Super Furry Animals - This, That And The Other (2007)

Super Furry Animals formed in Cardiff in 1993 after the founding members had been in various other Welsh bands and techno outfits in the area. Gruff Rhys (lead vocals, guitar), Guto Pryce (bass guitar), and Dafydd Ieuan (drums, vocals) had been together since the early 1990's, and had toured France as a techno group, but after Huw Bunford (lead guitar, vocals), and Ieuan's younger brother Cian Ciaran (keyboards, synthesisers, electronics) joined they wrote some songs, and in 1995 signed to Ankst, a Welsh indie label. The band are considered to be part of the renaissance of Welsh music, art and literature in the 1990's, alongside other Welsh bands of the time, including The Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Catatonia and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. The earliest Super Furry Animals track commercially available is 'Dim Brys: Dim Chwys', which was recorded in 1994 for Radio Cymru, and is an ambient piece, showing the band's techno roots. However, by the time it was released on the 'Triskedekaphilia' compilation album in August 1995, the band had already put out their debut EP on the Ankst label, with the 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllantysiliogogogochynygofod (In Space) EP' appearing in June, and it instantly made an appearnace in the Guinness Book of Records as having the longest-ever title for an EP. The 'Moog Droog EP' followed in October 1995, named after the synthesiser manufacturer Robert Moog and the Nadsat term for "friend" in A Clockwork Orange, but it could also be a pun on the Welsh "mwg drwg", meaning "wacky baccy", and the lyrics on all the tracks on both EP's were in Welsh, except for 'God! Show Me Magic'. After gigging in London in late 1995, they were noticed by Creation Records boss Alan McGee at the Camden Monarch club, who signed them to his label. 

On signing them McGee did insist that they sing in English rather than Welsh for future shows, but by this stage they were already singing in English, although McGee didn't realise because their Welsh accents were so strong. This decision did cause them to receive some criticism in the Welsh media, but they felt that singing in English would broaden their fanbase. In February 1996, the band's debut on Creation, 'Hometown Unicorn', became New Musical Express's Single of the Week, chosen by guest reviewers Pulp, and the first of their singles to chart in the UK Top 50, while a re-recording of 'God! Show Me Magic' reached No. 33. In May, their debut album 'Fuzzy Logic' was released to wide critical acclaim, and although initial sales were slow, it garnered a little more interest when a reworked, more mellow version of 'Something 4 The Weekend' was released as a single, and following considerable radio airplay it broke into the UK Top 20 at No. 18. The final single from the album, 'If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You', was to have been backed by a track called 'The Man Don't Give A Fuck', but there were problems in clearing a sample from 'Showbiz Kids' by Steely Dan which formed the basis of the chorus, and it was switched for a different song. The band always regrarded 'The Man Don't Give A Fuck' as one of their best songs, and so continued their efforts to clear the sample, and when they finally managed it, the song was released in December 1996 as a limited edition single in its own right. 

In early 1997, the group completed a speedy follow-up to 'Fuzzy Logic', and released two taster singles, in 'Hermann ♥'s Pauline' in May and 'The International Language Of Screaming' in July, both of which stalled in the mid-20's of the UK charts. 'Radiator' hit the shelves in August, and the reviews were, if anything, better than those for 'Fuzzy Logic', and it sold more quickly than its predecessor, reaching a peak of No. 8. Two further singles were issued from the album, but both 'Play It Cool' and 'Demons' couldn't do any better in the charts than the first two. After a chance to think about their music and their direction, SFA decided to record a new record in early 1998 at Gorwel Owen's house, and they released the 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP in May, which is now widely held as one of their finest moments. In November 1998, the compilation album 'Out Spaced' was released, collecting together some of their 1995 Ankst recordings, a few of their favourite b-sides, plus 'The Man Don't Give A Fuck' and 'Smokin''. In May 1999, 'Northern Lites' was released to herald their new album, and it made No. 11 in the charts, featuring a dense production, clattering steel drums, and irreverent lyrics about the El Niño-Southern Oscillation weather phenomenon. It was an apt taster for the new album, 'Guerrilla', which retained their pop melodies, but took a less guitar-centric approach to their execution, and was their most experimental work to date. Layers of samples over brass, percussion and Gruff's melodic singing produced an album which swung from glam and garage rock numbers ('Night Vision', 'The Teacher') to novelty techno ('Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)'), ambient indietronica ('Some Things Come From Nothing') and upbeat drum and bass ('The Door To This House Remains Open'). 

'Fire In My Heart' followed 'Northern Lights' as a single, while the final song to be extracted from the album, 'Do Or Die', was their last on Creation, as Alan McGee set off to pursue other interests. It had always been their plan to release their next album on their own label, Placid Casual, as it would be a deliberate sidestep from their recent work, being a largely acoustic album of Welsh language songs entitled 'Mwng'. It was preceded in May 2000 by a limited edition (of 3000) 7" record, with 'Ysbeidiau Heulog' backed with 'Charge', a hard-rock jam recorded as a Peel Session for the BBC. The album, released the same month, sold remarkably well for a non-English album, and it received a rare distinction for a pop record, being commended in Parliament for its efforts in keeping the Welsh language alive. With the demise of Creation, SFA needed to find a new label for their next album, and as Sony had long held a substantial stake in Creation, they offered deals to many ex-Creation artists, signing the band to their Epic offshoot. The greater resources afforded them by Epic were apparent in their first album for the label, as 'Rings Around The World' recaptured the cohesive, experimental feel of 'Guerrilla', but was more song-driven and sonically expansive. It is cited by many critics and fans alike as their most polished and accessible work, and again the first single was a good indication of what was to come, with 'Juxtapozed With U' being a lush soul record, which made No. 14 in the charts in July 2001. 

The album followed in the same month and major label marketing muscle made it their biggest-seller to date, reaching No. 3 in the album charts, with one of the tracks from the album, 'Receptacle For the Respectable', featuring Paul McCartney on "carrot and celery rhythm track" (a homage to his performance on the Beach Boys' 'Vegetables'). It also included some of their more experimental tracks, such as 'Sidewalk Serfer Girl' (which switches between light techno-pop and hardcore punk), '[A] Touch Sensitive' (gloomy trip-hop) and 'No Sympathy' (which descends into chaotic drum'n'bass). 'Rings Around The World' was also remarkable for being the world's first simultaneous release of an audio and DVD album, and it was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2001. Their next record, 'Phantom Power', relied less on sound experimentation and proved to be a more stripped-down, back-to-basics affair, and although the reviews were generally good, and it sold well initially, it broke little new ground by SFA's standards, and it appeared that the band had fallen out of fashion. Perhaps recognising that their approach to 'Phantom Power' had been a little too straightforward, the group followed it up in 2004 with a remix version, 'Phantom Phorce', with tracks reworked by the likes of Killa Kela, Four Tet and Brave Captain. They accompanied this with a download single, 'Slow Life', which also included the track 'Motherfokker', a collaboration with Goldie Lookin Chain. In early 2005, Gruff Rhys released a solo album 'Yr Atal Genhedlaeth', ("The Stuttering Generation", and also a play on words as "Atal Genhedlu" means contraception), sung all in Welsh, on which he played most of the instruments himself, mainly using guitars, drums and his own multi-tracked voice. 

