The Wonder Stuff - Curious, Weird And Ugly Songs (2004)

The Wonder Stuff were formed in 1986 by Miles Hunt (whose uncle Bill Hunt was keyboard player with ELO and Wizzard) on vocals and guitar, Malcolm Treece on guitar and vocals, bassist Rob "The Bass Thing" Jones, and Martin Gilks on drums, and grew from Hunt and Treece's collaboration with future members of Pop Will Eat Itself in a band called From Eden, that featured Hunt on drums. They reportedly took their name from a remark made about a very young Hunt by John Lennon, and six months after forming they recorded a self-financed debut EP, 'A Wonderful Day'. After finding management with Birmingham promoter Les Johnson, and signing with Polydor Records for £80,000 in 1987, the group released a series of singles including 'Unbearable', 'Give Give Give, Me More More More', 'A Wish Away' and 'It's Yer Money I'm After Baby', which was their first Top 40 entry. All of these songs featured on their debut album 'The Eight Legged Groove Machine', which was released in August 1988, and it broke into the UK Top Twenty. A non-album single, 'Who Wants To Be The Disco King?' was released in March 1989 and was followed by UK, European, and United States tours and appearances at the Reading and Glastonbury festivals. Melody Maker hailed 'The Eight Legged Groove Machine' as one of their albums of the year for 1988, judging it, "A rollicking debut from the only band with enough wit, energy, charisma and acumen to cross over from loutish grebo into raffish pop". In September 1989 'Don't Let Me Down, Gently' became the group's first Top-20 hit, heralding the release of second album, 'Hup', in October, which reached No. 5 in the UK albums chart. 

This record saw the introduction of new band member, Martin Bell, a multi-instrumentalist who contributed violin and banjo, most notably on 'Golden Green' and its b-side 'Get Together', 'Unfaithful' and 'Cartoon Boyfriend'. Another non-album single was released shortly afterwards, with 'Circlesquare' appearing just before Paul Clifford replaced Jones on bass in the Spring of 1990. The rest of the year was very quiet, with no new music appearing until 'The Size Of A Cow' was issued as a taster for new album 'Never Loved Elvis' in March 1991, becoming the band's first UK top ten single, and the album duly followed in May. Just after the third single from the album, 'Sleep Alone', was released in September, the group scored a commercial success when they covered Tommy Roe's 'Dizzy' with comedian Vic Reeves, and this stayed at the top of the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in November 1991. The band carried on touring into 1992, releasing the 'Welcome To The Cheap Seats' EP in February, as a 'soundtrack; to their video rockumentary of the same name which was released that Spring after eighteen months of filming on the road with the band. After previewing new material at a few European summer festivals, 'On The Ropes' was released as a single in September 1993, followed by the album, 'Construction For The Modern Idiot', and they closed the year with another single 'Full Of Life (Happy Now)' just before Christmas. 

The band toured Europe before going to the United States in February 1994, and then returned for the UK leg in March, but a planned tour of the Far East and Australia in May was cancelled with no explanation, although by June a split was announced in a fanclub newsletter. The Wonder Stuff performed the final contracted show on 15 July 1994 as headliners at the Phoenix Festival near Stratford-on-Avon in front of an audience of 30,000, and to commemorate the group an 18-song compilation 'If The Beatles Had Read Hunter...The Singles' was released, and reached No. 8 in the UK album chart. Hunt went on to be involved in several projects, hosting MTV Europe's '120 Minutes' show, ansd then putting together another band, Vent 414, with ex-Senseless Things bassist Morgan Nicholls and drummer Peter Howard. They released a self-titled debut album in October 1996, but were soon dropped by Polydor prior to the release of a second record. Hunt also to toured as a solo artist, and released four albums, but in December 2000 Hunt, Treece, Gilks, Bell and Whittaker, together with new bassist Stuart Quinell, reformed for a one-off concert at London's Forum, with this soon becoming five sold-out nights, preceded by two nights of shows at JB's in Dudley. More live performances continued into 2001 with the release of a live album 'Cursed With Insincerity' in June, but in early 2004, Hunt was informed that Gilks and Bell would no longer work with him, and thus The Wonder Stuff (in the eyes of Gilks and Bell) were defunct. As a result, Quinell and Whittaker were informed the band had split, and Hunt began work on a new record with Mark McCarthy (ex-Radical Dance Faction) and Luke Johnson, who was the son of one-time Wonder Stuff manager, Les Johnson. 

Sessions for this new solo record were later joined by Malc Treece, and the result was The Wonder Stuff's first new album for over a decade, with 'Escape From Rubbish Island' coming out in September 2004, with 'Better Get Ready For A Fist Fight' and the title track becoming singles. This line-up continued into 2006 for the release of their new album 'Suspended By Stars' in March, and for the single 'Blah Blah La Di Dah' to be made available as a download. In April 2006, original Wonder Stuff drummer Martin Gilks was killed in a motorcycle accident in London, and an album of 'We Know Where You Live's demo recordings and live tracks was released in December, with all profits being donated to a charitable concern at the request of Gilk's parents. After playing a few UK outdoor shows the band went on hiatus due to Treece starting a family. They got back together in 2008, and have continuted to tour and release new records, as well as complete re-recordings of their first three albums, and despite a number of line-up changes they are still going strong. As a reminder of how good they were during the first fifteen years of their classic line-up, here is a collection of all their non-album tracks, from that early self-financed EP through to the first reformation in 2004. 

