As I have mentioned on previous posts, Britpop was the first era when I buying a good deal of the music that was being released. Remember folks, this was a time when if you wanted the music, you need to have it on some sort of physical media, even if that included copying the music onto a cassette. I am old enough the remember the ‘Home Taping is Killing Music’ campaign
However, there was a period before this that went by many names. These included Baggy, Madchester and Indie, but there were others as well. I might not have been buying due to a lack of funds (I was at school at the time) but I was listening, soaking it all up. However, by the turn of the century, the first retrospective compilations of that time started to see the light of day. One of my favourites, and the inspiration for this compilation was released in 2001. ‘Unbelievable’, named after the song by EMF, covered all the big hitters from that era including a few who would continue into the Britpop era.
Not only did I take songs from the ‘Unbelievable’ compilation, I have also included songs from around the same time that were on ‘The Best Album In The World Compilations’ that I was buying throughout the Britpop years and tunes that I heard from people I was at University..
Where many Britpop bands focused on the works of Lennon & McCartney, The Who, The Kinks or XTC, Kula Shaker were one of the few, if the only band from the era who seemed to have listened to the work of George Harrison, including those songs that were influenced by his journeys into Indian music. The name of the band was even inspired by Kulasekhara who was one of the twelve Vaishnavite avatars. I would recommend you look it up if you don’t know what that is. Lead by singer and guitar player, Crispian Mills, his songs were also inspired by Indian culture and Hinduism which he had encountered whilst he was on a backpacking trip around India in the early 1990s. Having played in a couple of bands, Mills would recruit college friend Alonza Bevan on bass, Paul Winterhart on drums and Jay Darlington on keyboards.
The band were signed to Columbia Records and released their first single, ‘Tattva’. The chorus of the song is a slice of Hindu philosophy sung in Sanskrit which reached the lower reaches of the Top 100. Not bad for a debut single that was limited to 1000 copies. The band continued by releasing some more conventional sounding rock songs in the shape of ‘Grateful When You’re Dead’ and ‘Hey Dude’, as well as a rerecording of ‘Tattva’ and ‘Govinda’. Govinda has the distinction of being the only top ten hit UK single to be sung entirely in Sanskrit. The meaning of the chorus translates as ‘Krishna, Glory, Glory’. The band seemed to go from strength to strength with the release of their debut album, ‘K’, which would eventually reach double platinum status in the UK.1996 had been a good year for the band and 1997 seemed to be going in the same direction when their cover of Joe South’s ‘Hush’ made number two in the UK singles chart, but some ill advised remarks by Mills regarding the swastika lead to a backlash in the UK press.
This and the delay in releasing the second album lost the band the momentum they had built up. Only ‘Sound of Drums’, the first single from the ‘Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts’ LP breached the top ten. The parent album did make the Top Ten in the UK album chart but sold nowhere near as many copies as the previous album. By the end of 1999, the band split up even though they did get back together in 2007 and are still going today, even though it has taken until recently for th original four members to come back together.
This is another in my series of B-Side albums from the era’s big hitters and there was enough material to put out an album that would stand up (in my opinion) to the main albums. Well, in some respects it does, even thought I did include what would have been an unreleased song if this album had come out in reality. That additional song is ‘Strangefolk’ which was included on the ‘Kollected’ album. ‘Strangefolk’ was the original title of the second album, but this was edited and the full length song would see the light of day on the 10th Anniversary reissue of ‘Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts’.
Side A
Avalonia (Mystical Machine Gun – 1998)
Guitar Man (Mystical Machine Gun – 1998)
Moonshine (Tattva – 1996)
Holy River (Mystical Machine Gun – 1998)
Dance In Your Shadow (Tattva – 1996)
Goodbye Tin Terriers (Shower Your Love – 1999)
Troubled Mind (Hey Dude – 1996)
Side B
Prancing Bride (Mystical Machine Gun – 1998)
Raggy One (Waiting For Tomorrow) (Hush – 1997)
Gokula (Govinda – 1996)
Under The Hammer (Grateful When You’re Dead/Jerry Was Here – 1996)
Drop In The Sea (Hey Dude – 1996)
Another Life (Grateful When You’re Dead/Jerry Was Here – 1996)
Light Of The Day (Shower Your Love – 1999)
Strangefolk (Kollected – The Best Of Kula Shaker – 2002)
The cover is adapted from the bands 2007 release of the B-Sides from their ‘Strangefolk’ album.
