Skids - Hymns From A Haunted Ballroom (1981)

Skids were formed in Dunfermline in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (guitar, keyboards, percussion and backing vocals), William Simpson (bass guitar and backing vocals), Thomas Kellichan (drums) and Richard Jobson (vocals, guitar and keyboards). They played their first gig on 19 August 1977 at the Bellville Hotel in Pilmuir Street, Dunfermline, and within six months they had released their 'Charles' EP on the No Bad Records label. The record brought them to the attention of BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, which in turn led to a local gig supporting The Clash, and by April 1978 they'd signed to Virgin Records. Their first single for Virgin was 'Sweet Suburbia', released in 1978, and quickly followed by 'The Saints Are Coming', but it was 'Into The Valley' which propelled them into the UK singles charts, reaching the top 10 in early 1979. Their debut studio album, 'Scared To Dance', came out the same year, and featured a re-working of 'Charles' from that early EP, as well as including both hit singles, but not 'Sweet Suburbia'. The album was recorded at The Townhouse Studios in London, with production and keyboards by David Batchelor, and as Adamson walked out towards the end of the sessions before all the guitar overdubs were completed, session guitarist Chris Jenkins completed the recordings using Adamson's studio set up, adding additional guitar to four tracks – 'Into The Valley', 'Integral Plot', 'Calling The Tune' and 'Scared To Dance'. In the meantime, Adamson returned to Scotland when the recording was finished, and then re-joined the band for the live concert tour promotion of the album. Skids enjoyed a further year of chart success as the stand-alone single, and double 7" pack, 'Masquerade', plus 'Working For The Yankee Dollar' both reached the top 20 in the UK. 

The latter came from their second album, also released in 1979, 'Days In Europa', with the record's production and keyboards being handled by Bill Nelson. Just before recording of the album commenced, Kellichan left the band and was temporarily replaced by ex-Rich Kids drummer Rusty Egan, who played on the album and later on the live concert tour of the record, where the band were temporarily joined by keyboard player Alistair Moore for the live gigs, playing Bill Nelson's keyboard parts from the record. In November 1979 Mike Baillie was recruited as a permanent band member, taking care of the drums, backing vocals and percussion, slowly taking over from Egan while the band was still touring 'Days In Europa'. The album had some controversy surrounding it when it was released, both with some of Jobson's lyrics, as well as the album cover, which showed an Olympian being crowned with laurels by an Aryan-looking woman, and the lettering was in Gothic script. Some, including DJ John Peel, felt that this glorified Nazi ideology and it was indeed similar to posters from the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in Germany. After the original version of the album had already been released, Canadian record producer Bruce Fairbairn was brought into the project, with the original cover being replaced and the track 'Pros And The Cons' was removed, with 'Masquerade' added to replace it. The album was also remixed and the tracks re-sequenced, and this second version was released in 1980, making the original release a sought-after rarity. In February 1980, one of Skids' founding members, William Simpson, left and was replaced by Russell Webb on bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards, percussion, and guitar, and this new line-up immediately started work on the recording of the band's third album 'The Absolute Game', released in 1980, and produced by Mick Glossop. 

It proved to be their most commercial release, reaching the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart, and it contained the minor hit single 'Circus Games', alongside such curiosities as some of the tracks including a collection of fourteen adult and child backing vocalists, and one featuring a lone didgeridoo player. Initial copies of The Absolute Game came with a free limited edition, second album entitled 'Strength Through Joy', echoing the band's previous controversial themes. Jobson claims to have got the title from Dirk Bogarde's autobiography, although it is better known as the name of the  German state-operated leisure organization in Nazi Germany. Soon after the release and live concert tour of 'The Absolute Game', Baillie left the band, followed shortly afterwards by Adamson, although he did stay around long enough to play on 'Iona' for the next album, 'Joy'. Baillie moved back to Scotland to live and Adamson went on to launch his new band, Big Country, leaving Jobson and Webb to write and record the band's fourth and final album on their own, with Webb producing. The pair played multiple instruments on 'Joy', and also invited a collection of seventeen musical friends to perform on various tracks with them. Following the release of 'Joy' in 1981, Skids dissolved the following year, with the compilation 'Fanfare' issued posthumously by Virgin before the bodies were even cold in the grave. Jobson and Webb went on to form The Armoury Show, recording just one album, 'Waiting For The Floods' in 1985 before splitting up, with Jobson going on to pursue a solo career as a poet, songwriter, television presenter and most recently, as a film director. Adamson had the most success of the former members, with Big Country releasing many hit singles and albums, before he passed away in 2001, but for fans who were around at the time, Skids were one of the best post-punk bands of the period, which you can hear on this collection of non-album singles and b-sides from their short five year lifespan. 

