Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Lou Reed (2018)

After leaving the Velvet Underground in August 1970, Lou Reed moved to his parents' home on Long Island, and took a job at his father's tax accounting firm as a typist, by his own account earning $40 a week. He began writing poetry, which was published later in 2018 by Anthology Editions, and he then signed a recording contract with RCA Records in 1971, recording his first solo album at Morgan Studios in Willesden, London with session musicians including Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman from the band Yes. The album, 'Lou Reed', contained versions of unreleased Velvet Underground songs, some of which had originally been recorded for 'Loaded' but shelved, but it was overlooked by most pop music critics, and did not sell well. Reed's commercial breakthrough was his next album, 'Transformer', released in November 1972, and co-produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson. It introduced Reed to a wider audience in the UK, especially the single 'Walk On The Wild Side', which was a salute to the misfits and hustlers who once surrounded Andy Warhol in the late 60's. Each of the song's five verses describes a person who had been a fixture at The Factory during the mid-to-late 1960's, and its transgressive lyrics somehow evaded radio censorship. Ronson's arrangements brought out new aspects of Reed's songs, with 'Perfect Day' featuring delicate strings and soaring dynamics, and while the album contains some of Reed's most commercial compositions, it was some years before other artists felt confident enough to tackle them. This was spearheaded by Eurythmics take on 'Satellite Of Love' in 1983, followed by the choice of 'Perfect Day' as the Children In Need single in 1997, and this seemed to have opened up the floodgates for artists to plunder the album and record their unique takes of the songs. This album is a bit different so most of the others in this series, as the artists tend to take an irreverent view of the songs, witness the versions by A.C. Marias, Enzo Pietropoali and Bikini The Cat, but they are also done with much love for the original material, and so this album has become one of my most played from the series. 

Track listing

01 Vicious (A.C. Marias 1989)  
02 Andy's Chest (Damn Hippie Freaks 2016) 
03 Perfect Day (Kirsty McColl & Evan Dando 1995)  
04 Hangin' Round (Squeeze 2015) 
05 Walk On The Wild Side (Edie Brickell & New Bohemians 1990)  
06 Make Up (B.E.F. featuring Boy George 2013)  
07 Satellite Of Love (Eurythmics 1983)  
08 Wagon Wheel (The Satellites 2015)    
09 New York Telephone Conversation (Enzo Pietropaoli 1997)  
10 I'm So Free (Bikini The Cat 2005) 
11 Goodnight Ladies (Justin Vivian Bond 2018)

Squeeze - Blood From A Stone (1986)

As a follow-up to the recent b-sides collection from Squeeze, here is an album full of unreleased tracks and demos that I discovered along the way while putting that one together. It starts with a track left off their debut album from 1978, and then goes on to include songs from the sessions of all their albums from 1979 to 1982, plus their contribution to the 1986 film 'When The Wind Blows', and as a little bonus at the end we have their theme tune for the 1985 TV series 'Girls On Top'. Being from the pens of Difford and Tilbrook, all of these tracks could easily have been included on their parent albums, but lack of space meant they had to be shelved, so here they all are together in one place for your enjoyment, and despite the eight year timespan, this really does hang together just like a lost Squeeze album.       

Track listing

01 Heartbreak (previously unreleased 1978)
02 Blood And Guts (previously unreleased 1979)
03 I Must Go (previously unreleased 1979)
04 Ain't It Sad (previously unreleased 1979)
05 Funny How It Goes (previously unreleased 1980)
06 Go (previously unreleased 1980)
07 Library Girl (demo 1980)
08 The Axe Has Now Fallen (previously unreleased 1981)
09 Looking For A Love (previously unreleased 1981)
10 I Can't Get Up Anymore (previously unreleased 1982)
11 When Love Goes To Sleep (previously unreleased 1982)
12 Love's A Four Letter Word (previously unreleased 1985)
13 What Have They Done? (from the soundtrack of the 1986 film 'When The Wind Blows')

14 Girls On Top (theme to the 1985 TV series)

Squeeze - Squeeze Box (1993)

