Allan Holdsworth - ...and on guitar (2017) EXPANDED EDITION

The premise of this series is to showcase famous guitarist's guest appearances on other people's records, but Allan Holdsworth had such an individual career that for this post it will be slightly different. Holdsworth is a unique musician, who is held in high regard by both his fans and his peers, and yet his career is quite fragmented, in that he tended to join a band, record one album with them, and then leave to move on, in effect becoming the guest musician in his own life. This expanded edition takes his career beyond his short-lived membership of those bands of the 70's, and into a 30 year period of solo albums, collaborations, and what turned out to be a multitude of guest appearances.
Allan Holdsworth was born in Bradford on 6th August 1946, where he was raised by his maternal grandparents. His grandfather Sam Holdsworth was a jazz pianist who had previously moved to London to pursue a career in music, but he eventually returned to Bradford. Holdsworth was given his first guitar at the age of 17, receiving his initial music tuition from his grandfather, and his professional career began when he joined the Glen South Band, which performed on the Mecca club circuit across Northern England. His first recordings were in 1969 with the band 'Igginbottom on their lone release, ''Igginbottom's Wrench', on which he also sang and wrote most of the music. In 1971 he joined Sunship, an improvisational band featuring keyboardist Alan Gowen, future King Crimson percussionist Jamie Muir and bassist Laurie Baker, but although they played live, they never released any recorded material. The following year he teamed up with Nucleus leader Ian Carr, and played on Carr's solo album 'Belladonna', before moving on to join progressive rock band Tempest, contributing to their self-titled debut studio album in 1973. Leaving Tempest, he then joined Soft Machine, playing on their 'Bundles' album, then leaving them to join The New Tony Williams Lifetime while they were recording their 'Believe It' album. Another move in 1976 found him in Gong, and recording their progressive jazz/fusion album 'Gazeuse!', before joining Jean-Luc Ponty to play on his 'Enigmatic Ocean'. In 1978 he was off again to team up with Bill Bruford for his 'Feels Good To Me' record, before Bruford formed the progressive rock supergroup U.K. with John Wetton and Eddie Jobson, and invited Holdsworth to join them, where he played on their first album before leaving them. 

Whilst U.K. continued with different musicians, Bruford returned to the core line-up of his solo band ,now simply named Bruford, with Holdsworth retained as guitarist, and their second album 'One Of A Kind' was released in 1979. At this point Holdsworth was ready to pursue his own musical aspirations and soon left the group, teaming up first with Gordon Beck, and then Gary Husband, and by 1982 he'd released his first album as bandleader, with his group I.O.U.'s self-titled record. This was the start of along and illustrious career for him, releasing numerous critically acclaimed albums over a 30 year period. His 1986 album 'Atavachron' was a landmark release in that it was the first to feature Holdsworth's work with a brand new instrument named the SynthAxe. This unusually designed MIDI controller (different from a guitar synthesizer) would become a staple of Holdsworth's playing for the rest of his recording career, during which he would effectively become the public face of the instrument. The next year saw the release of a fourth album, 'Sand', which featured no vocals and showcased further SynthAxe experimentation. This was also the year which saw him back in the studio as a jobbing musician, as after releasing an album a year for five years he answered the call to provide his inimitable guitar-work to an album being recorded by Swiss hard-rockers Krokus. It was a departure from his usual style, but it must have provided the impetus to do more session work, as from 1988 onwards he was hardly ever out of the studio. Firstly there was a second collaboration with Gordon Beck, 'With A Heart In My Song', in 1988, followed by his contribution to a track on Stanley Clarke's 'If This Bass Could Only Talk' album, and also appearing on the title track of 'Radio Free Albemuth' by Stuart Hamm. 

A collaboration in 1990 with fusion guitarist Frank Gambale came about in the form of 'Truth In Shredding', an ambitious collaborative project put together by Mark Varney (brother of Shrapnel Records founder Mike Varney) through his Legato Records label. In December of that year, following the death of Level 42 guitarist Alan Murphy in 1989, Holdsworth was recruited by the band to play as a guest musician during a series of concerts at London's Hammersmith Odeon, and with former band-mate Gary Husband now being the drummer for Level 42, these circumstances all led to him contributing guitar work on five tracks for their 1991 album, 'Guaranteed'. The same year he played on Chad Wackerman's first studio album, 'Forty Reasons', returning a favour as Wackerman was Holdsworth's drummer for most of their 30 year career. The 2000's began positively with the release of 'The Sixteen Men Of Tain' in 2000, but it turned out to be the last album he recorded at his Brewery studios, as immediately afterwards he abruptly slowed down his solo output due to events within his personal life. He did, however, tour extensively around both North America and Europe, and played as a guest on albums by numerous artists, most notably on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's 2004 album 'Mythology', as well as with the latter's progressive metal supergroup Planet X, on their 2007 album 'Quantum', and on K²'s 'Book Of The Dead' from 2005. In 2006 he performed with Wackerman, keyboardist Alan Pasqua, and bassist Jimmy Haslip as part of a live tribute act in honour of the late Tony Williams, with whom Holdsworth and Pasqua had played in the mid-1970's. His final contribution to a record was probably his appearance on a couple of tracks from MSM Schmidt's 'Life' album, and his 'Endomorph' was sampled by Playboi Carti on his track 'Location', both in 2017, the year in which Holdsworth passed away at the age of 70, with his death being attributed to high blood pressure. 

Holdsworth's mercurial career has covered many bands, sometimes going back to play with them again years later, but the one thing they all have in common is that their music was enhanced by his inventive guitar playing. Holdsworth was known for his highly advanced knowledge of music theory, through which he incorporated a vast array of complex chord progressions, often using unusual chord shapes in an abstract way based on his understanding of 'chord scales', and intricate improvised solos, frequently across shifting tonal centres. He used a myriad of scale forms often derived from those such as the lydian, diminished, harmonic major, augmented, whole tone, chromatic and altered scales, among others, often resulting in an unpredictable and dissonant 'outside' sound. His unique legato soloing technique stemmed from his original desire to play the saxophone, but unable to afford one, he strove to use the guitar to create similarly smooth lines of notes. His guitar style really was unique, and he continues to be cited as an influence by other musicians to this day. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1969-1978
01 Golden Lakes (from ''Igginbottom's Wrench' by 'Igginbottom 1969)
02 Hector's House (from 'Belladonna' by Ian Carr 1972)
03 Up And On (from 'Tempest' by Tempest 1973)
04 Land Of The Bag Snake (from 'Bundles' by Soft Machine 1975)
05 Proto Cosmas (from 'Believe It' by The New Tony Williams Lifetime 1975)
06 Expresso (from 'Gazeuse!' by Gong 1976)
07 Enigmatic Ocean Part III (from 'Enigmatic Ocean' by Jean-Luc Ponty 1977)
08 If You Can't Stand The Heat...' (from 'Feels Good To Me' by Bruford 1978)
09 Nevermore (from 'U.K.' by U.K. 1978)

