I took a couple months off between SP releases but I now present an alternative version of their most successful and some might say, overblown album. Well, in their first phase anyway.
Mellon Collie & Infinite Sadness was a true double album for the CD age with around a hours worth of music on each disc. There was so much music that the limited edition vinyl release of this album back in 1995 were a triple set. I was quite surprised see this get a vinyl release back int he day as I was relying informed by my friends that vinyl was dead. Needless to say, the LP was a sound investment if I was ever tempted to sell it.
Anyway, Corgan brought so many songs to the sessions that a box set of the singles was released which contained around 30 fully recorded songs, very few of which was filler. He was most defiantly on a hot streak here.
New co-producers in the form of Alan Moulder and Flood came on board and new working practises were adopted. The included working more together as a band by rehearsing together before they went into the studio. Time was set aside for jamming as well as James Iha and D’arcy Wretazky given more of an opportunity to contribute musically to the album. This was also the first album where Iha was given some space to include a couple of his songs he written by himself instead of in collaboration with Corgan. More would be included on the singles as B-Sides. The album was a massive seller, shipping over 5 million unites in the USA alone. It did beg the question though, where could the band go next?
This reconstruction of ‘Mellon Collie & Infinite Sadness’ does not quite follow the original vinyl because some of the sides would be too long for the record to sound any good due to the grooves being too close together. Looking at vinyl double albums in my collection, most run between 70 and 90 odd minutes, but this one went on for a mind blowing 121 (CD & cassette) and 128 minutes (for the original 1995 vinyl release). It fully utilised the time afforded with a CD. With traditional vinyl, that would a be triple and so it proved with the 1995 vinyl release doing just that. The band included two bonus tracks not included on the CD version to make up the time as well.
I do have one question about this LP and it is, was this the only triple album of new music released in the 1990s? I would love someone to confirm that. The only other triples vinyls I can think of from the decade were The Beatles ‘Anthology’ LPs’.
Side A
Mellon Collie & Infinite Sadness – Home Piano Demo (Mellon Collie & Infinite Sadness Deluxe)
Tonight, Tonight – Band Version, No Strings (Mellon Collie & Infinite Sadness Deluxe)
After completing a second volume of the compilation ‘Caught Beneath The Landslide’, I found that I have music left over to make a third volume.
So here we have another four disc set of tracks from Britpop big hitters, second division acts and a section of songs from bands who were part of the scene but their records weren’t successful at the time, or any time for that matter.
Disc 1
The Living Dead (Piano Version) – Suede
Information Man – The Farm
Her Jazz – Huge Bear
Feel The Pain – Dinosaur Jr.
Punk Boy – Ash
Wembley – The Candyskins
French Disko – Stereolab
Cat’s Chorus – Lush
Planet In The Ocean – Salad
Modern History (Acoustic) – The Auterus
Blue (US Mix) – The Verve
Lewis (Mistreated) – Radiohead
Time Baby III – Medicine
Teenage Emergency – Flamingoes
Happy Day – Blink
You’re Always Right – These Animal Men
Zoo’d Out – Strangelove
Snakedriver – The Jesus & Mary Chain
It’s A Fire – Portishead
Big Nurse – Sleeper
Take Me Away – Oasis
Sunshine Smile – Adorable
Even When Your Eyes Are Open – Leviathon
Disc 2
Addicted To A.T.V. – The High Fidelity
Shut Up – The Sweeney
The Joy Of Living – Blueboy
Mr. Appointment – Shack
Under Canvas Wraps – The Delgados
Checking In, Checking Out – The High Llamas
Whirlpool (1995 Version) – BMX Bandits
Hypersonic – Fluffy
Cleopatra – Elastica
Brains – Nut
Sleep – Marion
Steve Austin – Sexlovebusterbaby
Delicious – Shampoo
Firebox – Lick
The Young Own The Town – Soda
I Suppose – Puresence
Look At You Now – Elcka
Don’t Say You’re Sorry – Blameless
Being Brave – Menswear
6am Jullander Shere – Cornershop
An Open Letter To The Lyrical Transporter – Mansun
Disc 3
Egotripper – The Kind
Wake Up America – Poppyheads
Mum’s Gone To Iceland – Bennett
No Bell At Bognor – Twister
Mermaid – Posh
Ginger – David Devant & His Spirit Wife
We Love You – Subcircus
Get Out Of Cities – Blur
I Can’t Make it – Dodgy
Vote You – The Boo Radleys
Summer Smash – Denim
Chill Out – Pa Skinny
One In A Million – Sussed
Polly’s Domain – Coast
Ever – Descent
1962 – Grass Show
Punka – Kenickie
Dance Of The Bad Angel (Archive Mix) – Booth & The Bad Angel
Keep The Light On – Geneva
Since – Mercedes
Huckleberry Grove – Ocean Colour Scene
Adrenalina – Octopus
24 – The Hybrids
Disc 4
Theme From Dweeb – Dweeb
First Foot – Po!
