Last month, I posted a what-if compilation of The Beatles and what could have been their LP release of 1969, with additional singles. They were one of the bands mentioned by multiple artists during the Britpop era as a major influence. They even got back together (sort of) to release two new(six) songs during the mid 90s. So, wouldn’t it be interesting to put together a compilation of artists that were an influence on that period so this is what I put together.
Britpop was a harking back to the great British song book of the 60s, 70s and 80s. It was also a rejection of American grunge music, so many of the songs writers from this period looked to write about Britishness in their lyrics. The 60s influences (especially Blur) ranged from The Kinks (especially when they were banned from the USA and their songs became more British in their lyrical content), The Beatles, and Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd. From the 70s, Noel Gallagher took inspiration from Slade. Art rockers such as Roxy Music were an influence on Suede. Bands from the late 70s such as The Strangers and Wire were such an influence on Elastica that the band lost plagiarism court cases due to the similarity of their songs to those of these earlier bands records. The indie scene of the 80s and very early 90s played a part in creating Britpop. The Madchester Scene where bands such as the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays played a part, incorporating dance beats and jangly guitars into their sound. With all this thrown into the mix, Britpop emerged.
Whilst not all of these songs were the most inspirational in terms of Britpop, with The La’s and the song ‘There She Goes’ being called by Rolling Stone magazine, the foundation of Britpop, I did not want to use songs that were used on other compilations I have put together for this years celebration. If this compilation had actually been released back in the 90s, and I am surprised nothing like this was, then The Beatles and Pink Floyd would have been nowhere near it with those bands and/or record labels would not have released these songs for a compilation such as this. I also feel that compilers back in the day would have picked a Beatles song by John Lennon, but I went with ‘The Inner Light’, a George Harrison number as I needed to have something with an Indian influence to cover Kula Shaker.
Disc 1
My Generation (Mono) – The Who
The Last Time – Andrew Oldham Orchestra
Arnold Layne – Pink Floyd
The Inner Light – The Beatles
Autumn Almanac – The Kinks
Lazy Sunday – Small Faces
Street Fighting Man (Single Mono Mix) – The Rolling Stones
Starman (Single Mono Mix) – David Bowie
Cum On Feel The Noize – Slade
Do The Strand – Roxy Music
20th Century Boy – T.Rex
No More Heroes – The Stranglers
Take My I’m Yours – Squeeze
Radio, Radio – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
I Am The Fly (Single Version) – Wire
Groovy Times – The Clash
Cleopatra – Adam & The Ants
Harmony In The Head – The Buzzcocks
Disc 2
The Eton Rifles – The Jam
Bloody Revolutions – Crass
Treason – The Teardrop Explodes
Do Nothing (Single Version) – The Specials (feat. Rico & the Ice Rink String Sounds)
Senses Working Overtime (Single Edit) – XTC
Our House (Radio Edit) – Madness
The Cutter – Echo & The Bunnynmen
This Charming Man – The Smiths
24 Hour Party People – Happy Mondays
I Wanna Be Adored (Single Version) – Stone Roses
Brassneck – The Wedding Present
Def Con One – Pop Will Eat Itself
Timeless Melody – The La’s
Dragging Me Down – Inspired Carpets
L.S.I. – The Shamen
Cut Your Head – Pavement
Disc 2 could not be reproduced on Spotify due to one or more songs not being available.
The front cover images is adapted from pinterest user, Tim Benson. Virgin Records released several compilations during this era so I used their logo here.
Just because I have been looking at lots of music from the Britpop era this year doesn’t mean there isn’t room for one of the bands that were an inspiration for good number of the musicians during that era. That band is The Beatles and today is also the 55th anniversary of ‘Abbey Road’.
This post could easily have been title ‘The Beatles in 1969’. As it is, this this one was a case of having some album artwork but not having an album to go with it. That is because back in December of 2023, I posted a fake album of ‘Almost Beatles Songs’ (https://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/elvis-orbison-almost-beatle-songs/) which was made up of recordings of the songs The Beatles worked on during the Get Back/Let Ot Be sessions that weren’t taken forward by the band. In most cases, they weren’t even taken forward by them when their solo careers started. I talk about the ‘Get Back’ sessions back in November 2021 (and you can read that post here – https://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/the-beatles-the-get-back-box-set/) so I will not cover old ground here. However, the people behind Almost Beatle Songs produced a number of other tracks that I did not include on my previous post and I was wondering if there was enough material to make up a second release. Well, at the
is time, not quite.
Anyway, one of the tunes I did not use was an instrumental called l ‘The Palace Of The King Of The Birds’. Brought to the sessions by Paul McCartney, it was attempted three times but was all but forgotten until McCartney used parts of it as one of the songs for his unreleased ‘Rupert The Bear’ album. To me, it sounded like it could have been used as the title for the second ‘Almost Beatles Songs’ LP so I made up a sleeve. How could I use this sleeve for something Beatle related? Well, I came up with a playlist but the title just didn’t fit with the artwork, nor the concept of the album, It also sounded like something that would have been released during the height of the psychedelia and that were over by 1969 which is when all of the songs I was working with came out. So, I changed the name of the album to ’Everest’, which was a working title for the ‘Abbey Road’ record.
Well, I was playing through ‘Abbey Road’ and ‘Let It Be’ again and wondered what it would sound like if I made up an album combining songs from both projects to make a solid LP with accompanying singles. Well, The Beatles could have done this themselves if they had chosen to. It was not set in stone that they needed to release the material recorded for what would become ‘Let It Be’ as its own entity. What they did have from ‘Let Let Be’ were some really good songs, mostly by Paul McCartney (even though to this day, I cannot stand ‘The Long & Winding Road’). Lennon was working his way through a heroin addiction and had not been focused on writing new material. He did have some good material in the works, which was shown in the ‘Get Back’ documentary from 2021 but these were put to one side for the songs we eventually got. Harrison had plenty of good songs at this time but was reluctant to bring them to the band as he felt (justifiably) that Lennon and especially McCartney were not giving his efforts the respect they deserved. Starr had a couple of ideas but judging from the footage in the ‘Get Back’ documentary, he did not push those for inclusion.
‘Abbey Road’ is more cohesive LP with some absolutely great songs and is the only Beatles album I can listen to without wanting to skip any of the songs. Yes, I can listen to ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ all the way through (even though I did not include it here as there were far superior songs to be added). I played through both albums and the difference in productions styles of ‘Abbey Road’ and ‘Let It Be’ did not gel in the way I wanted them to. Even with Phil Spector’s production covering over some of the bum notes, the interspersing of banter between songs did not go with the aesthetic I was looking for. However, ‘Let it Be…Naked’ did. That was because of the use of some digital corrections, different takes and production make this sound more like a finished album than the original ‘Let It Be’.
Out of the songs from the ‘Let It Be’ sessions, I picked for the album ‘Two of Us’, I’ve Got A Feeling’ and ‘Let It Be’ for the LP. ‘Get Back’ and ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ would stay as the stand alone single it was back in April 1969. Originally I did have the ‘Let It Be…Naked’ version of ‘Get Back’ on here but it meat that there would be only one song by Harrison so it was jettisoned, especially as it was represented by the single version.