In August 2005, SFA released their seventh studio effort, 'Love Kraft', which was recorded in Spain, and which represented a departure from their previous working methods. Although all five members had always contributed to the development of the songs, Rhys had been the main songwriter, but on this album this was no longer the case, as Rhys, Bunford, Ieuan and Ciaran all contributed songs and lead vocals. The laid-back ambience recalls early-1970's Beach Boys albums such as 'Surf's Up', whilst the heavy use of strings suggested the likes of Scott Walker and Curtis Mayfield. The album's cool commercial reception suggested that they had returned to their familiar status of critically acclaimed cult favourites, but 'Love Kraft' was to be their final album released under Epic Records, as their contract expired in early 2006. The band signed to Rough Trade Records during 2006, with Gruff Rhys also signing to the label as a solo artist, and in late 2006 he released the 'Candylion' 7" single, followed by the album of the same name in January 2007. SFA's first release for Rough Trade was recorded in a chateau in the south of France, and 'Hey Venus!' was released in August 2007, faring slightly better than its predecessor, and peaking at No. 11 in the albums chart. In March 2009, the band released their ninth and final studio album, 'Dark Days/Light Years', digitally via their website, with a physical release following in April, resulting in a number 23 UK Chart placement. It received strong critical feedback, but as the singles released from it were also digital, then for the first time since they started out, there were no exclusive tracks added to them. In 2010, Super Furry Animals went on what became a five-year hiatus, before reforming in May 2015 to play several gigs to accompany a major reissue of their 15-year-old album 'Mwng'. During their long career, SFA have always treated their fans well, adding non-album songs to the flips of all their singles, and even though there are quite a number of collaborations, compilation appearances, demos and out-takes floating around, this post features just the non-album singles, EP tracks and b-sides, as I think that a five-disc collection of rarities from the band will satisfy even their most ardent fans. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1995-1996
01 Organ Yn Dy Geg (from 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyll... (In Space)' EP 1995)
02 Fix Idris (from 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyll... (In Space)' EP 1995)
03 Crys Ti (from 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyll... (In Space)' EP 1995)
04 Blerwytirhwng? (from 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyll... (In Space)' EP 1995)
05 PamV? (from 'Moog Droog' EP 1995)
06 Sali Mali (from 'Moog Droog' EP 1995)
07 Focus Pocus/Debiel 'Moog Droog' EP 1995)
08 (Nid) Hon Yw'r Gan Sy'n Mynd I Achub Yr Iaith (single 1996)
09 Lazy Life (Of No Fixed Identity) (b-side of 'Hometown Unicorn' 1996)
10 Don't Be A Fool, Billy! (b-side of 'Hometown Unicorn' 1996)
11 Death By Melody (b-side of 'God! Show Me Magic' 1996)
12 Dim Bendith (b-side of 'God! Show Me Magic' 1996)

Disc II - 1996-1997
01 Waiting To Happen (b-side of 'Something 4 The Weekend' 1996)
02 Arnofio/Glô In The Dark (b-side of 'Something 4 The Weekend' 1996)
03 The Man Don't Give A Fuck (b-side of 'If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You' 1996)
04 Guacamole (b-side of 'If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You' 1996)
05 Calimero (b-side of 'Hermann Loves Pauline' 1997)
06 Trôns Mr Urdd (b-side of 'Hermann Loves Pauline' 1997)
07 Wrap It Up (b-side of 'The International Language Of Screaming' 1997)
08 Foxy Music (b-side of 'The International Language Of Screaming' 1997)
09 nO.K. (b-side of 'The International Language Of Screaming' 1997)
10 Pass The Time (b-side of 'Play It Cool' 1997)
11 Cryndod Yn Dy Lais (b-side of 'Play It Cool' 1997)

Disc III - 1997-1999
01 Hit And Run (b-side of 'Demons' 1997)
02 Carry The Can (b-side of 'Demons' 1997)
03 Ice Hockey Hair (from 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP 1998)
04 Smokin' (from 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP 1998)
05 Mu-Tron (from 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP 1998)
06 Let's Quit Smoking (from 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP 1998)
07 Rabid Dog (b-side of 'Northern Lights' 1999)
08 This, That And The Other (b-side of 'Northern Lights' 1999)
09 The Matter Of Time (b-side of 'Fire In My Heart' 1999)
10 Mrs Spector (b-side of 'Fire In My Heart' 1999)

Disc IV - 2000-2003
01 Missunderstanding (b-side of 'Do Or Die' 2000)
02 Colorblind (b-side of 'Do Or Die' 2000)
03 Charge (b-side of 'Ysbeidiau Heulog' 2000)
04 Tradewinds (b-side of 'Juxtapozed With U' 2001)
05 Happiness Is A Worn Pun (b-side of 'Juxtapozed With U' 2001)
06 Edam Anchorman (b-side of '(Drawing) Rings Around The World' 2001)
07 All The Shit U Do (b-side of '(Drawing) Rings Around The World' 2001)
08 The Roman Road (b-side of 'It's Not The End Of The World?' 2002)
09 Gýpsy Space Muffin (b-side of 'It's Not The End Of The World?' 2002)   
10 Summer Snow (b-side of 'Golden Retriever' 2003)
11 Blue Fruit (b-side of 'Golden Retriever' 2003)

Disc V - 2003-2007
01 Cowbird (b-side of 'Hello Sunshine' 2003)
02 Sanitizzzed (b-side of 'Hello Sunshine' 2003)
03 Motherfokker (b-side of 'Slow Life' 2003)
04 Lost Control (b-side of 'Slow Life' 2003)         
05 Sunny Seville (b-side of 'Lazer Beam' 2005)
06 Colonise The Moon (b-side of 'Lazer Beam' 2005)
07 Never More (b-side of 'Show Your Hand' 2007)
08 Aluminium Illuminati (b-side of 'Show Your Hand' 2007)
09 These Bones (b-side of 'Run Away' 2007)
10 That's What I'm Talking About (b-side of 'Run Away' 2007)

The Sherry Sisters - Only Time Will Tell (1972)

The Sherry Sisters were a vocal pop duo from Brooklyn, New York, formed by sisters Lois and Karen Klein, who adopted the name Sherry for their singing career. Their first single 'Stay Away From Bobby' was an answer record to Marcie Blane's original 1962 recording of 'Bobby's Girl', and was issued on the Okeh Record label. After signing to Epic Records they released 'Sailor Boy', backed with their own composition 'He's Just Another Guy', and for 1965's 'Not Tonight'/'Only Time Will Tell' they wrote both sides of the single. This would continue for the rest of their career, with the girls writing or co-writing nearly all of the songs which appeared on their records. They also sang and recorded songs in many languages, such as Spanish, Japanese, Hebrew, French, Italian, Greek and Russian, and issued singles in most of these countries, including a rare Portuguese EP in 1965. The same year saw 'I'd Like To See You Again' come out in Japan, followed by 'Pity Please' in both French and Italian, and in 1966 they issued the German only single 'Wenn Wir Heut' Nacht Nach Hause Geh'n'. For 1968's 'Army Bound' they changed their name to Lois & Karen, after which they took a break for a few years before reviving The Sherry Sisters name in 1972, with their 'If You Have The Love' single on Jamie Records. After one more single on Jamie the same year, the sisters stopped recording, leaving behind an eclectic collection of songs, showing their determination to try to conquer the world market by aiming their songs to many different countries. However, this did not result in the success that they hoped for, and so they are now yet another unfairly forgotten pop group, which I hope this post will go some way to bringing to the attention of fans of well-produced 60's pop music. 

