Mars Argo - 2012 (2012)

Brittany Alexandria Sheets was born on 20 April 1988 in Saginaw, Michigan, and is an American singer, songwriter and internet personality, best known by her stage name Mars Argo. After meeting Corey Michael Mixter (a.k.a. Titanic Sinclair) on Myspace, they worked together on the YouTube channels digitalfuntown and grocerybagdottv, and later formed the alternative pop band Mars Argo. The band released their debut album, 'Technology Is A Dead Bird', on 6 November 2009, and this was followed by an acoustic EP, 'Internet Sessions', in 2010, and a second EP, 'Linden Place', in 2011. They began working on a second album with Chicago-based producer, Johnny K, soon after 'Technology Is A Dead Bird' was released, but once a number of tracks had been laid down, the duo put their album on hold and moved to Los Angeles in 2012, where they filmed and released the remainder of the YouTube channel's uploads. More songs were later recorded for the album, but the release was pushed back from 2012 to 2013, and then in 2014 the couple separated, although they continued to work together as a band, performing during the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. After a brief hiatus, and revival in December of the same year, they split up permanently in March 2015 without ever finalising their second album. On 17 April 2018 Sheets filed a 44-page lawsuit against Mixter and his new collaborator Poppy (real name Moriah Rose Pereira), alleging copyright infringement, stalking, and emotional and physical abuse being inflicted upon her by the two, in particular accusing Poppy of stealing her look. The lawsuit was dismissed on 14 September, having been settled out of court with agreements that Mixter and Pereira would not be in contact with Sheets, and with Sheets gaining all rights, title and interest to the Mars Argo music and brand. Despite now owning the rights to the music of Mars Argo, the second studio album has never appeared, and so from the many tracks that they laid down between 2009 and 2014, we can pick the ones most likely to have been intended for the record and piece together what could have been the album tentatively titled '2012', and which would have appeared in that very year. 

Track listing

01 Runaway Runaway
02 Using You
03 Be Easy
04 Doctor (Instrumental)

05 Wet Cigarette
06 Open Up The Door In Your Head 
07 Beauty Is Empty 

08 Stuck on You 
09 Wasting Away 
10 Hear Me Out 
11 Me Today
12 Formal Girl
13 Suicide Birds
14 Love In Black And White

Supersister - Wow (1975)

Supersister was a Dutch progressive rock band formed in The Hague, Netherlands in 1968, from the ashes of The Bulbs, who consisted of Robert Jan Stips on keyboards and vocals, Sacha van Geest on flute, Marco Vrolijk on drums, Ron van Eck on bass, along with Rib Douw and Daniel Denis. The Bulbs were together for about three years from 1965, but when Douw and Denis both left in 1968, the remaining members renamed themselves Supersister and carried on as a quartet. They released their debut single 'She Was Naked' in 1970, and it became their biggest hit, reaching the Netherlands Top 40, and gaining them a record deal with Polydor Records that same year. Their debut album, 'Present From Nancy' appeared later in 1970, and the next two years saw the release of 'To The Highest Bidder' in 1971, and 'Pudding En Gisteren' in 1972. Following the release of that third album, van Geest and Vrolijik both left the group, replaced by Charly Mariano and Herman van Boeyen, respectively, and by 1973 they had started to incorporate more jazz fusion elements into their music, as evidenced by their fourth album 'Iskander'. After its release in 1973, Mariano was replaced by Elton Dean, while Stips left to play keyboard in another Dutch group, Golden Earring. The band decided to split up after the release of their fifth album, 'Spiral Staircase', in 1974, citing diminishing interest in the band's jazz fusion direction, and lacklustre commercial reception. A 2000 reunion included the classic line-up of Stips, van Geest, Vrolijik, and van Eck, and they played Progfest in Los Angeles, later releasing their first official studio album in 26 years, with 'Memories Are New'. One thing that is particularly noticeable about Supersister is that they have never taken themselves too seriously, and this can be heard by listening to the b-sides of some of their singles, such as the spoken word 'Spiral Staircase' and 'The Groupies Of The Band', or their Bonzo's-inspired Elvis take-off single 'Fancy Nancy'. However, they also produced some outstanding progressive rock, and it is for this that they will be most remembered, so enjoy this collection of hard to find singles and b-sides from their classic period of 1970-1975. 

