Mick Taylor - Special (1988)

In December 1974 Mick Taylor announced that he was leaving the Rolling Stones, coming as a shock to both the band and their fans. The Stones were due to start recording a new album in Munich, and the entire band was reportedly angry at Taylor for leaving at such short notice. After his resignation from the Stones, Taylor was invited by Jack Bruce to form a new band with keyboardist Carla Bley and drummer Bruce Gary, and in 1975 the band began rehearsals in London with tour dates scheduled for later that year. The group toured Europe, with a sound leaning more toward jazz, including a performance at the Dutch Pinkpop Festival, but disbanded the following year. In the summer of 1977, Taylor collaborated with Pierre Moerlen's Gong for the album 'Expresso II', released in 1978, and after that he began writing new songs and recruiting musicians for a solo album, working on projects with Miller Anderson, Alan Merrill and others. In 1977 Taylor signed a solo recording deal with Columbia Records, and his debut solo album, titled 'Mick Taylor', was finally released by Columbia Records in 1979 and reached No. 119 on the Billboard charts in early August. In 1981 he toured Europe and the United States with Alvin Lee of Ten Years After, sharing the bill with Black Sabbath, and he spent most of 1982 and 1983 on the road with John Mayall, for the "Reunion Tour" with John McVie of Fleetwood Mac and Colin Allen. 

It was to be another five years before Taylor ventured into the studio to record his second solo album, when in the spring of 1988 he gathered together Shayne Fontaine on second guitar, Wilbur Bascomb on bass and Bernhard Purdie on drums, and recorded nine new pieces. However, most of these songs never saw the light of day when the album was put on hold. although a few of them had been played live. The title track 'Special' is solid rocker with catchy slide guitar playing, while Bob Dylan's 'Blind Willie McTell' is heard for the first time in a studio version, with the song developing faster than Dylan's recorded version, but still with a great guitar solo that carries it away. 'Separately' was originally written by Keith Richards and Mick Taylor for the 'Goat's Head Soup' sessions in Jamaica, but is presented here with lyrics that were presumably written afterwards by Taylor himself. 'Red Shoes' is a Max Middleton composition that could have easily appeared on a late 70's Jeff Beck album, and the album closes with the emotionally charged instrumental 'Soliloquy'. It's not known why Taylor decided not to publish these songs in 1988 or shortly after, and fans had to wait another two years to get a proper second studio album, with 1990's 'Stranger In This Town', but we can now hear what Taylor was up to a couple of years before that came out.

Track listing

01 Special 
02 Going To Mexico 
03 Red Shoes 
04 Blind Willie McTell 
05 Separately 
06 The Blue Note Shuffle 
07 Downtown Broadway 
08 Soliloquy

Cherry Roland - Just For Fun (1976)

Cherry Roland was born in Dartford, Kent, and is best known as an actress, starring in the 1963 UK comedy film 'Just For Fun', but she was also a recording artist signed to Decca Records, who released her first single, 'Handy Sandy', in February 1963, the same month as the film came out. With the success of the film making her name well known in the UK, and following a couple of appearance on the UK TV show 'Thank Your Lucky Stars', her second single, released in May 1963, was 'What A Guy', and it featured the title track from the film on the flip. Her third single, 'Nobody But Me', was released on Fontana Records in October under the name Cherry Rowland, possibly because she was still under contract to Decca at the time, but she soon reverted back to the original spelling for future records. Several of her singles were released in Europe, and she was particularly popular in Holland and Germany, where she had a good fan base, and so her next single was released on German Decca, with 'Another Night Alone' coming out in September 1965. Two of her performances with the Belinda Beats, which were recorded live at the Liverpool Hoop Club in Berlin, were included on a various artists album released in Germany in 1965, and by 1966 she was recording completely in the German language, with the 'Was Ist Gold, Was Ist Geld' single appearing in June of that year. After that she took some time away from the music industry, before returning some five years later with the 'Hey, Herr Kapitan' single in 1971, once again aimed at the German market. In 1974 she attempted a comeback, and released the single 'Here Is Where The Love Is' in the UK, and by the middle of the 1970's she'd joined a cabaret show which toured South Africa, where she recorded a number of singles as a solo artist whilst in that country. 'Second Time Around' did particularly well, apparently selling in excess of 200,000 copies, and it was also released in Holland and Jamaica. The success of the single led to the recording of an album of the same name, which was issued on the South African EMI label in 1976, and singles were released from it in a number of countries. While putting together this album, the only copies of the 'Another Night Alone'/'Cry Baby Cry' single that I could find were cut short after just under two minutes, so I've extended them slightly to a more reasonable length, so that they fit in better with the rest of this collection of the work of Cherry Roland.   