  
Track listing

Disc I - 1987-1988
01 It's Not True... (from the 'A Wonderful Day' EP 1987)
02 A Wonderful Day (from the 'A Wonderful Day' EP 1987)
03 Down Here (from the 'A Wonderful Day' EP 1987)
04 Ten Trenches Deep (b-side of 'Unbearable' 1987)
05 Inside You (b-side of 'Unbearable' 1987)
06 Hit By A Car (b-side of 'Unbearable' 1987)
07 I Am A Monster (b-side of 'Unbearable' 1987)
08 Frank (b-side of 'Unbearable' 1987)
09 A Song Without An End (b-side of 'Give Give Give Me More More More' 1988)
10 Meaner Than Mean (b-side of 'Give Give Give Me More More More' 1988)
11 Sell The World Free (b-side of 'Give Give Give Me More More More' 1988)
12 Astley In The Noose (b-side of 'It's Yer Money I'm After Baby' 1988)
13 Ooh, She Said (b-side of 'It's Yer Money I'm After Baby' 1988)
14 Rave From The Grave (b-side of 'It's Yer Money I'm After Baby' 1988)

Disc II - 1988-1992
01 Jealousy (b-side of 'A Wish Away' 1988)
02 Happy Sad (b-side of 'A Wish Away' 1988)
03 Goodbye Fatman (b-side of 'A Wish Away' 1988)
04 Who Wants To Be The Disco King? (single 1989)
05 It Was Me (b-side of 'Don't Let Me Down, Gently' 1989)
06 Get Together (b-side of 'Golden Green' 1989)
07 Gimme Some Truth (b-side of 'Golden Green' 1989)
08 Our New Song (b-side of 'Piece Of Sky' 1990)
09 Can't Shape Up, Again (b-side of 'Piece Of Sky' 1990)
10 Circlesquare (single 1990)
11 El Hermano De Frank (b-side of 'Sleep Alone' 1991)
12 The Takin' Is Easy (b-side of 'Sleep Alone' 1991)
13 Dizzy (single with Vic Reeves 1991)
14 Me, My Mom, My Dad And My Brother (from the 'Welcome To The Cheap Seats' EP 1992)
15 Will The Circle Be Unbroken (from the 'Welcome To The Cheap Seats' EP 1992)
16 That's Entertainment (from the 'Welcome To The Cheap Seats' EP 1992)

Disc III - 1992-2004
01 Coz I Luv You (from the 'Ruby Trax' compilation 1992)

02 Professional Disturber Of The Peace (from the 'On The Ropes' EP 1993)
03 Hank And John (from the 'On The Ropes' EP 1993)
04 Whites (from the 'On The Ropes' EP 1993)
05 Burger Standing (from the 'Full Of Life (Happy Now) EP 1993)
06 A Curious, Weird And Ugly Scene (from the 'Full Of Life (Happy Now) EP 1993)
07 Closer To Fine (from the 'Full Of Life (Happy Now) EP 1993)
08 Just Helicopters (from the 'Hot Love Now!' EP 1994)
09 I Think I Must've Had Something Really Useful To Say (from the 'Hot Love Now!' EP 1994)
10 Room 512, All The News That's Fit To Print (from the 'Hot Love Now!' EP 1994)
11 Sing The Song (from the 'Limited Edition 5 Track EP' 2001)
12 Ooh, Ooh, Aah, Aah (from the 'Limited Edition 5 Track EP' 2001)
13 Apple Of My Eye (b-side of 'Better Get Ready For A Fist Fight' 2004)
14 Safety Pin Stuck In My Heart (b-side of 'Better Get Ready For A Fist Fight' 2004)

Rick Astley - My Red Book (2013)

After releasing three albums for RCA records between 1988 and 1993, Rick Astley retired from the music industry at the age of 27, deciding that family life was more important to him. During his time out of the music business, his daughter Emilie grew up, and for much of the 1990's and early-2000's, Astley remained out of the public eye, although he carried on writing, co-composing 'Mission Statement' for former Marillion singer Fish's 1999 solo album 'Raingods With Zippos' After seven years out of the limelight he returned to the music industry, signing a co-publishing deal with Polydor, and recording a new album, 'Keep It Turned On', which was released in Continental Europe in late 2001. The album featured the single 'Sleeping', which became a minor club hit, thanks to a set of remixes from the US house producer Todd Terry. When his 2002 'Greatest Hits' compilation sold over 100,000 copies with minimal promotion, he decided to tour again, and went out on the road in 2004, which led to him signing a record contract with Sony BMG. In March 2005 he released the album 'Portrait', in which he covered many classic standards such as 'Vincent', 'Nature Boy' and 'Close To You', but both Astley and Sony BMG were unhappy with the result, so the album was poorly promoted, yet it still managed to reach No. 26 on the UK Albums Chart. In September 2008, Astley was nominated for the "Best Act Ever" award at the MTV Europe Music Awards, and his fans started a campign to push to make him the winner of the award, and to get MTV to invite him to the awards ceremony. On 7 November, following a massive internet campaign by fans, Astley won the award in Liverpool, but was not there in person to receive it. On the back of this, 'Never Gonna Give You Up' (which had recently become an Internet meme via Rickrolling) returned to the UK charts, peaking at No. 73 during the Christmas period. He was also a special guest throughout Peter Kay's 2010 Spring tour, and to mark the occasion he released a new single, 'Lights Out', on his own label in June 2010, but it only managed to scrape into the top 100 of the UK singles chart. An album was due to follow in January 2013, titled 'My Red Book', including the 'Lights Out' and 'Superman' singles, but it was ultimately canceled for unknown reasons. A couple of the songs later turned up on his 2016 album '50', but here is that original cancelled record from 2013. 

