrics had been written from a male perspective, Leonard insisted Madonna should perform it. He chose to use the demo vocals, feeling they captured a sense of naivety and emotional rawness that suited the piece. "It was so innocent and so shy. It's as naive, as raw as can be, and that’s part of what gave 'Live To Tell' all its charm", Leonard explained. Recording sessions for 'True Blue' took place at Channel Recording Studios in Los Angeles, where the final version of 'Live to Tell' was completed. 

06 Leave It (A Capella Version)

Yes - 1983 B-Side 

'Leave It' is a song by English rock band Yes. It appears on their 1983 album, '90125', and was released as its second single, following 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart'. The song peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 [6] and number 3 on the Top Album Rock Tracks chart.  In the UK, the song rose to number 56 in late March 1984, in a run of five weeks on the chart.  

07 My Fair Share (The Love Them From 'One On One') (Out Of Print Soundtrack) 

Seal And Crofts - 1977 'One On One' Soundtrack 

'One On One' is the soundtrack album to the movie of the same title, starring Robby Benson. The music was written entirely by Charles Fox, with lyrics by Paul Williams, and Seals and Crofts provided the vocals. The single 'My Fair Share (Love Theme from 'One On One')' reached #11 AC and #28 Pop in autumn 1977. It was first released on CD in 2007 by Wounded Bird Records, and digitally by Rhino Records (another label of Warner Bros.) in 2008.

08 It's Probably Me (Alternate Version) 

Sting w Eric Clapton 

'It's Probably Me' is a song Sting rerecorded in 1993 for his 'Ten Summoner's Tales' album, without any of the other musicians, and it was originally released in 1992 as a collaboration by Sting featuring Eric Clapton, Michael Kamen, and David Sanborn. Released from the soundtrack to the action comedy film 'Lethal Weapon 3' in June 1992, the song reached number 20 on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and number 12 on Canada's RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart. It was more successful in Europe, peaking at number one in Italy, number four in France, and number six in the Netherlands. 

09 People On The Streets (Early Alternative Vocal Version of Under Pressure) 

Queen and David Bowie -1981 

A unique mix of 'Under Pressure', which features a very early vocal take from Freddie Mercury, David Bowie (and Brian May!), likely when the song was under the working title 'People On The Streets'. Roger Taylor recalled in 2002: "David came in one night, and we were just playing other people’s songs for fun and David said, ‘This is stupid. Why don’t we just write one?’ It was originally called ‘People On The Streets’, and that was the basis of it, and we took the multi track tapes to New York, and I spent all day there with David and mixed it that night." Driven by Deacon’s incredible bassline, something which deserves all the praise it receives, both Bowie and Mercury battled in the vocal booth fuelled, as Blake suggests, by the two intoxicants of wine and cocaine. Blake describes the scene, beginning with the recollections of Queen’s guitarist: “‘We felt our way through a backing track all together as an ensemble,’ recalled May. ‘When the backing track was done, David said, ‘Okay, let’s each of us go in the vocal booth and sing how we think the melody should go—just off the top of our heads—and we’ll compile a vocal out of that’.” He continues: “And that’s what we did. Some of these improvisations, including Mercury’s memorable introductory scatting vocal, would endure on the finished track. Bowie also insisted that he and Mercury shouldn’t hear what the other had sung, swapping verses blind, which helped give the song its cut-and-paste feel.” 

10 Chicago 1945 (demo)  

Michael Jackson (leaked unreleased song intended for 'Victory' album 1983) 

'Chicago 1945' is an unreleased song written by American singer songwriter Michael Jackson and Steve Pocarro, who also produced it. It was intended for the 'Victory' or 'Bad' albums, and on 27 January 2023, the track leaked online. Pocarro recalls: “Years ago, Michael and I wrote a song called 'Chicago 1945' – I did the music and Michael the lyrics, he recorded the song twice, but never put it on an album… the instruments were played in a constant rhythm in the 16th note, which was called ‘yada’. When I explained this to Michael, he liked it so much he gave me that nickname!.” It was recorded in 1983 during the 'Victory' sessions, and was intended for said album. However, it wasn't in the final cut. 'Chicago 1945' was revisited again by Jackson in the Spring of 1986 during the 'Bad' sessions with new, live drums being added, and although it had a chance to make it on the album, it again didn't make the cut. 