Disc II - 1986-1991
01 Long Way From Home (from 'Change Of Address' by Krokus 1986)
02 The Grand Pajandrum (from 'Soma' by Soma 1986)
03 Stories To Tell (from 'If This Bass Could Only Talk' by Stanley Clarke 1988)
04 Radio Free Albemuth (from 'Radio Free Albemuth' by Stuart Hamm 1988)
05 Obsession (from 'A Question Of Time' by Jack Bruce 1989)
06 Under Fire (from 'Attack Of The Neon Shark' by Alex Masi 1989)
07 Bathsheba (from 'Truth In Shredding' by The Mark Varney Project 1990)
08 You Came Along (from 'Forty Reasons' by Chad Wackerman 1991)

Disc III - 1991-2004
01 A Kinder Eye (from 'Guaranteed' by Level 42 1991)
02 You Have To Wait (from 'Oneness' by Andrea Marcelli 1992)
03 Forest Of Feeling (from 'Lone Ranger' by Jeff Watson 1992)
04 Allan Qui? (from 'Suffer' by Gongzilla 1995)
05 Wring It Out (from 'From Your Heart And Your Soul' by Steve Hunt 1997) 
06 Day Of The Dead (from 'Mythology' by Derek Sherinian 2004)
07 Long Voyage Home (from 'Sonic Undertow' by Riptyde 2004)

Disc IV - 2005-2017
01 Aten (Window Of Appearances) (from 'Book Of The Dead' by K² 2005)
02 Skippy (from 'Nebula' by David Hines 2005)
03 Tsunami (from 'The State Of Things' by David Garfield & Friends 2005)

04 El Gato Fandango (from 'Prowlin' by Dan Carlin 2007)
05 The Thinking Stone (from 'Quantum' by Planet X 2007)
06 Fred 2011 (from 'Dirty & Beautiful - Volume 2' by Gary Husband 2012)
07 Location (from 'Playboi Carti' by Playboi Carti 2017)
08 Vista (from 'Life' by MSM Schmidt 2017)

The Three Johns - Men Like Monkeys (1985)

The Three Johns were an English post-punk/indie rock band formed in 1981 in Leeds, England, by guitarist Jon Langford (co-founder of the Mekons), vocalist John Hyatt and bassist Phillip "John" Brennan, augmented by a drum machine. The band initially formed just before the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer, and their first gig was to be part of a "Funk the Wedding" event, but they were refused permission to play because they were drunk. They specialized in abrasive, politically charged, danceable rock, sounding almost nothing like Langford's main band, and were a silly/serious bunch of political and cultural provocateurs. Recording during the height of Margaret Thatcher's ill-conceived Tory rebellion, the Johns were openly antagonistic to this new, conservative vision of Britain's future, and while their elliptical and epigrammatic lyrics might not offer the sloganeering that would easily identify them as lefties, certainly there were enough hints dropped along the way. To remove any doubt, the band explained that they were not a socialist band, but were a group of socialists who are in a band, and that  the distinction was an important one. Their left-wing leanings were further evidenced by the sleeve of their 1984 'Atom Drum Bop' album, which carried the words "Rock 'n' Roll Versus Thaatchiism", a reference to then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her marketing by Saatchi & Saatchi, and in 1985 they played at the GLC's Jobs for a Change festival in London's Battersea Park. Unlike other rock agit-prop bands, the Johns played a fairly accessible version of polemical post-punk anti-pop that embraced big, messy arena-rock-sounding guitars and hard, repetitive, quasi-hip-hop dance beats. 

Perhaps the most subversive thing about them is that, despite Langford's and Hyatt's goofy vocals, they were, in their own weird way, pure pop for now people, especially those who hated Thatcher. With collective tongue planted firmly in cheek, the Johns took on British and American obsession with materialism, the diabolical Reagan/Thatcher lovefest, and the machinations of the pop music industry, all of it done with a great sense of humour mixed in with genuine fear and horror. Frequently hard to pin down, they revelled in being slippery, exhibiting a love and loathing for pop music, and in some respects they resembled friends and fellow Leeds mates The Gang Of Four, but where The Gang Of Four was dour and serious (bordering on academic), the Johns were loutish and boisterous, which when combining politics and rock & roll can, ultimately, be a good thing. They signed to CNT Records in 1982, which Langford jointly founded, and released two singles and an EP for the label. After signing to Abstract Records the label released all their material over the next five years, and their singles regularly appeared in the UK Indie Chart during the mid-1980's. They were a particular favourite of John Peel, and recorded six sessions for his BBC Radio 1 show, and also reached No. 14 in the 1985 Festive Fifty with 'Death Of The European'. The band split up in late 1988 after a disastrous US tour, but reformed in 1990, releasing 'Eat Your Sons', a concept album about cannibalism, before splitting again. During their time in the band, the members managed to maintain their day jobs: Langford as a graphic designer and Hyatt a teacher of fine art at Leeds Polytechnic, and after the split Langford continued with the Mekons, later releasing a solo album, while Hyatt concentrated on his academic career. They reformed again in 2012, playing five shows, and continued to perform intermittently through 2017 in the UK, mostly in the Manchester and Leeds-Bradford areas.

Track listing

Disc I - 1982-1983
01 Pink Headed Bug (single 1982)
02 Lucy In The Rain (b-side of 'Pink Headed Bug')
03 English White Boy Engineer (single 1982)
04 Secret Agent (b-side of 'English White Boy Engineer')
05 A.W.O.L. (single 1983)
06 Rooster Blue (b-side of 'A.W.O.L.')
07 Image Or An Animal (b-side of 'A.W.O.L.')
08 Kick The Dog Right Out (b-side of 'A.W.O.L.')
09 Men Like Monkeys (single 1983)
10 Two Minute Ape! (b-side of 'Men Like Monkeys')
11 Windolene (b-side of 'Men Like Monkeys')
12 Marx's Wife (b-side of 'Men Like Monkeys')
13 Paris-Forty One (b-side of 'Men Like Monkeys')

Disc II - 1984-1985
01 Do The Square Thing (single 1984)
02 The World Of The Workers (b-side of 'Do The Square Thing')
03 Zowee (b-side of 'Do The Square Thing')
04 Kinkybeat (b-side of 'Do The Square Thing')
05 Death Of A European (single 1985)
06 Heads Like Convicts (b-side of 'Death Of A European')
07 Rabies (b-side of 'Death Of A European')
08 Twentieth Century Boy (b-side of 'Death Of A European')
09 Fruit Flies (from the 'Never Mind The Jacksons...Here's The Pollocks' compilation 1985)
10 Brainbox (He's A Brainbox) (single 1985)
11 Watch It Go (b-side of 'Brainbox (He's A Brainbox')
12 Crazytown (b-side of 'Brainbox (He's A Brainbox')
13 Men Without Bones (b-side of 'Brainbox (He's A Brainbox')

Joi - Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome (1997)

Joi Elaine Gilliam was born on 25 January 1971, and is better known mononymously as Joi. She released her debut album, 'The Pendulum Vibe', in 1994 on EMI, with Dallas Austin as the executive producer, and while the lead single 'Sunshine & The Rain' received heavy airplay on video outlets such as VH1 and MTV, the single failed to become a hit, and album sales were disappointing. Despite the low sales, critical praise from the media was positive, with some calling her 'the new Madonna'. In fact, Madonna herself was so impressed with 'The Pendulum Vibe' that she changed the direction of her 1994 album 'Bedtime Stories', incorporating Joi's signature style of "neo soul". The track 'Freedom' from 'The Pendulum Vibe' was later re-recorded featuring Aaliyah, Mary J. Blige, En Vogue, Me'shell Ndegeocello, TLC, Queen Latifah, Vanessa Williams, SWV, Brownstone and many more, for use in the 1995 Mario Van Peebles film 'Panther'. In 1997, Joi prepared for the release of her second album, 'Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome', on Limp/EMI Records, adding funk-rock band Fishbone as her backing group, and including a nod to her renegade female funk predecessor Betty Davis with a cover of her 'If I’m In Luck (I Might Get Picked Up)'. 'I Believe' was picked to be the first single, and a video, which featured a then pregnant Joi, was shot, but weeks before its release EMI announced that they wanted more "radio friendly" tracks for the album, so the video's release was cancelled, and the album was put on hold. 