Track listing

01 Superman 
02 I Like The Sun 
03 Let It Rain 
04 Sailing 
05 Saddest Day 
06 Lights Out 
07 Goodbye But Not The End 
08 The Bitch 
09 A Letter 
10 Josie 

Kerli - Weapons Of Mass Creation (2011)

After releasing her debut studio album 'Love Is Dead' in 2008, Estonian singer Kerli started work on another album to launch the following year, and during a performance at Ollesummer she performed some new tracks that would have eventually been included on 'Army Of Angels', her second studio album, to be released in 2009. 'Army Of Love' was made available as a download on her official website, before being given a physical release in April 2011, but this was two years after 'Army Of Angels' was supposed to appear, and so the whole concept was re-thought, and a new set of songs was written, with the new record being given a projected release date of 2011. As Kerli said in an interview with PopEater, it was intended to be "a concept album about the future of society", with a strong army-themed imaginary, and so some songs from the previous sessions, such as 'Army Of Love', would still fit the concept, and so were included in the new track listing. Despite all the music being completed, this new project was also abandoned in favour of another new recording, to be called 'Utopia', but we already know what happened to that, and so it seems that Kerli doesn't have much luck in finishing projects that she starts. So that her efforts are not completely lost, here is her second attempt at a second studio album, which should have come out around 2011.  

Track listing

01 Weapons Of Mass Creation
02 Army Of Love
03 Bullet
04 Music Is Dead
05 Heart Line
06 Happy Pill
07 Dollface
08 Love Bomb
09 Blow The Speakers Up
10 Bubble Gum
11 Immortal
12 Get Away With Murder

Morrissey - Bonfire Of Teenagers (2023)

In March 2020, Morrissey released his thirteenth studio album 'I Am Not A Dog On A Chain' through BMG Rights Management, but eight months later he was dropped by BMG following the appointment of a new executive at the label. Morrissey then announced his intention to sell his next completed album to "the highest (or the lowest) bidder", although on 29 October 2022 he signed with Capitol Records in the United States. He didn't sign with a UK label, but as part of his deal with the US label, Capitol also acquired the rights to reissue his previous solo albums 'Southpaw Grammar', 'You Are The Quarry', 'Ringleader Of The Tormentors', 'Years Of Refusal' and' World Peace Is None Of Your Business'. During 2020 and 2021 Morrisey recorded an album's worth of songs with producer Andrew Watt, featuring a number of guest appearances from various musicians, such as Iggy Pop, Jesse Tobias, Chad Smith, Flea and Josh Klinghoffer. In 2020, American singer Miley Cyrus recorded backing vocals for the song 'I Am Veronica', after admitting to being a long-time admirer of him and The Smiths. She volunteered to provide her vocals for the song, and later offered to appear in a music video for the song, but after Morrissey's departure from Capitol Records in December 2022, he reported that Cyrus had requested to have her backing vocals removed from the song. The reason for this remains a mystery, although there are rumours that Cyrus disagreed with Morrissey's political views, or that there was a clash with Cyrus's inner circle.  

'Bonfire Of Teenagers' was originally announced in May 2021, and given a tentative release date of February 2023 in the United States by Capitol Records, but was postponed and later shelved following Morrissey's departure from Capitol in December of that year. In February 2023, Morrissey confirmed that Capitol would not release 'Bonfire Of Teenagers' but would still hold onto the rights to it, and although he later said that he'd regained the rights to the record, it currently remains unreleased. Morrissey debuted several new songs from the album live during his tours in 2022, such as 'I Am Veronica' in May 2022, and the songs 'Rebels Without Applause', 'Sure Enough, The Telephone Rings', 'I Live In Oblivion', and the title track, which were first performed at his Las Vegas concert residency on 1 July 2022. On 25 November 2022, 'Rebels Without Applause' was released as the first single from the album, and he performed 'Sure Enough, The Telephone Rings' on Fox5NY, so with those other live tracks we have access to two thirds of the songs from the record. By adding three live recordings of songs from the similarly unreleased 2023 album 'Without Music The World Dies' to replace the missing tracks from 'Bonfire Of Teenagers', we end up with an excellent collection of new music from the ex-Smiths singer.   

Track listing

01 I Am Veronica  
02 Rebels Without Applause
03 Kerouac's Crack  
04 Without Music The World Dies  
05 I Live In Oblivion  
06 Bonfire Of Teenagers  
07 Notre Dame  
08 The Night Pop Dropped    
09 Sure Enough, The Telephone Rings  
10 Saint In A Stained Glass Window  

The Supremes - Promises Kept (1971)

In the latter half of 1971 The Supremes went into the studio with a number of different producers, to record what would have been their fourth album as a trio without former lead singer Diana Ross. Despite recording around eighteen tracks, the album was ultimately shelved by Motown in favour of a different set, 'Floy Joy', produced entirely by Smokey Robinson, and which came out the following year. 'Promises Kept' was assigned the catalogue number M-746 and originally scheduled for a December 1971 release, but after its cancellation the tracks were kept in the vaults until some appeared on a 2002 anthology CD, while another thirteen showed up on a 2006 boxset. Although a definitive track listing is not supposed to exist, I found a front and back cover with the catalogue number M-746, and so I'm using that for this post. Whether its legitimate or not, it's a running order that seems to work for this fine collection of originals and covers, from a trio who were making their name as a group in their own right, after losing their iconic lead singer. 

