Here you will gain exclusive access to my own personal record collection! I try to bring you mp3s of rare tracks, deleted material, long forgotten artists, total flops and down right obscure shit. Often, my choices were only available on vinyl or were just plain unreleased, the aim being to indulge an old fan or inspire a new one. I try not to post up forthcoming releases or anything that's too readily available. Honest, Gov!

There's a tenuous thread running through the tracks but your requests are always welcome and I'll try and squeeze them in amongst my own fancies... eventually.

Do read all the blurb, as there's often links to extra tracks lurking in there... ; )

Tracks are only available for a 'limited time' folks (sometimes months!), so get them while you can!



Now for the science bit! To access the music, please click on 'Download' and you'll be whisked off to those nice people over at MediaFire. Tracks are ripped at 192 kbps and are always taken from the highest quality source available. All of the music offered here has been purchased by myself and is part of my own collection. Tracks are for evaluation purposes only and wherever possible, purchasing is always encouraged. If you own the copyright to any of the material posted here or anywhere else on this site and are very cross with me, please email me with threats and such like...

646
:: Chesney Hawkes :: I'm A Man Not A Boy :: Download

It's the one and only Chesney Hawkes! British teen heart throb  Hawkes was born in Windsor, Berkshire and attended Charters School in Sunningdale. He was named after the singer and comedian, Chesney Allen and his father is the singer Len 'Chip' Hawkes, formerly of the 1960s band The Tremeloes. His mother is former actress and game show hostess, Carol Dilworth (she was in an episode of 'Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased)'). Keely Hawkes, his sister, was the lead singer of '90s band Transister (we featured them in 129!) and is currently a songwriter based in Los Angeles. Hawkes' own career began at 19, when he appeared as the title character in the film 'Buddy's Song', starring alongside The Who's Roger Daltrey. The movie was a flop, but its soundtrack proved to be quite popular in the UK. In March 1991, Chesney released his biggest hit and signature tune, 'The One And Only', from the film's soundtrack. Written by '80s pop star Nik Kershaw, the song was later featured in the opening credits of 'Doc Hollywood' (1991), starring Michael J. Fox. The single spent five weeks at #1 and made him an instant, if brief, star. Hawkes was unable to follow the success of that first single, despite releasing eight singles in total, including follow-up 'I'm A Man Not A Boy', his last top 40 entry (I think it’s better that his debut!). In 1993, his single 'What's Wrong With This Picture?' reached #63 in the UK and his 2002 collaboration with Adam Schlesinger of Fountains Of Wayne, 'Stay Away Baby Jane', reached #74 in the UK singles chart. A lack of public interest convinced Chesney to pursue acting instead. He landed several minor roles, including those in the 1995 rock musical 'McGregor's Trap' and 1997's 'Prince Valiant', and made appearances on several celebrity/reality TV shows in the UK. Hawkes returned to the media's attention with his involvement in Channel 4's 'The Games' (AKA ‘Minor Celebrities In Lycra’) in March 2005, in which he won a bronze medal. He also took part in the ITV program, 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' in April that year, covering 'She's The One' (originally by Robbie Williams) and he won his heat. He released a single called 'Another Fine Mess' in May 2005 which reached #48; it was his biggest-selling single for over a decade. :( Hawkes was involved in a project called The Lexus Symphony Orchestra, a corporate promotion designed to showcase the quality of Lexus' in-car audio systems. Hawkes composed two original pieces of music performed by The London Symphony Orchestra for these events held at Castle Howard and Crystal Palace, in August 2007. Hawkes next appeared in a new musical, 'Can't Smile Without You', featuring the songs of Barry Manilow. In the show, Hawkes plays the part of Tony Lowiman who falls in love with a girl called Mandy when he visits New York. Things take a turn for the worse when Tony is brutally attacked one night outside a club. The musical includes over 40 Manilow songs and a national tour started at the Liverpool Empire Theatre on 15 September 2008, prior to performances in the West End. Hawkes also appeared briefly in a cherry picker on Channel 4's 'Celebrity Big Brother' in January 2009. 'The One And Only' was used in a task as a cue to have contestants worship at a Chesney Hawkes shrine. While other contestants were required to act as paparazzi who had to take photos of any celebrities that appeared in the cherry picker, which was raised above the house compound wall... Trivia! Entrepreneur and star of TVs 'Dragon's Den', Duncan Bannatyne is a big fan of Chesney’s and Hawkes performed as a surprise at his birthday party a few years back. Website.