Before returning to the studio, Joi gave birth to a baby girl, named Keypsiia "Blue-Daydreamer" Gipp, and she decided to take a short hiatus. Around a year later she returned with a new single 'Ghetto Superstar', which featured her then husband rapper Big Gipp, and a video was shot with Big Gipp and their 1-year-old daughter Keypsiia. However, when her label Rowdy/EMI folded, that was the end for the album, which was then cancelled completely. Even though the record never saw the light of day commercially, bootleg copies began circulating on the internet, and some media outlets even posted reviews of it, calling it "ahead of its time", and to me there's more than a hint of trip-hop amongst the excellent R'n'B on show. In spite of the positive feedback received for the project, Joi was disappointed about its cancellation and decided to take a break to take care of her family. Dallas's company FreeWorld Records acquired the rights to release the album, but instead they released two different promotional EPs for radio, with a selection of songs from the album, and then FreeWorld Records went out of business before 'Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome' could be released. This was yet another example of a perfectly decent album being lost due to the fragile nature of the music business, and as it deserves to be given a hearing then here it is so that we can do just that. 

Track listing

01 Welcome Amoeba Spirit 
02 Move On 
03 Answering Machine (interlude)
04 If I'm In Luck (I Might Just Get Picked Up) 
05 Ghetto Superstar

06 After Show (interlude)
07 Time To Smile

08 My Brother's Letter

09 You Turn Me On (feat. Peach Of Whild Peach)

10 Hurts Sometimes 
11 E'En So Lord Jesus, Quickly Come
12 Soul

13 It's Over

14 I Believe

15 Dirty Mind 

16 Dandelion Dust

17 If I Could Fly 
18 Copy Cat (Outro)

Paradiso Girls - Crazy Horse (2010)

Jimmy Iovine, owner of Interscope Records, decided to create a new girl group after meeting French singer and former Star Academy yoga teacher Aria Crescendo, and together with Robin Antin, Martin Kierszenbaum and will.i.am, he auditioned over 500 girls in London, some of which had been noticed during The X Factor UK auditions. He cast six of them, including singer Lauren Bennett, singer/dancer Kelly Beckett, as well as rapper/singers Shar Mae Amor and Chelsea Grace Korka alongside Aria Crescendo. Each girl represented a different country with the group having no lead singer, unlike The Pussycat Dolls. After two years of production, the group finally released its first official single, 'Patron Tequila', featuring Eve and Lil' Jon, on iTunes in April 2009, and the song was intended as the lead single from their proposed debut album entitled 'Crazy Horse'. In June 2010, their second single, 'Who's My Bitch', was released digitally, but unlike the previous single, it performed poorly in the charts and the group did no promotions for the song. Following the poor performance of the second single, numerous rumours of disbandment began to circulate the internet after some band members began to remove the word "Paradiso" from their Twitter names, although member Shar Mae Amor stated in an interview on UStream that the group was preparing for a third single, while Lauren Bennett stated that the album was already finished and that the group were just waiting for their record label to set a release date. The fate of the group was then put into question when a brief disagreement broke out between band members Crescendo and Korka on Twitter, after Korka tweeted that the group was still together but each band member will be pursuing their own projects for the time being. A frustrated Crescendo then replied to her tweet by saying "why are you confusing the fans ????????? u know the troth Chealsea so stop pretending .......be truthful to ur hart for once". On 27 October 2010, Crescendo made an unofficial confirmation that the group had been dropped by Interscope Records, and she expressed her disappointment for the lack of promotion given to the band in return for their efforts over the last two years. She also confirmed that their highly anticipated debut album would no longer be released. No official track listing has ever surfaced, and the group apparently recorded over 50 songs in preparation for it, but enough of them have since surfaced to put together a pretty good approximation of the 'Crazy Horse' album, and so here it is. 

Track listing

01 Patron Tequila (feat. Eve & Lil Jon)
02 I Got it From My Mama (feat. ​will.i.am & Daft Punk)
03 Love Is All I Need
04 Down
05 Boys & Girls
06 So Over
07 Who's My Bitch

08 W.O.W.
09 Unpredictable
10 Big Ponny
11 My DJ
12 Boys Go Crazy (feat. The-Dream)
13 (That’s Just) What I Like (feat. ​will.i.am)

Sting - The Gordon Sumner Quartet (1993)

Timothy White was a well-known journalist in the US, being the senior editor for 'Rolling Stone' magazine, and then Editor in Chief of 'Billboard' from 1991 until his early death in 2002, from a heart attack at the age of 50. He also recorded interviews with musicians for broadcast on various radio stations around America, and in 1991 he invited Sting plus three of his band into the studio to talk about his career, and his recently released album 'The Soul Cages'. In between the chat the four piece group of Sting (bass/vocals), Dominic Miller (guitar), David Sancious (piano) and Vinnie Colaiuta (drums) played stripped-down jazz versions of a number of songs, some from the album, some choice covers, and a rare b-side in 'I Miss You, Kate'. Two years later, in 1993, the same musicians returned for a second interview, this time to discuss the recently released record 'Ten Summoner's Tales', and once again they interspersed the chat with jazzy versions of some of the tracks from the album, plus a few older songs and a selection of covers. A number of recordings from this second session are missing, as they were removed from bootlegs of the sessions after it was reported that they had been officially released, but I have searched everywhere and can find no sign of them on any official Sting record, so it appears that are probably lost forever. There are, however, enough great recordings from both shows to put together a superb album of Sting and the band in a jazz quartet setting, performing some of his best songs in a way you've probably never heard them before. I've selected what I consider the best of the tracks from each session and performed some subtle edits to tidy them up, to make a concise 50-minute album, and if you want to hear the full version of all the available recordings plus the interviews from the 1993 show then you can hear them here.

