The New Faces - Shake Up The Party (1969)

The New Faces was a British vocal trio that regularly appeared on British TV in the 1960's and 1970's, and was founded by Charles McKay in Glasgow in 1961, along with Barry Greenway and Marie Gordon-Price. In the 60's they appeared regularly on the TV show 'The Saturday Crowd', and they released a number of singles in the UK on the Pye and Decca record labels. Barry Greenway and Marie Gordon-Price married in the early 1970's and left the group, while McKay found replacements and continued with various line-ups, appearing on various TV shows throughout the rest of the 70's. With the band consisting of McKay, Sue Morgan and Ian Grant, they recorded two singles on the Ember label before changing their name to Mahogany, and under this name they entered the Thames TV series 'Opportunity Knocks' in 1976. A re-recorded version of a New Faces Ember single 'Where Would I Find Another You?' was issued under their new name, followed by one on DJM Records in 1977. They then reverted back to The New Faces brand and toured the US east coast, before one last change of personnel, with Judy Raye and Paul Bennett replacing Morgan and Grant. They disbanded in 1991, when Charles McKay retired to spend more time with his family, but in their long career they recorded a number of excellent tracks, and although they might have veered towards the middle of the road in the late 60's, their early work features some fine folk and pop recordings. The b-side to their 1968 single 'Someday' might in fact be familiar to you already, as 'Biscuit Coloured Overcoat' featured of the mysterious 'Rainbow Skies' cassette that I posted a couple of years ago. This albums collects together everything that the band recorded between 1965 and 1969, and for an outfit that languished in relative obscurity for most of their career there's some really great stuff on here. 

Track listing

01 So Small (single 1965)
02 Blue Mist (b-side of 'So Small')
03 Never Gonna Love Again (single 1965)
04 You'll Be Too Late (b-side of 'Never Gonna Love Again')
05 Like A Man (single 1966)
06 Shake Up The Party (Myra) (b-side of 'Like A Man')
07 Lace Covered Window (single 1967)
08 The Life That I Lead (b-side of 'Lace Covered Window')
09 We Can Get There By Candlelight (single 1968)
10 The Yellow Road (b-side of 'We Can Get There By Candlelight')
11 If You Love Me (single 1968)
12 The Road And The Miles To Dundee (b-side of 'If You Love Me')
13 Someday (single 1968)
14 Biscuit Coloured Overcoat (b-side of 'Someday')
15 Grandfather Dugan (single 1969)
16 Carnival Day (b-side of 'Grandfather Dugan')
17 Happy The Heart That I Own (single 1969)
18 There Is An Island In The Sun (b-side of 'Happy The Heart That I Own')
19 Come And See The Roses Bloom (single 1969)
20 Danny Boy (b-side of 'Come And See The Roses Bloom')

The Beatles - Now And Then (1993)

I stumbled on an interesting compilation on Youtube the other day, consisting of various unreleased songs from all four members of The Beatles from their solo careers. There were demos, out-takes, and rejected recordings spanning the years from 1970, through the 80's, and ending in 1993, and while it was great to hear songs that even I, as a massive Beatles fan, was unfamiliar with, the difference in the sound quality of the demos compared to the studio recordings was somewhat grating. While researching one of the songs to find the year that it was recorded, I found that someone had posted a version of it online with a full band backing over-dubbed onto the piano and vocal demo, and as it sounded pretty good, it prompted me to try to find out if there any more of these fan-made recordings. It turns out that there are, and so I was therefore able to upgrade the solo demos to band versions of a number of the tracks, and when slotted into the studio recordings it made for a much better listen. They are mostly the John Lennon demos that have been augmented in this way, and in some cases more than once, so I've picked what I think are the best versions for this album. 

One McCartney track was given the treatment as well, but the recordings by George Harrison and Ringo Starr were all studio quality and needed no enhancement. The only demo that I've left as it was is Lennon's 'Sally And Billy' from 1970, because as well as the piano and vocal, it also had a click track on it, and so by boosting the bass it gave the whole song a bit more depth, and then I just added a fade to it (which sounds like it was his intention anyway), and it sounded fine.  All of Ringo's contributions are from his aborted sessions with Chips Moman in Memphis in 1987, where he recorded around 14 retro rock covers and original tunes, with Bob Dylan even joining him on harmonica on 'Wish I Knew Now (What I Knew Then)'. With no sign of the album appearing, Starr finally kicked his debilitating alcohol dependence eighteen months later, and he formed the All-Starr Band, touring for the first time since the Beatles quit the road. Moman had bankrolled the aborted sessions to the tune of $146,239 and had nothing to show for his investment, so he decided to issue the LP on his own CRS Records. Starr got wind of the news and offered him $100,000 to halt manufacturing, as he considered the recordings substandard, but Moman refused, believing that he stood to lose $3.5 million, a fanciful figure upon survey of Starr's moribund record sales. Starr therefore sued Moman, and the Court ruled that Starr owed him $74,354, but that the master tapes would the be turned over to Starr, and yet despite him now owning the original copies, five tracks have circulated on bootleg for some years. They certainly don't sound the result of some drunken recording sessions as was claimed in court, and so I've included three of them here. 

