The Wannadies - As If We Care (2002) UPDATE

I've just noticed that this post from last December was a bit of a mess, as I'd meant to title it 'As If We Care', rather than 'As If I Care', but despite that I'd tagged all the tracks as 'Want More' anyway, so I've updated the whole thing. I've also re-done the cover, and at the same time toned down the colours, which were a bit garish. The folder is updated in Soulseek and Yandex, so download the new file if you like, although the music itself hasn't changed. 

Track listing

01 Everybody Loves Me (b-side of 'You And Me Song' re-issue 1996)

02 We Were Sitting In A Car On Our Way From Mold To Bath As A Thunderstorm 

                                                            With Hail Stones Passed (b-side of 'Friends' 1996)

03 Just Can't Get Enough (b-side of 'Hit' 1997)

04 (Yeah Yeah Yeah) In Your Face (b-side of 'Hit' 1997)

05 As If You Care (b-side of 'Hit' 1997)

06 I Like You A Lalalala Lot (b-side of 'You And Me Song' EP 1997)

07 What's The Fuss (bonus 7" with 'Bagsy Me' album 1997)

08 Are You Exclusive? (b-side of 'Shorty' 1997)

09 Taking The Easy Way Out (b-side of 'Shorty' 1997)

10 Princess Spoon (b-side of 'Yeah' 1999)

11 After All (b-side of 'Yeah' 1999)

12 Trick Me (b-side of 'Yeah' 1999)

13 Love And Hate (b-side of 'Big Fan' 2000)

14 Fabian's Space Disco (b-side of 'Skin' 2002

The Wannadies - Want More (1996) UPDATE

Thanks to Rev. Dave for pointing out that this post seemed to have one of the tracks missing, so I've now added 'I Got A Right' into its rightful place and you can re-download from Soulseek or Yandex for the correct track listing. 

Track listing 

01 The Beast Cures The Lover (from the 'Smile' EP 1989)

02 This Time (from the 'Smile' EP 1989)

03 I Want More (from the 'Smile' EP 1989)

04 Children Of The Revolution (b-side of 'Heaven' 1990)

05 In The Altogether (b-side of 'So Happy Now' 1992)

06 Birds (b-side of 'So Happy Now' 1992)

07 Lee Remick (b-side of 'Cherry Man' EP 1993)

08 I'm A Man (b-side of 'Cherry Man' EP 1993)

09 Blister In The Sun (b-side of 'Cherry Man' EP 1993)

10 I Got A Right (b-side of 'Love In June' 1994)

11 Let Go Oh Oh (b-side of 'You And Me Song' 1994)

12 No Disco (b-side of 'You And Me Song' 1994)

13 Lift Me Up (Don't Let Me Down) (b-side of 'You And Me Song' 1994)

14 New Life (b-side of 'You And Me Song' 1994)

15 Why (b-side of 'Someone Somewhere' 1996)

16 Goodbye (b-side of 'Someone Somewhere' 1996)

17 Disappointed (b-side of 'Someone Somewhere' 1996)

The Wannadies - As If We Care (2002)

The next few years after 1997 were a turbulent time for The Wannadies, as in Spring 1997 drummer and founding member Gunnar Karlsson left, to be replaced by long-time friend of the band Erik Dahlgren, and after sorting out problems with their Swedish record label, the band now felt they were suffering from a lack of support from BMG in the UK, and so went on strike. To compensate for the lack of new material, a compilation album of the best of their first three records entitled 'Skellefteå' was released in Scandinavia in the spring of 1998, with the band touring the region in support of it while their problems with BMG were being resolved. Relations with the label had sufficiently improved for the band to begin recording their next album in the autumn of 1998, with a ten-day session at the Chateau De La Rouge Motte studio in Normandy, France with producer Mike Hedges. Only the track 'String Song' was completed, however, and it was not until the winter of 1998/99 that the band recorded the bulk of the tracks for fifth album 'Yeah', with former Cars frontman Ric Ocasek at the helm. 'Yeah' was released in the autumn of 1999 in Scandinavia and early spring 2000 in the UK, but BMG decided not to release the record in America, and also refused permission for the band to release it on another label, eventually dropping the band altogether. Despite not having a record company, the band toured extensively throughout the summer of 2000, and in the latter half of 2000 and much of 2001 the band constructed their own recording studio in which they would record much of their sixth album, with Nille Perned again producing. In 2002 they released 'Before & After' in Scandinavia through the National record label, and on 8 September 2003 in the UK on Cooking Vinyl records. After a long hiatus, the band were thought to be writing and recording songs for their seventh album in 2009, but in April they announced they had split, with Pär Wiksten going solo. Although the band reunited and played their hits 'Friends' and 'Hit' at a festival in 2016, it would be another four years before new music was released by the band, and a song originally started at the 'Before & After' sessions and completed in 2020 was issued as a single, with 'Can't Kill The Musikk' featuring a live version 'My Home Town' as the b-side. This second collection from the band includes all the non-album tracks from the re-issue of 'You And Me Song' in 1996 to the break-up in 2003, once again housed in a contemporary sleeve. 

