The Big Reveal - Part 2

I hope that yesterday's post didn't come across as sounding a bit too needy, but I am genuinely interested in hearing what people think of what I post here, so that I know whether to keep posting that kind of thing or to scale it back. This was borne out by the reply from Anotherone Bitthe Dust, who mentioned that I seem to be posting a lot more pop stuff recently, and it would be nice to go back to the more rockier stuff. I entirely agree, as rock is my first love, but it just happens to be the case that the pop scene of the 2000's/2010's was very volatile, with artists having all their hard work dumped by their labels if just one single wasn't a huge hit, of if the labels were amalgamated and their rostas trimmed, and so I've discovered a huge stash of unreleased albums from that period, and they all seem to be pop/R&B stuff. I wouldn't say that I'm a huge fan of the genre, and don't know who most of them are, but I listen to them and read the comments on Youtube to see if they have a fanbase, and if I vaguely like what I hear then I assume actual fans of the artists would like to hear it as well, so I'm working my way through them. However, rest assured that I will try to post at least one or two 'rock' albums a week, as long as I can keep finding them, and there are a few crackers coming up. 

I'm also glad to hear that the Hitmaker series is fairly popular. That all started as a one-off post for a Tony Hazzard album, where nearly every track had been a hit single for another artist, so 'Hitmakers' was a valid title, but when it then became a series, not all of the covers have been hits, but it was too late to change the title. I admit that I sometimes have to trawl Youtube to find that elusive final cover, so some albums could include up to half the covers by completely unknown artists, but when this happened to the recent Bruce Springsteen one I thought that even though I didn't know the artists, their covers were excellent, so hits or not I still really enjoyed listening to them.   
And finally, I'm curious to know how many people who heard the 'Oasis' album actually thought that I'd discovered a stash of rare demos, as even I have to admit that they were very convincing.   

 
pj  

Is There Anybody Out There? & The Big Reveal

While I appreciate the kind comments which are sometimes attached to the download requests, when they come directly to me it does mean that no-one else ever gets to see them on the blog, and a new visitor to the site who see 'No comments' on nearly every post might think that hardly anyone ever visits. I'd love to know what people think of the posts, to see if what I'm posting is what people want to hear. I have quite a few (and I mean over 100) male, female and group unreleased R&B albums by more obscure artists ready to post, but I don't know if people are enjoying the ones I've posted so far, as only the more well know artists attract the odd comment. Or what about my Hitmakers series, as I thought that was a really good idea, but only a couple have every been commented on. And as a for instance, I thought that the recent Florence + The Machine album that I posted was one of my better efforts, but only one person seemed to agree with me. One post which I did think would spark a dialogue was the recent Oasis post, but it seems that I've managed to fool nearly everyone who's listened to it, as only two people have actually spotted that it was this year's April Fool, and wasn't by Oasis at all. It was in fact a band called Breezer, who recorded a few Oasis-sounding tracks and then programmed AI to sing the lyrics in the style of Liam Gallagher. Only Smash Addams spotted that the vocals were AI-generated, although jman was close in thinking it was a tribute band, so either it was my best ever hoax, or it's just that no-one could be bothered to call me out on it. I really hope it's the first option .

pj

 

Oasis - Coming Of Age (2009)

In 2007 Oasis were riding high on the success of their sixth album 'Don't Believe The Truth', and taking the top two positions in the Q magazine poll of the fifty greatest albums of the last 50 years. The recorded for a couple of months in 2007, completing work on two new songs and demoing the rest, after which they took a two-month break because of the birth of Noel's son. They re-entered the studio on 5 November 2007 and finished recording around March 2008, with the band's seventh album 'Dig Out Your Soul' being released in October. After recording had finished Zak Starkey left the group, and he was replaced by former Icicle Works and the La's drummer Chris Sharrock on their tour, but he was not an official member of the band and Oasis remained as a four-piece. The first single from the record was 'The Shock Of the Lightning', written by Noel Gallagher, and it was pre-released on 29 September 2008, and when the album appeared a week later it went to number one in the UK and number five on the Billboard 200. In June 2008, the band had re-signed with Sony BMG for a three-album deal, and in February 2009 they received the NME Award for Best British Band of 2009. Over the summer of 2009 the band recorded some demos for the first album of the new deal with Sony, and then played some festivals, one of which should have been the V Festival in Chelmsford in  August, but this had to be cancelled after Liam contracted laryngitis. Noel later stated that he had a hangover, for which Liam sued him, and Noel had to apologise in order to get the lawsuit dropped. The band were due to perform on 28 August 2009 at the Rock en Seine festival near Paris, however mid-way through Bloc Party's set at the festival, their frontman Kele Okereke announced that Oasis would not be performing. Two hours later, a statement from Noel appeared on the band's website:
It is with some sadness and great relief...I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.
Liam and the remaining members of Oasis decided to continue under the name Beady Eye, releasing two studio albums until their break-up in 2014, while Noel formed the solo project Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, and has released four studio albums. The tracks recorded for what would have been their eighth album were shelved, until they leaked online recently, and so here are eight tracks from the final incarnation of Oasis just before they ignominiously fell apart in 2009. 

