Latrelle - Dirty Girl, Wrong Girl, Bad Girl (2001)

Andrea Latrelle Simmons (known simply as Latrelle) gained her early singing experience in church as a young child, and determined to pursue a career in music she began recording her own music at the age of sixteen. She showcased at Montana studios in New York City, which led to several labels, including Sony Columbia, Motown, Def Jam, Warner Bros, LaFace, Island and Yab Yum, courting the young star, but she then met Tracey and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds who signed her and her mother to a publishing deal at Edmonds Music Publishing. They were impressed enough to introduced her to L.A. Reid, and push for Arista to sign the young talent, and in her teen years she wrote songs for artists such as Destiny's Child, Mary Mary, Next, and Monica. By the age of 19 she had recorded her first album, but 'Dirty Girl, Wrong Girl, Bad Girl', which was scheduled for release in October 2001, was never released, and has remained hidden away ever since. According to an interview with Latrelle, the label blamed the events of September 11th 2001 for the failure of the album to appear, even though promotional copies had been sent out. She did release 'Dirty Girl' as a single, which was issued along with a remix with then label mate T.I., and an alternate version also appeared featuring Lisa 'Lefteye' Lopes. While the single had little impact on radio, it received heavy airplay in clubs and appeared on several mixtapes, and so in December 2001 'House Party' was released as the follow-up single, this time being produced by The Neptunes, who also produced six tracks on her Arista album. Since leaving Arista Latrelle has recorded a new album for the label that she co-owns, AMI Music Group, as well as recording with P. Diddy, and more recently she has performed and recorded under the stage name MzMunchie. Luckily those promotional copies of the album have found their way onto the internet, and so we are able to hear this album from the precocious teenager, and judge for ourselves if it deserved to be shelved. The answer is no, by the way.  

Track listing

01 More Than You Know 
02 You Don't Even Know (Da Da Da)
03 House Party  
04 Dirty Girl (feat. Lisa 'Lefteye' Lopes) 
05 Mama Was Daddy Too  
06 Don't Leave (Bad Girl)
07 My Life (Featuring Kelis)
08 Wrong Girl (Interlude) 
09 Deal With The Pain
10 Maze Of Love
11 Infatuated
12 Long Time 
13 The Wrong Girl 
14 Mystery Of Love 
15 International Dirty Girl

Bourgie Bourgie - Dinky Honey (1984)

Paul Quinn was a classmate of Edwyn Collins between the ages of 11 and 15, and sang backing vocals on 'Rip It Up' by Collins' band Orange Juice in 1983. After his band The Jazzatters (contemporaries of Josef K, The French Impressionists and Aztec Camera) signed with Postcard Records, they changed their name to Bourgie Bourgie and were then signed by MCA Records, releasing two singles in 1984, 'Breaking Point' and 'Careless', both of which charted in the UK, at numbers 48 and 96 respectively. After taping a session for the John Peel show, the group began recording an album with producer Mike Hedges, but before it could be released the band split up, with Quinn then collaborating with Edwyn Collins on a version of The Velvet Underground's 'Pale Blue Eyes', released on Postcard Records boss Alan Horne's new Swamplands label in 1984. In early 1985, Quinn released his first solo single, 'Ain't That Always The Way', which again featured Collins but was credited solely to Quinn for contractual reasons, and which was also a minor hit. Since then he's collaborated with Vince Clarke on the 'One Day' single, and formed The Independent Group, a supergroup containing former members of Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, Lloyd Cole & the Commotions, and The Bluebells. However, there are fans of Bourgie Bourgie who fondly remember those two singles and would love to have heard an album by the band, and so here is 'Dinky Honey', which was shelved after the band ceased to exist, and which proves that even in his early days, Quinn had something that hinted that he was on the cusp of making it big in the music industry. 

Track listing

01 Breaking Point
02 Change Of Attitude
03 Careless
04 Show Me The Door
05 Something To Prove
06 Apres Ski
07 I Give You Love
08 Quel Dommage
09 Here Comes That Feeling
10 Breaking Point (demo)

Isaiah - Playing The Circle Game (1977)

