Bob Dylan - Yonder Comes Sin (1981) UPDATE

I was listening to this album recently and a couple of things occurred to me, which detracted from the complete listening experience of the album . Firstly, the coda of 'Blowing On The Water' which I tagged on to the end of 'Caribbean Wind' was too long. I still think it works nicely, but just when you expect it to gently fade away it just carries on going, so I've chopped about 40 seconds from it and I think it sounds much better. The other issue was with 'High Away', which once again just seemed to drag on too long, as well as having a false start in the middle, which I originally though would be OK to leave, but which does jar on repeated listens. On this one I've removed the false start, and also a couple of choruses either side of it, which tightens it up considerably, and instead of a rambling eight minutes, it's now a concise 4:52. Yandex links and Soulseek have been updated if you want to hear these edits, and see what you think. Obviously, if you prefer the originals then just ignore me.   

Rick Wakeman - The Complete Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table (2016)

For tonight's post Mike Solof has overhauled a classic album from the 70's and made it even better, by adding more songs, and remixing then to sound the best they can, so that they slot into the original album seamlessly. Over to Mike for some background.....

Today I thought Iʼd take a stab at melding one of my favorite classic albums from 1975, 'The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table' by Rick Wakeman, with the totally rerecorded and greatly expanded version he released 41 years later, in 2016.
In July 1974, the 25-year-old Wakeman headlined the Crystal Palace Garden Party VII concert held at Crystal Palace Park in London, with his rock band, a symphony orchestra, and choir. He'd left Yes two months prior over differences surrounding their creative direction, and continued with his solo career, which had reached newfound success after his second album 'Journey To The Centre Of The Earth' had become the first from A&M Records to chart at
number one in 1974. Despite the success, Wakeman's health deteriorated during the
preparations for the Crystal Palace show, with the stress of putting it together resulting in him  going without sleep in the five days prior to the event, as well as cracking some bones in his wrist after he fell over in a pub. He got through the gig after receiving three injections, one of morphine, before going on stage, but coupled with his frequent smoking and heavy drinking, the situation culminated in him having three minor heart attacks several days afterwards. During his recovery at Wexham Park Hospital in Berkshire, his management paid a visit, where a specialist advised them that Wakeman should cease all performing and retire, but he ignored the order and later that evening he began to write material for his next studio album, based on the legend of King Arthur, and the people and stories involved. 

During his youth Wakeman had stayed for five months on a farm in Trevalga, Cornwall, and this was near Tintagel, which is the legendary site of Arthur's castle, and it had stuck with him since then. He encountered some difficulty with the songwriting as many of the stories described in the books gave different accounts, but after reading eight books himself, he picked the details he found the most colourful, which included taking a passage from a children's book on the subject. He settled on four widely known stories, and also two lesser known, and proceeded to adapt them to music and lyrics. Much of the album was based around the three swords of the legend: the sword Arthur pulled out from the stone and anvil, the Excalibur, which some believe was instead handed to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake, and the one associated with Galahad. He incorporated ideas from his personal life into the music, saying "It's as much about me as Arthur." 'Guinevere' was a song that Wakeman had arranged six years prior to recording the album, and he wrote violin arrangements for 'Sir Lancelot And The Black Knight' that were so fast for the players, biographer Dan Wooding wrote they "collapsed with laughter" upon viewing the score. After some false starts, they played the music correctly after Wakeman instructed them they play twice as fast as he originally wanted, as he "thought I'd teach the ones who were cocky a lesson". 

'Merlin The Magician' is in three parts, as Wakeman had read several descriptions of the character, and conjured the image of "a little old man preparing his potions", so he therefore introduces the song with a quiet theme, and because one book depicted Merlin working in the basement of a castle, "surrounded by bottles and liquids like a mad professor", that inspired the heavier second theme. The piano and banjo section arose from a story that involved Merlin falling in love and chasing after a young girl, who eventually shuts him in a cave where he dies. The first piece Wakeman worked on was 'The Last Battle', which is the finale to the album, and as he composed it while still in hospital, he organised for someone to sneak a cassette recorder into his hospital room, recording his arrangements by humming them into the microphone. Before the album was recorded, he undertook a tour of North America in September and October of 1974, being his first full-scale tour as a solo artist. It featured his band, an orchestra and choir; and the production ultimately cost him around £125,000. On its release in April 1975 the album peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and number 21 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, becoming Wakeman's third consecutive record to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, repeating this in Brazil, Japan and Australia, and selling 12 million copies in total. 

'King Arthur...' was performed for three sell out nights from 30–31 May and 1 June 1975, and they were attended by 27,000 people in total. Wakeman funded the production with his own money which included his band the English Rock Ensemble, an orchestra and choir playing in the round, a narrator, and 19 international ice skaters who re-enacted the scenes in costume. The first performance had some imperfections, as when the actor playing the young Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, the anvil used to anchor the sword came out as well, since it had not itself been anchored. The actress playing Guinevere inadvertently skated over her veil, tearing her headgear out, and the chainmail under Wakeman's cape accidentally caught on something as he was descending from his seat at one point, leaving him dangling over the ice. The dry ice fog, when used over real ice, created a mist that rose ever higher and thicker, to the point that the musicians not only could not see each other but had difficulty seeing their own instruments, and at the end, during 'The Last Battle', plans called for six skaters dressed as knights to take to the ice and fight to their mutual "deaths". Well before the song was over, one knight appeared to have survived, skating aimlessly around the ice, eventually solving the  problem by pretending to throw himself on his sword and disappearing under the fog. This notorious production has gone down in history as one of the most embarrassing concerts ever, and it was ranked No. 79 on the list of 100 Greatest Shocking Moments in Rock and Roll compiled by VH1. 