I was close to keeping the double A-Side configuration of ‘Come Together’ and ‘Something’ as a single, but keep them off of the parent album. One of the greatest combinations of songs for a single, I feel that sales were hurt (in the UK) as this single was released after the ‘Abbey Road’ LP and I believe this prevented it from becoming a number 1 hit there. It didn’t stop it from becoming a number 1 in the USA though. ‘Come Together’ would still be a single A-Side in this alternative universe release, but backed with ‘For You Blue’ from the ‘Let It Be ‘ sessions. ‘Something’ would be kept back as the second song for the LP. This reconstruction also does away with the majority of the songs that would become the long medley. I like the medley but there just wasn’t enough room for it all here so I cut it at ‘Sun King’.
I did have to make one slight adjustment to ‘Sun King’. As this was part of the Side B melody on the original ‘Abbey Road’ album, the song does stop quite abruptly as it went into the drum beat that started ‘Mean Mr Mustard’. I just added a quick fade to soften the abruptness of the original cut. As it is, the transition between songs is not as smooth as it was for the rest of the LP. As a little bonus, and to make up for the fact that side two was a little shorter than side 1, I added the ‘Get Back (Reprise)’ from the aborted ‘Get Back’ Album. ‘The Ballad Of John & Yoko’ single has been added to the playlist as it came out between the two singles I have talked about here and fits with The Beatles in 1969 vibe.
Side A
Two Of Us
Something
I’ve Got A Feeling
Octopus Garden
I Want You (She’s So Heavy)
Side B
Here Comes The Sun
Because
Oh! Darling
You Never Give Me Your Money
Sun King
Let It Be
Get Back (Reprise)
Singles
Get Back (Single Version)
Don’t Let Me Down
The Ballad of John & Yoko
Old Brown Shoe
Let It Be
For You Blue
In then end, I did not use the cover I originally was going to use as it was bit too psych for 1969, so I went with one that I believe was used on a bootleg for the ‘Abbey Road’ sessions. The band did put forward the idea of having their picture taken at Mount Everest, but logic stepped in and they just went outside the studio and walked across the road.
As I noted last month, I did spend the mid 90s listening to a lot of what we would now call Britpop, but that was not all that made its way onto my record player. There was a lot of other good music being produced at that time that was not Britpop and I thought I would put together another compilation of songs that reflected the period. Like last month, I could not produce a compilation for 1996 or 1997 individually so I have combined these years not a CD length playlist.
Premiers Symptômes (Modular Mix) – Air
Remember Me (Original 12” Version) – Blue Boy
Drinking In L.A. – Bran Van 3000
Where Have All The Cowboys Gone? – Paula Cole
Who Do You Think You Are? – Spice Girls
Mint Car – The Cure
Oh Marie – Sheryl Cole
Rotterdam (Or Anywhere) – The Beautiful South
Someone’s Daughter (Single Version) – Beth Orton
Black Eyed Boy – Texas
The Bright Light – Tanya Donelly
Don’t Speak – No Doubt
Have You Seen Mary? – Sponge
Kiss Me – Sixpence None The Richer
Real Love – The Beatles
Miss Misery – Elliott Smith
My Love – Mark One
Simple Beautiful – Briana Corrigan
Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space – Spiritualised
I did say at the beginning of this year that it would be focused on Britpop releases with the occasional anniversary fantasy box set thrown in for good measure, but Beck was an artist I was listening to during this time so it felt right to include him here.
I first heard of Beck whilst watching his debut UK television performance on legendary British music show, ‘Top Of The Pops’. I didn’t know what to make of the performance as I have never been a fan of rapping, and the band seems to be made up of very old men miming quite badly. I then saw a review for his ‘Mellow Gold’ in another British music institution that has now gone to the nostalgia bin in the form of Q Magazine. The review gave it five out of five, something you did not see very often. I was feeling flush that week so ‘Mellow Gold’ was purchased. It was like nothing I had heard before and even though ‘Loser’ had the potential to be a one hit wonder, there was enough in the grooves for me to become very interested in what this guy was going to do next.
What I didn’t realise is that he was going to to quite a lot, and had already done quite a bit already. Beck had been recording in one form or another since the late 80s with some now impossible to find low-fi cassette albums. These were never going to be on my radar, as they were only ever available in the USA and 1994 was essentially the age before the internet, so I did not find out about these releases until much later. What I did have was The Record Shop in Kingston Upon Thames. The haven for vinyl releases in the vinyl desert that was the mid 90s’. If you wanted something rare, and more importantly in this case, imported from abroad, that was the place to get it. I may well have bought ‘Mellow Gold’ there in the first place. Anyway, I digress.
Going back a few weeks after first playing ‘Mellow Gold’, I found that the Beck section had a 10” Beck record in it called ‘A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight’. It even came with a limited edition finger painting, which was nothing to shout about but this was only available with the initial run. Whereas ‘Mellow Gold’ was recorded with what sounded like a budget (all be it a small one), ‘A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight’ sounded as if the money for its production had been spent having a good time before hand. It was full of curious sound experiments, a tune that sounded as though he was plonking around on a guitar and playing around with the drum machine settings on a cheap Casio keyboard. There was the odd song in there, but this was one for the completist.
I then found out that he had released another album just before ‘Mellow Gold’ called ‘Stereopathetic Soulmaure’. I thought I would give that a go and found that this was in a similar vein to ‘A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight’ more noise experiments, home and live recordings. There even recordings made out on the street with guest performers. ‘Stereopathetic Soulmanure’ did have more in the way of songs on it, some of which showed a strong country influence. The song ‘Rowboat’ has some lovely pedal steel playing in it and is possibly the best of Beck’s early songs. There was another album released before ‘Mellow Gold’ called ‘Golden Feelings’ but I have never seen a copy for sale for anything other than a staggeringly high price on line.
Beck was able to release these low-fi experimental albums because his label, which had released ‘Mellow Gold’ allowed him to do so. Great for the collector, but so much if you wanted a record that could be considered song based. Coming back to these records many years later, I wondered what would have happened if the more songs based tunes were released on their own without the more experimental efforts and so we have my version of ‘A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight’.
‘Aphid Manure Heist’ has been edited so that is just the violin intro, as I didn’t like the second section and this also meant that the run times would match up more evenly as this would be another of my what-if albums that would have been released on a 12” LP. It is still quite short for an LP and still has flashes of experimentation and is not exactly commercial, but it holds together.
Side A
Totally Confused – A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight
Thunder Peel – Stereopathetic Soulmanure
Modesto – Stereopathetic Soulmanure
Today Has Been A Fucked Up Day – Stereopathetic Soulmanure
Getting’ Home – A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight
Pinefresh – A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight
Satan Gave Me A Taco – Stereopathetic Soulmanure
Feel Like A Piece Of Shit (Cheetos Time!) – A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight
Ken (Hidden Track) – Stereopathetic Soulmanure
I could have used the more experimental efforts from these two albums and they could have been released as a companion piece called ‘Stereopathetic Soulmanure’ That is a project for another day, or even for somebody else.
Belly are an alternative rock act formed in 1991 by ex-Breeders and Throwing Muses member, Tanya Donnelly. I published a lost album of them which covered some of their best B-Sides back in January of 2023*, but this is complete over view of their work whilst they were signed to the 4AD label.
They only released two albums during this period, the second of which would turn out to be their last LP for twenty three years. This second album was called ‘King’ and was met with lukewarm reviews at the time as this was a bit different from their debut, ‘Star’ which was released two years earlier. The songs on ‘King’ were a bit rockier in sound, with heavier riffs and the lyrics were a bit more personal than they had been before.