11 Let It Rain (YouTube exclusive Video) 

The Doobie Brothers w/ Peter Frampton 2020 

The Doobie Brothers and Peter Frampton have partnered for a cover of Eric Clapton’s 1970 track, 'Let It Rain'. The song and its accompanying video were recorded virtually, with Frampton and every member of the Doobie Brothers contributing their parts remotely. 'Let It Rain' is a perfect choice for the Doobies and Frampton, who add a little extra instrumental oomph — especially when Frampton and Tom Johnston start trading guitar solos — but they otherwise remain faithful to the original’s cathartic pop-rock charms. Johnston tells Rolling Stone how the collaboration came together, saying: “A couple of months ago, Peter and I were going over various tunes after deciding to do a song or video together. I tossed out ‘Let It Rain’ by Eric Clapton and he loved the idea. He’s a phenomenal guitarist and a fan of Clapton’s, as am I, so it seemed a great idea to take to the rest of the guys. Peter, Pat, and I took verses and solos and John played some cool pedal steel and helped us put that together with Bill Payne on piano, John Cowan on bass, and Ed Toth on drums. Also Rob Arthur who did all the video work played B3. It was a team effort! We really enjoyed working together on this with Peter.” Frampton added: “It was so much fun playing with my friends the Doobie Brothers even virtually! I look forward to a time when we can, hopefully, play together in person.” The Doobie Brothers have dropped a handful of at-home performances this year after they were forced to postpone their 2020 touring plans because of Covid-19. In April, they shared a socially distanced take on 'Black Water', and a few months later they dropped a rendition of 'Listen To The Music'. In July, they got together with Traffic’s Dave Mason to help him re-record 'Feelin’ Alright'. with additional help from Sammy Hagar, Mick Fleetwood, and Michael McDonald. 

12 Carolina In My Mind (Solo Acoustic Demo)  

James Taylor - James Taylor - Original expanded album 

'Carolina In My Mind' is a song originally written and performed by the American singer-songwriter James Taylor, and it was his second single from his 1968 self titled debut album. Taylor wrote 'Carolina In My Mind' while in England recording for the Beatles' label Apple Records, and the song's themes reflect his homesickness at the time. Released as a single in 1969, the song earned critical praise but not commercial success. It was re-recorded for Taylor's 1976 'Greatest Hits' album in the version that is most familiar to listeners, but the original recording of the song was done at London's Trident Studios during the July to October 1968 period, and was produced by Peter Asher. The song's lyric "holy host of others standing around me" makes reference to the Beatles, who were recording 'The Beatles' in the same studio where Taylor was recording his album. Indeed, the recording of 'Carolina In My Mind' includes a credited appearance by Paul McCartney on bass guitar and an uncredited one by  George Harrison on backing vocals. 

13 Tears Dry On Their Own (unofficial remix) 

Amy Winehouse and Eric Clapton

This is a digital version which was originally released in 2007 and was part of an unofficial Russian CDr (CD-ROM) from 2012: 'Amy Winehouse & Duffy - MP3 Collection'. 

14 Oyster Bay (unreleased demo 1973) 

Billy Joel - 'My Lives' box set

Billy Joel says in the liner notes to 'My Lives' that he can understand why some people don't like his music based off the countless hits he's had. This box set in theory was created to show off the multiple facets to Joel as an artist. One purpose definitely seems to have been a cleaning out of the vaults, so to speak. 23 of the songs here have never been released previously, and there are different versions of old standards. Throw in some B-Sides, live performances, and a live DVD, and I suppose you certainly get a glimpse of the versatility of Joel. One would think though more album cuts would have made the list, instead of demos, although 'Oyster Bay' shows us one of those classic Joel character studies while taking its sound from Elton John-era Elton.