Isaiah were a progressive rock band from Austria, who formed in 1971 and released just the one album in 1975, which features a mix of jazz, blues and progressive rock elements. Led by the charismatic voice of flautist and guitarist Gert Raabe, the band counts as one of Austria's most versatile groups of the 1970's, often likened to Jethro Tull, Rare Bird, Yes and ELP, and original copies of their album very rarely come up for sale these days, but when they do they command a price of several hundred Euros. Although Isaiah's sound is more typical of what was coming from Germany circa 1971/72, with flute, guitar, and excellent vocals in the lead, it's a bit more commercialized, and so the Krautrock epithet which is often applied to them is not really accurate. Following the release of 'Isaiah' the band recorded a second album, taking some songs from prior to 1975 alongside newly written material, and this version of the band was far more bluesy than before, which could be why their record label rejected it as being too weird. It's not actually that bad, although there are fewer sax solos and background organ passages than before, but the musicianship is solid, if a bit too cliched and typical for the time. There are some interesting pieces on here, with traces of Isaiah's later more developed style like the long 'Playing The Circle Game', with its strong Birth Control influences, based on light flutes, great vocal parts, measured guitar playing and atmospheric keyboards and sax parts. The ten-minute 'Long Way' is a great example of their take on a slow blues piece, while the instrumental 'Sunset' has a dreamy, hypnotic approach, and the short but fiery 'Nightmare' has an intense Krautrock vibe despite the English lyrics. While the music is very much of its time, the mid-70's happens to be a particular favourite time of mine, and I'll lap up almost anything from that period, and so this sounds just fine to me as an example of that very rare thing - an Austrian progressive rock band who can hold their own against contemporary German and British bands of the same era. 

Track listing

01 The Fighter

02 Nightmare

03 Long Way

04 Same To You

05 Zu Leise

06 Hero

07 No Reason

08 Sunset

09 Playing The Circle Game 

World Renown - Definition Of A MC (1995)

World Renown are a duo consisting of Seven Shawn (cousin of K-Def) and John Doe (cousin of Marley Marl), who released a couple of well-received singles, with 1994's 'How Nice I Am', and the 12" follow-up 'Come Take A Ride' both appearing on Warner Brothers Records. Due to the buzz surrounding the singles, the duo were given a one-album deal with the label, and they recorded their self-titled project, included interludes, and it was even given a Warner Bros. catalouge number (WB.4/2-45715). Unfortunately, as with so many lost mid-'90's albums, it was shelved by Warner Brothers, after a promo copy received a less than favorable review from The Source in a 1995 issue, praising the first half of the album, but feeling that the second half was lacking, with the final words of the review saying "The B-side didn't measure up to the album's first half, yes there are some strong songs like 'Real MC's' and 'Easy On The Tweeter' but the level of quality declines." It's not known if this was the reason that Warner Brothers shelved the album in mid 1995, but as of today it's still unreleased, although bootlegs soon started to appear online. As well as the tracks recorded for the album, there are also a few others that were taped at the same time, and these have been added to extended versions of the album, but as a couple of them were only short interludes I thought that I'd use the original track listing of eleven songs, as this is not currently available on the net, and if you like what you hear and want to listen to the other songs then you can find them on YouTube. 

Track listing

01 Roll Wit' It
02 Shoowa
03 Definition Of A MC
04 Long Gev
05 How Nice I Am
06 Don't Trust Ur Man
07 Butta Love
08 EZ On The Tweeter
09 Come Take A Ride
10 Easy Connect
11 Long Gev (Instrumental)

Slowdive - I Saw The Sun (1992)

Slowdive was formed in October 1989 in Reading, England, by Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell, who had been friends since they were six years old, and who both sang and played guitar. Their first band together was the indie-pop group The Pumpkin Fairies, where they were joined by bassist Mike Cottle and drummer Adrian Sell, but when The Pumpkin Fairies disbanded the group evolved into Slowdive, named after the single by one of their favourite bands Siouxsie And The Banshees, where they were assisted by drummer Adrian Sell and Sell's friend, bassist Nick Chaplin. A third guitarist named Christian Savill, previously of the band Eternal, joined when he became the only person to answer an advert from the band, and although the ad called for a female guitarist, Savill wanted the gig so badly that he offered to wear a dress, and was subsequently recruited. The band quickly recorded a demo, and several months later played a show with the band Five Thirty, where head of A&R at EMI Steve Walters saw them, and requested one of their demos. The band signed to Creation Records shortly after, but Sell felt things were progressing too fast and left for university after being in the band for about six months. Their self-titled EP was released in November 1990 and received praise from music critics, even thought the songs on it were from their original demo, as the band preferred the older recordings after feeling disillusioned with their studio craft. Drummer Neil Carter joined from fellow Reading band the Colour Mary in time to play on the 'Morningrise EP', but left prior to its release in February 1991, and Simon Scott took over on drums after his previous group The Charlottes broke up. The 'Holding Our Breath EP' followed in June 1991, reaching No. 52 in the UK Albums Chart, while the single 'Catch the Breeze' topped the UK Indie Chart, and by mid-1991 Slowdive were at the forefront of the newest indie sub-genre, "shoegazing", led by bands such as My Bloody Valentine, with their abrasive guitars and ethereal vocals, and penchant for playing with their gaze firmly fixed on the floor. Production on their debut album commenced shortly after Halstead convinced Creation's head honcho Alan McGee that they had enough songs written for a full-length album, which was not actually true. They hurriedly started writing songs in the studio, experimenting with drug-inspired sounds, while Halstead drew lyrical inspiration from the abstract nature of the music. 'Just For A Day' was released in September 1991 and hit the top 10 of the UK Indie Chart, gaining a positive review along the way from the NME, although most of the other music press were engaged in a backlash against shoegazers, following the release of My Bloody Valentine's disappointing 'Loveless', and so were less complimentary.