Track listing

01 Jeremiah Blues (Part 1)

02 I Miss You, Kate
03 The Soul Cages
04 The Wind Cries Mary
05 If I Ever Lose My Faith In You
06 Love Is Stronger Than Justice 
07 Fields Of Gold 
08 Englishman In New York 
09 Fortress Around Your Heart 
10 Nothing 'Bout Me> 
11 Every Breath You Take 

Bruce Springsteen - Across The River (1979) **UPGRADE**

When I first posted this collection of out-takes from 'The River' sessions, I did note that the vocals were mixed very low, and that in some cases they almost sounded like wordless guide vocals ready for over-dubbing later, but that never happened and so these are only versions of these songs out there. Since I posted the album there have been a number of innovations in music editing, one of which is that you can now use AI to split out the individual components of a track and remix them. Paul over at Albums That Should Exist is a great fan of this and uses it all the time, but I've never really tried it, and so I though that this was the perfect album to try it out on. I've therefore stripped out the vocals from all these songs and boosted the volume so that you can now hear them, and if anything it has just reinforced my opinion that they are guide vocals, as even at this new volume the lyrics are pretty much unintelligible. It's still good to hear them, though, as they do make these recordings sound more like songs than the quasi-instrumentals that they were before. The only one I didn't need to touch was 'In The City Tonight', so I hope that the rest of them now sound up to the quality of that track. The whole album has been updated on both Soulseek and Mega.  

Track listing

01 Out On The Run
02 The Man Who Got Away
03 Under The Gun
04 Chevrolet Deluxe
05 Night Fire
06 In The City Tonight
07 Slow Fade
08 Break My Heart
09 Find It Where You Can
10 Chain Lightning
11 I Don't Wanna Be

ABC - Alphabet Soup (2022)

As you will know from my recent post from Vice Versa, ABC came about almost by accident, when Vice Versa were touring in the Netherlands and they were invited to jam in a studio in Rotterdam. Martin Fry improvised some vocals, and after the initial surprise at the quality of his voice, they decided to make him the lead singer of the band. After spending the next year writing new songs, they re-christened themselves ABC and set off to have a stab at pop stardom. The new band retained some of the old Vice Versa line-up, with Fry singing, Stephen Singleton playing saxophone and Mark White on guitar and keyboards, and they were joined by Mark Lickley on bass and David Robinson on drums, with the band's very first single, 'Tears Are Not Enough', making the UK top 20 when it was released in 1981. Soon afterwards, Robinson left the band and was replaced by David Palmer, shortly followed by Lickley, who was not replaced. In 1982, the band released their Trevor Horn-produced debut studio album 'The Lexicon Of Love', which reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, and it often features in UK critics' lists of their favourite albums. Three further singles were extracted from the album, with 'Poison Arrow', 'The Look Of Love' and 'All Of My Heart' all being top ten hits in 1982. Following the culmination of the Lexicon Of Love tour, Palmer joined the Yellow Magic Orchestra for a series of tour dates, but when Fry, White and Singleton decided to reconvene in order to commence work on their next album, Palmer had to leave ABC in order to honour Yellow Magic Orchestra's touring commitments. The remaining members found it difficult to follow-up on the success of their debut, and their Gary Langan-produced second album, 'Beauty Stab', was released in November 1983, performing poorly in comparison to its predecessor, and peaking at number 12 on the UK album chart. 

The first single from the album, 'That Was Then But This Is Now', briefly appeared in the UK top 20, followed by a top 40 showing for 'SOS', and rather perversely they decided to eschew remixes, and so the 12" single for 'That Was Then But This Is Now' featured the disclaimer "This record is exactly the same as the 7" version. The choice is yours." Singleton left the band shortly after the release of 'Beauty Stab' as a result of Fry and White's reluctance to spend much time touring the band's material, and so Fry and White enlisted the services of Fiona Russell Powell (under the name "Eden") and David Yarritu in the band's new line-up. They recorded their next album 'How to Be A ... Zillionaire!', which was released in 1985, but the band's chart success dwindled further in the UK with this album, although they did score their first US top 10 hit with 'Be Near Me', which also made the UK top 30. The album also featured the singles '(How To Be A) Millionaire', 'Vanity Kills' and 'Ocean Blue', although none of them could crack the UK top 40. After a hiatus, during which Fry was being treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma, he and White reconvened ABC as a duo, releasing the album 'Alphabet City' in 1987, which returned them to the UK Top 10 for the first time in five years, peaking at No. 7. It featured 'When Smokey Sings', a tribute to Smokey Robinson, which narrowly missed the UK Top 10, although it did give the group their biggest hit in the US, where it peaked at number 5 in September. In 1989, the duo issued 'Up', and their fifth and final PolyGram studio album experimented with house music, scoring a minor UK hit with the single 'One Better World', although a second single, 'The Real Thing', and the album itself were less successful. During this period, the duo worked on a couple of outside productions aimed at the house music scene, one for Paul Rutherford's (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) solo album and first single release, and also for Lizzie Tear on the duo's own Neutron label. 

In 1990, they released a greatest hits compilation album, 'Absolutely', which covered all of ABC's albums up until 1990 and featured most of their singles, and it made the UK Top 10. In 1991 the duo moved to the EMI label (and MCA in North America), where they recorded the album 'Abracadabra', and  two singles, 'Love Conquers All' and 'Say It', which narrowly missed the UK Top 40, though a remix of the latter by the Italian production team Black Box appeared on the US dance charts. Fry also collaborated with M People in 1991 on their first album, 'Northern Soul', recording vocals for the song 'Life', although when the album was re-released in 1992, and again in 1995, this track was omitted. After a six-year hiatus, Fry, now the sole member of ABC, resurrected the band's name in 1997 for the album 'Skyscraping', an homage to several of his musical heroes, including David Bowie, Roxy Music and the Sex Pistols. With Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17 and Keith Lowndes contributing to the sessions and songwriting, the album was commercially unsuccessful, though a single, 'Stranger Things', did reach No. 57 in the UK, while two other singles, 'Rolling Sevens' and 'Skyscraping', did not fare as well. In 1999, ABC released their first live album, 'The Lexicon Of Live', and two years later came 'Look Of Love – The Very Best of ABC', which was essentially a reissue of the 1990 greatest hits compilation, but featured two new songs by Fry, 'Peace And Tranquility' and 'Blame'. In 2004, the VH1 show Bands Reunited attempted to get the band's classic line-up of Fry, White, Singleton and Palmer together for a reunion concert, and although Fry and Palmer appeared and played together, Singleton and White opted not to participate. 

Following a tour of the United States in May and June 2006, Fry and Palmer, together with session keyboardist Chuck Kentis, put together a new ABC album, 'Traffic', which was released in April 2008. In January 2016, Fry announced that a new ABC album would be entitled 'The Lexicon Of A Lost Ideal' and would be released in the UK in May 2016, featuring tracks penned by Fry, with contributions by Rob Fusari, Marcus Vere, Matt Rowe, and with orchestrations by Anne Dudley, who worked in a similar capacity on 'The Lexicon Of Love'. In May 2016, the re-titled 'The Lexicon of Love II' was released in the UK and the US, and it entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 5, the first time ABC had reached the Top 5 since the original 'Lexicon Of Love' album in 1982. The same year the band contributed a new song called 'Living Inside My Heart' to 'Fly: Songs Inspired By The Film Eddie The Eagle', and they closed the year by releasing their first Christmas song, entitled 'A Christmas We Deserve', as part of a 4-track EP. On Thursday 28th May 2020, the band released a new track 'Look Good Tonite', which was  available for 24 hours only as a lockdown-download, but it was later pressed up as a 7" single with 'Sixty Seconds Later' and given away free with issue 90 of Electronic Sounds magazine. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of 'The Lexicon Of Love', the band performed at Sheffield City Hall on 21 June 2022, including a performance of 'The Lexicon Of Love' in its entirety, and a recording of the concert was released as a limited edition live album on 19 May 2023. With the band still going strong 40 years after they formed, it's a good time post a collection of their non-album b-sides and compilation appearances, to celebrate one of the most iconic bands of the 80's. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1981-1985
01 Alphabet Soup (b-side of 'Tears Are Not Enough' 1981)
02 Overture (From The Lexicon Of Love) (b-side of 'All Of My Heart' 1982)
03 The Look Of Love (Part Three) (b-side of 'Valentine's Day' 1982)
04 The Look Of Love (Part Two) (b-side of 'The Look Of Love' 1982)
05 Theme From "Man-Trap" (b-side of 'Poison Arrow' 1982)
06 Into The Valley Of The Heathen Go (out-take from 'Lexicon Of Love' 1982)
07 Vertigo (b-side of 'That Was Then But This Is Now' 1983)
08 How To Be A Billionaire (b-side of 'How To Be A Millionaire' 1984)
09 What's Your Destination (b-side of 'Be Near Me' 1985) 
10 Judy's Jewels (b-side of 'Vanity Kills' 1985)

