The Divine Comedy - Anthems For Bored Youth (2006)

The Divine Comedy were founded in 1989 by Neil Hannon, who was the only member of the band until he was joined by John McCullagh and Kevin Traynor. They soon signed to Setanta Records, and they released their first album, 'Fanfare For The Comic Muse', in 1990. The record enjoyed some minor success, but was later deleted, after which the band released a couple of equally unsuccessful EPs, with 'Timewatch' appearing in 1991 and 'Europop' the following year. For these records newly recruited member John Allen handled lead vocals on some tracks, but after the commercial failure of the 'Europop' EP, this line-up soon fell apart. Hannon, however, was not deterred in his efforts and entered the studio again in March 1993, teaming up with co-producer/drummer Darren Allison, for the recording of 'Liberation'. This album is characterised by a plethora of literary references: 'Bernice Bobs Her Hair' recalls a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald; 'Three Sisters' draws upon the play by Anton Chekhov; and 'Lucy' is essentially three William Wordsworth poems abridged to music. It had some minor success in France, and this enabled Hannon to proceed with his second effort with the new line-up, and 'Promenade' was released in 1994. It was heavily driven by classical influences, with Michael Nyman's stylings clearly an inspiration, and Hannon himself acknowledged this when he reportedly sent a copy of his new album to the composer, jokingly asking him not to sue. This album was essentially a concept album about a day spent by two lovers, and although it also received similar positive feedback to 'Liberation', it still failed to ignite the general public, and it was not a major commercial success. 

Soon after the release of the album, the band went on tour with Tori Amos, supporting her during her European dates, and it was during this time that Hannon wrote and performed (with drummer Allison) the theme music for the sitcom 'Father Ted', as well as composing the music for the mock-Eurovision song 'My Lovely Horse' that featured in one episode. Despite widespread requests from fans to release the track as a single for the Christmas market, it eventually appeared as the third track on the CD-single 'Gin Soaked Boy'. This was not be the only time he would be responsible for a TV theme: 'In Pursuit Of Happiness' was used by the BBC science and technology show 'Tomorrow's World', and he also composed the music for 'Father Ted' co-writer Graham Linehan's Channel 4 comedy series 'The IT Crowd'. The band's next album, 1996's 'Casanova', and in particular the single 'Something For The Weekend', led to their first major success, having been championed by BBC Radio One's Chris Evans on his Breakfast Show, and further singles from 'Casanova', including 'Becoming More Like Alfie' and 'The Frog Princess', helped cemented the band's reputation. 

At the height of this commercial success, they released 'A Short Album About Love' (a reference to the Krzysztof Kieślowski film 'A Short Film About Love'), recorded live at a soundcheck with the Brunel Ensemble in preparation for a concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. It was aptly released on Valentine's Day in 1997, and shortly afterwards the band contributed a reworking of Noël Coward's 'I've Been To A Marvellous Party' to 'Twentieth-Century Blues: The Songs of Noël Coward', a compilation of covers of the writer's songs. 1999 brought the band's biggest commercial success to date, with the release of the infectious 'National Express' single, and it's parent album 'Fin De Siècle' did well enough for Setanta to issue 'Secret History – The Best Of The Divine Comedy', which included two new songs, 'Gin-Soaked Boy' and 'Too Young to Die'. The band performed at the V2001 Festival, and their 2001 album 'Regeneration' attempted to remove the band still further from its association with humour, with Hannon ditched his sharp suits and donning a Britpop band image. The album was a greater critical than commercial success, and soon after its release it was announced that the Divine Comedy were splitting up. 

However, within a year Hannon was touring again with a revised band line-up, playing a series of joint-headline gigs in the US, UK and Ireland. A new album surfaced in the form of 2004's 'Absent Friends', and it attempted to strike a balance between the occasionally earnest sound of the band's later material and the lighter tone of the more popular releases. Hannon's ninth album with the Divine Comedy, 'Victory For The Comic Muse', was released in June 2006, with the bulk of the material being recorded over two weeks, and much of it was live rather than multi-tracked, giving it a more spontaneous sound. Around this time Hannon took part in various projects, including an album of cricket-themed songs with the The Duckworth Lewis Method, a band put together by Hannon and Thomas Walsh of Pugwash. In May 2010 The Divine Comedy released their tenth album entitled 'Bang Goes The Knighthood' on DC Records, followed by 'Foreverland' in September 2016 and the double album 'Office Politics', in June 2019, and in 2020 they celebrated their 30th anniversary by re-releasing all of their albums, along with b-sides, demos, alternate versions, rarities and unreleased material, in a 24-disc box set. As my own tribute to a unique and much-loved band here is a four-disc set of all the band's non-album singles and b-sides, from those early unsuccessful EP's to their re-emergence after their 2004 split.   

