David McAlmont - Be (2000)

David Irving McAlmont was born 2 May 1967, growing up in Gorleston on Sea, Norfolk until 1978, when the family departed the United Kingdom for Guyana, residing with his grandparents in Lovely Lass Village Berbice, and then with his aunt in Wismar, Demerara. Moving back to the UK in 1989 to continue his education at Middlesex Polytechnic reading Performing Arts on the BAPA programme, he signed a publishing contract with Chrysalis Music in 1992, followed by a record deal with Virgin's Hut Records two years later. McAlmont first became noticed in the London band Thieves, who attracted early attention with the 1992 single 'Through The Door', but despite the release of a third single 'Either', Thieves split acrimoniously in 1994 shortly before the release of their first album. Following legal wrangling, the album was eventually released as the debut David McAlmont album under the title of 'McAlmont'. Despite some positive press attention, in particular regarding his startling voice, the album was not a commercial success. He continued his solo career until he was approached by ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, and in 1995 this collaboration produced 'The Sound Of McAlmont And Butler', an album of songs including 'Yes', which reached number 8 in the UK Singles Chart. Another single, 'You Do', was released later that year, and peaked at number 17, but shortly after this McAlmont and Butler went their separate ways. The producer David Arnold then worked with McAlmont on a version of 'Diamonds Are Forever', which led to them working together on his second album 'A Little Communication', which came out in 1998. In the years that followed he worked occasionally with Ultramarine and Craig Armstrong, and prepared his third album 'Be', but although it was hailed by The Guardian as "Britain's first Zen Pop album", it was shelved by his record label, Hut Records, who had lost interest in the project, leading to McAlmont's departure from the label. Promo copies were released to the press, however, hence the Guardian review, and so we are able to hear what 'Be' would have sounded like had it been released before McAlmont reunited with Butler in 2001 to produce their second joint album in 2002's 'Bring It Back'. 

Track listing

01 Ice Man
02 Easy
03 Inspiration
04 I Want You
05 Be
06 Timeless
07 Working
09 Foot Of The Hill
10 Remember Yourself
11 In The Beginning
12 Outro

Pulp - The EPs (1994)

When I posted the recent b-sides collection by Pulp, I deliberately didn't include any tracks from the EPs that they released in 1985, 1986, 1993 and 1994, as I was planning to post them separately. After signing with Fire Records in 1984, the band's first release on the label was the 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes) And Other Pieces...' EP, followed the next year by the five-track 'Dogs Are Everywhere' EP. After these two extended-plays, they band went back to releasing normal singles, and albums from which they were taken, and it was another decade before they returned to the format. By this time they'd left Fire and signed with Warp imprint Gift Records, but despite issuing singles and albums in the intervening 10 years, they were still only a minor attraction, and so after releasing 'O.U. (Gone Gone)' and 'Babies' as singles, they issued the four-track 'Razzmatazz' EP. It was around this time that they started to break through into the mainstream, as the next single after 'Razzmatazz' was 'Do You Remember The First Time', which was a minor hit. To take advantage of that, another EP was issued, with 'Sister's appearing in May 1994, and it included the song 'His 'n' Hers', which had been omitted from the album of the same name. 1995 was the breakthrough year for Pulp, with their next single being  'Common People', followed by 'Sorted For E's And Wizz', and from that point on the band never looked back. The 'Different Class' album came out in 1995, and topped the UK album chart, and so this collection of their EPs was just part of their long haul into becoming a defining band of the Britpop era. 

Track listing

01 Little Girl (With Blue Eyes) (single 1985)
02 Simultaneous (b-side of 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)')
03 Blue Glow (b-side of 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)')
04 The Will To Power (b-side of 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)')
05 Dogs Are Everywhere (single 1986)
06 Mark Of The Devil (b-side of 'Dogs Are Everywhere')
07 97 Lovers (b-side of 'Dogs Are Everywhere')
08 Aborigine (b-side of 'Dogs Are Everywhere')
09 Goodnight (b-side of 'Dogs Are Everywhere')
10 Razzmatazz (single 1993)
11 Stacks (b-side of 'Razzmatazz')
12 Inside Susan (b-side of 'Razzmatazz')
13 59 Lyndhurst Grove (b-side of 'Razzmatazz')
14 Your Sister's Clothes (from 'The Sisters' EP 1994)
15 Seconds (from 'The Sisters' EP 1994)
16 His 'N' Hers (from 'The Sisters' EP 1994)

Bermuda Triangle - Come Sail Away (1979)

Bermuda Triangle started out as a group called Roger And Wendy, who got together in the late '60s in Greenwich Village, typically playing in pass-the-basket-for-tips coffeehouses and folk clubs, such as Gerde's Folk City, (where they headlined for 33 weeks in 1970, setting a club record), the Cafe Wha?, the Bitter End, the Cafe Au Go Go, The Gaslight Cafe, The Freudian Slip, The Basement Cafe, and Kenny's Castaways. Performing at first without microphones, they developed an energized psychedelic folk style with just an electrified autoharp and fast-pulse bass guitar, and their music quickly evolved from traditional ballads to electric folk, including psych folk, acid freak folk and rock. Roger and Wendy took the stage names Roger Becket and Wendy Becket when they had become involved with the Theater Company of Boston, and then in several off-Broadway plays. They kept these pseudonyms through much of their musical career, including while in Bermuda Triangle, before returning to their original surname of Penney. They released two albums, 'Bermuda Triangle' in 1977 and 'Bermudas II' in 1984, but some unreleased recordings have recently come to light, and so I've taken the best of them to compile their third album, now called 'Come Sail Away'. 