Track listing

01 Out Of My Mind
02 Time
03 Alright
04 Forever
05 Bittersweet
06 Coming Of Age
07 Alive
08 Tonight

Nicole Scherzinger - Fire (2011)

As I mentioned in the previous posts from Nicole Scherzinger, before embarking fully on a solo career she dipped her toes in the water by appearing on other artist's records as a guest vocalist, and in 2006 and 2007 she graced quite a few songs with her presence. It was an eclectic mix, with 50 Cent sitting next to Shaggy, and Timbaland vying with P. Diddy for her attention, and if we gather up all the guest appearances that she made before the release of her official debut studio album in 2011 then we have a very enjoyable 45-minute album of prime R&B and reggae. Only one of these tracks eventually appeared on that debut album 'Killer Love', but as 'Heartbeart' with Enrique Inglesias was also released as a single in 2010 then I'm including it on here anyway.   

Track listing 

01 Don't Ask Her That (feat. Shaggy) [from 'Clothes Drop' 2005]
02 Come To Me (feat. P. Diddy) [from 'Press Play' 2006]
03 Fire (feat. 50 Cent & Young Buck) [from 'Curtis' 2007]
04 Heartbeat (feat. Pharrell Williams) [Madonna demo 2008]
05 Supa Hypnotic (feat. Shaggy) [from 'Clothes Drop' 2005]
06 Scream (feat. Keri Hilson & Timbaland) [from 'Shock Value' 2007]
07 Papi Lover (feat. Daddy Yankee) [from 'El Cartel: The Big Boss' 2007]
08 Numba 1 (Tide Is High) (feat. Kardinal Offishall) [from 'Not 4 Sale' 2008]
09 Lie About Us (feat. Avant) [from 'Director' 2006]
10 Heartbeat (feat. Enrique Iglesias) [from 'Euphoria' 2010]
11 Hotel Room Service (feat. Pitbull) [from 'Rebelution' 2009]
12 Coconut Tree (feat. Mohombi) [from 'MoveMeant' 2011]

Made In London - A Perfect Storm (2000)

Made in London were a pop group made up of three members, Brits Kelly Bryant and Sherene Dyer, and Norwegian Marianne Eide, and the band was founded by Melissa Popo and Peter Ibsen. Ibsen co-wrote the whole of their album with the lead singer/songwriter Sherene Dyer, with contributions from the rest of the band, while Popo left before they released any of their singles. Despite wide publicity, particularly surrounding their second single, 'Shut Your Mouth', combined with a certain amount of internet-based success, their most successful chart hit was 'Dirty Water', which reached number 15 in the UK Singles Chart in May 2000. The trio's debut album 'A Perfect Storm' was planned to be released after 'Shut Your Mouth', but as the single did not garner the anticipated chart success, only reaching number 74 in the UK singles chart, the album was cancelled prior to its release. Following the release of a cover of Terence Trent D'Arby's 'Wishing Well', the group disbanded, with Dyer carrying on performing under the name Sherii Ven Dyer. As so often happens with these cancelled album, the record company should have had a bit more faith in them, as it's a perfectly fine millennial pop record, with 'I'm Not' and 'We Don't Do No Wrong' even appealing to a heavy rock audience. 

Track listing

01 I'm Not  
02 Dirty Water  
03 24 Little Hours  
04 We Don't Do No Wrong 
05 Shut Your Mouth  
06 Ain't Another Love Song  
07 My Friend  
08 Believe  
09 Hit Or Miss  
10 If You Don't Wanna  
11 From The First Time  
12 Magic  

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Gordon Lightfoot (1977)

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. was born on 17 November 1938 in Orillia, Ontario, and after his mother recognized his musical talent early on she schooled him to become a successful child performer. He first performed publicly in grade four, singing the Irish-American lullaby 'Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral', which was broadcast over his school's public address system during a parents' day event, and as a youth he sang in the choir of Orillia's St. Paul's United Church under the direction of choirmaster Ray Williams. As a teenager he learned piano and taught himself to play drums and percussion, holding concerts in Muskoka, a resort area north of Orillia, and performing extensively throughout high school, teaching himself to play folk guitar along the way. In 1958 he moved to Los Angeles to study jazz composition and orchestration for two years at Westlake College of Music, and to support himself while in California he sang on demonstration records and wrote, arranged, and produced commercial jingles. After his return to Canada he performed with the Singin' Swingin' Eight, a group featured on CBC TV's Country Hoedown, and also with the Gino Silvi Singers, and in 1961 he released two singles, both recorded at RCA in Nashville and produced by Chet Atkins, that were local hits in Toronto. In 1963 he travelled in Europe, and for a year in the UK he hosted BBC TV's Country and Western Show, returning to Canada in 1964. 