George Harrison's contributions mostly come from out-takes that were recorded during his 'Somewhere In England' studio sessions, where four songs were rejected by his record company as being too un-commercial. A re-recording of 'Lay His Head' eventually appeared on the flip of the 'Got My Mind Set On You' single, while two of the songs have only ever appeared on the CD which accompanied the second volume of the book 'Songs By George Harrison'. The fourth song 'Tears Of The World' was originally included on the CD that came with the first volume of the book, along with another out-take 'The Hottest Gong In Town', but that eventually turned up on the soundtrack to the film 'Shanghai Surprise', while 'Tears Of The World' was added as a bonus track to the re-issue of Harrison's 'Thirty Three And A Third' album. Paul McCartney's tracks are a couple of out-takes, an augmented demo, and a live performance of a song that was originally written in 1991, but which was only performed the once at The Liverpool Sound concert in 2008, to celebrate the city's year as the European Capital Of Culture. Although the album is bookended by one song from 1970 and one from 1993, the bulk of the tracks date from 1978 to 1987, and so the album flows nicely through the various musical styles, and if you've already heard the Lennon demos in their original form, then do check out these versions, as they've all been done with much love and respect.   

  
Track listing

01 Now And Then (1978 John Lennon demo augmented by Paul Newell)

02 Sat Singing (George Harrison out-take 1980)
03 Your School (1993 Paul McCartney demo augmented by Octavio Cavalli & Max Gonzales)
04 Hard Times (Ringo Starr, from the Memphis sessions 1987)
05 Hottest Gong In Town (George Harrison, from the soundtrack to 'Shanghai Surprise' 1986)
06 Help Me To Help Myself (1980 John Lennon demo augmented by Carlos Zabai)
07 Yvonne's The One (Paul McCartney out-take 1986)

08 Sally And Billy (John Lennon demo 1970)
09 Lay His Head (George Harrison out-take 1980)
10 I've Changed My Mind (Ringo Starr, from the Memphis sessions 1987)
11 In Liverpool (1991 Paul McCartney song played live once in 2008)
12 Grow Old With Me (1980 John Lennon demo augmented by Anton Popov & Vitaly Flippov)

13 Cruisin' Ahead (Paul McCartney out-take 1979)

14 Wish I Knew Now (What I Knew Then) (Ringo Starr, from the Memphis sessions 1987)
15 Flying Hour (George Harrison out-take 1979)

Soulseek hint - now then aiwe

UPDATES

I've been listening to some of my old albums through headphones over the summer, and I've spotted a few things that weren't as noticeable as when listening through speakers, so I've fixed them and updated the files. 

Penetration - Movement (1979) - The track V.I.P. was only audible through the left channel, with the right just having an intermittent thumping noise, so I've replaced the whole track.

Red Noise - Wonder Toys (1979) - The beginning of 'Substitute Flesh' was slightyl louder than the rest of the track, so I've reduced the volume to match the rest of the recording.

Truly Yours - Truly Smith (1968) - 'I Love Him' was ripped from a very scratchy vinyl single, so I've run it through that de-clicking programme that I found - twice!

...and on guitar - Albert Lee (1974) - 'Make It With You' by B J Arnau was also ripped from a scratchy record, so I've run that through the de-clicking programme as well. 

Redemption Songs - Stevie Wonder (2010) - The ending to the track '(You're My) Dream Come True' was quite sudden, and odd that it changed tempo for just a few seconds before the end, so I've faded it to make it sound better.  

Medicine Jack - The Waterboys (1984) - When I put this album together, for some reason I sequenced all three instrumentals one after the other, whereas it would have been better to have them spread out through the album, which is what I've now done.    