Track listing

01 She Was Naked (single 1970)
02 Spiral Staircase (b-side of 'She Was Naked')
03 Fancy Nancy (single 1970)
04 Gonna Take Easy (b-side of 'Fancy Nancy')
05 Girl Named You (single edit 1971)    
06 Missing Link (b-side of 'Girl Named You')
07 No Tree Will Grow (On Too High A Mountain) (single edit 1971)  
08 The Groupies Of The Band (b-side of 'No Tree Will Grow (On Too High A Mountain)')
09 Dead Dog (b-side of 'Radio' 1972)
10 Wow (single 1973)
11 Drs. D. (b-side of 'Wow')
12 Memories Are New (b-side of 'Bagoas' 1973)
13 Coconut Woman (single as Sweet Okay Supersister 1975)
14 Here Comes The Doctor (b-side of 'Coconut Woman')

Lil' Kim - Notorious 2 (2000)

Kimberly Denise Jones was born on 11 July 1974, and is better known by her stage name Lil' Kim. In her teens, she would freestyle rap, influenced by fellow female hip-hop artists like MC Lyte and the Lady of Rage, and in 1994 she was discovered by fellow rapper The Notorious B.I.G., who invited her to join his group Junior M.A.F.I.A. Their debut album, 'Conspiracy', generated two top 20 singles in the United States and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). After a year with Junior M.A.F.I.A., Lil' Kim began her solo career by making guest performances on R&B albums and recording her debut album, 'Hard Core', which was released in November 1996. The album debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200, the highest debut for a female rap album at that time, and has sold over 5 million copies worldwide. In 2001, Lil' Kim reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with the single 'Lady Marmalade' (a remake of LaBelle's 1974 single), alongside Mýa, Pink, and Christina Aguilera, and the song also won her the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. From 1998 to 2000, Lil' Kim continued working under the management of B.I.G.'s best friend, Damion "D-Roc" Butler's Roc Management, touring and modelling for various fashion and pop culture companies including Candie's, Versace, Iceberg, and Baby Phat. On 27 June 2000, she released her second album, 'The Notorious K.I.M.', and this marked a new image and revamped look for the rapper. Despite the limited success of its singles, the album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 and number 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and was certified platinum four weeks after its release. In 2001 Lil' Kim reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with the single 'Lady Marmalade' (a remake of LaBelle's 1974 single), alongside Mýa, Pink, and Christina Aguilera, and the song also won her the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. While recording tracks for her second album, with production assistance from Timbaland & Stretch Armstrong, various issues caused it to be delayed from its original release date of August 1999, not least the leaking of eight of their tracks. Kim took the opportunity to scrap the pair's contributions and to retool the project by recording 11 fresh songs and dumping nearly all of the leaked content. With pretty much a full album of unreleased and alternate recordings out there, it's no surprise that they have been floating around for a while, and so here they all are collected together to form a sister album to 'The Notorious K.I.M.', from the same time period as the original release of early to mid-2000. 

Track listing

01 K.I.M. (Intro)  
02 Resurrection (All Hail the Queen) (feat. Diddy)
03 Nobody Do It Better than Us (feat. Diddy)
04 Diamonds (feat. Kelly Price)
05 Bad Girl (feat. RuPaul)
06 Revolution (demo feat. Grace Jones & Diddy)
07 Good Time (feat. Lil' Cease) 
08 Makes No Sense (feat. Tanya Stephens)
09 Rockin' It
10 Queen Bitch (Part 2) (feat. Jay Z & The Notorious B.I.G.)
11 Chinatown (feat. DJ Clue, Lil' Cease & Junior M.A.F.I.A.)

12 How Many Licks? (feat. Kelis, Pharrell Williams, Snoop Dogg & Lil' Cease)

Thunderbugs - Delicious (2000)

