Public Service Broadcasting - This New Noise (2022)

Tonight, 30th August 2022, Public Service Broadcasting performed a brand new, especially composed piece, as part of the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. The London-based retro-futurist rockers celebrated 100 glorious years of BBC Radio with a newly commissioned album-length work entitled 'This New Noise'. They were joined by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jules Buckley, and the whole concert will be broadcast on BBC4 on Friday 2 September 2022, but while waiting for that you can enjoy this recording of the debut, and possibly only, performance of this brand new work. 

Track listing

01 Ripples In The Ether (Towards The Infinite)

02 This New Noise

03 An Unusual Man

04 A Cello Sings In Daventry (with Seth Lakeman)

05 Broadcasting House

06 The Microphone (The Fleet is Lit Up)

07 A Candle Which Will Not Be Put Out

08 What Of The Future? (In Touch With The Infinite)

The folder contains two files - the full unedited concert, and an album of just the music, split into individual tracks and with the applause and announcements removed. 

Shack - Extra Extra (2006)

Shack formed in Liverpool in 1987, and originally consisted of Mick Head (vocals/guitar), his brother John Head (guitar), Justin Smith (bass) and Mick Hurst (drums). Before founding Shack, Michael and John Head were in the cult 1980's band The Pale Fountains, and released two albums, 'Pacific Street' in March 1984 and '...From Across The Kitchen Table' in March 1985. Although critically acclaimed, the albums only reached Numbers 85 and 94 in the UK Albums Chart, and the group ended around 1986 and returned from London to their home town of Liverpool. The Head brothers soon re-emerged as Shack, signing to the Ghetto Recording Company, home of record producer Ian Broudie's solo project The Lightning Seeds, and British soul band Distant Cousins. The band's first album 'Zilch' was released in 1988, but was neither critically nor commercially successful, being a victim of the production tecniques of the time, and it was to be a few years before they attempted to follow it with a new album. 'Waterpistol' was recorded in 1991 at London's Star Street Studio and Chapel Studios, Lincolnshire, but shortly after the recording was complete, the Star Street studio burnt down and most of the tapes were destroyed. The only remaining DAT of the album was in the possession of producer Chris Allison, who at the time was in Los Angeles, and when he returned, it transpired that he had left the copy in his hire car. It was only found weeks later after a frenzied search, but by this point Ghetto had folded so the record was without a distributor. Not surprisingly, this led to the disolussion of the band, with Wilkinson joining fellow Liverpudlian John Power (formerly of The La's) to form the successful Britpop band Cast, and the Head brothers accompanied Love for a few touring dates in 1992. 

'Waterpistol' was finally released in 1995 on the German independent record label, Marina, and it prompted the NME to describe Mick Head as "a lost genius and among the most gifted British songwriters of his generation". Instead of reforming Shack to capitalise on the album's success, Head formed Michael Head And The Strands with his brother John, releasing one album and one single in 1998. 'The Magical World Of The Strands' was a superb album, rightly garnering Head further critical acclaim, and as their sole single had an exlusive b-side I've included that here. With the addition of Ren Parry on Bass, The Strands regrouped as a new incarnation of Shack, and released the outstanding 'HMS Fable' in 1999, reaching the Top 25 on the UK albums chart. By the time of the next album '... Here's Tom With the Weather', Parry had been replaced by Guy Rigby, before Wilkinson rejoined in 2005, replacing the departed Rigby. This line-up then signed to Noel Gallagher's Sour Mash record label, and in May 2006 they released the album '...The Corner Of Miles And Gil', which is named after two of the Head brothers' heroes, Miles Davis and Gil Evans. Both of these later albums contain more examples of the excellent songwriting of Michael Head, and are prime examples of indie/rock of the period. The band toured briefly in England in October and November 2007 with Martyn Campbell on bass, and then in February 2008 they re-formed The Pale Fountains for two critically acclaimed live shows in Liverpool and London, with the Head brothers being joined by Martyn Campbell, Andy Diagram, Thomas 'Jock' Whelan and Iain Templeton. Since 2008, John Head has pursued a solo career playing live shows with his band The Streams, and had recently launched a new project called Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band on his own label Violette Records, who hope to have their debut album released soon. If you're a fan of the band then you'll already know how great their albums are, and every one of these songs would have been a worthy addition to any one of them.  