Squeeze were formed in March 1974 by Chris Difford (guitar, vocals, lyrics), and Glenn Tilbrook (vocals, guitar, music), who began writing songs together, and soon added Jools Holland (keyboards) and Paul Gunn (drums) to form an actual band. The group performed under several names, most frequently Captain Trundlow's Sky Company or Skyco, before selecting the band name Squeeze as a facetious tribute to the Velvet Underground's oft-derided 1973 album 'Squeeze'. In 1975 Gilson Lavis replaced Gunn on drums, and Harry Kakoulli joined on bass, and the band spent their early career around Deptford in south-east London, where they were part of a lively local music scene which included Alternative TV and Dire Straits. The group was initially signed to Miles Copeland III's BTM Records, but the label went under in late 1976, so their early singles and debut EP, 1977's 'Packet Of Three', were released on the Deptford Fun City label, with the latter being produced by John Cale, who had been a member of the band that Squeeze took their name from. In the United States and Canada the band were dubbed UK Squeeze, owing to legal conflicts arising from a contemporary American band called Tight Squeeze, but after their debut album was issued in the US as 'U.K. Squeeze' the "U.K." was dropped for all subsequent releases, although in Australia the same name change lasted until 1985 due to legal conflicts arising from an existing Sydney-based band also called Squeeze. The 'Squeeze' album generated two hit singles in 'Take Me I'm Yours' and 'Bang Bang', both produced by the band themselves, but their second album 'Cool For Cats' contained their two highest charting UK singles in 'Cool For Cats' and 'Up The Junction', both of which peaked at No. 2, and they also released a stand-alone Christmas single the same year. Following the release of the 'Cool For Cats' album in 1979, John Bentley replaced Harry Kakoulli on bass, and the band released their third album 'Argybargy' the following year, being their third hit album in the UK, and the one which broke them in the US and Canada, with the single 'Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)' receiving airplay on US rock radio stations. In 1980 Jools Holland left the band for a solo career, and he was replaced by highly rated singer-keyboardist Paul Carrack, a former member of both British soul-pop band Ace and progressive rock band Roxy Music. 

In 1981 the band released 'East Side Story', which was produced by Elvis Costello and Roger Bechirian, and featured Carrack's lead vocals on the radio hit 'Tempted', but he left the group after the release of the album and was replaced by Don Snow, with this line-up recording the 'Sweets From A Stranger' album in 1982. However, this was their first record which didn't receive rave reviews, and the negative criticism, together with the stresses of touring and conflict between band members, led Difford and Tilbrook to break up the band later that year. Difford and Tilbrook continued to work together, and released one self-titled album as the duo Difford & Tilbrook in 1984, and although it is not officially a Squeeze album, to many fans 'Difford & Tilbrook' is considered a "lost" Squeeze album. Squeeze re-formed to play a one night charity gig in 1985, with all five members from the 1980 'Argybargy' line-up of Difford/Tilbrook/Holland/Lavis/Bentley, and the performance was such a success that the band unanimously agreed to resume recording and touring as Squeeze, although they replaced Bentley with bassist Keith Wilkinson, as they were searching for a different sound. In 1985 this new incarnation released the album 'Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti', which featured complex double-tracked keyboard parts which could not be duplicated by a single keyboard player on stage, so Jools' brother Christopher Holland, then aged 17, played and toured as a second keyboardist in 1985. His tenure in the band was short-lived, though, as he had signed to I.R.S. Records as a solo artist, so he was replaced by Andy Metcalfe of The Soft Boys and The Egyptians, and the sextet released the 'Babylon And On' album in 1987, which produced their only US top 40 hits in 'Hourglass' and '853-5937'. Metcalfe left the band in 1988, and the remaining five members recorded 1989's 'Frank', but the album was a commercial disappointment, with no charting singles to promote it, and the band was dropped from A&M. 

Jools Holland left Squeeze again in early 1990, and was not immediately replaced, with the band using session musicians such as Matt Irving, Steve Nieve, and Bruce Hornsby for the 1991 release 'Play', which was issued on their new label Reprise Records. This release again spawned no UK hits, although in the US the singles 'Satisfied' and 'Crying In My Sleep' received significant airplay on modern rock stations, and in Canada 'Satisfied' was a top 50 hit. Despite the renewed interest in the band, Reprise dropped them after the one album, and more line-up changes ensued, with drummer Gilson Lavis being let go in 1992 and replaced by Nieve's Attractions bandmate Pete Thomas, while Paul Carrack also returned to the band in 1993, but by this point the revolving door of departing and joining members made it seem like Squeeze was not so much a band as it was a trade name for Difford and Tilbrook plus sidemen. The band re-signed to A&M in time for 1993's 'Some Fantastic Place' album, and after a period of commercial decline in the UK, lead single 'Third Rail' hit No. 39, becoming their first UK Top 40 hit in six years. Squeeze's line-up during the mid-1990s changed constantly, with Thomas leaving, requiring Carrack to double on snare and keyboards for a few gigs before session drummer Andy Newmark was brought in. Then Carrack himself left in 1994, which allowed keyboardist Andy Metcalfe to return to the band for a short spell. Drummer Kevin Wilkinson, formerly of The Waterboys and China Crisis, was also added around this time, replacing Newmark, although he only lasted until 1995. With the only constant members being Difford and Tilbrook, Squeeze was no longer the band that fans had loved from the early days, and so I'm calling a halt at this point to this 'box' set of the many non-album b-sides that they included on their early singles, along with a couple of stand-alone and unreleased singles, covering their most successful years between 1977 and 1993. I've made just one slight update, replacing the live version of 'All Fed Up' from the flip of 1978's 'Take Me I'm Yours' with the more powerful Peel session version from the previous year.    