A tour of the UK followed in autumn 1991, and after that the band made their first visit to the United States, touring with Blur. In 1992 they began writing songs for a follow-up album, but the negative coverage they'd received in the press affected their songwriting, and although approximately 40 songs were recorded and re-recorded, the group were very self-conscious of their writing and how it might be received. McGee listened to the new material, and subsequently dismissed it, so they band discarded it all and started over. During this time they wrote to ambient visionary Brian Eno and requested he produce their second album, but when he responded he told them he liked their music, but wanted to collaborate rather than produce, and the two songs that they recorded together later appeared on their second album. Creation Records wanted Slowdive to produce a commercial sounding album, and Halstead agreed that he wanted to make a 'pop' record, but it took a while to record, and at one point he left for a break in a Welsh cottage, leaving Savill, Chaplin and Scott in the recording studio, where they recorded some "joke songs". To their misfortune, McGee acquired them and became despondent at the new direction of the band, but Halstead soon returned with new music, including 'Dagger' and '40 Days', and 'Souvlaki' was released in May 1993, alongside the 'Outside Your Room EP'. Although critical reaction was once again generally negative, it's been re-evaluated over the years, and is now considered their defining moment. But would that have been the case if they hadn't scrapped those earlier 1992 recordings and had released them as their second album? Well we can now decide for ourselves, as this post collects together the best of them for what could have been the follow-up to 'Just For A Day', and while there's no doubt that 'Souvlaki' is now considered a classic shoegaze album, these songs aren't that bad, and I'm sure fans of the band will enjoy hearing what might have been. 

 
Track listing

01 Summer Day
02 Bleed
03 Sleep
04 Silver Screen
05 Dagger
06 I Saw The Sun
07 Hide Yer Eyes
08 Joy
09 I Believe
10 Richard
11 Ending

Bob Dylan - Yonder Comes Sin (1981) UPDATE

I was listening to this album recently and a couple of things occurred to me, which detracted from the complete listening experience of the album . Firstly, the coda of 'Blowing On The Water' which I tagged on to the end of 'Caribbean Wind' was too long. I still think it works nicely, but just when you expect it to gently fade away it just carries on going, so I've chopped about 40 seconds from it and I think it sounds much better. The other issue was with 'High Away', which once again just seemed to drag on too long, as well as having a false start in the middle, which I originally though would be OK to leave, but which does jar on repeated listens. On this one I've removed the false start, and also a couple of choruses either side of it, which tightens it up considerably, and instead of a rambling eight minutes, it's now a concise 4:52. Yandex links and Soulseek have been updated if you want to hear these edits, and see what you think. Obviously, if you prefer the originals then just ignore me.   

Rick Wakeman - The Complete Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table (2016)

For tonight's post Mike Solof has overhauled a classic album from the 70's and made it even better, by adding more songs, and remixing then to sound the best they can, so that they slot into the original album seamlessly. Over to Mike for some background.....

Today I thought Iʼd take a stab at melding one of my favorite classic albums from 1975, 'The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table' by Rick Wakeman, with the totally rerecorded and greatly expanded version he released 41 years later, in 2016.
In July 1974, the 25-year-old Wakeman headlined the Crystal Palace Garden Party VII concert held at Crystal Palace Park in London, with his rock band, a symphony orchestra, and choir. He'd left Yes two months prior over differences surrounding their creative direction, and continued with his solo career, which had reached newfound success after his second album 'Journey To The Centre Of The Earth' had become the first from A&M Records to chart at
number one in 1974. Despite the success, Wakeman's health deteriorated during the
preparations for the Crystal Palace show, with the stress of putting it together resulting in him  going without sleep in the five days prior to the event, as well as cracking some bones in his wrist after he fell over in a pub. He got through the gig after receiving three injections, one of morphine, before going on stage, but coupled with his frequent smoking and heavy drinking, the situation culminated in him having three minor heart attacks several days afterwards. During his recovery at Wexham Park Hospital in Berkshire, his management paid a visit, where a specialist advised them that Wakeman should cease all performing and retire, but he ignored the order and later that evening he began to write material for his next studio album, based on the legend of King Arthur, and the people and stories involved. 