645
:: Saffron :: One Love (Original Edit) :: Download

Nigeria-born Samantha Marie Sprackling, more commonly known as Saffron, is the lead singer of electronica band Republica. She has a blend of Portuguese, Chinese and English ancestry in her blood and was brought up on the English south coast where she became immersed in acid house culture. She originally trained as a dancer and actress, performing for two years in London's 'Starlight Express', and appearing in pop videos like Chesney Hawkes' 'The One And Only' (video, '91) and Siouxsie And The Banshees 'Stargazer' ('93). She was also recruited by club act N’Joi to dance and mime, but she doesn't actually perform vocals on any of their releases. She can be seen in their videos 'Anthem' ('90) here and 'Mindflux' ('91) here. And Here she is performing with them on 'Top Of The Pops', too. She was signed to WEA Records as a solo act between 1992-3, where she worked with producers Eric Kupper, Micky Finn, Frankie Knuckles, Jah Wobble and Mark Moore on a series of dance singles. Her first release, 'Solitaire', never made it passed the club promo stage and her official debut single was 'One Love' (video), followed by another promo-only release, 'Losing Control', and then two more full scale releases, 'Circles' (featured in 177) and 'World Of You'. None of the singles were successful and no parent album was ever issued. 'One Love' received a release in the USA and Saffron joined The Shamen on their American tour as their support act to promote it. It's worth pointing out that 'Solitaire' appears as the B-side on the USA CD single of 'One Love' - this is the only place to get this track digitally. Back in the UK, Saffron was dropped by WEA in early 1993 but she fell on her feet when she joined forces with Tim Dorney and Andy Todd to form Republica the same year. Following the break up of Republica in 1998, Saffron worked with Robert Smith of The Cure on the 'Just Say Yes' single, Junkie XL on his 'Beauty Never Fades' album, Ace (Ex-Skunk Anansie) on his 'Still Hungry' album, Carl Cox on his 'Second Sign' album, Deepsky on their 'In Silico' album and Jeff Beck on his 'Jeff' album, as well as her own project, Swarm, which resulted in just the one track, 'If My Friends Could See Me Now' (listen), a collaboration with Curve. As of 2010, Saffron can be once again found fronting a reformed Republica.

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:: Republica :: House Special :: Download

Keyboard player Tim Dorney (Ex-Flowered Up) and producer Andy Todd (Altered Images, Prefab Sprout, Barbra Streisand) founded indie-punk, techno-pop act Republica in 1993. Vocalist Samantha Sprackling (AKA Saffron) had previously been hired by club act N’Joi, to dance and mime their hit 'Anthem'  in 1990 and also had a brief attempt at a solo career under her belt before meeting Dorney and Todd. The three-piece recruited guitarist Johnny Male (Ex-Soul Family Sensation) and drummer Dave Barborossa (Ex-Bow Wow Wow & Adam & The Ants), and were signed by Deconstruction Records. Early releases, such as 'Out Of This World' ('93), 'Bloke' (video, '94) and 'Holly' ('95), proved popular in clubland but didn't penetrate the airwaves or singles chart, where Brit Pop had by now established a firm grip. The initial release of 'Ready To Go' (video, '96) suffered a similar fate when it stalled at #46 in the UK singles chart. After a successful USA tour the same year, resulting in a #1 on the Modern Rock Chart, a 'US Mix' was released here in the UK in 1997 and Republica had their first bona fide hit. The new, rockier mix of 'Ready To Go' (video) hit #13 and the group had found their sound. 'Melody Maker' wrote that Republica had created a new musical genre that they dubbed 'electronica' and Saffron quickly found herself a style icon, with her striking red-streaked fringe. A debut album had already been recorded and completed but the band returned to several tracks to remix them, probably at the suggestion of the label, leading them away from the club dance floor and to a more radio-friendly rock sound. Follow-up single, 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' (video), was one such track and it proved even more successful, storming the UK singles chart, hitting #7. The track was also included on the soundtrack of box office smash horror flick, 'Scream'. The band's self-titled debut album was released in March 1997 and reached #4 in the UK Album Chart. Click here to download the original version of ‘Republica’, which was only ever released in the USA as a promotional CD. It includes an otherwise unreleased instrumental track, 'Introlude', plus the alternative/original club versions of 'Bloke', 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' and ‘Holly’. Republica spent the rest of 1997 touring, clocking up appearances at every major festival and also re-issued their album with new artwork and a bonus disc of live tracks. They found time to contribute a cover of 'Are 'Friends' Electric?' to the Gary Numan tribute album 'Random', too and Saffron leant her vocals to The Prodigy's cover of the L7 track, 'Fuel My Fire', from their #1 'Fat Of The Land' album. 1998 saw Republica return with brand new material, 'From Rush Hour With Love' (video), the lead single from their second album, which hit #20. 'House Special' was the exclusive B-Side on the 7" vinyl format of the single and features Saffron reading through a Chinese takeaway menu! The album 'Speed Ballads', arrived shortly after but only managed to reach #37 on the UK Album Chart, whereas in the USA, the album just wasn't released at all. The band was suffering as result of their label, Deconstruction, folding just after the album's release. This meant that a follow-up single, 'Try Anything' (video), was cancelled, although promo copies of the CD single exist, featuring two additional live tracks. Republica quietly disbanded, whilst Deconstruction's back catalogue was swallowed up by BMG, who eventually released a 'Best Of Republica' set (a 'cut'n'shut' of selections from both albums) in 2002, without the consent of the band. 5 years later, 'Ready To Go' was remixed by Tomcraft and appears on his 2007 album, 'For The Queen'. Fast forward another 3 years to 2010, and Republica have now reformed. Prompted by the use of the original recording in The 2010 World Cup promotion, 'Ready To Go 2010', produced by Andy Gray and Alan Moulder, was released in June, supported by a string of live dates. New material is also said to be on the cards... Website.