Neither the singles or album sold in the quantities that the record label were expecting and this was after they had appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. Tanya Donelly, main songwriter and focus of the band decided to break up the group feeling that there was too much negativity around. She decided to start a solo career. Bass player Gail Greenwood played with L7 and Big Naked as well as her own group. Drummer and lead guitar player, Chris and Thomas Gorman founded a commercial photography business. All went quiet until 2016 when it was announced that they would be going out on a short tour and a year later, they started to record their third album.
I loved Belly and I was really disappointed when they split. I spent the next few years trying to find all of the different versions of singles so I could acquire all of the B-Sides. The album ‘Sweet Ride’ also included some songs that were not available anywhere else.
I thought I would put together a box set focusing on the years they were signed 4AD records, especially as this was one of my favourite bands form the 90s which is my focus for a lot of my playlists this year. What we get here are a five CD set which includes both albums, B-Sides and rarities. If I was curating this set, I would also include a DVD (or Blu Ray) disc which the official videos of the singles, TV appearances from the US and UK (I could not find any reference to any appearances from other countries) as well as their spots at the Glastonbury Festivals in 1993 and 1995 as well as the Great Expectations concert to raise money for the radio station, XFM.
A quick note on some of the songs. ‘It’s Not Unusual’ from the ‘Gepetto’ (Remix Disc 2) and ‘Ivo’ Version ‘ from the ‘Moon EP’ are very similar. I think they cold even be the same even though the credits make it seem as though they are different. The single version of ‘Gepetto’ on Disc 5 was only placed there because there wasn’t space on any of the others discs.
I am sure that if this was to be released, I would hope that there would be some previously unreleased performances included, including more demos.
Disc 1 – Star & Slow Dust EP
Someone To Die For
Angel
Dusted
Every Word
Gepetto
Witch
Slow Dog
Low Red Moon
Feed The Tree
Full Moon, Empty Heart
White Belly
Untogether
Star
Sad Dress
Stay
Dusted (Original Version)
Slow Dog (Original Version)
Dancing Gold
Low Red Moon (Original Version)
Dusted (Orignal Version)
Gepetto (Single Version)
Slow Dog (Radio Remix 3m 50 sec version)
Tracks 1-15 – Star LP
Tracks 16-20 – Slow Dust EP
Track 21 – Single Mix
Track 22 – US Single Promo
Disc 2 – Star Sessions
Gepetto (Remix) – Gepetto EP
Hot Burrito #1 – Gepetto EP
Sexy S – Gepetto EP
Sweet Ride – Gepetto EP
It’s Not Unusual – Gepetto EP (Remix Disc 2)
Star (Demo) – Gepetto EP (Remix Disc 2)
Dusted (Demo) – Gepetto EP (Remix Disc 2)
Are You Experienced? – Stone Free, A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix
Feed The Tree (U.S. Remix) – Feed The Tree Single
Star (Full Band Version) – Feed The Tree Single
Dream On Me – Feed The Tree Single
Trust in Me – Feed The Tree Single
Slow Dog (Remix) – Video Version
Dusted – Indie Top 20 Compilation Volume 16 Version
Gepetto – UK 7” Version
It’s Not Unusual (Ivo’s Version) – Moon EP
It’s Not Unusual (The Usual Mix) – Moon EP
It’s Not Unusual (Unusual Mix) – Moon EP
Full Moon, Empty Heart (Lunar Mix) – Moon EP
Full Moon, Empty Heart (Bloody Mary Mix) – Moon EP
Disc 3 – King
Puberty
Seal My Fate
Red
Silverfish
Super-Connected
The Bees
King
Now They’ll Sleep
Untitled & Unsung
L’il Ennio
Judas My Heart
Tracks 1-11 – King LP
Disc 4 – King Sessions & Live Tracks
Judas My Heart (Live In London) – Sun EP1.
The Bees (Live In London) – Sun EP
Spaceman – Sun EP
Seal My Fate (U.S. Radio Version) – Seal My Fate (Studio)
Diamond Rib Cage – Seal My Fate (Studio)
Think About Your Troubles – Seal My Fate (Studio)
Broken – Vinyl B-Side
Seal My Fate (Live) – Seal My Fate (Live)
White Belly (Live) – Seal My Fate (Live)
Untitled & Unsung (Live) – Seal My Fate (Live)
Thief – Now They’ll Sleep
Baby’s Arm – Now They’ll Sleep
John Dark – Now They’ll Sleep
Lilith – Sweet Ride, The Best of Belly
Super-Connected (Edit) – Super-Connected
Judas Mon Coeur – Sun EP
Disc 5 – Live & BBC Session
Low Red Moon
Dusted
Angel
Full Moon, Empty Heart
Star
Dream on Me
White Belly
Gepetto
Sexy S
Feed The Tree
Slow Dog
Stay
Dusted
Feed The Tree
Gepetto
White Belly
Angel
Gepetto (US. Radio Mix)
Tracks 1-12 – Live Grant Park, Chicago, 7th April 1993
Track 13 – Unknown
Tracks 14-17 – Mark Goodier BBC Session, 25th July 1992
Trak 18 – US 7” Single
Disc 6 – Blu Ray/DVD Disc
Official Videos For The Singles
Gepetto
Feed The Tree
Slow Dog
Super-Connected
Now They’ll Sleep
Seal My Fate
TV Appearances
Full Moon Empty Heart (Later with Jools Holland 18th June 1993)
Slow Dog (Later with Jools Holland 18th June 1993)
Gepetto (BBC Late Show 1993) Can’t find the exact date.
Feed The Tree (Late Show with David Letterman 1993) Can’t find the exact date.
Gepetto (The John Stewart Show 1993) Can’t find the exact date.
Feed The Tree (The Word 1993) Can’t find the exact date.
Are You Experienced (The Tonight Show with Jay Leno 25th February 1994)
Seal My Fate (Late Night With Conan O’Brien 30th January 1995)
Super-Connected (Late Show with David Letterman 4th April 1995)
Red (The John Stewart Show 19th June 1995)
Super-Connected (Ray Coke’s MTV Most Wanted 22nd June 1995)
Seal My Fate (Ray Coke’s MTV Most Wanted 22nd June 1995)
Great Xpectations Finsbury Park 13th June 1993
Low Red Moon
Angel
Gepetto
Full Moon, Empty Heart
Sexy S
Star
Feed The Tree
Slow Dog
Dusted
Glastonbury 25th June 1993
Feed The Tree
Angel
White Belly
Glastonbury 23rd June 1995
King
Puberty
Now They’ll Sleep
Untitled & Unsung
Full Moon, Empty Heart
Dusted
Judas My Heart
Super-Connected
Feed The Tree
Slow Dog
Red
Seal My Fate
Gepetto
The cover is based on the 2016 vinyl pressing of ‘Star’.
I did spend the mid 90s listening to a lot of what we would now call Britpop, but that was not all that made its way onto my record player. There was a lot of other good music being produced at that time that was not Britpop and I thought I would put together a compilation of songs that reflected the period. I did try producing a compilation that would cover one year, but this proved to be a bit difficult. Therefore, both this and next months entry cover two years each. On reflection, this is a real mixed bag.
Bizarre Love Triangle – Frente!
Cornflake Girl (Edit) – Tori Amos
Missing (Todd Terry Remix) – Everything But The Girl
Stay (I Missed You) – Lisa Loeb
Turn On Turn In Cop Out – Freak Power
All I Wanna Do – Sheryl Crow
Sense – Terry Hall
Patience Of Angels – Eddi Reader
Change – The Lightning Seeds
Inside – Stiltskin
Ode To Billy Joe – Sinead O’Connor
Hallo Spaceboy – David Bowie
Tongue – R.E.M.