Track listing

Disc One
01 Liberation (b-side of 'Emergency' 1988)
02 Faith (b-side of 'Emergency' 1988)
02 I Know You Well (single 1990)
03 Feel No Way (b-side of 'I Know You Well')
04 Elizabethan Radio Star (from the 'Starstreet' compilation album 1990)
05 Al's Vacation (single 1991)
06 Irish (b-side of 'Al's Vacation')
07 Up (from 'Unearthed - Liverpool Cult Classics Volume 3' compilation album, recorded 1991)
08 Green Velvet Jacket (b-side of 'Somethin' Like You' by The Strands 1998)
09 Flannery (b-side of 'Natalie's Party' 1999)
10 Extra Extra (b-side of 'Natalie's Party' 1999)
11 Too Late For Me Now (b-side of 'Natalie's Party' 1999)
12 Miss Christine (b-side of 'Natalie's Party' 1999)

Disc Two
01 Uncle Delaney (b-side of 'Comedy' 1999)
02 Petroleum (b-side of 'Comedy' 1999)
03 24 Hours (b-side of 'Comedy' 1999)
04 Solid Gold (b-side of 'Comedy' 1999)
05 Oscar (single 2000)
06 Queen Matilda (b-side of 'Oscar')
07 Not Afraid Of Loving You (b-side of 'Byrds Turn To Stone' 2003)
08 Lizzie Mallaly (b-side of 'Cup Of Tea' 2006)
09 Uncle Smaegel's Cardigan (b-side of 'Tie Me Down' 2006)
10 Working Family (bonus track on Japanese edition of '...The Corner Of Miles And Gil' 2006)
11 Holiday Abroad (previously unreleased, from the 'Time Machine' compilation 2007)
12 Wanda (previously unreleased, from the 'Time Machine' compilation 2007)

Jackie Verdell - I'm Your Girl (1974)

Jackie Verdell was born on 5 November 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and after leaving high school she joined The Davis Sisters in 1955, at the start of their tenure with Herman Lubinsky and Ozzie Cadena's Savoy Records label. How she came to sing with one of gospel's most famous groups is a typical Golden Age gospel tale, as she was a soloist in the choir of Faith Temple in New York, pastored by Bishop A.A. Childs, where Ruth Davis was attending a broadcast at which Jackie was singing, and the rest is gospel history. Verdell possessed a powerful mezzo-soprano voice, and was second lead for The Davis Sisters between 1955 and 1960, featuring on many of their Savoy recordings, with her performances on records such as 'Lord Don't Leave Me', 'Following Him', and 'I Don't Know What I'd Do' making an impression on the young Aretha Franklin. Like Franklin, she left the gospel field in 1960 and began singing pop, her voice having deepened to a contralto and losing the upper register. She signed with Houston-based Peacock Records, releasing three singles between 1961 and 1964, and although none of them charted, her own composition 'Why Not Give Me A Chance' attained a small level of popularity, being covered in later years by soul singers O.V. Wright in the late 60's and by Ruby Wilson in the early 80's. In between recording her solo singles she returned to the Davis Sisters to record with them, eventually leaving for good in 1966 to concentrate on her own career, but after further unsuccessful pop singles on Decca Records and its Coral Records subsidiary, the late 1960's and early 1970's found her contributing background vocals (along with Cissy Houston, Judy Clay, and other members of The Drinkard Singers or The Sweet Inspirations) to records by Wilson Pickett, Dee Dee Warwick, Van Morrison, and Clarence Wheeler & The Enforcers, as well as one further solo single for Stax Records' Gospel Truth and Respect labels under the name of Jacqui Verdell. Her only solo album, 'Lay My Burden Down', produced by former soul singer Joe Simon, was released on Spring Records in 1983, and good as it was, her best work was undoubtedly in the 60's, and so here are all the singles and b-sides that she recorded in the decade or so from her first release in 1961. Jackie Verdell died in August 1991, at the age of 53.