In 2012, Wakeman released a rerecorded version of 'Journey To The Centre Of The Earth', with additional pieces that were originally removed from the arrangement due to the limited time available on a vinyl record. He was booked to perform the extended album in Argentina that year, but the promoter also wished for a show with an extended version of 'King Arthur...', an idea that had first resurfaced in 2015 when Stuart Galbraith, promoter of Wakeman's 2014 'Journey...' tour, suggested a similar rerecording for 'King Arthur...', and to have it performed at The O2 Arena as part of the 2016 Stone Free Festival. It would be the first performance of the album in its entirety since 1975, and so Wakeman accepted, and the concert became a catalyst for a new, 88-minute version, to be arranged and recorded in time for it. When Wakeman first approached his record label, he told them he wanted to put out the original album, but with new songs added in. The label had different ideas though, and decided that they wanted everything to be entirely re-recorded from scratch. I was super excited when he revisited the album but definitely not thrilled with the newest versionʼs mix, as the vocals seemed weak and buried deep in the music. Thankfully, modern technology has allowed me to separate out those vocals and bump them up for my own new personal remix. The 2016 re-release (weirdly) repeated entire songs numerous times using different instruments, so Iʼve taken the liberty of picking the best version of each and skipped all the repetitive stuff. Iʼve decided to honour Wakemanʼs original vision of the 2016 release, and create a wonderful mix of his classic 1975 album, but with new songs added in from the 2016 re-recordings.

Track listing

01 Arthur
02 Morgan Le Fey*
03 Lady Of The Lake - Arthur's Queen*
04 Guinevere
05 Sir Lancelot And The Black Knight
06 Princess Elaine*
07 Camelot*
08 Merlin The Magician
09 The Holy Grail*
10 Sir Galahad
11 Percival The Knight*
12 Excalibur*
13 The Last Battle

* denotes 2016 recordings

Mike's pdf, which is included in the folder, also contains scans of the booklet which came with the CD re-issue of the 1975 album, including lyrics to the original six songs.

Twelfth Night - Skan (1979)

Twelfth Night are an English neo-progressive rock band of the 1980's, put together by guitarist Andy Revell and drummer Brian Devoil in 1978 to win a talent competition at Reading University, and their road crew included Geoff Mann as backdrop painter, and Rick Battersby as dry ice engineer. Devoil and Revell had both been in various bands around Reading, with Devoil playing in Trash, and Revell  appearing with Joe Soap And The Bubbles and Abraxas. Later in 1978, Clive Mitten wandered into a rehearsal asking for a job, and was given bass duties in the Andy Revell Band, as they were then known, and after a name change in 1979 to Twelfth Night, the band completed their first recording sessions, which resulted in the legendary 'Skan' demo. In the summer of 1979 they played a notable gig at Reading University, where friend Geoff Mann guested on vocals, and after a couple of open-air concerts in the summer, the band retired to Mann's parents' home in Manchester for rehearsals, taking Rick Battersby with them. When Battersby and Mann joined the band it was their first musical venture, although Battersby had previously been classically trained on the piano, but Mann decided to remain in Manchester to paint and work with a close friend, Peter Lawrence, in a two-piece "off the wall" band called the God Stars. Twelfth Night therefore decided to forge ahead as an instrumental band, gigging in earnest throughout 1980, but they wanted a singer, and so after a short period when they were fronted by Electra MacLeod, they persuaded Mann to re-join the band as vocalist, and with the release of 'Fact And Fiction' in 1982, they joined the ranks of Galahad, IQ, Pallas and Pendragon as one of the best bands of the neo-progressive resurgence. This post goes right back to the beginning of their career, with that 'legendary' 1979 cassette, and as a fan of the band I was intrigued when I first heard it, even at one point not believing that it really was Twelfth Night, as it sounds so different to the band that I know. It's certainly an interesting listen, and I think fans of the band need to hear it to get an idea of the direction the group could have taken if they hadn't decided to recruit a vocalist the following year. 

Track listing 

01 Scales - Fur Helene 1

02 Encore Une Foise

03 Fur Helene II

04 Sequences (Short Version)

05 Four And Three

06 (Hats Off To) Freddie Hepburn

07 Sequences

Ramones - Are Not An Answer (1987)

You get the impression that Ramones are the sort of band who go into the studio, bang out a few tunes, and release them as an album, and so demos and out-takes of their early years are very hard to find. By 1984 they'd released seven studio albums, and so they could afford to take their time in the recording studio, and even work up a song and record a demo before laying down the finished version. 1984's 'Too Tough To Die' saw the band returning to their roots, and the overall style leaned toward that of punk rock and heavy metal, rather than the pop music which had been a focus of several of the band's recent albums. Previous Ramones' records had featured celebrity producers in an attempt to gain some sort of popularity, but since this didn't yield the results which they were expecting, Sire Records contacted the producers of 1978's 'Road To Ruin', and offered the job to Ed Stasium and ex-band member Tommy Ramone. The album therefore has less production value than previous recordings by the band, resulting in a harsher sound, and not only does it include bassist Dee Dee Ramone performing lead vocals on 'Wart Hog' and 'Endless Vacation', but it also contains the band's only instrumental piece, 'Durango 95'. As well as the 13 tracks that made it onto the album, a number of unreleased demos appeared on the expanded edition of the album in 2002, and if we add in a few non-album b-sides from around the same time we end up with a pretty respectable collection of rare tracks. I've also added in three demos/out-takes from 1981, plus their contribution to the soundtrack of the 1983 film 'Get Crazy', giving a pretty comprehensive overview of the band in the early to mid-80's. There were quite a few more demos with Dee Dee Ramone on vocals, but I decided to concentrate on the classic line-up of the band for this album, sticking to Joey on vocals, alongside Dee Dee and Johnny, and new drummer Richie Ramone. As the group have often been disparagingly called a 'cartoon band', I thought the cover was perfect for this post.      