During his youth Wakeman had stayed for five months on a farm in Trevalga, Cornwall, and this was near Tintagel, which is the legendary site of Arthur's castle, and it had stuck with him since then. He encountered some difficulty with the songwriting as many of the stories described in the books gave different accounts, but after reading eight books himself, he picked the details he found the most colourful, which included taking a passage from a children's book on the subject. He settled on four widely known stories, and also two lesser known, and proceeded to adapt them to music and lyrics. Much of the album was based around the three swords of the legend: the sword Arthur pulled out from the stone and anvil, the Excalibur, which some believe was instead handed to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake, and the one associated with Galahad. He incorporated ideas from his personal life into the music, saying "It's as much about me as Arthur." 'Guinevere' was a song that Wakeman had arranged six years prior to recording the album, and he wrote violin arrangements for 'Sir Lancelot And The Black Knight' that were so fast for the players, biographer Dan Wooding wrote they "collapsed with laughter" upon viewing the score. After some false starts, they played the music correctly after Wakeman instructed them they play twice as fast as he originally wanted, as he "thought I'd teach the ones who were cocky a lesson". 

'Merlin The Magician' is in three parts, as Wakeman had read several descriptions of the character, and conjured the image of "a little old man preparing his potions", so he therefore introduces the song with a quiet theme, and because one book depicted Merlin working in the basement of a castle, "surrounded by bottles and liquids like a mad professor", that inspired the heavier second theme. The piano and banjo section arose from a story that involved Merlin falling in love and chasing after a young girl, who eventually shuts him in a cave where he dies. The first piece Wakeman worked on was 'The Last Battle', which is the finale to the album, and as he composed it while still in hospital, he organised for someone to sneak a cassette recorder into his hospital room, recording his arrangements by humming them into the microphone. Before the album was recorded, he undertook a tour of North America in September and October of 1974, being his first full-scale tour as a solo artist. It featured his band, an orchestra and choir; and the production ultimately cost him around £125,000. On its release in April 1975 the album peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and number 21 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, becoming Wakeman's third consecutive record to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, repeating this in Brazil, Japan and Australia, and selling 12 million copies in total. 

'King Arthur...' was performed for three sell out nights from 30–31 May and 1 June 1975, and they were attended by 27,000 people in total. Wakeman funded the production with his own money which included his band the English Rock Ensemble, an orchestra and choir playing in the round, a narrator, and 19 international ice skaters who re-enacted the scenes in costume. The first performance had some imperfections, as when the actor playing the young Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, the anvil used to anchor the sword came out as well, since it had not itself been anchored. The actress playing Guinevere inadvertently skated over her veil, tearing her headgear out, and the chainmail under Wakeman's cape accidentally caught on something as he was descending from his seat at one point, leaving him dangling over the ice. The dry ice fog, when used over real ice, created a mist that rose ever higher and thicker, to the point that the musicians not only could not see each other but had difficulty seeing their own instruments, and at the end, during 'The Last Battle', plans called for six skaters dressed as knights to take to the ice and fight to their mutual "deaths". Well before the song was over, one knight appeared to have survived, skating aimlessly around the ice, eventually solving the  problem by pretending to throw himself on his sword and disappearing under the fog. This notorious production has gone down in history as one of the most embarrassing concerts ever, and it was ranked No. 79 on the list of 100 Greatest Shocking Moments in Rock and Roll compiled by VH1. 

In 2012, Wakeman released a rerecorded version of 'Journey To The Centre Of The Earth', with additional pieces that were originally removed from the arrangement due to the limited time available on a vinyl record. He was booked to perform the extended album in Argentina that year, but the promoter also wished for a show with an extended version of 'King Arthur...', an idea that had first resurfaced in 2015 when Stuart Galbraith, promoter of Wakeman's 2014 'Journey...' tour, suggested a similar rerecording for 'King Arthur...', and to have it performed at The O2 Arena as part of the 2016 Stone Free Festival. It would be the first performance of the album in its entirety since 1975, and so Wakeman accepted, and the concert became a catalyst for a new, 88-minute version, to be arranged and recorded in time for it. When Wakeman first approached his record label, he told them he wanted to put out the original album, but with new songs added in. The label had different ideas though, and decided that they wanted everything to be entirely re-recorded from scratch. I was super excited when he revisited the album but definitely not thrilled with the newest versionʼs mix, as the vocals seemed weak and buried deep in the music. Thankfully, modern technology has allowed me to separate out those vocals and bump them up for my own new personal remix. The 2016 re-release (weirdly) repeated entire songs numerous times using different instruments, so Iʼve taken the liberty of picking the best version of each and skipped all the repetitive stuff. Iʼve decided to honour Wakemanʼs original vision of the 2016 release, and create a wonderful mix of his classic 1975 album, but with new songs added in from the 2016 re-recordings.