Track listing

01 Rainy Monday
02 Come Sail Away
03 Lost Worlds
04 My Brother
05 You'll Be A Star
06 Sometimes We Find It
07 High Flyin' Bird
08 Goin' Down To New Orleans
09 Did You Love Me
10 Minnesota Strip
11 Paper Say

Bonnie McKee - Bombastic (2015)

Following the disastrous liaison with Epic Records, which ended in Bonnie McKee and the label parting company because Epic refused to give her the artistic freedom that she needed, she decided to release her music on her own independent record label, and set about putting together an EP of some of her songs. The first single from the EP was 'Bombastic', which was released on 26 May 2015,and which was written by McKee, Charlie Puth, Sean Walsh and Axident, and is an 80s-influenced dance-pop and pop rock song. The official music video for the song was directed by David Richardson, and because the song had an 80's work-out feel, the video reflected that, and featured McKee working out to the track. Videos were made for two more songs from the EP, with 'Wasted Youth' being released in January 2016, and another 80s-themed video was made for the third single 'I Want It All', which came out in June 2016 on McKee's Vevo account. The psychedelic, pastel-coloured video for the fourth and final single, 'Easy', was released in November 2016, meaning that all four songs from the EP had now been released as singles. Considering McKee's work ethic, it's no surprise that she wrote way more than just four songs for the EP, and picked her favourites for the record, with the rest being consigned to that ever-increasing vault of unused material, so I've picked fourteen of the songs recorded in the 'Bombastic' sessions to make an accompanying album, also titled 'Bombastic', and featuring just the title track from the EP. The artwork reflects the look of the 'Bombastic' video, and had an album been on the cards then it would probably have been released in 2015, just after that first single. 

Track listing

01 I Can Still Dance
02 Dirty Laundry
03 Restless
04 Always On My Mind
05 In The Wild
06 Bombastic
07 Speed Of Light
08 Wings
09 Good Day 4 Love
10 Undefeated
11 Diamonds
12 I Can (Totally) Do This
13 Wicked
14 Hallelujah

Sia - OnlySee (1997)

Sia Kate Isobelle Furler was born on 18 December 1975 in Adelaide, South Australia, and started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990's, releasing one album and an EP. When Crisp disbanded in 1997, she released her debut studio album, 'OnlySee', in Australia, marketed under her full name of Sia Furler, and coming out on Flavoured Records. The album only sold about 1,200 copies, and shortly afterwards she moved to London, where she performed as a background vocalist for British band Jamiroquai, as well as providing vocals for English downtempo group Zero 7 on their first three studio albums, and also touring with the group. In 2000 she signed a recording contract with Sony Music's sub-label Dance Pool, and released her first single, 'Taken For Granted', which peaked at No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart, and in 2001 she released her second solo album 'Healing Is Difficult', which blends retro jazz and soul music and lyrically discusses Sia's dealing with the death of her first love affair. Displeased with the promotion of the album, she fired her manager, left Sony Music and signed with Go! Beat, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group (UMG), releasing her third studio album 'Colour The Small One' in 2004. This album employs a mixture of acoustic instruments and electronic backing to her material, and it spawned four singles, including 'Don't Bring Me Down' and 'Breathe Me', the latter of which charted in the United Kingdom, Denmark and France. Following this breakthrough her career took off, and hit singles and gold albums followed, but as often happens with artists that seem to emerge fully formed from nowhere, she'd paid her dues in her home country, and so for fans who might not have realised that 'Healing Is Difficult' was actually her second solo album, here is her first. It might not be what you are used to from the singer, but they all have to start somewhere, and moving on from the acid-jazz of Crisp, to my ears this 1997 offering contains some superb trip-hop, reminiscent of early Portishead or Massive Attack.  

Track listing

01 Don't Get Me Started
02 I Don't Want To Want You
03 Onlysee
04 Stories
05 Madlove
06 A Situation
07 Shadow
08 Asrep Onosim
09 Take It To Heart
10 Beautiful Reality
11 Soon
12 One More Shot
13 Tripoutro

The Mighty Lemon Drops - Going Under (1991) **UPDATE**

It seems that something went drastically wrong with this post back in November, as jman has already had to point out that one track was wrongly numbered, which I thought that I'd fixed, but it turned out to be much worse than that. After checking it again following a comment from Leon, I found that the track titled 'Rollercoaster' wasn't 'Rollercoaster' at all, and the track titled 'Splash #1' was in fact 'Rollercoaster'. I'd also duplicated 'Out Of Hand' and titled it 'Going Under', and of course 'Splash #1' was missing altogether, as was 'Count Me Out'. So not one of my better efforts. It's all now fixed, so if you've already downloaded it but didn't notice the errors, then you can now get the corrected version from Soulseek or Mega. 