Track listing

01 Stay Away From Bobby (single 1963)
02 Dancing With Tears In My Eyes (b-side of 'Stay Away From Bobby)
03 Sailor Boy (single 1964)
04 He's Just Another Guy (b-side of 'Sailor Boy')
05 Not Tonight (from Portuguese 'Not Tonight' EP 1965)
06 Only Time Will Tell (from Portuguese 'Not Tonight' EP 1965)
07 I'd Like To See You Again (Japanese single 1965)
08 Mist (b-side of 'I'd Like To See You Again')
09 Pity Please (unreleased English version of French single 'Réfléchis' 1966)        
10 Wenn Wir Heut' Nacht Nach Hause Geh'n (Let's Take The Long Way Home) (German single 1966)
11 Alors Pourquoi Rester (No Reason To Stay) (from the French 'Réfléchis' EP 1966)
12 Two Flights Up (promo single 1966)
13 Army Bound (single as Lois & Karen 1968) 
14 Go On! Go On! (b-side of 'Army Bound')
15 I've Got A Whole Lot Of Music In My Soul (single 1972)
16 And Then I Think Of You (b-side of 'If You Have The Love' promo single 1972)
17 Tu' Das Nie (Italian version of 'Pity Please')

Bellefire - After The Rain (2001)

Bellefire were an Irish girl group, best known for their 2002 cover of the U2 song 'All I Want Is You', and the original line-up of Kelly Kilfeather, Tara Lee, Cathy Newell and Ciara Newell formed in 1999, as the result of an audition organised by Louis Walsh and John Reynolds, the management team behind Boyzone. Walsh and Reynolds' goal was to form a male/female mixed group, but Walsh was disappointed with the standard of the male entrants and opted to sign a girl group instead, with the intention of aiming towards "a more mature niche in the pop market" than what was becoming the norm for vocal groups at the time. The line-up was chosen with the inclusion of fifth member Paula O'Neill, and they performed for the first time under the name Chit Chat as a support act to Boyzone's Point Depot concerts in January 2000, after which O'Neill left the group. The four remaining members went on to sign a recording contract with Virgin Records as Bellefire, and after recording their debut album 'After The Rain', they released two singles, both of which were top twenty hits in the UK, with 'Perfect Bliss' reaching No.2 in the Irish charts and going double platinum in their home country. The single also started to pick up high levels of airplay in Japan, so the girls delayed release of the album in the UK to concentrate on the Japanese market, and when 'Perfect Bliss' reached No.1 in the Japanese international music charts, the band toured Asia for three months, and then released the album especially for the Japanese market. They collaborated with Japanese artist Hitomi Yaida, re-writing English lyrics for his hit song 'Buzzstyle', which they also recorded in their own harmonised sound on the album. 

Their second single 'All I Want Is You' was released in the UK almost a year after their first, and although it received a lot of airplay, and got them an appearance on Top of the Pops, their record company Virgin unexpectedly dropped them, and the European version of their album was never released. Changes at Virgin had meant that new management at the label, who had not worked with the band before, had decided that Bellefire and many other artists on their rosta had to be dropped, and a disillusioned Tara Lee left to become a fashion student, while the other three girls continued as a three-piece. The UK version of their debut album was shelved, and has never been made available to the public, but the band did eventually sign to WEA in 2003, and they moved their base to London, where they subsequently recorded a new album entitled 'Spin The Wheel' in 2004. However, they experienced exactly the same issues with that record, as despite their first single as a trio, 'Say Something Anyway', peaking in the UK at No.26, and at No. 2 in Ireland, the planned follow-up single 'You Were Meant For Me', was shelved, and the release of the album was continually being pushed back. This led the girls to once again concentrate on the Asian market, where 'Say Something Anyway' was reaching the top of the charts in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and The Philippines, and so after completing a tour of Southeast Asia, they released their album there, and the UK release of 'Spin The Wheel', and a proposed third single, were cancelled. After the non-release of 'Spin The Wheel' in the UK, Bellefire and Atlantic Records parted company, and the group went their separate ways. 'After The Rain' is a perfectly good girl-group record, and the fact that their singles were hits should have boded well for the success of the album, but it wasn't to be, and so if you want to hear what we missed out on then here is that debut, which we in the UK and US were not allowed to hear.  

Track listing

01 Perfect Bliss
02 I Wish I Could But I Can't
03 Anywhere, Anytime
04 Buzzstyle (Find My Way)
05 Surrender
06 Get You Out Of My Mind
07 I Can't Make You Fall In Love Again
08 All The Money In The World
09 Don't Let Me Down  
10 The Flame
11 If Living Is Without You
12 Each Step That I Take
13 Tell Me Now
14 All I Want Is You

Lolene - The Electrick Hotel (2010)

Lolene Everett was born 12 March 1985, and is professionally known simply as Lolene. She began her career in music in the late 90's by writing songs and singing backing vocals for trip-hop artist Martina Topley-Bird (known for her work with Tricky) and local drum-and-bass pioneer Roni Size. After completing school, she moved to London and fronted an all-girl pop vocal group signed to a development deal at BMG Records. She wrote all the group’s material and realized she had a knack for writing melodies and lyrics. She relocated to Hollywood in search of her big break, and based on her song-writing talent, multi-platinum producer Jonathan "J.R." Rotem signed her to his publishing label Beluga Heights/Sony ATV. She went to work collaborating with such heavy-hitters as Andreas Carlsson, Christopher Rojas, Makeba Riddick, and Christina Milian, for whom she penned the single 'Diamonds'. Deciding that she wanted to write songs for herself, she came up with the idea for 'The Electrick Hotel', so named because "when you put the album on, you’re my guest". She had already released 'Sexy People' as a single, and it had reached number 5 on the Billboard Dance Chart, and the first taster for the album was 'Rich (Fake It Til You Make It)', which was released in April 2010. An official music video was shot for the song and premiered in June 2010, and she mentioned in interviews that the 90's inspired 'Lionheart' would be the next single. Work was completed on the album and it was due to be released in 2010, but she left Capitol shortly after the company merger with EMI, and although promo copies were sent out, the full release was cancelled, and Lolene relocated back to Europe to focus on song-writing and business. She launched her own Stockholm based record label and media group 21:12 Entertainment in 2013 as an opportunity to sign and develop new talent, and she discovered Swedish teen artist Nova Miller at a dance rehearsal and signed her as the first artist. Lolene signed a collaboration deal with Universal records, and wrote Miller's singles 'Supernova', 'Singin In The Rain', 'So Good', and 'My Perfect Christmas', and she continues to manage and develop Miller. Nova Miller is fast becoming one of the biggest new pop artists in Sweden, and Lolene continues to expand her roster and media enterprises which include original TV formats and fashion, but her dreams of releasing an album of her own have now fallen by the wayside. Luckily, some promo copies of 'The Electrick Hotel' did make their way onto the net, and so we are able to hear what her album would have sounded like if it hadn't been shelved. 