 
Track listing 

01 I Can't Get You Out Of My Mind (out-take 1981)
02 Kicks To Try (Demo 1981)
03 Stares In This Town (Demo 1981) 
04 Touring (1981 version)
05 Chop Suey (from the soundtrack to the film 'Get Crazy' 1983) 
06 I'm Not An Answer (demo 1984)     
07 Out Of Here (demo 1984)
08 Smash You (b-side of 'Howling At The Moon' 1984)
09 Street Fighting Man (b-side of 'Howling At The Moon' 1984)
10 Sleeping Troubles (demo 1984)
11 I Wasn't Looking For Love (demo 1984)
12 Working It Over (demo 1984)
13 Go Home Ann (b-side of 'Bonzo Goes To Bitburg 12" 1985)
14 (You) Can't Say Anything Nice (b-side of 'Something To Believe' 12" 1986)
15 Life Goes On (b-side of 'Real Good Time' 12" 1987)

The Korgis - True Life Confessions (1986)

The Korgis was originally composed of singer/guitarist/keyboardist Andy Cresswell-Davis and singer/bassist James Warren, who had both been members of 1970's band Stackridge, and along with violinist Stuart Gordon and keyboardist Phil Harrison they formed a band which would pursue a more pop-orientated direction. They released their first single 'Young 'n' Russian' in early March 1979 on Rialto Records, and their next single 'If I Had You' broke into the UK Top 20, reaching number 13, prompting the release of an eponymous debut album in July 1979. A re-release of 'Young 'n' Russian' and new single 'I Just Can't Help It' failed to chart, but when 'Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime' was issued from their second album 'Dumb Waiters' in 1980 it became a hit in three countries, peaking at Number 5 in the UK. The album reached Number 40 in the UK in 1980, and was followed by the singles 'If It's Alright With You Baby' and 'Rovers Return', but the commercial breakthrough that accompanied the release of their second album and the resulting singles was not enough to keep them together, and Davis departed the band prior to the recording of their third album 'Sticky George', despite having a number of songwriting credits on the album. The lead single from 'Sticky George', 'That Was My Big Mistake', was released under the name 'James Warren & The Korgis' to denote the fact that Davis and Warren had now gone their separate ways, and by the end of 1980, Gordon and Harrison had also departed the band, being replaced by guitarist John Baker, drummer Roy Dodds, and keyboardist Maggie Stewart. The following year the band was joined by flautist Steve Buck and was contemplating a tour that ultimately failed to materialise, leading the band to dissolve, and leaving Warren free to go solo in 1982. The single 'Don't Look Back', originally a demo from the 'Sticky George' sessions, was remixed by Trevor Horn, and issued by London Records in the summer of 1982, but a planned follow-up single with Horn, 'Endangered Species', never materialised. Despite the break-up of the band, Warren and Davis continued to work together, with Davis co-producing some of Warren's songs, which were released under the Korgis name. The band reunited in 1990 to re-record 'Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime', and the re-formed group, consisting of Warren, Davis, and Baker, released the album 'This World's For Everyone' in 1992, having some success in Continental Europe and Japan, before breaking up again in 1993. After the band had broken up for the second time, Warren released his solo album 'Burning Questions' in 1986, which included a couple of co-writes with Davis, as well as a co-production credit, and some of the songs were also released as Korgis' singles and b-sides, so it's almost as if the band hadn't split up at all. In fact, had they stayed together and used the Warren/Davis songs that they'd already written, they could have issued one last album as The Korgis before bowing out, and so this 'final album' from the group collects all the Warren/Davis co-writes or co-productions from 1982 to 1986 to make that record. 

Track listing

01 Don't Look Back (Warren)
02 Burning Questions (Davis/Warren)
03 Xenophobia (Warren)
04 Possessed (Warren)
05 I Know Something (Warren)
06 It Won't Be The Same Old Place (Davis/Warren)
07 Climate Of Treason (Warren)
08 Waiting For Godot (Warren)
09 True Life Confessions (Davis/Warren)

01 Korgis single 1982
03 Korgis b-side 1982
02, 09 Korgis singles 1985
04, 05, 08 Korgis b-sides 1985
06 David Lord remix of single by James Warren, produced by Davis/Warren 1986
07 b-side of James Warren single produced by Davis/Warren 1986

Julian & John Lennon - Imagine (2022)