Track listing 

Disc I - 1977-1980
01 Cat On A Wall (from the 'Packet Of Three' EP 1977)
02 Night Ride (from the 'Packet Of Three' EP 1977)
03 Back Track (from the 'Packet Of Three' EP 1977)
04 Night Nurse (b-side of 'Take Me, I'm Yours' 1978)
05 All Fed Up (John Peel Session 1977)
06 Deep Cuts (unreleased single 1978)
07 Saints Alive (b-side of 'Goodbye Girl' 1978)
08 All's Well (b-side of 'Slap And Tickle' 1979)
09 Wrong Way (free flexi-disc with Smash Hits Magazine 1979)
10 Christmas Day (single 1979)
11 Going Crazy (b-side of 'Christmas Day')
12 Pretty Thing (b-side of 'Another Nail In My Heart' 1980)
13 What The Butler Saw (b-side of 'Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)' 1980)

Disc II - 1981-1986

01 Trust (b-side of 'Is That Love' 1981)

02 Yap, Yap, Yap (b-side of 'Tempted' 1981)

03 Squabs On Forty Fab (b-side of 'Labelled With Love' 1981)

04 The Hunt (b-side of 'Black Coffee In Bed' 1982)

05 I'm At Home Tonight (unreleased promo single 1982)

06 Elephant Girl (b-side of 'When The Hangover Strikes' 1982)

07 Annie Get Your Gun (single 1982)

08 Spanish Guitar (b-side of 'Annie Get Your Gun')

09 Suites From Five Strangers (b-side of 'Lost Time Forever' 1985)

10 The Fortnight Saga (b-side of 'No Place Like Home' 1985)

11 Loves Crashing Waves (Live) (b-side of 'King George Street' 1986)

Disc III - 1987-1993

01 Wedding Bells (b-side of 'Hourglass' 1987)

02 Splitting Into Three (b-side of 'Hourglass' 1987)

03 Frank's Bag (b-side of 'If It's Love' 1989)

04 Red Light (b-side of 'Love Circles' 1989)

05 Who's That? (b-side of 'Love Circles' 1989)

06 Maidstone (b-side of 'Sunday Street' 1991)

07 Mood Swings (b-side of 'Sunday Street' 1991)

08 Happiness Is King (b-side of 'Satisfied' 1991)

09 Laughing In My Sleep (b-side of 'Satisfied' 1991)

10 Jumping (b-side of 'Some Fantastic Place' 1993)

11 Is That The Time? (b-side of 'Some Fantastic Place' 1993)

Solstice Tidings: An Alternative Christmas Album (2019)

If, like me, you've heard the same dozen Christmas songs over and over on the radio and in the shops over the past few weeks, then here's an album to take the edge off the festive period. They're still Christmas/Winter-themed songs, but by some of my favourite bands (most of them already have a post on the site), and the majority are in the alternative genre, with just a couple of more mainstream acts, but with songs that tend not to make it to the ubiquitous Christmas compilation albums. Low issued one of the best ever Christmas albums in 2010, and I was tempted to include the up-beat 'Just Like Christmas', but instead I went for a lesser-known song from it, although do check out the whole thing as it's a classic. Cheap Trick, Ramones, The Flaming Lips, Sparks and AC/DC give us a cynical or left-field viewpoint of the holiday, while the offerings from Squeeze, Smashing Pumpkins and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are surprisingly restrained. Galaxie 500's take on Yoko One's 'Listen, The Snow Is Falling' is simply breath-taking, and I've also included songs by two of my favourite current singer/songwriters, with  'Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)' from Laura Marling and 'Winter Song' from Billie Marten. I hope that this hour-long collection of little-heard Christmas songs adds some joy to your holiday. 

Track listing

01 Christmas Christmas - Cheap Trick
02 A Christmas Song - Jethro Tull
03 Christmas Was Better In The 80's - The Futureheads
04 Listen, The Snow Is Falling - Galaxie 500
05 Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight) - Ramones
06 Christmas Time - The Smashing Pumpkins
07 If You Were Born Today (Song For Little Baby Jesus) - Low
08 All I Want For Christmas - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
09 Christmas All Over Again - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
10 Winter Song - Billie Marten
11 Christmas At The Zoo - The Flaming Lips
12 Father Christmas - The Kinks
13 Home For Christmas - Kate Bush
14 Thank God It's Not Christmas - Sparks
15 Christmas Day - Squeeze
16 (We Wish You) A Protein Christmas - The Fall
17 There Ain't No Santa Claus On The Evening Stage - Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
18 Mistress For Christmas - AC/DC
19 Goodbye England (Covered In Snow) - Laura Marling