Streets Of Philadelphia – Bruce Springsteen
Take It Back (Edit) – Pink Floyd
’74-’75 – The Connels
Black Gold – Soul Asylum
One Of US – Joan Osborne
Blackhole – Beck
Unlike the majority of my compilations, I have made this fit onto a CD with no vinyl equivalent. I also chose the title as it was a nice play on the ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’ compilations that were also a mixed bag of genres, depending on what was selling that particular month.
I added the Virgin Records logo as they seemed to be kings of the compilation i the mid 90s if what I have in my record collection is anything to go by.
This playlist could not recreated on Spotify due to one or more of the songs not being available.
In compiling the playlists I have been posting since the beginning of the year, I have listened to a lot of what could be considered Britpop. Even though the term was an invention of the media to describe the musical landscape of the mid 90s, a lot of the bands that featured in it shared a few characteristics. These included being influenced by British music of the 60s and 70s, distancing themselves (at least initially) from US grunge music, championing the working class and for the most part, were guitar bands.
However, not all was what it would seem and delving into the murky depths of the B-Sides revealed there was an attempt to appeal to clubbers and dance music. Not everyone got in on the act with Oasis being one such act who avoided a dance remix. This did not stop most of the others joining in, including Suede who enlisted Brian Eno to remix their song ‘Introducing The Band’, but as this was included on the ‘Lost Lullabies’ compilation from a few months back, I decided to not put it here as well. There are also a couple of acts that would not be described as Britpop (e.g. Paul Weller and Portishead) but all of these recordings came out in the era so, like the other volumes in the Britpop Years series, I feel that they can have a home here.
Disc 1
Wide Open Space (Perfecto Remix) – Mansun
Govinda (Monkey Mafia Ten To Ten) – Kula Shaker
The Man Don’t Give A Fuck (Howard Marks Mix)
He’s On The Phone (Motif 8 Remix) – St Etienne
Nighthood (Freaky Aspirin Remix) – Space
Daydreamer (Dubdreamer) – Menswear
Sun Hits The Sky (Bentley Rhythm Ace Remix) – Supergrass
I Don’t Get Enough (PMFF Lite) (Went Down to ‘Frisco Just for the Disco Mix) – Theaudience
Sleeper (The Mr Scruff Mix) – Audioweb
Found You (Underground Excursion Mix) – Dodgy
Disc 2
Jailbird (Sweeney 2 Mix) – Primal Scream
You Showed Me (Attica Blues Vocal Mix) – The Lightning Seeds
Begging You (Chic Mix) – The Stone Roses
Girls & Boys (Pet Shop Boys 7” Remix) – Blur
Science (Lynch Mob Remix) – Paul Weller
Sour Times (Airbus Reconstruction) – Portishead
Hallo Spaceboy (Pet Shop Boys Remix) – David Bowie
Wog (Witchmann Alternative Mix) – Cornershop
Mulder & Scully (The Ex-Files) – Catatonia
Kelly’s Heroes (The Milky Bar Kid Mix) – Black Grape
Here Comes the Big Rush (Midfield General Vocal Remix) – Echobelly
Everything Is Sorrow (Granby Remix) – The Boo Radleys
Between 1994 and 1997, Britpop ruled the airwaves as far as I was concerned, but it did not mean that it was the only music genre I was listening to. The late 60s were never too far away either, especially as several Britpop artists were declaring how that period of music had influence them. Reissue programmes were starting to gather pace and one of these was a reconstruction of the fabled ‘Teenage Opera’ project. I had first heard of this project when I heard lead single ‘Excerpt From A Teenage Opera’ played on Capitol Gold, a radio station that focused on what was called oldies music back in the late 80s, early 90s. Oldies back then would have been anything between the mid 50s and 1969. This was an excerpt but what happened to the rest of it?
For this, we must go back to 1967 when German born producer Mark Wirtz finds himself in London checking out bands on the underground scene. He is also accepts a job on the staff at EMI. Two of the bands who he takes an interest in are Pink Floyd and the In Crowd. The Floyd sign to EMI label, Columbia but Wirtz declined the offer to produce them but looks to work with the In Crowd, especially their singer who goes by the name of Keith West. The In Crowd were already signed to EMI and had released three singles under that name but none of them troubled the charts. The band decided to change their name to the more ‘psychedelic’ Tomorrow and started to work with Wirtz.
Wirtz had had an idea of doing a pop opera style project and had already laid down some basic tracks. One of these was played to West who wrote the lyrics to what would become the first release for this project called ‘Excerpt From A Teenage Opera’. The song, telling the story of a grocer who is taken for granted before he dies was recorded in true stereo, which was rare for a 1967 pop single and it reached number 2 in the UK singles charts. The title of ‘Grocer Jack’ was given to the song later and was not included on the original single credits to imply that it was part of a much larger project. With the song being such a big hit, the music press were keen to find out when the rest would be released.
Reports suggested that the whole thing was already complete and was going to be released as a double album, also rare for the 60s. There was talk of a musical version would be staged which is something that did happen in 2017. There were also reports that MGM were prepared to buy the film rights. However, after this initial interest, the release of second single ‘Sam’ failed to live up the sales of the first and interest quickly faded. This was down to a couple of reasons. First up, ‘Sam’ was quite long for a single closing in at over five minutes so radio stations were reluctant to play it. Keith West also decided to leave the project. He needed to make a choice between being a darling of the underground music scene with his band Tomorrow, or being a pop star recording with Wirtz on the opera project. He opted for Tomorrow, even though he did record one further song for the project. Called ‘Mr Rainbow’ it was a rerecording of the Tomorrow song ‘Hallucinations’ and it was released under the pseudonym Steve Flynn.
Wirtz continued to work with Tomorrow. Their single ‘My White Bicycle’ is a psychedelic classic but neither it, nor the follow-up, ‘Revolution’ seriously dented the charts. By the time their album came out, the band had lost their cohesion. One of the reasons for this could have been that they were expected to play songs from the Teenage Opera project on stage. It would have been difficult enough to do this with the band being a four piece, but they were lacking the orchestra and children to reproduce them in the style of the recording.
After West left, there was a third single called ‘(He’s Our Dear Old) Weatherman’ with Wirtz taking over a lead vocalist. This was the first single not to have a dedicated stereo mix and it can be said that Wirtz knew his opera project was now dead in the water. ‘Except From A Teenage Opera’, ‘Sam’ and ‘(He’s A Dear Old) Weatherman’ are the only songs that can be guaranteed to have been completed for the project. Wirtz continued to produce records and when RPM Records came to compile their version of Teenage Opera in 1996, they used the three aforementioned songs, period productions from Wirtz and incidental music to make it sound like an actual soundtrack.
I decided that if EMI had thought of releasing an album back in the late 60s with some of the music Wirtz had been involved with, I suspect none of the incidental music would have made the cut. That just leaves the two themes (one to start of proceedings and one to conclude), the single A-Sides and even some B-Sides.