Track listing

01 Arthur
02 Morgan Le Fey*
03 Lady Of The Lake - Arthur's Queen*
04 Guinevere
05 Sir Lancelot And The Black Knight
06 Princess Elaine*
07 Camelot*
08 Merlin The Magician
09 The Holy Grail*
10 Sir Galahad
11 Percival The Knight*
12 Excalibur*
13 The Last Battle

* denotes 2016 recordings

Mike's pdf, which is included in the folder, also contains scans of the booklet which came with the CD re-issue of the 1975 album, including lyrics to the original six songs.

Twelfth Night - Skan (1979)

Twelfth Night are an English neo-progressive rock band of the 1980's, put together by guitarist Andy Revell and drummer Brian Devoil in 1978 to win a talent competition at Reading University, and their road crew included Geoff Mann as backdrop painter, and Rick Battersby as dry ice engineer. Devoil and Revell had both been in various bands around Reading, with Devoil playing in Trash, and Revell  appearing with Joe Soap And The Bubbles and Abraxas. Later in 1978, Clive Mitten wandered into a rehearsal asking for a job, and was given bass duties in the Andy Revell Band, as they were then known, and after a name change in 1979 to Twelfth Night, the band completed their first recording sessions, which resulted in the legendary 'Skan' demo. In the summer of 1979 they played a notable gig at Reading University, where friend Geoff Mann guested on vocals, and after a couple of open-air concerts in the summer, the band retired to Mann's parents' home in Manchester for rehearsals, taking Rick Battersby with them. When Battersby and Mann joined the band it was their first musical venture, although Battersby had previously been classically trained on the piano, but Mann decided to remain in Manchester to paint and work with a close friend, Peter Lawrence, in a two-piece "off the wall" band called the God Stars. Twelfth Night therefore decided to forge ahead as an instrumental band, gigging in earnest throughout 1980, but they wanted a singer, and so after a short period when they were fronted by Electra MacLeod, they persuaded Mann to re-join the band as vocalist, and with the release of 'Fact And Fiction' in 1982, they joined the ranks of Galahad, IQ, Pallas and Pendragon as one of the best bands of the neo-progressive resurgence. This post goes right back to the beginning of their career, with that 'legendary' 1979 cassette, and as a fan of the band I was intrigued when I first heard it, even at one point not believing that it really was Twelfth Night, as it sounds so different to the band that I know. It's certainly an interesting listen, and I think fans of the band need to hear it to get an idea of the direction the group could have taken if they hadn't decided to recruit a vocalist the following year. 

Track listing 

01 Scales - Fur Helene 1

02 Encore Une Foise

03 Fur Helene II

04 Sequences (Short Version)

05 Four And Three

06 (Hats Off To) Freddie Hepburn

07 Sequences

Ramones - Are Not An Answer (1987)

You get the impression that Ramones are the sort of band who go into the studio, bang out a few tunes, and release them as an album, and so demos and out-takes of their early years are very hard to find. By 1984 they'd released seven studio albums, and so they could afford to take their time in the recording studio, and even work up a song and record a demo before laying down the finished version. 1984's 'Too Tough To Die' saw the band returning to their roots, and the overall style leaned toward that of punk rock and heavy metal, rather than the pop music which had been a focus of several of the band's recent albums. Previous Ramones' records had featured celebrity producers in an attempt to gain some sort of popularity, but since this didn't yield the results which they were expecting, Sire Records contacted the producers of 1978's 'Road To Ruin', and offered the job to Ed Stasium and ex-band member Tommy Ramone. The album therefore has less production value than previous recordings by the band, resulting in a harsher sound, and not only does it include bassist Dee Dee Ramone performing lead vocals on 'Wart Hog' and 'Endless Vacation', but it also contains the band's only instrumental piece, 'Durango 95'. As well as the 13 tracks that made it onto the album, a number of unreleased demos appeared on the expanded edition of the album in 2002, and if we add in a few non-album b-sides from around the same time we end up with a pretty respectable collection of rare tracks. I've also added in three demos/out-takes from 1981, plus their contribution to the soundtrack of the 1983 film 'Get Crazy', giving a pretty comprehensive overview of the band in the early to mid-80's. There were quite a few more demos with Dee Dee Ramone on vocals, but I decided to concentrate on the classic line-up of the band for this album, sticking to Joey on vocals, alongside Dee Dee and Johnny, and new drummer Richie Ramone. As the group have often been disparagingly called a 'cartoon band', I thought the cover was perfect for this post.      