Somebody’s Follow Me – Speedomatic
Four Skinny Indie Kids – Half Man Half Biscuit
(Never Be A) Milksop – Ricky Spontane
Fat Neck – Black Grape
Torra Fy Ngwallt Yn Hir – Super Furry Animals
That’s Why We Lose Control – The Young Offenders
Lava – Silver Sun
Long Live The UK Music Scene – Helen Love
Drive In – Catch
Govinda, Hari & St. George – Kula Shaker
Something To Tell Her – Topper
Ciao – Lodger
Fantastic Legs – The Yummy Fur
Tiny Meat (Original Version) – Ruby
Beatnik Girl – Snug
Grease – 18 Wheeler
You Make Me Want To Scream – The Dandy
Liar – Pullover
Come & Go – Astral
Bad Old Man – Babybird
Rolled On Southern Blues – Mainstream
Hanging Around – Me Me Me
The front cover is similar to Volume 1 with different bands added. The cover stars are as follows.
Top row (l to r) – Ocean Colour Scene, Dodgy, Stereolab
Middle row (l to r) – Kula Shaker, Silver Sun, Booth & the Bad Angel
Bottom row (l to r) – BMX Bandits, Mansun, Radiohead
Volume 2 can be found at this link. – https://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/various-artists-caught-beneath-the-landslide-volume-2/
Now this was a compilation I really enjoyed putting together. All bands/artists start somewhere before making it, so I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the earliest releases by a number of the more well known bands that have graced some of the compilations I have posted this month. What was most interesting for me was how long some of the bands were plying their trade before finding success. Pulp being the most extreme by taken the best part of a decade.
Side 1
It’s Not True – The Wonder Stuff
Who Wants to Know – The Charlatans
I Know (Single Version) – Blur
You Can – Catatonia
Sway (12” Mix) – Ocean Colour Scene
The Last Days Of Winter – The Levellers
Disc 2
It Happens – Primal Scream
What’s The World – James
Oasis – Happy Mondays
Art – Suede
Strange Ones (Backbeat Version) – Supergrass
Same Old Story – The Farm
Here It Comes – The Stone Roses
Side 3
Give Me Less Time – Inspired Carpets
Everybody’s Problem – Blur
Heaven Can Wait – Salad
Quite Content – The Soup Dragons
Seance Sight – Lush
Seems Like A Bad Day – Dodgy
Endless – The La’s
Side 4
Walking 5th Carnival – The Boo Radleys
Columbia (White Label Demo) – Oasis
One Way To Go – The Verve
The Waning Moon – The Mock Turtles
It’s Not True – The Wonder Stuff – First song on their first EP (called ‘A Wonderful Day’), from 1986.
Who Wants to Know – The Charlatans – Second of the two B-Sides issued with their debut single from 1990. The A-Side was called ‘Indian Rope’.
I Know (Single Version) – Blur – B-Side of their debut single from 1990. This is the shorter version of the song which was initially only available on the 7’ single. The A-Side was ‘She’s So High’.
You Can – Catatonia – B-Side of the their debut single from 1994. The A-Side was called ‘Whale’.
Sway (12” Mix) – Ocean Colour Scene – ‘Sway’ was the A-Side of the bands debut single. This was the longer version that was released on the 12” version of that single. Released in 1990.
The Last Days Of Winter – The Levellers – The opening song on the bands debut release, a cassette EP called ‘All The Free Commons of England’ from 1988.
It Happens – Primal Scream – The B-Side of their debuts single from 1985. The A-Side was called ‘All Fall Down’.
