Erasure
I’m very tired and I’ve already said a lot about Erasure, so I’m going to shut up and let y’all get yo’ groove on. These are all off the 12-inch single for ‘Drama!’
Drama (Krucial Mix)
Sweet Sweet Baby (Medi-Mix)
Paradise (Lost & Found Mix)
Drama! (Act 2)
Sweet, Sweet Baby (Moo Moo Mix)
Paradise

A few days ago someone named Kristen posted a comment about my Urgh! files. Kristen, if you are out there, send me an email, I may have something that can help you and your station more than those files.

I have a few more Erasure B-sides I wanted to post tonight, but my connection is being ass so I’m not able to. Those should be up within 24 hours or so. Until then enjoy some lovely Depeche Mode songs about being a junkie, and a song by The Beat.

Depeche Mode
Never Let Me Down Again (Split Mix)
Never Let Me Down Again (Aggro Mix)
Never Let Me Down Again (Tsangarides Mix)
Pleasure, Little Treasure (Glitter Mix)
Pleasure, Little Treasure (Join mix)
There are a lot of Depeche Mode compilations and greatest hits sets out there. The newest one (The Best Of Depeche Mode, Volume 1) is a pretty good single-disc collection if you are just getting into the group. As great as that disc is, I think the band should release a themed collection featuring all of their songs about heroin. Between ‘Never Let Me Down Again’, ‘Shake The Disease’, Clean’, ‘Painkiller’ and the countless other tunes Martin Gore wrote while sticking a needle into his arm there’ s the makings of a great CD! These mixes are off of the ‘Never Let Me Down Again’ Maxi-Single.

The (English) Beat
What’s Your Best Thing (Dub Version)
The English Beat’s (or The Beat if you live in any country other than America) best thing was ‘Save If For Later.’ My best thing is my AMAZING ass.

I’m heading to lovely Toledo, Ohio today to spend Thanksgiving with my family, so this will be my last post for the week – I’ll try to make it count. A quick note on reposting previous songs. I usually don’t do it, however, if you email me instead of leaving a comment asking, you have much better chances of it happening.

Edgar Froese
Macula Transfer (Complete Record)
Sometimes I buy weird shit on a whim only to find out that it’s crazy-rare and hard to find. This is one of those. Edgar Froese is one of the founding members of Tangerine Dream, a band I’ve always had a passing interest in. I picked this solo album of his up not knowing the bizarre history around it. Originally released in 1976, it somehow drifted into copyright limbo in the 90s. When it was released on CD Froese threatened legal action and it was quickly pulled. He then re-recorded and remixed it for his official CD release. Of course, the die-hard Tangerine Dream fans (and there must be some) want the original. So here it is. Actually if you have any interest in ambient or electronic music you might enjoy it. Froese composed this album during flights, and each song is named after the flight he was on at the time.

School Of Fish
The Greatest Living Englishman
The Turtle Song
Disconnected
This Is Where I Belong
I did a post about these guys before and they are really growing on me. These tracks are from The Wrong Sampler an odd vinyl only release from 1991. Aside from being transparent blue (oooh nifty!) it’s also cool because the groove starts at the inside and goes out. Silly but fun. Also silly is that they added comments to the tracklisting, I love what the one about ‘This Is Where I Belong’ the most:

We wanted to see our names next to Ray Davies’. Now we have. This is the greatest moment of our lives. It’s all downhill from here. Straight down a really steep hill.

Anyways, none of these tracks are on CD, so this EP gets the record-geek triple threat of having a gimmick, being a transparent cover and consisting primarily of vinyl exclusives!

Debbie Harry
Rush Rush (Extended Version)
This is from the Scarface soundtrack (it was also in GTA III), if the gangstas dig that movie so much how come they all aren’t Blondie fans too? Fucking hypocrites.

P.M. Dawn
Reality Used To Be A Friend Of Mind (Club Mix)
I wish more hip-hop artists were as chill as these dudes. This is off of a 12 inch single and is a song I can definitely identify with.

The Odd Couple
You’re So Vain
The Odd Couple Opera
Okay, I don’t even know where to begin. For some reason Jack Klugman and Tony Randall decided to release an album as Felix and Oscar. This despite the fact that music didn’t really play a role in the Odd Couple series, and the painfully obvious fact that both of them can’t sing worth shit (well, Randall isn’t all that bad, but Klugman’s voice is about as melodic and elegant sounding as his last name.) This was originally released in 1973 and rightfully faded into obscurity since then. I could post the entire album, but I don’t want to subject my readers to such pain. Instead I’ve chosen two choice tracks. One is their very…unique take on the Carly Simon classic “You’re So Vain” and the other is a 10 minute OPERA about Felix being mad about Oscar not cleaning the apartment. Enjoy…well, listen to them at least.

Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea
Benefit concerts were all the rage in the late 70s and early 80s – I guess if there’s going to be fad in pop music it might as well be one that can help people. This one was for the victims of Pol Pot in Cambodia. Recorded in 1979 it features quite the unusual line-up, with 70s megastars like The Who sharing the stage with The Pretenders and Ian Dury. There were in fact four seperate concerts held, but this LP only features a few songs from each night. The selections are a little odd though, while The Who get an entire side (as they should), Queen and The Clash only get one song each. Fuckin’ Wings, on the other hand, get half of the last side.

The record closes with a performance by Rockestra, which was a supergroup organized by Paul McCartney for the Wings album Back To The Egg. It’s not really a supergroup as much as it is a really big jam, and it featured over 20 musicians rocking out. Rockestra included superstars Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney (with Linda), Robert Plan, John Paul Jones, John Bonham (less than a year before his death), and Dave Edmunds. Also on stage is Gary Brooker of Procul Harum, James Honeyman-Scott of The Pretenders (less than two years before his untimely death), Kenney Jones of The Faces (and replacement drummer of The Who) Denny Laine from The Moody Blues, and Bruce Thomas from The Faces. Most of Wings was up there as well.

Since the album is long out of print I’m putting the whole thing up as a zip file. I also didn’t feel like uploading 20 individual tracks and posting the links to all of them. It’s a big file but it’s well worth it in my opinion.

Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea
The Who
Baba O’Riley
Sister Disco
Behind Blue Eyes
See Me, Feel Me

The Pretenders
The Wait
Precious
Tattooed Love Boys

Elvis Costello & The Attractions – The Imposter
Rockpile – Crawling From The Wreckage
Rockpile & Robert Plant – Little Sister
Queen – Now I’m Here
The Clash – Amragideon Time
Ian Dury & The Blockheads – Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick (note: this song is awesome)
The Specials – Monkey Man

Paul McCartney & Wings
Got To Get You Into My Life
Every Night
Coming Up

Rockestra
Lucille
Let It Be
Rockestra Theme

Look up there! I have a logo! Don’t tell me it sucks. If you tell me it sucks I’ll cry like a little girl. I’m glad I’m getting more comments from my readers – just remember guys, punctuation is important! Especially if your posting requests, it makes it much easier for me to understand what you are asking for.

Depeche Mode
John The Revelator (UNKLE dub)
Lilian (Robag Wruhme Slomoschen Kikker)
I didn’t pick up Playing The Angel, mostly because I really hate that song ‘Precious.’ However, in a bass-ackwards move typical of me, I did buy the limited edition picture disc of ‘John The Revelator.’ Here are the two remixes off of that.

U2
Elevation (Escalation Mix)
Elevation (Influx Remix)
Elevation (Quincey & Sonance Remix)
The album version of this song kind of sucks – it lacks energy and is just boring. The mix that was made for the Tomb Raider soundtrack was fucking awesome, and was easily one of the best singles of that year. These mixes are somewhere in between. The Eastern-flavored Influx Remix is pretty nice, but the Escalation Mix just keeps going…and going…and going. I thought I was playing it at the wrong speed.

Talking Heads
And She Was (Extended Remix)
Television Man (Extended Remix)
Blind (Extended Remix)
Extended remixes!! I love me some extended remixes. Roger Ebert once said that a good movie is never long enough and bad movie isn’t over a second too soon. I feel the same way about some songs. I could listen to ‘And She Was’ That being said, I really have nothing to say about The Talking Heads. It is the Talking Heads after all, I think every relevant thing about them has been said. Rock on.

Kaiser Chiefs
Another Number
Seventeen Cups
Not Surprised
I saw these guys at Lollapalooza in 2005 and holy shit were they amazing. It was about 100 degrees out that day and the lead singer had the flu pretty bad so he looked like death warmed over. Despite his near-death conditions, he rocked out hardcore until he couldn’t sing anymore, at which point he grabbed two people from the audience to sing for him while he climbed the rafters. Word is that immediately after the show he threw up and passed out. I don’t care if these guys are part of the new-new-wave movement, that’s fucking metal! these tracks are B-sides to ‘Everyday I Love You Less And Less.’