Around this time he began to develop a reputation as a songwriter, with Ian and Sylvia Tyson recording his 'Early Mornin' Rain' and 'For Lovin' Me', and a year later both songs were recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary. With this validation of his song-writing skill, artists such as Marty Robbins ('Ribbon Of Darkness'), Judy Collins ('Early Morning Rain'), Richie Havens and Spyder Turner ('I Can't Make It Anymore'), and the Kingston Trio ('Early Morning Rain') all achieved some chart success with Lightfoot's material. In 1965 he signed a management contract with Albert Grossman, and a recording contract with United Artists, who released his version of 'I'm Not Sayin'' as a single. 1966 marked the release of his debut album 'Lightfoot!', which brought him greater exposure as both a singer and a songwriter, and the record featured many now-famous songs, including 'For Lovin' Me', 'Early Mornin' Rain', 'Steel Rail Blues', and 'Ribbon Of Darkness'. On the strength of the 'Lightfoot!' album, he became one of the first Canadian singers to achieve definitive home-grown stardom without having moved permanently to the United States to develop it. The variety of artists featured on this collection just proves what a versatile songwriter Lightfoot was, with pop groups, folk bands, and R&B singers all covering his songs, and folk-rock legends Fotheringay rated him highly enough to include one of his songs on their debut album, despite having a number of renowned songwriters in the band. 'Lightfoot!' did include three covers, and so in a slight departure from the usual format of these albums I've included the original versions of those, so that all of the songs from the album are featured in versions other than Lightfoot's. 

Track listing

01 Rich Man's Spiritual (Ronnie Hawkins 1968)

02 Long River (Knoxville Grass 1977)

03 The Way I Feel (Fotheringay 1970)

04 For Lovin' Me (Chad & Jeremy 1965)

05 The First Time (Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger 1970)

06 Changes (Phil Ochs 1966)

07 Early Morning Rain (Peter, Paul And Mary 1965)

08 Steel Rail Blues (George Hamilton IV 1966)

09 Sixteen Miles (Bonnie Dobson 1972)

10 I'm Not Sayin' (The Ian Campbell Folk Group 1968)

11 Pride Of Man (Hamilton Camp 1964)

12 Ribbon Of Darkness (The Pozo Seco Singers 1967)

13 Oh' Linda (The Pacers featuring Bobby Crawford 1967)

14 Peaceful Waters (Ed Ames 1969)

Shut Up Stella - Shut Up Stella (2007)

In 2006 Jessica Eden Malakouti moved to Los Angeles following her graduation, and started an all-female punk band, Shut Up Stella, with Kristen Wagner, and Allison Jayne Lurie, otherwise known as Fan 3. Fan 3 had been recording and releasing music since she was 13, with one of her songs being featured on the 'Lizzie McGuire' soundtrack, and there were even plans to release her debut album in 2005. However, after a sampler disc was sent out for the tentatively titled 'Let Me Clear My Throat', she was dropped by her label and her album was shelved. In 2006 Fan 3 met up with Malakouti and Wagner and formed Shut Up Stella, and they were signed by Epic Records shortly after their formation. One of their first recordings was 'Watch Me Rain', which was produced by Greg Kurstin, and it featured in a few movies, including the 2008 film 'Baby Mama', starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. After a very short tenure with the label, during which time they did manage to record around a dozen songs for a proposed 2007 album, they were dropped by Epic, and their album was cancelled. Malakouti quit the band and decided to focus instead on her career as an actress, songwriter and solo artist, while Fan 3 helped out Kay Hanley with backing vocals on her second album 'Weaponize', before recording and releasing covers and original music on Youtube and Myspace under her given name of Allison Jayne. The 'Shut Up Stella' album has floated around Youtube for a while now, and so to start a short overview of Malakouti's career, which later continued with Jessie And The Toy Boys, and then as Eden xo, here is her first effort.  

Track listing

01 Welcome To My Party
02 On My Bed
03 Twister
04 Waiting For You
05 Cheap Champagne
06 Watch Me Rain
07 Postcards (Forgot To Remember)
08 These Are The Days
09 Light It Up
10 Country Lemonade (Sip It Up)
11 Pound Star
12 Oprah For President

Jesus Loves You - Popularity Breeds Contempt (1992)

After Culture Club broke up in 1986, Boy George started a solo career, releasing his debut album 'Sold' in 1987, and issuing a number of singles from it. For his next two albums, 'Tense Nervous Headache' in 1988 and 'Boyfriend' in 1989, he wanted to break out in a new direction by dabbling in electronic dance music, but the singles taken from these albums did not gain much commercial success, even though they were often played at clubs. In order to pursue this new direction, he founded the band Jesus Loves You, as a collective project with other musicians, and they were signed to his own label More Protein, which aimed to be an underground label and was not meant to release music for the charts. He adopted the pseudonym "Angela Dust", and the first single by the new band was 'After The Love', which was about the separation from his ex-bandmate Jon Moss, drummer of Culture Club. Two more singles followed, but 'Generations Of Love' and 'One On One' had only modest success in the UK Singles Chart. On a journey across India, George became interested in the Hare Krishna movement, being particularly impressed with their philosophy, and as a result he wrote the song 'Bow Down Mister'. This was a crucial turning point for the band, because it was their first religious song, and when it was released as a single in 1991 it became a hit in the UK, peaking at number 27 in the singles chart. Because of this success, the band's debut album, 'The Martyr Mantras', was rush-released the same year, and in 1991 remixes of 'Generations Of Love' and 'After The Love' were issued as singles. In July 1992, the band played a Hare Krishna festival in Moscow, in front of an audience of 35,000, and December was to see the release of their second album, 'Popularity Breeds Contempt'. The single 'Sweet Toxic Love' was pre-released, but Virgin Records was so disappointed in its chart position that they cancelled the album and refused to release it, with the band dissolving shortly afterwards. Some of the songs from the record eventually appeared in re-mixed form on 'The Devil In Sister George' EP in 1994. and in 2005 a white label 12" of a track from the 1992 sessions called 'Love Your Brother' appeared online, but that second album has stubbornly remained lost. Recently a six track bootleg appeared on Youtube, containing recordings from the 1992 sessions, and so by adding a couple of tracks from the same time period we can approximate what the second album from Jesus Loves You could have sounded like. 