Track listing

01 Intro (Welcome To The Electrick Hotel)
02 Sexy People
03 Rich (Fake It Til You Make It)
04 Lionheart
05 Ordinary Girl
06 Under The Bus (feat. Sam Sparr)
07 Interlude (Room Service)
08 Carousel
09 Radio Radio
10 Just For The Record
11 Limousine Luva
12 Die Without Love
13 Bang Bang
14 Messed Up
15 Beautiful Disaster

The Beatles - Rubber Soul (Mike's Mix) (1965)

Mike's next post is his unique take on the Beatles' classic 1965 album 'Rubber Soul' 

Hi! I'm back with more of my coolest remixes of Beatle tracks culled from over 300 shows I produced for a now defunct internet station called Beatles-a-rama. I’m hoping that this new take on the music will allow you to appreciate the greatest band in the world in a whole new way. Here's a brief track by track summary of what I’ve included in this batch. 

Enjoy!! 

Michael 

By the way, did you notice John’s frayed coat (just below Georges ear, in the photo in the pdf)… before it was retouched and stretched for the final cover version? Cool huh! 

01 Drive My Car - All sorts of fun buried treasure here including a solid bass line from Paul, great keyboards and a neat guitar solo! 

02 Norwegian Wood - A revealing look at Paul’s unexpected presence on this classic song. 

03 You Won’t See Me - Cool bass, along with awesome usually hidden backing vocals from George, John and Paul. OHH LAA LAA indeed!

04 Nowhere Man - More hidden harmonies brought to the fore. 

05 Think For Yourself - These guys obviously loved each other and were having so much fun during the sessions for this track. I included some classic Beatles interplay from those sessions as they tried to work out the very intricate harmonies that I then highlight in the main cut.

06 The Word - More hidden harmonies here including some unbelievably high stuff from George. Some sweet bass runs from Paul too! 

07 Michelle - When these guys did three-part harmony nobody could touch them ( see 'Yes It Is' or 'This Boy' for even more proof). I left this almost totally acappella because sometimes…who needs music anyway! 

08 What Goes On - A great tribute to Carl Perkins… a personal hero of the Beatles and a gentleman they performed with many times during their career. Harrison provided the classic lead guitar. Unfortunately this was the last time the Beatles wrote anything in this rockabilly style.

09 Girl - My favorite Greek song by the Beatles, and one of the first songs to include a subliminal message in the background. We can easily guess what John’s favorite part of the female anatomy was from those backing vocals. 

10 I’m Looking Through You - More hidden harmonies and a lovely bass line revealed. 

11 In My Life - Starts with a new piano intro played at the original recorded speed, followed by a mostly instrumental version of the song including the original organ solo , that was later replaced by that piano (sped up) in the intro. 

12 Wait - I wanted to focus on all those hidden Paul harmony parts that are buried in the released version of the song. 

13 If I Needed Someone - The Byrds influenced the Beatles… nope! It’s the other way around. This was released before the Byrds started using this lovely 12 string that George uses throughout this song. More harmonies… YAY! 

14 Run For Your Life - Paul’s bass work and George’s lead guitar work are the key here. 

15 Day Tripper - Recorded during the 'Rubber Soul' sessions as part of a double A-side 1965 single. A pure acappella version here… with slight editing to limit the silent sections. 

16 We Can Work It Out - The other side to the above mentioned single. 'We Can Work It Out' is a comparatively rare example of a Lennon-McCartney collaboration from this period in the Beatles' career, in that it harkens back to the level of collaboration the two songwriters had shared when writing the group's hit singles of 1963. Said Lennon, "In 'We Can Work It Out', Paul did the first half, I did the middle eight. But you've got Paul writing, 'We can work it out / we can work it out' – real optimistic, y'know, and me, impatient: 'Life is very short, and there's no time / for fussing and fighting, my friend." Great harmonies, bass work and acoustic guitar on this one. 

More fun remixed albums coming soon but in the meantime… please comment on this one if you dig it… or hate it! I love feedback either way!!

Track listing

01 Drive My Car

02 Norwegian Wood

03 You Won’t See Me

04 Nowhere Man

05 Think For Yourself

06 The Word

07 Michelle

08 What Goes On

09 Girl

10 I’m Looking Through You

11 In My Life

12 Wait

13 If I Needed Someone

14 Run For Your Life

15 Day Tripper

16 We Can Work It Out 

Soulseek hint  rubber aiwe

Nelly Furtado - Lifestyle (2011) UPDATE

Thanks to 'Unknown', who is downloading the unreleased albums by the modern girl singers, and finding that some of them have tracks missing compared to the posts on the blog. A few of them were because I'd planned the albums from track listings online, but then couldn't track down that elusive last song, and listening back to the two missing songs from the Ke$ha album I can hear why I left those off, but for this one it may have been that I didn't think that Nelly was featured enough on the track to include it, although listening to it now it sounds fine. I've therefore added 'Morning After Dark' back into the track listing and updated both Soulseek and Mega.   

Do keep letting me know if you find any more as I want the posts to be the best that they can be.  

Robbie Blunt - ...and on guitar (2013)

Robert William Blunt was born on 4 March 1951 in Worcestershire, growing up in Wolverley near Kidderminster, and was a fairly popular gun for hire in the 1970's. His first band were the Kidderminster-based Big Gees, and he then moved on to Southern Sound, who released one single in 1966, with 'Just The Same As You'/'I Don't Wanna Go'. Southern Sound were followed by Butch Clutch & The Excellerators, but his first band to really bring him any success was when he joined Bronco, fronted by the powerful singer Jess Roden. Their first album, 'Country Home', featured Clifford T. Ward guesting on vocals, and contained some superb rock with a country tinge, and Blunt contributed some outstanding solos. Their second album 'Ace Of Sunlight' was released in 1971, and was recorded with help from Trevor Lucas on vocals, Mick Ralphs on guitar, and Ian Hunter on keyboards. Around 1972, Bronco disintegrated when both Roden and Blunt left the band, with Blunt joining the Michael Des Barres-fronted Silverhead, replacing their original guitarist Stevie Forest. The band had already released their eponymous debut album by the time that Blunt joined, and so he played on their classic second album '16 And Savaged', co-writing five of the tracks on the 1973 release. The following year the group broke up, and in October Blunt joined the newly-formed Stan Webb Band, which Webb had put together after a short spell with Savoy Brown. Before long they had morphed into Stan Webb's Chicken Shack, and after recruiting Jim Kroeven in February 1975 as their new drummer they changed their name again to Broken Glass, although Bob Daisley and Jim Kroeven soon left, to be replaced by Rob Rawlinson on bass and Mac Poole on drums. This line-up released a self-titled album, with help from Miller Anderson, and produced by Tony Ashton, but in 1977 Webb decided to resurrect the Chicken Shack name, and so Broken Glass split up, with only Blunt staying with Webb for his new project. 