Track listing

01 Handy Sandy (single 1963)
02 Stay As I Am (b-side of 'Handy Sandy')
03 What A Guy (single 1963)
04 Just For Fun (b-side of 'What A Guy')
05 Nobody But Me (single 1963)
06 Boys (b-side of 'Nobody But Me')
07 Another Night Alone (single 1965)
08 Cry Baby Cry (b-side of 'Another Night Alone')
09 Wishin' And Hopin' (from 'Live At The Liverpool, No 1' 1965)
10 Can I Get A Witness (from 'Live At The Liverpool, No 1' 1965)
11 Was Ist Gold, Was Ist Geld (German single 1966)
12 Schade Fur Dich (b-side of 'Was Ist Gold, Was Is Geld')
13 Hey, Herr Kapitan (single 1971)
14 Pretty Old Lady (b-side of 'Hey, Herr Kapitan')
15 Here Is Where The Love Is (single 1974)
16 Second Time Around (single 1976)
17 I'd Rather Go Blind' (b-side of 'Second Time Around')

The Pete Best Combo - I Don't Know Why I Do (1965)

Randolph Peter "Pete" Best was born 24 November 1941 in the city of Madras, then part of British India. After Best's mother, Mona Best, moved to Liverpool in 1945, she opened The Casbah Coffee Club in the cellar of the Bests' large house in Liverpool, and it became very popular with British youths, having a membership of over 1,000. The Beatles (at the time known as the Quarrymen) played some of their first concerts at the club, and Best played there with the Beatles, as well as with his first band, the Black Jacks. In August 1960 The Beatles invited Best to join the group, on the eve of their first Hamburg season of club dates. He was eventually replaced by Ringo Starr on 16 August 1962, when the group's manager, Brian Epstein, dismissed Best under the direction of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, following their first recording session at Abbey Road Studios. Soon after he was dismissed, Epstein attempted to console him by offering to build another group around him, but Best refused. Feeling let down and depressed, he sat at home for two weeks, not wanting to face anybody or answer the inevitable questions about why he had been sacked. Epstein secretly arranged with his booking agent partner, Joe Flannery, for Best to join Lee Curtis & the All Stars, which then broke off from Curtis to become Pete Best & the All Stars, and they signed to Decca Records, releasing the unsuccessful single 'I'm Gonna Knock On Your Door'. Best later moved to the United States along with songwriters Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington, and as The Pete Best Four, and later as The Pete Best Combo, they toured the US in 1965 with a combination of 1950's songs and original tunes, recording for small labels Cameo and Mr. Maestro, but with little success. They ultimately released an album on Savage Records in 1966, 'Best Of The Beatles', which was a play on Best's name, but which led to disappointment for record buyers who neglected to read the song titles on the front cover and expected a Beatles compilation. The group disbanded shortly afterwards, and Bickerton and Waddington were to find greater success as songwriters in the 1970', writing a series of hits for the American female group, The Flirtations and the British group, the Rubettes. Many of Best's group's singles were written by Bickerton and Waddington, and by 1965 they had amassed a considerable body of original material, which would have been enough to put together an album of their own songs in 1965. While 'Best Of The Beatles' did include some of those songs, it also featured a lot of covers, and so this album would have been a much better example of their work, had it come out a year earlier in 1965. 