All files are updated, so Soulseekers can download the individual tracks as usual, and the whole Waterboys album if you can't re-tag the tracks yourself, and for people who use Yandex there is a new folder with all of these updates in it, so just take what you want and dump the rest. 

pj

Mercury Rev - The Dream Is All (2001)

Mercury Rev formed in 1989 in Buffalo, New York, as a wildly chaotic, avant-pop sextet. Originally, the psychedelically-inclined group consisted of vocalist David Baker; vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter Jonathan Donahue; guitarist and clarinetist Grasshopper (born Sean Mackiowiak); flutist Suzanne Thorpe (who also played other woodwind instruments); bassist Dave Fridmann; and drummer Jimmy Chambers. The band's first recordings evolved simply as a means of creating soundtracks for their individual student films, and to occasionally make tapes for friends. However, encouraged to expand their musical pursuits by academic mentor Tony Conrad, a fabled minimalist composer and multimedia artist who had performed with John Cale, LaMonte Young, and Faust, the band started to take shape. Meanwhile, Fridmann was enrolled in the musical engineering program at SUNY-Fredonia, some 50 miles to the southwest of Buffalo, giving him free access to the college's studio from midnight until six in the morning, and it was here that the band recorded their first demo tape as Mercury Rev. At the same time as Mercury Rev began recording, Donahue worked as a local concert promoter, and befriended a band called the Flaming Lips, joining them as a guitar technician and soundman. Ultimately, under the alias "Dingus," he worked his way up to lead guitarist for the Flaming Lips and recorded with the band on 1990's 'In A Priest Driven Ambulance'. The album was co-produced by Dave Fridmann, who went on to produce other albums for the Flaming Lips, including 'Hit To Death In The Future Head' in 1992, and the four-CD set 'Zaireeka' in 1997.
With the members scattered across the country and involved in various other projects, the future of Mercury Rev seemed uncertain, but an early demo tape came into the hands of officials at the Rough Trade label in Britain, who approached Baker about signing the band. After securing the record deal, Mercury Rev entered the studio to record their debut album, 'Yerself Is Steam', while at the same time Fridmann and Donahue continued to work with the Flaming Lips. Released in 1991, 'Yerself Is Steam' was largely overlooked in the United States, but became a hit in the United Kingdom, and the band toured Britain to promote the album, though not without incident, as these early live shows tended to be performed without practice sessions or predetermined set lists, and saw the band Rev on the verge of disintegration. On stage, the band was at once fascinating, volatile, and unpredictable, with Baker frequently leaving the stage in the middle of songs to grab a drink, and reports circulated that they were banned from air travel after Donahue and Grasshopper had a brawl during a flight. A second album 'Boces' followed in 1993, and again garnered favourable reviews from the critics, but the tour in support of it fared no better than the previous one, with concert security removing the band during the Lollapalooza 1993 stop in Denver. In late 1993, Baker departed from the band after months of conflict, with the rest of the group continuing to record as a quintet, and they defied speculations again with the release of 1995's 'See You On The Other Side', an album marking Donahue's role as an unchallenged leader. More accessible than prior efforts, the album featured echoes of the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds', New Orleans brass band sounds, and acid jazz, and was a huge leap forward for the band. 

Touring the album exposed conflicts within the band, with drummer Chambers quitting several times, and after returning to New York, Donahue took refuge at his house in the Catskills, while Grasshopper retreated to a Jesuit monastery near Saratoga for several weeks. When Donahue and Grasshopper reconvened at their homes in Kingston, New York, in 1997 to record a new Mercury Rev album, they called upon their two famous neighbors Levon Helm and Garth Hudson (both lived in nearby Woodstock) of the legendary group the Band to perform on some songs. The resulting 'Deserter's Song', released in 1998 on the group's new label V2, was the breakthrough album for the group, going gold in England and Ireland, and as of the fall of 1999 it had sold over 250,000 copies. 'All Is Dream' was issued in 2001 and became the band's highest charting album in the UK to date, and included three successful singles, of which 'The Dark Is Rising' reached No. 16 in the UK Singles Chart. 'Deserter's Song' and 'All Is Dream' remain the band's most popular records, and so it was great to find that when 'All Is Dream' was reissued in 2019, it was bolstered by a second disc of b-sides, out-takes and radio sessions. While most of these tracks are well worth a listen, even their takes on 'Nocturne In C# Minor' and 'Prelude In E Flat Minor', there were a couple of obvious demo's which weren't up to the quality of the rest, and a couple of the cover versions didn't really fit, so I've pruned it back to include just the very best songs for a superb 46-minute companion album to 'All Is Dream'.   