Track listing

01 Reasons (b-side of 'Charles' 1978)
02 Test-Tube Babies (b-side of 'Charles' 1978)
03 Sweet Suburbia (single 1978)
04 Open Sound (b-side of 'Sweet Suburbia')
05 Night And Day (from the 'Wide Open' EP 1978)
06 Contusion (from the 'Wide Open' EP 1978)
07 TV Stars (b-side of 'Into The Valley')
08 Masquerade (from the 'Masquerade' double 7" single 1979) 
09 Out Of Town (single version, from the 'Masquerade' double 7" single 1979) 
10 Another Emotion (from the 'Masquerade' double 7" single 1979) 
11 Aftermath Dub (from the 'Masquerade' double 7" single 1979) 
12 Grey Parade (b-side of 'Charade' 1979)
13 Vanguard's Crusade (b-side of 'Working For The Yankee Dollar' 1979)
14 All The Young Dudes (b-side of 'Working For The Yankee Dollar' 1979)
15 Hymns For A Haunted Ballroom (b-side of 'Working For The Yankee Dollar' 1979)
16 Monkey McGuire Meets Specky Potter Behind Lochore Institute (b-side of 'Goodbye Civilian' 1980)
17 Brave Man (b-side of 'Fields' 1981)

The Charlatans - Lips That Would Kiss (2017)

Two years after the release of 2004's 'Up At The Lake', The Charlatans reconvened to write and record their ninth studio album at Hook End Manor Studios in London, laying down the songs between August and December 2005, and then releasing 'Simpatico' in April 2006 on new label Creole Records. The album was met with mixed reviews from critics, with one commenting that the overall vibe seems more important than the individual songs. Despite that it works well on its own terms, and was proof that the now-veteran Charlatans were building a reliably entertaining body of work. Six months later Island Records issued the 'Forever: The Singles' album to cash in on the band after they left the label, and many fans feared that this was the end of the group, signing off with a record that could be seen as lacking direction and focus. A new year and a new label saw 'You Cross My Path' appear on the Cooking Vinyl label in March 2008, with CD and vinyl versions being released two months later in May. Not only was the album itself a surprise appearance, but the March release was offered as a free download in conjunction with the XFM Radio station, and it was received as their best album in a decade, and even one of the best albums of the year, ditching the soul and reggae dabbling of the past and pushing Tony Rogers' Hammond organ back out front, where it should be. For this release the band tried producing it themselves, with assistance from James Spencer, and most of the tracks were mixed by Alan Moulder, with the cover being drawn by Faris Badwan of The Horrors. In 2010 the band marked the 20th anniversary of the release of 'Some Friendly' by performing the album in full at Barcelona's Primavera Sound Festival. Their 11th studio album, 'Who We Touch', was slated for release in September of 2010, but during the supporting tour for the album, drummer Jon Brookes was diagnosed with a brain tumour, and Peter Salisbury was drafted in to help finish off the tour, although Brookes did show up at year-end gigs with the band. Tim Burgess and Mark Collins did a brief acoustic tour on their own in 2011 before Burgess began work on a solo album, returning to the Charlatans in 2012. The regrouped band started work on a new album, as well as playing their 1997 album 'Tellin' Stories' in its entirety at two separate shows that summer, with the 8 June show at HMV Hammersmith Apollo being released as a live album that August. However, after several operations and ongoing treatment for his brain tumour, Brookes died in hospital on August 13, 2013 at the age of 44. The Charlatans reconvened in 2014 to record their twelfth studio album, entitled 'Modern Nature', which was released on the BMG Records label in January 2015, debuting at number seven in the U.K., making it the band's highest-charting album since 2006's 'Simpatico'. Two years later, they followed up with 2017's 'Different Days', a record sporting cameos from Paul Weller and Johnny Marr, and although they continued to gift un-released recordings to their fans, they were releasing fewer singles in their later years, and so this final post in the series contains all the non-album b-sides from the last decade of their recording career, from 2006 to 2017. In 2012 Tim Burgess made his biggest non-musical statement, when he dyed his hair blonde, and despite many people thinking it was just a phase, he still sports this look today, so that's how he's portrayed on the cover.    

Track listing

01 Don't You Worry (b-side of 'Blackened Blue Eyes' 2006)
02 Hard To Be You (Song For Carl) (b-side of 'NYC (There's No Need To Stop)' 2006)
03 It Is What It Is (b-side of 'Mis-Takes' 2008)
04 Blank Heart, Blank Mind (b-side of 'The Misbegotten' 2008)
05 Set Me Free (b-side of 'The Misbegotten' 2008)
06 Complete Control (b-side of 'Oh! Vanity' 2008)
07 Lips That Would Kiss (b-side of 'My Foolish Pride' 2010)
08 Tonal Nagual Fur Star Liner Aquatic Ape Mix (b-side of 'Talking In Tones' 2014)
09 Joy.Izzy (Simon Fisher Turner Remix) (b-side of 'Come Home Baby' 2015)
10 We Sleep On Borrowed Time (b-side of 'Trouble Understanding' 2016)
11 I Like You (b-side of 'Over Again' 2017)

Bananarama - Nothing Lasts Forever (1989)