Track listing

01 I Ain't Got The Love Of The One I Love
02 I'll Let Him Know That I Love Him
03 All I Need
04 Take Your Dreams Back
05 Make It With You
06 If I Were Your Woman
07 Tears Left Over
08 It's Too Late
09 Walk With Me, Talk With Me Darling
10 Still Water (Love)
11 Chained To Yesterday
12 Never Can Say Goodbye

If you want to hear the other songs from the sessions then Albums Back From The Dead has made up two separate albums from the various recordings from the period.

Frijid Pink - Inner Heat (2002)

Frijid Pink formed when local Detroit-area cover band the Detroit Vibrations, which featured Richard Stevers and Tom Harris, were joined by guitarist Gary Ray Thompson and singer Tom Beaudry, who later took the stage name Kelly Green. The group spent their first two years touring throughout the Southeast Michigan/Detroit area and eventually signed with Parrot Records, although their first two 1969 singles, 'Tell Me Why' and 'Drivin' Blues', both failed to attract much attention, but their third 1969 effort, a distorted guitar-driven rendition of 'House Of The Rising Sun', reached the Top Ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1970. This disc sold over one million copies, and peaked at No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart, although the band later admitted that the song was just using up time at the end of a recording session. Their self-titled debut record followed in 1970, as did their second release 'Defrosted', with virtually all of the album's writing being provided by the duo of Beaudry and Thompson. Subsequent singles included 'Sing A Song For Freedom' and a cover of 'Heartbreak Hotel', but they failed to match earlier successes, and when Beaudry and Thompson couldn't reform the group after a brief break-up, a new line-up was created featuring David Alexander (later Jon Wearing) on vocals, Craig Webb on guitar, and Larry Zelanka on keyboards. This version of the group recorded 1972's 'Earth Omen', but these new members would also be replaced by the time that the group re-entered the studio to record 1975's 'All Pink Inside' with Jo Baker now on vocals and Larry Popolizio playing the bass. 

In 1981 Stevers and Harris joined forces with Arlen Viecelli, lead singer/guitarist of Salem Witchcraft, and Ray Gunn, guitarist of Virgin Dawn, to record an album at Sound Suite studio in Detroit. The music was written by Viecelli and Gunn and was set to be released in the summer of 1982. However, after failed negotiation attempts with various record companies by the group's manager, the group disbanded and the material was never released. Another line-up of the band formed in 2001, but it included no previous members of the group, and they recorded one album, 'Inner Heat', which was set for release in 2002, but after a single show the album was pulled by the record label, Dynasty Records. In 2005 yet another lineup formed featuring most of the original members, with drummer Stevers succeeding in getting bassist Tom Harris and vocalist Tom Beaudry together, along with guitarist Steve Dansby (from a late 1970's line-up of Cactus) and unknown keyboardist Larin Michaels. In late 2006, after another failed attempt to reunite the original members, Stevers put together yet another line-up, and over the course of the next five years they played a dozen or so gigs, and then recorded a self-titled album of re-recorded renditions of songs from the group's previous records, alongside some new original music. One final album was released in 2018, with 'On The Edge' including a re-recorded version of 'House Of The Rising Sun', but for this post we're going back to that unreleased 2002 record, so here is 'Inner Heat', from a version of Frijid Pink made up of Randy Mac on lead guitars, Fate Dotson on lead vocals, Terry Stafford on bass, Tim Adkins on keyboards, and Bill Gordon on drums, none of whom had ever played in the band before.  

Track listing

01 God Gave Me You
02 Dangerous Words
03 Brother
04 For You
05 Fade Away
06 Can You See Me
07 Cold City
08 Inside Out
09 Lonely Amy
10 Change
11 It's Up to You
12 Layne
13 My Sanity
14 When I'm Needed

Tiffany Villarreal - Tiffany Villarreal (2004)

In the final post from the three members of Pharrell Williams' Latina girl group Affair, we have Tiffany Villarreal. Tiffany Villarreal was born into a musical family, and as a teenager her family moved to California, and later Las Vegas, Nevada where she attended a performing arts school. There she met and joined the R&B girl group 702, who introduced her to Missy Elliott. In 1996 she was signed to MCA Records and was preparing to release her debut album, with Missy Elliott as the executive producer, but due to RCA Records folding, the album was never released. In 2003 she was signed to Universal Records, and was featured on rapper Raekwon’s song 'The Hood', and during that same year she released her own debut single 'You, Yourself & You', which was well-received by critics, but had no impact on the charts. Her follow-up singles 'Rewind The Time' (featuring Raekwon) and 'Holla At Me' didn't fare any better, and so when Universal released her self-titled debut album, they only released it in Japan. After her stint with Universal Records, she signed with Pharrell Williams' Star Trak Entertainment record label as a member of Latina girl group Affair, alongside Vanessa Marquez and Natasha Ramos. When Affair didn't take off, she signed with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment label, and later with Motown Records. After that, nothing solo was released, although she did make appearances on albums by artists such as Flo Rida & Baby Bash, and also co-wrote Fantasia's song 'Trust Him' for her 2010 album 'Back To Me'. Despite Universal's lack of confidence in her album, it's a perfectly acceptable collection of early 2000's R&B, and so if that's your thing, then here it is for you to enjoy.  