Track listing

01 Am I Losing Control
02 Sweet Toxic Love
03 If I Could Fly
04 Love Your Brother (Supalaska Mix)
05 It Doesn't Happen Every Day
06 In Maya
07 Miss Me Blind (Return To Gender Mix)
08 You Are The Deal

Porcelain Black - Mannequin Factory (2015)

Alaina Marie Beaton was born on 1 October 1985 in Detroit, Michigan, and is known professionally as Porcelain Black. She had a troubled childhood, being expelled from two different schools, and feeling like an outcast as she didn't fit in with her classmates. At the age of sixteen, as soon as she was legally able to, she dropped out of school, and while on a road trip in New York she was approached by her first manager, who told her to move to Los Angeles. Three months later she did so, found her manager, and was signed to Virgin Records two weeks later. Recording under the pseudonym Porcelain And The Tramps, she worked with Tommy Henriksen and John Lowery in London, but she and the label could not agree on the music she made. Virgin wanted her to record pop music in the vein of Avril Lavigne, but she wanted to mix industrial rock sounds with dance pop, so she began posting the songs she recorded on Myspace, gaining upwards of 10 million views in a matter of months. This led to her being approached by Courtney Love on MySpace to provide backing vocals for a solo album she was working on, while a song she co-wrote with Billy Steinberg and Josh Alexander around the time Black left Virgin, 'How Do You Love Someone?', was recorded by Ashley Tisdale for her second album, 'Guilty Pleasure'. 

Through a mutual A&R friend, producer RedOne heard about Black and was interested in meeting her, and after that meeting in his studio in November 2009, they wrote her debut single 'This Is What Rock n' Roll Looks Like' the next day. RedOne helped her break away from her contract with Virgin Records and signed her to his Universal Republic imprint, 2101 Records. A name change to Porcelain Black followed, as it was causing confusion to people who thought Porcelain And The Tramps was a band. After appearing in a few music videos, she gained a cameo role in the 2012 film 'Rock Of Ages', playing the lead singer of a 1980's glam metal band. In 2011 she announced that the working title of her debut album was to be 'Mannequin Factory', and RedOne was said to have produced and co-written all but one of the tracks with her. A second single was released from the album, and 'Naughty Naughty' peaked at number 6 on the chart, but when 2102 Records became an imprint of Capitol Records when Universal Republic went under, this delayed the release of any new material by the industrial singer. During the summer of 2013, Black performed a private gig in West Hollywood, featuring all-new material, and several months later 2101 Records released five songs in five weeks, with her long-anticipated debut album expecting to be released after this five-week promotional period, with two brand new singles preceding it. 

After 'Mama Forgive Me' was released, she then confirmed that the album had no confirmed title, revealing she had considered the names 'Black Rainbow' and 'Mannequin Factory', but that those titles might not work as she had recorded more songs. After many internal conflicts between Black and her long-time collaborator, RedOne, she announced in 2015 that plans to release her long-anticipated album were cancelled, and that she wanted to record a new record in the vein of her previous project, Porcelain And The Tramps. This could be expected to appear in late 2017, and music from this new project would feature the same attitude as her previous work, with slower, mid-tempo songs and rapping. In February 2020 she posted on Twitter that she was almost done with her first album, which just needed mixing and mastering, and she tweeted every song title, ending with the claim that the untitled project was expected to be released in 2020. However, despite releasing three self-produced demos of new songs directly on her YouTube channel in December 2020, there is still no sign of Black's debut long-player, and so in its place here is a reconstruction of the abandoned 'Mannequin Factory', which could have appear way back in 2015. 