In 1988 Bananarama were is a state of flux, as after eight years as a trio producing a string of hit singles, Siobhan Fahey left the group. Her last gig as a member was performing 'Love In The First Degree' at the Brit Awards in February 1988, and she would later resurface as part of the BRIT Award–winning pop duo Shakespears Sister, alongside Marcella Detroit. After Fahey's exit, Jacquie O'Sullivan (formerly of the Shillelagh Sisters) joined in March 1988, and their next single 'I Want You Back' was re-recorded with O'Sullivan's vocals, as was The Supremes cover 'Nathan Jones'. 'Love, Truth And Honesty' was released as a single from their 1988 retrospective 'Greatest Hits Collection', and at the same time the group entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the all-female group who'd had the most UK chart entries in history, a record they still hold. Tensions soon began to appear within the new line-up though, with O'Sullivan complaining that there were no photographs of her displayed at the Soho launch of 'Greatest Hits Collection', and her bandmates were uncomfortable with her partying lifestyle, but these seem to have been resolved in time for their 1989 world tour. After the tour was complete, they started recording their fifth album with producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman (SAW), but were dissatisfied with the results of those sessions, thinking the majority of the songs were of sub-par quality, although 'Ain't No Cure' and 'Heartless' were eventually included on the album. They started looking for other producers, first working with David Z with whom the group recorded 'Some Boys', but felt it was not the direction they wanted to follow, and the song remained unreleased until 2013. They then worked with Steve Jolley who, along with Tony Swain, had produced the group's first three records, and one song co-written by him, 'Is Your Love Strong Enough', did end up on the album, while another remains unreleased. They settled with Youth, who had been Sara Dallin's boyfriend some years before, to produce the majority of the album. The record was a departure from Bananarama's previous albums as it incorporates a much more diverse range of musical genres, including flamenco guitar (on a cover of the Doobie Brothers song 'Long Train Running', featuring Alma de Noche, a pseudonym for the Gipsy Kings), retro-rock ('Only Your Love', 'Outta Sight'), acid house ('Tripping On Your Love'), reggae ('What Colour R The Skies Where U Live?'), experimental club ('Megalomaniac'), and their hallmark Euro disco sound ('Preacher Man', 'Ain't No Cure'). The band completely re-recorded the SAW track 'Ain't No Cure' with Youth, intending to place it on the album, but a furious response by SAW ultimately saw the band relent, and include the original recording on the album. On its release, 'Pop Life' received positive reviews from critics, although it just missed the UK Top 40 charts, and four mid-charting singles were issued from it. Following the release of 'Tripping On Your Love', O'Sullivan left the group, leaving founder members Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward to continue as a duo. Although the band were happier with the finished 'Pop Life' album, fans have often wondered what a completely SAW-produced album would have sounded like, and enough demos of the songs they recorded together have emerged over the years to piece it together and compare it to the officially released album, so here it is for you to decide which would have been the better record.   

Track listing

01 One In A Million

02 Outta Sight
03 Heartless
04 Long Train Running

05 Wake Up And Love Me

06 Don't Throw It All Away
07 Ain't No Cure
08 I Don't Care
09 Love Generation
10 Nothing Lasts Forever

One Dove - Moon Angel (1994)

One Dove were a Scottish electronic music group active in the early 1990s, consisting of Dot Allison, Ian Carmichael and Jim McKinven, and were originally called Dove, releasing their debut single 'Fallen' on the Glasgow-based label Soma in October 1991. It was a significant club hit and brought them a deal with the Junior Boy's Own label, where they changed their name to avoid confusion with a similarly named group, and in 1992 JBO issued a new recording of 'Fallen', produced by Andrew Weatherall, which brought the group to greater attention from the British music press. The single was withdrawn one week after release however, due to an unlicensed sampling of a harmonica from a Supertramp song, but undeterred they released a second single 'Transient Truth', which garnered further critical acclaim from the press. At this stage One Dove were still primarily a club-oriented group, but for the single 'White Love', an attempt was made to make their music more radio-friendly by including a commercial remix by Stephen Hague. With this increasingly commercial sound, the band became a favourite with publications such as Select and Q, and were often favourably compared with Saint Etienne, another female-fronted group who were having success with pop-dance crossover recordings. In 1993 the band released their only album, 'Morning Dove White', which included the Weatherall version of 'Fallen' (minus the Supertramp sample) together with 12" mixes of 'Transient Truth' and 'White Love'. The album was originally set for release in 1992, but was delayed for a full year through disputes between the band and their new record company London Records, who had taken over the Boy's Own label, as the band were unhappy about the commercialisation of their sound. The disputes were eventually resolved when the band agreed to release singles mixed by Stephen Hague, as long as they could work with him in the studio during the remix sessions. The album was preceded by the single 'Breakdown', with remixes by Stephen Hague, William Orbit and Secret Knowledge, while one more track from the album, 'Why Don't You Take Me', was subsequently released as a single for the Christmas market. For the b-sides of the 'Why Don't You Take Me' single the group expanded to a five-piece with the addition of Ed Higgins on percussion and Colin McIlroy on guitar, and showcased a more heavily dub-influenced sound. This line-up later went into the studio to begin work on a second album, but frustrated by record industry politics they split up midway through the sessions, leaving the album unreleased. Dot Allison went on to release a series of acclaimed solo albums including 'Afterglow' and 'We Are Science', as well as working with Death In Vegas and Massive Attack. The band must have been very busy in the studio before their break-up, as two versions of the unreleased second album have surfaced over the years, both with completely different track listings, and while the 14 track version is now impossible to find, I've managed to locate the 10 track one (nine of which are used here, as there were two similar versions of 'Untouched', whereas the two takes of 'Stay' are very different), which was titled 'Moon Angel'. I've added new artwork, and so here's some more music from this very under-rated band, who could have been as big as Portishead if they'd just been given a chance.  