15 Get Together (''Your Navy Presents'' Version) 

The Carpenters live 1970 

Unofficial release of the 1970 US Navy Radio Broadcast Show Presented by Sam Riddle. This release has several interesting and unique performances that they recorded live in the studio. Firstly, there's 'Get Together' sung by Karen, but originally sung by Richard on their debut album 'Offering' (later re-released as 'Ticket To Ride'.) This version was also released on 'From The Top' in 1991 and on 'The Essential Collection (1965 - 1997)' in 2002. 'Love Is Surrender' sounds like an early edit with a few instruments missing that were added before being released on the 'Close To You' album. 'Can't Buy Me Love' and 'Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing & All I Can Do' are unique to this broadcast as they've never been released on any other format. The same goes for 'Cinderella Rockerfella' and 'I Fell In Love', although these were also performed in their early concerts up until 1973. 'Flat Baroque' also sounds like an earlier version that was revised and re-recorded using different instruments for the 'A Song For You' album. 

16 Purple Rain (Unedited 19-minute Movie Version)

Prince (Live In Syracuse, March 30, 1985) 

In the semi-darkness of the Carrier Dome indoor stadium in Syracuse, New York, a voice breaks through: "Hello Syracuse and the world. My name is Prince." That was Prince's address to the city and the world on the evening of 30 March 1985, before beginning his concert, which was filmed and transmitted live by satellite in the United States and several other countries. A little later, TV stations in Europe aired the show, including Antenne 2 (now France 2), on 25 May, in the program 'Les Enfants du Rock'. The venue had been decorated in Prince’s signature purple flowers, with a steady stream of dramatic smoke pouring across the stage whilst lasers shone through the mysterious built-up mist. Prince had just released the album that would cement his place in rock’s rich tapestry, 'Purple Rain', though the ensuing tour would make him one of the game’s legends. Drummer Robert Rivkin noted the preshow ritual, saying: “We’d all gather in Prince’s dressing room, in a circle, and either he would speak, or he would point to one of us, and we would speak of the night. I can remember everybody seemed to rise to the occasion and had very inspiring words against the backdrop of twenty thousand screaming people waiting for us”. “There was always that final moment of togetherness before we hit the stage,” Rivkin added. “We didn’t ever just go out there without first connecting to each other and looking in each other’s eyes and Prince checking us out and us checking him out”. As the curtain began to creep up slowly just before the show, a mysterious yet small figure stood entranced in the fog and shadow. Then, out of nowhere, the band got stuck into ‘Let’s Go Crazy‘, and the audience followed suit, some 38,000 of them. The concert had also been one of the first pay-per-view musical events. Lisa Coleman said: “Prince was our conductor. We took our cues from him. He spoke a lot with his face. You had to rely on that a lot. A lot of the time, he can’t control it, so you learned what was pleasing to him and what frustrated him. And then he did like the ugly funky face when you did something he liked. That was always a good high”. Serving as the first of two encores, 'I Would Die 4 U' and 'Baby I'm A Star' were drawn out into an extended jam session. Sheila E. and her band, Apollonia 6 and Eric Leeds were also in this section of the show. The last encore was 'Purple Rain', which Prince played this over 18 minutes, which included a longer intro, with Wendy encouraging the audience to sing the song's post-chorus "ohh ohh" vocals, and lengthy guitar solos on two of Prince's guitars (both seen in the movie and in videos), including the white Cloud guitar.

Queen - Flash Gordon (1980)

While writing and recording 'The Game', Queen were asked by renowned movie director Dino DeLaurentis to provide the soundtrack for his upcoming sci-fi epic 'Flash Gordon', which the band accepted and promptly began working on both albums simultaneously. Although at first many fans criticized 'Flash Gordon', since it was issued as an official Queen release rather than a motion picture soundtrack, it has proven to be one of rock's better motion picture soundtracks over the years. The majority of the music is instrumental, with dialogue from the movie in place of Freddie Mercury's singing (only two tracks contain lyrics), but the song-writing is still unmistakably Queen. Highlights abound, such as 'Football Fight', 'Vultan's Theme (Attack Of The Hawk Men)', 'The Wedding March', and the heavy metal roar of 'Battle Theme'. But it was the two more conventional songs that were the album's best tracks, with the anthemic U.K. Top Ten hit 'Flash's Theme', and the woefully underrated rocker 'The Hero'. With Queen involved, 'Flash Gordon' is certainly not your average, predictable soundtrack, and in a recent comment, Anonymous suggested that a version of it without the dialogue and effects would be an interesting listen. As it was quite unusual at the time for a soundtrack album to include sounds from the film, I thought that it was a valid idea, and so here is the unadulterated version of Queen's soundtrack to the film 'Flash Gordon'.  