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:: Adam & The Ants :: Cleopatra :: Download

One of the seminal figures of the new wave movement and '80s pop pin-up, Adam Ant morphed through several distinct phases in his colourful music career. Initially, he explored a jagged, guitar-oriented post-punk with his group Adam & The Ants. Formed with guitarist Lester Square, bassist Andy Warren and drummer Paul Flanagan in London in 1977, the group's approach was much more theatrical than most punk groups doing the rounds, incorporating sadomasochistic imagery into their shows and artwork. During this time, the group's line-up was fairly unstable, with Square eventually being replaced by Mark Gaumont. The band released their debut, 'Dirk Wears White Sox', on Do It Records in 1979. An ambitious and somewhat dark album, 'Dirk...' is filled with jerky rhythms, angular guitar riffs, glam rock elements and plenty of tongue in cheek. 'Cleopatra' being a prime example. Adam acquired all rights to the record in 1983, reissuing it in a re-sequenced and remixed form, with the tracks 'Catholic Day' and 'Day I Met God' replaced entirely by 'Zerox' and 'Kick', as well as including a new version of 'Cartrouble'. At the time of its release, 'Dirk Wears White Sox' wasn't a critical or commercial success, and the band felt the need to rework their image if they were to last the distance. Ant hired Malcolm McLaren, the manager of The Sex Pistols, to help redefine their image. McLaren dressed the band in pirate outfits and suggested a more accessible and pop-oriented, rhythmic variation on punk. Adam & The Ants followed his advice, preparing material for a new album. However, McLaren had other ideas and persuaded all of The Ants to leave Adam behind, recruiting them instead for his own gang of music bandits, Bow Wow Wow. Adam Ant immediately formed a whole new band of Ants, adding guitarist Marco Pirroni, bassist Kevin Mooney and drummers Terry Lee Miall and Merrick. Pirroni, in particular, became very important in the band's musical direction, co-writing the majority of the songs with Adam, thus beginning a collaboration between the duo that would continue into the '90s. Driven by a relentless, driving beat and chanting melodies, the new band's first album, 1980's 'Kings Of The Wild Frontier', became an enormous hit in the UK, launching three top 10 hit singles, 'Kings Of The Wild Frontier' (#2, video), 'Dog Eat Dog' (#4) and 'Ant Music' (#2). The band's success was helped by a series of visually enticing videos, prominently featuring the swoonsome Adam Ant decked out in pirate gear. 'Prince Charming', released the following year, retained the same formula as 'Kings Of The Wild Frontier', spawning two number one singles, 'Stand And Deliver' (video) and 'Prince Charming' (video). Even though the album was a commercial success, the formula was by this time beginning to wear thin. Adam next ditched The Ants for a solo career, retaining Marco Pirroni as a songwriting collaborator and a supporting musician. Adam's first solo album, 'Friend Or Foe', was released in 1982 and featured the slightly irritating number one single, 'Goody Two Shoes' and the top 10 title track. Although his next album, 1983's 'Strip', had some highlights and a couple of hit singles, it marked the end of his reign as one of Britain's top pop stars. Released in 1985, the Tony Visconti-produced 'Vive Le Rock' had some fun moments, but the performance was too studied and the record didn't spawn any hit singles, so Adam Ant pursued a surprisingly successful career in acting. In 1990, Ant made a comeback with the catchy hit single 'Room At The Top' from the 'Manners & Physique' album, but the record failed to produce another hit single. For the next five years, Ant concentrated again on acting. By the time Adam Ant returned to recording in 1995, echoes of his music could be heard in the spiky singles of Elastica (who styled their debut LP on the 'Kings Of The Wild Frontier' vinyl, with a free catalogue & flexi disc, which featured their cover of 'Cleopatra'), the neo-goth industrial rock of Nine Inch Nails (who covered Ant's 'Physical (You're So)'), and the pseudo-glam of Suede. Instead of capitalizing on the burgeoning new wave revival, Adam Ant's 1995 comeback 'Wonderful' had little to do with the stylish, intensely rhythmic music he made in the early '80s. Instead, the album repositioned him as a more mainstream, mature pop/rock star, with crafted songs that featured acoustic guitars as prominently as electronics. The album was a moderate hit, as was the single of the same name, enabling him to stretch his career out for a couple more years. More recently, Adam was awarded the 'Q Magazine' Music Icon Award, has returned to performing live as well as the recording studio, suffered some mental health problems and released an autobiography. New material has been talked about but as yet, nothing has materialised.... Bonus tracks! When we first featured Adam & The Ants (135), we gave you the B-Side 'Beat My Guest'... this time, here is another old B-Side, 'Red Scab' and here is 'A.N.T.S.', a re-take on The Village People's 'Y.M.C.A.' from the 'Flexi Pop Magazine' flexi disc freebie from 1981! AntSite.