Track listing

01 Serpentine (b-side of 'Nite And Fog' 2001)
02 Cool Waves (b-side of 'Nite And Fog' 2001)
03 Streets of Laredo (b-side of 'Little Rhymes' 2001)
04 Nocturne in C# Minor, Opus 27, No.1 (b-side of 'The Dark Is Rising' 2001)
05 Observation Crest (b-side of 'Little Rhymes' 2001)
06 Blue Skies (b-side of 'The Dark Is Rising' DVD EP 2004)
07 Mascara Tears (Outtake)
08 Prelude In E Flat Minor, Opus 48, No 4 (b-side of 'The Dark Is Rising' DVD EP 2004)

09 The Brook Room (Outtake)

10 I Keep A Close Watch (b-side of 'Little Rhymes' 2001)
11 Silver and Gold (Outtake)
12 Gymnopedies #3 (John Peel Session)
13 Mr. Moonlight Will Come (Outtake)
14 Back Into the Sun (You're the One) (Outtake)

Barbara Kay - Yes I'm Ready (1971)

Barbara Kay started her musical career as a band singer, before joining Embassy Records in the early 60's under the name of Kay Barry, with the label specialising in releasing budget covers of chart hits on 7" singles, sometime with different artists on each side of the record. They managed to keep this enterprise going right into the 70's, when Embassy albums of sound-alike recordings were big sellers. She stayed with the label until 1965, but the year before she left them she joined up with former Vernon's Girls singers Betty Prescott and Lyn Cornell to form The Carefrees, and they had a novelty hit single with 'We Love You Beatles' in 1964. They followed this with 'The Paddy Whack' a few months later but then broke up, with Kay embarking on a solo career under her real name. She released 'That's What Angels Are For' in 1965 to little success, and then followed that with the novelty song 'Chips With Everything', although the b-side 'A Lot About Love' was taken more seriously. Her next single was a commendable take on Barbara Mason's 1965 U.S. hit 'Yes, I'm Ready', with the more up-tempo 'Someone Has To Cry' gracing the flip. In 1966 she issued the Cook/Greenaway song 'The Power And The Glory', delivering this peppy tune with zest, to a slick rhythmic arrangement, and the flip side is a quasi-novelty number on which Kay sings in falsetto and is joined on the track by an un-named male vocalist, who is believed to be Roger Cook. With this last flop single she gave up on a solo career and became much in demand as a session singer. In 1968 she provided a version of 'Hello Heartaches' for a tribute album to Rod McKuen, and then in 1971 she topped the charts with the novelty song 'Johnny Reggae', on which she was the un-credited lead vocalist of The Piglets. Following this she joined Mike Morton in the Mike Morton Congregation, which was a group that released albums of their own versions of chart hits, taking her right back to her beginnings with Embassy Records. For this overview of her career I've included recordings from her Embassy period where both sides of the single were her songs, the hit record with The Carefrees, all of her solo singles from 1965 and 1966, the Rod McKuen cover, and an example of her work with Mike Morton. I've included 'Johnny Reggae' as a bonus track at the end, as it doesn't really fit with the more mainstream pop of most of the rest of the main album, but it was her biggest chart success, even if no-one knew it was her vocals, so it deserves to be here.   

Track listing

01 It Might As Well Rain Until September (Embassy single 1962)
02 It Started All Over Again (b-side of 'It Might As Well Rain Until September')
03 Bobby's Girl (Embassy single 1962)
04 James (Hold The Ladder Steady) (b-side of 'Bobby's Girl')
05 We Love You Beatles (single with The Carefrees 1964)
06 Terry (Embassy single 1965)
07 Girl Don't Come (b-side of 'Terry') 
08 That's What Angels Are For (single 1965)
09 What's The Good Of Loving (b-side of 'That's What Angels Are For')
10 Chips With Everything (single 1965)
11 A Lot About Love (b-side of 'Chips With Everything')
12 Yes I'm Ready (single 1965)
13 Someone Has To Cry (b-side of 'Yes I'm Ready')
14 The Power And The Glory (single 1966)
15 I Wanna Walk In Your Sun (b-side of 'The Power And The Glory')
16 Hello Heartaches (from 'Love's Been Good To Me - The Songs Of Rod McKuen' 1968)
17 These Things Will Keep Me Loving You (with The Mike Morton Congregation 1971)

Bonus track
18 Johnny Reggae (single with The Piglets 1971)

White Clover - Not In Kansas Anymore (1971)