Track listing

01 You Ought To Know Him (single 1961)
02 Bye Bye Blackbird (b-side of 'You Ought To Know Him')
03 Why Not Give Me A Chance (single 1963)
04 Hush (b-side of 'Why Not Give Me A Chance')
05 Y.K.W. (single 1964)
06 Come Let Me Love You (b-side of 'Y.K.W.')
07 Are You Ready For This (single 1967)
08 I'm Your Girl (b-side of 'Are You Ready For This')
09 Does She Ever Remind You Of Me (single 1967)
10 Don't Set Me Free (b-side of 'Does She Ever Remind You Of Me')
11 If We Are Really In Love (single 1968) 
12 Call On Me (b-side of 'If We Are Really In Love')
13 He's Mine (single 1973)
14 We're Gonna Have A Good Time (b-side of 'He's Mine')

The Chemistry Set - Acid Tapes (1990)

For the final post from the brilliant neo-psyche band The Chemistry Set, we go right back to the beginning, with songs from their first two cassette tapes, both of which are still prized possessions. Following their appearance on the Freakbeat flexi-disc in 1987, the cassette-only label Acid Tapes released a collection of their demos, and it caused quite a stir when it originally did the rounds, and still contains some of their best material. Recorded on four track in a rush of inspiration, the songs are all classic pop psychedelia with great melodies, hooklines and soaring harmonies. Mixing the flavours of Syd Barrett, The Beatles, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and others in a collection of songs most bands would kill to have written, it was my first introduction to the band, and I've loved them ever since. A number of the songs were re-recorded for inclusion on the unreleased 1989 'Sounds Like Painting' album, but seven of these tracks have never appeared anywhere else. A couple of years later I saw another tape of brand new material from the band advertised for sale, and I snapped up their second eponymous release, which is now so rare that I can't even find mention of it online. It was re-issued on vinyl in 1990 under the title of 'Wake Up Sometimes!', but once again, most of the songs from the tape never appeared on any of their other releases. Even though the second tape was later made available to a wider audience with the vinyl issue, I'm adding the unreleased tracks from it to those from the first cassette for a collection of early work from the band, which promised so much, but which was ultimately all I was to own by them until their second incarnation when they regrouped in 2007. Incidentally, there is a rip of the Acid Tapes album online, but it's not that great quality, being a bit bassy and muffled, and running slightly fast, so for this post I've used a rip of my own 35 year old cassette tape. 

Track listing

01 The Rainbow Song
02 I Can See Now
03 These Are Like Castles
04 Love Will Always Disappear
05 The Postman Rides His Bike
06 As Jane Arrived (Who Brought Us Here)
07 You Make Me Feel Like I'm Sublime
08 A Dream Of Murder
09 Wiped Out And Nothing Comes Together
10 By This Act Of Judgement
11 I'm All Of The Times
12 Ensemble Du Bois
13 Wow! Stars Man
14 A House Is Not A Motel

Original 1988 cassette tape

                                                       Original 1990 cassette tape

Tangerine Dream - Brussels 1976 (1976)

In 1976 Tangerine Dream went back into the studio to record the follow-up to 'Richocet', and so with a new studio album to promote in 'Stratosfear' they embarked on a European tour, taking in Germany, France, the UK, Spain and Belgium, with the band performing live in Brussels on 09 February 1976. Part of this concert had been available on the bootleg CD 'Danger Live' since 1992, but the Tangerine Tree project managed to improve on this version, which now features the complete 99 minutes of the gig, and which was remastered directly from a first generation tape. This release also includes the last missing 20 seconds of the second track and the first few seconds of the encore. Both were not present on the first generation tape, but thanks to a member of the tadream discussion list (who had also recorded the show back in 1976) it was possible to patch in the gaps. The sound quality is great considering that it is an audience recording from 1976, and the music is a perfect mix of sequencers, mellotron and guitar – one of the highlights from that year.