SIde A
Theme From A Teenage Opera – Mark Wirtz Orchestra
Excerpt From A Teenage Opera – Keith West
Auntie Mary’s Dress Shop – Tomorrow
Barefoot & Tiptoe – Sweet Shop
(He’s Our Dear Old) Weatherman – Mark Wirtz
Dream, Dream, Dream – Zion De Gallier
Mr. Rainbow – Steve Flynn
Side B
Sam (From A Teenage Opera) – Keith West
Shy Boy – Kippington Lodge
Colonel Brown – Tomorrow
Cellophane Mary-Jane – Astronaut Alan & The Planets
Possum’s Dance – Mark Wirtz Orchestra
On A Saturday – Keith West
Theme From A Teenage Opera (End Titles) – Mark Wirtz Orchestra
The following notes for these songs have taken some details from the sleeve notes of the 1996 RPM release and an entry on the Steve Hoffman forum written by user mark f from 5th November 2007.
Theme from a Teenage Opera (B-side of ‘Except For A Teenage Opera) – the first track in the chronology of the Opera but never, according to Wirtz, intended to be part of the final concept. In fact ‘Theme’ was considered by Wirtz to be a throwaway B-side. Apparently, it gained its name only later when a B-side was needed for ‘Excerpt From a Teenage Opera’. Steve Howe plays the lead guitar on the track and contrary to popular belief this is the only Opera related track on which Howe appears. Howe’s guitar, the mandolins and balalaika were added later. Despite Wirtz’s feelings about the track it’s certainly a strong number melodically and the production is excellent.
Excerpt from a Teenage Opera – Incorrectly known as ‘Grocer Jack’, the instrumental track was recorded under the name Mood Mosaic. Though ‘Sam’ would present more complications in editing, ‘Excerpt From A Teenage Opera’ has at least three distinct sections, one of which has Wirtz doing his best Motown impersonation (evident in the section starting with “his arms and legs don’t feel so strong”). Existing recordings show that the rhythm section and keyboards were recorded live, followed by percussion overdubs. At least three more sessions would include orchestra and vocal overdubs. Though Wirtz has claimed that his use of mandolin and balalaika were influenced by Russian classical and dance music, the string band he used was from a local restaurant. Exactly who played on the track is unclear, but Clem Cattini was the drummer. Vocalists included The Ivy League, The Ladybirds and Peter Lee Stirling. Jim Sullivan and/or Vic Flick were more than likely the guitarists and Wirtz believes that Russ Stableford played bass. The children’s chorus was made up of students from the Corona School (a performing arts school in London which still exists to this day). Wirtz claims to have paid the Corona School out of his own pocket, West claims the kid’s vocals were his idea and there are reports that they were fed milk and cookies.
Auntie Mary’s Dress Shop – Recorded during the sessions for the Tomorrow album
Barefoot & Tiptoe – In early 1968, Wirtz married single Ross Hangman. Between them, they wrote several songs including this one. Both Mr and Mrs Wirtz sing on this song as well. The recording also included the Band of the Irish Guards who were not used to sitting down when playing, so they were recorded marching around the studio for the oompah section.
(He’s Our Dear Old) Weatherman – After West left the project, Wirtz claims that he gave up the search for a suitable vocalist but its possible he didn’t try all that hard sensing that he needed to get the track out fast. It can be argued that no other vocalist could have performed it as well as Wirtz. One existing backing track shows that the rhythm section was recorded live with timed sections of silence left for the orchestral overdubs. During the first silence Wirtz can be heard laughing hysterically. The main features of the instrumental track are the prominent accordion and the heavy percussion – again played by Clem Cattini. The children’s vocals were performed by the Irish kiddy folk act The O’Briens, with whom Wirtz recorded one single.
Dream, Dream, Dream – The artists lived on this release was Zion De Gallier. This was the pseudonym of Douglas Ord who was a singer of a band called The Deepbeats who do not see to have made any recordings. This was the A-Side of his second single, both of which were produced by Wirtz.
Mr Rainbow – As noted above, Steve Flynn was a pseudonym for Keith West and this was a rerecorded version of Tomorrow’s song, ‘Hallucinations’.
Sam – Roughly the same history and musicians as ‘Excerpt From A Teenage Opera’ but session recordings indicate even more percussion overdubs, which were later mixed down or totally removed. The heavy use of percussion had been a Wirtz trademark since 1964 and it sounds like Wirtz wanted to recreate his old sound. Sample edits of the backing tracks show that the sections were originally considered to be in a different order. The music papers of the day have Wirtz covertly recording train sounds at railway yards. He did in fact record the church bells at The Dom in his hometown of Cologne, Germany. The 4th Central Holloway Brownies Pack sings the children’s chorus this time because, according to Wirtz, The Corona School was not interested in participating. The issue may have come down to money. It is unclear as to whether the Brownies required milk and cookies. Lyrics printed on the promotional picture sleeve show a spoken word section with a girl (singer Penny Gold) asking Keith if Sam will come back. Promotional copies of the single had no B-side because the original B-side had been rejected (see below). Promo copies also contained a slip warning DJs of the track’s length. Wirtz later edited ‘Sam’ for radio play when it became evident that it was too long. Copies of those edits appear to have been hastily pressed. Advanced publicity claimed that Sam took 80 hours to record but Wirtz says that this is rubbish. In any case, publicists seemed pleased to announce that EMI were concerned about the cost to make the record. The B-Side of ‘Sam’ that was not used would have been interviews by Tim Rice, he of the musicals and working with Andrew Lloyd Webber fame. The second Mark Wirtz idea for the B-side to ‘Sam’ was to have kids being interviewed on various topics. Papers quoted Wirtz as saying that the interviews would address the kids at an adult level with the hope of gaining their perspective on various serious topics. The interviews were conducted apparently with the girls in the ‘Sam’ Brownie troupe but EMI rejected the idea for the B-side. If these tapes still exist, they have not been located.
Shy Boy – A single A-Side by band, Kippington Lodge.
Colonel Brown – Another track recorded by Tomorrow for inclusion on their album.
Cellophane Mary-Jane – A B-side for a single where the artist was listed as Astronaut Alan & The Planets. This looks to have been a group of session players who released numerous singles under loads of different names and Wirtz may well have been a member. The A-side was called ‘Fickle Lizzie Anne’.
Possum’s Dance – Originally released as the B-side to ‘(He’s Our Dear Old) Weatherman)’. According to Wirtz this track was recorded at the end of the ‘Sam’ sessions while the mandolin and balalaika players were still around. It’s possible that the main track was recorded even earlier as Mood Mosaic. Again, despite its charming melodic qualities, Wirtz considers this to be a throwaway B-side.
Theme From A Teenage Opera (End Credits) – a rerecorded version of the opening theme.
The cover is adapted form the one that was used on the RPM records sleeve from this heady days of 1996 and considering this came out in the era when sleeve art was minimal due to the limited space afforded by cassettes and CDs, this is quite a busy effort. All references to RPM have been removed but the Parlophone label has been added. The credit for Kippington Lodge would not, if it this had come out in the 1960s included the separate entry for Nick Lowe as he was just a member of the band and his solo career was some way off into the future. I do not have the necessary I.T. skills to fix that one though.
P.S. – Whilst I was putting this together, I thought that if this LP had been released back in the 60s, it would have been ripe for reappraisal and a Deluxe Edition. If CD 1 was the original album, CD 2 would contain the single mixes, flip sides, all of the incidental music that came with the 1996 reconstruction and any further unreleased material.