Track listing

01 The Real Intro
02 Fire
03 Rewind The Time
04 You, Yourself & You 
05 Erotic Interlude
06 Erotic
07 Go To Work
08 Holla At Me
09 For My Girls
10 Better Woman
11 Us
12 Set U Free
13 Silent Gun
14 Nine Months

Smash Mouth - Old Habits (2005)

Smash Mouth's roots trace back to 1990 when Steve Harwell and Kevin Coleman met, and four years later Smash Mouth was formed by Harwell, who had formerly played in a rap group called F.O.S. (Freedom Of Speech). Coleman was Harwell's manager at the time, and knew guitarist Greg Camp and bassist Paul De Lisle, so he introduced the three musicians to each other, and they bean rehearsing together along with Coleman, who played as the drummer. They soon developed into a band, and named themselves Smashmouth, an American football term, and after a demo of the song 'Nervous In The Alley was played by a San Jose radio station they were signed to Interscope Records, and they changed their name to Smash Mouth. The group's debut album, 'Fush Yu Mang', was released in 1997, featuring another member, as keyboardist Michael Klooster had joined by this time. The album eventually went double platinum, and they enjoyed some success with their first major single 'Walkin' On The Sun'. The band's second album, 'Astro Lounge', was released in 1999 and marked a change in direction, as it had less of the previous ska influence and more of a pop sound, and it ended up being one of the most critically acclaimed albums from the group. Supported by the hit singles 'All Star' (which was featured in several film soundtracks, most notably 'Shrek'), and 'Then The Morning Comes', it was eventually certified as triple platinum. Shortly after its release, drummer Kevin Coleman left the band due to back problems, with the drum-stool initially being taken over by Michael Urbano, who was himself quickly replaced by Mitch Marine for the tour supporting 'Astro Lounge'. 

Their self-titled album came out in 2001, but sold fewer copies than their earlier works, although it was still eventually certified gold. In 2003 they released 'Get the Picture?', which included the singles 'You Are My Number One', 'Hang On' and 'Always Gets Her Way', but Interscope weren't happy with the band and dropped them from the label shortly after the album's release, although they still got their pound of flesh by releasing the greatest hits compilation 'All Star Smash Hits' in 2005. In December 2005, the band released a Christmas album 'Gift Of Rock', which featured covers of Christmas songs by many artists, such as the Kinks and the Ramones, and one original song, 'Baggage Claim'. The band's fifth album was originally to be titled 'Old Habits', and was recorded in 2005 and expected to be released in early 2006. It was purported to be much more like the ska-punk featured on 'Fush Yu Mang', and in September 2005 they performed what was tentatively announced as the album's first single, 'Getaway Car', on 'Last Call with Carson Daly'. However, the album was delayed many times, possibly in the hope of gaining publicity with Harwell's appearance on the reality show 'The Surreal Life', but also because the band wanted to return to the studio to improve the record. In the end 'Old Habits' was shelved, and was replaced by 'Summer Girl', which came out in 2006. This included five remixed tracks from 'Old Habits', but the rest were all new songs, meaning that a lot of the older material remained unreleased, until Greg Camp and Paul De Lisle used some songs for their solo albums. Despite being heralded as a return to their ska-punk roots, 'Old Habits' is a pretty straight-ahead indie-rock album, and for someone like me who is not that familiar with their earlier work it sounds pretty good, so I can't really see why it was abandoned.  

Track listing

01 Hey LA  
02 Getaway Car  
03 The Crawl 
04 Say When 
05 Baby Please Don't Go 
06 Quality Control  
07 Old Habits  
08 Sugar 
09 Beside Myself 
10 Duty Free 
11 Beautiful Bomb 
12 Never Let Me Down Again

The Junket - Alcohol By Volume (2002)

The Junket were formed in Kettering in the mid 90's by Rick on guitar/vocals, Steve Rees on bass/vocals and Rueban Bobcat on drums, and they signed a deal with Deceptive Records, who released their debut album 'Stamina' in 1998, reaching number 4 in the Indie charts, and garnering airplay on BBC Radio 1 .'You're The Same' was extracted from it and released as a single in 1999, followed by the non-album single 'Threefourzero'/'The King Of The Lettuce' later that year. Following a label change to Philter Records, they released their second album 'Lux Safari' in 2000, trying out a different style to 'Stamina', experimenting with a lot of other instruments and sounds, and they were pleased with the result. Their albums had done well in Japan, and so a tour of that country was arranged, supporting Japanese band L'arc en Ciel, who had sold over 7 million copies of their own recent album. The band were in the process of writing and recording their third album when they split up, and in 2004 Captain was formed from the ashes, with the recruitment of Mario Athanasiou on guitar, Clare Szembek on keyboards and Alex Yeoman on bass (see their own post here). Before the split they'd recorded enough music for the album, which was to be called 'Alcohol By Volume', and so as an epitaph to the group, here is that final record from 2002. 

Track listing 

01 Anger's On
02 Secret Surround
03 3:AM
04 The Blue On You
05 Low Pacers
06 Last Ditch Apology
07 G101
08 Underachieving Is A Crime
09 Asha Breathes
10 Loving It And Losing It
11 My Endeavour
12 U.I.C.

Ashnikko - Fight Like A Girl (2022)