Track listing

Disc One 1985-1988

01 Now She's Gone (b-side of 'Like An Angel' 1985)

02 Sympathise With Us (b-side of 'Like An Amgel' 1985)

03 Uptight (b-side of 'The Other Side Of You' 1986)

04 Open Mind (b-side of 'My Biggest Thrill' 1986)

05 Rollercoaster (b-side of 'My Biggest Thrill' EP 1986)

06 Wait And See (b-side of 'My Biggest Thrill' EP 1986)

07 Waiting For The Rain (Radio 1 Janice Long session 1986)

08 When I Dream (Radio 1 Janice Long session 1986)

09 Out Of Hand (single 1987)

10 Going Under (b-side of 'Out Of Hand')

11 Splash #1 (Now I'm Home) (b-side of 'Out Of Hand' EP 1987)

12 Count Me Out (b-side of 'Out Of Hand' EP 1987)

13 World Without End (previously unreleased 1988)

Disc Two 1988-1991

01 Shine (b-side of 'Inside Out' 1988)

02 Head On The Block (b-side of 'Inside Out' 1988)

03 Paint It Black (b-side of 'Fall Down (Like The Rain)' 1988)

04 Laughter (b-side of 'Fall Down (Like The Rain)' 1988)

05 Rumbletrain (b-side of 'Into The Heart Of Love' 1989)

06 Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White (b-side of 'Into The Heart Of Love' 1989)

07 Forever Home At Heart (b-side of 'Beautiful Shame' 1989)

08 Discontent (b-side of 'Too High' 1991)

09 We Love You (b-side of 'Too High' 1991)

10 You Don't Fast (b-side of 'Too High' 1991)            

11 In Vain (previously unreleased 1991)

12 Another Girl, Another Planet (b-side of 'Unkind' 1991)

Thanks to Leon for spotting this and letting me know. 

   

The Heart Throbs - Visionary Songs (1993)

The Heart Throbs were formed in 1986 by Rose Carlotti and Stephen Ward, both college students, who recruited Rose's sister Rachel DeFreitas and Mark Side to join the band, with Rose and Rachel both being the sisters of the late Echo & the Bunnymen drummer Pete DeFreitas. The band released their first single 'Toy' in mid-1987 on Marc Riley's In-Tape label, and within a year they had made inroads towards infamy, supporting the Jesus And Mary Chain on tour, and releasing their 'Bang' single in a controversial 'car crash' record sleeve on their new label Rough Trade Records. Further publicity followed at the close of the decade when the band started up their own Profumo label, named after the political sex scandal that shocked Britain in the early 60s, and after releasing two further singles on this imprint, they were signed by the UK label One Little Indian Records. It was at this time that guitarist Alan Barclay a.k.a. Alan Borgia joined the group, allowing original guitarist Ward to move to keyboards. Their first album 'Cleopatra Grip' appeared on One Little Indian in the UK, and was distributed in the US by Elektra Records, achieving moderate success on both sides of the Atlantic, and including the superb 'Dreamtime', which was released as a single. The band embarked on a tense tour towards the end of 1990, which resulted in the departure of both bass player Carlotti and drummer Side, and when their deal with Elektra ended they were signed by A&M Records, who released their next album 'Jubilee Twist' in both the UK and the US. Following a change of management, Colleen Browne had taken over on bass and Steve Beswick had joined on drums for 'Jubilee Twist', but after disappointing sales A&M elected not to distribute their third and final album, 'Vertical Smile', which just appeared in the UK on the One Little Indian label. It probably didn't help their US profile that the first and third albums were named after euphemisms for female genitalia, while the jubilee twist is a martial combat technique for attacking the male genitalia. Despite 'Vertical Smile' being a strong album, the band struggled to regain the ground they had lost in the intervening period, and they ground to a halt the following year. After The Heart Throbs split up in 1993, Rose Carlotti and Steve Beswick formed the group Angora, who then changed their name to Tom Patrol, before eventually disbanding. I always liked The Heart Throbs, and I think that 'Cleopatra Grip' still holds up today as a great record, and so as an introduction for anyone who doesn't know them, here are all their non-album singles and b-sides from their all too short career. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1987-1988
01 Toy (single 1987)
02 Make My Day (b-side of 'Toy')
03 I, The Jury (b-side of 'Toy')
04 Bang (single 1987)
05 Sick At Heart (b-side of 'Bang')
06 Naked Bang (b-side of 'Bang')
07 Too Many Shadows (single 1988)
08 Things That Linger (b-side of 'Too Many Shadows')
09 I See Danger (b-side of 'Too Many Shadows')
10 Here I Hide (single 1988)
11 Pale Fire (b-side of 'Here I Hide')
12 Come (b-side of 'Here I Hide')