The first of another month has come around and that means it must be time for another compilation of quality Britpop era tunes. I normally pick songs between the years 1994 and 1997, which is when I was at University and Britpop rules the waves. With this volume however, it seems that a stray tracks or two has snuck in from other years. ‘Low’ by Cracker was released in 1993 and Let’s Get Together by Gorky’s Zygotic Mynchi was released in 1998. There also are a few more artists from outside of the British Isles on this one as well as a few song songs taken from the rather wonderful H.E.L.P. compilation. This was a project where several artists went into recording studios on the same day with the idea of producing enough material for an album which would raise money for children living in war torn Yugoslavia. In my opinion, this was one of the greatest charity albums of all time.
Disc 1
Tattva – Kula Shaker
On The Rose – Tiger
Need You Around – Smoking Popes
Disco 2000 – Pulp
Alright – Cast
Girls & Boys – Blur
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – Neneh Cherry & Trout
Randrops Keep Falling On My Head – Manic Street Preachers
Ain’t That Enough – Teenage Fanclub
Getting Better – Shed Seven
Where I Find My Heaven – Gigolo Aunts
Let’s Get Together – Gorky’s Zygotic Mynchi
Roads – Portishead
Fighting Fit – Gene
Inbetweener – Sleeper
Australia – Manic Street Preachers
She Said – Longpigs
Step Into My World – Hurricane #1
If You Don’t Want Me To Destroy You – Super Furry Animals
The Masterplan – Oasis
Disc 2
It’s Oh So Quiet – Bjork
Whole Lotta Love – Goldbug
Setting Sun – The Chemical Brothers
Sonnet – The Verve
The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get – Morrissey
Connection – Elastica
In A Room – Dodgy
Shipbuilding – Suede
Dream A Little Dream – Terry Hall & Salad
Angel Interceptor – Ash
Jealousy – Octopus
Low – Cracker
Help The Aged – Pulp
Ride The Tiger – The Boo Radleys
Country House – Blur
For The Dead – Gene
Something 4 The Weekend – Super Furry Animals
Songs Of Love – The Divine Comedy
Nothing Lasts Forever – Echo & The Bunnymen
Street Spirit (Fade Out) – Radiohead
Judas Mon Coeur (French Version) – Belly
One or more of the songs on this collection were not available on Spotify.
Something a little different to finish off the month with, especially as they are not Britpop in anyway shape or form. I have written in length about the Smashing Pumpkins and how I came to find out about them in previous posts, but just to recap. I have been a fan of the original incarnation of the Smashing Pumpkins since I bought their first album ‘Gish’ in 1993. I mentioned the circumstances I became aware of the band back in my October 2020 post about the first album that never was.
‘Gish’ was released in 1991 but I did not get myself a copy until two years later. It is a bit of a difficult album to categorise as Corgan seems to be trying to harness the power of classic rock bands such as Black Sabbath with aspects of sound utilised by bands such as The Cure. The band were given a rather generous budget of $20,000 to record which afforded Corgan and producer Butch Vig the time to get the sounds right but relations within the group were harmed by the production methods. That was due to Corgan rerecording the bass and guitar parts from Darcy Wretzky and James Iha respectively. To add insult to injury, Corgan used their instruments as well. The press for the album were generally favourable and it would eventually sell over 1 million copies in the US alone.
I liked what I heard with ‘Gish’ and bought ‘Siamese Dream’ soon afterwards. I continued buying all of the material that they had released/recorded between the late 80s up until 2001. This continued with the Deluxe Editions of all of those albums, which have been a treasure trove of previously unreleased material, alternative takes and live material. This was one of the best reissue programmes I have seen, especially as main songwriter Billy Corgan had a hand in putting it all together. I have found that for the majority of the time, the last people you want being in charge of a reissue programme are the artists themselves. Anyway, I digress.
As so much material has been released, I wondered if it would be possible to compile a completely alternative version of the studio albums they made before they broke up in 2000, just using the material from the Deluxe Editions. Well, I wasn’t able to do this so I had to have a look into the murky world of the bootleg, including ones that Corgan put on line in the early days of the internet. This also included the short lived Smashing Pumpkins Record Club (which offered up tracks to download from the internet that were not included on any of the Deluxe Edition reissues). What this means is that ‘Pieces Iscariot’ and ‘The Aeroplane Flies High’ will not be included here (look at my entry from October 2022 to see my alternative version of ‘The Aeroplane Flies High).