Ashton Nicole Casey was born on 19 February 1996, in Oak Ridge, North Carolina, and while growing up her parents exposed her to diverse musical genres, from country music to Slipknot. She became interested in music, specifically rap music, when she listened to Arular by M.I.A. at the age of 10, and she didn't listen to male musicians until she was 16. As a teenager, her family moved to Estonia for her father's studies, and at 18 she moved to London by herself. Using the stage name Ashnikko, she recorded her first song, 'Krokodil', produced by Raf Riley and published to SoundCloud in July 2016. Her first EP was released by Digital Picnic Records, with 'Sass Pancakes' coming out in 2017, followed by her second EP, 'Unlikeable', a year later. Her third EP was 'Hi It's Me' in 2019, and this time it was preceded by the promotional single 'Special', which was launched alongside the EP's title track and lead single, 'Hi It's Me'. The second official single, 'Stupid', featuring Yung Baby Tate, and gained viral popularity on TikTok, reaching number one on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. In 2019 she co-wrote eight songs, two of which she is featured on, on Brooke Candy's debut album, 'Sexorcism', which was released in October 2019, and later she co-wrote 'Boss Bitch' with American rapper Doja Cat, which was included on the 'Birds Of Prey' soundtrack album. In March 2020 she released the standalone single 'Tantrum', and this was followed by her breakthrough record, when 'Daisy' was released in July 2020, charting internationally in countries including Australia, Belgium and the United Kingdom, where it reached number 24 on the UK Singles Chart. In January 2021 she released her debut mixtape 'Demidevil', which she promoted with a North American and European tour in October. After a years hiatus since the release of the two singles 'Panic Attacks In Paradise' and 'Maggots' in September 2021, Ashnikko released her new single, 'You Make Me Sick!', on 8 February 2023, as a taster for her debut album 'Weedkiller', which was scheduled for an August 2023 release. Following the appearance of 'Weedkiller', four more singles have been released from it, and so now is a good time to collect together some of the tracks that she's recorded from as early as 2013 up to last year which didn't make it to the album. There have been many short snippets of songs leaked to Youtube, but for this album I've only chosen completed tracks, plus a few collaborations that she's done along the way. 

Track listing 

01 Fight Like A Girl
02 Cake Face
03 Homicide
04 Wallflower 
05 Nonsense
06 Damsel
07 Hands On The Wheel (feat. Grafomans)
08 Krokodil
09 Creepy
10 Fever (feat. Yurrit & Terrell Morris)
11 Emerald Eyes
12 Coming 
13 Mellow (feat. Firejose & Justicious)
14 Mermaid
15 Kiss Kat (feat. Nightwave)
16 Please Don't Grab My Pussy

My Life Story - Stuck Up Their Own Era (2000)

Jake Shillingford was born on 15 May 1966 in Southend-on-Sea, and he formed his first band in 1980, athough he didn't start a career until the late 80's. In the mid-80's, he briefly attended the Southend Art College, after which he held a job at Dingwalls in Camden, working there during the day and running the Panic Station Club at night, often playing with his band, My Life Story. They released the 'Home Sweet Zoo' EP on the Think Tank label in 1986, but after a few years, he grew bored and left for America on a mission to find himself, returning in 1990 convinced that he would remodel 'My Life Story' as a string-laden, orchestral pop band. Over the course of that year, he assembled a new version of the band, re-hiring his old drummer Aaron Cahill as musical arranger, and adding drummer Steave Searley, bassist Jon King, keyboardist Helen Caddick, violinists Alison Gabriel and Ellie Newton, cellist Judith Fleet, Rob Spriggs on viola, and Rachel Simnett, who played various brass instruments. Playing concerts in underground London clubs, the band slowly built a small following, self-releasing their indie debut EP 'Big' at the end of the year. By 1992, they'd grown to comprise a total of 11 musicians, and they were regularly playing clubs like the 100 Club and the Marquee. In 1993 their profile began to rise considerably when they contributed strings to the Wonder Stuff's 'Welcome to the Cheap Seats' EP, and that led to them signing with Mother Tongue Records, releasing the single 'Girl A, Girl B, Boy C' by the end of the year. Produced by Giles Martin, the son of legendary Beatles' producer George Martin, the record was named Single of the Week by Melody Maker and NME, and My Life Story opened for both Blur and Pulp on their tours during the winter of 1994. 

In February, the group's second single, 'Funny Ha Ha', was released, and a year later 'You Don't Sparkle (In My Eyes)' reached the indie Top Ten, followed by the February 1995 release of their debut album, 'Mornington Crescent'. Although the record received positive reviews, its release was hampered by threatened legal action from London Underground due to breach of copyright, but that issue quickly vanished, and by the end of the year Melody Maker had named 'Mornington Crescent' as one of the year's best albums. However, this critical acclaim didn't translate into sales, and so a distraught Shillingford decided to have My Life Story perform a month-long residency at Dingwalls in February 1996, and if the band wasn't signed to a major label at the end of the four-Sunday stint, he was going to disband the group. His plan worked, and by the end of the Dingwalls residency, My Life Story had signed to Parlophone Records. They recorded their major-label debut during the spring and summer, and played a series of high-profile gigs that increased their profile substantially. Late that summer, the group's first Parlophone single, '12 Reasons Why I Love Her' was released, followed by 'Sparkle' in October and 'The King Of Kissingdom' in February 1997, both of which received mixed reviews in the music press. The band's long-delayed major-label debut, 'The Golden Mile', was finally released in March 1997, and although their audience was larger than ever, a critical backlash had begun, and the reviews for the record were frequently harsh, with Select labelling the record as "the worst album ever made". Despite the bad reviews, 'The Golden Mile' turned out to be the band's peak, although they parted ways with Parlophone after its release, signing with It Records for 2000's 'Joined Up Talking'. 