CD
Except From A Teenage Opera (Single Version) – Keith West
Theme From A Teenage Opera (Single Version) – Mark Wirtz Orchestra
Festival Of Kings – Mark Wirtz Orchestra
Sam (From A Teenage Opera) – Keith West
Thimble Full Of Puzzles – Mark Wirtz’ Mood Mosaic (feat The Ladybirds)
Paranoiac Woodcutter #1 – Mark Wirtz Orchestra
The Sad Story Of Simon The Bugle – Mark Wirtz
The Kid Was A Killer – Keith West
Except From A Teenage Opera (Count In Version) – Keith West
Paranoiac Woodcutter #2 – Mark Wirtz Orchestra
Mrs Raven – MArk Wirtz
Knickerbocker Glory – Mark Wirtz
Grocer Jack’s Dream – Mark Wirtz Orchestra
Lets Live For Tomorrow – Steve Flynn
Farewell To A Broken Doll – Mark Wirtz Orchestra
Fickle Lizzie Anne – Astronaut Alan & The Planets
Glory’s Theme (All Aboard) – Mark Wirtz Orchestra
Lead The Way – Sweet Shop
Love & Occasional Rain – Mark Wirtz Orchestra
Lady On A Bicycle – Kippington Lodge
Geraldine – Zion De Gallier
Grocer Jack (Reprise) – Mark Wirtz Orchestra
Two’s Company, Three Thousands A Crowd – Tim Rice & Samantha Jones
Except From A Teenage Opera (Shortened Version) – Keith West
Sam (From A Teenage Opera) (Specially Edited Version) – Keith West
Except From A Teenage Opera (Single Version) – Mono mix of the song used on the 1967 single.
Theme From A Teenage Opera (Single Version)– Mono mix of the song used on the 1967 single.
Festival Of Kings – This was originally released on the Mark Wirtz Orchestra’s 1970 LP, ‘Come Back & Shake Me’. Even though it appeared on the 1996 ‘Teenage Opera OST’, it is unclear is this was ever meant to be a part of the project.
Sam (From A Teenage Opera)– Mono mix of the song used on the 1967 single.
Thimble Full Of Puzzles – B Side to the ‘Sam’ single. Originally used on the ‘Mood Mosaic’ LP, a Wirtz project that came out just before he started work on the ‘Teenage Opera’ project.
Paranoiac Woodcutter #1 – Originally this tune was first reported B-side to Sam was this instrumental that would later form the foundation for ‘(He’s Our Dear Old) Weatherman.’ It’s unclear whether the song was even recorded around the same time as ‘Sam’ and Wirtz claims the title was a joke name on the session sheets – his obvious Disney influence at work.
The Sad Story Of Simon The Bugle – Listed in the sleeve notes in the 1996 RPM release as a lost track, this has been found in the subsequent years. This completed backing track under this title appears on ‘The Fantastic Story of Mark Wirtz.’ However, that track was probably made after Wirtz left EMI. Unlike other Opera tracks was recorded completely live and was not recorded at Abbey Road. It does have a distinct Opera quality to it but for Wirtz it’s a fairly ordinary arrangement. It also lacks the multiple sections that have come to distinguish the three Opera singles. The opening segment the track on ‘Fantastic Story’ was used on ‘The Song I Sing’ from Wirtz’s solo album Balloon. Later Wirtz added vocals and used the full track as ‘The Chug-a-lug Song’ on his unreleased recording ‘Tempo’. It seems likely that ‘Sad Simon’ was never recorded and even Wirtz admits that the idea may have been a last ditch effort to revive the Teenage Opera. Wirtz says that he had intended to recruit Cliff Richard as lead vocalist on ‘Sad Simon.’
The Kid Was A Killer – B Side to the single, ‘On A Saturday’
Except From A Teenage Opera (Count In Version) – The stereo version of the song but with a count not included on the original release.
Paranoiac Woodcutter #2 – see above
Mrs Raven – Wirtz looked to release this as a stand alone single in 1968 but it only got as far as the promotional disc stage. I believe that this was co-written by Norman ‘Hurricane’ Smith, producer of early Pink Floyd and engineer one numerous Beatles songs. Not part of the Teenage Opera project, but……
Knickerbocker Glory – This was the B-Side of the ‘Mrs Raven’ and this was included on the 1996 RPM release.
Grocer Jack’s Dream – From the 1996 RPM release, this is a backing track for the song ‘Except From A Teenage Opera’.
Lets Live For Tomorrow – B-Side of the ‘Mr Rainbow’ single. This does not sound like Keith West is singing this song to me.
Farewell To A Broken Doll – This was originally released on the Mark Wirtz Orchestra’s 1970 LP, ‘Come Back & Shake Me’. Even though it appeared on the 1996 ‘Teenage Opera OST’, it is unclear is this was ever meant to be a part of the project.
Fickle Lizzie Anne – A-Side of the ‘Cellophane Mary-Jane’ single.
Glory’s Theme (All Aboard) – From the 1996 RPM release, this is a backing track for the song ‘Sam (From A Teenage Opera)’.
Lead The Way – B-Side of the ‘Barefoot & Tiptoe” single
Love & Occasional Rain – This was originally released on the Mark Wirtz Orchestra’s 1970 LP, ‘Come Back & Shake Me’. Even though it appeared on the 1996 ‘Teenage Opera OST’, it is unclear is this was ever meant to be a part of the project.
Geraldine – B-Side of the ‘Dream Dream Dream’ single
Grocer Jack (Reprise) – From the 1996 RPM release, this is a small section of the backing track for the song ‘Except From A Teenage Opera’.
Two’s Company, Three Thousands A Crowd – a comedy record conceived by Wirtz during his Teenage Opera period but in no way connected to the project. The recording has a couple (Tim Rice and Samantha Jones) making love, only to be interrupted by an ever-growing crowd of people who break into a song aptly titled ‘What Goes Up, Must Come Down’ (come to think of it, on paper the idea sounds rather funny). The idea of the crowd entering the room has a striking resemblance to The Beatles later recording of the ‘Hey Jude’ chorus, an irony not lost on Wirtz. The full recording of ‘Two’s Company’ has not surfaced but a partial version is hidden at the end of CD 1 of ‘The Fantastic Story.’ A re-recorded version of ‘What Goes Up’ was later released under the name Cellophane Mop.
Except From A Teenage Opera (Shortened Version) – Released as the B-Side to the US version of the single that was on the New Voices Records label. It is unknown if Wirtz produced this himself but this is the only place this version of the song has been released.
Sam (From A Teenage Opera) (Specially Edited Version) – Wirtz produced this after the song had been released to be played on the radio. Radio stations were reluctant to play songs that were over five minutes back in the 60s, but by the time this came out, the momentum for the Teenage Opera project was waining.
Missing is the track, Little Canoe. Apparently the working title of an intended Teenage Opera track. Wirtz now claims that he may have invented the title – or at least its connection to the Teenage Opera – to appease Opera fanatics. However, an acetate from the Teenage Opera period exists with the word “Canoe” on it. I have not been able to source a copy of this track, but Wirtz has alternately claimed that this recording formed the foundation for another planned Opera track called ‘The Sad Story of Simon and His Bugle.’
Back in June, I produced a compilation looking at songs released by bands who made an impression on the charts in or just before the Britpop era, I thought it would be interesting to complete a counter compilation which looked at one of the later releases from bands associated with the era. This was inspired by me finding out that Elastic released a single called ‘The Bitch Don’t Work’ which came out in 2001. I thought the band split up after the release of the previous years ‘The Menace’ album so what other tracks were out there that I could pull together for a compilation. Well, this is what I came up with.
To qualify to be included in this compilation, the bands needed to have split up after the Britpop era (which I class as between 1994-1997), so bands that disbanded during that time (e.g. Lush) are not included.