Track listing

01 Part One
02 Part Two
03 Encore

Tangerine Dream - Orange 75 (1975)

1975 saw the release of one of my favourite TD albums, 'Richocet', and although it wasn't really marketed as a live album, it consisted of two side-long compositions mixed from studio recordings, and the UK portion of their August–October 1975 European Tour. Not surprisingly, recordings from this tour make up a large number of my bootlegs, and they were so popular at this time that film director Tony Palmer filmed their concert at Coventry Cathedral, and it was released on DVD in 2013. There is also an excellent recording from the tour when they visited Fairfield Halls In Croydon, plus some of slightly lesser quality at Glasgow and Manchester, and at Liverpool Cathedral and York Minster. For this post I've gone with  'Orange 75', which is a recording of their appearance at the Orange Festival (also known as Orange 75), which was a three-day music festival held on 15-17 August 1975 at the Roman Theatre in Orange, France. At the time it was promoted as the 'French Woodstock', and included a stellar line-up, including Bad Company, Fairport Convention, Procol Harum, Dr Feelgood, Wishbone Ash, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Soft Machine, Caravan and Climax Blues Band. Tangerine Dream played on the second day as special guests, and the music is what you would expect if you'd just bought 'Richocet'. I've made my own cover art for this one based on the actual programme which could be purchased at the festival, as it makes it just a bit more unique than using the generic Tangerine Tree cover. 

Track listing

01 Part I
02 Part II

Tangerine Dream - Kelvin Hall, Glasgow (1974)

1974 was an extremely successful year for Tangerine Dream, and they played some outstanding shows. They embarked on their first tour of the United Kingdom, performing twenty concerts across the country in less than seven weeks. Just how popular they were was revealed with the release of the 'In Search Of Hades' box set a few years ago, which included complete recordings of their concerts at The Rainbow Theatre and Victoria Palace, both in London, while their performance at Reims Cathedral in France was a highlight of their career, even if it did earn them a lifetime ban from ever performing in a Catholic church again. It was such an iconic performance that it was included in 'The Official Bootleg Series Volume One' in 2015, and Cherry Red officially released the tapes as recently as 2021 as a 2xLP set, although true fans had owned Tangerine Tree Volume 30 for many years already. Another fine recording from this year was the one on 29 October at Sheffield City Hall, and this was in fact included on 'The Bootleg Box Set Vol. 1' in 2003. The band found themselves in Glasgow on the 20th November for a concert at the Kelvin Hall, a venue which had previously played host to everything from musicians to boxers to a circus, and the concert was captured by local station Radio Clyde for later broadcast. Only a single 1/4" tape reel from this recording is known to have survived, being the last of three which are alleged to have contained the entire performance. Despite being nearly half a century old, this reel had been kept in excellent condition and was professionally transferred to digital and then remastered. While the full concert is available as a Tangerine Leaves release, their own notes admit that while the disc might feature the complete recording, the sound quality is mediocre only, or maybe worse, especially on the first disc. For this post I've therefore used the partial recording from Radio Clyde, which might only contain two thirds of the full gig, but the sound quality is pristine. 

Track listing

01 Septrional Remnant
02 Analog Ascent

Tangerine Dream - Saint Ouen, France (1973)

1973 was a transitional period for Tangerine Dream, as they'd moved to the UK after signing a deal with Virgin Records, and were recording their first album for the label at Virgin's famous Manor Studios in November and December of 1973. The result was to be 'Phaedra', and it was a distinct progression from their previous two albums for the German Ohr Label, 'Zeit' and 'Atem'. Their concerts from early 1973 were still featuring the cosmic space-rock of those records, and one gig from Berlin was included on the Esoteric re-release of 'Atem'. There don't seem to have been many recordings made of their concerts during 1973, with Tangerine Tree only having three, of which one is the afore-mentioned Berlin show, which has now been officially released. The best officially unreleased recording from this period is the one from 20 November 1973 at The Alhambra Theatre, in Saint Ouen, France, so that's the one I'm using for this post. It's not perfect quality, and so is part of the Tangerine Leaves arm of the project, but it sounds pretty good to me as a time-capsule of what the band sounded like on stage at exactly the same time that they were recording 'Phaedra' at the Manor Studios.