Side A
I Am One – Limited Potential Version (Single A-Side)
Siva (Peel Radio Session EP)
Rhinoceros (Version Two) – Reel Time Sessions (Smashing Pumpkins Record Club)
Bury Me – Reel Time Demos (Gish Deluxe)
Hippy Trippy – Crush Demo (Gish Deluxe)
SIde B
Seam – Suffer Department Demo (Gish Deluxe)
Snail – Radio Session (Mashed Potatoes Bootleg)
Tristessa – Sub Pop Version (Single A-Side)
Window Paine – Live (Mashed Potatoes Bootleg)
Daydream – Old House Demo (Gish Deluxe)
What was surpassing was how close I could achieve this aim. Seeing as I bought these records on vinyl, I have followed the order on that release.
Back in 2021, Edsel Records released the compilation ‘Caught Beneath The Landslide’. It was a companion piece to photographers Kevin Cummins book, ‘While We Were Getting High: Britpop & The 90s’. Cummings was the chief photographer at the NME, which at the time of Britpop was a best selling music weekly newspaper. He then compiled a four disc compilation which included some of the biggest names from the period along with some of the also rans. The recordings were not the obvious hits either, but alternative versions, single edits and B-Sides.
Well, in this year of Britpop themed releases on this site, I have looked to do something similar with a second volume of the ‘Caught Beneath The Landslide’ compilation. What is different about this one is that it is not based around the Cummins book and does not include as many of the Britpop big hitters as the first volume. What we have though is another four disc set encompassing the years 1993-1998 which I hope will be a worthy follow up to the original.
Disc 1
So Sad About Us – Jubilee
Come Back Tomorrow – Salad
Saturday Night – Ned’s Atomic Dustbin
Christopher – Kinky Machine
Natural One – The Folk Implosion
Born Disco, Died Heavy Metal – Cornershop
This Is The Sound Of Youth – These Animal Men
Town Clowns – Blameless
Walter’s Song – Shack
Now That You Know Me – Coast
Cracked – Nylon Bombers
Mall Monarchy – Compulsion
Ha Ha You’re Dead – Sleeper
Bring You Down – The Real People
Daydream – Back To The Planet
Scenester – Flamingoes
Girl A, Girl B, Boy C – My Life Story
Sometimes Always – The Jesus & Mary Chain
Love Songs On The Radio – Mojave 3
Sure As Fate – Passion Fruit & Holy Bread
Out Of This World (Original Mix) – Republica
Disc 2
Step Out – Oasis
I Don’t Know – Ruth
Shirtlifter – Lick
Cookie – David Devant & His Spirit Wife
Mrs Hoover – The Candyskins
Child’s Body – Gene
Box Star A.M. – Embassy
Looey Vs. Christ – Baba Booey
Smiler (Single Version) – Heavy Stereo
Love 45 – Orange Deluxe
Queenie – Pimlico
Bellyache – Echobelly
Good Intentions – Livingstone
Mark – Shed Seven
Don’t Know – Ash
London Breeds – 60ft Dolls
Merched Yn Need Gwallt Eu Gilled – Gorky’s Zygotic Mynchi
Hello Victim – Baby Chaos
Man Of Leisure – The Weekenders
Today & Tonight – Marion
Alison – Slowdrive
Odd (Peel Session) – Supergrass
Bandstarter – Brainpool
Disc 3
Privilege – Mainstream
U16 Girls – Travis
Three Beasts – Moms
Hype – Headswim
Straighten Out – Brassy
Where Have You Been Tonight? – Shed Seven
Death Of A Party (7” Mix) – Blur
English Tea – Thurman
We Are The Supercool – Space Monkeys
Blinded By The Sun (Edit) – The Seahorses
All Pop No Star – Slingbacks
All I Want – Poppyheads
Know Where To Find You – Mantaray
The Kazoo Song – The Sweeney
Crush – Goya Dress
It Fell Of The Back Of A Lorry – Denim
Holiday – Pullover
Supersexy Revolutionary – Disco Pistol
Primary Alternative (Peel Session) – The Delgados
The Mill Hill Self Hate Club – Edward Ball
Another Night In – Strangelove
Can’t Be Sure – The Sundays
Disc 4
To Earth With Love – Gay Dad
A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed – theaudience
Soloman Bites The Worm – The Bluetones
I Like Rock – Bennet
Roll With It – Mogul
Rent (Live) – Suede & Neil Tennant
Tuesday Afternoon – Ex Boyfriends
Drag Queen – The Dandys
Candlelight – Six By Seven
Break – The Gyres
Julia – Silver Sun
Nothing To Lose – Elcka
Hurricane – Warm Jets
Now I’ve Seen Through You – Hillman Minx
Best Friend – Ether
Move Over – Mover
Maniac – Cinerama
How Free – Don
Will You Still Care – The Crocketts
Vinegar Vera – Rialto
Dry The Rain – The Beta Band
The front cover is similar to Volume 1 with different bands added. The cover stars are as follows.