In 1969, Don Montre (keyboards) and Kerry Livgren (guitar) were performing in a band called the Reasons Why in their hometown of Topeka, Kansas. After leaving to form the band Saratoga with Lynn Meredith and Dan Wright, they started playing Livgren's original material, with Scott Kessler adding bass and Zeke Lowe coming in on drums. In the meantime drummer Phil Ehart was playing with his band White Clover, alongside Ferdy Baumgart on keyboards, Forrest Chapman on bass, Greg Gucker and Bill Fast on guitars, and Greg Allen on vocals. Ehart contacted Livgren about joining him in his band after hearing that Livgren's band Kansas (a renamed version of Saratoga) had recently disbanded. Livgren, along with vocalists Lynn Meredith and Greg Allen, keyboardists Don Montre and Dan Wright and saxophonist Larry Baker, joined Ehart and bassist Dave Hope in White Clover, recording some of their rehearsals in November 1968 for a demo tape, and then performing at the New Orleans Pop Festival in 1969. In 1970 they changed the band's name to Kansas, and this band (sometimes called Kansas I) lasted until early 1971 when Ehart, Hope and some of the others left to re-form White Clover. In 1972, after Ehart returned from England, where he had gone to look for other musicians, he and Hope re-formed White Clover with Robby Steinhardt (vocals, violin, viola, cello), Steve Walsh (vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, percussion) and Rich Williams (guitars). In early 1973 they recruited Livgren from the second Kansas group, which then folded, and in February 1973 this new line-up of White Clover recorded a $300 six-song demo tape, which, after winning fleeting interest from the Grunt label of Jefferson Airplane fame, was picked up by Wally Gold of Kirshner Records, who signed them to the label for £10,000.00. After signing with Kirshner the group decided to return to using the name Kansas (now referred to as Kansas II), and they rush-recorded their eponymous debut at New York's Record Plant over a few days in July 1973, kick-starting a 50 year career as one of the best US progressive rock bands of all time. Both sets of demos have surfaced over the years, and of the two I much prefer the 1968/1970 ones, as the 1973 session consists mostly of covers from Steppenwolf, Cream, The Doors, The Beatles, and The Bee Gees, whereas the earlier demos included a lot of original material. So here is some great music from the first version of White Clover, including one final track from the 1971 incarnation of the band, which, after some convoluted line-up changes, eventually morphed into the Kansas that we know and love today. 

   
Track listing

01 (Keep Your People) Dancin' 
02 Color Rise
03 Instrumental #1
04 I Will Be The One
05 Imaginary Woman
06 If I Were Free
07 The Organ Plays For Me
08 Bongo Queen

Norma Jenkins - One Girl Too Many (1973)

Norma Jenkins began her recording career in 1965 on the Maltese label as lead vocalist with a girl group billed as Norma Jenkins And The Dolls. The group released two singles for Maltese, 'This Is Our Day' and 'A Lover's Stand', before Jenkins left to start a solo career. Her first solo single was for Carnival Records, with 'Need Someone To Love' b/w 'Me Myself And I' coming out in 1967, and the Joe Evans-produced record earned her a mention in the May 1967 issue of Billboard magazine, in the R&B Spotlight column. Later that same year she recorded a duet with Troy Keyes for the ABC label, which was to be her last recording for five years. 1973 saw the release of a string of 45's on George Kerr-owned labels Jean Records and Kerr Records, including 'Go Home To Your Wife', which was written by George Clinton, and in 1976 she recorded her first full length album, the aptly titled 'Patience Is A Virtue'. This was a fine collection of soulful songs, and the vinyl has become highly coveted among collectors of rare soul music, especially in the UK where Jenkins still gets a lot of play on the Northern Soul scene. Nearly all the tracks from the album were released a singles and b-sides, and they are all worth checking out, but this post collects together all her 60's recordings, plus a couple of tracks from 1973 which were not released at the time, and a rare acetate of a song that was later recorded by The Sparkels in 1964.   

Track listing

01 This Is Our Day (single 1965, with The Dolls)
02 What's Next (b-side of 'This Is Our Day')
03 Try Love (One More Time) (unreleased acetate 1963)
04 A Lover's Stand (single 1966, with The Dolls)
05 The Airplane Song (b-side of 'A Lover's Stand')

06 His Love Is Amazing (unreleased acetate 1966?)
07 Need Someone To Love (single 1967)
08 Me Myself And I (b-side of 'Need Someone To Love')
09 I Can Wait My Turn (Single 1968, with Troy Keyes)
10 A Good Love Gone Bad (b-side of 'I Can Wait My Turn', with Troy Keyes)
11 One Girl Too Many (single 1973)
12 Go Home To Your Wife (b-side of 'One Girl Too Many')
13 Coward's Way Out (previously unreleased 1973)
14 Where Does The Love Go (previously unreleased 1973)
15 Puzzle Man (Figure Me Out If You Can) (single 1973)

Snoop Dogg - Heat Rocks (2007)

In 2007 Snoop Dogg made a number of recordings available on his Myspace page, and before long they'd been compiled into an album which is a contemporary of 'Tha Blue Carpet Treatment' and 'Ego Trippin''. The tracks feature a number of guest rappers, including Flava Flav, Nate Dogg, and Richie Rich, and are pretty good for officially unreleased recordings. Not much more information is available about the album, so just enjoy it as a bonus disc from a very prolific artist.   