Track listing

Disc I - 1991-1996
01 Timewatch (single 1991)   
02 Jerusalem (b-side of 'Timewatch)
03 New Wave (b-side of 'Europop' 1991)
04 Intifada (b-side of 'Europop' 1991)
05 Monitor (b-side of 'Europop' 1991)
06 Hate My Way (from the 'Indulgence No. 1' EP 1993)
07 Untitled Melody (from the 'Indulgence No. 1' EP 1993)
08 Birds Of Paradise Farm (b-side of 'Something For The Weekend' 1996)
09 Love Is Lighter Than Air (b-side of 'Something For The Weekend' 1996)
10 Comme Beaucoup De Messieurs  (French single 1996)
11 Untitled Melody (b-side of 'Comme Beaucoup De Messieurs')
12 Motorway To Damascus (b-side of 'The Frog Princess' 1996)
13 Something Before The Weekend (b-side of 'The Frog Princess' 1996)
14 Neptune's Daughter (b-side of 'The Frog Princess' 1996)

Disc II - 1997-1999
01 Make It Easy On Yourself (b-side of 'Everybody Knows (Except You)' 1997)
02 I've Been To A Marvellous Party (promo split single with Shola Ama 1998)
03 Postcard To Rosie (b-side of 'Generation Sex' 1998)
04 London Irish (b-side of 'Generation Sex' 1998)
05 Time Lapse (b-side of 'Generation Sex' 1998)
06 Chasing Sheep Is Best Left To Shepherds (b-side of 'Generation Sex' 1998)
07 Little Acts Of Kindness (b-side of 'Generation Sex' 1998)
08 Last Stand In Metroland (b-side of 'The Certainty Of Chance' 1998)
09 Miranda (b-side of 'The Certainty Of Chance' 1998)
10 The Dead Only Quickly (b-side of 'The Certainty Of Chance' 1998)
11 Knowing The Ropes (b-side of 'The Certainty Of Chance' 1998)
12 With Whom To Dance (b-side of 'The Pop Singer's Fear Of The Pollen Count' 1999) 
13 This Side Of Paradise (b-side of 'The Pop Singer's Fear Of The Pollen Count' 1999) 
14 Vapour Trail (b-side of 'The Pop Singer's Fear Of The Pollen Count' 1999) 

Disc III - 1999-2001
01 Gin Soaked Boy (single 1999)
02 I Am (b-side of 'Gin Soaked Boy')
03 My Lovely Horse (b-side of 'Gin Soaked Boy')
04 Going Downhill Fast (b-side of 'National Express' 1999)
05 Radioactivity (b-side of 'National Express' 1999)
06 Famous (b-side of 'National Express' 1999)
07 Overstrand (b-side of 'National Express' 1999)
08 Edward The Confessor (b-side of 'Bad Ambassador' 2001)
09 U.S.E. (b-side of 'Bad Ambassador' 2001)
10 Pictures Of Matchstick Men (b-side of 'Bad Ambassador' 2001)
11 Soul Trader (b-side of 'Love What You Do' 2001)
12 You (b-side of 'Love What You Do' 2001)
13 Get Me To A Monastry (b-side of 'Love What You Do' 2001)