Top row (l to r) – theadiance, Travis, The Sundays
Middle row (l to r) – Blur, The Delgados, Cornershop
Bottom row (l to r) – Ash, The Weekenders, Seahorses
Most, if not all musical movements receive their name from people who tend not to be part of that movement, be it the press, critics or the artists A&R. Some movement names are used whilst it is still active, such as punk whereas other are retrospectively given with Freakbeat being a good example. Some artists embrace the movements name, some do not and therefore seek to distance themselves from it. There is also the added problem of trying to work out what is the first record to be released that could be described as starting that moment off. The amount of words that have been written trying to work out what the first Rock ’n’ Roll record was is arguably a good deal more than the amount written by Shakespeare.
British band Suede fit nicely into lots of the categories mentioned above. Their first album is considered (myself included) to be the first Britpop album. They hated the title and their second album can therefore be considered to be the first post-Britpop LP, four years before anyone else tried to produce one of their own.
Suede started when students Brett Anderson and Justine Frischmann met whilst studying at University College London. They became a couple soon afterwards and with Anderson’s friend, Matt Osman, they decided to form a band. Neither Frischmann or Anderson felt they were good enough guitar players to play lead so after an advert was placed in the music paper, the New Music Express (or NME as it is more commonly known), a certain Bernard Butler got their job. Early gigs would see the band backed up with a drum machine which proved to be unreliable. They would briefly be joined by drummer Justin Welch, who would later reconnect with Frischmann in Elastica. He didn’t stay long and therefore another advert in the music weeklies was placed. The band were surprised when Mike Joyce, former drummer with The Smiths got in touch but he did not stay long either. Joyce bailed on the fledgling group because he felt that being in a band that was influenced by and had certain similarities to The Smiths would do Suede more harm than good. Eventually, Simon Gilbert joined behind the drum kit.
Tensions began to build when Frischmann and Anderson split up. Frischmann had started a relationship with Blur’s Damon Alban but she did not leave Suede immediately. It was felt that the situation could be worked through but she was eventually fired after turning up late for rehearsals on too many occasions, sometimes due to being on the set of a Blur video. With Frischmann gone, Anderson and Butler became closer and began writing the songs that would make up the debut album.
Anderson was the figurehead of the band, and appeared on the front cover of music weekly Melody Maker before they had released a record. The paper even called them the “Best New Band in Britain”. By the time of their third single released, ‘Animal Nitrate’ they had matched the hype with record sales as this was their first single to break into the UK Top Ten singles chart. When the album came out, it was the biggest selling debut since Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s ‘Welcome to the Pleasuredome’ LP. The album also won the 1993 Mercury Music Prize and it would seem that Suede were truly going to be the next big thing. That was until tension started to arise between Anderson and Butler.
In early 1994, the band released ‘Stay Together’, their highest charting single to date but the sound was different to what had gone before. The song was also a portent of what was to come. Multi-layered guitars, increased length of the songs and sounding like nothing else around it. Butler did not help the situation by being quite critical of Anderson in one of the few interviews he gave at the time. Tensions got so high that Butler began to record his parts for the second album separately from the rest of the band until he came to the studio to find that he would not be allowed in and his guitars were left on the street. The band finished the album with either Butler recording in another studio or with a session player playing Butlers’ parts from the demo recordings. Considering the tension that went into making this record, it is surprising how good it is even if it took some members of the music press a number of years to catch up.