Michael Solof here again. A few days ago I was blown away by Julian Lennonʼs release of the track Imagine by his dad. After reading the accompanying note from his Twitter post (see below), I knew I just had to see if I could create a version that I wish existed, and try to
make Julianʼs version even more special. With that in mind, I decided to turn it into a duet with his dad. No easy feat I must say. I started out by tracking down every version of John singing Imagine that I could find. During my search I found many home demoʼs, studio outtakes, live cuts and TV appearances. My main concern was to find a version where the vocals acoustically matched, as closely as possible, those of the Julianʼs performance. It would sound unnatural to use a big echoing reverb drenched John vocal when Julianʼs recording had a beautiful, dry and intimate vocal. I finally found one that was darn close… but the music was completely different and clashed with Julianʼs sparse and haunting solo acoustic version. A few years ago that would have been a hugely insurmountable problem, but now a days there are websites that use really cool tech to separate the vocals from the instruments. Whats left is just crystal clear, beautiful sounding vocals! Using those same sites, I then separated out all the different parts of both versions so I was left with 4 tracks:
1. Julianʼs Lead Vocals
2. Johnʼs Lead Vocals
3. Nunoʼs guitar track
4. Nunoʼs Background Harmony Vocals
I knew I had to use Julianʼs vocal track as my base, and that I would need to edit Johnʼs vocals to match those as closely as possible. My next problem was Johnʼs phrasings were very different from Julianʼs. It wasn't a simple matter of playing both tracks, as is, at the same time. That sounded horrible and I wanted to make this sound as much like father and son sitting down face to face in a small intimate candlelit studio setting… and singing a beautiful
song together for the first time. Now I began The hours and hours I needed to accomplish this. I often had to break up Johnʼs phrases between words, and sometimes syllables, to match the timings and structure of Julianʼs song . Occasionally, when that didn't work, I would even
change the speed of the recording of Johnʼs vocal to extend the length of certain phrases slightly, for a better fit. It still didn't sound right. My original attempt had them both singing the entire song together. But then I watched a lot of different duets on YouTube and felt that if I switched back and forth between the verses and the choruses … that would be cool. So I did a version like that… but even that was missing the spark of these 2 guys just singing together.
So I started again. And this time, I had them trading off lines (starting with Julian since it is his release after all) and then having them both sing together on the choruses. That did it… that gave me tingles! 6 more hours of editing…matching up every word and every syllable of the
choruses until I was finally done. But I was still missing one last piece. 

I let some friends listen to my mix and one comment I got completely transformed the song. I canʼt believe I didn't think of it first. My mix had both vocals centered, but a friend suggested I pan Julianʼs vocals to the left and Johnʼs to the right. First I tried hard pans all the way to the left and right, but this sounded weird. I wanted them to sound like they were sitting side by side, not across the room from each other. So I switched to a softer pan of each vocal just a bit to the left and right. That was MAGIC! After a lot of internal debate, I also decided to include at the end of the song, the extra harmony vocals provided by Julianʼs friend and co-guitarist Nuno Bettencourt. It really makes for a much fuller and powerful ending. So now hereʼs my version of the duet I wish, more than anything, could have existed. Being a huge and lifelong John Lennon fan, I was always touched by the fact that Julian has spent much of his life following in his dadʼs massive footsteps, fighting against the many injustices occurring around the world.
Itʼs just downright inspiring to me. Julian was moved enough by the current situation in Ukraine to record this song. I thought the least I could do was let John join in the protest too!
I think he would have liked that.

In a first for both of us, Paul at albumsthatshouldexist and this site are posting Mike's superb effort on the same day, not only to get the song out to as many people as possible, but also to highlight the reason that Julian released it in the first place, which is to show support for Ukraine in their current struggle.

You can listen/download using the player, or download using Soulseek/Yandex and the folder includes Mike's pdf.  

Julian & John Lennon - Imagine

If the player doesn't work use the pop-out version

The War on Ukraine is an unimaginable tragedy... As a human, and as an artist, I felt compelled to respond in the most significant way I could. So today, for the first time ever, I publicly performed my Dad’s song, 'IMAGINE'. Why now, after all these years? I had always said that the only time I would ever consider singing ‘IMAGINE' would be if it was the ‘End of the World’…But also because his lyrics reflect our collective desire for peace worldwide. Because within this song, we’re transported to a space, where love and togetherness become our reality, if but for a moment in time…The song reflects the light at the end of the tunnel, that we are all hoping for...As a result of the ongoing murderous violence, millions of innocent families have been forced to leave the comfort of their homes, to seek asylum elsewhere. I’m calling on world leaders and everyone who believes in the sentiment of 'IMAGINE', to stand up for refugees everywhere! 

Please advocate and donate from the heart. #StandUpForUkraine @glbltczn @nunobettencourtofficial 

— Julian Lennon

Evanescence - Missing (2002)