Track listing

01 Part One
02 Part Two 

Tangerine Dream - Klangwald (1972)

Sky Arts has just broadcast a fascinating documentary about Tangerine Dream entitled 'Revolution Of Sound', and it prompted me to dig out some of the many live bootlegs that I have from the band and to give them another listen. Tangerine Dream are a godsend to bootleggers, as the long pieces that that play means that all they have to do is point the mike and press play, and then do nothing until the first piece ends 40 minutes later! The other great thing about their concerts is that because they employ so much improvisation, no two are ever the same, and Wednesday's gig can be totally different to Tuesday's. There are literally hundreds of live bootlegs available on the internet, and the fan project Tangerine Tree has done a superlative job in collecting the very best of them and making them available to a wider audience. The creators of the project received permission from Tangerine Dream to release the collection on a strict non-profit basis, and several volumes have been used as the basis for official releases later on. Material was collected from audience recordings, soundboards, radio and TV transmissions, and in some cases the purchase of studio masters. Only recordings of a high quality and a unique nature were considered for the core volumes, and these were professionally re-mastered and released on CD-R, accompanied by high quality artwork. Tangerine Leaves releases were based on material that did not meet the high quality standards of a Tangerine Tree release, or from concerts that were not considered notable enough, but if a better source was found, a Tangerine Leaves volume might be upgraded to a Tangerine Tree one. My favourite period of the band's history is the period leading up to 'Phaedra' in 1973 through to 'Stratosfear' in 1976, although I do have recordings from a number of later incarnations of the band, as well as some from as early as 1968, but really I love everything that they've done.  
As the actual recordings can sometimes be hard to track down I thought I'd post one recording from each year from 1972 - which foreshadows what would appear on 'Phaedra' a year or so later - to 1976, which is the year before they released the official live double album 'Encore'. For the 1972 concert I've chosen a recording from Cologne, which is a major highlight of the Tangerine Tree fan project, as it presents a totally unknown recording from that year. Originally a mono recording, the music has nothing to do with the already known Cologne gig on 25 November 1972, which exists as an FM radio recording with an announcer, although it is certainly from the same period considering the instruments used. It contains two long tracks, but no-one knows if it was really recorded during that show. In 2011, the main Tangerine Tree organizer reminisced about the recording: "I received this a few years ago from a Belgian collector. I can't even recall his name, or if he was/is part of the tadream list. I got an email in which he offered me a tape from the 'Klangwald' show, and of course, I said 'great!', hoping that he had a superior copy of the show than what was in circulation at that time. As some of you may know I even contacted radio and TV stations and bought pricey master copies for the Tangerine Tree series, but the 'Klangwald' show was unobtainable. You can imagine my surprise when I first heard the cassette (an old one which had 'Klangwald' written on it). Despite an awful amount of tape hiss, it was clear that this was a different recording. I then passed it on to be remastered, and they did the usual excellent job. How the Belgian fan got hold of it I guess we'll never know. Musically it fits right into the late '72/early '73 kind of music that TD was playing, and although I wasn't quite convinced, I labeled the disc as 'Klangwald', knowing that it must have been a pretty long show if you combine it with what we already knew before!" It is quite likely that the origin of this recording is one of those 1972 shows for which no recording is known to exist, but the music is excellent, an improvised cosmic classic that perfectly fits into the 'Zeit' and 'Atem' period. The sound quality is very good, given the age of the recording, and seems to be taken directly from a live soundboard.

Track listing

01 Klangwald 1
02 Klangwald 2

Robert Fripp - Triple Exposure (1979) **UPDATE**

Mike emailed me today with some great news about his recent Robert Fripp 'Triple Exposure' post, so over to Mike...
Since I originally released this album a few months ago, Robert Fripp has released a 32 Disc set called ‘Exposures’ of the years covering his ‘Exposure’ sessions. I have basically replaced every legit originally released cut on my original version with an alternate from the box set. Now you really do have a totally new alternate version of his ‘Exposure’ album, filled out with the various solo works he produced for Daryl Dall and Peter Gabriel. Don’t forget that Daryl Dall was supposed to be the main vocalist on the ‘Exposure’ album, but his record company wouldn’t allow it, as they were afraid it would destroy his image. Therefore my version restores many of these “lost versions” that originally had Hall’s vocals on them, which is why he’s featured so much on my “album I wish existed!”. Hope you enjoy this completely new version! 
By the way, besides updating the sources in the notes below, I’ve also updated the pdf and added (at the bottom) more than 80 new pages of in-depth notes on the recording of the album, as well as some excellent reviews and overviews of what’s in the newly released ‘Exposures’ box set! Have fun reading!!

