Salad was formed in London in 1992 by Dutch vocalist/keyboardist Marijne van der Vlugt, who had previously worked as a model, but rose to prominence as a video jockey for MTV Europe. Initially performing as The Merry Babes with her then-boyfriend and guitarist Paul Kennedy, the addition of Pete Brown on bass and Rob Wakeman on drums resulted in the creation of Salad. Songwriting duties were mainly borne by Kennedy and van der Vlugt, with significant contributions from Wakeman who was also responsible for sampling, and a distinctive part of Salad's sound was the inclusion of the Kawai K1 synthesizer, which was always present on stage next to van der Vlugt during live performances. The band's first two releases, the 'Kent' EP and 'Diminished Clothes', were released on their own Waldorf label, and gained them significant coverage in the music press, as well as the main support slot on Blur's Sugary Tea tour in late 1993. This led to a deal with Island Records, initially on the 'indie' sub-label Island Red, which released the 'On A Leash' EP in 1994, and their debut album, 'Drink Me', the following year, reaching No. 16 of the UK Albums Chart. Four of its tracks were released as singles, with 'Motorbike To Heaven' just missing out on a top 40 placing in the UK Singles Chart, and their next release was the non-album single 'I Want You' in 1996. Their second album, 'Ice Cream' came out in 1997, but failed to match the success of the first, and the band were subsequently dropped by Island and disbanded in 1998. Van der Vlugt later formed Cowboy Racer, whose song 'Yellow Horse' featured on the US television show, 'Grey's Anatomy', while Pete Brown and Rob Wakeman established the popular entertainment site, BoreMe, which Pete Brown now runs on his own, and Wakeman also released a few Tech House and Techno singles between 1999 and 2002. In 2016, Van der Vlugt and Kennedy began performing Salad songs acoustically as Salad Undressed, and by 2017 the original band had reformed and released a new Salad single in 2018 called 'The Selfishness Of Love', as well as a new album, 'The Salad Way', the following year. Considering that the band were only together long enough in their first incarnation to release two albums, it's astonishing that they managed to include three dozen non-album tracks on singles, EP's and b-sides in their short career, and so we need this 3-Disc set to collect them all together in one place.
Track listing
Disc I - 1993-1994
01 Kent (from the 'Kent' EP 1993)
02 The King Of Love (from the 'Kent' EP 1993)
03 Heaven Can Wait (from the 'Kent' EP 1993)
04 Mistress (from the 'Kent' EP 1993)
05 Diminished Clothes (single 1993)
06 Clear My Name (b-side of 'Diminished Clothes')
07 Come Back Tomorrow (b-side of 'Diminished Clothes')
08 On A Leash (from the 'On A Leash' EP 1994)
09 What Do You Say About That? (from the 'On A Leash' EP 1994)
10 Planet In The Ocean (from the 'On A Leash' EP 1994)
11 Problematique (from the 'On A Leash' EP 1994)
Disc II - 1994-1995
01 Plank (b-side of 'Your Ma' 1994)
02 Open (b-side of 'Your Ma' 1994)
03 Kiss My Love (b-side of 'Drink The Elixir' 1995)
04 Julius (b-side of 'Drink The Elixir' 1995)
05 Diary Hell (b-side of 'Motorbike To Heaven' 1995)
06 I Am December (b-side of 'Motorbike To Heaven' 1995)
07 It's For You (b-side of 'Granite Statues' 1995)
08 Ici Les Amigos (b-side of 'Granite Statues' 1995)
09 Rip Goes Love And Lust (b-side of 'Granite Statues' 1995)
10 Roadsex (b-side of 'Granite Statues' 1995)
11 Dream A Little Dream (Salad & Terry Hall, from the 'HELP' charity album 1995)
Disc III - 1996-1997
01 I Want You (single 1996)
02 Fly In A Sheet Of Winter (b-side of 'I Want You')
03 Decade Of The Brain (b-side of 'I Want You')
04 Ugly Fashion Town (b-side of 'I Want You')
05 One In The Bag (b-side of 'I Want You')
06 A Size More Woman Than Her (b-side of 'I Want You')
07 Bridesmaid's Gimmicks (b-side of 'Cardboy King' 1997)
08 Down At Monty's (b-side of 'Cardboy King' 1997)
09 One Imitation Smile (b-side of 'Cardboy King' 1997)
10 Moon Above My Shoulder (b-side of 'Cardboy King' 1997)
11 Palm Trees On The Moon (b-side of 'Yeah Yeah' 1997)
12 Sleepwalking (b-side of 'Yeah Yeah' 1997)
13 Love Song (b-side of 'Yeah Yeah' 1997)
14 Party (b-side of 'Yeah Yeah' 1997)