 
Track listing 

01 I Can't Get You Out Of My Mind (out-take 1981)
02 Kicks To Try (Demo 1981)
03 Stares In This Town (Demo 1981) 
04 Touring (1981 version)
05 Chop Suey (from the soundtrack to the film 'Get Crazy' 1983) 
06 I'm Not An Answer (demo 1984)     
07 Out Of Here (demo 1984)
08 Smash You (b-side of 'Howling At The Moon' 1984)
09 Street Fighting Man (b-side of 'Howling At The Moon' 1984)
10 Sleeping Troubles (demo 1984)
11 I Wasn't Looking For Love (demo 1984)
12 Working It Over (demo 1984)
13 Go Home Ann (b-side of 'Bonzo Goes To Bitburg 12" 1985)
14 (You) Can't Say Anything Nice (b-side of 'Something To Believe' 12" 1986)
15 Life Goes On (b-side of 'Real Good Time' 12" 1987)

The Korgis - True Life Confessions (1986)

The Korgis was originally composed of singer/guitarist/keyboardist Andy Cresswell-Davis and singer/bassist James Warren, who had both been members of 1970's band Stackridge, and along with violinist Stuart Gordon and keyboardist Phil Harrison they formed a band which would pursue a more pop-orientated direction. They released their first single 'Young 'n' Russian' in early March 1979 on Rialto Records, and their next single 'If I Had You' broke into the UK Top 20, reaching number 13, prompting the release of an eponymous debut album in July 1979. A re-release of 'Young 'n' Russian' and new single 'I Just Can't Help It' failed to chart, but when 'Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime' was issued from their second album 'Dumb Waiters' in 1980 it became a hit in three countries, peaking at Number 5 in the UK. The album reached Number 40 in the UK in 1980, and was followed by the singles 'If It's Alright With You Baby' and 'Rovers Return', but the commercial breakthrough that accompanied the release of their second album and the resulting singles was not enough to keep them together, and Davis departed the band prior to the recording of their third album 'Sticky George', despite having a number of songwriting credits on the album. The lead single from 'Sticky George', 'That Was My Big Mistake', was released under the name 'James Warren & The Korgis' to denote the fact that Davis and Warren had now gone their separate ways, and by the end of 1980, Gordon and Harrison had also departed the band, being replaced by guitarist John Baker, drummer Roy Dodds, and keyboardist Maggie Stewart. The following year the band was joined by flautist Steve Buck and was contemplating a tour that ultimately failed to materialise, leading the band to dissolve, and leaving Warren free to go solo in 1982. The single 'Don't Look Back', originally a demo from the 'Sticky George' sessions, was remixed by Trevor Horn, and issued by London Records in the summer of 1982, but a planned follow-up single with Horn, 'Endangered Species', never materialised. Despite the break-up of the band, Warren and Davis continued to work together, with Davis co-producing some of Warren's songs, which were released under the Korgis name. The band reunited in 1990 to re-record 'Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime', and the re-formed group, consisting of Warren, Davis, and Baker, released the album 'This World's For Everyone' in 1992, having some success in Continental Europe and Japan, before breaking up again in 1993. After the band had broken up for the second time, Warren released his solo album 'Burning Questions' in 1986, which included a couple of co-writes with Davis, as well as a co-production credit, and some of the songs were also released as Korgis' singles and b-sides, so it's almost as if the band hadn't split up at all. In fact, had they stayed together and used the Warren/Davis songs that they'd already written, they could have issued one last album as The Korgis before bowing out, and so this 'final album' from the group collects all the Warren/Davis co-writes or co-productions from 1982 to 1986 to make that record. 

Track listing

01 Don't Look Back (Warren)
02 Burning Questions (Davis/Warren)
03 Xenophobia (Warren)
04 Possessed (Warren)
05 I Know Something (Warren)
06 It Won't Be The Same Old Place (Davis/Warren)
07 Climate Of Treason (Warren)
08 Waiting For Godot (Warren)
09 True Life Confessions (Davis/Warren)

01 Korgis single 1982
03 Korgis b-side 1982
02, 09 Korgis singles 1985
04, 05, 08 Korgis b-sides 1985
06 David Lord remix of single by James Warren, produced by Davis/Warren 1986
07 b-side of James Warren single produced by Davis/Warren 1986

Julian & John Lennon - Imagine (2022)