With the addition of Paul Martinez on bass and Ed Spevock on drums they recorded 'The Creeper', which was released on Ariola in 1978, following this the same year with 'That's The Way We Are', before Spevock left them in 1979, to be replaced by Louis Borenius. Later that year, all the members deserted Chicken Shack, leaving Webb as the sole owner of the name, and Blunt joined a band called Little Acre for a few months, before being recruited by Steve Gibbons for his group. The Steve Gibbons Band had a diverse line-up, with many of his friends dropping in to play when they were available, but the core of the band was Trevor Burton on bass and guitar, and Harry Rix on drums, alongside Blunt on guitar and Gibbons on vocals, with dual saxophones from Nick Pentelow and Bill Paul. This line-up recorded the 'Street Parade' album, which was released in 1980, and which featured a distinct reggae flavour to a number of the tracks. 'A-Z' was released as a single, with the non-album 'Blue Lagoon' on the flip, and this featured some of Blunt's best guitar-work with the group. In March 1981, Robert Plant started a low-key project called The Honeydrippers, in order to satisfy his long-time goal of having a rock band with a heavy rhythm and blues basis, and he asked his friend Robbie Blunt to join him. They eventually recruited Andy Silvester to help out on guitar, Jim Wickman on bass, Kevin O'Neil on drums and Ricky Cool on harmonica, and they gigged around the country for the next couple of years. However, when Plant began collaborating with Blunt on original material, he deemed it more suited to his goals as a solo artist, and so he formed a hard rock backing unit, putting the Honeydrippers on the back burner. 

The first album from the solo Plant was the outstanding 'Pictures At Eleven', released in 1982, and featuring guest appearances from Cozy Powell and Phil Collins on drums, as well as Raf Ravenscroft on sax. 'The Principle Of Moments' followed in 1983, and was recorded with help from both Phil Collins and Barriemore Barlow on drums, after which Plant revived the Honeydrippers, this time with an impressive roster of studio guests, including guitarists Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Nile Rodgers, keyboardist Paul Shaffer, bassist Wayne Pedziwiatr, and drummer Dave Weckl. Together they recorded the five-song EP 'The Honeydrippers: Volume One', which was released in 1984, and which featured Plant's takes on '50s and '60s R&B numbers. After a couple of singles and a tour in 1985, which featured guest appearances from The Stray Cats' Brian Seltzer, Plant resumed his solo career and released the 'Shaken 'N' Stirred' album, but no sooner had that come out than all his musicians left him in October 1985. Blunt teamed up with Stan Webb again in a new incarnation of Chicken Shack in 1986, and the next few years also saw him going back to his session musician days, adding his guitar to recordings by Clannad, Edie Brickell And The Bohemians, The Jeff Healey Band, John Kilzer and Murray Attaway. In 1998 he joined Julian Lennon to record his 'Photograph Smile' album, and he was also featured on the 'I Don't Wanna Know' single taken from it. Since then he's appeared with Deborah Bonham on a couple of records, and in 2013 he recorded an obscure single with Gwyn Ashton, but whoever he was playing with you can be sure that his work enhanced their records, as this collection undoubtedly shows.   

Track listing

Disc One
01 Just The Same As You (single by Southern Sound 1966)
02 My Ship, My Star (from 'Thinking Back' by Gordon Jackson 1969)
03 Misfit On Your Stair (from 'Country Home' by Bronco 1970)
04 Cartoon Princess (from '16 And Savaged' by Silverhead 1973)
05 Crying Smiling (from 'Broken Glass' by Broken Glass 1975)
06 Dr. Brown (from 'The Creeper' by Stan Webb's Chicken Shack 1978)
07 Blue Lagoon (b-side of 'A-Z' single by Steve Gibbons Band 1980)
08 Just Can't Be Satisfied (The Honeydrippers live 1981)
09 Worse Than Detroit (from 'Pictures At Eleven' by Robert Plant 1982) 
10 Live And Learn (from 'Sirius' by Clannad 1987)

Disc Two
01 What I Am (from 'Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars' by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians 1988)
02 Nice Problem To Have (from 'See The Light' by The Jeff Healey Band 1988)
03 Voices (from 'Hard Roads' by The Jazz Devils 1990)
04 The Flacon (from 'Busman's Holiday' by John Kilzer 1991)
05 Fall So Far (from 'In Thrall' by Murray Attaway 1993)
06 L'amore Mio (from 'Il Cielo Capovolto' by Roberto Vecchioni 1995)
07 I Don't Wanna Know (from 'Photograph Smile' by Julian Lennon 1998)
08 Black Coffee (from 'The Old Hyde' by Deborah Bonham 2004)
09 Fortunate Kind (single by Gwyn Ashton 2013)

The Soup Dragons - A Whole Wide World Of... (1992)

The Soup Dragons formed in Bellshill, near Motherwell in Scotland, in 1985, with a line up of Sean Dickson (vocals, lead guitar), Jim McCulloch (guitar, second voice) who replaced Ian Whitehall, Sushil K. Dade (bass), and Ross Sinclair (drums). After playing a few local gigs, the band recorded their first demo tape 'You Have Some Too' (which I sent away for at the time, and still own), and this was followed by a flexi disc single 'If You Were The Only Girl In The World', resulting in the group signing to The Subway Organization in early 1986. Their first EP 'The Sun In The Sky' was Buzzcocks-inspired pop punk, but the band's breakthrough came with their second single for Subway, 'Whole Wide World', which reached No. 2 on the UK Independent Chart in 1986. The band were then signed to former Wham! co-manager Jazz Summers' label Raw TV, and the 'Hang Ten!' EP was released in 1986, followed by a live EP in 1987. Over the course of their first six singles they gradually developed from twee jangle-pop to a more complex rock guitar sound, which culminated in their first album 'This Is Our Art', which was released on their new label Sire Records in 1988. After the single 'Kingdom Chairs' was taken from the album, however, they returned to original label Raw TV, and in the year after 'This Is Our Art', The Soup Dragons' sound underwent a change from straight-forward indie rock to a rock-dance crossover, which was mainly due to being without a drummer, and buying a sampler and drum machine. The ecstasy-fuelled acid house UK rave scene was on the rise at the time, and eager to be involved, the band started experimenting with the sampler, culminating in the release of the 'Lovegod' album on Big Life Records in 1990, which married dub-heavy beats with synths, acoustic guitars, and breathy vocals. They released the single 'I'm Free' in July, and this up-tempo cover of the Rolling Stones' song, with a toasting overdub by reggae star Junior Reid, was their most successful single in the UK, reaching No. 5, and later appearing on the soundtrack for the movie 'The World's End'. 'Hotwired' appeared in 1992 on the Mercury label, and the single lifted from it, 'Divine Thing', became their biggest US hit, reaching No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. For this album, gone were the hypnotic swells and late-night cigarette lyrics that fuelled their previous release, replaced here by tight, immaculately produced songs that were way more alternative dance and sunny Britpop than moody rave anthems. By 1994, Dickson was the sole remaining member of the band, relying on a bizarre array of session musicians, from Bootsy Collins to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, to help complete the funk, soul, rock, and hip-hop hybrid of the group's final album 'Hydrophonic'. The record received generally apathetic or poor reviews, and the resultant weak sales led Dickson to disband The Soup Dragons in 1995, and form a new group called High Fidelity, which released an EP in 1996, and a series of singles that led to the release of their first full-length LP, 'Demonstration', in 2002. Paul Quinn went on to join Teenage Fanclub, while Sushil K. Dade formed the experimental post rock group Future Pilot A.K.A., and is now a producer for BBC Radio 3. Jim McCulloch joined Superstar, wrote and recorded music with Isobel Campbell, and formed the folk group Snowgoose. Considering that the The Soup Dragons only released four albums in their decade-long career, they recorded and released at least as much music on singles, EPs and b-sides in the same period, and so here it all is, collected together on a three-disc set, where you can trace their beginnings as part of the C86 jangle-pop scene, through their tougher indie rock phase, and then out the other side at the fore-front of indie/dance in the Madchester era, before finally settling back into mainstream rock towards the end of their career.      