Track listing

01 Why Did You Leave Me Baby?  
02 I Need Your Lovin'  
03 I Can Do Without You  
04 She's Alright  
05 Keys to My Heart  
06 I'm Checkin' Out Now Baby 
07 I'll Try Anyway  
08 I Don't Know Why I Do  
09 How Do You Get to Know Her Name?  
10 She's Not the Only Girl in Town 

11 Don't Play With Me 
12 More Than I Need Myself  
13 I'll Have Everything Too 
14 The Way I Feel About You  
15 If You Can't Get Her 

Jean Michel Jarre - The Twelve Dreams Of The Sun (2000)

'The Twelve Dreams Of The Sun' was a concert held by Jean Michel Jarre on the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt starting on December 31, 1999 and carrying overnight to January 1, 2000. It was attended by 120,000 people, and consisted of two parts, the Main Concert in 1999 and a Sunrise Concert in 2000. It cost approximately $9.5m to put on, and it originated when Jarre was contacted by the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak with the idea of a special project to celebrate the dawn of the new Millennium. It was to be held at the foot of the only remaining monument of the original 7 Wonders of the World - the Great Pyramids. Jarre's team had developed giant projections to be displayed on the faces of the Great Pyramids, however a heavy cloud of fog made the pyramids almost invisible, so most of the projections were discarded. On stage with him was Christopher Papendiek, Francis Rimbert, Gary Willis (the drummer from Pink Floyd), Joachim Garraud, the DJ who had helped Jarre since 'Metamorphoses', with special guest Laurie Anderson, who introduced The Dreams, plus an Arabic orchestra and choirs. The whole concept was intended to describe the 12 dreams of the sun, which is extremely important in Egyptian culture. Parts of the live concert were broadcast over the internet, and on various TV channels around the world, so the sound quality is excellent. For such a unique concept I wondered what it could have sounded like if a studio recording had been made for posterity, and so to hear my imaginary version I've removed all the crowd noise from the concert and then tidied up the tracks so that we now have a studio quality version of 'The 12 Dreams Of The Sun'. I've omitted the introduction and the countdown to the New Year that separated the Main Concert and the Sunrise Concert, so that 'Dream 8' flows into 'Dream 9', but apart from that all the music is from the original concert.  

Track listing

01 Bells
02 Je Me Souviens
03 Dream 1: The Rock
04 Metamorphose (Miss Moon)
05 Oxygene 2
06 Dream 2: The House
07 Chronologie 6
08 Dream 3: The Tree
09 Equinoxe 7
10 Chants Magnetiques 2
11 Dream 4: The Boat

12 Millions Of Stars
13 Dream 5: The Flesh

14 Souvenir De Chine
15 Oxygene 10
16 Dream 6: The Voice
17 Um Kalthoum Tune
18 Tribute To Um Kalthoum
19 Dream 7: The Sky
20 Hey Gagarin / Dream 8: The Child
21 C'est La Vie
22 Salma Ya Salama
23 Dream 9: The Bell
24 Equinoxe 4
25 Dream 10: The Snow
26 Oxygene 4
27 Tout Est Bleu
28 Dream 11: The Blood
29 (R)evolution
30 Oxygene 12
31 Dream 12: The Gate
32 Give Me A Sign
33 Oxygene 8
34 L'Orchestre Sous La Pluie
35 Second Rendez-Vous 

The Auteurs - Underground Movies (1999)

When guitarist/pianist Luke Haines left The Servants in 1991, he teamed up with his then-girlfriend Alice Readman, who played bass guitar, and former classmate Glenn Collins on drums, and formed The Auteurs. The trio benefited from a positive NME review of their third show, and their demo tape made its way to Suede, who were then on the cusp of being the hottest band around. They liked it enough to hire the Auteurs as support for a 1992 tour, which led to more and more industry interest. Rather than signing with one of the labels who were pursuing them, the trio decided to record their debut album first, and funded by money fronted by their manager, they hit the studio with producer Phil Vinall and emerged with 'New Wave'. The record's lyrically pointed, sharply melodic songs and sound captured the shabby underbelly of the Brit-pop scene, and after signing with Virgin off-shoot Hut, they released their first single 'Show Girl' in 1992, followed swiftly by the album in early 1993, which was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize. Although they provided a sharply sardonic, uncompromising counterpoint to the sunny optimism of the Brit-pop scene, they band were often lumped in with that movement, and Haines never liked this association, frequently making derogatory remarks about his peers. 