Disc II - 1989-1993
01 Cry Hard Cry Fast (b-side of 'Blood From A Stone' 1989)
02 Smothered (b-side of 'Blood From A Stone' 1989)
03 Shut Down (early version of 'Dreamtime', John Peel session 1989)
04 Toy '89 (from 'Lie To Me: A Compilation Of Guitar Use And Abuse' 1989)
05 Clear As A Bell (b-side of 'I Wonder Why' 1990)
06 This Man (b-side of 'Dreamtime' 1990)
07 Turn Away (from the 'Total Abandon' EP 1991)
08 Pumping (My Heart) (from the 'Total Abandon' EP 1991)
09 Laughing & Falling (from the 'Spongy Thing' EP 1992)
10 Tranquilized, Naked & Shy (from bonus 12" with vinyl edition of 'Jubilee Twist' 1992)
11 We Connect (b-side of 'Worser' 1993)
12 Visionary Song (b-side of 'Worser' 1993)

78violet - The Edge (2009)

Sisters Aly MIchalka & AJ Michalka are an American pop rock duo, who have been making music since 2005, signing to Disney's record label Hollywood Records when they were 14 and 16 years old. They released their debut studio album 'Into The Rush' in August 2005, and it debuted at number thirty six in the United States, selling over 24,000 copies in its first week, and was later certified Gold by the RIAA, selling over 1,000,000 copies worldwide. In 2006, the duo released their second studio album, the Christmas-themed 'Acoustic Hearts Of Winter', which peaked at seventy-eight on the Billboard 200 and sold 110,000 copies. Their third studio album, 'Insomniatic', debuted at number fifteen on the Billboard 200, making it their highest debut to date, and the album's lead single 'Potential Breakup Song' is their most successful single, peaking at number seventeen on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2009, Aly & AJ renamed themselves 78violet and announced their departure from Hollywood Records the following year, and in 2013 they released their only single under that name titled 'Hothouse'. However, it later transpired that they'd recorded a whole album under that name while they were still with Hollywood Records, and which has remained unreleased. Various songs from the record have leaked over the years, although two of them, 'Damaged' and 'Civilian' remained elusive for some time, although I have now managed to track them down, so that we can at last hear the album in its entirety. The duo are still making music, releasing a new single 'Take Me' in 2017, and they had various songs compiled onto the album 'We Don't Stop' in 2020. The same year saw the limited release of another 78violet album, their previously unreleased 2013 album 'Hothouse', recorded at the same time as the single of the same name. It was issued as an exclusive release for Aly & AJ's fan club Sanctuary, strictly for year one members, except for 29 copies that were released via their webstore. These were "Triple Signed" (autographed sleeve, inner sleeve & vinyl label) and pressed on clear with purple splatter vinyl, packaged inside a tip-on sleeve with foil stamp text on front and back cover, and are obviously now very collectible. For now, though, here is that 2009 78violet album which the girls recorded under their pseudonym, and which has remained unheard for over a decade.  

Track listing

01 Say Hello
02 The Good, The Bad, And The Boring
03 The Next Worst Thing
04 Damaged
05 The Edge
06 Civilian
07 Silly Boy
08 Walk Alone Tonight
09 Lovesick
10 Freak
11 Insane
12 Magellan
13 Bullet

Pacific - State Of Mind (2021)

Pacific are a Manchester-based four-piece who are carving their own arena in the industry with their unique blend of alternative, piano-infused rock and indie nuances. The band consists of brothers and songwriters Anthony Orzel (vocals/piano) and Daniel Orzel (synths/bass/backing vocals), plus Dave Bithell on guitar and Drew Burns on drums/percussion. They've been going for about five years now, and have been garnering praise for their singles, being played on BBC Radio 1 by Huw Stephens, and recently being added to Apple Music's Breaking Rock playlist. With an appetite for anthems, the band's electrifying singles have resulted in a strong fanbase, with both 'Puzzle' and 'Alibi' being released in 2021 to positive reviews, and they have helped to gain the band a new raft of supporters. Adapting to the times, Pacific have been in 'virtual' high-demand, releasing a cover video series in partnership with Blackstar Amps titled '90 Sec Anthems', and they were invited to play virtual live sets throughout 2020, including Liverpool Sound City's 'Guest House'. They have been posting songs to Soundcloud since they began, and there are now enough on there for them to include on a debut album, but once again, as they haven't got around to doing it themselves, I've done it  for them. 