Track listing

01 Bubble Funk
02 Untouched 
03 Stay 
04 Perfect World
05 Fight Or Flight
06 What Can You Do To Me Now?

07 Stay (Acoustic)
08 I Hate The Sun
09 Sister

The Blue Nile - The Second Act (2004)

Paul Buchanan and his childhood friend Robert Bell grew up together in Glasgow and both attended the University of Glasgow in the late 1970's, with Buchanan gaining a degree in literature and medieval history, and Bell one in mathematics. Although Buchanan's father had been a semi-professional musician and had musical instruments around the house, it was only after he and Bell had graduated that Buchanan began to think seriously about a career in music. While at university Buchanan became acquainted with Paul Joseph "PJ" Moore, who was studying electronics, and the three friends became part of a band. Calling themselves McIntyre (named after the John McIntyre Building, the university's administrative offices) and then Night By Night, the band struggled to retain a settled line-up, and by 1981 only Buchanan, Bell and Moore remained as members. They decided not to recruit anybody else, trading in a guitar for an effect pedal and borrowing an old drum machine that only played Hispanic American music rhythms. Renaming themselves The Blue Nile (after the title of the 1962 book by Alan Moorehead), the group managed to raise enough money to record and release their first single, 'I Love This Life', on their own Peppermint Records label. Only a limited number were produced, but one found its way to RSO Records via their friend and engineer Calum Malcolm, and RSO licensed the single for distribution, but almost as soon as the record was released RSO went bankrupt and was absorbed into the PolyGram recording company, and the single consequently disappeared. Undaunted by this setback, the band continued to play gigs around Glasgow, starting to write their own songs alongside the cover versions they were playing, and having no drummer and with limited musical ability, The Blue Nile adopted an atmospheric, electronic approach primarily out of necessity. 

The most commonly told story about The Blue Nile is that in 1983 they were approached by a local hi-fi manufacturer, Linn Products, and asked to produce a song that would showcase the Linn equipment to best effect. Linn was so pleased with the resulting record that it offered the Blue Nile a contract to make a whole album, and set up its own record label specifically to release it. However, this has been categorically denied by both Buchanan and Moore, who insist that they just got lucky that their friend and engineer Calum Malcolm was a friend of Linn's founder Ivor Tiefenbrun, and his studio was fitted out with Linn equipment, so when Linn representatives visited one day and asked to hear some music to test out their new speakers, Malcolm played them the demo of 'Tinseltown In The Rain'. Impressed, Linn offered the band a contract with the record label it was in the process of setting up, and despite the fact that the group took nine months to reply to Linn's offer, the contract was eventually signed and the band's first album, 'A Walk Across The Rooftops', was Linn Records' first release in May 1984. On its release the album gained widespread acclaim from music critics for its mixture of sparse, detailed electronic sounds and Buchanan's soulful vocals, and the band gained greater exposure in Europe, with the videos for their two singles, 'Stay' and 'Tinseltown In The Rain', often shown on the video channel Music Box. Keen to capitalise on the positive critical reception awarded to 'A Walk Across The Rooftops', Linn sent the band back to Castlesound studio early in 1985 to produce a quick follow-up record. However, as the band later admitted, there was no new material ready to record, and they were not happy with the songs they were producing under pressure in the studio. 

The lack of progress led to stress and arguments among the band members, and matters were not helped when Virgin Records, to whom Linn had licensed the band's records, began legal proceedings against the group and the label for not producing the new material stipulated in the licensing agreement. After two years with almost nothing to show for its efforts, the band was forced to leave the studio to make way for another band, and had to return home to Glasgow. Away from the pressures of the studio, the group overcame the writer's block and eventually returned to Castlesound in 1988, where they were able to rapidly complete a new album. 'Hats' was released in October 1989 to rave reviews, including a rare five-star rating from Q magazine, and with the sound being warmer and smoother than the first album, and exploring the highs and lows of romantic love, 'Hats' peaked at number 12 on the UK Albums Chart. It was also the group's breakthrough record in the US, where it reached number 108 on the US Billboard 200 album charts in May 1990, and all three singles released in the UK made the top 75 in the UK Singles Chart. The Blue Nile's first live public performance after making 'A Walk Across The Rooftops' was in December 1989 on the television programme 'Halfway To Paradise', which was a Scottish-based arts magazine show broadcast on Channel 4, and the band also composed and performed the theme tune for the programme, later releasing it as a single b-side. American singer Rickie Lee Jones had recently befriended the band and had become one of its biggest supporters, and as well as her recording a duet of their 'Easter Parade' for the b-side to her 1990 single 'Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying', they also supported Jones on her 1990 US tour. 

The radio play gained by 'Hats' in the US, in particular the single 'The Downtown Lights', brought The Blue Nile to the attention of several well-known US-based musicians, and in 1991 the band was invited to Los Angeles to work on songs by Julian Lennon, Robbie Robertson and Michael McDonald. As a result, Buchanan moved to Los Angeles and lived there for a while, embarking on a relationship with the actress Rosanna Arquette between 1991 and 1993. Having been let go by Linn and Virgin Records, the group signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records in 1992, and the band decided that it wanted to find somewhere private to record its new album with its portable studio, so they began travelling around Europe searching for suitable locations. Having spent two years looking at and dismissing locations in cities such as Venice, Amsterdam and Copenhagen, the record was finally recorded piecemeal over three locations in Paris, Dublin and Los Angeles. In June 1996, seven years after 'Hats', The Blue Nile released a third album, entitled 'Peace At Last', which displayed a marked difference in style to the first two albums, with Buchanan's acoustic guitar work more to the fore. Despite its release on a major label, critical reaction to the album was more mixed than for the band's previous records, although sales were good, entering the UK album chart at number 13. In 1997, the band appointed a full-time manager for the first time, with ex-Dire Straits manager, Ed Bicknell, managing to extricate the group from the deal with Warner Bros. He also attempted to persuade the band to change its recording habits, but had little success, and following an appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in June 1997, the band disappeared from public view for the next seven years. 