After 'New Wave', the band remained on the fringes of the music scene, and drummer Collins was replaced by Barny C. Rockford, after being headhunted from Out Of My Hair by producer Phil Vinall, and cellist James Banbury was promoted to full band member. Their next album, 'Now I'm A Cowboy', was released in 1994, and built on the themes of the previous record, and contained Haines' best known song, 'Lenny Valentino', which was also released as a single. Demonstrating, again, their difference from their musical peers, the band's next release was 'The Auteurs vs. μ-Ziq', which comprised Auteurs songs remixed by producer μ-Ziq (aka Michael Paradinas). In interviews at the time Haines claimed he found contemporary techno and house music more interesting than most Britpop bands. In 1996 The Auteurs released 'After Murder Park', produced by Steve Albini, and including 'Land Lovers', 'Unsolved Child Murder', and 'Buddha'. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios following a year during which Haines had spent most of his time in a wheelchair after jumping off a wall and breaking both ankles, and more of these darker songs were included on the 'Back With The Killer' EP, which preceded the album. 

At the same time, Haines made the 'Baader Meinhof' album as a solo artist under the name Baader Meinhof, and the Auteurs even supported Baader Meinhof at a London show in Camden's Dingwalls. The last Auteurs album was 'How I Learned To Love The Bootboys', which was released in 1999, and included the single 'The Rubettes', a gleaming confection that honoured the '70s group of the same name. The rest of the record was typically inventive and spiky, only with more fleshed-out arrangements and synthesizers. Around this time Alice Readman left the band, being replaced by various other musicians for live/touring purposes, and shortly afterwards the band broke up. Haines worked as one third of the art-pop band Black Box Recorder, and in 2001 he released the soundtrack album to the film 'Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry', rapidly followed by his first solo album proper, 'The Oliver Twist Manifesto'. 2003 saw him release 'Das Capital', a collection of re-recorded Auteurs era songs, with a couple of new tracks, apparently intended as closure for that band. Currently Haines pens a monthly column for Record Collector magazine. However, during their decade-long career they often released stand-alone singles, and added non-album tracks to their b-sides, and as Haines is now rightly regarded as one of the UK's best song-writers of the 90's, then all of these rare tracks are well worth hearing.  

Track listing

Disc I - 1992-1994
01 Glad To Be Gone (b-side of 'Showgirl' 1992)
02 Staying Power (b-side of 'Showgirl' 1992)
03 She Might Take A Train (single 1992)
04 Subculture (They Can't Find Him) (b-side of 'She Might Take A Train')
05 Car Crazy (b-side of 'Lenny Valentino' 1993)
06 Vacant Lot (b-side of 'Lenny Valentino' 1993)
07 Disney World (b-side of 'Lenny Valentino' 1993)
08 How Could I Be Wrong (single 1993)
09 High Diving Horses (b-side of 'How Could I Be Wrong')
10 Wedding Day (b-side of 'How Could I Be Wrong')
11 Chinese Bakery (single 1994)
12 Government Bookstore (b-side of 'Chinese Bakery')

Disc II - 1994-1999
01 New French Girlfriend (single 1994)
02 Underground Movies (single 1994) 
03 Brainchild (b-side of 'Underground Movies')
04 Back With The Killer Again (from the 'Back With The Killer' EP 1995)
05 Former Fan (from the 'Back With The Killer' EP 1995)
06 Kenneth Anger's Bad Dream (from the 'Back With The Killer' EP 1995)
07 Kids Issue (single 1996)
08 A New Life A New Family (b-side of 'Kids Issue')
09 Light Aircraft On Fire (single 1996)
10 Car Crash (b-side of 'Light Aircraft On Fire')
11 X-Boogie Man (b-side of 'Light Aircraft On Fire')
12 Breaking Up (b-side of 'The Rubettes' 1999)
13 Get Wrecked At Home (b-side of 'The Rubettes' 1999)

The Mystic Tide - A Psychedelic Journey With The Mystic Tide (1967)