Track listing

01 West Side (feat. J. Black)
02 West Side All Starz (feat. JT The Bigga Figga, MC Eiht, Jojo, Kam, Goldie Loc)
03 Wanna Bz (feat. Jeezy, Nate Dogg)
04 Territory (feat Brotha Lynch Hung)
05 I Fuck With You (feat. Richie Rich)
06 New York
07 Love Don't Live Here
08 Looking For A Bad Bitch (feat. Flava Flav)
09 Look Around (feat. J. Black)
10 Long Gone (feat. Denaun Porter)
11 Gangstaz Due (feat. J Black)  
12 I Got My Own (feat. Swizz Beatz)
13 Do It, Do It 
14 Blastin (feat. MC Eiht)

Public Service Broadcasting - This New Noise (2022)

Tonight, 30th August 2022, Public Service Broadcasting performed a brand new, especially composed piece, as part of the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. The London-based retro-futurist rockers celebrated 100 glorious years of BBC Radio with a newly commissioned album-length work entitled 'This New Noise'. They were joined by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jules Buckley, and the whole concert will be broadcast on BBC4 on Friday 2 September 2022, but while waiting for that you can enjoy this recording of the debut, and possibly only, performance of this brand new work. 

Track listing

01 Ripples In The Ether (Towards The Infinite)

02 This New Noise

03 An Unusual Man

04 A Cello Sings In Daventry (with Seth Lakeman)

05 Broadcasting House

06 The Microphone (The Fleet is Lit Up)

07 A Candle Which Will Not Be Put Out

08 What Of The Future? (In Touch With The Infinite)

The folder contains two files - the full unedited concert, and an album of just the music, split into individual tracks and with the applause and announcements removed. 

Shack - Extra Extra (2006)

Shack formed in Liverpool in 1987, and originally consisted of Mick Head (vocals/guitar), his brother John Head (guitar), Justin Smith (bass) and Mick Hurst (drums). Before founding Shack, Michael and John Head were in the cult 1980's band The Pale Fountains, and released two albums, 'Pacific Street' in March 1984 and '...From Across The Kitchen Table' in March 1985. Although critically acclaimed, the albums only reached Numbers 85 and 94 in the UK Albums Chart, and the group ended around 1986 and returned from London to their home town of Liverpool. The Head brothers soon re-emerged as Shack, signing to the Ghetto Recording Company, home of record producer Ian Broudie's solo project The Lightning Seeds, and British soul band Distant Cousins. The band's first album 'Zilch' was released in 1988, but was neither critically nor commercially successful, being a victim of the production tecniques of the time, and it was to be a few years before they attempted to follow it with a new album. 'Waterpistol' was recorded in 1991 at London's Star Street Studio and Chapel Studios, Lincolnshire, but shortly after the recording was complete, the Star Street studio burnt down and most of the tapes were destroyed. The only remaining DAT of the album was in the possession of producer Chris Allison, who at the time was in Los Angeles, and when he returned, it transpired that he had left the copy in his hire car. It was only found weeks later after a frenzied search, but by this point Ghetto had folded so the record was without a distributor. Not surprisingly, this led to the disolussion of the band, with Wilkinson joining fellow Liverpudlian John Power (formerly of The La's) to form the successful Britpop band Cast, and the Head brothers accompanied Love for a few touring dates in 1992. 