Suede would recruit in a new guitar player in Richard Oakes, and continue to release records to this day. However, what this collection looks to do is see what a B-Sides collection would have looked like if the band had decided to call it a day after ‘Dog Man Star’ had been released. Some of Suede’s B-Sides were excellent, which is was clearly shown when the band released the ‘Sci-Fi Lullabies’ collection which this album shares its title and artwork with. Unlike the version that came out in real life, no songs recorded with Oakes could be included. There is also a lot more songs from the first album sessions as well which shows the strength of material they had before they had even entered a recording studio. Overall, a good record that more than stands up on its own merits.
Side A
The Living Dead (Stay Together – 1994)
Killing Of A Flash Boy (We Are The Pigs – 1994)
He’s Dead (Metal Mickey – 1992)
My Insatiable One (The Drowners – 1992)
My Dark Star (Stay Together – 1994)
Where The Pigs Don’t Fly (Metal Mickey – 1992)
Side B
Modern Boys (The Wild One – 1994)
Whipsnade (We Are The Pigs – 1994)
High Rising (So Young – 1992)
The Big Time (Animal Nitrate – 1993)
To The Birds (The Drowners – 1993)
Part 2 – Lost Lullabies
When the real ‘Sci-Fi Lullabies’ came out in 1997, it was not a comprehensive collection of Suede’s B-Side. There were a number of tracks that did not make the cut. What I have done here, is to collect those lost songs to be a release all of their own. Called ‘Lost Lullabies’, it is weighed down by the Eno remix of ‘Introducing The Band’ which I first heard as the B-Side to the 12” single version of ‘The Wild Ones’. I think I played it once and for the second time when completing this collection. It is definitely something that does not warrant multiple plays.
Side A
Eno’s Introducing The Band (The Wild Ones – 1994)
Feel (Lazy – 1997)
Side B
Dolly (So Young – 1993)
Digging A Hole (Lazy – 1997)
Painted People (Animal Nitrate – 1993)
Sam (Beautiful Ones – 1996)
This World Needs A Father (The Wild Ones – 1994)
Asda Town (The Wild Ones – 1994)
The cover is adapted from the original ‘Sci-Fi Lullabies’.
It is the first of the month so time for another Britpop Years compilation. Once again, this is not a playlist of Britpop songs/bands (even though the vast majority are), this includes music that came from the years 1994-97.
Disc 1
Wake Up Boo! – The Boo Radleys
Alright – Supergrass
Sorted For E’s & Whizz – Pulp
This Is A Call – Foo Fighters
God! Show Me Magic – Super Furry Animals
Block Rockin’ Beats – The Chemical Brothers
The Day We Caught The Train – Ocean Colour Scene
Everything Must Go – Manic Street Preachers
Oh Yeah – Ash
Peaches – The Presidents Of The United States Of America
Battle Of Who Could Care Less – Ben Folds Five
North Country Boy – The Charlatans (UK)
The Universal – Blur
Staying Out For The Summer – Dodgy
You Can Talk To Me – The Seahorses
King Of The Kerb – Echobelly
Beautiful Ones – Suede
Only Happy When It Rains – Garbage
You Do – McAlmont & Butler
Fake Plastic Trees – Radiohead
Smile – The Supernaturals
Disc 2
Reverend Black Grape – Black Grape
Annie – Elastica
Lump – The Presidents Of The United States Of America
Motorbike To Heaven – Salad
Sour Times – Portishead
Lost Myself – Longpigs
One Night Stand – The Aloof
Into The Blue – Geneva
Common People – Pulp
Drop Dead Gorgeous – Republica
Just – Radiohead
Stupid Girl – Garbage
Kung Fu – Ash
Perseverance – Terrorvision
Live Forever – Oasis
The Day Before Yesterday’s Man – The Supernaturals
I didn’t realise until putting this entry together that Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’ was a bit of a Marmite album. Either touted as one of the greatest or most overrated albums of all time, it was for a time the only Radiohead album I owned. I had tried getting into Radiohead after hearing ‘Creep’ for the first time, but ‘Pablo Honey’, the album from which that song was taken did not inspire me to buy anything else at the time. This began to change once some of the songs that were on their second album, ‘The Bends’ started appearing on compilation albums I bought at the time. ‘High & Dry’, ‘Fake Plastic Trees’, ‘Just’ and ‘Street Spirt (Fade Out)’ all made it onto mix tapes from the time but the parent album would have to wait until it was re-released on vinyl about twenty years after the event for me to take the plunge and buy it. There were no such qualms with ‘OK Computer’ though.