What’s The World – James – The B-Side of the bands debut EP called ‘Jimone’ from 1983. This was the first of two B-Sides included on that release.
Oasis – Happy Mondays – The second of two B-Sides from the bands first EP from 1985. The EP was called ‘Forty-Five EP’. This song was not the inspiration for the band of the same name.
Art – Suede – The only song on this compilation to not be officially released, now or then. It got as far as a white label stage in 1989 but was rejected by the band as they were dissatisfied with it. The line up was included both Justine Freshman and Justin Welch who would later form the band Elastica. ‘Art’ was the B-Side of this release with ‘Be My God’ on the other. If this fantasy compilation release were to ever happen, to have a genuine rarity like this included would be a necessity.
Strange Ones (Backbeat Version) – Supergrass – The B-Side of their debut single from 1994. Re-rerecorded once the band had signed for Parlophone. The A-Side was ‘Caught By The Fizz’. I could have included a song by The Jennifers, as two members of Supergrass were in that band. However, I did not as I covered them for my fantasy Record Store Release back in April https://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/rsd-special-the-jennifers-the-complete-recordings/.
Same Old Story – The Farm – The fourth song on their debut EP, called ‘Hearts & Minds’ from 1989
Here It Comes – The Stone Roses – This was the B-Side of the ‘Sally Cinnamon’ single, released in 1987.
Give Me Less Time – Inspiral Carpets – Inspiral carpets released two albums worth of songs on a couple of cassettes in 1987. Some of the songs were re-recorded for later records but this song was not (as far as I can tell), even though it did appear on a couple of cassette collections of demos in the same year.
Everybody’s Problem – Pulp – This was the bands second single, but unlike the first, this was a non album release. This was the A-Side and was released in 1983.
Heaven Can Wait – Salad – The third song on their debut EP called ‘Kent’ from 1993.
Quite Content – The Soup Dragons – The first song on their debut EP, ‘The Sun Is In The Sky’ from 1986.
Second Sight – Lush – Taken from their Mini LP, ‘Scar’, released in 1989. What was surprising is that the mini album came out before their released any singles.
Seems Like A Bad Day – Dodgy – The B-Side to the second single, released in 1991. The A-Side was called ‘Easy Way’.
Endless – The La’s – The B-Side to the debut single, released in 1987. The A-Side was called ‘Way Out’.
Walking 5th Carnival – The Boo Radleys – This was the sixth song on their debut LP, released in 1990. Like Lush, they released an album before they had released a single.
Columbia (White Label Demo) – Oasis – Released in 1993 as a single-sided white label as a way of introducing the band to the world.
One Way To Go – The Verve – The B-Side of their debut single from 1992. The A-Side was ‘All In The Mind’.
The Waning Moon – The Mock Turtles – The fourth song on their debut EP. Called ‘Pomona’ and it was released in 1987.
The cover is from the Twitter (or X, or whatever Elon Musk wants to call it this week) account of Images That Could Be Album Covers (@imagesalbum)
Oasis, like Suede, were well known for the quality of their early B-Sides. Therefore, it would have been a no briner to complete one, but someone got there first. Namely, the band themselves when they put out ‘The Masterplan’ in 1998
Unlike Suede, a key member did not leave early on to act as a convenient cut off point for a new collection so I couldn’t replicate the method I used to compile the ‘Sci-Fi Lullabies’ idea from back in February. I therefore took a slightly different angle for this entry as Oasis did sneak a few cover versions on to their B- Sides So here they are compiled, with one live track from the ‘Familiar To Millions’ LP.
Side A
Street Fighting Man (Rolling Stones) – All Around The World (1998)
Within You, Without You (The Beatles) – BBC Sgt Pepper 40th Anniversary Tribute (2007)
Hey Hey, My My Into The Black (Neil Young) – Familiar To Millions (2000)
My Generation (The Who) – Little By Little (2002)
Cum On Feel The Noize (Slade) – Don;t Look Back In Anger (1996)
Side B
Helter Skelter (The Beatles) – Who Feels Love? (2000)
You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away (The Beatles) – Some Might Say Japanese CD (1995)
Heroes (David Bowie) – D’You Know What I Mean? (1997)
I Am The Walrus (The Beatles) – Cigarettes & Alcohol (1994)
Bonus 12”
This includes their cover of the classic Slade Christmas song. The second side is a BBC interview with Noel Gallagher talking about the recording process for Within’ You, Without You.