'Waterpistol' was finally released in 1995 on the German independent record label, Marina, and it prompted the NME to describe Mick Head as "a lost genius and among the most gifted British songwriters of his generation". Instead of reforming Shack to capitalise on the album's success, Head formed Michael Head And The Strands with his brother John, releasing one album and one single in 1998. 'The Magical World Of The Strands' was a superb album, rightly garnering Head further critical acclaim, and as their sole single had an exlusive b-side I've included that here. With the addition of Ren Parry on Bass, The Strands regrouped as a new incarnation of Shack, and released the outstanding 'HMS Fable' in 1999, reaching the Top 25 on the UK albums chart. By the time of the next album '... Here's Tom With the Weather', Parry had been replaced by Guy Rigby, before Wilkinson rejoined in 2005, replacing the departed Rigby. This line-up then signed to Noel Gallagher's Sour Mash record label, and in May 2006 they released the album '...The Corner Of Miles And Gil', which is named after two of the Head brothers' heroes, Miles Davis and Gil Evans. Both of these later albums contain more examples of the excellent songwriting of Michael Head, and are prime examples of indie/rock of the period. The band toured briefly in England in October and November 2007 with Martyn Campbell on bass, and then in February 2008 they re-formed The Pale Fountains for two critically acclaimed live shows in Liverpool and London, with the Head brothers being joined by Martyn Campbell, Andy Diagram, Thomas 'Jock' Whelan and Iain Templeton. Since 2008, John Head has pursued a solo career playing live shows with his band The Streams, and had recently launched a new project called Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band on his own label Violette Records, who hope to have their debut album released soon. If you're a fan of the band then you'll already know how great their albums are, and every one of these songs would have been a worthy addition to any one of them.  

Track listing

Disc One
01 Liberation (b-side of 'Emergency' 1988)
02 Faith (b-side of 'Emergency' 1988)
02 I Know You Well (single 1990)
03 Feel No Way (b-side of 'I Know You Well')
04 Elizabethan Radio Star (from the 'Starstreet' compilation album 1990)
05 Al's Vacation (single 1991)
06 Irish (b-side of 'Al's Vacation')
07 Up (from 'Unearthed - Liverpool Cult Classics Volume 3' compilation album, recorded 1991)
08 Green Velvet Jacket (b-side of 'Somethin' Like You' by The Strands 1998)
09 Flannery (b-side of 'Natalie's Party' 1999)
10 Extra Extra (b-side of 'Natalie's Party' 1999)
11 Too Late For Me Now (b-side of 'Natalie's Party' 1999)
12 Miss Christine (b-side of 'Natalie's Party' 1999)

Disc Two
01 Uncle Delaney (b-side of 'Comedy' 1999)
02 Petroleum (b-side of 'Comedy' 1999)
03 24 Hours (b-side of 'Comedy' 1999)
04 Solid Gold (b-side of 'Comedy' 1999)
05 Oscar (single 2000)
06 Queen Matilda (b-side of 'Oscar')
07 Not Afraid Of Loving You (b-side of 'Byrds Turn To Stone' 2003)
08 Lizzie Mallaly (b-side of 'Cup Of Tea' 2006)
09 Uncle Smaegel's Cardigan (b-side of 'Tie Me Down' 2006)
10 Working Family (bonus track on Japanese edition of '...The Corner Of Miles And Gil' 2006)
11 Holiday Abroad (previously unreleased, from the 'Time Machine' compilation 2007)
12 Wanda (previously unreleased, from the 'Time Machine' compilation 2007)

Jackie Verdell - I'm Your Girl (1974)

Jackie Verdell was born on 5 November 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and after leaving high school she joined The Davis Sisters in 1955, at the start of their tenure with Herman Lubinsky and Ozzie Cadena's Savoy Records label. How she came to sing with one of gospel's most famous groups is a typical Golden Age gospel tale, as she was a soloist in the choir of Faith Temple in New York, pastored by Bishop A.A. Childs, where Ruth Davis was attending a broadcast at which Jackie was singing, and the rest is gospel history. Verdell possessed a powerful mezzo-soprano voice, and was second lead for The Davis Sisters between 1955 and 1960, featuring on many of their Savoy recordings, with her performances on records such as 'Lord Don't Leave Me', 'Following Him', and 'I Don't Know What I'd Do' making an impression on the young Aretha Franklin. Like Franklin, she left the gospel field in 1960 and began singing pop, her voice having deepened to a contralto and losing the upper register. She signed with Houston-based Peacock Records, releasing three singles between 1961 and 1964, and although none of them charted, her own composition 'Why Not Give Me A Chance' attained a small level of popularity, being covered in later years by soul singers O.V. Wright in the late 60's and by Ruby Wilson in the early 80's. In between recording her solo singles she returned to the Davis Sisters to record with them, eventually leaving for good in 1966 to concentrate on her own career, but after further unsuccessful pop singles on Decca Records and its Coral Records subsidiary, the late 1960's and early 1970's found her contributing background vocals (along with Cissy Houston, Judy Clay, and other members of The Drinkard Singers or The Sweet Inspirations) to records by Wilson Pickett, Dee Dee Warwick, Van Morrison, and Clarence Wheeler & The Enforcers, as well as one further solo single for Stax Records' Gospel Truth and Respect labels under the name of Jacqui Verdell. Her only solo album, 'Lay My Burden Down', produced by former soul singer Joe Simon, was released on Spring Records in 1983, and good as it was, her best work was undoubtedly in the 60's, and so here are all the singles and b-sides that she recorded in the decade or so from her first release in 1961. Jackie Verdell died in August 1991, at the age of 53.