The Mystic Tide formed in Long Island, New York, in 1965, and was led by guitarist and songwriter Joe Docko, Paul Picell on bass, Jim Thomas on rhythm guitar, and John William on drums. They formed in early 1965 as The Chosen Few, and changed their name to The Mystic Tide in late 1965, inspired by 'Mystic Eyes', the most extreme single by Van Morrison’s Them. Contrary to what might be expected, The Mystic Tide’s own song cheekily titled 'Mystic Eyes' was a moody, vaguely Zombies-esque folk-punker rather than the rave-up the band name and title would suggest. Their first two singles have none of the wired aggression running through what came next, as something seemed to happen to them between singles two and three, with 'Frustration' featuring elements of bands like The Magicians and The Blues Magoos bleeding into their sound. However, none of this directly explains where The Mystic Tide were coming from, as their sonic attack is like nothing else heard at the time. Their four self-released singles between 1966 and 1967 captured a foreboding kind of early psychedelia denoted by raw, fuzzy guitars, angsty sentiments, and a vaguely Middle Eastern-flavor. They remained largely overlooked on even a local level and disbanded in 1967, but as the years went on, their ahead-of-their-time sound became the fascination of garage rock historians and enthusiasts, and their incredibly rare singles began fetching collector's prices, and appearing on collections of obscure psychedelic bands of the 60's. In 1991, the band's eleven songs were released on a self-titled anthology, and since them a couple of demos have also surfaced, and last year yet another compilation of the singles appeared, but what I wanted to hear was just their 1967 recordings, including the demos, with an edited version of the two parts of the 'Psychedelic Journey' single sides, and the 1966 'Mystic Eyes' single added in. This would feature the band at their very best, and show their ahead of its time sound on their most innovative sides. So here is an album that could have come out a good 25 years before these tracks were eventually made available to the general public.

Track listing

01 Mystery Ship
02 You Know It's True
03 Frustration
04 Psychedelic Journey
05 I Search For New Love
06 Solid Ground
07 You Won't Look Back
08 Mystic Eyes
09 Silver Rails / Going Home
10 Running Through The Night

The Dodos - Up Close With The Dodos (1963)

The Dodos second LP, 'Up Close With The Dodos' saw many changes from their previous debut album. For one, Joseph Lemmon led the writing and sang more leads than on 'The World Wants To Know'. The album also went from recording on a two-track machine as they did on their debut to a four-track. This allowed for more texture in the recordings, and led to a leap in their song-writing. Johnny had much less lead singing on this album, but his lead guitar really made a jump in quality and in experimentation. Bippo's drumming also improved, and was recorded with a delay which gave it a much deeper and full sound. While this LP is still mainly full of "boy loves girl" type songs, there are definitely some more complex writing techniques involved. For example, 'He Told Me To Tell You' is written from the perspective of a guy telling his mate's girlfriend that their romance is over, and 'Do That Thing For You' is written from the perspective of the entire band talking to their fans (presumably the female ones). All in all, The Dodos second LP is both a step forward sonically and lyrically.

Track listing

01 Every Bit Of My Heart

02 Hold Me Close

03 Little One 

04 We Could Be So Good

05 He Told Me To Tell You

06 I Think I'm Losing You

07 I'm Gonna Be Your Guy

08 Caught In Your Web

09 Letters Of Love

10 Don't Give Up

11 Twice Before Today

12 Do That Thing For You

Wimple Winch - Lollipop Minds (1967)

In early 1963, after several name changes, Four Just Men settled in Manchester and decided to become professional musicians. At the time, the group was composed of Demetrius "Dee" Christopolus as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, lead guitarist Johnny Murphy, drummer Larry Arends, and bassist Pete Turner, and they became a popular attraction in Liverpool as they shifted through two line-up changes, with Keith Shepherd replacing Turner, and then John Kelman replacing Murphy. They toured with more prominent groups including The Rolling Stones, The Searchers and Del Shannon, but despite their initial success, the band was plagued by missed opportunities when they rejected 'Trains And Boats And Planes', a later hit for The Dakotas, and had lawsuit threats against them over their name, resulting in them having to change it to Just Four Men as another group had rights to their original choice of name. They did sign a recording contract with EMI Records in 1964, and produced two singles, which were both recorded at Abbey Road Studios, with their debut single, 'That's My Baby', being released in November 1964, and the second one, 'There's Not One Thing', following in February 1965. Both were positively received, but the release dates were in correlation with The Beatles' releases so sales were dwarfed in comparison, and they were subsequently dropped from the label, although they continued to perform until early 1966, at which point they morphed into Wimple Winch. The renamed band consisted of an altered line-up of Arends, Christopolus, John Kelman on lead guitar and newcomer Barrie Ashall on bass guitar, and the name change was brought about as a result of the band's addition of heavier and more psychedelic components into their music. 