Michael 8/22

Track listing, with the lead vocalist noted as well as the source CD for each cut:
 
*01 Preface / You Burn Me Up I’m A Cigarette (Alt. Take - Rough Mix) (Gabriel/Hall/Fripp)

                                                                                                             Exposures Box Set 2022
*02 Disengage (Alt. Take - Rough Mix) (Hall/Fripp) - Exposures Box Set 2022
*03 Chicago (Alt. Take - Rough Mix Aug 8th) (Hall/Fripp) - Exposures Box Set 2022 
*04 15 NY3 (Alt. Take - Rough Mix) (Hall/Fripp) - Exposures Box Set 2022
*05 Perspective (Gabriel/Fripp) - single version 
06 Exposure - Combined Custom Mix Robert Fripp ft. Peter Gabriel, Daryl Hall 

                                                     & Terre Roche (Mikes Vocals UP Mix) - Exposure 1979/2006 

*07 Mother Of Violence (Gabriel/Fripp) - single mix 
08 Why Was It So Easy (Hall/Fripp) - Sacred Songs
*09 North Star (Old Riff - Take 6) (Hall/Fripp) - Exposures Box Set 2022 
*10 Here Comes The Flood [Early Mix] (Gabriel/Frip) - Exposures Box Set 2022
11 White Shadow  (Gabriel/Fripp) - Peter Gabriel II 
12 Something In 4-4 Time (Hall/Fripp) - Sacred Songs
13 Babs And Babs (Hall/Fripp) - Sacred Songs
14 Survive (Hall/Fripp) - Sacred Songs
15 On The Air (Gabriel/Fripp) - Peter Gabriel II 
*16 Mary (Sax Version) (Hall/Fripp) - Exposures Box Set 2022
17 The Farther Away I Am (Hall/Fripp) - Sacred Songs

18 Without Tears (Hall/Fripp) - Sacred Songs
 
* denotes new version used

Big Star - Thank You Friends (1975)

The story of Big Star is pretty well known as a perfect example of a great band who slogged away to little or no commercial recognition until they gave up and disbanded, and then suddenly everyone wanted to know them. They were formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens, and Andy Hummel, and initially the band's musical style drew on the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Byrds, but they also produced a style that foreshadowed the alternative rock of the 1980's and 1990's. Before they broke up, Big Star created a "seminal body of work that never stopped inspiring succeeding generations", in the words of Rolling Stone. They were one of the quintessential American power pop bands, becoming one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll, and yet they couldn't catch a break while they were producing this seminal music. Their first album, 1972's '#1 Record', was met by enthusiastic reviews, but ineffective marketing by Stax Records and limited distribution stunted its commercial success. Frustration took its toll on band relations, and Bell left not long after the first record's commercial progress stalled, and Hummel left to finish his college education after their second album 'Radio City' was completed in December 1973. Like '#1 Record', it received excellent reviews, but label issues again thwarted sales, as Columbia Records, which had assumed control of the Stax catalog, effectively vetoed its distribution. After a third album, recorded in the fall of 1974, was deemed commercially unviable and shelved before receiving a title, the band broke up late in 1974. Four years later, the first two Big Star LPs were released together in the UK as a double album, and their third album was given the title of 'Third/Sister Lovers' and finally issued soon afterward, and although it found limited commercial success at the time, it has since become a cult classic. Chris Bell never got to experience the acclaim that the band achieved after their break-up, however, as he was killed in a car accident at the age of 27. During the group's hiatus in the 1980's, the Big Star discography drew renewed attention when R.E.M. and the Replacements, as well as other popular bands, cited the group as an influence. In 1992, interest was further stimulated by Rykodisc's reissues of the band's albums, complemented by a collection of Bell's solo work, and this led to Chilton and Stephens reforming Big Star in 1993, with recruits Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of the Posies, and they gave a concert at the University of Missouri. The band remained active, performing tours in Europe and Japan, and they released a new studio album, 'In Space', in 2005. Chilton died in March 2010 after suffering from heart problems, and Hummel died of cancer four months later, but at least they lived long enough to see Big Star achieve the critical acclaim that they so richly deserved, although it all too late for Bell. The recent 4-CD retrospective unearthed a number of demos and unreleased recordings, and almost anything by Bell or Chilton is worth hearing, so I've extracted the best of them for this post, as the final 'fourth' album by the band.