This album went no further than 126 on the U.K. charts, so Shillingford arranged a series of farewell concerts for My Life Story at the end of 2000, and the band went on hiatus for six year. In 2006 they reunited with the full line-up of thirteen members to play two concerts to celebrate the release for two 2006 compilations: 'Sex & Violins (The Best Of My Life Story)' and 'Megaphone Theology: B-Sides and Rarities'. The reunions so were successful that My Life Story again became a going concern, and further reunions have taken place every two years, beginning with a 2007 show at O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, followed by a 2009 concert where they played 'Mornington Crescent' in its entirety. Shillingford assembled a streamlined edition of My Life Story for a 2013 U.K. tour, and in 2016 the group released their first single in 16 years, '24 Hour Deflowerer'. The next two years found the band playing Brit-pop revival package tours, and all this activity culminated with the 2019 release of 'World Citizen', the band's first album in nearly 20 years, which was crowd-funded with pre-orders from fans. A new album, 'Loving You Is Killing Me',  was released earlier this year, and despite only releasing five long-players, the band didn't waste anything that they recorded during that time, adding over 40 non-albums tracks to the b-sides of their singles and EP's. The 'Megaphone Theology' compilation was a pretty good attempt at collecting these tracks, but it did miss quite a few of them, including all the music from that first 1986 EP, so this post has every non-album track that the band added to their singles.   

Track listing

Disc I - 1986-1996
01 Home Sweet Zoo (from the 'Home Sweet Zoo' EP 1986)
02 Boring Dream (from the 'Home Sweet Zoo' EP 1986)
03 The Sliding Bookcase (from the 'Home Sweet Zoo' EP 1986)
04 Star Colliding (b-side of 'Girl A, Girl B, Girl C' 1993)
05 First Person Singular (b-side of 'You Don't Sparkle (In My Eyes)' 1994)
06 Stood Amongst Friends (b-side of 'You Don't Sparkle (In My Eyes)' 1994)
07 The Lady Is A Tramp (b-side of 'Funny Ha Ha' 1994)
08 These Words Are Haunting (b-side of 'Funny Ha Ha' 1994)
09 Funny Peculiar (b-side of 'Funny Ha Ha' 1994)
10 Checkmate (from the 'Mornington Crescent Companion' EP 1995)
11 Outdoor Miner (from the 'Mornington Crescent Companion' EP 1995)
12 Emerald Green (b-side of 'Sparkle' 1996)
13 Megaphone Theology (b-side of 'Sparkle' 1996)
14 The Garden Fence Affair (b-side of 'Sparkle' 1996)

Disc II - 1996-1997
01 17 Reasons Why I Love Her (b-side of 'Sparkle' 1996)
02 Lover's Recipe (b-side of '12 Reasons Why I Love Her' 1996)
03 Lady Somerset (b-s (b-side of '12 Reasons Why I Love Her' 1996)
04 Silently Screaming (b-side of '12 Reasons Why I Love Her' 1996)
05 Heaven Suitcase (b-side of '12 Reasons Why I Love Her' 1996)
06 A Boy Called Daydream (b-side of 'The King Of Kissingdom' 1997)
07 Stuck Up Your Own Era (b-side of 'The King Of Kissingdom' 1997)
08 I Love You Like Gala (b-side of 'The King Of Kissingdom' 1997)
09 Sir Richard Steele (b-side of 'The King Of Kissingdom' 1997)

Disc III - 1997
01 The Return Of Emerald Green (b-side of 'Strumpet' 1997)
02 Wallpaper (b-side of 'Strumpet' 1997)
03 Welcome To My Archipelago (b-side of 'Strumpet' 1997)
04 Waiting To Explode (b-side of 'Strumpet' 1997)
05 I Faced The Music (b-side of 'Strumpet' 1997)
06 March 9th (b-side of 'Strumpet' 1997)
07 Duchess (single 1997)
08 Birthday Suit (b-side of 'Duchess')
09 Emerald Green Strikes Back (b-side of 'Duchess')
10 Love Scene (b-side of 'Duchess')
11 Cherries (b-side of 'You Can't Uneat The Apple' 1997)

Disc IV - 1999-2000
01 I'm A Statistic (b-side of 'Empire Line' 1999)
02 Paint It Emerald Green (b-side of 'Empire Line' 1999)
03 Sleep (b-side of 'Empire Line' 1999)
04 It's A Boy Thing (b-side of 'Empire Line' 1999)
05 Emerald Green Blah Blah (b-side of 'It's A Girl Thing' 1999)
06 Florence's Theme (b-side of 'It's A Girl Thing' 1999)
07 My Sweet Little Death (b-side of 'It's A Girl Thing' 1999)
08 E.G.M.C.M.X.C.I.X. (b-side of 'It's A Girl Thing' 1999)
09 The History Of The World On Ice (b-side of 'Why Aren't You Dead Yet' download 1999)
10 Holy Deadlock (b-side of 'Walk/Don't Walk' 2000)
11 Self Defence Mechanism (b-side of 'Walk/Don't Walk' 2000)

Vanessa Marquez - Good Girl (2005)

Vanessa Rosalia Marquez was born on 21 December 1968, and is primarily know as an actress, appearing in the first three seasons of 'ER' as nurse Wendy Goldman, as well as her role as Ana Delgado in the 1988 biographical drama film, 'Stand And Deliver'. Her success with 'Stand And Deliver' led to a career in film and television, with roles in the crime drama 'Blood In Blood Out', and the independent film 'Twenty Bucks', both in 1993. In addition to her acting credentials, Marquez appeared as a singer in the 2000 thriller film 'Under Suspicion'. A few years later, produce Pharrell Williams, one half of The Neptunes, had a vision of putting together a Latina R&B girl group, inspired by The Supremes, and as Marquez had been signed as a solo artist to their imprint Star Trak Entertainment since 2001, she was considered for the group. By that point, she'd recorded vocals for Justin Timberlake's 2002 megahit 'Rock Your Body', as well as touring with him to promote his debut album, and she was also featured on 'Good Girl', a single from the compilation 'The Neptunes Present...Clones'. When the idea popped into William's head, Marquez had just started working on her debut album, and so he offered her the chance of joining his group, to be named Affair, along with Natasha Ramos, and later being joined by Tiffany Villareal. 