After Evanescence was formed by Amy Lee and Ben Moody in 1995, the band released three EPs and one demo CD 'Origin', before signing to Wind-up Records in January 2001. Since the release of 'Origin', a number of out-takes have surfaced, and so we start this album with three of them, including a live recording of 'Catherine', one of their few co-compositions, and also 'Listen To The Rain', which was written by Lee for her high school choir, the Pulaski Academy Mixed Choir. In the eight years between Lee and Moody meeting and them signing their record deal, they composed many songs, writing together about two or three times during that period of time, and the best of these were chosen for their debut album 'Fallen'. The album was recorded in California at Track Record Studios, NRG Recording Studios, Ocean Studios, and Conway Recording Studios, and the songs were taped as demos before they were professionally recorded, and as some of the songs didn't make it to the album, these demos of unreleased material are now highly sought-after. 'Whisper', from the 'Origin' CD, was re-recorded a number of times, before eventually appearing as the final track on 'Fallen', and the version known as 'Whisper 2002' has a superb 80-second intro which is missing from the album version, as well as being noticeably shorter. 'Anything For You' was recorded during the demo sessions, and is the fastest Evanescence song in terms of tempo, with a background choir singing a line from the 'Lacrymosa' part of Mozart's 'Requiem Mass In D Minor', a theme which later resurfaced on their song 'Lacrymosa' from their 2006 album 'The Open Door'. 'Missing' is an outtake which later turned up as the b-side to the Australian release of 'Bring Me To Life', while the demo of 'Before The Dawn' seems lyrically similar to 'Anywhere', with keyboard-player David Hodges hoping that it would appear on 'Fallen', although it was still left off. 'Farther Away' (sometimes incorrectly listed as 'Further Away') is an outtake from 'Fallen', and later appeared as a b-side, first to 'Bring Me To Life', and then later to 'Lost Whispers', while 'Bleed' has a number of titles, often being referred to as 'I Must Be Dreaming' and/or 'Untitled', although according to BMI, 'Bleed' is the official title. 'Forever You' is another unreleased  demo, which was originally named 'C Sharp' after the guitar tuning of the song, and that's followed by a demo of 'Surrender', with the album closing with 'Breathe No More', which was intended for 'Fallen' before it was scrapped, later appearing on the 'Elektra: The Album' compilation in 2005. Considering that 'Fallen' has sold over 15 million copies since its release, Wind-up Records made the insane demand that the band hire a rapper as a full-time member, and have him feature on most of the tracks or they'd refuse to release it. The band refused to comply, later agreeing to add a male vocal on only one song, the lead single 'Bring Me To Life', and the sales of the album prove that they made the right decision. These demos and out-takes from their first professional recording sessions, collected together under the apt title of 'Missing', show that they had a clear vision of their future even back then, and they weren't going to take any shit from idiotic record companies who thought they knew better.

Track listing

01 Catherine
02 Demise
03 Listen To The Rain
04 Whisper 2002
05 Anything For You 
06 Further Away
07 Before The Dawn 
08 Forever You
09 Bleed 
10 Missing 
11 Surrender
12 Breathe No More 

Cherokee - Soul Parade (2002)

Cherokee Pogue hails from Brooklyn, New York, and started writing poetry when she was 10, forming her first band when she was 13 years old. At the age of 16 she met a local singer/songwriter named Auto (whom she later married) and they released an album 'Naked Music' in 1992 on Morgan Creek Records. The album was not a success, despite the video for 'Taste' getting some airplay, and following friction between the pair Cherokee and Auto split in 1995. Moving to Los Angeles, Cherokee got a deal with RCA records in 1998, and released her debut solo album 'I Love You....Me', which was far less funky than her album with Auto, and veered into neo-soul, which was big at the time thanks to artists like Erykah Badu. A single was released from the album, and 'Ooh Wee Wee' peaked at #88 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, staying there for three weeks. A promo single for 'Steppin' Stone' was also released, and at the same time she was busy performing on shows such as 'Soul Train' and 'Motown Live', as well as featuring in a huge ad campaign for GAP. Despite all of this promotion, her album failed to chart, but  RCA did allow her to record a second record, to be called 'Soul Parade', and which was scheduled for release in 2001. Unfortunately, the division of RCA Records responsible for releasing the album ended up folding, and although she was later transferred over to sister company Arista Records, and a March 2002 release date was scheduled, the album was never released. Cherokee later released it herself through her website, and also issued the singles 'Nectarine' and I Swear' from it, although neither of them charted, and it's since become increasingly hard to track down. Cherokee later married record producer Neal Pogue and they had a daughter, and she took the next six years off to raise her, returning to the music scene in 2011 and joining Brazilian guitarist Fred Card to form reggae/soul duo Esprit De Corps, whom she continues to record and tour with to this day. To my ears this is an excellent collection of nu-soul, and did not deserve to be shelved, and so here it is so that you can enjoy it as well. 

Track linting

01 Runaway
02 Lips
03 A Woman knows (feat. Bilal)
04 I Swear
05 Nectarine (feat. Andre 3000)
06 Star
07 Nothing
08 Crazy
09 Daddy How
10 Where
11 One
12 Can't Let It Go

The Wolfgang Press - The Great Leveller (1995)

The history of The Wolfgang Press goes back to 1978, when schoolmates Michael Allen and Gary Asquith, together with Mark Cox, Marco Pirroni, and Max Prior formed Rema Rema. 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell said that hearing Rema Rema's demo tape "was the first point I knew that we were actually doing something serious with 4AD", signing the band straight away and releasing their sole recording, the 'Wheel In The Roses' 12" EP in April 1980. When I first heard the record I felt the same stunned amazement as Watts-Russell, and it has remained one of my favourite records to this day, but the band split when Pirroni left to join Adam and the Ants, and the rest of the group re-formed as Mass. The new band consisted of Allen and Cox with Asquith and Danny Briottet, and they recorded one single 'You And I'/'Cabbage' in October 1980, and an album, 'Labour Of Love', which came out in May 1981, splitting up later that year. After Mass split, Allen and Cox continued working together, with their live shows starting to show an influence of PIL's 'Metal Box', and the newly christened The Wolfgang Press recorded their debut album 'The Burden Of Mules' in 1983. Trouser Press describes it as dark and cacophonous, and an angry, intense slab of post-punk gloom, but it's telling that when the band's label put together their career retrospective compilation 'Everything Is Beautiful', it contained no tracks from that debut. The band followed the album with a series of EP's in 1984 and 1985, and a slight change of style, with 'Scarecrow' being described as "a lighter, more streamlined affair", 'Water' as spotlighting "ominously sparse torch songs", and 'Sweatbox' as "deconstructionist pop". Their second album appeared in 1986, and added industrial and classical instrumentation to their creative arsenal, and 1988's 'Bird Wood Cage' was the record that brought them to the attention of a larger audience, and is generally regarded as their pivotal work, incorporating the dance and funk elements which would ultimately emerge as the dominant facet of their music. Another EP, 'Big Sex', preceded the album, and included four new songs in the same style, but it would be three years before we heard any new music from the group, and when we did it had changed again. 