Disc II - 1987-1997
01 Chicago (Parts 1 & 2) (b-side of 'When Smokey Sings' 1987)
02 Minneapolis (b-side of 'The Night You Murdered Love' 1987)
03 The Night You Murdered Love (The Whole Story) (b-side of 'The Night You Murdered Love' 1987)
04 What's Good About Goodbye? (b-side of 'Love Conquers All' 1991)
05 Snakebite (bonus track on re-issue of 'Abracadabra' 1991)
06 Kiss Me Goodbye (original version - bonus track on re-issue of 'Abracadabra' 1991)
07 The World Spins On (b-side of 'Stranger Things' 1997)
08 All We Need (b-side of 'Stranger Things' 1997)

Disc III - 1997-2022
01 Skydubbing (b-side of 'Skyscraping' 1997)
02 Peace And Tranquility (single edit from 'Look Of Love: The Very Best Of ABC' 2001)
03 Blame (exclusive track from 'Look Of Love: The Very Best Of ABC' 2001)
04 High And Dry (from the '80's Recovered' compilation album 2015)
05 Living Inside My Heart (from 'Fly: Songs Inspired By The Film Eddie The Eagle' 2016)
06 A Christmas We Deserve (single 2016)
07 Look Good Tonite (7" single included with issue 90 of Electronic Sounds magazine 2022)
08 Sixty Seconds Later (b-side of 'Look Good Tonite')

The Stunners - Spin The Bottle (2011)

In 2007, Allie Gonino, Hayley Kiyoko, Kelsey Sanders, Marisol Esparza, and Tinash became friends and formed a band which they christened The Stunners, and six months later they'd signed with Columbia Records and contributed a song to the soundtrack of the iCarly TV show. After they'd recorded their first single, Columbia refused to release it and so the band left the label and signed a production deal with Lionsgate Entertainment, who also produced a scripted television show pilot based on the group. In March 2009 they finally released their debut single, with 'Bubblegum' appearing on iTunes, but by July Sanders had left the group to pursue her acting career and was substituted by Lauren Hudson. In September the new line-up released a 5-song self-titled EP, influenced by Madonna, Gwen Stefani, and Rihanna, and the following year they signed to Universal Republic Records and released a single taken from their EP, with 'Dancin' Around The Truth' featuring New Boyz. In December 2010 they released a festive single, produced by Desmond Child and written by the five members of the group, titled 'Santa Bring My Soldier Home', and they encouraged donations to the USO for soldiers overseas who were not with their families for the holidays. After a tour with Justin Beiber they returned to LA to record new songs with producers and writers such as Toby Gad, The Cataracs, Dave Broome, Livvi Franc, Sheppard Soloman, Jimmy Harry and Tony Kanal of No Doubt fame, and one of these new songs, 'Spin The Bottle' was released as a single. While a second official second single titled 'Heart Stops Beating' was being readied for release, the group split up, and all future releases were cancelled. After the split, Alyssa Gonino focussed on her acting career, while Hayley Kiyoko, dubbed Lesbian Jesus by fans, pursued a successful solo career in the music business. The band released quite a few songs in their short career, and others have leaked online over the years, so there are enough tracks floating around to make up what could have been their debut album in 2011, and so here it is, named after the first song that was released from it. 

Track listing

01 Bubblegum
02 Make Me Sing
03 Spin The Bottle
04 We Got It
05 Dancing Around The Truth
06 Heart Stops Beating
07 Our Song
08 Imagine Me Gone
09 Let's Hear It For The Boys
10 Dancing Machine
11 Meltdown
12 Electri-city
13 The Truth About Us

Samantha Jade - My Name Is Samantha Jade (2007)

Samantha Jade Gibbs was born on 18 April 1987 in Perth, Western Australia, and she began modelling at the age of four, while at the age of nine she won a talent show after singing 'Amazing Grace'. In 2002 a friend of hers sent her demo to a record producer in Los Angeles, who decided to bring Jade and her family to Hollywood for a meeting, and the following year they moved there permanently. In 2004 she signed a deal with US record label Jive Records and began laying down a few demo tracks, one of which was recorded by JoJo, with 'Secret Love' appearing on the soundtrack of the film 'Shark Tale'. In 2006 she released her first single, which was written as the theme song for the the 2006 dance film 'Step Up'. It had little promotion, and only just cracked the US Billboard Pop 100, peaking at number 92. In 2007 she released her follow-up single 'Turn Around' as a taster for her debut album 'My Name Is Samantha Jade', but it didn't fare much better than the previous record, and after three years with the label, 'My Name Is Samantha Jade' had still not been released. She was later dropped by Jive Records, and continued to work on music independently with American record label Affinity West Entertainment, recording the controversial 'Golden Touch' album for them, which would later result in issues regarding its release. In 2010, Jade made her acting debut in the film 'Beneath The Blue', a sequel to 'Eye Of The Dolphin', and then returned to music to issue 'Secret' as her third single in Australia, but it also failed to chart. Following this disappointment she relocated back to Perth and worked at her father's mining factory counting stock. In a final attempt to return to the music industry, Jade successfully auditioned for the fourth season of The Australian X Factor in 2012, singing The Script's 'Breakeven', during which judge Guy Sebastian notably teared up. She progressed to the super bootcamp stage of the competition, where she sang 'It Ain't Over 'til It's Over' by Lenny Kravitz and 'No Air' by Jordin Sparks, which propelled her to the live finals. 