Track listing

01 You Ought To Know Him (single 1961)
02 Bye Bye Blackbird (b-side of 'You Ought To Know Him')
03 Why Not Give Me A Chance (single 1963)
04 Hush (b-side of 'Why Not Give Me A Chance')
05 Y.K.W. (single 1964)
06 Come Let Me Love You (b-side of 'Y.K.W.')
07 Are You Ready For This (single 1967)
08 I'm Your Girl (b-side of 'Are You Ready For This')
09 Does She Ever Remind You Of Me (single 1967)
10 Don't Set Me Free (b-side of 'Does She Ever Remind You Of Me')
11 If We Are Really In Love (single 1968) 
12 Call On Me (b-side of 'If We Are Really In Love')
13 He's Mine (single 1973)
14 We're Gonna Have A Good Time (b-side of 'He's Mine')

The Chemistry Set - Acid Tapes (1990)

For the final post from the brilliant neo-psyche band The Chemistry Set, we go right back to the beginning, with songs from their first two cassette tapes, both of which are still prized possessions. Following their appearance on the Freakbeat flexi-disc in 1987, the cassette-only label Acid Tapes released a collection of their demos, and it caused quite a stir when it originally did the rounds, and still contains some of their best material. Recorded on four track in a rush of inspiration, the songs are all classic pop psychedelia with great melodies, hooklines and soaring harmonies. Mixing the flavours of Syd Barrett, The Beatles, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and others in a collection of songs most bands would kill to have written, it was my first introduction to the band, and I've loved them ever since. A number of the songs were re-recorded for inclusion on the unreleased 1989 'Sounds Like Painting' album, but seven of these tracks have never appeared anywhere else. A couple of years later I saw another tape of brand new material from the band advertised for sale, and I snapped up their second eponymous release, which is now so rare that I can't even find mention of it online. It was re-issued on vinyl in 1990 under the title of 'Wake Up Sometimes!', but once again, most of the songs from the tape never appeared on any of their other releases. Even though the second tape was later made available to a wider audience with the vinyl issue, I'm adding the unreleased tracks from it to those from the first cassette for a collection of early work from the band, which promised so much, but which was ultimately all I was to own by them until their second incarnation when they regrouped in 2007. Incidentally, there is a rip of the Acid Tapes album online, but it's not that great quality, being a bit bassy and muffled, and running slightly fast, so for this post I've used a rip of my own 35 year old cassette tape. 

Track listing

01 The Rainbow Song
02 I Can See Now
03 These Are Like Castles
04 Love Will Always Disappear
05 The Postman Rides His Bike
06 As Jane Arrived (Who Brought Us Here)
07 You Make Me Feel Like I'm Sublime
08 A Dream Of Murder
09 Wiped Out And Nothing Comes Together
10 By This Act Of Judgement
11 I'm All Of The Times
12 Ensemble Du Bois
13 Wow! Stars Man
14 A House Is Not A Motel

Original 1988 cassette tape

                                                       Original 1990 cassette tape

Tangerine Dream - Brussels 1976 (1976)

In 1976 Tangerine Dream went back into the studio to record the follow-up to 'Richocet', and so with a new studio album to promote in 'Stratosfear' they embarked on a European tour, taking in Germany, France, the UK, Spain and Belgium, with the band performing live in Brussels on 09 February 1976. Part of this concert had been available on the bootleg CD 'Danger Live' since 1992, but the Tangerine Tree project managed to improve on this version, which now features the complete 99 minutes of the gig, and which was remastered directly from a first generation tape. This release also includes the last missing 20 seconds of the second track and the first few seconds of the encore. Both were not present on the first generation tape, but thanks to a member of the tadream discussion list (who had also recorded the show back in 1976) it was possible to patch in the gaps. The sound quality is great considering that it is an audience recording from 1976, and the music is a perfect mix of sequencers, mellotron and guitar – one of the highlights from that year.

Track listing

01 Part One
02 Part Two
03 Encore