Track listing

01 One Woman Army  
02 This Is What Rock 'n' Roll Looks Like (feat. Lil' Wayne)  
03 La Dee Da Dee (Naughty Naughty)  
04 Mannequin Factory  
05 Swallow My Bullet  
06 Mama Forgive Me  
07 Pretty Little Psycho 
08 Rich Boi  
09 How Do You Love Someone?  
10 Too Much Of Not Enough  
11 Stealing Candy From A Baby  
12 Kisses Lose Their Charm  
13 King Of The World  
14 Fuck Like A Star  
15 I'm Your Favourite Drug  
16 Gasoline  
17 Curiosity  
18 Teeny Bopper Crack Whore  

Shed Seven - Better Late Than Never (2003)

Shed Seven formed in 1990 from the remnants of Brockley Haven, a band featuring frontman Rick Witter, guitarist and songwriter Paul Banks, bassist Tom Gladwin, drummer Magnus Thompson and keyboardist John Leach. The band twice entered the local Fibbers/Evening Press Battle of the Bands competition, and twice failed to win, but their live reputation attracted initial press attention, and eventually garnered complimentary comparisons to The Smiths. After signing to Polydor Records, they released their debut single, the double A-side 'Mark'/'Casino Girl' in March 1994 to considerable acclaim from some sections of the music press, although it failed to make the UK Top 40, peaking at number 80. The follow-up single, 'Dolphin', was released on 13 June 1994 and peaked at number 28, with first week sales reaching 15,000, leading to the band's first Top Of The Pops appearance on 23 June 1994. Despite their third single release, 'Speakeasy', entering the UK charts at number 24 and giving them their biggest hit to date, the first negative press reviews began to emerge, with NME opining that it sounded like "four clumsy blokes trying to come over all sensuous, fragile and complex". In September 1994 the band released their debut album, 'Change Giver', entering the UK album chart at number 16, and giving the group their first Gold disc. Despite it spending just two weeks in the chart, it enjoyed popularity in both the UK and Australia, and also found them an audience in Thailand, where they managed to beat Take That to the Christmas number 1 spot with their fourth single release, 'Ocean Pie'. 

The following April, 'Where Have You Been Tonight?', the first result of their collaboration with new producer Chris Sheldon, was their fifth single, peaking at number 23, and continuing the band's chart-placing run. This was their only release of 1995, and it was not until 1996 that their seventh single, 'Going For Gold', appeared, and entered the UK chart at number 8, remaining their biggest chart hit to date. Their second album. 'A Maximum High', was released in April 1996, and garnered a generally positive response from critics, entering the UK album chart at number 8, and remaining there for 26 weeks. After a two year gap they released their third album, 'Let It Ride', featuring Clint Boon of the Inspiral Carpets on keyboards, and Heather "Lady Galadril" Findlay, of Mostly Autumn, on vocals, but this record received a more mixed reception that their previous albums. It seemed they were taking on a new, punchier sound, following first hearings of their comeback single, 'She Left Me On Friday', with various reviewers drawing comparisons to both Black Grape and Blur. Due to the relatively poor reception to 'Let It Ride', the band's label insisted that their next release had to be a greatest hits collection, resulting in their fourth album being the compilation 'Going For Gold' in 1999. Despite the band's reservations about issuing a compilation so early in their career, it went on to sell 130,000 copies, and did feature two new songs in 'Disco Down' and 'High Hopes', both of which were intended to be issued as singles. 

In the end only 'Disco Down' made it, as while the band wanted 'High Hopes' to follow 'Disco Down', the record was side-lined by Polydor in favour of a proposed re-release of the previous single, 'Going For Gold', and because the band refused to comply, this led to Shed Seven and Polydor Records parting company in late 1999. In December 1999, guitarist Paul Banks left the band by mutual consent, with Rick Witter citing "musical differences" for the split, and he was replaced by original guitarist Joe Johnson in early 2000, while temporary keyboardist Fraser Smith became a permanent member of the band around the same time. Now officially a five piece ,and with a new song-writing team consisting of Witter, Johnson and Smith, the band signed a new contract with Artful Records, and in May 2001 went on to release their fourth studio album, 'Truth Be Told', which was preceded by the lead single 'Cry For Help'. Despite their new deal, the band remained dissatisfied with the lack of promotional support from their label, and also frustrated by delayed releases, which was highlighted by Artful's decision to change the planned July release of the second single from 'Truth Be Told, the chart-eligible 'Step Inside Your Love', to a non chart-eligible 4-track EP released in October 2001. The band were further hindered by BBC Radio 1's decision not to playlist them in their post-Polydor days, despite DJ Chris Moyles being a long-time supporter, and so by 2002 they had parted company with Artful Records. 

In 2003 Shed Seven found a new home at Taste Media, and soon returned to the charts with the single, 'Why Can't I Be You?', released on 5 May and peaking at number 23, but this proved to be their first and last single release for the label, as the band lost patience with Taste's refusal to release their fully recorded would-be fifth studio album, slated for release in September 2003. With Taste demanding another big hit before they were willing to release a new Shed Seven album, the ready and completed record was held back indefinitely, and as a consequence the band announced their imminent split, announcing that their then-current UK tour would become their "farewell tour". This tour was a sell-out success, and Taste did manage to squeeze one album out of the band, by releasing the live 'Where Have You Been Tonight? Live' album. Despite gaining a loyal and ever-growing following of fans —sometimes referred to as "Shed Heads"— the band never received much positive press attention in the UK, with NME never once featuring Shed Seven on its cover, and constantly sniping at their image. In 2005, after many requests from fans, the band eventually released an official post-split album, 'One Hand Clapping', which featured 'new' material, which actually comprised unreleased demos of songs which were submitted to, and refused by, Taste Records for what would have been their fifth studio album. 