The timing felt impeccable, as in the summer of 2005, Destiny's Child, the biggest girl group of the 2000's, announced they were parting ways, and while no one could match the trio's groundbreaking contribution to pop, a fresh, talented, and bilingual group seemed like the right way to carry on the momentum that they'd leave behind. The music was going to be in English and Spanish, and they would have the star power of The Neptunes on their side, and as Marquez already knew Ramos there was a connection there from the start. Williams wanted three Hispanic females who could really sing R&B, so a search started for a third member of the group, and after a few try-outs a third girl was picked, but she didn't click with the rest of the group, so the search continued. Meanwhile, Marquez and Ramos had already formed a bond, and with both of them having similar husky voices, the songs sounded complete, and they felt that there wasn't a need for a third member. However, Williams was obsessed with "the power of three. The Supremes. The Trinity. The power of three" and so after six months of auditions, the third slot was filled by Tiffany Villarreal, a Texan of Puerto Rican and Mexican descent. With Affair finally complete, the label sent the group to Hollywood for a few weeks to bond and lay down some tracks. 

Villarreal continued singing with Affair while she waited for her Star Trak contract to be finalized, but a few weeks turned into three months, and doubts started to creep in. While she ruminated on her future with Star Trak, another offer came along, with Dr. Dre wanting to sign her to Aftermath Entertainment, and with no paperwork from the Pharrell side, and a contact ready to go with Dr. Dre, she signed with Aftermath, and the remaining girls found themselves back at square one. They finally accepted that a duo, even with their seamless vocal synergy, wasn’t going to be enough, and so Marquez left the label after her contract expired. Ramos signed as a solo artist after Marquez left, but it only lasted for a few years, and she let her contract expire too. As for Tiffany Villarreal, it didn’t work out with Aftermath, and she, like Ramos and Marquez, went independent. In her short musical career, Marquez had exploded on the scene with her collaboration with Justin Timberlake, and then  featured on The Neptunes' album, but not much else that she recorded was ever released, apart from a guest appearance on Butch Cassidy's debut 'Back B4 You're Lonely' in 2007. A year before Affair's debut album was due to appear in 2005, Marquez was recording her own solo record, and luckily there's enough material out there to piece together what it could have sounded like, so here it is, including a couple of tracks featuring Ramos and Villarreal. 

Track listing

01 Good Girl 
02 Daydreaming 
03 Friends Are (feat. Pharrell) 
04 Rider (feat. Natasha Ramos)
05 Do It Right 
06 Shorties (feat. Natasha Ramos & Tiffany Villarreal)
07 Want You to Know (feat. JR Huston) 
08 If You Keep on Askin' 
09 A View From The Top (feat. Butch Cassidy, Bishop Lamont & Damizza)

10 Runnin' Back (feat. Natasha Ramos & Tiffany Villarreal)
11 You Should Know (feat. Pharrell Williams)

12 One Small Kiss (feat. Damizza) 

Bilal - Love For Sale (2006)

Bilal Sayeed Oliver was born on 23 August 1979 in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and by the age of 11 he was choir director at his mother's church, forming a group at 14 to perform gigs at the Blue Moon Cafe in Philadelphia. He graduated from the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and then attended New York City's The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, and he frequented jam sessions set up by the professors and students. At one such event, he met Aaron Comess, a musician from the pop-rock band Spin Doctors, and the two went on to improvise together at Comess's home, which produced a demo that was later heard by Interscope Records, who signed Bilal to a record contract. In 2001 he released his debut album, '1st Born Second', featuring productions by Dr. Dre and J Dilla, and it peaked at number 31 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. The album received universal acclaim from music critics, and garnered rave reviews from publications including The Village Voice, Chicago Sun-Times, and USA Today. He managed to gain a sizable following and high attendance at his live shows, as well as much acclaim and respect from his peers, and the soulful feel of his music caused him to be labelled as "neo-soul", although he dislikes the term. In the following years Bilal appeared on projects by other artists, while recording and developing his follow-up album, once again helmed by Dr. Dre and J Dilla. These plans proved to be changeable, and the final result, 'Love For Sale', was built around live instrumentation and a vibe completely new and different from its predecessor, which was not what Interscope were expecting, and so they rejected his offering. 

Unwilling to start from scratch, he continued to push for its release, but as it neared completion it was leaked in its entirety on the internet. Interscope then shelved the album indefinitely, hinting at the same time that it saw little commercial potential in it. This sent Bilal into a period of distress, and he considered quitting music, but after 'Love For Sale' received over half a million downloads on the internet, he began touring, despite there not being a proper release to promote, with his concerts inspiring awe among audiences. In 2008 he began recording his next album, and after nine years without a properly released record, he made a comeback on 14 September 2010 with 'Airtight's Revenge', released under independent record label Plug Research. He describes it as a retrospective album, that explores his experiences and things he has learned since his last release, but it's also very experimental, blending jazz, hip-hop, electronic, rock, soul, and blues into one raw, genuine collection of music. It was a great comeback after the bitter disappointment of his pervious work being rejected by his record company, and so here is the 'Love For Sale' album for you to listen to, and see if you can hear what Interscope obviously couldn't. 

Track listing

01 Something To Hold On To  
02 You're All I Need (Feels Like Heaven)  
03 Gotsta Be Cool  
04 Make Me Over 
05 Get Out Of My Hair  
06 Lord Don't Let It  
07 All For Love  
08 Hands Of Time  
09 Hollywood  
10 White Turns To Grey  
11 Sorrow, Tears & Blood  
12 Sweet Sour U