Side A
Measured In Blood – Strangelove
Waster – Reef
Solve That – The Supernaturals
Lava Flow – Space
When I See Red – Echobelly
Side B
Vostok – Geneva
Falling Down (Radio Edit)
If I’m A Friend – Gene
Cobwebs – Cast
Side C
Why Can’t I Be You – Shed Seven
Car Crash – Supergrass
London Crawling – Rialto
Getting Your Way – Mansun
Forever In My Dreams – Pulp
Side D
The Bitch Don’t Work – Elastica
(We All Need A Little) Lifting – Dodgy
Sparkle (Acoustic) – Marion
Apple Core – Catatonia
Oxygen – Suede
Kingsize (Radio Edit) – The Boo Radleys
Measured In Blood – Strangelove
Just sneaking into the compilation as this song came out in 1998, ‘Measured In Blood’ was one of the B-Sides to the bands last single, ‘Another Night In’. Strangelove formed in Bristol in 1991, and had been waking waves in the mid 90s, especially when their song ‘Time For The Rest Of Your Life’ , which was Q Magazine’s single of the year. They disbanded in 1998 just as they seemed to be on the point of breaking through (their singles were breaking into the UK Top 40) as front man Patrick Duff felt the band had run its course. As of 2024, they have not reformed.
Waster – Reef
For those who lived through this period and watched Channel 4’s ‘TFI Friday’ will remember Reef as the band who had the lyrics of their song ‘Place Your Hands’ changed from ‘Put Your Hands On’ to ’It’s Your Letters’. Formed in Glastonbury in 1994, the band hit big when their first three albums broke into the UK top ten. ’Waster’ was their last single before they disbanded in 2003. The band reformed in 2010 and continue to perform to this day.
Solve That – The Supernaturals
Formed in Glasgow in 1991, the band are most probably best remembered for the 1997 song, ‘Smile’ The single was not as big a hit as I thought it was, just breaking into the UK top 25. It was used as part of the advertising campaign for Smile bank, the UK first fully digital bank. ‘Solve That’ was a B-Side to their last single, ‘Life Is A Motorway’. The band broke up in 2002 but reformed ten years later and have been together ever since.
Lava Flow – Space
Formed in Liverpool in 1992, Space were quite big in the Britpop era with their two albums of the period breaking into the Top 5 of the UK charts. A falling out with their record label lead them to be dropped with their proposed third album being shelved. ‘Lava Flow’ was the B-Side to their last single before they split up in 2005. However, the band reformed in 2011 and have been together ever since.
When I See Red – Echobelly
Formed in 1992 when singer Sonya Madan and guitarist Glenn Johansson met in a pub, the band hit the hights with their singles ‘Great Things’ and ‘King Of The Kerb’ but the momentum was lost after the band suffered from line up changes, legal and health issues. They took a break in 1997 before returning in 2001. ‘When I See Red’ was a B-Side to the penultimate single, ‘Tell Me Why’ with the group formally disbanding in 2004. Madan and Johansson would reform the band in 2009 and they continue to perform to this day.
Vostok – Geneva
Formed in Aberdeen in 1992, Geneva did not release any records until 1996 with third single, ‘Tranquilliser’ being the most successful by reaching number 24 in the UK charts. ‘Vostok’ was a B-Side of their last single to be released in their initial incarnation. The band split in 2000 but reformed in 2018 and have been together ever since.
Falling Down (Radio Edit) – Oasis
Formed in Manchester in 1991, Oasis burst onto the scene in 1993 with their no nonsense approached to playing, anthemic songs and sibling rivalry. Oasis were massive. All of their studio albums reached number 1 in the UK charts, and they even sold significant numbers in the USA. Their singles also sold significant numbers with only three of them not breaking into the UK top 10. It all came crashing down in 2009 when the bickering between the Gallagher brothers became too much and Noel left the band. This is the radio edit of the final A-Side, ‘Falling Down’. As of 2024, they have not reformed.
If I’m A Friend – Gene
Formed in 1993 out of the ashes of another band called Spin, Gene were classed as a Britpop band but they did draw comparisons between themselves and The Smiths because of lead singer, Martin Rossiter, was said to sound a bit like Morrisey. Their first two albums both broke into the UK top 10, with their singles from this period never went higher than number 14. Momentum was lost between the second and third albums. Their last album was released in 2001 and last single in 2004. ‘If I’m A Friend’ was a B-Side to this last single. The band disbanded in 2004 and as of 2024, they have not reformed.
Cobwebs – Cast
Formed in Liverpool in 1991 by ex-La’s bass player, John Power, Cast’s debut album ‘All Change’ became the highest selling debut album on the Polydor label at that time. A string of memorable singles followed including ‘Alright’, ‘FInetime’ and ‘Walkaway’ and the momentum continued with their second album, ‘Mother Nature Calls’. However, by the time of their last album, ‘Beetroot’, there was an attempt to change the sound and this did not go down with other members of the group and their disbanded in 2001. ‘Cobwebs’ was a B-Side for their last single, ‘Desert Drought’. The band reformed in 2010 and have been together ever since.
Why Can’t I Be You – Shed Seven
Formed in 1990 and hailing form York, Shed Seven were initially signed to Polydor but relations soured after the label decided to release best of in 1999. The band were not happy about this, feeling that it was too early into their careers for the retrospective of this nature but went along with it on the condition that two new songs from the compilation were released as singles. ‘Disco Down’ was duly released but the second was not as the label reissued three year old sing ‘Going For Gold’ instead. The band quit the label and found two more homes before deciding to call it a day in 2003. ‘Why Can’t I be You’ was their last single. The band did reform in 2007 and continue to perform to perform to this day.
Car Crash – Supergrass
Formed in Oxford in 1993, Supergrass became household names after their single ‘Alright’ reached number 2 in the UK single chart. The continued to release records up until 2008 when they split from long time label Parlophone after it had been taken over by a venture capitalist group. Singing for Cooking Vinyl, the band began recording their seventh album tentatively titled ‘Release The Drones’ but they split up before it could be finished. ‘Car Crash’ was the B-Side of their last single, but the band did reform in 2019 to play live but they have been on hiatus again since 2022.
London Crawling – Rialto
A late comer to the Britpop party, Rialto were formed in 1997 in London. Members of the band had previously worked in Kinky Machine, who had released two albums earlier in the decade. Even though they had started to place some singles in the charts, the band were dropped by their label before their debut album was released in most territories. Finding a new label, they failed to build on their initial sales and broke up in 2002. ‘London Crawling’ was their last single, which was a rerecording of the last song released by Kinky Machine.
Getting Your Way – Mansun
Formed in 1995 in Chester, main songwriter Paul Draper had been producing releasing tapes for sale across the north of England and been in a band called Grind before he and Steve King formed Mansun. Debut album, ‘Attack Of The Green Lantern’ was intended to be something very rare in this era, a concept album. However, it did not quite work out that way as Draper ran out of steam. The band split up in 203 after sessions for their forth album dragged on due to health issues and inter band divisions preventing recording from being completed. The final sessions were released as an album called ‘Kleptomania’ with ‘Getting Your Way’ was the opening track on the album as well as the B-Side to the only single released from this sessions. As of 2024, the band have not reformed.