Over the ten weeks of live finals she sometimes struggled to stay in the competition, but in the grand final decider on 20 November 2012, she was announced as the winner, receiving a recording contract with record label Sony Music Australia and a Nissan Dualis car. After winning The X Factor, her winner's single 'What You've Done To Me' was released digitally via iTunes, debuting at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart, and her self-titled debut album was released on 7 December 2012, featuring re-recorded versions of the songs she performed on The X Factor. On 5 December 2012, Jade's former record label Camp West Recorders released the tapes that they'd kept of her 'My Name Is Samantha Jade' album, along with a few other tracks recorded with indie label Camp West Records, as 'The Golden Touch', without Jade or Sony Music's permission. Camp West Recorders Inc. company presidents John Harris and Ty Knox sued Jade for damages and alleged contract breaches, alongside Sony Music, Parade Artists, FremantleMedia Australia and Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment, claiming that they were entitled to a share of Jade's income because they signed a development deal with her when she 15. While the court case was on-going Camp West Recorders were instructed to remove the album from iTunes, and so this example of her early work is now extremely hard to find. While in no way condoning the behaviour of Camp West, fans are bound to be interested to hear her early songs, and so rather than just posting the 'Golden Touch' album, which can be found on a number of other blogs, I've pieced together two thirds of the 'My Name Is Samantha Jade' album, and added a few of the later Camp West recordings to bulk up the record. Let's see if we can work out why Jive refused to release the album when they had the opportunity, but jumped at the chance when she became famous.

Track listing

01 What I Got 

02 Officially 

03 That's the Way

04 Free

05 Boyfriend 

06 Why Are We Strangers 

07 Turn Around

08 Step Up 

09 The Golden Touch

10 So Right

11 Forever

12 Love Gone Right

The Libertines - Dilly Boys (2004)

The founding members of the Libertines, Peter Doherty and Carl Barât, met when Barât was studying drama at Brunel University in Uxbridge, and sharing a flat in Richmond with Amy-Jo Doherty, Peter's elder sister. Barât and Doherty forged a bond over their shared passion for song-writing, and when Barât abandoned his course two years in, and Doherty left his English literature course at Queen Mary, University of London, and they moved into a flat together on Camden Road in North London, which they named "The Albion rooms". They formed a band with their neighbour Steve Bedlow, and named themselves The Strand, later discarded for The Libertines, after the Marquis de Sade's 'Lusts Of The Libertines. They later met John Hassall and Johnny Borrell, who played bass with the band for a short period, and many of their early gigs took place in their shared flat. In March 2000 the Libertines met Banny Pootschi, a lawyer for Warner Chappell Music Publishing, who recognized their potential and she took on an active role in managing them, taking over from Roger Morton's unsuccessful six month in the job. They recorded 'Legs XI', a set of their best eight tracks at the time, but by December 2000 they had still not been signed, and this caused Dufour, Hassall and Pootschi to part company with the band. The subsequent success of the Strokes, a band with a similar style, caused Pootschi to reconsider her position, and she determined to get the band signed to Rough Trade Records within six months. Gary Powell was recruited to play drums, as Paul Dufour was deemed by Pootschi to be 'too old'. On 1 October 2001, Barât and Doherty played a showcase for James Endeacott from Rough Trade without Borrell, who failed to attend this important rehearsal. When they contacted him they found that he was on tour "living the high life", and so after Rough Trade offered them a record feal, they were in need of a bassist, so Hassall rejoined the band at their request. 

Doherty and Barât were still the focus of the group, and they rented a flat together at 112a Teesdale Street in Bethnal Green, for which they resurrected the name "The Albion Rooms". Now with a firm line-up, they began to play more gigs alongside the Strokes and the Vines in quick succession, and this generated some positive reaction in the music press. Their first single was a double A-side of 'What A Waster'/'I Get Along', produced by former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, and it was released on 3 June 2002 to highly positive reception, although it received little airplay due to its liberal use of profanities. Their first album was recorded and produced by ex-Clash guitarist Mick Jones, and their second single and title track from the album, 'Up The Bracket', was released on 30 September 2002, and charted at No. 29. This was followed by the release of the album on 21 October, reaching number 35 in the UK albums chart, and the group won Best New Band at the NME Awards for that year. During the recording of 'Up The Bracket' and in the subsequent touring, Doherty's use of both crack coacine and heroin had increased greatly, and his relationship with the rest of the band deteriorated, with some of this tension being visible in their performances. The band went to the US to promote themselves and work on new material, and while in New York City around May 2003, they recorded the 'Babyshambles Sessions', where they recorded versions of current and future Libertines and Babyshambles releases such as 'Last Post On The Bugle', 'Albion', and 'In Love With A Feeling'. However, Barât became increasingly exasperated with the people with whom Doherty was associating, and the drugs they brought, and so he quit the sessions in disgust and Doherty finished recording alone, giving the recordings to a fan called Helen Hsu who put them out for free on the Internet, allegedly on Doherty's instructions. Back in the UK, tensions continued to grow as Doherty organised and played guerrilla gigs which Barât did not attend, but they did release a new single, with 'Don't Look Back Into The Sun' seeing the return of Bernard Butler as producer. 

The lyrical quality of the song was praised, and the single held as a prime example of Doherty and Barât's songwriting talents, but Doherty did not work well with Butler, and was rarely present during the recording process. As Barât's birthday approached, Doherty organised a special celebration gig in an attempt to smooth the tensions between them, but Barât was already attending a party organised by some of his friends, and the hosts convinced him not to leave. Doherty was therefore left to play the gig himself, and feeling betrayed, he refused to take the train to Germany the next day for the Libertines' European tour. The band were forced to play without Doherty, and as a result Barât refused to let Doherty back into the band unless he cleaned himself up. Doherty continued to play with separate musical project Babyshambles, whilst the Libertines completed tour commitments in Japan without him, and while feeling distraught and angry, Doherty burgled Barât's flat and was subsequently arrested and was sentenced to six months in Wandsworth prison, later reduced on appeal to two months. Amidst the internal turmoil, 'Don't Look Back Into The Sun' was released on 18 August 2003, and charted at No. 11, the highest position they had managed at that point. When Doherty was released from prison, Barât was waiting for him at the prison gates, and after an emotional reunion they played a gig the same day at the Tap'n'Tin pub, in Chatham, Kent, which was later named NME's Gig of the Year. In 2004 Banny Pootschi resigned and was replaced as manager by Creation Records founder Alan McGee, under whose watchful gaze they continued to play gigs and commenced recording their second album with Bernard Butler, but the relationship between Doherty and Butler was as unsuccessful as before and these attempts were soon abandoned. 

Mick Jones returned as producer for the second attempt to record the follow-up album, but Doherty had returned to his drug habit, and so relationships were strained, and security hired for the protection of Doherty and Barât had to be used to keep them from fighting. When the album was finished, Doherty left the mixing and dubbing to the others, and would not return to the studio with the Libertines for another ten years. On 14 May 2004, he was admitted to The Priory in an attempt to overcome his addictions, and when he left The Priory he informed Barât that he was going to Wat Tham Krabok in Thailand to get clean, and after a short set that night he left the band. Meanwhile, the Libertines were still releasing fresh material, and new single 'Can't Stand Me Now' detailed the breakdown of the ailing frontmen's once seemingly cast iron friendship, while illustrating the love-hate relationship between them. It was released on 9 August 2004 and charted at No. 2, while their eponymous second album came out in late August, and topped the albums chart. Their final single 'What Became Of The Likely Lads' reached No. 9 in the UK charts, and they played what would be their final show for over five years in Paris on 17 December 2004, still without Doherty. Barât then chose to dissolve the Libertines, as he was no longer willing to tour and record under the name without Doherty. Barât and Doherty remained out of contact for several months after the Libertines ended, due to Doherty's spiralling drug abuse, and any subsequent talks of a reunion remained tepid as Doherty and Barât concentrated on their respective bands Babyshambles and Dirty Pretty Things. In March 2010 it was announced that the Libertines were to reform to play at the Reading and Leeds Festivals, but for this post I've called a halt at their break-up in 2004, and collected all the non-album singles and b-sides released in that short two year period by this troubled, but much-loved, group.  