Track listing

Disc I - 1985-1987
01 If You Were The Only Girl In The World (Would You Take Me?) (split single 1985)
02 Quite Content (from 'The Sun Is In The Sky' EP 1986)
03 Swirling Round The Garden With You (from 'The Sun Is In The Sky' EP 1986)
04 Fair's Fair (from 'The Sun Is In The Sky' EP 1986)
05 Not For Humbert (from 'The Sun Is In The Sky' EP 1986)
06 Whole Wide World (single 1986)
07 Pleasant Surprised (b-side of 'Whole Wide World')
08 I Know Everything (b-side of 'Whole Wide World')
09 Hang Ten! (single 1986)
10 Just Mind Your Step Girl (b-side of 'Hang Ten!')
11 Slow Things Down (b-side of 'Hng Ten!')
12 Man About Town With Chairs (b-side of 'Hang Ten!')
13 Rosewood Sky (from the 'Sonic Sounds 2' various artists EP 1987)
14 Head Gone Astray (single 1987)
15 Girl In The World (b-side of 'Head Gone Astray')
16 So Sad (I Feel) (b-side of 'Head Gone Astray')

Disc II  - 1987-1989
01 Can't Take No More (single 1987)
02 Whitewash (b-side of 'Can't Take No More')
03 Aha! Experience (b-side of 'Can't Take No More')
04 Purple Haze (b-side of 'Can't Take No More')
05 Our Lips Are Sealed (b-side of 'Soft As Your Face' 1987)
06 It's Always Autumn (b-side of 'Soft As Your Face' 1987)
07 4-Way Brain (b-side of 'Your Majestic Head?' 1988)
08 Them (b-side of 'Your Majestic Head?' 1988)
09 White Cruising (b-side of 'Kingdom Chairs' 1988)
10 Supercherry (b-side of 'Backwards Dog' 1989)
11 Burn Out (b-side of 'Backwards Dog' 1989)
12 Kill Kill Kill Me (b-side of 'Backwards Dog' 1989)
13 Crotch Deep Trash (single 1989)
14 You Can Fly (b-side of 'Crotch Deep Trash')
15 Superangel (b-side of 'Crotch Deep Trash')

Disc III - 1991-1992
01 Electric Blues (single 1991)
02 Unearthed (b-side of 'Electric Blues')
03 Solar Rise (b-side of 'Electric Blues')
04 Blues(b-side of 'Electric Blues')
05 Running Wild (single 1992)
06 Stand Loud (b-side of 'Running Wild')
07 Pleasure (single 1992)
08 What You Want (b-side of 'Pleasure')
09 Dive Bomber (b-side of 'Pleasure')
10 Driving (b-side of 'Divine Thing' 1992)
11 Americana Sweetmeat (b-side of 'Divine Thing' 1992)

Hilary Duff - This Heart (2014)

Hilary Erhard Duff was born 0n 28 September 1987 in Houston, Texas, and encouraged by their mother, both Hilary and her sister Haylie enrolled in acting, singing and ballet classes. The siblings earned roles in local theatre productions, and later participated in a touring BalletMet production of The Nutcracker in San Antonio. Increasingly interested in the pursuit of show business, the Duff sisters and their mother moved to California in 1993, while their father stayed in Houston to take care of his business. The sisters auditioned for several years, being cast in many television commercials, and during her initial acting years Hialry primarily played minor roles, with her first major role being Wendy in the 1998 film 'Casper Meets Wendy', based on the Harvey Comics characters. In March 2000 she appeared as a sick child in the CBS medical drama series 'Chicago Hope', and was next cast as one of the children in the pilot episode of the NBC comedy series 'Daddio', but was dropped from the cast prior to the airing of the show. A week after being dropped from 'Daddio,' Duff landed the title role in a newly developed Disney Channel series, 'Lizzie McGuire', quickly becoming labelled as a teen idol and household name, particularly within the show's pre-teen adolescent target demographic. She began making appearances on various soundtracks for the Disney channel, recording covers of the Brooke McClymont song 'I Can't Wait' for the soundtrack to 'Lizzie McGuire', and 'The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room' for DisneyMania. 

Upon expressing interest in a music career, production on Duff's debut Christmas themed album began, and 'Santa Claus Lane' was released in October 2002, peaking in the lower portion of the Billboard 200 chart in the United States, and she later signed a recording contract with Andre Recke of Hollywood Records to release future recordings. Following the release of her Australian top twenty hit 'Why Not', she released her second studio album, 'Metamorphosis', in August 2003, receiving mixed reviews from contemporary music critics, but still topping the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. 'Metamorphosis' earned multiple awards and nominations following its release, including Best New Female Artist at the 2004 World Music Awards. Her self-titled third studio album was released in September of that year, with Duff being more involved in the production of this album than she had been in her previous record, and it featured prominent rock elements, and drew comparison to works from Avril Lavigne and Ashlee Simpson. In 2007 she began working on material for her fourth studio album, co-writing thirteen of the album's fourteen songs, along with writers such as Kara DioGuardi, and 'Dignity' was released in 2007, featuring a more dance and electropop sound. The album was praised for its lyrical content and new musical direction, and was promoted with a television special 'Hilary Duff: This Is Now', chronicling her return to music. Despite positive critical reception, however, 'Dignity' failed to match the commercial success of her previous releases, and so she concentrated of acting for the next couple of years, appearing in 'War, Inc.' in 2008 and starring in 'According To Greta' and 'What Goes Up', both in 2009, before landing the role of Olivia Burke in the TV show 'Gossip Girl' in 2010. 

Following this appearance, she guested in an episode of the NBC sitcom 'Community', and then co-starred as Raven Halfacre in the drama 'Bloodworth'. By 2012 she was ready to return to her music career, and throughout 2012 she worked with songwriter Ali Tamposi, and musicians Matt Squire and Jason Evigan, but nothing was ever released from these sessions. In July 2014 it was revealed that Duff had signed with RCA Records, and 'Chasing The Sun' was immediately released as her first single for the label, followed by 'All About You' a month later, which failed to enter the Hot 100 chart, but became a top-twenty hit in Australia. In April 2015 she released the single 'Sparks' from her fifth studio album 'Breathe In. Breathe Out.', which was issued in June 2015, but what became of the record which was supposed to follow the 'Chasing The Sun' and 'All About You' singles in 2014? 'This Heart' was the album that Duff wanted as her music comeback in 2014, but it was cancelled by RCA, possibly because of the direction that Duff wanted to go, having been inspired by the folkier-type music of Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers. She has said that "It's definitely a straightforward pop album but with a bit of that influence in there. When I came to the label I just kept saying 'I want it to feel a little earthy and authentic' because I'm from Texas, and they were like 'earthy? What does that mean?'. But that’s the best way I can describe it. It's definitely pop — I wanted to have those melodies that get stuck in your head — but also have some foot-stomping and claps that bring me back to my roots". The record company were not impressed and refused to release it, but it did leak online some years later, so we can now hear what her new direction would have sounded like in 2014 had she got her way, and produced that music that she really wanted to. 