After the longest period yet between albums, The Blue Nile released 'High' in August 2004, the same year that they parted company with Bicknell. Part of the lengthy delay in making the record was due to Buchanan contracting a form of chronic fatigue syndrome which affected his health for two years, but the band's perfectionism was also a factor, dumping an album's worth of songs that they weren't happy with. 'High' reached number 10 on the UK Albums Chart, the highest position to date for the band, and although acoustic guitar is still present on some tracks, the overall musical sound is more reminiscent of 'Hats'. It became apparent during the recording of 'High' that old tensions among the band members had resurfaced, and Buchanan has indicated that the album was finished more out of a sense of duty and loyalty rather than any willingness on the part of the band. During preparations for the tour in February 2005 following the album's release, Buchanan and Bell realised that Moore had stopped contacting them and would not be showing up, and so Buchanan and Bell toured England, Scotland and Wales in 2006, billed as "Paul Buchanan sings the songs of the Blue Nile", refraining from simply calling themselves The Blue Nile as a mark of respect for Moore's absence. Although there has never been an official statement to clarify whether or not The Blue Nile still exists, the indications are that the band have split up. In May 2012 Buchanan released his first solo album, 'Mid Air', a collection of short, stripped-back songs mostly with just his voice and piano, recorded with Calum Malcolm's son Cameron as the album's engineer, and released on Buchanan's own Newsroom Records label. The Blue Nile have been cited by a number of musicians as an influence, and their fans really are fanatical in their devotion to the group. This has been helped in no small part by deluxe re-issues of their albums, which have included otherwise unreleased tracks as bonuses, and so as a tribute to the group here are all the non-album b-sides to their singles, interspersed with those unreleased out-takes and demos. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1981-1991
01 I Love This Life (single 1981)
02 The Second Act (b-side of 'I Love This Life')
03 St. Catherine's Day (previously unreleased 1984 )
04 Saddle The Horses (b-side of 'Stay' 1984
05 Regret (b-side of 'Tinseltown In The Rain' 1984) 
06 Young Club (previously unreleased 1983)
07 The Wires Are Down (b-side of 'The Downtown Lights' 1989) 
08 Broadway In The Snow (previously unreleased 1989)
09 Halfway To Paradise (b-side of 'The Downtown Lights' 1989) 
10 Christmas (previously unreleased 1989)
11 Our Lives (i. Lost, ii. Bolivia, iii. New York) (b-side of 'Saturday Night' 1991)

Disc II - 1996-2004
01 A Certain Kind Of Angel (previously unreleased 1996)
02 O Lolita (b-side of 'Happiness' 1996)

03 Turn Yourself Around (previously unreleased 1996)
04 New York Man (b-side of 'Happiness' 1996)

05 There Was A Girl (previously unreleased 1996)
06 Wish Me Well (b-side of 'Happiness' 1996)
07 Wasted (previously unreleased 2004)
08 I (previously unreleased 2004)
09 Big Town (previously unreleased 2004)
10 Here Come The Bluebirds (previously unreleased 2004)

The Charlatans - Give Me A Reason (2004)

Following the release of the 'Forever' single, 'My Beautiful Friend' was originally scheduled for 29 November 1999, but was eventually released as the album's second single on 6 December 1999, with two new songs on one of the CD editions. Sometime after this, Tim Burgess moved to Los Angeles and got married to his long-time girlfriend, and in March and April 2000 the band embarked on a two-week tour of North America with Stereophonics, followed by a UK tour, dubbed Chewing Gum Weekend Tour, and ending with a gig in Ireland with support from Gomez and JJ72. 'Impossible' was released as the third single from 'Us And Us Only' on 15 May 2000, with two editions released on CD, each with a new song on it. The album was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics, with one commenting that it was merely a step below their previous high point of 'Tellin' Stories'. When the band were ready to start thinking about recording a new album, Burgess invited Mark Collins, Martin Blunt, and Jon Brookes to join him in L.A. for a three-week stint, just long enough to sort out the songs that would become 2001's Curtis Mayfield-influenced 'Wonderland'. Although the band admit that they had been obsessed with Manchester music up until this point, the California vibe influenced their new music, with Gram Parsons and The Beach Boys becoming heroes to Burgess. Daniel Lanois added some pedal steel guitar, and legendary session musician Jim Keltner played some drums, and the album was written and recorded by June 2001. 'Love Is The Key' was released as a taster single in August, with the album following in September, and a second single, 'A Man Needs To Be Told', was released in November. 'You're So Pretty, We're So Pretty' was initially due for release as the third and final single from album, but it was withdrawn at the last minute at the mutual agreement of the band and the record company, even though pressings had been made for a full retail release. Despite their new melodic-funk direction, 'Wonderland' was well-received by the music press, but the band kept a low profile over the next few years, supporting Oasis at Finsbury Park in July 2002, but generally just chilling out. In 2004 the band reconvened to write and record their eighth studio album, but after a string of Top Two albums in their native UK, 'Up At The Lake' didn’t even crack the Top Ten. This could be down to their last album deviating significantly from the band's rollicking, Stones-and-Dylan-influenced rock, replacing them with drum machines, soul-sister backing vocals and Curtis Mayfield arrangements, which was just enough of a departure to make lots of hardcore fans scratch their heads. It didn't help that the band lost their American record deal around this time, meaning that 'Up At The Lake' is the band's only album never to have received a US release. With the glitzy LA soul fixation out of their system, 'Up At The Lake' found the band as laid back as ever, stripping back their sound to a point that most recalls 1997's 'Tellin' Stories', which was seen by many as their peak. The title track and 'Try Again Today' were released as singles, while 'Loving You Is Easy' was issued as a radio only promo, and once again these singles all included exclusive tracks on the flips, which are gathered together here for a collection which covers 1999 to 2004.  