Track listing 

01 There Was A light (Bell) (demo)
02 Jesus Christ (Chilton) (demo)
03 Holocaust (Chilton) (demo)
04 Big Black Car (Chilton, Gage) (demo)
05 Manana (Chilton) (previously unreleased)
06 What's Going Ahn (Chilton, Hummel) (demo)
07 Blue Moon (Chilton) (demo)
08 I Got Kinda Lost (Bell) (demo)
09 Thank You Friends (Chilton) (demo)
10 Femme Fatale (Lou Reed) (demo)
11 Lovely Day (Chilton) (previously unreleased)
12 Nightime (Chilton) (demo)
13 Back Of A Car (Chilton, Hummel) (demo)
14 Take Care (Chilton) (demo)
15 You Get What You Deserve (Chilton) (demo)
16 Motel Blues (Loudon Wainright III) (demo)

Phajja - Meeting In The Ladies Room (1999)

Phajja were an all-female contemporary R&B trio that released one album on Warner Bros. Records, as well as several moderately successful singles. The band comprised sisters Kena and Nakia Epps, who hailed from Chicago, and Karen Johnson, of Boston. They began singing together in 1987 under the name of Not Your Average Girls, with the original group consisting of five members, and they traveled and performed original music for several years before landing their first record deal with Capitol Records in 1991, although they never released an album for that label. In 1993 the group disbanded and Kena, Karen, and Nakia carried on, changed their name to Phajja and left Capitol Records for Arista. That didn't last long, and in 1995 they signed with Warner Brothers Records, and it was this label that finally released their debut album 'Seize The Moment'. Two singles were lifted from the record, 'What Are You Waiting For' and 'So Long (Well, Well, Well)', and they also achieved some airplay for their cover of the Christopher Cross song 'Sailing'. They appeared on Soul Train in May 1997, and after a brief break they returned in 1999 with a new single 'Checkin' For Me', which was produced by Mario Winans and written by themselves and Shari "Truth Hurts" Watson. This was meant to be a taster for their second album 'Meeting In The Ladies' Room', but before it could be released it was cancelled by Warners and consigned to the vaults. As I've said so often before, there is generally nothing wrong with these cancelled albums, and I'm sure the decision was entirely financial, so it's worth giving this one a listen as it's a fine r'n'b album of the period, and didn't deserve to be canned. 

Track listing 

01 Say It Ain't So  
02 Checkin' For Me  
03 Better Days  
04 Don't Come Back 
05 Shade  
06 Slept  
07 Don't Want To Be A Hater 
08 What's Goin' On  
09 Anything You Wanna Do  
10 Why  
11 It Must Be Love  
12 My One & Only  

Lynne Randell - The Right To Cry (1969)