Forever In My Dreams – Pulp
Formed as far back as 1978, Pulp had been recording artists for ten years before they started to dent the charts starting with their single ‘Razzmatazz’ in 1993. By the release of the 1998s, ‘This is Hardcore’, showed a more jaded band with a harsher sound. Wanting to release something more positive, they enlisted Scott Walker to produce but the album failed to meet expectations in terms of sales. Pulp disbanded in 2002. ‘Forever In My Dreams’ was a B-side to their final single of this era. The band have reformed a couple of times since, even releasing a one off single in 2013 called ‘After You’. They are still performing as of 2024.
The Bitch Don’t Work – Elastica
Elastica was formed in 1991 in London by Justine Frischmann and Justin Welch, whop had both been early members of Suede. Being signed to Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq’s record label gave them exposure, as well as Frichmann’s relationship with Blur front man, Damon Albarn. Their debut album was the fastest selling debut since Oasis’s a couple of years earlier, but they were dogged by accusations of plagiarism regarding a number of their songs. The band spent five years trying to record a follow up and by the time ‘The Menace’ was released, the bands time had passed. After failing to write enough material for a third album, the band released one final single, ‘The Bitch Don’t Work’ in 2001. As of 2024, the band have not reformed.
(We All Need A Little) Lifting – Dodgy
Formed in Hounslow in 1990, they released their first single on their own label in 1991 but it was once they had signed with A&M that they started to break into the charts. Classic era singles ‘Staying Out For The Summer’ and ‘Good Enough’ followed but a line up change and leaving their label lead to the band releasing their ‘Real Estate’ album on their own imprint once more. ‘(We All Need A Little) Lifting’ was their final single in this incarnation but the band reformed in 2007 and have been performing ever since.
Sparkle (Acoustic) – Marion
Formed in 1993 in Macclesfield, the stated off being lumped with the already old hat ‘Madchester’ scene and then thought of as a northern Suede, which the band felt did not help them. Their debut album, ‘This World & Body’ from 1996 reached number 10 in the UK charts, but the 18 month tour that followed it broke the band with front man Jamie Harding descending into heroin addiction. The band split up in 1999 with the acoustic version of their song ‘Sparkle’ one of the B-Sides on their last single. The band have reformed a disbanded a number of times since, and released some new music in 2016. As of 2024, they are still performing together.
Apple Core (Full Length Version) – Catatonia
Formed in 1992 in Cardiff, Catatonia were lumped in with the Cool Cymru movement. Formed by Cerys Matthews and Mark Roberts, the band received some media attention after they released their debut EP, ‘For Tinkerbell’. Sales and media attention steadily increased until they released ‘their ‘Mulder & Scully’ single, which reached number 3 in the UK chart. The band continued to release albums almost yearly but this took a toll on Matthews who went into rehab in 2001. The band split and the full length version of album track ‘Apple Core’ was the B-side to their last single. As of 2024, the band have not reformed.
Oxygen – Suede
Formed in 1989 in London, Suede were one of the original Britpop bands even though the band would not thank me for saying it. Their debut self titled album was the fastest selling debut album single ‘Welcome To The Pleasuredome’ by Frank Goes To Hollywood ten years earlier. Original guitar player, Bernard Butler left during the tense sessions of the second album but the band came back with a-vengeance with their third album. However, the momentum was lost with Anderson deadening into drug addiction. 2002’s ‘A New Morning’ album took two years to record and £1 million to make but sale were poor. The band decided to split in 2003 with the release of their singles compilation. On there was one new song, ‘Attitude’ with with ‘Oxygen’ being one of the B-Sides. The band reformed in 2010 and have been performing and releasing new music ever since.
Kingsize (Radio Edit) – The Boo Radleys
Formed in 1988 in Wallasey, The Boo Radleys made records that have been categorised as noise pop, dream pop and shoe gaze before ‘Wake Up Boo!’ came out in 1995. This slice of pop perfection was their biggest hit but it lead to main songwriter Martin Carr not wanting to repeat himself so they proceeded the ‘C’mon Kids’ album. It was a commercial disappointment and this continued with 1998s ‘Kingsize’. The band split up after the release of this album, with ‘Kingsize’ meant to be they last single A-Side. The release was cancelled but the band did return and put out new music in 2022, without Martin Carr.
Even though tapes were on the way out by the time the last of the songs on this compilation was released, it just seemed to be the perfect image for this cover.
Unlike the ‘Early Alternatives’ compilation from June (https://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/various-artists-early-alternatives/), this would fit nicely onto a CD but being me but I have compiled this as though it were a vinyl release.
And so we come to the last of my alternatives of the first four Smashing Pumpkins albums. Considering the dramas that had plagued the band as they recorded their first two albums, they paled into what happened on the Mellon Collie tour. Both dummer Jimmy Chamberlain and touring keyboard player, Jonathan Melvoin overdosed on heroin. Melvoin unfortunately died. Chamberlain survived but was fired form the group.
Corgan had also felt that he had taken guitar driven rock as far as he could so he decided that the next album would be a very different beast. This proved to be the case with more electronica and acoustic guitar were used a lot more. The first evidence of this being the song ‘Eye’, which featured on the soundtrack to the David Lynch movie, ‘Lost Highway’. After contributing a song to the ‘Batman & Robin’ movie (called ‘The End Is the Beginning Is the End’), mains songwriter Billy Corgan suggested that this songs electronic/guitar hybrid was the future sound of the band. However, their next album which was called ‘Adore’ did not sound like this single at all.
The album had a more somber feel to it compared to the Pumpkins albums that came before it. This could be attributed to the death of Morgan’s mother and divorce from his then wife. The change of direction was praised by the critics but it affected sales with this being the first Pumpkins record not to outsell its predecessor. The hard rock guitar sound would return for their fifth album, ‘Machina/The Machines Of God’ which came out in 2000.
What I did not realise when I bought ‘Adore’ on vinyl back in 1998 was that this mix was in mono. The clues were there in that the record label was red, the same as the Decca Record label would do for their mono releases back in the 1960s. Stereo releases on Decca at the same time had blue labels. I should have been able to work it out with my ears as well but it was only with the release of the deluxe edition 2014 that I realised there were two different mixes. I have followed the same track listing as the vinyl with one difference. The original vinyl came as a three sided affair, so for my version, the fourth side it comes with a selection of B-Sides which are all the original versions of these songs.
Side A
To Shelia – Early Banjo Version (Adore Deluxe)
Ava Adore – Puffy Combs Remix 1998 (Adore Deluxe)
Perfect – Nellie Hooper Mix (Rarities & B-Sides)
Daphne Descends – Live: Sao Paulo Session (Adore Deluxe)
Once Upon A Time – Sadlands Demo (Adore Deluxe)
Side B
Tear – From Digital Transfer (Adore Deluxe)
Crestfallen – Matt Walker Realigned 2014 (Adore Deluxe)
Appels + Oranjes (Adore Deluxe)
Pug – Matt Walker Reimagined (Adore Deluxe)
The Tale Of Dusty & Pistol Pete – Sandlands Demo (Adore Deluxe)
Side C
Annie-Dog – Take 10/CRC Demo (Adore Deluxe)
Shame – Take 1 (Adore Deluxe)
Behold! The Night Mare – Alternative Vocal (Adore Deluxe)
For Martha – Take 1/CRC Demo (Adore Deluxe)
Blank Page – Early Version (Adore Deluxe)
Side D
Daphne Descends – Kerry B. Mix (Perfect Single B-Side)
Summer – Perfect (Single B-Side)
Once In A While (Ava Adore Single B-Side)
Czarina (Ava Adore Single B-Side)
Call Out Hook (Crestfallen/To Shelia Single Bonus Track)