Track listing

01 Everybody Loves Me (b-side of 'You And Me Song' re-issue 1996)
02 We Were Sitting In A Car On Our Way From Mold To Bath As A Thunderstorm 

                                                            With Hail Stones Passed (b-side of 'Friends' 1996)
03 Just Can't Get Enough (b-side of 'Hit' 1997)
04 (Yeah Yeah Yeah) In Your Face (b-side of 'Hit' 1997)
05 As If You Care (b-side of 'Hit' 1997)
06 I Like You A Lalalala Lot (b-side of 'You And Me Song' EP 1997)
07 What's The Fuss (bonus 7" with 'Bagsy Me' album 1997)
08 Are You Exclusive? (b-side of 'Shorty' 1997)
09 Taking The Easy Way Out (b-side of 'Shorty' 1997)
10 Princess Spoon (b-side of 'Yeah' 1999)
11 After All (b-side of 'Yeah' 1999)
12 Trick Me (b-side of 'Yeah' 1999)
13 Love And Hate (b-side of 'Big Fan' 2000)
14 Fabian's Space Disco (b-side of 'Skin' 2002)

Thanks to jman for the suggestion.

The Wannadies - Want More (1996)

The Wannadies formed in 1988 in Skellefteå, northern Sweden, and the initial line-up was Pär Wiksten on vocals and guitar, Christina Bergmark on keyboards and vocals, Stefan Schönfeldt on guitar, and his younger brother Fredrik on bass, with Gunnar Karlsson on drums and Björn Malmquist on violin. They played their first concert at a festival in support of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas in October 1988, and only weeks later entered local studio KN to record the three tracks that would become their debut release, in the form of the 'Smile EP'. It was released in February 1989 and managed to pick up several 'single of the week' accolades from national newspapers, as well as airplay on indie radio shows, despite little or no marketing. Following the band's appearance at the Hultsfred Festival in August 1989, they signed a recording contract with MNW Records, releasing their debut single 'My Hometown' in May the following year. The band's eponymous debut album was released in August 1990, supported by tours of Sweden, Finland and Norway, and their second album 'Aquanautic' was released in October 1992 on Snap Records, the indie subsidiary of MNW. In the summer of 1993 Björn Malmquist moved to Stockholm and left the band, and initial recording sessions for their third album 'Be A Girl' were beset by problems. First choice producer Dagge Lunquist took paternity leave late in 1993, and a second attempt with producer Micke Herrström had to be abandoned after just a week and a half when both he and engineer Adam Kviman Herrström were taken sick with hearing injuries. 'Love In June' was the only song to be completed with Herrström, and was released as a single while the band had another go at recording 'Be A Girl', this time with producer Nille Perned. 
The album was finally finished by late 1994, and was released along with the second single 'You And Me Song', to critical acclaim in their native country. Shortly afterwards the band came to the attention of Indolent Records in the UK, who signed them in the summer of 1995, and they toured extensively with labelmates Sleeper and The 60 ft Dolls, while regularly commuting to studios in Gothenburg, Skellefteå and Stockholm to record tracks for their next album. Further singles 'Might Be Stars' and 'How Does It Feel?' were taken from 'Be A Girl', but it was not until the re-release of 'You And Me Song' in April 1996 that the band really made an impact in the UK, where the song peaked at number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. Problems with Swedish record company MNW led to delays with the release of the group's fourth album 'Bagsy Me', which was eventually released in January 1997 on Sony/BMG Records, and it included the hit singles 'Someone Somewhere', 'Friends', 'Hit', and 'Shorty'. All of the singles mentioned so far had exclusive recordings on the flips, and so this post collects all of them from that first EP in 1989 to the 1996 release of 'Someone Somewhere'. It's a great collection of some of the best indie/pop of the early 90's, which had remained a well-kept secret until they exploded onto the scene with that re-issue of 'You And Me Song' in 1996, helped massively by it also being included on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmnan's film of 'Romeo And Juliet'. The cover is a homage to the band's fondness for putting pictures of sleeping girls on their albums and singles from 'Be A Girl' onwards.   

Track listing 

01 The Beast Cures The Lover (from the 'Smile' EP 1989)

02 This Time (from the 'Smile' EP 1989)

03 I Want More (from the 'Smile' EP 1989)

04 Children Of The Revolution (b-side of 'Heaven' 1990)

05 In The Altogether (b-side of 'So Happy Now' 1992)

06 Birds (b-side of 'So Happy Now' 1992)

07 Lee Remick (b-side of 'Cherry Man' EP 1993)

08 I'm A Man (b-side of 'Cherry Man' EP 1993)

09 Blister In The Sun (b-side of 'Cherry Man' EP 1993)

10 I Got A Right (b-side of 'Love In June' 1994)

11 Let Go Oh Oh (b-side of 'You And Me Song' 1994)

12 No Disco (b-side of 'You And Me Song' 1994)

13 Lift Me Up (Don't Let Me Down) (b-side of 'You And Me Song' 1994)

14 New Life (b-side of 'You And Me Song' 1994)

15 Why (b-side of 'Someone Somewhere' 1996)

16 Goodbye (b-side of 'Someone Somewhere' 1996)

17 Disappointed (b-side of 'Someone Somewhere' 1996)

Thanks to jman for the suggestion.