Thunderbugs were a British girl-pop band comprising Jane Vaughan on lead vocals, Stef Maillard on bass and backing vocals, Nicky Shaw on drums and backing vocals, and Brigitta Jansen on guitar, and in 1999 they were the latest project of Sony Music (through Epic), who were in the process of funnelling a shedload of cash into the band. This was the second all girl group who played their own instruments that they'd launched that year, and as Hepburn had had two top twenty hits under their belt, Sony were hoping for even greater success with Thunderbugs. Whilst Hepburn's slightly whiny and grungy music fitted well with the Buffy soundtrack it appeared on, in contrast Thunderbugs seemed to be a more traditional pop act, with the first single 'Friends Forever' being a happy, breezy affair. They were a multi-national collective, with a British lead singer and drummer, and a continental element in their French bass player and German guitarist, and after 18 months of pre-chart grooming by First Avenue Management they should have been a huge success. In August 1999 it was 'Thunderbugs Are Go!', as the costly TV advert said, to launch 'Friends Forever' and to preview the upcoming debut album 'Delicious'. It seemed to work, as 'Friends Forever' crashed into the UK top 5, but the follow-up was the slower, but still jaunty 'It's About Time You Were Mine', and while not as instant and powerful a tune as 'Friends Forever', it was a reasonable choice for the next single. In 1999 there had been a pop explosion, and by November Sony was pushing to release albums by A1, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, and Destiny’s Child, so Thunderbugs had to wait their turn, but before long it was Christmas with still no release date for their record. Normally this is a good time to release an album which could pick up sales as a present, which was what Sonly hoped would happen with 'It's About Time You Were Mine', but in 1999 there were so many singles on the schedules that Sony had to concentrate on new releases by acts like the Vengaboys, B*Witched, Queen & David Bowie, Tom Jones, Leann Rimes, TLC, The Beastie Boys, and The Charlatans, as well as big club hits by William Orbit and Progress, and so when the new Top 40 was announced, many singles that were expected to chart highly had disappointing sales, while the lesser known acts didn't show at all. Thunderbugs were one of these casualties, and despite having had all that money spent on them, Sony decided there was no point splashing out any more and they were consigned to the vaults. No further singles were released from the album, and 'Delicious' was only issued in the UK on the flop format of the decade, minidisc. As so often happens with these shelved or restricted release albums, the record itself is a perfectly fine collection of late 90's pop, and deserves to be heard even today, where I think it stands up pretty well.  

Track listing

01 It's About Time You Were Mine
02 Friends Forever
03 Walking On Air
04 You Got Something On Me
05 You And Me
06 Does Your Heart Still Break
07 Angel Of The Morning
08 Miracle Baby
09 Jealous
10 Delicious
11 Alright Now

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Neil Sedaka (1978)

When Neil Sedaka was 13, a neighbour heard him playing and introduced him to her 16-year-old son, Howard Greenfield, an aspiring poet and lyricist, and before long they were part of the Brill Building's legendary composing stable, writing songs together throughout much of their young lives. Before rock and roll became popular, Sedaka and Greenfield found inspiration from show tunes, and when Sedaka became a major teen pop star, the pair continued writing hits for him and numerous other artists. Unlike most of the other Brill Building songwriters, Sedaka was also releasing his own singles at the same time as writing for others, and finally hit the big time in 1959 when 'Oh, Carol' reached number 9 in the Hot Hundred in 1959, followed by his first number one with 'Breaking Up Is Hard To Do' in 1962. In 1964 Sedaka's career began a sharp decline, hastened by The Beatles' arrival on the radio and TV, along with the rest of the so-called British Invasion, and following the release of his 'My Yiddishe Momme' album in 1966 he didn't release another long-player for four years, although he was still writing through-out that period. Sedaka worked to revive his solo career in the early 1970's, and in 1971 he reunited with RCA and released the 'Emergence' album, which included the single 'I'm A Song (Sing Me)'. In 1972, he embarked on a successful British tour and was introduced by Harvey Lisberg to the four future members of 10cc, and he recorded his 'Solitaire' album with them as his backing band at their Strawberry Studios in Stockport, with the album being issued later that year by RCA. The title track was successfully covered by both Andy Williams and the Carpenters, while his own single 'Beautiful You' also charted briefly in America, and was his first US chart appearance in ten years. 'Solitaire' was the first collaboration between Sedaka and new song-writing partner Phil Cody, whom Sedaka felt was an ideal lyricist for his music in a singer-songwriter style, and this was proved to be true when by 1978 nearly every song on 'Solitaire' had been picked up and covered by other artists, the best of which are collected here, along with a few from 'Emergence' to make up the album to a satisfactory 42 minutes. 