Track listing

01 It All Starts Tonight
02 Neighborhood
03 All About You
04 Wild Night Out
05 Chasing The Sun
06 Feel Alive
07 Carry On
08 Wherever We Go
09 Outlaw
10 Hurts
11 If I Fall
12 This Heart
13 Better Days
14 Belong
15 Rebel Hearts

John Lennon - Ambrosia (Mike's Mix) (1980)

OK. you asked for it, and so here is the next in Mike's series.

Hey Kids, It’s Mike here, back with more of my coolest remixes of Beatles and reletated tracks culled from over 300 shows I produced for a now defunct internet station called Beatles-arama. This time it’s John Lennon’s 'Double Fantasy' and 'Milk And Honey' albums (plus bonuses of course!). The thing I always found most fun (and still do) in working with Beatles tracks, is using the most modern equipment out there to rip the commercially released tracks apart… and then finding out what is hiding in the cracks and crevices of the music. The stuff buried beneath. The stuff you never usually get a chance to hear. Until now! That’s what this collection is all about. Here's a brief track by track summary of what I’ve included in this remix of just the Lennon songs from each album. Enjoy!! Michael 

01 (Just Like) Starting Over (12' Promo): My remix of the 12” promo single that took the original 'Double Fantasy' album ending, and changed it to a much more fun and unusual one. You’ll hear the massive influence Elvis had on this fantastic tune. A much more acoustic based version here than the original and promo versions.

02 Cleanup Time: John having fun on this very rocking tune! Great guitar work is brought to the fore! 

03 I’m Losing You: Possibly my favorite mix on the whole album. I really reduced this one down and dig how simple it is but how BADASS it sounds. I love the unexpected quiet part in the middle! A great John song! 

04 Beautiful Boy: I upped the harmonies, lost some of the main vocals to give it an even mellower Caribbean feel than on the album…and made it acoustic. 

05 Watching The Wheels: I actually did this two ways, but picked the solo piano version for here for an intimate finished demo kinda feel. (the other was the Bass version…also very cool!) I love the jazzy ending! 

06 I Don't Wanna Face It: Rockin tune. I dropped most of the vocals to focus on the great backing on this one. Love that guitar! 

07 Woman: Ok… here’s a bass version, with extra harmonies from a later remix added back in. 

08 Dear Yoko: Just a fun tune here for the folks back home. I bumped up all the buried harmonies, left the wonderful harmonica track and basically made it a much more acoustic deal. 

09 Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him: The original version was a solo Yoko track but I found a lovely dreamy mix with Lennon’s demo vocals buried in the background… so I brought those up and intertwined them with Yoko’s to continue the half awake, half not semi conscious theme. I dig this version a lot. 

10 I’m Stepping Out: Love the driving guitar and bass in this one. This was a fun one to mix…lots going one while still retaining an overall mellow feel. 

11 Nobody Told Me: Why are there Nazi’s in the bathroom just below the stairs? Most similar to the released version but I made this a bit more acoustic by leaving out most of the drums except for fills. 

12 Borrowed Time: Upped the guitars, bass and congo’s at times for that wonderful Caribbean feel again. 

13 Forgive Me My Little Flower Princess: Love the beat of this one… so tried to leave in parts to focus on this aspect of the song. Pretty guitar at the end. 

14 Grow Old With Me: I remember the first time I heard this… I’m not crying… you’re crying. This one took a lot of work and not only from me. My friend and fellow mixer extraordinaire Lord Reith did amazing things to the demo version of John’s song to bring it up to the beautiful sound quality you hear here. I isolated that and moved it onto right channel, the more piano focused channel, of the orchestral mix. This is the way it should be on the album… they just didn’t have the tech to pull it off back then. 

15 Help Me To Help Myself: Another interesting creation. John’s demo, recorded during the 'Double Fantasy' sessions, mixed with a backing by the Beatles tribute band Apple Jam, which features drummer Alan White (Yes, John Lennon, George Harrison). The original demo version was released on the 2000 re-release of 'Double Fantasy' as a bonus track. I took the vocals and removed the heavy reverb from the original…and reinserted them back in. Hope you enjoyed these!

Track listing

01 (Just Like) Starting Over

02 Cleanup Time

03 I’m Losing You

04 Beautiful Boy

05 Watching The Wheels

06 I Don't Wanna Face It

07 Woman

08 Dear Yoko

09 Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him

10 I’m Stepping Out

11 Nobody Told Me

12 Borrowed Time

13 Forgive Me My Little Flower Princess

14 Grow Old With Me

15 Help Me To Help Myself

Jennifer Lopez - Louboutins (2011)

Following the release of her least commercially successful album 'Brave' in 2007, which just missed the top ten of the US Billboard 200, Jennifer Lopez started work on her next album while pregnant with twins Emme and Max. In February 2009 a new song from those recording sessions titled 'Hooked On You' leaked online, followed shortly afterwards by the leak of another track called 'What Is Love', which songwriter Wynter Gordon was particularly annoyed about, but which Lopez passed off as her fans being impatient to hear her new music. In February 2010, Lopez left Sony Music Entertainment and Epic Records by mutual consent, with her departure from the label temporarily halting production on the album, but after signing a new contract with Island Def Jam Music Group, recording resumed, and Lopez entered the studio with Kuk Harrell to record brand new material for the record. In February 2011, Lopez told the BBC that the album was nearly complete, and that she had around twenty songs recorded from 2009–2011 which were being considered for the album, but she was finding it hard to edit the final track listing. The lead single from the album was 'Louboutins', which was produced and written by Christopher "Tricky  Stewart" and The-Dream for Brandy Norwood, but following Norwood's departure from Epic Records it was subsequently given to Lopez. It topped the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart but did not garner any airplay, and critics gave the song mixed reviews, calling the lyrical content "boring" and "dated", although some did appreciate that the song was "catchy" and had some club appeal to it, and in the end it was excluded from the final track listing of the album. The record was to be called 'Love?', as she felt that "it's an endlessly fascinating topic that all my albums have been about. It's still very confusing to me and so I explore that on this album, probably more than my other albums", with a release date set for March 2011. 

Just a few weeks after the first announcement, Rap-Up announced that the album had been pushed back to 19 April 2011, with no reason given for the new date, and then it was pushed back again to 03 May 2011, when it finally appeared. It received mixed reviews from critics, with Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine saying that "Love? isn't the all-out dance album it could—and should—have been.", while Hermione Hoby from The Observer commented that she felt that the  lyrics let the album down. 'Love?' debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 83,000 copies in its first week, and performed decently elsewhere, in particular in Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Over half of the 'Love?' album had already leaked in demo form from 2008-2009 before the release of the final album in 2011, and the only new tracks were the ones Lopez had recorded with producer RedOne, which were all placed on the album after the massive success of the lead single 'On The Floor'. The final track listing for the album contained 12 songs, with a further three added to the deluxe edition, but her original comment of there being 20 tracks from the sessions to choose from turned out to be an under-estimate, as a further fifteen songs have since surfaced - in fact there are enough unreleased songs to make up a sister album to 'Love?', including that lost single 'Louboutins', which also gives the album its title.   