The genesis of the 1991 album 'Queer' was listening to De La Soul's 1989 debut album '3 Feet High And Rising', with the band "rediscovering that music could indeed be fun. It seemed such a joyous record. There was a freshness and ease about the way it was made that inspired us to reassess our working process". The new album's sound includes many samples, and funkier, poppier beats than their previous records, with the band members each playing multiple instruments, making the sound fuller than previous work. Two singles were taken from the album, with 'Time' being an extended remix of the album track 'Question Of Time', which included a sample from Pink Floyd's 'Time', followed by a cover of Randy Newman's 'Mama Told Me Not To Come'. Their next single, 'A Girl Like You', was released in May 1992 and became a surprise international hit, scoring No. 2 on the Billboard US Modern Rock (Alternative Songs) chart on 15 August 1992, and it was later covered by Tom Jones, who then asked the band to write 'Show Me (Some Devotion)' for him, with both recordings appearing on his 'The Lead And How To Swing It' album in 1994. After the success of 'A Girl Like You', the band bought their own studio, removing the financial pressure of studio rental, and they were then able to spend two years recording 'Funky Little Demons', which was released in 1994 to less than favourable reviews, with Trouser Press describing it as "straight-ahead dance music with the correct materials, but they are no longer enigmatic risk-takers, and The Wolfgang Press have become just another white post-new wave soul band". A single from the album, 'Going South', only reached No. 117 on the UK Singles Chart, and a promotional CD of 'Christianity' was also distributed in the US, but the band was dropped by 4AD before the single could be released, resulting in them breaking up. The first three EP's were compiled into 'The Legendary Wolfgang Press And Other Tall Stories' album in 1985, although the vinyl had to omit two tracks, so this collection starts with those missing pieces, plus their contribution to the classic 4AD compilation album 'Lonely Is An Eyesore, and then carries on with all their unique non-album singles and b-sides, omitting the many, many remixes that they loved to add to the flips of their singles. 

Track listing

01 The Deep Briny (from the 'Water' EP 1985)
02 Cut The Tree (from 'Lonely Is An Eyesore' 4AD compilation 1987)   
03 Muted (from the 'Sweatbox' EP 1985) 
04 The Wedding (from the 'Big Sex' EP 1987)
05 The Great Leveller (from the 'Big Sex' EP 1987)
06 That Heat (from the 'Big Sex' EP 1987)
07 God's Number (from the 'Big Sex' EP 1987)
08 Scratch (b-side of 'Kansas' 1989)
09 Twister (b-side of 'Kansas' 1989)
10 Time (single 1991)
11 A Girl Like You (single 1992)
12 Angel (b-side of 'A Girl Like You')
13 Love Will Surface (b-side of 'Christianity' promo single 1995)

The cover uses a photo by Elena Jo Melanson

The Vibes - Inner Wardrobes Of Your Mind (1985)

The Vibes were formed in Essex in 1983, with the original lineup including Gary Boniface (Gaz Voola) on vocals, Lloyd Tripp on bass, Martin Parson and Bob Madden on guitars, and a fourteen year old drummer, who was replaced by John Jobagy in early 1984. Mike Spencer, frontman of The Cannibals, helped them get a foot in the garage door and The Vibes soon supported the likes of the Tall Boys and The Sting-rays, but they were unable to get a record deal, and were on the point of splitting up when they finally came to the attention of Big Beat Records, who signed them to record their debut EP 'Can You Feel The Vibes', with the band also taping a thrilling interpretation of 'Alligator Wine', which was included on the 'Revenge Of The Killer Pussies' compilation album. Lead guitarist Martin Parson departed from the band and was replaced by former Cannibal guitarist Johnny 'Mother' Johnson and this new line-up secured a deal with Chainsaw Records, who released their next 7" single, plus the classic EP 'Inner Wardrobes Of Your Mind', and their only album 'What's Inside?'. The band released one final single 'Something Ain't Right' on Chainsaw  in 1986, but differences of opinion between the band members and the management had already forced a final split. They left behind one of the all-time great modern garage recordings with 'I'm In Pittsburgh (And It's Rainin')', and the rest of their material isn't far behind, so it's worth collecting all their non-album recordings here to remind us of another great forgotten band of the 80's.  

Track listing

01 The Underestimated Man (from the 'Can You Feel' EP 1984)
02 Double Decker Bus (from the 'Can You Feel' EP 1984)
03 Mini Skirt Blues (from the 'Can You Feel' EP 1984)
04 Stranger In The House (from the 'Can You Feel' EP 1984)
05 Alligator Wine (from the 'Revenge Of The Killer Pussies' compilation album 1984)
07 I Hear Noises (Extended Trip Version) (from 'Inner Wardrobes Of Your Mind' 12" EP 1985)
08 I'm Mad (b-side of 'I Hear Noises' 7" 1985)
09 I'm In Pittsburgh (And It's Raining) (from 'Inner Wardrobes Of Your Mind' 12" EP 1985)
00 Hasil Adkins In My Head (from 'Inner Wardrobes Of Your Mind' 12" EP 1985)
11 Scratch My Back (from 'Inner Wardrobes Of Your Mind' 12" EP 1985)
12 Inside Out (I See All) (John Peel session 1985)
13 Egyptian Thing (John Peel session 1985)
14 Judgement Day (John Peel session 1985)
15 Looking In The Mirror (John Peel session 1985)

Risky Business - The Business Undone Edition (1983)

Time for another contribution from Mike Solof, and this time he's gone all the way back to 1983 to put together the complete soundtrack to a classic movie, so over to Mike.......