Track listing

01 Blinded
02 Life In Short
03 Should Have Known
04 Not Telling You
05 Clarity
06 Let me Out
07 Bottle This Love
08 Time To Forget
09 Idols
10 Last Life
11 State Of Mind
12 Puzzle
13 Spiral
14 Alibi

Harry Nilsson - Signs (1972)

Harry Edward Nilsson III was born on 5 June 1941 in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, of Swedish descent through his paternal great-grandfather. By 1958, he was intrigued by emerging forms of popular music, especially rhythm and blues artists like Ray Charles, and had made early attempts at performing while he was working at the Paramount Theatre. Forming a vocal duo with his friend Jerry Smith, they sang close harmonies in the style of the Everly Brothers, with Nilsson learning to play the guitar and piano along the way. Due to his family's poor financial situation, he worked from an early age, including that job at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles, and when the theatre closed in 1960, he applied for a job at a bank, falsely claiming that he was a high school graduate on his application. He had an aptitude for computers, which were starting to be used at banks at the time, and later performed so well in his role that the bank retained him even after they discovered he had lied about his education. He worked on bank computers at night, and in the daytime pursued his songwriting and singing career, and in 1962 his natural talent helped him to get a job singing demos for songwriter Scott Turner, being paid five dollars for each track they recorded. In 1963, Nilsson began to have some early success as a songwriter, working with John Marascalco on a song for Little Richard, and Marascalco also financed some independent singles by Nilsson, one of which, 'Donna, I Understand', convinced Mercury Records to offer him a contract, and to release recordings by him under the name "Johnny Niles". By 1964, he was working with Phil Spector, writing three songs with him, and he also established a relationship with songwriter and publisher Perry Botkin, Jr., who began to find a market for his songs. Through his association with Botkin, Nilsson met and became friends with musician, composer and arranger George Tipton, who invested his life savings to finance the recording of his arrangements of four Nilsson songs, which they were able to sell to the Tower label, and which were subsequently included on Nilsson's debut album. Tipton went on to create the arrangements for nearly all of Nilsson's RCA recordings between 1967 and 1971, but their association ended in the 1970's when the two fell out. 

In 1966, Tower released the first singles actually credited to him by name, as well as the debut album 'Spotlight On Nilsson', but none of  these records charted or gained much critical attention, although his songs were being recorded by Glen Campbell, Fred Astaire, The Shangri-Las, The Yardbirds, and others. In 1966 Nilsson signed with RCA Victor and released the album 'Pandemonium Shadow Show' the following year, which was a critical, if not a commercial, success. Music industry insiders were impressed both with the songwriting and with his pure-toned, multi-octave vocals, and his songwriting success hit a peak when The Monkees recorded his 'Cuddly Toy'. 'Pandemonium Shadow Show' was followed in 1968 by 'Aerial Ballet', an album that included his rendition of Fred Neil's song 'Everybody's Talkin'', which was a minor US hit for him at the time of its release, but which became one of his most famous recordings when it was featured in the film 'Midnight Cowboy' the following year. 'One', from the 'Aerial Ballet' album, was covered by Three Dog Night and taken into the top 5 of the US charts, and Nilsson was commissioned at this time to write and perform the theme song for the ABC television series 'The Courtship Of Eddie's Father'. He wrote 'Best Friend', which was very popular, but he never released the song on record, although the original version of the song (titled 'Girlfriend') was recorded during the making of 'Aerial Ballet', although it didn't make the cut. His next album 'Harry' came out in 1969, being his first to hit the charts, and it also provided a Top 40 single with 'I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City', and while the album still presented him as primarily a songwriter, his astute choice of cover material included songs such as Randy Newman's 'Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear'. In fact Nilsson was so impressed with Newman's talent that he devoted his entire next album to Newman compositions, with Newman himself playing piano behind Nilsson's multi-tracked vocals on 1970's 'Nilsson Sings Newman'. 

His next project was the animated film 'The Point!', created with animation director Fred Wolf, and broadcast on ABC television on 02 February 1971 as an "ABC Movie of the Week". His self-produced album of songs from 'The Point!' was well received, and it spawned a top 40 single with 'Me And My Arrow'. Later that year, Nilsson went to England with producer Richard Perry to record what would become the most successful album of his career, 1972's 'Nilsson Schmilsson', which yielded three stylistically different hit singles, one of which he will forever be associated with. He didn't even write 'Without You', which was a cover of a song by Badfinger, written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans, but he gave the definitive performance of the song, recorded, according to Perry, in a single take. The second single was 'Coconut', a novelty calypso number, and the final one was 'Jump Into The Fire', which was a raucous rock and roll track, including a drum solo by Derek and the Dominos' Jim Gordon and a detuned bass part by Herbie Flowers. He followed this quickly with 'Son Of Schmilsson' the same year, released while its predecessor was still in the charts, but alongside the problem of competing with himself, he was also ignoring most of Perry's production advice, and his decision to give free rein to his bawdiness and bluntness on this release alienated some of his earlier, more conservative fan base, and it was at this point that Nilsson and I parted company. I'd loved his early work, and agree that 'Nilsson Schmilsson' is a masterpiece, but I have little time for much of his work post 1973, so this collection therefore covers all the bases for me. It includes demos, b-sides and out-takes from 1968 to 1972, plus a rare Italian single which he recorded some time in 1967, when he was recording some of his songs in the language, and which was later used as the b-side to his 1972 Italian recording of 'Without You'. 