Club owner Mike Carr, who would later become their manager, offered the band chance to be the house band at his new club in Stockport called "The Sinking Ship", which they accepted, and the club established itself when Wimple Winch opened for The Jimi Hendrix Experience at the venue. An associate of Fontana Records watched them perform and signed the group to record at Philips Studios in March 1966, during which the band completed demos for their debut single, 'What's Been Done'. It received heavy local support and was listed as a "climber" by Radio London in April 1966, but still failed to chart, and for their second release the band choose 'Save My Soul', which incorporated a protopunk structure. The single was immensely popular locally on its release but was unsuccessful nationally, although it has since been recognized as one of the more innovative tracks of the Mersey beat scene. In between performing, Wimple Winch recorded in August and December 1966, and several tracks were finished, with the Who-styled song 'Rumble On Mersey Square South' being released as the group's final single in January 1967. Things were looking good for them, but then The Sinking Ship caught fire and destroyed the group's housing and equipment, and as a result Fontana Records decided to not re-sign them when their contract expired. The band continued to tour, and recorded more demos in a personal studio, but decided to disband in mid-1967, never managing to release an album under either of their guises. Four Just Men only recorded a few songs, but Wimple Winch were much more active in the studio, and so there are enough excellent recordings to put together the album that they should have released in 1967. 

Track listing

01 Save My Soul
02 Atmospheres
03 I Really Love You
04 Lollipop Minds
05 Marmalade Hair

06 Coloured Glass
07 Those Who Wait
08 What's Been Done
09 Sagittarius
10 Bluebell Wood
11 Last Hooray
12 Rumble On Mersey Square South

Bonnie McKee - Dance Or Die (2008)

While tidying up my archive of unreleased tracks from Bonnie McKee, I found a number from 2008, which were recorded around the same time as the ones which made up the original 'Love Spell' post. As usual, they are too good just to ignore, so it's time for another album from this massively under-rated singer/songwriter, using songs which were originally intended for the follow-up album to her 2004 release 'Trouble'.

Track listing

01 Future Ex-Boyfriend 
02 Once Is Not Enough 
03 Trash Television
04 What He Did To Me 
05 Broken Record 
06 Dance Or Die
07 Gold Dust (Baby Love)
08 Surrender 
09 Without You 
10 It Is What It Is 
11 There Will Be Tears 
12 Sayonora 
13 Light Up The Night
14 DNA
15 You Won't Have Me

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Pendulum (1970)

'Pendulum' is the sixth studio album by Creedence Clearwater Revival, released by Fantasy Records on 9 December 1970, arriving five months after 'Cosmo's Factory'. During 1969 and 1970, CCR was dismissed by hipsters as a bubblegum pop band, and the sniping had grown intolerable, at least to John Fogerty, who designed 'Pendulum' as a rebuke to critics. He spent time polishing the production, bringing in keyboards, horns, even a vocal choir, and his songs became self-consciously serious and tighter, working with the aesthetic of the rock underground. 'Pendulum' was constructed as a proper album, contrasting dramatically with CCR's previous records, and it's the only one by the band not to contain any cover songs, with all of the tracks being written by John Fogerty. It's also the last album the band recorded while Tom Fogerty was still a member, as he left the group in early 1971 to start a solo career. To some fans of classic CCR, this approach may feel a little odd, since only the single 'Have You Ever Seen the Rain' and maybe its b-side 'Hey Tonight' sound undeniably like prime Creedence, for which they were rewarded with a number eight position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Given time, the album is a real grower, revealing many overlooked Fogerty gems, and while it isn't transcendent like the albums they made from 'Bayou Country' through to 'Cosmo's Factory', 'Pendulum' finds a first-class songwriter and craftsman pushing himself and his band to try new sounds, styles, and textures. This does result in one stumble, with 'Rude Awakening #2' portentously teetering on the verge of prog-rock, but the rest of the record is excellent, with such great numbers as the bluesy groove 'Pagan Baby', the soulful vamp 'Chameleon', the moody 'It's Just A Thought' and the raver 'Molina'. While this record is slightly different to previous posts, in that the extra instrumentation was added entirely at Fogerty's request, it's the fans who have clamoured to hear the songs shorn of their horn arrangements, and so this stripped down version of the album gives them a chance to hear the raw CCR on this unjustly overlooked record. 