Track listing

01 Flash's Theme
02 In The Space Capsule (The Love Theme)
03 Ming's Theme (In The Court Of Ming The Merciless)
04 The Ring (Hypnotic Seduction Of Dale)
05 Football Fight
06 In The Death Cell (Love Theme Reprise)
07 Execution Of Flash
08 The Kiss (Aura Resurrects Flash)
09 Arboria (Planet Of The Tree Men)
10 Escape From The Swamp
11 Flash To The Rescue
12 Vultan's Theme (Attack Of The Hawk Men)
13 Battle Theme
14 The Wedding March
15 Marriage Of Dale And Ming (And Flash Approaching)
16 Crash Dive On Mingo City
17 Flash's Theme Reprise (Victory Celebrations)
18 The Hero

Queen - Blurred Vision (1995)

After the 1971 demos resulted in a record deal with EMI, Queen spent 1972 recording their debut album for the label. They had quite a few songs ready to lay down, in fact more than could be fitted on the album, so 'Mad The Swine' had to be omitted from the final cut after producer Roy Thomas Baker and the band disagreed on the quality of the percussion. The song was meant to be the fourth track on the album between 'Great King Rat' and 'My Fairy King', but with the issue unresolved, the track was left off the album, and later re-surfaced in 1991 as both the B-side to the 'Headlong' CD single in the UK, and on the Hollywood Records re-release of the 'Queen' album. Another song recorded in 1972 was 'See What A Fool I've Been', which was used as the b-side to 'Seven Seas Of Rhye', making a classic single, with one of their best-ever songs on the A-side and a previously unheard song on the flip. After that flurry of productivity, however, b-sides tended to be taken from the same album as the single, or in some cases even the previous release, and it wasn't until 1980 that another single with an unissued track on the flip emerged, and from then on it was a regular occurrence. 'Blurred Vision', from 1985, is an experimental instrumental re-working of it's A-side 'One Vision', and it's great to hear the band trying something a bit different, while similarly, 'Forever' is a beautiful piano version of 'Who Wants To Live Forever'. The only non-album A-side they ever issued was their 1984 Christmas single, and that was something of a last minute decision, as originally the plan was to release 'Man On The Prowl' as the 5th and last 7" single from 'The Works' album, but it was cancelled at the last minute in favour of a new song 'Thank God It's Christmas', although it kept the same catalogue number. Being Queen, there isn't a bad song on this album, even though they are all basically left-overs, and I might be wrong but I couldn't find any sign of an official b-sides collection from the band ever being released, so it makes this album rather special. 

Track listing

01 See What A Fool I've Been (b-side of 'Seven Seas Of Rhye' 1974)
02 Mad The Swine (previously unreleased 1972, and b-side of 'Headlong' 1991)
03 A Human Body (b-side of 'Play The Game' 1980)
04 Soul Brother (b-side of 'Under Pressure' 1981)
05 Thank God It's Christmas (single 1984)
06 Blurred Vision (b-side of 'One Vision' 1985)
07 I Go Crazy (b-side of 'Radio Ga Ga' 1983)
08 Forever (Piano Version) (b-side of 'Who Wants To Live Forever' 1986)
09 Hijack My Heart (b-side of 'The Invisible Man' 1989)
10 A Dozen Red Roses For My Darling (b-side of 'A Kind Of Magic' 1986)
11 Hang On In There (b-side of 'I Want It All' 1989)
12 Stealin' (b-side of 'Breakthru' 1989)
13 Chinese Torture (from the 'A Kind Of Magic' bonus EP 1989)
14 Lost Opportunity (b-side of 'I'm Going Slightly Mad' 1991)
15 Rock In Rio Blues (b-side of 'A Winter's Tale' 1995)


You might also like this reworking of 1989's 'The Miracle' that I spotted on another blog last year. I pieced it together using the suggested track listing and made a cover for it, and now for the life of me I can't remember where I got it from, but I have saved the notes from the blog in the folder.