Track listing

01 As I Wander Lonely (out-take 1967)
02 Signs (demo 1967)
03 The Family (out-take 1967)
04 World (demo 1967)
05 Miss Butter's Lament (out-take 1967)
06 I'll Never Leave You ('The Point' out-take 1971)
07 She's Just Laughing At Me (out-take 1968)
08 You Are Here (out-take 1968)
09 Sister Marie (stereo version of b-side of 'One' 1968)
10 Girlfriend (demo 1968)
11 Leggenda (Italian single 1968)
12 Buy My Album (b-side of 'Down To The Valley' 1970)
13 Paradise (demo 1971)
14 Waiting (single 1970)
15 How Can I Be Sure Of You (demo 1972)
16 I Will Take You There (b-side of 'Waiting')

Sparks - Lost And Found (1983)

Brothers Ron and Russell Mael grew up in Pacific Palisades, in west Los Angeles County, California, and both attended UCLA, Ron studying cinema and graphic art and Russell, theatre arts and filmmaking. Detesting the folk music scene, they developed a particular taste for English bands of the time such as the Who, Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd, the Kinks and the Move, which led to their description of themselves as "Anglophiles". Their very first recordings were made in 1967 under the name of Urban Renewal Project, recorded with married couple Fred and Ronna Frank, who were close friends of the Maels at the time. Other members of the band were 16-year old drummer Raymond Clayton and 22-year old Harold Zellman on bass guitar, with Ron on lead guitar and Russell as the singer, as well as playing the tambourine and harmonica. The four songs recorded were pressed on two acetates and have never been released, apart from the track 'Computer Girl', which was featured on a CD included with the Japanese semi-biography from 2006. After the breakup of Urban Renewal Project, the Maels put out a call for a guitar player on their university's bulletin board and Earle Mankey responded, and although Mankey was not a great musician, he turned out to be a real talent in recording techniques, and so they started writing and recording avant-garde-like songs. A demo album was taped in 1969, with the help of Surly Ralph Oswald on bass and John Mendelssohn on drums, and the recording was financed by manager Michael Berns, with a few copies being pressed on vinyl, and once it was housed in a cover designed by Ron, the 'Halfnelson' album was sent to a number of American record companies with an enclosed contract, and the request to sign on the dotted line. 

There was no positive response, however, and so Oswald and Mendelssohn were thanked for their services and left the band. Meanwhile, Russell became friends with Miss Christine of the GTOs, and being impressed by the song 'Roger' on the demo album, she advised Russell to send a copy of the album to her friend Todd Rundgren. After hearing the record he decided to fly to Los Angeles to meet Halfnelson, and after the meeting he expressed interest in producing their first album, which was to be named after the band. Through his contacts with Bearsville Records, he managed to get a record deal for the eccentric trio, and with the addition of Earle's brother Jim on bass, and Harley Feinstein on drums, 'Halfnelson' was recorded and released in January 1971, selling just a few hundred copies. In 1972 the band renamed themselves Sparks, being a play on the Marx Brothers, and the 'Halfnelson' album was re-issued as 'Sparks', with 'Wonder Girl' being extracted as a single. Their follow-up album, 'A Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing', led to a tour of the United Kingdom, including a residency at the Marquee Club in London, which gained them a significant cult following, leading them to relocate to England in 1973 with a new manager, John Hewlett, founder of John's Children. He managed to get them a deal with Island Records, thanks in part to the exposure garnered by their BBC2 Whistle Test performance, and an ad in music weekly Melody Maker provided them with a bass player in Martin Gordon, joining Adrian Fisher on guitar and Norman "Dinky" Diamond on drums. This line-up recorded their third album 'Kimono My House' in 1974, and the No. 2 hit single 'This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both of Us' proved to be their breakthrough in the UK. They became a UK teen sensation, appearing on the cover of Melody Maker, Record Mirror and countless other pop magazines in the UK and Europe, and further hits singles 'Amateur Hour' and 'Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth' led to appearances on the BBC's flagship music show Top of the Pops, with Russell's hyperactive movements being in sharp contrast to Ron's expressionless squint and Charlie Chaplin-esque moustache. Gordon and Fisher were later replaced by Trevor White and Ian Hampton, and in 1975, the revised band returned to the US to tour supporting the 'Kimono My House' album, and it's follow-up 'Propaganda', and they soon gained a strong cult following in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. 

'Indiscreet' appeared in 1975, and 'Looks, Looks, Looks' was another big hit for them. In 1976 the Maels returned home to Los Angeles, and concerned that their music may have become stale, they adopted a more "American" sound, and recorded 'Big Beat' with Rupert Holmes and Jeffrey Lesser on production. None of the singles pulled from this album were as successful as their earlier ones, and so for 1977's 'Introducing Sparks' they produced the record themselves, with help from Terry Powell. In 1976, Sparks made one of their first forays into the movie business, making a cameo appearance in the disaster-suspense film 'Rollercoaster', after Kiss had turned down the roles, and they performed their songs 'Fill 'Er Up' and 'Big Boy'. By 1977 the brothers found themselves at a crossroads, as they had cut ties with Hewlett and had grown tired of recording within a traditional rock band framework. In a conversation with a German journalist, they expressed their admiration for Giorgio Moroder, a pioneer of electronic disco and pop music, and as Moroder happened to be a friend of the journalist, he was able to connect the brothers with the Italian producer, who produced their next album, 'No. 1 In Heaven'. This was more electronic and synthesizer-based than their previous efforts, and it would come to redefine Sparks' sound, and challenge the concept of what is meant by a band. It spawned two singles which reached the top-fifteen of the UK chart, with 'The Number One Song In Heaven' and 'Beat The Clock' introducing fans to their new sound. Their next album appeared in 1980, and 'Terminal Jive' produced a hit single in France with 'When I'm With You', which led to the Maels staying in the country for a year promoting the album, during which Russell became conversationally fluent in French. 