Track listing

01 Pagan Baby
02 Sailor's Lament
03 Chameleon
04 Have You Ever Seen The Rain
05 (Wish I Could) Hideaway
06 Born to Move
07 Hey Tonight
08 It's Just A Thought
09 Molina
10 Rude Awakening #2

The Mojos - Everything's Alright (1965)

The Mojos formed as a duo under the name the Nomads in 1962, and originally consisted of bassist Keith Karlson and drummer Jon "Bob" Conrad. Before Conrad, Snowy Fleet was the drummer, but he was replaced by Conrad when he emigrated to Australia, and after that the band was joined in September 1962 by lead singer/pianist Stu James, and rhythm guitarist/vocalist Adrian Lord. They were a bit different from most of the other Merseyside bands in that their first love was American blues rather than R&B and rock & roll, preferring to cover the works of John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters. The band continued without a lead guitarist when Wood left, and at the suggestion of Beatle George Harrison, pianist Terry O'Toole was added to the line-up in August 1963. The band also changed their name in August 1963 to The Mojos, and Lord swapped from rhythm guitar to lead guitar, with this line-up recording 'My Whole Life Through', which was featured on the Oriole Records 'This Is Merseybeat' compilation album. After signing to Decca Records they released their debut single 'They Say' in 1963, and it achieved some popularity, especially after it was used for the party scene in the 1964 film 'The Comedy Man'. Despite having written the single's b-side, Lord left the group soon after its release, and was replaced by Nicky Crouch, with this line-up continuing until October 1964, recording the group's three charting singles, 'Everything's Alright', 'Why Not Tonight', and 'Seven Daffodils'. 

They also appeared in the movie 'Every Day's A Holiday', and like many of their contemporaries the group played at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany. In 1964 they released a four-track EP, but by this time the group had only scraped the Top 30 since their solitary big hit, and the label began losing interest. In October 1964, Karlson, Conrad and O'Toole left the group and James and Crouch were joined by drummer Aynsley Dunbar and bassist Lewis Collins, and this line-up recorded the singles 'Comin' On To Cry' and 'Wait A Minute', both of which were released as by "Stu James And The Mojos". In September 1966 the group broke up, with James and Crouch forming a new version with Birmingham bass player Deke Vernon and Southampton drummer Martin Smith, while Collins went into acting, and scored huge acclaim when he appeared in 'The Professionals' with Martin Shaw. The Mojos in their original incarnation were only around for a couple of years, but they will forever be remembered for 'Everything's Alright' after David Bowie covered it on his 1973 'Pin Ups' album, and it's a shame they never recorded an album, as their style of Merseybeat was a bit different to what was generally coming out of the city at the time, and so here is what a long-player from them could have sounded like in 1965.  

Track listing  

01 Give Your Lovin' To Me
02 Don't Do It Anymore
03 I Got My Mojo Working
04 Comin' On To Cry
05 Everything's Alright
06 Nothin' At All
07 Seven Daffodils
08 Nobody But Me
09 They Say You Found A New Baby
10 Forever
11 Why Not Tonight
12 That's The Way It Goes
13 The One Who Really Loves You

Stooshe - Stooshe (2012)