Track listing

01 Scorched (b-side of 'My Beautiful Friend' 1999)
02 Your Precious Love (b-side of 'My Beautiful Friend' 1999)
03 You Got It, I Want It (b-side of 'Impossible' 2000)
04 Don't Go Giving It Up (b-side of 'Impossible' 2000)
05 Viva La Sociale (b-side of 'Love Is The Key' 2001)
06 It's About Time (b-side of 'Love Is The Key' 2001)
07 All I Desire (b-side of 'A Man Needs To Be Told' 2001)
08 Shotgun (b-side of 'A Man Needs To Be Told' 2001)
09 Room 518 (b-side of 'You're So Pretty, We're So Pretty' withdrawn single 2001)
10 For Where There Is Love, There Will Always Be Miracles (b-side of 'Up At The Lake' 2004)
11 M.I.A. (b-side of 'Try Again Today' 2004)
12 Give Me A Reason (b-side of 'Try Again Today' 2004)

Miley Cyrus - SHE IS MILEY CYRUS (2020)

'SHE IS MILEY CYRUS' was to have been the seventh studio album by the American singer, and it was expected to be released in 2020 through RCA Records. Work on the album had begun shortly before the release of her sixth studio album 'Younger Now' in September 2017, but the album was scrapped in favour of the more rock inspired 'Plastic Hearts', which came out in its place in 2020. In May 2019 she confirmed that the album was complete and she held a private listening session for iHeartRadio executives, announcing on social media on 9 May that she would be releasing new music at the end of the month, later stating that the rollout of this new music would be "unconventional". On 31 May she tweeted that the record would be titled 'SHE IS MILEY CYRUS', and that it would be preceded by three six-song extended plays: 'She Is Coming' on 31 May, 'She Is Here' in the summer, and 'She Is Everything' in the fall. She described the three EPs as being "different chapters to a trilogy", that together would form the full-length record. Their track listings were to be "seasonal" in nature, and she related 'She Is Coming' to feeling the light and warmth of early summer, while 'She Is Here' and 'She Is Everything' would be colder and a little darker. Cyrus continued work on the record following the separation from her husband Liam Hemsworth in August, but the following month it was reported that she was undecided between updating the existing completed album or scrapping that version of the record altogether. On New Year's Day 2020, she uploaded a highlight video of the past decade and announced that "the new era starts now". With the release of the single 'Midnight Sky' on 14 August, she confirmed the cancellation of the 'She Is Here' and 'She Is Everything' EPs, and also the album that would have followed them. The 'She Is Coming' EP was released in 2019, and so we do have six tracks that we know were intended for the record, and other songs have leaked over the past couple of years, so by taking a dozen of the best of them we can approximate the 18 track record that the three EPs were meant to precede, and finally hear the full 'SHE IS MILEY CYRUS' album. 

Track listing

01 Sagittarius
02 Mother's Daughter
03 Unholy
04 LA Money

05 Night And Day
06 Party Up The Street (feat. Swae Lee & Mike Will Made-It)
07 If I Fall
08 D.R.E.A.M. (feat. Ghostface Killah)
09 Cattitude (feat. RuPaul)
10 Victoria's Secret
11 Slide Away
12 Right Hand Man

13 Mary Jane
14 Miley What's Good (The American Dream Is Boring)
15 Just Stop
16 Something To Live For
17 Not My Vibe

18 The Most

Christine Holmes - From Your Window (1971)

Christine Anne Authors (aka Christine Holmes) was born in 1949, and her musical career started when she studied violin and piano in Manchester, and was a member of the Manchester Youth Orchestra at just 11 years old. She moved to Solihull at 14 where she sang one night a week with The Applejacks pop group, after previously singing with the Downbeats, who were one of a very few bands to have a female singer, enabling them to widen their repertoire to include covers by Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, and The Supremes. She was spotted by The Applejacks manager and taken to London at 16 years of age, chaperoned to the Embassy Club nightly, and performed in a BBC Pop Club show called Gadzooks as a regular host and singer. Her career took off when she won the part of Charlie Girl in the West End production of the same name, which ran for five years at the Adelphi Theatre London, and she also hosted three series of the children's TV series 'Crackerjack', all before she was 21. In 1969 she joined The Family Dogg, replacing departing vocalists Doreen De Veuve and Pam Quinn, and she stayed with them until 1972, when they released their final album 'The View From Rowland's Head', scoring a hit single along the way in the Netherlands with a cover of Rare Bird's 'Sympathy'. In the early 70's glam rock was the place to be, and so with a little reinvention, Christine Holmes became Kristine Sparkle, and with the addition of Glitter Band-style drums, fuzz-guitars, and hand-claps, she released a number of singles in 1974, including glammed-up takes of 'It's In His Kiss', 'Hokey Cokey', and 'Eight Days A Week', as well as her album 'Image' the same year. She then embarked on a pop/country career in 1976, and enjoyed hit records in Canada as a singer/songwriter. One of her songs was recorded by Cliff Richard in 1976, with 'Devil Woman' giving him his first American hit, and she also wrote 'No Charge', which was a big hit for J J Barrie, with both of these singles being in the UK top 5 at the same time in 1976. There was a compilation of Kristine Sparkle's music released in 2008, but no-one has ever compiled her singles as Christine Holmes, and so here are all the tracks she recorded between 1964 and 1971, included some unreleased acetates, and a cringe-inducing flexi-disc which tried to get 'the kids' to start saving their money at the Post Office.  