A. Merry Christmas Everyone
B. Within You, Without You (Recording Process)
‘Heroes’ is not only one of the covers on here, it serves as a pretty apt title because these songs come from artists that inspired Noel Gallagher. The cover comes from imgur user LisaBerglund.
Ash were official formed in 1992 but two of the members had been playing in an Iron Maiden covers band for the precious three years. After recording some demos and releasing these on cassettes (remember them folks), one of these, ‘Garage Girl’, caught the attention of Stephen Taverner. Taverner put up the money press up 1000 7” records of ‘Jack Names The Planet’s on his own LaLaLand records label whilst becoming the bands manager. What needs to be remembered here is that the members of Ash were so young during these early years that they were still in school.
The band gained some momentum and airplay when in 1994, they released the mini album ‘Trailer’. Steve Lamacq played some of these songs on his BBC Radio 1 show. American audiences become aware of the band after their song ‘Kung Fu’ was used in the closing credits of the Jackie Chan film, ‘Rumble In The Bronx’. After touring the USA in support of Weezer, the band felt that they needed another guitar player to help flesh out the sound whilst they played live. Charlotte Hatherley (previously of Nightnurse) joined and her first recorded contribution to the band was on their single from the film ‘A Life Less Ordinary’.
The early singles and album of the band were more upbeat than what came on their second LP and subsequent singles which had a good deal more garage rock influences. The ‘Numbskull’ single included a number of cover versions of grunge acts as well, no doubt showing the influences of the band but it could be argued that these were needed because main songwriter Tim Wheeler was suffering from writers block. The second album gained mix reviews from critics and Wheeler went into an 18 month depression which he eventually come out form after moving back to his parent house in Northern Ireland to focus on writing.
The band continue to record and play live to this day, even though Charlotte Hatherley left in 2006. This continuation of my series of B-Sides compilations comes in two parts. I liked the covers the band did because instead of doing straight covers, they tried to do something a little different, especially on ‘Give Me Some Truth’. Both of these compilations cover the classic Britpop period of 1994-8 with a couple of songs that were released in 1999 for good measure.
Side A
What Deaner Was Talking About (A Life Less Ordinary – 1997)
Sneaker (Goldfinger – 1996)
Halloween (A Life Less Ordinary – 1997)
Don’t Know (Jack Names The Planets – 1994)
Story Weather (Wild Surf – 1998)
Dancing On The Moon (Jesus Says – 1998)
Side B
I Need Somebody (Goldfinger – 1996)
When I’m Tired (Wild Surf – 1998)
Gonna Do It Soon(Wild Surf – 1998)
Take Out (Jesus Says – 1998)
Radiation (Jesus Says – 1998)
Everywhere Is All Around (Oh Yeah – 1995)
Heroin, Vodka, White Noise (Jesus Says – 1998)
Side A
Blew – Nirvana (Numbskull – 1999)
Does Your Mother Know – ABBA (Oh Yeah – 1995)
Who You Drivin’ Now? (Numbskull – 1999)
Cantina Band – John Williams (Girl From Mars – 1995)
Side B
Get Ready – The Miracles (Goldfinger – 1996)
Give Me Some Truth – John Lennon (Angel Interceptor – 1995)
I Only Want To Be With You – Dusty Springfield (Single A-Side – 1997)
The covers I have used for these compilations show the band in similar poses but separated by a few years. The image used for B-Sides was used for the compilation ‘Teenage Wildlife – 25 Years of Ash’.
I am a couple of days early with this one but on 11th May 1979, The Cure released their debut album, ’Three Imaginary Boys’. The members of this first line up had all attended Notre Dame Middle School in Crawley and first appeared on stage together in a one-off school band called Obelisk. Eventually settling down into a four piece called Easy Cure consisting of Robert Smith (guitar, vocals), Porl Thompson (guitar), Michael Dempsey (bass) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). Entering and winning a competition that resulted in the band being signed to German label Hansa, a number of demos were recorded which have yet to see the light of day. The label soon dropped the band because they did not see eye to eye on what they wanted. The band wanted to record original material where as the label wanted them to be a covers band. Released from their contract, Thompson would leave due to conflict with Smith. Smith felt that Thompson’s guitar playing was too busy (or too good) for a punk band. Smith was also writing songs that were considerably more minimalistic than their earlier work. Thompson would rejoin the band in 1983 but for the time being, he was out of the picture.