Track listing

01 Hooked on You
02 Greatest Part of Me
03 Venus
04 Faint
05 On The Radio
06 Mouth 2 Mouth
07 Story Of My Life
08 What I Call Love
09 Stronger
10 What Is Love? (Part II)
11 One Step At A Time
12 Countdown
13 Whipping My Hair
14 Fresh Out The Oven (feat. Pitbull)
15 Louboutins

dalek i (love you) - Masks & Licenses (1990)

By the mid-1970's, David Balfe, Alan Gill and Keith Hartley, three residents of Thingwall on the Wirral Peninsula, had formed a band called Mr. McKenzie. In November 1976, as punk was emerging and influencing them, the group changed their name to Radio Blank, composed of Balfe (bass and keyboards), Gill (guitar and vocals) and Hartley (lead vocals and guitar), as well as Stephen Brick (drums). They played their own material and also some covers, such as 'You Really Got Me' and 'Peaches', and they performed regularly at Eric's Club in Liverpool. Balfe and Gill lost interest in punk during 1977, and dissolved the band in October to form a more experimental project, and by December 1977, Balfe and Gill, influenced by Kraftwerk, had formed Dalek I Love You with Dave Hughes on keyboards and Chris Teepee operating a rhythm unit and tapes. The name was a compromise, as Balfe wanted to call the band The Daleks, while Gill wanted to call the band Darling, I Love You, so they agreed on Dalek I Love You. In 1978, Balfe left the group to manage other bands, and eventually joined Big in Japan and later the Teardrop Explodes, and by August 1978 the band were joined by Martin Cooper (saxophone), Andy McCluskey (lead vocals and bass, who was previously in the Id) and Kenny Peers (drums), along with poets Gordon Hon (aka "The Worm") and Max the Actor. In September, McCluskey quit to rejoin former Id bandmate Paul Humphreys, to form Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, and by October only Gill and Hughes remained in the band. As a duo, they signed to Inevitable Records, but before long a demo of 'Freedom Fighters' attracted the interest of Phonogram Records, who then signed them before they'd had a chance to release anything on Inevitable. However, Phonogram decided to shorten the name of the band to Dalek i, and also wanted to change the chords of 'Freedom Fighters', but the band prevailed and eventually 'Freedom Fighters' was released as their first single on Phonogram subsidiary Vertigo in July 1979, backed with 'Two Chameleons'. 

It was followed by 'The World' in October 1979, and after a label change to Back Door Records, the almost self-titled 'Dalek I Love You (Destiny)' in May 1980. Dalek i's debut album, 'Compass kum'pas' was released on 24 May 1980 on Back Door to critical acclaim but poor sales, and by the time of the album's release, Dave Hughes had left to join OMD, leaving Gill as the only remaining member of the band. Shortly afterwards the project went on hiatus when Gill joined The Teardrop Explodes in July 1980, replacing Mick Finkler, and although his stay with the Teardrops was short-lived, while he was with them he did co-write their most successful single, 'Reward', as well as introducing frontman Julian Cope to LSD. By 1981, Gill had reformed Dalek I Love You, with himself as the sole member, although he recruited Hugh Jones and Chuca Russo on vocal harmonies, and Chris Hughes on drums for the recording of the single 'Heartbeat', which was released on 28 February 1981 by Back Door. By 1983, the band consisted of Gill and returning members Hartley, Hon and Peers, with backing vocalists Chuca Russo, Heather Balshaw and Amanda Hon, and this line-up released their eponymously titled album in November 1983 on the Korova label. After this, Gill continued making and recording music with local artists, and started his own cassette-only label, Bop a Dub, which released the cassette-only album 'Naive' in 1985, after which Dalek I Love You effectively disbanded. I've only recently come to this group, having somehow passed them by at the time, but I found that 'Compass kum'pas' has really stood the test of time, and stands up as a great little record, and that inspired me to investigate their back-catalogue, which has resulted in this collection of their non-album b-sides from their short career. In 1990 they contributed an otherwise unreleased song to an album celebrating the music of Liverpool, but as I can find out nothing about it this could be a Gill solo effort from the late 80's rather than a rare recording by the original band -  but it's still a nice little song to close the album.  

Track listing

01 Happy (b-side of 'Dalek I Love You (Destiny)' 1980)
02 This Is My Uniform (b-side of 'Dalek I Love You (Destiny)' 1980)
03 Astronauts (Have Landed On The Moon) (b-side of 'Heartbeat' 1981)
04 Masks & Licenses (b-side of 'Holiday In Disneyland' 1982)
05 Heaven Was Bought For Me (b-side of 'Holiday In Disneyland' 1982)
06 The Legend Of Wild Jim (from audio magazine SFX No. 15 1982) 
07 (I Am) Hot Person (Extended version) (b-side of 'Ambition' 1983)
08 Would You Still Love Me (b-side of 'Ambition' 1983)
09 12 Hours Of Blues (Dub) (out-take 1983)
10 These Walls We Build (b-side of 'Horrorscope' 1983)
11 Heap Big Pow Wow (b-side of 'Horrorscope' 1983)
12 Horrorscope (Instrumental) (b-side of 'Horrorscope' 1983)
13 The Angel And The Clown (b-side of 'Horrorscope' 1983)
14 Everything I Do (from the 'Liverpool...All Of This & Heaven Too' compilation album 1990)

Willa Ford - Sexysexobsessive (2004)

Amanda Lee Williford was born on 22 January 1981 in Ruskin, Florida, and is known by her stage name Willa Ford. She began singing with the Tampa Bay Children's Choir at age eight. moving on to the Tampa-based children's performing arts troupe when she was 11, and by the age of 18 she was performing under the stage name Mandah, and was signed to MCA Records. This didn't last long, and after she was dropped from MCA she signed to Atlantic Records, who placed one of Ford's songs, 'Lullaby', on the soundtrack of the 1998 film 'Pokémon: The First Movie'. Ford changed her stage name from Mandah to Willa Ford to avoid confusion with Mandy Moore, and in 2001 she was signed to a new label, Lava Atlantic Records, while on a mall tour for Nautica Kids. She wrote most of her own lyrics, and served as executive producer for most of her first album, with 'Willa Was Here' being released in July 2001. It included the single 'I Wanna Be Bad' which featured rapper Royce da 5'9", and the album reached 56 on the Billboard 200. A second single from the album, 'Did Ya' Understand That', failed to attract as much attention, which was blamed on it being released on September 11 2001, and being overlooked in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Ford went on to guest-host MTV's TRL and Say What Karaoke, which led to a hosting contract with Viacom, fronting the MTV reality shows The Morning After and I Bet You Will. In 2003, she released the single 'A Toast To Men', which was the lead track from what was have been her second album 'Sexysexobsessive', after the title was changed from her original suggestion of 'Porn Poetry'. However, the album was cancelled following issues within the record company, even though 'A Toast To Men' had received positive reviews, with some critics praising its feminist message. The title track, 'Sexysexobsessive', was to be the second single, but after the album was cancelled it was only released through Ford's official website. Tracks from the album have leaked, and so as it's fairly easy to piece it together, here is Willa Ford's second album, which should have appeared in 2004. 

Track listing

01 Sexysexobsessive
02 F*ck The Men (A Toast To Men)
03 All The Right Moves
04 Who I Am
05 Not Such An Innocent Girl
06 Did Ya Understand That
07 Rock Tonight
08 Back Back Back
09 Nastified (feat. Park Ji Yoon)
10 All The Right Moves