Michael Solof here again. A few days ago I was blown away by Julian Lennonʼs release of the track Imagine by his dad. After reading the accompanying note from his Twitter post (see below), I knew I just had to see if I could create a version that I wish existed, and try to
make Julianʼs version even more special. With that in mind, I decided to turn it into a duet with his dad. No easy feat I must say. I started out by tracking down every version of John singing Imagine that I could find. During my search I found many home demoʼs, studio outtakes, live cuts and TV appearances. My main concern was to find a version where the vocals acoustically matched, as closely as possible, those of the Julianʼs performance. It would sound unnatural to use a big echoing reverb drenched John vocal when Julianʼs recording had a beautiful, dry and intimate vocal. I finally found one that was darn close… but the music was completely different and clashed with Julianʼs sparse and haunting solo acoustic version. A few years ago that would have been a hugely insurmountable problem, but now a days there are websites that use really cool tech to separate the vocals from the instruments. Whats left is just crystal clear, beautiful sounding vocals! Using those same sites, I then separated out all the different parts of both versions so I was left with 4 tracks:
1. Julianʼs Lead Vocals
2. Johnʼs Lead Vocals
3. Nunoʼs guitar track
4. Nunoʼs Background Harmony Vocals
I knew I had to use Julianʼs vocal track as my base, and that I would need to edit Johnʼs vocals to match those as closely as possible. My next problem was Johnʼs phrasings were very different from Julianʼs. It wasn't a simple matter of playing both tracks, as is, at the same time. That sounded horrible and I wanted to make this sound as much like father and son sitting down face to face in a small intimate candlelit studio setting… and singing a beautiful
song together for the first time. Now I began The hours and hours I needed to accomplish this. I often had to break up Johnʼs phrases between words, and sometimes syllables, to match the timings and structure of Julianʼs song . Occasionally, when that didn't work, I would even
change the speed of the recording of Johnʼs vocal to extend the length of certain phrases slightly, for a better fit. It still didn't sound right. My original attempt had them both singing the entire song together. But then I watched a lot of different duets on YouTube and felt that if I switched back and forth between the verses and the choruses … that would be cool. So I did a version like that… but even that was missing the spark of these 2 guys just singing together.
So I started again. And this time, I had them trading off lines (starting with Julian since it is his release after all) and then having them both sing together on the choruses. That did it… that gave me tingles! 6 more hours of editing…matching up every word and every syllable of the
choruses until I was finally done. But I was still missing one last piece. 

I let some friends listen to my mix and one comment I got completely transformed the song. I canʼt believe I didn't think of it first. My mix had both vocals centered, but a friend suggested I pan Julianʼs vocals to the left and Johnʼs to the right. First I tried hard pans all the way to the left and right, but this sounded weird. I wanted them to sound like they were sitting side by side, not across the room from each other. So I switched to a softer pan of each vocal just a bit to the left and right. That was MAGIC! After a lot of internal debate, I also decided to include at the end of the song, the extra harmony vocals provided by Julianʼs friend and co-guitarist Nuno Bettencourt. It really makes for a much fuller and powerful ending. So now hereʼs my version of the duet I wish, more than anything, could have existed. Being a huge and lifelong John Lennon fan, I was always touched by the fact that Julian has spent much of his life following in his dadʼs massive footsteps, fighting against the many injustices occurring around the world.
Itʼs just downright inspiring to me. Julian was moved enough by the current situation in Ukraine to record this song. I thought the least I could do was let John join in the protest too!
I think he would have liked that.

In a first for both of us, Paul at albumsthatshouldexist and this site are posting Mike's superb effort on the same day, not only to get the song out to as many people as possible, but also to highlight the reason that Julian released it in the first place, which is to show support for Ukraine in their current struggle.

You can listen/download using the player, or download using Soulseek/Yandex and the folder includes Mike's pdf.  

Julian & John Lennon - Imagine

If the player doesn't work use the pop-out version

The War on Ukraine is an unimaginable tragedy... As a human, and as an artist, I felt compelled to respond in the most significant way I could. So today, for the first time ever, I publicly performed my Dad’s song, 'IMAGINE'. Why now, after all these years? I had always said that the only time I would ever consider singing ‘IMAGINE' would be if it was the ‘End of the World’…But also because his lyrics reflect our collective desire for peace worldwide. Because within this song, we’re transported to a space, where love and togetherness become our reality, if but for a moment in time…The song reflects the light at the end of the tunnel, that we are all hoping for...As a result of the ongoing murderous violence, millions of innocent families have been forced to leave the comfort of their homes, to seek asylum elsewhere. I’m calling on world leaders and everyone who believes in the sentiment of 'IMAGINE', to stand up for refugees everywhere! 