Dropping the Easy part of the name, the three piece recorded a demo at Chestnut Studios in Essex for distribution to record labels. Eventually, Chris Parry at Polydor decided that he would sign them as one of the first acts on his newly formed Fiction label. The resulting album, ‘Three Imaginary Boys’ did not meet Robert Smith’s standard as he was not given control over the track listing and cover art. This is clearly shown by the inclusion of a cover of the Jimi Hendrix song, ‘Foxy Lady’, which the band used as a soundcheck. As far as I can tell, it is the only cover the band has ever released on one of its records. It also has the distinction of being the only song by The Cure that was not sung by Robert Smith. On this occasion, bass player Michael Dempsey took on vocal duties. Three singles were also recorded during these early days and none of the A-Sides appeared on this album. Dempsey would leave before the recording of the next album as the band would leave this post punk sound behind and go on a much darker path.
The album has been re-released many times over the years but in 2004, a deluxe edition came out which contained a number of unreleased songs from those early days as well as the aforementioned single cuts*. Having been a bit of a Cure fan, and even more so of their earlier work, I knew that there was a number of songs that could have been included to round this collection out and make it more substantial. With this being (nearly) the 45th Anniversary of its release, I though this would be a perfect opportunity to do so.
On disc 1, the first twelve tracks are the same as the original album. We then have all of the Single A and B-Sides, including those recorded at the time but not released until ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ was rereleased with a different vocal in the mid 80s. This disc also includes a number of sessions outtakes, a Peel Session from 1978 and ‘The Weedy Burton’, a hidden track on the original album which sounds as though it should be at the end of the CD and not half way through.
Disc 1
10:15 Saturday Night – Three Imaginary Boys Album
Accuracy – Three Imaginary Boys Album
Grinding Halt – Three Imaginary Boys Album
Another Day – Three Imaginary Boys Album
Object – Three Imaginary Boys Album
Subway Song – Three Imaginary Boys Album
Foxy Lady – Three Imaginary Boys Album
Meat Hook – Three Imaginary Boys Album
So What – Three Imaginary Boys Album
Fire in Cairo – Three Imaginary Boys Album
It’s Not You – Three Imaginary Boys Album
Three Imaginary Boys – Three Imaginary Boys Album
Killing an Arab – Single A-side
Boys Don’t Cry – Single A-side
Plastic Passion – Single B-side (Boys Don’t Cry)
Pillbox Tales – Single B-side (Boys Don’t Cry Reissue)
Do The Hansa – Single B-side (Boys Don’t Cry Reissue)
Jumping Someone Else’s Train Single – Single A-side
I’m Cold – Single B-side (Jumping Someone Else’s Train)
Winter – Three Imaginary Boys Out-Take
Faded Smiles (I Don’t Know) – Three Imaginary Boys Out-Take
Play With Me – Three Imaginary Boys Out-Take
World War – Three Imaginary Boys Out-Take
10:15 Saturday Night – Peel Session (11/12/1978)
Killing an Arab – Peel Session (11/12/1978)
Fire in Cairo – Peel Session (11/12/1978)
Boy’s Don’t Cry – Peel Session (11/12/1978)
The Weedy Burton – Three Imaginary Boys Album
Disc 2 is a deeper dive into the early years of the band, including songs that were recorded when they were still known as Easy Cure. The first four songs are, I believe, from the sessions recorded at Hansa. These show the band as a lot more of a punk band than the tunes included on ‘Three Imaginary Boys’. Opening song is ‘See The Children’ and it is easy to see why this one has never ‘officially’ seen the light of day as it tells the story of a man who prays on children. The demo that secured the band its record deal with Fiction Records is also included as well as few live tracks and another Peel Session.