Track listing

01 This Is My Prayer (single 1964)
02 My Dream (b-side of 'This Is My Prayer') 
03 Play Me A Sad Song (Please Mr. Dee Jay) (single 1964)
04 Doesn't He Know (b-side of 'Play Me A Sad Song (Please Mr. Dee Jay)') 
05 Goodbye Boys Goodbye (Ciao, Ragazzi, Ciao) (single 1964)
06 Many Things From Your Window (single 1965)
07 You'd Better Believe It (b-side of 'Many Things From Your Window') 
08 Goin' Where The Lovin' Is (single 1965)
09 Where There's Smoke There's Fire (b-side of 'Goin' Where The Lovin' Is') 
10 Every Little Kiss (acetate 1965)
11 Here Comes My Baby (acetate 1965)
12 The Pop Way To Save (Post Office Savings Bank flexi-disc 1969)
13 A Shoulder To Cry On (previously unreleased)
14 The Drum (single 1971)
15 I Wanna Be The Star Of The Show (b-side of 'The Drum') 

Talk Talk - A Chameleon Hour (1994) **UPDATE**

I stumbled on a Talk Talk forum the other day, where Jules (aka Specialist Spectrus) had commented on this post, and mentioned that he still considered that 'Again, A Game…Again' should lead into the piano version of 'Call In The Night Boy', which then goes into 'My Foolish Friend', as those three run together so well, and they should ideally lead off the album. I never tried this combination when he first mentioned it in the comments to the post, but was now intrigued to see if it worked, so I've completely revamped the running order of the album, and have to agree that it does work very well. 'Again, A Game…Again' / 'Call In The Night Boy' / 'My Foolish Friend' now opens the album, with the piano version of 'Call In The Night Boy' replacing the band version, and I've also flipped the order of 'Desire' and 'Renée' as they flow better that way, and lastly I've moved 'Such A Shame' to the end, as it has the perfect outro to close the album. As I think this version works so well, I've updated Soulseek and Mega, so give it a try and see if you agree.

Track listing

01 Again A Game...Again
02 Call In The Night Boy
03 My Foolish Friend
04 Renée
05 Desire
06 Why Is It So Hard?
07 For What It's Worth
08 Without You
09 Such A Shame 

Squeeze - Squeeze Box (1993)

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

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

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

Track listing 

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

Disc II - 1981-1986

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

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

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

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

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

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

07 Annie Get Your Gun (single 1982)

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

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

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

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

Disc III - 1987-1993

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A gift from PowerPopTOM - Part 2

PowerPopTOM has been busy on his PC again and has sent over another batch of CD covers that he's made for use if you want to burn some of these albums to CD. They've all been added to the file, so I'll list the ones that are in there so that you can see if you want to download it. So far we have:

Bad Company - Easy On My Soul
Big Brother & The Holding Company - Misery

Brian Eno - Textures

Bryan Ferry - Horoscope

Caravan - Looking Left, Looking Right

Cockney Rebel - Another Journey

The Cure - Plastic Passion

The Cure - Mansolidgone

The Cure - Out Of Mind

The Cure - Scared As You

The Cure - The Exploding Boy

The Cure - Listen

Curved Air - Thinking On The Floor

Dave Davies - Lincoln County

David Bowie - Silhouettes And Shadows

Deep Purple - Coronarias Redig

Emerson Lake & Palmer - A Time And A Place

The Faces - A Fifth Of The Faces

Fleetwood Mac - Kiln House

Frank Zappa & Captain Beefheart - Bondage

Free - Songs Of The Free

Kraftwerk - K4

Kraftwerk - Techno Pop

Lemmy - Lemmy Write You A Song

Roxy Music - The Pride And The Pain

The Sex Pistols - Spunk

Soft Machine - Rivmic Melodies

Soft Machine - Soft Machine's Little Red Records

The Stalk-Forrest Group - Hidden Mirrors

Status Quo - Tune To The Music

U2 - The Desert Songs

The Velvet Underground - The Sceptre Studio Sessions

Yes - Works

and one that wasn't actually posted on the site, but on Paul's, so if you have The Who live at The Young Vic Theatre 1971, then there's a cover for that as well. 

and the next batch is

Mott The Hoople - The Saturday Gigs

Jimi Hendrix - Mosaic

Nazareth - Storm Warning

Van Halen - The Warner Brothers Years

Mick Ronson - ...and on guitar

Mick Ronson - Just Like This

and from Paul's site, The Flying Burrito Brothers

Enjoy

pj and PowerPopTOM

 

The Charlatans - Down With The Mook (1999)