Disc IV - 2001-2006
01 No Excuses (b-side of 'Perfect Lovesong' 2001)
02 Les Jours Tristes (b-side of 'Perfect Lovesong' 2001)
03 Thinking The Unthinkable (b-side of 'Perfect Lovesong' 2001)
04 Oh Yeah (b-side of 'Perfect Lovesong' 2001)
05 The Power Of Love (single 2001)
06 All Things (b-side of 'Come Home Billy Bird' 2004)
07 Idaho (b-side of 'Come Home Billy Bird' 2004)
08 Girl Least Likely (b-side of 'Come Home Billy Bird' 2004)
09 Anthem For Bored Youth (b-side of 'Absent Friends' 2004)
10 Mr. Right (b-side of 'Absent Friends' 2004)
11 Elaine (b-side of 'Diva Lady' 2006)
12 Premonition Of Love (b-side of 'Diva Lady' 2006)
13 Births, Deaths And Marriages (b-side of 'Diva Lady' 2006)
14 Lili Marlene (b-side of 'Lady Of A Certain Age' 2006)
15 Long Slow Suicide (b-side of 'To Die A Virgin' 2006)

Ligeia - Beyond The Sky (2002)

Ligeia are a female-fronted heavy metal band from Germany, founded in 1999 in the city of Ulm, south Germany, and who released their debut album, 'Made In Stone', in 2000 as a private pressing. In 2002 they recorded a two-song-maxi-single, followed by their second album 'Beyond The Sky', but because of problems with their old record company SHS Musics, after they lost their distributor, the band were unable to release the record. As they were also unhappy with the label for the lack of promotion arranged for the record, as well as having issues with them regarding their debut album, they decided to leave the label, although it took Ligeia about two years to eventually sort it all out. In the meantime two new members had joined, with Michael Sommer coming in on bass and Roland Klein joining on drums, and together with Daniela Unglert on vocals and Jörg Mayer on guitars, it was almost a completely different band to the one that recorded 'Beyond The Sky'. They therefore decided to re-record the whole thing using the new line-up, and the re-titled 'Gloria' was released through Iron Glory Records/Massacre Records in 2004. The band are happier with the new label, and feel that the new recordings sound more to their liking, but fans of the old line-up might prefer to hear the group that recorded 'Made In Stone' perform the songs, and so if that's the case then here is the original 'Beyond The Sky' album as it was recorded in 2002, including a couple of songs that weren't included on the re-worked version.  

Track listing

01 Mistress Of The Night 
02 Wings Of Fire  
03 Beyond The Sky  
04 Gloria 
05 Here We Are 
06 Angelwitch  
07 Noise Of Silence 
08 Walpurgisnight  
09 Last Desire 
10 Night Of The Cross

Athena Cage - The Art Of A Woman (2001)

Athena Denise Cage was born on 6 May 1970 in Russellville, Kentucky, and was educated at Western Kentucky University. Her career began as a background singer, working with a wide variety of musical artists including Country star Amy Grant and R&B giants, the Isley Brothers. Moving from Kentucky to Atlanta to pursue a music career, she auditioned for Keith Sweat's Elektra distributed label, and was immediately signed as lead singer of girl group Kut Klose, cutting the chart topping R&B classic 'I Like' with the group. After leaving Kut Klose she recorded her debut solo album, 'The Art Of A Woman', which was due to be released in July 2001 by Priority Records, but it was eventually cancelled along with many other projects when the label merged into Capital Records. Two singles were released prior to it's proposed release, but even 'All Or Nothing' becoming a hit was not enough to save the record from being shelved. Later in her career, Cage's passion for education took her to Capitol Hill a number of times, advocating keeping, restoring or establishing music and arts programs in America's schools, pointing out the correlation between excelling in music and excelling academically. In this quest, she had meetings at the White House and the U.S. Department of Education to share her views, and she met with the late U.S. Senate Education Committee Chair Ted Kennedy. In 2003, she established "The Athena Cage Scholarship Fund" at Western Kentucky University, her alma mater, and in 2004 the street where she grew up, Second Street in Russellville, was renamed to "Athena Cage Way" to honour her community work, youth service and efforts to restore the Old Logan Theater. As a tribute to these achievements from later in her career, here is her shelved album from 2001 for us to enjoy. 