Inspiration struck tonight. I was doing some research and down the YouTube rabbit hole I went to finally drop down into the soundtrack for the 1983 movie 'Risky Business', featuring Tangerine Dream and classic cuts by Bob Seger, Muddy Waters, Prince and Phil Collins to name just a few. In doing my research, I found that 4 songs (by The Talking Heads, The Police, Bruce Springsteen and the Living Strings ) were cut from the Original Soundtrack. As well as that five of the songs that were on the album were shortened edits of their original versions. What made it even worse was that no official score of the entire Tangerine Dream material was ever released. I've therefore put together the ultimate 'Risky Business' soundtrack which Iʼm calling 'Risky Business - The Business Undone Edition'. My version expands the original soundtrack to include all the unedited original songs, including the Tangerine Dream selections, which consist of two new compositions and three reworkings of previously released material from 1979 and 1981, re-titled to correspond to scenes in the movie, plus the four songs left off the released soundtrack. Not only that, I've also included the complete super rare, hard to find and heavily sought-after promotional press kit album. 'Risky Business (The Audio Movie Kit)', which was issued in 1983 on a 17 minute, double vinyl set, with roughly 50 to 100 copies being made and shipped to various radio stations to promote the forthcoming movie. Eight pieces composed by Tangerine Dream were provided for this kit and they can only be found on this album, being different from the material that was used for the official release of the 'Risky Business' soundtrack album in 1984 by Virgin Records. As a final treat I've also included the entire original score of the movie, as performed by Tangerine Dream, with its 26 cuts totaling over 46 minutes of music. 

Track listing for 'Risky Business - The Business Undone Edition'

01 Every Breath You Take (The Police)

02 My Heart Tells Me (The Living Strings)
03 Old Time Rock And Roll (Bob Seger)
04.The Dream is Always the Same (Tangerine Dream - unedited version)
05 Cloudburst Flight (Tangerine Dream - unedited version of 'Guido The Killer Pimp')
06 The Pump (Jeff Beck)
07 Force Majeure (Tangerine Dream - unedited version of 'Lana')
08 Hungry Heart (Bruce Springsteen)
09 Mannish Boy (Muddy Waters)
10 Swamp (Talking Heads)
11 D.M.S.R. (Prince - full version)
12 After the Fall (Journey)
13 In the Air Tonight (Phil Collins)
14 Love On A Real Train (Tangerine Dream - unedited version)

Track listing for the 'Risky Business (The Audio Movie Kit)'

01 No Future (Film Version)
02 Lana (Press Kit Version)
03 Guido The Killer Pimp (Press Kit Version)
04 U Boat Commander 

05 U Boat Commander (Press Kit Version)
06 Catching The Egg
07 Returning The Furniture (Press Kit Version)
08 Love On A Real Train (End Credits)
09 Joel's Dream (The Dream Is Always The Same) (bonus track)
10 Love On A Real Train (Train Sequence) (bonus track)

Track listing  for 'Risky Business - The Full Score' by Tangerine Dream

01 The Dream Is Always The Same 
02 Joel's Dream (The Dream Is Always The Same) 
03 Watering Flowers 
04 Watering Flowers (Tangram Set One) 
05 Wrong Date 
06 No Future (Film Version) 
07 No Future (Get Off The Babysitter)
08 See You Tonight 
09 Lana 
10 Bond Withdrawal 
11 Guido The Killer Pimp (Film Version) 
12 Guido The Killer Pimp (Press Kit Version) 
13 Guido The Killer Pimp (Album Version) 
14 Joel & Lana 
15 Confrontation With Guido 
16 U Boat Commander 
17 U Boat Commander (Press Kit Version) 
18 Love On A Real Train (Film Version) 
19 Love On A Real Train (Album Version) 
20 Love On A Real Train (Train Sequence) 
21 Porsche Ride 
22 Yard Sale 
23 Catching The Egg 
24 Returning The Furniture 
25 Returning The Furniture (Press Kit Version) 
26 Love On A Real Train (End Credits) 

(Tracks 15 and 16 compiled by Anthony Morales and remixed by Andy Morales)

Galaxie 500 - Victory Garden (1990)