 
Track listing

01 Skag & Bone Man (b-side of 'Up The Bracket' 2002)
02 The Delaney (b-side of 'Up The Bracket' 2002)
03 Plan A (b-side of 'Up The Bracket' 2002)
04 What A Waster (single 2002)
05 May Day (b-side of 'What A Waster')
06 Don't Look Back Into The Sun (single 2003)
07 Skint And Minted (demo) (b-side of 'Don't Look Back Into The Sun')
08 General Smuts (demo) (b-side of 'Don't Look Back Into The Sun')
09 Mr Finnegan (demo) (b-side of 'Don't Look Back Into The Sun')
10 The 7 Deadly Sins (demo) (b-side of 'Don't Look Back Into The Sun')
11 Bangkok (demo) (b-side of 'Time For Heroes' 2002)
12 Sally Brown (demo) (b-side of 'Time For Heroes' 2002)
13 (I've Got) Sweets (b-side of 'Can't Stand Me Now' 2004)
14 Dilly Boys (b-side of 'Can't Stand Me Now' 2004)
15 Cyclops (b-side of 'Can't Stand Me Now' 2004)
16 Never Never (b-side of 'Can't Stand Me Now' 2004)
17 All At Sea (b-side of 'Can't Stand Me Now' 2004)

My Bloody Valentine - Kiss The Eclipse (1987)

In 1978, Kevin Shields and Colm Ó Cíosóig were introduced to each other at a karate tournament in South Dublin, with the duo becoming friends, and later forming The Complex, a punk rock band, with Liam Ó Maonlaí, Ó Cíosóig's friend from Coláiste Eoin. The band performed a handful of gigs, before disbanding when Ó Maonlaí left to form Hothouse Flowers, and Shields and Ó Cíosóig later formed A Life In The Day, a post-punk trio which had little success. Following A Life In The Day's dissolution, Shields and Ó Cíosóig formed My Bloody Valentine in early 1983 with lead vocalist David Conway, performing under the pseudonym Dave Stelfox. The band experienced a number of line-up changes during their initial months, with lead guitarist Stephen Ivers and bassist Mark Ross being recruited in April 1983, before Ross left in December to be replaced by Paul Murtagh, who also then left in early 1984. In March 1984, Shields, Ivers and Conway recorded the band's first demo on a four-track recorder in Shields' parents' home in Killiney, and this tape was later used to secure a contract with Tycoon Records. Soon after recording the demo, Ivers left, and Conway's girlfriend, Tina Durkin, joined as a keyboard player, and it was around this time that Gavin Friday, the lead vocalist of the post-punk band Virgin Prunes, suggested that if they wanted to make it then they needed to get out of Dublin. Shields agreed, and so the band relocated to the Netherlands after a successful show there, and they lived there for a further nine months, opening for R.E.M. on one occasion in April 1984. However, due to a lack of opportunities in Holland, as well as not having the correct documentation, they relocated to West Berlin, Germany in late 1984 and recorded their debut mini album, 'This Is Your Bloody Valentine' in 1985. It failed to receive much attention, and so the band returned temporarily to the Netherlands, before settling in London in mid-1985. 

Following their relocation to London, members of My Bloody Valentine lost contact with each other while looking for accommodation, and Tina Durkin, not confident in her abilities as a keyboard player, left the band. When the remaining three members regained contact with one another, they decided to audition bassists, as they'd lacked a regular bassist since their formation, and Shields acquired Debbie Googe's telephone number from a contact in London, inviting her to audition and subsequently recruiting her as a bassist. Rehearsal sessions were regularly held at Salem Studios, which was connected to the independent record label Fever Records, and the label's management were impressed enough with the band to offer to release an extended play record, provided the band would finance the recording sessions themselves. Released in December 1985, 'Geek!' failed to reach the band's expectations, but it did lead to them appearing on the London gig circuit, alongside bands such as Eight Living Legs, Kill Ugly Pop and The Sting-rays. Due to the band's slow progress, Shields contemplated relocating to New York City, where members of his family were living at the time, but Creation Records co-founder Joe Foster had decided to establish his own record label, Kaleidoscope Sound, and he persuaded My Bloody Valentine to record and release an EP for them. 'The New Record By My Bloody Valentine', was released in October 1986 and was a minor success, peaking at number 22 on the UK Indie Chart. In early 1987, the band signed to Lazy Records, an independent record label which was founded by the indie pop band the Primitives and their manager, Wayne Morris. 

My Bloody Valentine's first release on the label was the single 'Sunny Sundae Smile', released in February 1987, and it peaked at number 6 on the UK Indie Singles Chart, with the band touring following its release, securing a support slot with the Soup Dragons. It was on that tour, however, that David Conway announced his decision to leave the band, citing a gastric illness, disillusionment with music, and ambitions to become a writer. Conway's departure left the band without a lead vocalist, and Shields, Ó Cíosóig and Googe advertised in the local music press for a new singer. The audition process was disastrous,  and although Shields did consider forming another group, the band experimented with vocalists Bilinda Butcher and Joe Byfield, both of whom had been recommended to them by other musicians. Butcher was offered the gig after singing the Dolly Parton song 'The Bargain Store', with Byfield deemed unsuitable as a lead vocalist. Following Butcher's recruitment, Shields shared lead vocals with her, although he was initially reluctant to take on a vocal role within the band, and with the new line-up in place, the band had intended to drop the My Bloody Valentine moniker, but unable to decide on a name, they kept it "for better or for worse". Under pressure from Lazy Records to release a full-length album, the band compromised and agreed to release a single and subsequent mini-album, citing the need for time to stabilize their new line-up. 'Strawberry Wine' was a three-track single, and was released in November 1987, with the album 'Ecstasy' following a month later. Both received moderate critical acclaim, and peaked at number 13 and 12 on the independent singles and albums chart, respectively. 

However, 'Strawberry Wine' was described as the better of the two releases, as 'Ecstasy' was plagued by production difficulties, including errors in the mastering process. It was criticised as the product of "a group who appeared to have run out of money halfway through recording", and this was later confirmed to be true, as the band were funding the studio sessions themselves. This was because the band's contract with Lazy stated that the label would handle the promotion of releases, whereas the band would finance the recording sessions. Following their departure from Lazy, Rough Trade Records offered a deal to finance the recording and release of a full-length album, but the band turned it down. In January 1988, they performed in Canterbury, opening for Biff Bang Pow!, a band that featured Creation Records founder Alan McGee. After blowing Biff Bang Pow! off the stage, My Bloody Valentine were described as "the Irish equivalent to Hüsker Dü" by McGee, who approached the band after the show and invited them to record and release a single on Creation. The band recorded five songs at a studio in Walthamstow, East London in less than a week, and in August 1988 they released the 'You Made Me Realise' EP, which was received well by the independent music press, and which finally made critics stand up and take notice of the stunning guitar sounds that would become the band's trademark. It debuted at number 2 on the UK Indie Chart, and following the success of the EP, the band released their debut full-length studio album, 'Isn't Anything', in November 1988. The album was a major success, receiving widespread critical acclaim, peaking at number 1 on the UK Indie Chart, and influencing a number of "shoegazing" bands. For many, this was the start of the band's career, with everything before the Creation records being considered the work of almost a different group, but if you want to hear how they reached the point that they could create the sound that would put them on the map, then here are all the recordings that they released as singles and EPs up to 1987, on their long and winding road to success. 