Track listing

01 All I Need Is Me 
02 Hey Hey 
03 Until You Come Back To Me  
04 Turn You Out 
05 Let Me Know  
06 In The Mood 
07 Respect (The Way It Goes) 
08 Take It Out On Me  
09 Make U Wanna 
10 He Changed His Mind  
11 You  
12 All Or Nothing 
13 Dream Lover 

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

Verbalicious - Verbal Issues (2006)

Natalia Noemi "Teddy" Sinclair (née Cappuccini) was born on 15 August 1986 In Bradford, West Yorkshire, and has recorded music under various aliases, most famously as Natalia Kills and Verbalicious. Her family left Bradford when she was a child and she spent her early years traveling between England, Jamaica and Spain. As a teenager she had a troubled childhood, running away from home when she was 14, and trying to set her ex-boyfriend's house on fire while both were in it. Already living on her own in London at 15, and sitting on a hoard of her poems, she began to sneak into clubs to make connections with DJs and managers, to get time in the studio. She began performing in February 2003, recording a series of demos by the time she was 16, and she also developed a strong interest in MC battling, entering a Radio 1 MC Battle in Leeds under the alias Candy Rapper in June 2003, and winning the competition. She was signed to Adventures in Music in August, crediting the exposure and experience from the MC battle for helping her land a record deal, and preparations began for the recording of her debut album. The album's apparent lead single, 'Don't Play Nice', was released digitally on 10 June 2004 on the label's website, and the following month her song 'Next Big Me' was released on the soundtrack of the 2004 film 'Sleepover'. In August 2004 it was reported that her album was slated for a release in the fall, but this would later be pushed back, with a new expected release date being Easter 2005. 

After receiving considerable airplay, 'Don't Play Nice' was then given full-single treatment, with the song being officially released on 21 February 2005. Not long after the release, problems began to arise between Sinclair and her label, and the strained relationship eventually resulted in a severed contract sometime in 2006, thus causing the debut album to be shelved. Sinclair then began a stint of homelessness and eventually rebranded herself to Verbz, a name under which she released a few songs on MySpace. In 2007, while writing music for films, she posted 'Womannequin' to MySpace, receiving two million plays on the website, and she reached the top of the unsigned artists chart. In 2008 she moved to Los Angeles, and while there a DJ introduced her to will.i.am after hearing her demo, and learning that she did not have a record deal. In January 2009 will.i.am signed her to his record label, will.i.am Music Group, and she adopted the stage name Natalia Kills, after her record company advised her that "Natalia Cappuccini" was "indescribable". She released her debut album 'Perfectionist' in Germany in April 2011, following the release of her single, 'Mirrors', which hit the German Top 10. Through 2010 and 2011 she opened for Kelis, Robyn, Kesha, Katy Perry and the Black Eyed Peas over various tours, and was featured in LMFAO's single, 'Champagne Showers', and in Junior Caldera's single 'Lights Out (Go Crazy)'. With an album now out under her new name on her new label, she retired Verbalicious, but as an example of her early work this deserves to be heard, so here is that cancelled album from 2006. 

Track listing

01 New Kid  
02 Sweet As Pie 
03 Wait For Me 
04 Don't Play Nice 
05 Strangers 
06 Butterflies  
07 Life  
08 Born Wrong  
09 Hush  
10 Take It All 
11 Never Going Down 
12 Hey Boy 
13 If I Saw You Now  
14 Ain't My Fault
15 Queen Of The Jungle 

Kasabian - Pan Am Slit Scam (2014)

Kasabian were formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and second vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff and bassist Chris Edwards, and were originally christened Saracuse. They started recording at Bedrock Studios in Leicester, where Edwards had once worked as a sound engineer, and in 1998 they recorded three songs for a demo tape, comprising 'Whats Going On', 'Life Of Luxury' and 'Shine On', and which was produced by Scott Gilbert. Saracuse had several tracks included on a triple CD album called 'RED', which was produced by Bedrock Studios and showcased Leicester bands in late 1999, and they were also invited to take part in the event of the same name at Leicester De Montfort Hall later the same year, but declined following the advice of their then-manager Alan Royland. When they signed to BMG Records by London DJ and producer Sam Young, they changed their name to Kasabian, named after Linda Kasabian, a member of the Charles Manson cult who later went on to testify against Manson at his trial. Their eponymous debut album was released in the UK on 13 September 2004, receiving good sales and generally positive reviews, and the next year the play the Glastonbury Festival 2005 on the "Other Stage". Despite having two prior single releases, with debut single 'Processed Beats' and lead single 'Reason Is Treason', it was their third single release 'Club Foot' that broke them into the UK Singles Chart, and it's become one of their most popular songs, being performed at nearly every Kasabian live performance since its release. 