Finding the electronic equipment that they had adopted for their new sound too cumbersome for touring, the band returned to the more conventional band format for their next three releases, although they did not eschew synthesizers entirely. 'Whomp That Sucker' was released in 1981, followed by 'Angst In My Pants' in 1982, and 'In Outer Space' the following year. This last album gave them a US top 50 hit single when 'Cool Places' was released from it, being a collaboration with the Go-Go's rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Jane Wiedlin, who was a dedicated fan of the band, and who at one time ran her own Sparks fan club. In 1984, the Maels wrote and performed several original songs on the soundtrack for the black comedy teen film 'Bad Manners' (aka: 'Growing Pains'), including the film's title song 'Bad Manners', and it was around this time that Sparks stopped including otherwise unheard songs on the flips of their singles, going with remixes of album tracks instead, and so this collection of rare b-sides finishes in 1983 with the stand-alone single 'Modesty Plays'. The band continued to release albums throughout the 90's, right up to the early 2010's, to a generally positive reception, but it was their 23rd studio album 'Hippopotamus', which was released in September 2017, which brought then back into the public eye, with its universal critical and commercial success, peaking at number 7 in the UK Albums Chart, and heralding a return to form for this innovative band, which has continued to the present day, with their 2020 album 'A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip' garnering similar reviews. For now, we can revel in their work from the early 70's to the early 80's, when they were at the peak of their success. 

Track listing

01 Barbecutie (b-side of 'This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us' 1974)
02 Lost And Found (b-side of 'Amateur Hour' 1974)
03 Alabamy Right (b-side of 'Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth' 1974)
04 Marry Me (b-side of 'Something For The Girl With Everything' 1975)
05 Profile (b-side of 'Get In The Swing' 1975)
06 The Wedding Of Jacqueline Kennedy To Russell Mael (previously unreleased 1975)
07 I Want To Hold Your Hand (single 1976)
08 England (b-side of 'I Want To Hold Your Hand')
09 Gone With The Wind (previously unreleased 1976)
10 Intrusion/Confusion (previously unreleased 1976)
11 Looks Aren't Everything (previously unreleased 1976) 
12 Tearing The Place Apart (previously unreleased 1976)
13 Untitled (b-side of 'Beat The Clock' 1979)
14 Sports (b-side of 'Cool Places' 1983)
15 Modesty Plays (single 1983)
16 Angst In My Pants (b-side of 'Modesty Plays')

Alexz Johnson - Weight (2009)

Alexzandra Spencer Johnson was born on 4 November 1986 in New Westminster, British Columbia, and raised in nearby Coquitlam. From age three, she often sang for her large extended family, and by age six she was receiving vocal training, participating in festivals with her local youth choir by age seven, and giving solo performances at school and community functions. By the age of nine, she had entered the P.N.E. talent search, becoming a finalist, and she participated in many talent contests and festivals, winning a National Anthem Contest at the age of 11 with her rendition of the Canadian National Anthem 'O Canada', leading to her singing the Canadian National Anthem at games for the NHL's Vancouver Canucks and the NBA's Vancouver Grizzlies. Although she was mainly focused on a music career at the time, she decided to pursue a career in acting at the age of 11, and she auditioned for the Disney Channel original series 'So Weird', where she was cast in the lead role of Annie Thelen, which combined her acting and musical talents, co-writing one of the songs for the show. After the cancellation of 'So Weird', Johnson continued her interest in song-writing, co-writing with her brother Brendan Johnson, and although several labels offered her contracts, she held off as she wanted more creative control and a hand in the song-writing. Throughout 2004, Johnson made various appearances on Canadian television series and made-for-TV films and in February 2004 she sent in an audition tape to the producers of 'Degrassi: The Next Generation' for their upcoming show 'Instant Star'. Hers was the first audition tape Executive Producer Stephen Stohn received, and he was convinced she was perfect for the role of Jude Harrison, being proved right by her three nominations for Gemini Awards (the Canadian equivalent of the American Emmy Award) after its first season. 