In early 1996 The Charlatans spent time at home writing material for their next album, and guitarist Mark Collins arranged for him and vocalist Tim Burgess to have use of a remote cottage in the Lake District where they could work on ideas. Upon returning home, the pair learned that bassist Martin Blunt, drummer Jon Brookes and keyboardist Rob Collins had completed three songs, and so at Easter 1996 the band travelled to Monnow Valley Studio in Monmouthshire to start recording. 'One To Another' was quickly earmarked as a single, but the progress was generally slow, and Burgess felt that it was being hindered by Rob Collins, who would intentionally ruin tracks that he did not like, and ruined songs he did like due to being intoxicated. Burgess had an argument with Collins, and confided to Mark Collins that he wished to kick Rob out of the band, but before that could happen, Collins was killed in a car crash on 22 July 1996. Returning home from the pub, he lost control of his car after hitting a kerb, causing it to slide across the road, go through a hedge and roll over a bank. As he was not wearing a seatbelt, Collins was ejected from the car, and although he managed to stand up prior to collapsing, he subsequently died in the ambulance taking him to hospital. After being told about the accident the rest of the band were distraught, and considering ending the group, but at the urging of Rob Collins' father, they agreed to continue, and enlisted the help of Martin Duffy of Primal Scream to fill Collins' role. Aware that progress on the album had stalled, the band re-focused themselves on finishing it, with Duffy playing back Collins' parts and then performing his own, and letting the band choose whichever they preferred. Burgess later said that the liner notes did not mention which songs Collins or Duffy had individually played on out of respect for Collins. As they were nearing completion of recording process, the band signed a deal with MCA Records and its parent company Universal Music Group in the US for £1 million, though they remained with Beggars Banquet for the UK. Their first US single on MCA was 'One To Another', which was released in August 1996, followed by 'North Country Boy' in March 1997, and both of these releases included a couple of otherwise unheard tracks on the b-sides. 

'Tellin' Stories' itself appeared in April 1997, with the US edition following in June with an amended track listing. The band embarked on a tour of the UK that ran into May 1997, and the London show saw the debut of Tony Rogers, who was now the band's full-time keyboardist. 'How High' and the title track were released as singles, each with extra tracks on the flip, and they finished 1997 with another tour of the UK. The critical reception of 'Tellin' Stories' was even better then that for 'The Charlatans', with the general feeling being that while 'The Charlatans' was an acceptable comeback album, 'Tellin' Stories' was the real deal, with no discernible dip in the quality of the material, and it appeared high on the albums of the year charts, alongside 'OK Computer' and 'Urban Hymns'. By late 1998, the band decided to build their own residential recording studio, which they hoped would help save on the costs of recording at other studios. While this was being constructed the various members spent time with friends and family, before reconvening at the start of 1999, only to find that their studio was still being built. They had planned to start recording in late January, but had to postpone until March when the studio was finally completed. On the same day that the band christened their studio Big Mushroom, they learned that their accountant Trevor Williams had stolen £300,000 from their funds, which should have been used for paying taxes dating back five years. Sessions for the new album were held at Big Mushroom in Middlewich, and at Great Linford Manor in Buckinghamshire, with the band self-producing, and by late April 1999 recording had almost wrapped up. 'Forever' was released as the lead single on 4 October 1999, and the album 'Us And Us Only' followed on 18 October 1999 through Universal in the UK, as the band's contact with Beggars Banquet had expired. This third collection of b-sides starts with one final one from 1995, then includes all the flips from the 'Tellin' Stories' singles from 1996 and 1997, and all three b-sides from 'Forever' from 1999.  

Track listing

01 Floor Nine (b-side of 'Bullet Comes' 1995)
02 Two Of Us (b-side of 'One To Another' 1996)
03 Reputation (b-side of 'One To Another' 1996)
04 Don't Need A Gun (b-side of 'North Country Boy' 1997)
05 Title Fight (b-side of 'How High' 1997)
06 Down With The Mook (b-side of 'How High' 1997)
07 Keep It To Yourself (b-side of 'Tellin' Stories' 1997)
08 Clean Up Kid (b-side of 'Tellin' Stories' 1997)
09 Great Place To Leave (b-side of 'Forever' 1999)
10 When Your Ship Comes In (b-side of 'Forever' 1999)
11 Sleepy Little Sunshine Boy (b-side of 'Forever' 1999) 

Bonnie McKee - Electric Heaven (2014)

In 2012 Bonnie McKee co-wrote two songs that appeared on Adam Lambert's album 'Trespassing', which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 Album Chart, and she appeared as a featured performer on 'Thunder' from Rusko's album 'Songs', released on Mad Decent. It was during this time that she signed a recording contract with Epic Records, who had spotted her unusual fashion sense when she featured on E!'s Fashion Police, and appeared on the pages of The New York Times, New York Post, and Schön! Magazine. In 2013 she was awarded three more BMI Pop awards for her songwriting work on Katy Perry's 'Wide Awake' and 'Part Of Me', as well as Britney Spears' 'Hold It Against Me'. McKee's first single under Epic Records was 'American Girl', which was released in July 2013, followed in October by another new song titled 'Sleepwalker', which McKee confirmed was not a single, but rather an "inbetweengle", to tide fans over until her next official release. The plan was to record and release her second album, under a joint deal between Epic and Kemosabe Records, in the summer of 2014, and a second single titled 'S.L.A.Y.' was performed at a number of venues while she was on the road with Karmin on their Pulses Tour, but it was delayed many times and eventually cancelled. Feeling that she had lost control over her career and the creative direction that she wanted to take, she left Epic and Kemosabe Records, and her official second album was shelved. As the recording of a lot of songs had taken place over 2012 and 2013, these began to leak on the internet, and before long there were enough of them for fans to start to put together their reconstructions of the shelved Epic album. I've looked at a few of them online, variously titled 'American Girl' or 'Electric Heaven', and distilled them into a definitive track listing of the legendary Epic album that never was. 

Track listing

01 American Girl
02 S.L.A.Y.
03 Forever 21
04 Hot City
05 Hit Me Up
06 Don't Get Mad, Get Famous
07 Electric Heaven
08 Everything But You
09 Somebody's Gonna Get Hurt
10 Sleepwalker
11 Rewind Your Heart