Ok Go
We Dug A Hole
It’s Tough To Have A Crush When The Boy Doesn’t Feel The Same Way You Do
Thanks to silly dance moves and some creative uses of treadmills these guys are totally huge now and I couldn’t be happier. I first saw them in 2002, they were opening for The Vines at some dive in Detroit and they nearly stole the show. I had the pleasure of talking to them afterwards and was amazed at how damn nice they were. Since then I’ve seen them live four other times and always leave their shows with a smile on my face. They’re the best power-pop band since Cheap Trick. These are two tracks off of the Brown EP.

Berlin
Dancing In Berlin (Dance Mix)
No More Words (Dance Mix)
If I ever had the chance I would do things to Terri Nunn that would have her…I can’t think of a funny/non-creepy way to end that sentence. I’m just going to post these two B-sides to ‘No More Words’ and be done with it.

Polyrock Radio Special
I first discovered Polyrock at Lost Bands Of The New Wave Era (an amazing blog) and saw them again later at another blog (I think Scenestars). The definition of an unjustly forgotten band, Polyrock was an early 80s post-punk/synth band that had the fortune of being produced by Philip Glass. Many people call them Philip Glass’ answer to The Talking Heads, but I never knew The Talking Heads were a question to anyone, let alone Philip Glass! Besides, it’s not like they didn’t exist before he joined up.

All of Polyrock’s albums are out of print and have never been released on CD. That’s a damn shame, because their debut is amazing and their follow-up ain’t half bad either. Neither of them seemed to sell though. At least RCA, their label, seemed to have tried. I’ve seen several magazines from the time period with full-page Polyrock ads, and they also released this promotional radio special featuring several songs by the band, as well as interviews with Philip Glass and his co-producer. I’ve never even heard of this before and have no idea as to how rare this is. Anyone with an interest in the band, radio programs, or Philip Glass should really check this one out.

Tracklist (excluding interviews and station breaks)
Green For Go
Shut Your Face
#7
Romantic Me
Go West
Sound Alarm
No Love Lost
Your Dragging Feet (Interview is in the middle)
Body Me
This Song
Bucket Rider

New turntable. No more slightly faster songs. Damn my obsessive compulsive tendencies and my undying need to please everyone all the time.

The Strokes
Last Night (Original Version)
Modern Age (Original Version)
Modern Girls And Old Fashioned Men (w/ Regina Spector)
Wow, a blog posting about The Strokes! How 2001 of me! Well, the single was sitting in a pile of unrecorded 45s and I thought ‘what the Hell.’ The first two tracks were taken off of their independently released single. These versions are different than the ones that appeared on their debut album. ‘Modern Girls And Old Fashioned Men’ is a B-side to ‘Reptilia’ and features backing vocals by the lovely Soviet goddess Regina Spector, someone who’ll I’ll probably revisit on this blog pretty soon.

Moby
Whip It (Heavy Metal Version)
Remember when Moby went all metal on our asses? Why the fuck did he do that? I mean, sure his cover of ‘That’s When I Reach For My Revolver’ was alright, but did the world really need Animal Rights? One good thing that came from it was this B-side though, an awesomely odd cover of Devo’s ‘Whip It.’ The first time I heard this I thought the record was playing at the wrong speed.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Let Me Know (Demo)
From the picture disc single of ‘Gold Lion’. I wasn’t a big fan of their second release, maybe I should give it a second chance.

Nirvana
Blew (Live)
Stain (Live)
Been A Son (Live)
I’m not going to wax poetic on the importance of Nirvana, if you don’t know…well, you probably know, so what’s the point? Anyways, these are off a shitty looking bootleg EP called Alive II that I scored from Mad Hatter a few years ago. It was recorded on April 4th, 1990 at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, Michigan (which is a great place to see a show). I’m looking forward to the new DVD release of Live! Tonight! Sold Out! since I never got to see the band live during their all too short existence. Don’t complain about the quality of these – they are bootlegs after all.

Anti-Flag
What Do You Think About Western Civilization (Demo Version)
Die For The Government (Live)
Before Anti-Flag the biggest band to come out of Pittsburgh was Wild Cherry. That’s quite a musical legacy my town has. In case your wondering, the next big act to come out of Pittsburgh will be Grand Buffet. Anyways, these two tracks by the horribly talented but utterly humorless anti-everything punk rockers come from the ‘Emirge’ single.

I pissed off at least one person with yesterday’s rant, which was kind of the goal I guess. Several people (including Mr. Anonymous in my comments) told me that name-calling doesn’t make a difference. And that’s probably true. Petitions, organized protests, non-violent resistance and civil disobedience are much more effective. If you are truly upset with something, get involved and fight to change it. That being said…name-calling is much more fun and far easier to do in my room at 3 o’clock in the morning! I do more constructive things with my negative energy, believe me, but sometimes it just feels good to cuss someone out.