I’m not sure if it was ‘Paranoid Android’ or ‘Karma Police’ that made me feel that this album could be a welcome addition to the Squire Archives, but in it came and what an experience it was. It sounded like a complete album, and not a couple of great singles tagged with some substandard filler. This was prog rock for the 90s. It also signalled the death nail for the ‘Britpop’ movement as this complex style of writing and arranging would influence many acts that produced music over the following years.
I had not played ‘OK Computer’ as a whole for many years. What brought the album back to my attend was reports that a number of MIniDiscs that had belonged to Thom Yorke had been stolen. The story went that the band were contacted by the owner of the sound files and threatened with the whole lot being made available on line without a payment being made. If this happened or not is neither here nor there, but the band decided to officially release the music for a short period of time. In return, the band asked the buyers to donate to Extinction Rebellion.
So, being a huge fan of the record, I duly paid my money and slowly made my way through the files. Luckily, fans online published playlists for these discs but it took an age to edit them down into individual songs and then listen to them through. Even though the majority of it was not worth even one listen, there was some great outtakes that had not been officially released before and it does beg the question, why not? Picking up a copy of the OKNOTOK 19972017 edition of ‘OK Computer’, I wondered if I could put together an alternative version of the record.
What I did was to only use songs that I had not used on other compilations elsewhere. I would also add songs that had either been used as B-Sides or previously unreleased. The rest would be made up of different versions (and in some respects, the differences are negligible) of the songs that would make up rest of the record. I did delete ‘Lucky’, a song I do like but never thought that it fitted in with the rest of ‘OK Computer’. That could be down to the fact that I first heard it on the ‘Help’ Charity album from 1995. Personal taste I suppose.
Unlike the majority of my posts, this is designed for CD length instead of vinyl. The original link that the band posted to donate to Extinction Rebellion still works if you fancy making a donation. https://chuffed.org/pay/campaign/62932.
Motion Picture Soundtrack (Solo Piano)
Airbag (Unmastered Album Version)
Paranoid Android (Late Mix)
Subterranean Homesick Alien (Late/Final Version 3 – Different Intro)
You really know when you are getting on a bit when the music of your youth becomes the subject of box set retrospectives, containing rare tracks, forgotten artists and the odd unreleased song. Between 2019 and 2021, there were three of these looking at the British music scene in the 1990s. These were ‘Steve Lamacq – Lost Alternatives’ (2019), ’Martin Green Presents: Super Sonics – 40 Junkshop Britpop Greats’ (2020), ’Caught Beneath The Landslide (The Other Side Of Britpop And The ‘90s (2021)’. These were jam packed with names I remember but loads that I did not. What I have been surprised about is that there has not been a second volume.
I thought I would see if I could produce my own box set following a similar template laid out by the ‘Lost Alternatives ’ by choosing tracks from the whole decade, but I would not be allowed to use any songs from the three compilations above*. I would also not be allowed to any songs that I have placed on any of the compilation or lost albums that I am posting or already posted this year. I also could not use the same artist more than once (unless guesting with someone else). This did prove to be a bit of a challenge but this is what I came up with.
Some of the more well known names represented with rare tracks such as B-Sides. I have also looked to include only bands from the British Isles, even though the odd interloper will make an appearance. Steve Lamacq also had nothing to do with this either.