During this period, various drummers played with the band, including current keyboard player Ben Kealey, DJ Dan Ralph Martin, Martin Hall-Adams, and brothers Mitch and Ryan Glovers, but while recording in Bristol, they met Ian Matthews, who played on a number of tracks on their debut album, and he became a permanent member in April 2005. During the recording of Kasabian's second album, 'Empire', Christopher Karloff, one of the band's chief songwriters, had "artistic and creative differences" and was asked to leave the band, and the album, was released in the UK on 28 August 2006. The title track 'Empire', a Karloff co-write, was released as the first single and reached No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart, followed by 'Shoot The Runner', which reached No. 17 , and 'Me Plus One'. In late 2007 they released an EP titled 'Fast Fuse', which featured the songs 'Fast Fuse' and 'Thick As Thieves', both of which would later feature on their third album. Work on the record started in late 2007 with producer Dan the Automator, and eighteen months later it was revealed that the album title would be 'West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum', with a release date of 8 June 2009. The song 'Vlad The Impaler' was released as a free download for a period of 4 days, as a preview for the album, and latwer singles were picked up by advertisers, with 'Fire' being used as the theme song for the English Premier League from the 2010–11 season onward, and 'Underdog' was used in the mobile and PC game 'Asphalt 8: Airborne', as well as in the movie 'Takers', and in the 2009 TV advert for Sony Bravia 200hz televisions. 

'West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum' reached No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart, spending two weeks there, and was also shortlisted for the 2009 Mercury Prize, as well as being named "Best Album" at the 2009 Q Awards. Kasabian started work on their fourth album, 'Velociraptor!', in November 2010 with Dan the Automator as producer, and promised a 19 September 2011 release date. 'Switchblade Smiles' was the first song to be heard from the sessions, and it was available for visitors to listen to on the Kasabian website, and was available as a download for people who pre-ordered the album. In November 2011 the band went on a full tour of the UK, including two sold-out gigs at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, supported at the shows by Miles Kane and Australian band ME. Following early 2012 dates in Japan, Australia, and Europe, Kasabian launched their North American leg in Dallas on 12 March, with 19 dates in U.S. and Canada until late April. In March 2013, Sergio Pizzorno confirmed via Facebook that touring rhythm guitarist Jay Mehler had left the band to join Liam Gallagher's Beady Eye as a touring bass guitarist, and he was replaced by Tim Carter. In November 2013 they announcing that they had been working on new material for the previous six months, and the resultant Sergio Pizzorno-produced album '48:13' was released in June 2014, being named after the length of the record. 

At the NME Awards 2015 Kasabian were nominated for 9 awards, beating the 2009 Oasis record of 7 nominations, and on this high they played a short tour in May, culminating in two concerts at Leicester City Football Club's ground, the King Power Stadium, to celebrate the club winning the Premier League. In March 2017, it was confirmed that the band's sixth album would be titled 'For Crying Out Loud', and released in May of that year, with the album cover featuring a photograph of the band's guitar technician Rick Graham. In July 2020, it was announced that Meighan was stepping down from Kasabian by mutual consent due to personal issues, although it later emerged that he'd assaulted his then-fiancée in April, and in light of the revelations, the band had decided to sever their professional relationship with him. Following Meighan's sacking, remaining band founders Pizzorno and Edwards met to discuss Kasabian's future, and they decided that the band should continue, with Pizzorno taking over lead vocal duties. On 27 October 2021, Kasabian released their first single, 'Alygatyr', in over four years, and followed this with 'Scriptvre' in May, before the parent album, 'The Alchemist's Euphoria', appeared in August. Their latest album, 'Happenings', has just been released, so now is the perfect time to take a retrospective look back at the work of the band by collecting all their non-album b-sides into a two-disc set of rare and hard to find music from them.  