Following the split, lead singer Rick Witter began a solo career with Rick Witter & The Dukes in 2005, releasing their debut album, 'The Year Of The Rat', in April 2007. Alan Leach opened a commercial recording studio in York, taught drums and began hosting pub quizzes, and during this time he co-founded SpeedQuizzing Ltd with his brother, and they now produce and sell smartphone pub quiz software globally. Tom Gladwin went on to join the Leeds-based pop/dance outfit The Clients with former members of The Dandys, and Paul Banks formed The Rising, a York-based band composed of Banks, David McKellar (formerly of The 88's), Rob "Maxi" Maxfield (formerly of Audioweb) and Stuart Fletcher (formerly of The Seahorses and who later joined Rick Witter & The Dukes). Joe Johnson taught guitar in his hometown, and joined a Canadian band named the Black Sours, while Fraser Smith is now a London-based record producer and songwriter, currently signed to Notting Hill Music, and has produced and mixed records for acts such as Ian Brown, Hayley Hutchinson and The Yards. 

In July 2007 the band announced a greatest hits reunion tour of 14 UK venues for November and December 2007, featuring all of the band's original members, including both Joe Johnson and Paul Banks, but with the exception of Fraser Smith. The band continued to tour throughout 2009 to 2011, and an EP was released in November 2011, featuring four re-worked tracks from their 'A Maximum High' album, re-recorded with an orchestral feel over the course of a weekend in September. In February 2017 they announced they would be releasing their first studio album for 16 years later in the year, with 'Instant Pleasures' receiving some of their best reviews of their career. Despite this, Shed Heads would have to agree that their best music came from that decade between 1994 and 2003, when they were so prolific that they could afford to add two or three brand new tracks to every single, which is why this purely non-album singles/b-sides collection runs to four volumes.  

Track listing

Disc I - 1994-1996 
01 Immobilise (b-side of 'Dolphin' 1994)
02 Dolphin (Forward) (b-side of 'Dolphin' 1994)
03 Mobile 10 (b-side of 'Dolphin' 1994)
04 Around Your House (b-side of 'Speakeasy' 1994)
05 Your Guess Is As Good As Mine (b-side of 'Speakeasy' 1994)
06 Never Again (b-side of 'Ocean Pie' 1994)
07 Sleep Easy (b-side of 'Ocean Pie' 1994)
08 Sensitive (b-side of 'Ocean Pie' 1994)
09 Swing My Wave (b-side of 'Where Have You Been Tonight?' 1995)
10 This Is My House (b-side of 'Where Have You Been Tonight?' 1995)
11 Only Dreaming (b-side of 'Getting Better' 1996)
12 Song Seven (b-side of 'Getting Better' 1996)

Disc II - 1996-1998
01 Making Waves (b-side of 'Going For Gold' 1996)
02 Barracuda (b-side of 'Going For Gold' 1996)
03 Jumping Jack Flash (b-side of 'On Standby' 1996)
04 Killing Time (b-side of 'On Standby' 1996)
05 Long Time Dead (b-side of 'On Standby' 1996)
06 Stepping On Hearts (b-side of 'On Standby' 1996)
07 In Command (b-side of 'Chasing Rainbows' 1996)
08 The Skin I'm In (b-side of 'Chasing Rainbows' 1996)
09 Happy Now (b-side of 'Devil In Your Shoes' 1998)
10 This Is A New Day (b-side of 'Devil In Your Shoes' 1998)
11 Dumb Scene (b-side of 'Devil In Your Shoes' 1998)
12 Better Late Than Never (b-side of 'Devil In Your Shoes' 1998)

Disc III - 1998-1999
01 Bottom Upwards (b-side of 'She Left Me On Friday' 1998)
02 Melpomene (b-side of 'She Left Me On Friday' 1998)
03 Forever (Isn't Such A Long Time) (b-side of 'She Left Me On Friday' 1998)
04 My Misspent Youth (b-side of 'She Left Me On Friday' 1998)
05 You (b-side of 'She Left Me On Friday' 1998)
06 Slinky Love Theme (b-side of 'The Heroes' 1998)
07 Disco Down (single 1999)
08 Hands Up (b-side of 'Disco Down')
09 Another Hole (b-side of 'Disco Down')
10 Catapult (b-side of 'Disco Down')
11 High Hopes (unreleased single 1999)

Disc IV - 2001-2003
01 Jean Genie (b-side of 'Step Inside Your Love' 2001)
02 (Don't) PUsh Me Away (b-side of 'Step Inside Your Love' 2001)
03 No Way (b-side of 'Step Inside Your Love' 2001)
04 Patches (b-side of 'Cry For Help' 2001)
05 Working Miracle (b-side of 'Cry For Help' 2001)
06 The Seeker (b-side of 'Cry For Help' 2001)
07 Sittin' Pretty (b-side of 'Cry For Help' 2001)
08 Hark! I Hear The Foe Is Advancing (from the limited edition of 'Truth Be Told' 2001)
09 Why Can't I Be You? (single 2003)
10 Hanging On The Outside (b-side of 'Why Can't I Be You?)
11 Let Me In (b-side of 'Why Can't I Be You?)