Track listing 

01 No Place To Go (from the 'Geek!' EP 1986)
02 Moonlight (from the 'Geek!' EP 1986)
03 Love Machine (from the 'Geek!' EP 1986)
04 The Sandman Never Sleeps (from the 'Geek!' EP 1986)
05 Lovelee Sweet Darlene (from 'The New Record By My Bloody Valentine' 1986)  
06 By The Danger In Your Eyes (from 'The New Record By My Bloody Valentine' 1986)   
07 On Another Rainy Saturday (from 'The New Record By My Bloody Valentine' 1986)  
08 We're So Beautiful (from 'The New Record By My Bloody Valentine' 1986)  
09 Strawberry Wine (from the 'Strawberry Wine' EP 1987)
10 Never Say Goodbye from the 'Strawberry Wine' EP 1987)
11 Can I Touch You (from the 'Strawberry Wine' EP 1987)  
12 Sunny Sundae Smile (from the 'Sunny Sundae Smile' EP 1987)
13 Paint A Rainbow (from the 'Sunny Sundae Smile' EP 1987)
14 Kiss The Eclipse (from the 'Sunny Sundae Smile' EP 1987)
15 Sylvie's Head (from the 'Sunny Sundae Smile' EP 1987)

Diane Renay - I Had A Dream (1969)

Renee Diane Kushner was born on 13 July 1945 in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and started singing at an early age, taking voice lessons from Artie Singer, a voice teacher who also managed Danny and the Juniors, and had co-written their classic single 'At The Hop'. Singer encouraged her to pursue a recording career, and as record producer/songwriter Pete DeAngelis was a frequent customer at the Kushners' family jewellery store, her parents arranged for her to audition for him. DeAngelis was impressed with her talents and got her signed to the Atco Records label under the new stage name Diane Renay. Her first single for the label was 'Little White Lies', which was released in 1962, but it failed to chart nationally, as did the follow-up 'A Dime A Dozen', and Atco dropped her from the label. However, Bob Crewe, who had written and produced material for Renay's second recording session, then signed her to a new recording contract whereby he would write and produce records for her. Crewe arranged for her to be signed to the 20th Century Records label, and under his guidance the then 17 year old singer released her biggest hit 'Navy Blue' in late 1963, backed with another Crewe co-write,  'Unbelievable Guy', which came alive as an energetic, assertive production, and which featured a tougher, more confident vocal than the sweet, longing tone of 'Navy Blue'. The song told the story of a girl, lonely for her steady boyfriend away from home in the U.S. Navy and anxious to see him again, and it reached No. 6 on the Hot 100 in March 1964, soaring to No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart, and the song was followed by her debut album of the same name. Renay's only other single release to crack the national Billboard chart was another 'nautical-based' song, with 'Kiss Me Sailor' reaching number 29 later in 1964. After leaving High School she was able to concentrate on her recording career, and time was made for studio sessions with Bob Crewe in control, using top-notch backing singers including Ellie Greenwich and 14-year-old Patti Austin. 

'Growin' Up Too Fast' was a co-write by Crewe and The 4 Season's Bob Gaudio, and tapped into a timeless dilemma facing teenage girls ('Mama said we can't get married!'), while 'It's In Your Hands' took an older, more adult-sounding approach in an attempt to sustain her middle-of-the-road persona, but ultimately this was an area which didn't really suit her. For a moment it appeared the 20th Century-Fox connection might lead to an acting career, with the studio giving her a screen test, although nothing came of it. The next single, 'Watch Out, Sally!' ranks among her best efforts, with Renay involved in a tough-girl tug-of-war over a guy named Tony, and it was a one-off release on the MGM label. Her next few singles were released on Crewe's own New Voice label, but they varied in dynamic approach and her brassier post-'maritime' hits showed unfulfilled promise. Some of her subsequent singles were hits in certain local markets such as Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Miami, but failed to break nationally. There was a one-off single for United Artists, 'Dynamite', and a dance version of the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein Showboat tune 'Can't Help Loving That Man', but then in 1969 she emerged again under Philly soul producer Thom Bell with a large-scale pop production of Harry Noble's 'Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me', backed with a cover of 'Yesterday', and although it received a smattering of radio play from disc jockeys previously entangled in her nautical spell, it wasn't a success. She left the business soon afterwards to get married and she gave birth to a daughter, but after a time she wanted to record again, and she made a few records for small labels during the 1980's, though she no longer performs in public.

Track listing

Disc One: 1962-1964
01 Little White Lies (single 1962)
02 Falling Star (b-side of 'Little White Lies')
03 A Dime A Dozen (single 1963)
04 Tender (b-side of 'A Dime A Dozen')
05 Navy Blue (single 1963)
06 Unbelievable Guy (b-side of 'Navy Blue')
07 Kiss Me Sailor (single 1964)
08 Soft-Spoken Guy (b-side of 'Kiss Me Sailor')
09 Growin' Up Too Fast (single 1964)
10 Waitin' For Joey (b-side of 'Growin' Up Too Fast')
11 It's In Your Hands (single 1964)
12 A Present From Eddie (b-side of 'It's In Your Hands')
13 Watch Out, Sally! (single 1964)
14 Billy Blue Eyes (b-side of 'Watch Out, Sally!')

Disc Two: 1965-1969
01 I Had A Dream (single 1965)
02 Troublemaker (b-side of 'I Had A Dream')

03 LIve Abd Learn (previously unreleased demo)
04 The Company You Keep (single 1965)
05 Words (b-side of 'The Company You Keep')
06 See How They Run (previously unreleased demo)

07 Happy Birthday Broken Heart (single 1965)
08 Cross My Heart, Hope To Die (b-side of 'Happy Birthday Broken Heart')
09 Soldier Boy (single 1966)
10 Please Gypsy (single 1966)
11 Dynamite (b-side of 'Please Gypsy')
12 Can't Help Loving That Man (single 1968)
13 It's A Good Day For A Parade (b-side of 'Can't Help Loving That Man')
14 Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me (single 1969)
15 Yesterday (b-side of 'Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me')

Melanie Martinez - Unhappy Meal (2015)

We return to Melanie Martinez's stash of unreleased songs for another album which could have come out in 2015/2016, and which is named 'Unhappy Meal', mostly so that I could use this superb artwork which I found online. 

Track listing

01 Haunted
02 Drowned
03 Night Mime
04 You Love I
05 (Dressed In) Mistakes
06 I Scream
07 Ring Pop
08 Patient
09 Cooties
10 Rocking Horse
11 Unhappy Meal
12 Jumprope
13 Sticks And Stones
14 Trophy Wife