Disc 1
Heavenly Pop Hit – The Chills
Rollercoaster – The Jesus & Mary Chain
13th Disciple – Five Thirty
Kinky Love – Pale Saints
Inertia – Blur
Dogs With No Tails – The Pale
Which Way Should I Jump? – Milltown Brothers
Twiggy Twiggy – Pizzicato Five
Here’s Where The Story Ends – The Sundays
Alternative Title – Carter, The Unstoppable Sex Machine
Funny How – Airhead
Touched By The Hand Of Cicciolina – Pop Will Eat Itself
Yr Own World – The Blue Aeroplanes
Obscurity Knocks – The Trash Can Sinatra’s
Cherry-Coloured Funk – Cocteau Twins
Gimmie Some Truth – The Wonder Stuff
Flying – The Telescopes
Sweetness & Light (Demo) – Lush
Leave The All Behind – Ride
Disc 2
Unstable – Flamingoes
If I Can’t Change Your Mind – Sugar
Judy Over The Rainbow – Orange
Dream – Pooka
Lowdown – Elextrafixation
Without Doubt – Mantaray
City Sickness – Tindersticks
Girl At The Bus Stop – My Drug Hell
Kent – Salad
Still Hanging Around – AutoPop
Every Day – Brianpool
Halo – Girl Of The Year
What’s What We’ll Do – The Poppies
Not Even Starcrossed – Telstar Ponies
In The Groove Again – Out Of My Hair
Undecided – Shack
So Glad (Album Version) – Thrum
White Love (Radio Mix) – One Dove
Souvlaki Space Station – Slowdrive
(Come On, Join) The High Society – These Animal Men
Kenuwee Head – Voodoo Queens
Disc 3
Who’s That Girl – The Mystics
Disco Hell – The Candyskins
Go Go Pepper – Tip Top Planets
Lewis Brightworth – Thurman
Seems You’ve Missed Sunday – The Weekenders
Out Of The Void – Grass Show
Sucrose – The Delgados
Spice Girls (Who Do You Think You Are?) – Period Pains
Teenage Girl Crush – Angelica
Mail Monarchy – Compulsion
Stand Up – Lick
Me & Mr Lonely – Pimlico
Working On A Beautiful Thing – The Pooh Sticks
Fear Of Flying – Ruth
The Milkman – Mice
Strawberries & Cream – Boutique
Sex & Cheques – Jolt
Kylie & Jason – Midget
Ignoramus (Alternative Version) – Baby Chaos
Ecstacy – Deluxor
Strength – Comet Gain
Loves A Cliché – The Karelia
I’m In Love – Taxi Driver
Twist – Arnold
Alfie – Don
Welsh Bands Suck – Teen Anthems
Disc 4
Heavens Above – Hillman Minx
Say Something – The Smiles
I Messiah, Am Jailer – AC Acoustics
Overthrown – Labido
I Was Starving Hungry (In Tesco’s) – Mogul
Hot Topic – Le Tigre
Daria – Chicks
Girlie Pop – Pop Tarts
Super Sexy Razor Happy Girls – Mika Bomb
Spyder – Jetsons
The Wee Wee Song – Girlfriendo
Ray Liotta – Linoleum
Jediwannabie – Bellatrix
Killing The Bland – Prolapse
Dirty Weekend – The Dandys
The Hymn For The Cigarettes – Hefner
Sweeping The Nation – Spearmint
The Book Lovers – Broadcast
Looking For Sparks – Seafruit
Shirley Wall – Doberman
Better Made – Head-swim
Baby Come On – Spacemaid
Disco 2000 (Original Mix) – The Lance Gambit Trio
The cover is adapted from one used for a Spotify playlist which represented tracks that didn’t quite make the ‘Lost Alternatives’ four CD box set.
*I suspect that I will have doubled up on at least one song.
Oasis in their mid 90s pomp always boasted that some of their best songs were relegated to the B-Sides of their singles and a collection of these flip sides were collected together on ‘The Masterplan’ compilation which was released in 1998. Taking a look at the other big hitters from the era, Oasis were the only band to do this (as far as I can tell) so I thought it would be an interesting experiment to see if there was enough material from some of these other bands to do the same. This is the first of these B-Sides Collections and it is the mighty Supergrass that get this honour.
These date from their first releases on Parlophone in 1995 up until the last album of the decade in 1999. Unlike their standard albums, there are a couple of covers on here. The title takes it name from ‘Wait For The Sun’, one of the B-Sides from the ‘Lenny’ single. An awesome song and such a shame that it was relegated to a B-Side.
Side A
Believer (Moving – 1999)
Nothing More’s Gonna Get In My Way (Richard III – 1997)
Condition (Alright – 1995)
Melanie Davis (Going Out – 1996)
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others (Sun Hits The Sky – 1997)
Faraway (Acoustic Version) (Moving – 1999)
Side B
We Still Need More (Than Anyone Can Give) (Late In The Day – 1997)
What A Shame (Pumping On Your Stereo – 1999)
Lucky (No Fear) (Pumping On Your Stereo – 1999)
20ft Halo (Richard III – 1997)
Odd? (Mansize Rooster – 1995)
Wait For The Sun (Lenny – 1995)
The sleeve is adapted from the Hollywood Bowl 2003 bootleg, with a slight change to the graphics. A nice pastiche of The Beatles Second album cover, ‘With The Beatles’.