Track listing

01 That's When The Music Takes Me (Helen McBennett 1978) 
02 Beautiful You (Colin Blunstone 1976)
03 Express Yourself (Adrienne Posta 1973)
04 Home (Vince Hill 1974)
05 Adventures Of A Boy Child Wonder (Ted Neeley 1973)
06 Dimbo Man (Blablus 1976)
07 Trying To Say Goodbye (Dana 1975)
08 Solitaire (The Carpenters 1975)
09 Don't Let It Mess Your Mind (Helen Reddy 1975)
10 Gone With The Morning (Suzanne 1973)
11 God Bless Joanna (Tony Christie 1972)
12 One More Mountain To Climb (David Soul 1976)
13 (I'm A Song) Sing Me, Sing Me (Lou Christie 1971)

Velvet Starlings - Sold Down The River (2020)

Velvet Starlings are an indie rock quartet from Los Angeles, California, who are deeply rooted in 1960's psych, beat and fuzz. They were formed by the then 18-year old Christian Gisborne, and the band has been praised for its ability to fuse 60's garage rock into a sound that is all their own, best described as beach-fuzz-psych with a big cheeky nod to the British Invasion. Their debut self-titled EP on Sound x 3 Records/Rock N Rolla Records was released in late 2018, in collaboration with producer/songwriter Roger Gisborne (leader of 90's Brit Rock band Plastiscene, and Christian's brother). It included the single 'Borrowed Time', which was a clear tribute to the sixties era, while second single, 'Sold Down The River', showcased Dylan-esque lyrics, soulful Hammond B3 organ, gritty guitars and raw blues inspired vocals. They followed this with another EP in 2019, with 'Love Everything, Love Everyone...' containing seven more superb 60's influenced tracks, which were this time produced by Christian Gisborne alongside his brother, and now bandmate, Roger in Los Angeles, with engineer/mixer Josiah Mazzaschi (Smashing Pumpkins, The Kills, Jesus & Mary Chain and Deap Valley). The music adopted a slightly heavier sound, mirroring the band's dynamic live performance, and 'Kids In Droves' was chosen as the lead single from the EP. In late 2020 they released a Christmas single, and the following year they finally issued their debut album, 'Technicolour Shake Down', to positive reviews. I've been a massive fan of the band since the first time I heard 'Sold Down The River', and remember being amazed that someone so young could produce a song so firmly rooted in an era that was over more than twenty year before he was even born. As an introduction to the band, here are their first two EP's, plus their Christmas single, compiled into an album that really deserves a hearing, and if you are as impressed by them as I was then check out their debut album proper on Bandcamp. 

Track listing

01 If Life Ain't Getting You High
02 Borrowed Time
03 Sold Down The River
04 I'll Be There
05 Coming Home
06 No Hard Feelings
07 It's Christmas Time Again
08 Bitter Pills
09 Kids In Droves
10 Rabbit In A Gun
11 Emerald Isle
12 Karmic Lemonade
13 No Soul To Save
14 Broken Soul (Reprise)

Allie X - CollXtion V (2016)

For the third collection of unreleased tracks from Allie X we move on to what I think is an outstanding collection of songs that were recorded in 2016, and which make up volume 5 in this extension of her CollXtion series.  

Track listing

01 Sculpture
02 Why You Wanna (O Chad)
03 Elijah
04 Aurora
05 Glam (Love Me Forever)
06 I Take Ut Back

07 MASTERpeace
08 I'm Not Gonna Tell My Boyfriend
09 Paradise
10 One Day And One Night
11 Tongue Tied
12 Could This Be Destiny
13 Chad Redux

Mike Solof - Off The Beatle Track - Episode 69 (2019)

Time for another episode of Mike Solof's investigations into all things Beatles and Beatles-related, and for this episode he is concentrating on one of the things that the band are best known for - their exquisite harmonies. A lot of the Beatles’ songs followed standard triadic three-part harmony, with John taking the main melody, Paul the higher (a third above John) and George below John, or sometimes in between John and Paul. Paul, being the group’s most natural tenor, took the highest line almost without exception. Some songs, and parts of songs, can include strikingly non-standard harmonies, purposeful clashing or with more complex tonality, including 'Yes It Is', 'I Want To Tell You', and Paul and George’s backing in 'You Can't Do That', and in this episode Mike takes an overview of the band's harmonic highlights, from 1963's 'Ask Me Why', to the sumptuous 'Because' from 1969.