Please advocate and donate from the heart. #StandUpForUkraine @glbltczn @nunobettencourtofficial 

— Julian Lennon

Evanescence - Missing (2002)

After Evanescence was formed by Amy Lee and Ben Moody in 1995, the band released three EPs and one demo CD 'Origin', before signing to Wind-up Records in January 2001. Since the release of 'Origin', a number of out-takes have surfaced, and so we start this album with three of them, including a live recording of 'Catherine', one of their few co-compositions, and also 'Listen To The Rain', which was written by Lee for her high school choir, the Pulaski Academy Mixed Choir. In the eight years between Lee and Moody meeting and them signing their record deal, they composed many songs, writing together about two or three times during that period of time, and the best of these were chosen for their debut album 'Fallen'. The album was recorded in California at Track Record Studios, NRG Recording Studios, Ocean Studios, and Conway Recording Studios, and the songs were taped as demos before they were professionally recorded, and as some of the songs didn't make it to the album, these demos of unreleased material are now highly sought-after. 'Whisper', from the 'Origin' CD, was re-recorded a number of times, before eventually appearing as the final track on 'Fallen', and the version known as 'Whisper 2002' has a superb 80-second intro which is missing from the album version, as well as being noticeably shorter. 'Anything For You' was recorded during the demo sessions, and is the fastest Evanescence song in terms of tempo, with a background choir singing a line from the 'Lacrymosa' part of Mozart's 'Requiem Mass In D Minor', a theme which later resurfaced on their song 'Lacrymosa' from their 2006 album 'The Open Door'. 'Missing' is an outtake which later turned up as the b-side to the Australian release of 'Bring Me To Life', while the demo of 'Before The Dawn' seems lyrically similar to 'Anywhere', with keyboard-player David Hodges hoping that it would appear on 'Fallen', although it was still left off. 'Farther Away' (sometimes incorrectly listed as 'Further Away') is an outtake from 'Fallen', and later appeared as a b-side, first to 'Bring Me To Life', and then later to 'Lost Whispers', while 'Bleed' has a number of titles, often being referred to as 'I Must Be Dreaming' and/or 'Untitled', although according to BMI, 'Bleed' is the official title. 'Forever You' is another unreleased  demo, which was originally named 'C Sharp' after the guitar tuning of the song, and that's followed by a demo of 'Surrender', with the album closing with 'Breathe No More', which was intended for 'Fallen' before it was scrapped, later appearing on the 'Elektra: The Album' compilation in 2005. Considering that 'Fallen' has sold over 15 million copies since its release, Wind-up Records made the insane demand that the band hire a rapper as a full-time member, and have him feature on most of the tracks or they'd refuse to release it. The band refused to comply, later agreeing to add a male vocal on only one song, the lead single 'Bring Me To Life', and the sales of the album prove that they made the right decision. These demos and out-takes from their first professional recording sessions, collected together under the apt title of 'Missing', show that they had a clear vision of their future even back then, and they weren't going to take any shit from idiotic record companies who thought they knew better.

Track listing

01 Catherine
02 Demise
03 Listen To The Rain
04 Whisper 2002
05 Anything For You 
06 Further Away
07 Before The Dawn 
08 Forever You
09 Bleed 
10 Missing 
11 Surrender
12 Breathe No More 

Cherokee - Soul Parade (2002)

Cherokee Pogue hails from Brooklyn, New York, and started writing poetry when she was 10, forming her first band when she was 13 years old. At the age of 16 she met a local singer/songwriter named Auto (whom she later married) and they released an album 'Naked Music' in 1992 on Morgan Creek Records. The album was not a success, despite the video for 'Taste' getting some airplay, and following friction between the pair Cherokee and Auto split in 1995. Moving to Los Angeles, Cherokee got a deal with RCA records in 1998, and released her debut solo album 'I Love You....Me', which was far less funky than her album with Auto, and veered into neo-soul, which was big at the time thanks to artists like Erykah Badu. A single was released from the album, and 'Ooh Wee Wee' peaked at #88 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, staying there for three weeks. A promo single for 'Steppin' Stone' was also released, and at the same time she was busy performing on shows such as 'Soul Train' and 'Motown Live', as well as featuring in a huge ad campaign for GAP. Despite all of this promotion, her album failed to chart, but  RCA did allow her to record a second record, to be called 'Soul Parade', and which was scheduled for release in 2001. Unfortunately, the division of RCA Records responsible for releasing the album ended up folding, and although she was later transferred over to sister company Arista Records, and a March 2002 release date was scheduled, the album was never released. Cherokee later released it herself through her website, and also issued the singles 'Nectarine' and I Swear' from it, although neither of them charted, and it's since become increasingly hard to track down. Cherokee later married record producer Neal Pogue and they had a daughter, and she took the next six years off to raise her, returning to the music scene in 2011 and joining Brazilian guitarist Fred Card to form reggae/soul duo Esprit De Corps, whom she continues to record and tour with to this day. To my ears this is an excellent collection of nu-soul, and did not deserve to be shelved, and so here it is so that you can enjoy it as well. 

Track linting

01 Runaway
02 Lips
03 A Woman knows (feat. Bilal)
04 I Swear
05 Nectarine (feat. Andre 3000)
06 Star
07 Nothing
08 Crazy
09 Daddy How
10 Where
11 One
12 Can't Let It Go