Lynne Randall (she later changed the spelling) was born on 14 December 1949 in Liverpool, and her family migrated to Australia when she was five, settling in the Melbourne suburb of Murrumbeena. In her teens she attended Mordialloc High School, and was discovered  whilst working as a 14-year-old apprentice hairdresser for Lilian and Antonio Frank, when the manager of Australian mod group The Flies organised a publicity shoot for TV and press to display his band having their long hair done at a women's hair salon. During the shoot, The Flies lead singer Ronnie Burns sang with his guitar, and Frank suggested her young apprentice should sing along. Spry was so impressed by her voice he offered her a job at his discothèque, Pinocchios, and at her 15th birthday on 14 December 1964, thrown by her manager Carol West and which was attended by local radio DJs including Stan Rofe, she sang 'House Of The Rising Sun' and John Lee Hooker's 'Boom Boom', later cutting a demo in a dining room, which Rofe played on his radio show. Randell left school and was signed to EMI in 1965, and her first single was a cover of Lulu's 'I'll Come Running Over', which was released in February on the HMV label and became a No. 11 hit in Melbourne. She appeared on television on 'Bandstand', 'Saturday Date' and 'Sing Sing Sing' to promote the record, and it was quickly followed by 'A Love Like You', which hit No. 27 in Melbourne, and then in July by a cover of the Marvelettes' 'Forever'. She had regular appearances on TV's 'The Go!! Show' alongside contemporaries The Easybeats and Olivia Newton-John, as well appearing on 'Kommotion' with fellow pop artists including Burns, who was now a solo artist. Randell signed a new contract with CBS Records to release two further singles, with 'Heart' and 'Goin' Out Of My Head' both becoming Top 20 hits in Melbourne. 

Her trendy clothes and hairstyle, good looks and innocent image, backed up by a string of solid pop hits, earned her the title of Australia's 'Little Miss Mod', and she became the most popular female performer in the mid-1960's. On the back of her Australian success, Randell went to the United Kingdom and performed at Liverpool's Cavern Club, and by 1967 she was in the United States, where she toured with The Monkees as part of a bill which also featured Jimi Hendrix and Ike & Tina Turner. Her next single, 'Ciao Baby', was written by Larry Weiss and Scott English, and was recorded in New York and released on CBS Records in Australia, reaching No. 6 on Go-Set's Top 40 in June 1967, while Epic Records also released it in the US, making it her biggest hit. While touring the US, Randell became addicted to methamphetamine tablets which were sold legally as slimming pills, developing a long term addiction which later seriously affected her health. Her next single 'That's A Hoe Down'/'I Need You Boy' appeared in 1967 and she won another 'Most Popular Female Vocal' from Go-Set pop poll in October. She moved to Los Angeles in 1968 and released 'An Open Letter', but by then her health problems were getting worse, and her last single 'I Love My Dog' was released in 1969 on Capitol Records. She returned to Australia in 1980, working as a personal assistant to old friend Ian Meldrum, who was by then compère of 'Countdown', until 1986, and she then moved back to the US where she worked for Seymour Stein of Sire Records as his personal assistant in New York during the late 1980's. In the 1990's she moved back to Melbourne and made occasional appearances at oldies concerts, then in 2004 she went public about her methamphetamine addiction in an interview with Peter Wilmoth of The Age, admitting that her adrenal glands were atrophied to about 30% function, and she passed away at her home in June 2007. Her legacy is this great collection of recordings that she made while she was the toast of the Australian pop scene, and somewhat unusually for this type of album, listen out for some stunning guitar solos on 'Hold Me', 'Summertime', and 'Won't Be Long'   

Track listing

01 I'll Come Running Over ‎(single 1965)
02 Hold Me (b-side of 'I'll Come Running Over')
03 A Love Like You (single 1965)
04 Summertime ‎(b-side of 'A Love Like You')
05 Be Sure ‎(single 1965)
06 Forever (b-side of 'Be Sure')
07 I Got A Notion (unreleased test pressing 1965)
08 Heart ‎(single 1966)
09 That's What Love Is Made Of (b-side of 'Heart')
10 Going Out Of My Head ‎(single 1966)
11 Take The Bitter With The Sweet (b-side of 'Going Out Of My Head')
12 What'cha Gonna Do (from 'Lynne Randell Presents' EP 1966)
13 Won't Be Long (from 'Lynne Randell Presents' EP 1966)
14 Ciao Baby ‎(single 1967)
15 Stranger In My Arms (b-side of 'Ciao Baby')
16 That's A Hoe Down ‎(single 1967)
17 I Need You Boy (b-side of 'That's A Hoe Down')
18 The Right To Cry ‎(single 1968) 
19 An Open Letter (b-side of 'The Right To Cry')
20 Wasn't It You ‎(single 1968)
21 Grey Day ‎‎(b-side of 'Wasn't It You')
22 I Love My Dog (single 1969)
23 Mind Excursion (b-side of 'I Love My Dog')