Track listing

01 Episode 69 - The Beatles In Harmony

Soundgarden - Cold Bitch (1994)

Bassist Hiro Yamamoto and drummer/singer Chris Cornell played together in The Shemps in the early 80's, and when the band split up they stayed in touch, teaming up again in 1984 and adding Kim Thayil on guitar to form Soundgarden. Cornell originally played drums while singing, but in 1985 the band enlisted Scott Sundquist on drums to allow Cornell to concentrate on vocals. The band travelled around playing various concerts with this line-up for about a year, and their first recordings were three songs that appeared on the 1986 compilation album for C/Z Records called 'Deep Six', featuring 'Heretic', 'Tears To Forget' and 'All Your Lies'. In 1986, Cornell's then-girlfriend and future wife, Susan Silver started managing Soundgarden, and in the same year Sundquist left the band to spend time with his family and was replaced by Skin Yard's drummer, Matt Cameron. Signing to the newly-formed Sub Pop label, they released their first single, 'Hunted Down' in 1987, with the b-side, 'Nothing To Say', also appearing on the KCMU compilation tape 'Bands That Will Make Money', which was distributed to record companies, many of whom showed interest in Soundgarden. The 'Screaming Life' EP followed on Sub Pop in 1987, and the 'Fopp EP' appeared in 1988, and they were combined in 1990 into 'Screaming Life/Fopp'. Though major labels were courting the band, in 1988 they signed to the independent label SST Records for their debut album, 'Ultramega OK', which was released on 31 October 1988. Although Cornell accused SST's appointed producer of not knowing what was happening in Seattle, the album earned the band a Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance in 1990. 

After touring to promote 'Ultramega OK', the band signed with A&M Records, which caused a rift between Soundgarden and its traditional audience, accusing them of selling out, and losing them some of their early fans. The band later began work on its first album for a major label, but personnel difficulties caused a shift in the band's songwriting process, and Cornell ended up writing a lot of the material, and 'Louder Than Love' was released in September 1989. A month before touring for 'Louder Than Love' was to begin, bassist Hiro Yamamoto, who was becoming frustrated that he was not making much of a contribution, left the band to return to college. After playing a few unsuccessful rehearsals with Jim Tillman from the U-Men, Jason Everman, formerly of Nirvana, officially replaced Hiro Yamamoto on bass, although he only lasted until the tour was finished before he was fired. Bassist Ben Shepherd replaced Everman and the new lineup recorded Soundgarden's third album in 1991, with 'Badmotorfinger' being released on 8 October. Although eclipsed at the time of its release by the sudden popularity of Nirvana's 'Nevermind', the focus of attention brought to the Seattle scene helped Soundgarden gain wider attention. The singles 'Outshined' and 'Rusty Cage' were able to find an audience on alternative rock radio and MTV, and the album received some positive reviews, being nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1992. The band played the 1992 Lollapalooza tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and Ministry, and in anticipation of their appearance, they released a limited edition of 'Badmotorfinger' with a second disc containing the EP 'Satanoscillatemymetallicsonatas', featuring their cover of Black Sabbath's 'Into The Void', titled 'Into The Void (Stealth)'. 

In 1993, they contributed the track 'Show Me' to the AIDS-Benefit album 'No Alternative', and then began work on their fourth album, 'Superunknown', which was released on 8 March 1994. This was the band's breakthrough album, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart and being driven by the singles 'Spoonman', 'The Day I Tried To Live', 'Black Hole Sun', 'My Wave', and 'Fell On Black Days'. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 1995, and remains their most successful album. Recording for their next album was fraught with tensions, with Thayil and Cornell allegedly clashing over Cornell's desire to shift away from the heavy guitar riffing that had become the band's trademark, and when 'Down On The Upside' was released on 21 May 1996 it was notably less heavy than the group's earlier albums, and marked a further departure from the band's grunge roots. After completing a tour in support of the record, the band split in April 1997, saying that they had been "eaten up by the business". Soundgarden were undoubtedly one of the best grunge outfits of the 80's/90's, and so here is a collection of rare and hard to find non-album songs from their career from 1986 to 1992, including some choice cover versions hidden away on b-sides and EP's. 