Disc 2
See The Children – Easy Cure Demo
Meathook – Easy Cure Demo
I Just Need Myself – Easy Cure Demo
I Want to be Old – Easy Cure Demo
Listen (Pillbox Tales) – Easy Cure Demo
I’m Cold – Sav Studio Demo
The Cocktail Party – Group Home Demo
Grinding Halt – Group Home Demo
Heroin Face – Live At The Rocket Crawely, December 1977
It might seem a bit excessive, especially as the listener would have to listen to five different versions of ’10:15 Saturday Night’, but it is a more comprehensive package than the original Deluxe Edition from 2004.
The front cover is the same as the one used on the 2004 Deluxe Edition reissue of the album.
*Except for ‘Killing an Arab’. Even though it is an adaptation of ‘The Stranger’ by Albert Camus, the song has had a controversial history due to a view that is promotes violence against Arabs. The Cure have even changed the lyrics when performing it in the 21st Century to either ‘Kissing an Arab’ or ‘Killing Another’. This was not concluded on the 2004 re-release of this album.
Its April so that means that it is Record Store Day once again. Therefore, it is time for me to pul together a release I would like to see put out today but most probably never will. It is at this point that I should point out that there should always be a little caveat when stating that these are the complete recordings, as there is no doubt something else that a band/artist has recorded that they don’t want to release or that it is multiple takes of the same song which might be interesting in an historical sense, but will not justify multiple plays.
Who were The Jennifers? For anyway who is a fan of Supergrass, you may well of heard of this group. This four piece were made up of Nic Goffey (Guitar), Andy Davies (Bass), Danny Goffey (Drums) and Gareth Coombes (vocals and guitar). There is a reference to a fifth member called Dan Fox but I have not been able to find out what his contribution was.
Formed in 1990, the band played their first gig at the Jericho Tavern. This legendary Oxford gig venue would play host to numerous bands who went on and made it (as it were). These include Ride, Pulp, Bombay Bicycle Club and Radiohead, even though the latter was when they were called On A Friday. The pub is still there but it does not seem to be the home of new bands. I am happy to be corrected on this last point.
The band built up a reputation in their local music scene and produced two demo tapes of three songs each. These were sold at gigs and this in turn would lead to them securing a deal with Nude Records. Their first, and what would turn out to be their only release was a four track E.P. called ‘Just Got Back Today’. The E.P. reached number 18 in Melody Maker’s Indie Chart and number 23 in the N.M.E.. David Simpson, writing in the Melody Maker in 1992 said that “The Jennifers are a good pop group who could easily become a great one…and at this stage in their career they’re already better than David Jones/Bowie, Kraftwerk etc. were at this point in theirs”. High praise indeed.
The band would play some dates in Belgium and the Netherlands as well as headlining at the Powerhaus venue in Islington. The Song ‘Just Back Back Today’ was included on the compilation ‘Independent 20 Volume 16’ along with such names as Suede, Belly and The Smashing Pumpkins. The band were said to be demoing new material but their relationship with Nude Records soured due to a difference in ideas and attitude.
‘Tightrope’, a new song was demoed and was included on the compilation ‘Days Spent Dreaming’, which was produced to highlight bands from Oxford. The song was said to be the one they hoped would be their next single but no new record deal was forthcoming, so the band split up. Andy Davies went off to University and Nic Goffey became a film maker, directing a number of music videos along with his partner Dom Hawley. These included a number by Supergrass, which was the next band formed by Danny Goffey and Gareth Coombes, even though by that stage he was calling himself Gaz.
So what do we have on this release? We have all four songs from the ‘Just Got Back Today’ E.P. along with six tracks from the cassettes the band would sell at gigs. The seventh song is ‘Tightrope’ from the aforementioned ‘Days Spent Dreaming’ compilation. Is there anything else in the archive? Well, this is a complete record of what the band put out in the public domain. If there is anything else, the group members have not deemed us worthy of hearing them.
Side A
Just Got Back Today
Rocks & Boulders
Danny’s Song
Tomorrow’s Rain
Nobody’s Fool (Demo)
(Slow Song) (Demo)
Side B
Flying (Demo)
Inside Of Me (Demo)
Cosmic Trees (Demo)
Tomorrow’s Rain (Demo)
Tightrope (Demo)
The cover is based on the minimalist design of The Jennifers original release. Instead of someone licking an iced lolly, there is a picture of the band.