Guitarist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang had met at the Dalton School in New York City in 1981, but began playing together during their time as students at Harvard University in 1987. Wareham and Krukowski had formed a series of punk-influenced student bands before Wareham went back to New York, and when he returned in 1987 he and Krukowski formed a new band with Yang on bass guitar, and called themselves Galaxie 500, after a friend's Ford Galaxie 500 car. The band began playing gigs in Boston and New York City, and recorded a demo which they sent to Shimmy Disc label boss and producer Mark Kramer, who agreed to produce the band. With Kramer at the controls, the band recorded the 'Tugboat' single in February 1988, and gave 'Oblivious' to a Chemical Imbalance flexi-disc, and then moved on to record their debut album' Today', which was released on the small Aurora label. The band toured the United Kingdom in late 1988/early 1989, signing to Rough Trade and releasing their second album 'On Fire' that year. 'On Fire' is considered the band's defining moment, reaching number 7 in the UK Indie Chart, and meeting with much critical acclaim, bizarrely more in the UK than in their native US. The band recorded two sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 programme, and this is where they really indulged their passion for off the wall cover versions, in particular their take on Jonathan Richman's 'Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste', which was voted number 41 in 1989's Festive 50 by listeners to the show. The band split up in the spring of 1991 after the release of their third album 'This Is Our Music', with Wareham later saying that it was just time for the band to be no more. In their short time together they released three of the very best indie records ever made, and even today, thirty years after they split, they are still spoken of in hushed tones by their legions of fans. After leaving Galaxie 500, Wareham tried his hand at production, working with Mercury Rev, and he also released a solo single 'Anesthesia' in February 1992, before forming a new band, Luna. Krukowski and Yang continued to record under the moniker Pierre Etoile (French for "Rock Star"), then Damon and Naomi (whose first two releases were also produced by Kramer), and finally as members of Magic Hour. Galaxie 500's music has been an influence on many later indie bands, such as Low, and their music has been covered and referenced by several well known artists. I wanted to post something here to introduce the band to people who might not know them, and I couldn't decide whether to post a b-sides compilation or a collection of their cover version, but it turned out that many of those covers were issued as b-sides to their singles, so this is actually both ideas in one post. As well as the b-sides, which include a couple of original compositions, there are four of the Peel session cover versions, and the 'Blue Thunder' single edit, which differs from the album version by including saxophone. If you don't know the band and like what you hear then do check out their three superb albums, and for current fans then don't miss out on the excellent 'Uncollected' release of rarities from 2004. The album is named after the Red Crayola song, referencing Victory Gardens, which were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks during World War I and World War II, and the cover is an original poster.   

Track listing

01 King Of Spain (b-side of 'Tugboat' 1988)
02 Blue Thunder (w/sax) (single 1990)
03 Victory Garden [The Red Crayola] (b-side of 'Blue Thunder' 1990)
04 Ceremony [New Order] (b-side of 'Blue Thunder' 1990)
05 Cold Night (b-side of 'Blue Thunder' 1990)
06 Here She Comes Now [The Velvet Underground] (b-side of 'Fourth Of July' 1990)
07 Rain [The Beatles] (single 1989)
08 Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste [Jonathan Richman] (John Peel session 1989)
09 Submission [The Sex Pistols] (John Peel session 1990)  
10 Final Day [Young Marble Giants] (John Peel session 1990)
11 Moonshot [Buffy Saint-Marie] (John Peel session 1990)

Big Audio Dynamite - Entering A New Ride (1997)

By 1995 Big Audio Dynamite had been going for 10 years, and so their record label CBS put out 'Planet BAD - The Greatest Hits', whilst the band signed a new deal with Radioactive Records and released the album 'F-Punk' under their original name of Big Audio Dynamite. It was much more guitar orientated than previous albums, although club influences were still very much in evidence, with reviews praising the fact that it bridged the gap between rock and underground dance music, this time acid house, ambient and the ultra-fast beats of jungle. Despite the positive reviews the album wasn't a major commercial success, and the next year the band would play no live dates at all, as they worked on new material which would see them change direction once again. Work started on their second album for Radioactive in 1996, following line-up changes which saw Chris Kavanagh and Gary Stonadge leaving the band, whilst guitarist Nick Hawkins played on the sessions, but left to form his own group Dynamo Jo after the album was completed. New members Joe Attard (DJ/vocals), Bob Wond (drums/vocals), and Daryl Fulstow (bass/vocals) were recruited along with Ranking Roger on vocals, who had previously enjoyed success with both The Beat and General Public. As there were now two DJ's in the band, the emphasis switched from the guitar-driven sound of the 'F-Punk' album, to music that once again reflected current trends in UK club culture, and unlike 'Megatop Phoenix', Mick Jones' vocals were not present throughout the album, and he was credited as being the guitarist and MC. This meant other members of the group contributed more to the album vocally than on any previous projects, and it sounded somewhat different to anything the band had issued before. So different, in fact, that Radioactive Records refused to release the album when it was finished, as it seems they couldn't work out how to market a band who could change styles so dramatically from one album to the next. Promotional copies of both the single 'Sunday Best' and the album were circulated, but despite positive comments Radioactive refused to change their stance, and both the single and the album remain officially unreleased. Fans of the band started an internet campaign known as 'BAD Aid', in which they encouraged other fans to write to Radioactive Records showing an interest in the album, and requesting its release, but despite a great deal of time and effort by a number of fans the album remains in the Radioactive vaults to this day. Some time later it began to circulate amongst the band members as CD-R copies, and they started to release the tracks as mp3 files through their web-site, but they didn't manage to get through the entire album before they shut down the page and the group was history. By collecting all the files released through the site, plus other tracks that have leaked online, we can at last hear the complete album, which includes a couple of bonus tracks from the original sessions. 

Track listing

01 Man, That Is Dynamite!  
02 B.A.D. And The Night Time Ride  
03 Sunday Best  
04 Must Be The Music  
05 Taking You To Another Dimension  
06 Sound Of The B.A.D.  
07 Cozy Ten Minutes  
08 Get High  
09 Bang Ice Geezer  
10 On The Ones And Twos  
11 Nice And Easy  
12 Go With The Flow 
13 Sound Of The Joe  

For a full history of Big Audio Dynamite check out this site.