Del Amitri - Tall People (1986)

Del Amitri grew out of Justin Currie's Jordanhill College School band, which was formed in Glasgow in 1980, and consisted of Currie (bass and vocals), James Scobbie (guitars), Donald Bentley (guitars) and Paul Tyagi (drums). The newly christened Del Amitri (chosen deliberately because it didn't mean anything but sounded a bit like someone's name) rehearsed in Currie's parents house, before securing official rehearsal space at the Art Centre in a proper room, with Postcard Records signing and future megastars Aztec Camera rehearsing in the room next door. The band's first recorded track was 'What She Calls It', which was the B-side of a flexi-disc given away free with 'Stand And Deliver' fanzine, with the A-side given over to another future Glasgow megaband The Bluebells. Scobbie and Bentley left the band in 1982 to study at university, and a new line-up came together after Currie placed an advertisement in the window of a music store, with Scobbie and Bentley being replaced by Iain Harvie on guitar and Bryan Tolland on second guitar. The band signed to Chrysalis and released their self-titled debut album in 1985 to mixed reviews, and as recording started for what would become their second album, the line-up changed, with Currie and Harvie inviting keyboard player Andy Alston to join the band, and then firing both Tolland and Tyagi, with Tolland being replaced in the studio by Mick Slaven, and Tyagi by The Commotions' Stephen Irvine. However, Slaven and Irvine chose not to join the band full-time and so they were later replaced by David Cummings and Brian McDermott, respectively. 

The gestation for their sophomore release gradually got longer and longer, and 'Waking Hours' finally appeared in 1989 on a new label, A&M Records. It was only when unheard songs leaking onto the internet that it was realised that the band had in fact recorded their second album some years earlier, but had decided not to release it, possibly due to being dropped by Chrysalis and therefore having no home for it. The ten tracks were scrapped and a completely new set of songs was written for 'Waking Hours', which went on to reach No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart, and it gave the band their most successful UK single, 'Nothing Ever Happens', which peaked at No. 11. They also gained some mainstream exposure abroad for the first time, as 'Waking Hours' was a success in several territories, and the single 'Kiss This Thing Goodbye' flirted with the lower reaches of the US Billboard Hot 100's Top 40. I guess we'll never know if they would have achieved that success if they'd released the first set of songs as the follow-up to their debut, but I'm sure fans will still be interested to hear them, and so here is what could have been Del Amitri's second album from 1986, named after the track 'Tall People' just so that I could make this cover! There are three tracks which were intended for the track-listing which have so far refused to appear, so I've replaced 'The Way I Live Now', 'Unfinished', and 'Seven Days' with three other contemporary recordings, and I will warn you that the sound quality is not the best, with a fair bit of background hum.     

Track listing

01 Tears And Trickery
02 Tall People
03 Keep The Kettle Boiling
04 I Am Here
05 The Wind In The Wheels
06 Love Gone Too Far
07 Life Going Backwards
08 Nothing Goes According To Plan
09 She Showed Me The World
10 Out In The Wind

Cassie - Electro Love (2009)

Casandra Elizabeth Ventura, known professionally as Cassie, was born on 26 August 1986 in New London, Connecticut, and after attending The Williams School on the Connecticut College campus, she began modelling at the age of 14, and by 16 she was modelling for local department stores, Delia's fashion catalogue and Seventeen. After appearing in R&B singer Mario's 'Just A Friend 2002' music video, she was encouraged by producer Rockwilder to take vocal lessons. After finishing high school in 2004 she moved to New York City, where she returned to modelling, and started taking classes at the Broadway Dance Center. After Ryan Leslie spotted her at a club in 2004, the two wrote a duet together called 'Kiss Me', and after recording the track, Leslie played the song for music executive Tommy Mottola, who offered Cassie a management deal, while Leslie signed her to NextSelection Lifestyle Group. Leslie wrote and produced her first single, 'Me & U', in 2005, and the song became a club hit in Germany before it was heard by P. Diddy, and Leslie convinced him to partner his Bad Boy Records with Leslie's NextSelection imprint for the release of Cassie's debut album. The self-titled record was released in August 2006, and sold 321,000 copies in the United States, while the lead single 'Me & U' peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, selling more than 1 million digital downloads. In 2007 it had to be denied that she'd been dropped from Bad Boy Records, and Diddy confirmed that she was in the studio working with producers Kanye West and Pharrell Williams on her second album, having split from Ryan Leslie, who had produced the majority of her debut album. 