Anyways, I have more Erasure for you! These tracks are off of the Chains Of Love and Oh L’ Amour 12” singles, respectively. If you don’t feel like downloading four different versions of ‘Chains Of Love’ I recommend ‘The Unfettered Mix’ the most – although if you’re going by which one has the best name, then you can’t go wrong with ‘Truly In Love With The Marks Bros. Mix.’ No matter what, you have to download their groovy cover of ‘The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly’ a song that for some strange reason I like to listen to while playing Rockstar’s Table Tennis game for the Xbox360.

Erasure
Chains Of Love (The Unfettered Mix)
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
Chains Of Love (The Foghorn Mix)
Chains Of Love (Truly In Love With The Marks Bros. Mix)
Don’t Surprise (Country Joe Mix)
Chains Of Love (Fetter Dub Dub)
Oh L’Amour (The Funky Sisters Remix)
Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! (12” Mix)
March On Down The Line

Neil Young – Trans
And now for something…surprisingly similar. I posted two tracks of this oddity before, but you sick bastards wanted more. So here you go – the complete Trans, AKA Neil Young’s electronic album. Released in 1982, this album quickly tumbled into obscurity and has never been heard from again. The story behind it is pretty interesting though, supposedly, Young discovered that his Autistic son responded better to him when he spoke through a vocoder, so he recorded several songs that way (never mind that no one else could understand a word he said). I suspect that Young also did this in yet another one of his attempts to not “burn out or fade away.” Not every song on Trans has vocoder effects on it, and even the ones that do are still unmistakably Neil Young songs. Stand-outs include ‘Sample & Hold’ and the epic ‘Like An Inca.’ It may not be the man’s strongest album, but it is FAR from his weakest, and it’s a damn shame its never been re-released on CD in America.

I must mention that these files aren’t of the greatest quality. The copy of Trans I have is a severely used one I found at a Record Exchange for about four bucks. I fixed the skips and scratches, but the fidelity still leaves a lot to be desired. I’m looking for a better copy. (And don’t recommended the import CD, some the songs were remixed and do not sound the same.)

Erasure – one of the gayest bands on the face of the Earth. I don’t mean that in the ‘God, that’s so GAY’ way, but in the literal ‘this is the musical equivalent of two gay men making out at a Judy Garland film festival’ kind of way. I love them though, and if you can’t be secure enough in your sexuality to shake your ass to perfect dance tunes like ‘Sometimes’ and ‘Chains Of Love’ then you have some serious issues to work out.

POLITICAL RANT WARNING. IF YOU ARE CONSERVATIVE, OR IF YOU DON’T LIVE IN AMERICA AND DON’T CARE ABOUT AMERICAN POLITICS, YOU MAY WANT TO SCROLL DOWN A BIT.

If there is one person I’m sure of that wouldn’t be caught dead shaking his tush to Erasure is everyone’ favorite homophobic asshole, Rick Santorum. Here in the states its election day, and I will soon have the joy of voting against him in my local senate race. I’ve been force-fed his political advertisements for months now, I’m sick of them, and I need to vent.

I hate that little-dicked shitstain of humanity. Santorum’s gay-bashing/woman-hating political viewpoints are comparable to the segregationist views of conservatives in the 1950s and 60s, and will be just as reviled and embarrassing in the years to come. This stupid little twat can’t seem to understand the difference between pedophiles and homosexuals (he blamed ‘the gays’ for the Catholic Church scandal) and claims that homosexuality will bring the downfall of American society (how? who knows – I’m assuming it will involve episodes of Queer As Folk, and amazingly well-dressed men.) I hate hate hate hate HATE him.

The best thing about him though is that you just know someone as homophobic and hateful as him goes home at night, he waits till the wife is sound asleep, and then spanks his tiny cock while looking at hot hot gay porno. When he’s booted from the Senate I hope he sinks into a spiral of self-hating depression that will end with him being found half-dead in a sleazy motel room, stroking the cock of a tweaked-out Ted Haggard while Mark Foley and two of his boy-toys take turns pounding his uptight asshole raw.

OFFENSIVE POLITICAL RANT DONE. THANK YOU.

Ahhh…that felt GOOD. Anyways, here are some rare Erasure b-sides. Play them on your iPod when you vote today. I’ll have some more great Erasure tracks tomorrow or early Thursday.

Erasure
Sometimes (extended mix)
Sometimes (shiver mix)
It Doesn’t Have To (The Boop Oopa Doo Mix)
Sexuality (Private Mix)