Track listing

Disc I - 2003-2006
01 The Nightworkers (b-side of 'Processed Beats' 2003)
02 Pan Am Slit Scam (b-side of 'Cutt Off' 2004)
03 Beneficial Herbs (b-side of 'Cutt Off' 2004)
04 Out Of Space (b-side of 'Cutt Off' 2004)
05 Trash Can (b-side of 'Club Foot' 2004)
06 Sand Clit (b-side of 'Club Foot' 2004)
07 The Duke (b-side of 'Club Foot' 2004)
08 Bang (b-side of 'Club Foot' 2004)
09 55 (b-side of 'Club Foot' 2004)
10 Lab Twat (b-side of 'L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)' 2004)
11 Doctor Zapp (b-side of 'L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)' 2004)
12 Black Whistler (b-side of 'Empire' 2006)
13 Ketang (b-side of 'Empire' 2006)

Disc II - 2006-2014
01 Stay Away From The Brown Acid Pt. 1 (b-side of 'Shoot The Runner' 2006)
02 Pictures Of Matchstick Men (b-side of 'Shoot The Runner' 2006)
03 Somebody To Love (b-side of 'Me Plus One' 2006)
04 Caught In Her Mind (b-side of 'Me Plus One' 2006)
05 Runaway (b-side of 'Fire' 2009)
06 Julie & The Moth Man (b-side of 'Underdog' 2009)
07 Pistols At Dawn (b-side of 'Days Are Forgotten' 2011)
08 Narcotic Farm (b-side of 'Goodbye Kiss' 2012)
09 Beanz (b-side of 'Eez-eh' 2014)
10 Gelfling (b-side of 'Bumblebee' 2014)

Can - Tim Can Alley (1975)

As I mentioned in the recent 'Finished?' post, after Damo Suzuki left Can there were a number of other vocalists who rehearsed and played live with them before they added Rosko Gee and Reebop to the core line up, but there was one that you would never have thought of in a thousand years - folk-singer Tim Hardin. He joined their ranks for a while at the tail end of 1975, and a trio of recordings survive from their time together, one being a rehearsal and the second a live improvised track, both from a gig at the Hatfield Polytechnic on 21 November 1975, while the third is a soundcheck recorded at the Drury Lane Theatre, London two days later. Their collaboration was very short-lived, as according to author Rob Young in the book 'All Gates Open: The Story Of Can', a huge argument between Hardin and Can occurred after the London concert, during which Hardin threw a television set through a car's windshield, and that was the end of their relationship. It's astounding enough that they got together in the first place, but even more so that 40 minutes of music survives after nearly fifty years, and so here it is, titled after one of my worst ever puns.

Track listing

01 Soundcheck (recorded at Drury Lane, London 23 November 1975)
02 Morning Glory (recorded at Hatfield Polytechnic 21 November 1975)
03 Rehearsal (recorded at Hatfield Polytechnic 21 November 1975)

Mini Viva - One Touch (2009)

Mini Viva was a nu-disco/synthpop duo, comprised of Frankee Connolly and Britt Love, and they were produced by critically-acclaimed production team Xenomania. Manager Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment group negotiated a contract with Geffen Polydor, and their first single, 'Left My Heart In Tokyo', charted at number 7 in England and Finland. Their debut album was originally slated for release on 30 November 2009, but to allow time for the release of a second single this date was pushed back, although the resulting single, 'I Wish', failed to make the UK Top 40. Following this, the duo decided to refine their material and record new songs in the hope of recapturing the success of their first single. Their plan was to release their third and fourth singles, with the debut album to follow, but after their third single, 'One Touch', failed to even make the Top 100 the group disbanded, and their album, which was reportedly finished and in the final stages of planning before release, was ultimately shelved. A 5-track sampler was sent out to music press outlets, and it's possible that there is a full-length press promo copy of the album out there somewhere, although this has not been confirmed, but one press kit did include an extended mix of 'I Left My Heart In Tokyo', which I've included here. 

Track listing

01 Left My Heart In Tokyo (extended version)
02 One Touch
03 Say What You Feel

04 Breakfast Club (Interlude)
05 I'm Hooked
06 Emotions Of Love
07 Bedroom Viber
08 Heartbeat
09 Here 2 Party

10 I Wish
11 One Touch (Christian TV Mix)