Stooshe was formed in May 2010 and signed to Warner Music in August 2011, with the original concept being to create an urban and soulful Spice Girls. Alexandra Buggs, Karis Anderson and Courtney Rumbold formed following a series of auditions and scouting in Topshop stores over a nine-month period., and using tracks from writing/production duo Future Cut, the group spent the next twelve months developing their look and sound. Anderson said the band's name originates from the word 'stoosh', which is urban slang for something expensive, a girl who thinks she's nicer than she is, or being stoned, and they then added 'she' on the end to represent female empowerment. The group released their first song, 'Fuck Me', on YouTube on 14 March 2011, originally featuring rapper Suave Debonair, and it was subsequently re-recorded under the title 'Love Me' with Travie McCoy for official release in 2012. A second single, 'Betty Woz Gone', was released onto iTunes on 28 October 2011, earning placement on BBC Radio 1's In New Music We Trust playlist, and follwing that, 'Love Me' was released as the lead single from their debut album. This was initially to be titled 'Swings And Roundabouts', and a release date was set for 25 June 2012, however, Stooshe later announced the album would be self-titled and would be released on 26 November 2012. 'Love Me' marked the group's first chart appearance, reaching at number five on the UK Singles Chart, and the next single 'Black Heart' did even better peaking at number three on the UK chart. It was announced in June 2012 that the group would be supporting American rapper Nicki Minaj on the UK leg of the Pink Friday Tour, followed by a support slot for Jennifer Lopez on a part of the European leg of the Dance Again World Tour. On 15 November, it was reported that the album's release would be delayed until March 2013 after their cover of TLC classic nineties track 'Waterfalls' failed to chart in the Top 20. However, the band later revealed that they delayed the release of the album themselves, to undo their record label's interference. Anderson stated "It was down to us that our album didn't come out months ago. It was ready to go, but we was listening to it and realised the label had changed a few mixes, a few structures and even taken off a few songs. We made this album before we got signed so it was important for us to still have control." The album was finally released on 27 May 2013, under the title 'London With The Lights On', but in Autumn 2013 the band split from their record label due to the disagreements over 'London With The Lights On', which received mixed reviews in the press. If you are interested in hearing the original version of the album, which included just eleven tracks from the released one, then here it is, including the 'Waterfalls' single which was later disowned by the group. 

Track listing

01 Black Heart
02 See Me Like This
03 Your Own Kind Of Beautiful
04 Waterfalls
05 Love Me (feat. Travie McCoy)
06 Perfectly Wrong
07 My Man Music
08 Kiss Chase
09 Jimmy
10 Turning On Me
11 Ain't No Other Me

Various Artists - The Murder Board (2024)

Time for a round-up of the best TV shows of 2024, and some of my favourites have continued to intrigue and entertain, with the third series of 'From' and the fourth series of 'Only Murders In The Building' both living up their predecessors. New shows that I enjoyed include the superb 'The Day Of The Jackal', and the comedy/drama UK police series 'Ludwig', while old favourites 'Squid Game' and Dexter: New Blood' made a welcome return. Once again, some of the best things about these shows was their theme tunes, with 'Patience', the UK version of the French drama 'Astrid: Murder In Paris', being one of my favourites. 'The Day Of The Jackal', 'Sweetpea', and 'Sugar' all used contemporary songs for their intros, but most of these tunes were composed specifically for the programmes by seasoned professionals, and so they are generally orchestral pieces which are pared to the bone length-wise. For tunes that are only about a minute long I've extended them so that they don't pass too quickly, while 'Street Fighter Mas' from 'Sugar' is the full six-minute version. As with the pervious two volumes, there is a comedy in here, this time 'Colin From Accounts', but these are mostly crime-based dramas, and if there are any that you haven't caught yet then do check them out, as they are all must-watch viewing. 

Track listing 

01 This Is Who I Am (Celeste) [from 'The Day Of The Jackal']
02 The Gentlemen (Chris Benstead)
03 Dexter: New Blood - End Credits (Daniel Licht)
04 Ludwig (Nathan Klein and Finn Keane)  
05 Do You See Me Now (Chinchilla) [from 'Sweetpea']
06 Sicily (Jeff Russo) [from 'Ripley']
07 Patience (Hannes De Maeyer & Ruben De Gheselle)
08 Colin From Accounts (Matt Blackman)
09 Industry (Nathan Micay)
10 Street Fighter Mas (Kamasi Washington) [from 'Sugar']

11 From - End Credits (Chris Tilton)
12 The Tourist (Dominic Scherrer)
13 Silo (Atli Orvarsson)
14 Shogun (Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross & Nick Chuba)
15 Lady In The Lake (Marcus Norris)
16 The Traitors (Sam Watts)