The idea was that working with a mix of writers and producers, as well as her own co-write input, would make it a more personal record. In 2008 she made her film debut as Sophie Donovan in the dance film 'Step Up 2: The Streets', and she also sang the lead single 'Is It You' from the soundtrack album. In July 2009 it was announced that her second studio album's title would be 'Electro Love', and that it would demonstrate more independence and have a bit more personality. Three singles were released as tasters for the record, but neither 2008's 'Official Girl', nor 2009's 'Must Be Love' and 'Let's Get Crazy' charted in the US, and so the album was pushed back a couple of times, before she left Bad Boy Records in December and signed with Interscope Records. She was still talking about the album coming out in October 2010, saying that she'd already recorded around fifty songs for it, but still no release date was offered. Her next release was another single, with 'King Of Hearts' appearing in February 2012, but that was now three years after her second record was supposed to have appeared, and so I think we'll we have to admit that by now it was never going to happen. Luckily there have been a number of leaks of her music over the years, and they include all the tracks from 'Electro Love', and so here is that long-awaited second album from Cassie, which should have come out in 2009. 

Track listing

01 Let's Get Crazy (feat. Akon)
02 Official Girl (feat. Lil Wayne)
03 Activate (feat. Newz)
04 2 The Morning
05 My House
06 Must Be Love (feat. P. Diddy)
07 Thirsty
08 Make You A Believer (feat. Jadakiss)
09 Keep On Lovin' Me (feat. The-Dream)
10 Nobody But You (feat. The-Dream)
11 Stamina
12 Up In Here
13 In Love With The DJ
14 Turn The Lights Off
15 Is It You
16 Summer Charm
17 Not What Love Is (feat. P. Diddy)
18 Talkin' Like This

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Syd Barrett (2022)

In the second half of 1967 and through to early 1968, while still part of Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett's behaviour became increasingly erratic and unpredictable, with reports of him on stage with the group during this period strumming on one chord through an entire concert or not playing at all. Following an increasingly difficult US tour with him in 1967, and with David Gilmour drafted in to help out with live dates, the rest of the band decided that they couldn't work with Barrett any more, and on 6 April 1968 they officially announced that he was no longer a member of Pink Floyd. After Barrett left Pink Floyd, Peter Jenner and Andrew King, from the band's management, followed suit, feeling that as Barrett was the creative centre of the band, they would rather represent him than Pink Floyd. In May Jenner led Barrett into EMI Studios to record some solo material, but this was only partially successful, with most tracks having no vocals. Recording resumed in June and July, with better progress being made this time, but shortly after the July dates, Barrett abruptly stopped recording, breaking up with girlfriend Lindsay Corner, and then going off on a drive around Britain in his Mini, at the end of which he ended up in psychiatric care in Cambridge. 

By the start of 1969, a somewhat recovered Barrett decided to return to his musical career and revisit the Jenner-produced recordings, and so in April 1969 he began working on newer material, while reworking the 1968 recordings. After some months of work on the songs, Barrett told his flatmate that he was going off "for an afternoon drive", but instead followed Pink Floyd out to Ibiza, and during the trip, he asked David Gilmour for his help on the album, and so at the end of May, Malcolm Jones abandoned his production responsibilities and Gilmour and Waters took over. Although they were in the process of completing Pink Floyd's 'Ummagumma' album, they took time out and helped Barrett finish his album, managing to record a number of his songs during a June session, and then coming back to complete the project after taking a temporary break to mix 'Ummagumma' and undertake a tour of the Netherlands. After several months of intermittent recording, the album was finally deemed complete, and once the final recording sessions for the album had been completed, Gilmour and Waters mixed not just the tracks they had produced, but also the previously recorded songs with Malcolm Jones, in a matter of two days. 

'Octopus' was released as a single in November 1969, and 'The Madcap Laughs' followed on 2 January 1970, with both records appearing on the Harvest Records label. The album was fairly well-reviewed by music critics, and has since become something of a classic of the psychedelic music genre, and so the songs are ripe for interpretation by other bands with the same midset. Marc And The Mambas deliver a great take on 'Terrapin', and Slowdive's version of 'Golden Hair' is pretty much exactly as you would expect it to sound. REM have covered 'Dark Globe', and The Shamen and The Mock Turtles have both provided superb takes of a couple of songs from the record for official tribute albums to Barrett, while two of my personal favourite bands finally appear together, with The Green Pajamas and The Cleaners From Venus both giving it their best. I'll have to admit that this is one of the most idiosyncratic collections in this series, but every artist on here shows an obvious love for the source material, and so in the end it makes for an intriguing and enjoyable listen. 

Track listing

01 Terrapin (Marc And The Mambas 1982) 
02 No Good Trying (The Mock Turtles 1987)
03 Love You (The Besnard Lakes 2010)
04 No Man's Land (Race Horses 2010)
05 Dark Globe (REM 1989)  
06 Here I Go (The Balters 2022)
07 Octopus (Carnival Art 1990)
08 Golden Hair (Slowdive 1991)
09 Long Gone (The Shamen 1987)
10 She Took A Long Cold Look (The Green Pajamas 2000)
11 Feel (Marinus Pee 2015)
12 If It's In You (Jennifer Gentle 2010)
13 Late Night (The Cleaners From Venus 1985)