Queen - The Princess Diaries (1973)

Johnny Quale and The Reactions, and later just The Reaction, took many forms in the mid to late 60's. Mostly serving as a live covers band, The Reaction toured the Truro and Cornwall area, becoming a popular band of the region. In 1965 Johnny Grose (a.k.a. Quale), guitarist Graham Hankins, bassist Jim Craven, and saxophone player John "Acker" Snell were joined by former Beat Unlimited band members Mike Dudley on guitar and Roger Taylor on drums. Later that year the band and Quale parted ways, with Roger Brokenshaw taking Quale's place as lead singer, and other line-up changes resulting in almost a completely new band, with just Taylor, Dudley and Snell remaining. Meanwhile, former singer Johnny Quale had met with Norrie Paramor, an EMI producer, who was interested in a demo. Johnny contacted The Reaction to serve as the backing band for the recording, and Johnny Quale And The Reaction recorded four tracks during the session, 'Buono Sera', 'Just A Little Bit', 'What's On Your Mind', and 'I'll Go Crazy'. After the session, and without Quayle, The Reaction recorded two more tracks, 'In The Midnight Hour' and 'I Feel Good (I Got You)', both sung by drummer Roger Taylor, which would be their only studio recordings. By 1968, The Reaction had started to disband, and Taylor left for London to begin studying dentistry, but the following year he joined forces with former 1984 band members Tim Staffell and Brian May to form Smile.
Before that, however, May was playing in 1984, a band made up of May on guitar, Dave Dilloway on bass, John Garnham on guitar/vocals, Richard Thompson on drums, John Sanger on piano, and future Smile lead vocalist Tim Staffell on vocals and harmonica. After some success as a support act for artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Traffic, T-Rex, and Pink Floyd, 1984 had a chance to record a professional demo. On 31st March 1967 the six members of 1984 recorded 12 tracks at Thames Television's Broom Lane Studios in Teddington. The group was allowed to test new recording equipment that the studio had just purchased, and all tracks were done in one take and mixed in mono. By 1968, though, May had left the band and was shortly followed by Staffell, who soon reconvened with May to form Smile.
While this was going on, Brian May's old friend Bill Richards had formed a folk-rock band called the Left-Handed Marriage, named after an archaic form of marrying beneath oneself. By January 1967, the quintet had progressed to the point where they had issued their own privately pressed album 'On The Right Side Of The Left Handed Marriage', which ran to just fifty copies. In March 1967, after Richards had signed a twelve-month contract with EMI's music publishing company Ardmore & Beechwood, he approached May to help him create a "fuller" sound for the Left Handed Marriage, with a request to provide guitar and backing vocals on some recording sessions. On the understanding that the project wouldn't interfere with his commitment to 1984, May agreed, and on 4th April 1967 the band recorded four songs: 'Give Me Time' (later changed to 'I Need Time'), 'She Was Once My Friend', 'Sugar Lump Girl' and 'Yours Sincerely' (which was basically 'Give Me Time' backwards). The idea had been to release the songs as a commercial EP, but instead the set became the Left Handed Marriage's first demo for their publishers, and it led to the offer to record a more professional session at EMI's prestigious Abbey Road studios. Another take of 'I Need Time', and a new song called 'Appointment' were taped, with talk of issuing a record, but this never materialised and 7" acetates are all that remain. Although Ardmore & Beechwood were pleased with the results, they still thought the Left Handed Marriage could improve their sound even further, and so on 31st July 1967 they booked the band into Regent Sound in central London, and this session resulted in new versions of 'I Need Time', 'She Was Once My Friend' and 'Appointment'. Despite the studio quality of the tape, Ardmore & Beechwood failed to place the songs with a record label, and like so many groups before and since, the Left Handed Marriage quietly disappeared from view, leaving May free to move on.