Track listing

01 Toy Box (b-side of 'Flower' 1989)
02 Heretic (from 'Deep Six' compilation album 1986)
03 Come Together (b-side of 'Hands All Over' 1990) 
04 Fresh Deadly Roses (from the 'Loudest Love' EP 1990)
05 Into The Void (Stealth) (from the 'Jesus Christ Pose' EP 1992) 
06 Girl You Want (from the bonus CD with limited 'Badmotorfinger' album 1992)  
07 Stray Cat Blues (from the 'Jesus Christ Pose' EP 1992)  
08 She's A Politician (from 6" flexi-disc with Relfex Magazine 1991)
09 Cold Bitch ('Badmotorfinger' outtake 1992)
10 Show Me (from the 'No Alternative' compilation album 1993, with Ben Sheppard on vocals)
11 Touch Me (b-side of 'Rusty Cage' 1992, with co-vocals by Stephanie Barber)  
12 I Don't Care About You (from the 'Outshined' EP 1992) 
13 Can You See Me (from the 'Outshined' EP 1992) 
14 I Can Give You Anything (from the 'Outshined' EP 1992) 
15 Homicidal Suicidal (from the 'Outshined' EP 1992) 
16 She Likes Surprises (bonus track on Japanese edition of 'Superunknown' 1994)
17 Like Suicide (acoustic) (b-side of 'Black Hole Sun' 1994)

Track 3: Beatles cover
Track 5: Black Sabbath cover
Track 6: Devo cover
Track 7: Rolling Stones cover
Track 11: Fancy cover
Track 13: Jimi Hendrix cover
Track 14: Ramones cover
Track 15: Buzzcocks cover

Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr - Driving Lessons (1976)

Before forming the Cars, members of the band performed together in several different groups. Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr met in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1960's after Ocasek saw Orr performing with his band The Grasshoppers on the Big 5 Show, a local musical variety program. The two were members of various groups in Columbus, Ohio and Ann Arbor, Michigan before moving to Boston in the early 1970's, and once there Ocasek and Orr, along with lead guitarist Jas Goodkind, formed a Crosby, Stills and Nash-style folk rock band called Milkwood. In 1972, they released an album titled 'How's The Weather' through Paramount Records, but it failed to chart, and so Milkwood fell apart and Ocasek and Orr formed a new group called Richard And The Rabbits, a name suggested to them by Jonathan Richman. This band included Greg Hawkes, who had studied at the Berklee School of Music and had played saxophone on Milkwood's album, but when Hawkes left to tour with musical comedy act Martin Mull and His Fabulous Furniture, the duo then performed as an acoustic duo called Ocasek and Orr at the Idler Coffeehouse in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1974 they recorded demos of a few of their songs using the Richard And The Rabbits line-up, which included Hawkes and Fuzzbee Morse, with the addition of Tom Yates on guitar and Glenn Evans on drums for a cover of Buddy Holly's 'Everyday'. 

Ocasek and Orr later teamed with guitarist Elliot Easton (who had also studied at Berklee) in the band Cap'n Swing, which featured the afore-mentioned Glenn Evans on drums, later followed by Kevin Robichaud, and a jazzy bass player, which clashed with Ocasek's preference for a rock-and-roll sound. Orr was the lead vocalist and did not play an instrument, and they soon came to the attention of WBCN disc jockey Maxanne Sartori, who began playing songs from their demo tape on her show. After being rejected by several record labels, Ocasek fired the bass player, keyboardist and drummer and resolved to form a band that better fitted his style of writing. Orr took over bass guitar duties, and Robichaud was replaced by David Robinson, formerly of The Modern Lovers and DMZ. Robinson's sense of fashion exerted a strong influence on the band's image, and he also suggested the band's new name, and so The Cars was formed in 1976, going on to become one of the best late 70's pop bands. These 1974 demos show a more laid-back style than would later emerge in the power-pop of The Cars, and as the tape is only 29 minutes long I've picked a couple of Cap'n Swing songs that blended in nicely with the other tracks to flesh it out to album length. The title alludes to the fact that this was their learning period before they were allowed out in their own Cars. 

Track listing

01 Harlequin
02 Sam's Decision
03 I Need Spring
04 You're Always Brighter
05 Goes On Sleeping
06 Never Gonna Get Over You
07 Twilight Superman
08 Everyday  
09 Dream Trader
10 Start It All Again

The Neptunes - Big White Spaceship (2006)