Johnson sang all of the songs that her character Jude performed on the show, and recorded soundtracks for each of the four seasons of 'Instant Star', writing or co-writing five of the songs on the first season's soundtrack. Johnson had written a number of songs in 2005 which were originally planned for her debut album, but she had yet to find a major label to help record and release them, having left indie Canadian label Orange Records in search of something to showcase her as an artist, rather than her fictional counterpart, Jude Harrison. After landing the role of Erin Ulmer in 'Final Destination 3', and giving a Leo Award-nominated performance in the Lifetime movie 'Devil's Diary', the funding for 'Instant Star' was pulled after the fourth series, and the cancellation of the series allowed Johnson to go back to focusing on her music. In 2007 she announced that all of her songs had been written and recorded for her debut album, and she was shopping around for a label to release it in the winter. In February 2008 she signed a deal with Epic Records, expecting the album to be released in the fall, and while five songs were posted on her MySpace page by her record company, in 2009 she went back to acting for a while, appearing in the 'Smallville' TV series, and the made-for-TV movie 'Stranger With My Face'. However, before the album's release date, Epic Records released over a third of their artists from their contracts, including Johnson, which led to her confirming that due to losing her deal with Epic, she would be releasing a different album independently with her brother Brendan producing. 'Voodoo' was released in March 2010, with lead single 'Trip Around The World' appearing a month earlier, and despite the warm reception for the record, fans were eager to hear those earlier songs, and so in 2011 Johnson managed to retrieve the rights to them from Epic Records and released a few of them, together with some original demos and some other unreleased tracks, as 'The Basement Recordings'. However, a number of the tracks from that debut remained unreleased, and so here is the original 'Weight' album as it would have appeared had it come out in 2009.

Track listing

01 Running With The Devil
02 Swallowed
03 Mailman
04 Chicago
05 Golden
06 Lost And Found
07 Saving The Train
08 Weight
09 Easy
10 Shout
11 Wings Of A Dove

Jean Thomas - Too Young To Be Yours (1966)

If you have listened to 60's music at all you will have  heard Jean Thomas, either as a girl group member, or as a backing vocalist, appearing on many hundreds of tracks, and backing such well known singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Connie Francis, Lesley Gore, Neil Diamond, Barbara Streisand, Sarah Vaughn, Eydie Gorme and many others. She is also the writer of over 80 songs, and is perhaps most famous as the lead singer of The Rag Dolls, which were Bob Crewe's creation of a female Four Seasons. In the early 60's her brother Don learned to play guitar, and together they harboured ambitions of a career in the music industry, so they wrote some songs together and took them to Paul Anka's publishing company, who signed the pair to an exclusive song-writing contract. In October of 1961 her vocals at an audition were noticed by Archie Bleyer of Cadence Records, who offered to record her, and in January 1962 she recorded what for some is the definitive version of 'Moon River'. Her second single was a Jean and Don original, with 'He's So Near' being more in the 'girl group' style than the ballad of 'Moon River'. In tandem with her burgeoning career as a solo singer she was still writing songs and recording demos with her brother, as well as finding plenty of work as a session singer providing backing vocals. Her session work at MGM led to them offering her two original Chip Taylor originals for release as a single, with 'I Don't Miss You At All'/'Don't Make Me (Fall In Love With You)' appearing in 1964. By early 1964 Thomas had teamed up with fellow songwriter/backing vocalist Ellie Greenwich and an old friend from Sarasota Mikie Harris, to provide a 'girl group' backing to many hit singles from 1964 to 1967. Quite often record producers put together an ad hoc group which included Thomas, to record a one-off single, and so she was a member of such obscure groups as The Angels, Angie And The Chicklettes (with a novelty record commenting on Ringo Starr's recent marriage, included here as an example of these one-offs), The Surfer Girls, The Tomboys, The Ramblers, The Telltales, and when her voice was heard by Bob Crewe, as part of The Rag Dolls. The group was named after the Four Seasons hit of the same name, and Thomas's sweet vocal was felt to be the female equivalent of Frankie Valli's distinctive falsetto. The Rag Dolls released three singles in 1964 and 1965, but at the same time Thomas was still writing and recording demos for other artists, as well as issuing singles under her own name of Jeannie Thomas, such as 'Life Of The Party'/'Too Good To Be Bad' on the New Voice label in 1965. This collection focusses on a very small part of her career, and features just the songs issued as singles under her own name, along with the odd demo, plus that Ringo novelty single, and it shows that Thomas could handle just about any genre of music, as well as penning some great songs, both for herself and for other artists. 

Track listing

01 Moon River (single 1962)
02 My Ideal (b-side of 'Moon River')
03 He's So Near (Yet So Far Away) (single 1963)
04 Seven Roses (To Pledge My Love For You) (b-side of 'He's So Near (Yet So Far Away)')
05 The Boy That I Want Doesn't Want Me (single 1963)
06 Too Young To Be Yours (previously unreleased)
07 I Don't Miss You At All (single 1964)
08 Don't Make Me (Fall In Love With You) (b-side of 'I Don't Miss You At All')
09 Treat Him Tender, Maureen (Now That Ringo Belongs To You) (single 1965)
10 Tommy (b-side of 'Treat Him Tender, Maureen (Now That Ringo Belongs To You)')
11 Life Of The Party (single 1965)
12 Too Good To Be Bad (b-side of 'Life Of The Party')
13 If You Could Only Be Me (demo)
14 Don't Tell Me Not To Love You (demo)
15 You're The Root Of My Evil (single 1966)