After May and Staffell left 1984 in 1968, they decided that they wanted to continue to work together in a band, and so formed Smile. All they needed was a drummer, and so May posted a note on the Student Union notice board at Imperial College in London, stating that they were looking for a "Ginger Baker/Mitch Mitchell style drummer". Roger Taylor responded, and Smile soon became a 'semi-pro outfit', building up a popular live reputation locally, and playing support gigs for Free, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and Yes. Smile signed a recording contract with Mercury Records and went on to record six tracks over the course of two sets of studio sessions. The first was recorded in June 1969, and consisted of 'Earth', 'Step On Me', and 'Doin' Allright', while the second session was recorded three months later, and included 'April Lady', 'Blag', and 'Polar Bear'. The first session produced their only proper single, 'Earth', but after little success, singer Tim Staffell left the band, leaving May and Taylor without a singer. They eventually joined forces with a college classmate and friend of Tim Staffell's at Ealing Art College, Farrokh 'Freddie' Bulsara. 
Bulsara had already been the lead singer for various bands, including Ibex, Wreckage, and Sour Milk Sea. Ibex consisted of 'Freddie' Bulsara on vocals, Mike Bersin on guitar, John Taylor on bass, and Mick Smith on drums, and although the band never made it into a recording studio, there was a single live show recorded by roadie Geoff Higgins at the Sink Club in Liverpool in 1969. The performance was recorded on a Grundig TK14 reel-to-reel tape machine and later sold to Queen collector John S. Stuart, who allowed it to be used by Queen Productions, so that 'Rain' could be included on the Freddie Mercury Solo Collection box set. However, the tape was leaked to the bootleg market, most likely by someone at either EMI or Queen Productions, and bootlegs of it are now freely available. This concert is notable because Brian May and Roger Taylor joined Ibex for the encore, marking the first known appearance of Freddie, Roger, and Brian live together, but unfortunately the tape ran out after 30 minutes, so it misses this encore. It does also include one Freddie original composition in 'Vagabond Outcast', although ti's not a great recording. Ibex later became Wreckage, and soon after that Bulsara joined Smile to form a new band. All they needed now was someone to play bass. 
In 1970 The Opposition, then known as Art, recorded three tracks at Beck Studio in Wellingborough. The band at this time was made up of Dave Williams (guitars), Richard Young (keyboards), Nigel Bullen (drums), Alan Brown (vocals), and John Deacon (bass). Engineer Derek Tomkins told the group they could record three songs in the time scheduled, but the group had only prepared two tracks, 'Sunny' and 'Vehicle', and so a third song was quickly improvised, an instrumental called 'Transit 3' (named after the band's new van). A few acetates were cut, and a tape was run off from Nigel Bullen's copy. Later that year Deacon left for London to study at the Chelsea College Of Technology, and while there he formed another band, called Deacon. In 1971, Deacon joined Smile, who then changed their name to Queen, and demos were recorded of 'Keep Yourself Alive', 'The Night Comes Down', 'Great King Rat', 'Jesus', and 'Liar', leading to the band being signed to EMI. At the same time as Queen were recording their debut album, Trident Studios' house engineer Robin Geoffrey Cable was working on a musical project, and he enlisted Mercury to perform lead vocals on the songs 'I Can Hear Music' and 'Goin' Back', with both songs being released together as a single in 1973. 
One last oddity is the song 'Silver Salmon', which was written by Tim Staffell but recorded by Queen, either during the first album sessions in 1971/72, or later in 1977, depending on who you believe (I tend to favour the former). It's never appeared on a Queen album, and the Staffell/Queen connection makes it a fitting end to this album, which I've called 'The Princess Diaries' - because what are you before you become a Queen? 

Track listing

The Reaction (Roger Taylor, 1966)
01 I Got You (I Feel Good)
02 In The Midnight Hour

1984 (Brian May, 1967)
03 Our Love Is Drifting
04 Purple Haze
05 How Can It Be
06 Sweet Wine

The Left Handed Marriage (Brian May, 1967)
07 Appointment
08 She Was Once My Friend
09 I Need Time

Smile (Brian May, Roger Taylor, 1969)
10 Earth
11 Step On Me
12 April Lady
13 Polar Bear
14 Blag
15 Doing Allright

Ibex (Freddie Mercury, 1969)
16 Vagabond Outcast
17 We're Going Wrong

Wreckage (Freddie Mercury, 1969)
18 Green

The Opposition (John Deacon, 1970)
19 Vehicle
20 Sunny
21 Transit 3

Larry Lurex (Freddie Mercury, 1973)
22 I Can Hear Music
23 Goin' Back

Queen (1972)
24 Silver Salmon