In 2001 the Neptunes formed the Star Trak label, which was partially funded by Arista Records (from Bertelsmann Music Group) in a joint-venture. Pharrell Williams would sign longtime friends, Clipse, and release their debut album, 'Lord Willin'', on the label in 2002, led by the hits 'Grindin'', 'When The Last Time', and 'Ma, I Don't Love Her'. After the success of the album, the label would sign Kelis, Vanessa Marquez, Fam-Lay, N.E.R.D and pop rock band Spymob, who had provided backing instruments for N.E.R.D's debut album 'In Search Of....'. The label released a compilation album during the summer of 2003, entitled 'The Neptunes Present... Clones', featuring songs and remixes from various Star Trak artists. In late 2003, Star Trak Entertainment released the highly successful album, Tasty, by Kelis led by the hit single 'Milkshake', and in early 2004, Star Trak linked with EMI's Virgin Records for a new distribution deal. In the second of three compilations of rare and unreleased productions from the Neptunes, here are some of their lesser-known productions from 2002 to 2006.

Track listing

01 SOS Baby (Robin Thicke) 
02 Operator (Ol' Dirty Bastard feat. Clipse & Pharrell Williams)
03 Big White Spaceship (Pharrell Williams feat. Timbaland & Magoo) 
04 Wifey (Usher feat. Pharrell) 
05 My First Time (Beyonce) 
06 Want You To Know (Vanessa Marquez feat. Justin Timberlake) 
07 Another Life (Robin Thicke)
08 If You Keep On Askin' (Vanessa Marquez) 
09 Only One (Usher feat. Pharrell) 
10 Friends Are (Vanessa Marquez) 
11 Locked Away (N.E.R.D.)
12 What's A Guy Gotta Do (Usher)
13 Til the Morning [MJB Demo] (Natasha Ramos)

Holiday Time...

Time to jet off for some much-needed sun in Morocco, so the blog will be taking a short break until I get back. I've posted a few more albums than usual this week to tide you over, and I'll be back in two weeks. Soulseek will be offline while I'm away, so email aiwe2@yahoo.com for the download links if you can't wait for my return. 

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Paul Williams (1981)

Paul Hamilton Williams Jr. was born on 19 September 1940 in Omaha, Nebraska, and comes from a musical family, with his bother Mentor Williams also becoming a songwriter, composing Dobie Gray's 1973 hit 'Drift Away'. He began his professional song-writing career with Biff Rose in Los Angeles, who he met while the two of them were working together on a television comedy show. They wrote the song 'Fill Your Heart' (later covered by David Bowie) which was recorded by Rose on his first album, 'The Thorn In Mrs. Rose's Side' in 1968, and they later collaborated again on 'I'll Walk Away', which Rose recorded for his third eponymous album. Rose was instrumental in getting Williams his break with A&M Records, which resulted in him working with songwriter Roger Nichols, and together they were responsible for a number of successful pop hits from the 1970's, including several hits for Three Dog Night, with 'An Old Fashioned Love Song', 'The Family Of Man' and 'Out In The Country', as well as Helen Reddy with 'You And Me Against The World', and probably most notably for The Carpenters, giving them 'Rainy Days And Mondays', 'I Won't Last A Day Without You', and 'We've Only Just Begun'. An early collaboration with Nichols was on 'Someday Man', which was covered by the Monkees, for whom he unsuccessfully auditioned on a 1969 single, and he later worked on the music for a number of films, including writing and singing on 'Phantom Of The Paradise' in 1974, in which he starred and earned an Oscar nomination for the music, and also 'Bugsy Malone' in 1976. He also had a successful career as a recording artist, with his first album, 'Someday Man', appearing in 1970, followed by 'Just An Old Fashioned Love Song' being released the following year, and this featured his own versions of songs that had been already been hits for other artists. The album included one cover by him, of Graham Nash's 'Simple Man', so for this collection I've left that off and replaced it with a couple of his other songs from the same time period which were later recorded by Jack Jones and Art Garfunkel. 

Track listing

01 Waking Up Alone (David Soul 1981)
02 I Never Had It So Good (Dobie Gray 1973)
03 We've Only Just Begun (The Carpenters 1970)
04 That's Enough For Me (The Lettermen 1972) 
05 A Perfect Love (Gladys Knight And The Pips 1973)
06 An Old Fashioned Love Song (Three Dog Night 1971)
07 Let Me Be The One (Anne Murray 1971)
08 When I Was All Alone (Colin Blunstone 1974)
09 My Love And I (Mary Travers 1972)
10 Gone Forever (Sergio Mendes & Brasil '77 1971)
11 Talk It Over In The Morning (Jack Jones 1971)
12 Traveling Boy (Art Garfunkel 1973)