642
:: Bow Wow Wow :: Do You Wanna Hold Me? :: Download

Bow Wow Wow are now little more than a footnote of the 1980’s New Wave movement. They were assembled by Malcolm McLaren to promote his and business partner Vivienne Westwood's New Romantic fashion lines. McLaren pilfered guitarist Matthew Ashman, bassist Leigh Gorman and percussionist David Barbarossa (also known as Dave Barbe), from the original line-up of Adam And The Ants, leaving founder of the band Adam Ant without a group. After 6 months of auditions for a lead singer, the band hired Annabella Lwin. Musician David Fishel, an acquaintance of McLaren's, had discovered Lwin while she was working at her Saturday job at her local dry cleaners. She was singing along to a Stevie Wonder song on the radio, aged 14. The group's sound became a mix of her amateur squealing, Balinese chants, surf instrumentals, poppy melodies and Barbarossa's Burundi-influenced tom tom drum beats. McLaren was also going to use Boy George (AKA Lieutenant Lush) later of Culture Club fame, as a second vocalist, but he was ultimately rejected by the rest of the band after one shambolic gig in 1980. That same year, Bow Wow Wow debuted with 'C30, C-0, C90 Go!' (b/w 'Sun, Sea And Piracy'), their ode to of the joys of home piracy ("I don't buy records in your shop, I tape them all - I'm Top Of The Pops, yeah!"), which was released on the world's first cassette single. It was followed by the ingenious 'Your Cassette Pet' EP - another cassette-only release, featuring 8 tracks in a flip-top box which subverted the iconic anti-piracy logo of the frowning cassette tape, to a grinning one. It featured their most notorious recording, 'Sexy Eiffel Towers', a paean to female masturbation, complete with heavy breathing and moans, and the B-Side of the tape was left blank, once again promoting piracy. Download 'My Cassette Pet' here! All this talk of home taping made EMI rather nervous and thus Bow Wow Wow were shown the door after a third single, 'W.O.R.K.', in 1981. Moving to RCA, Bow Wow Wow went on to have their first UK top 10 hit with 'Go Wild In The Country' (live on 'Top Of The Pops') in 1982. The band's most popular hit, and their signature tune, is of course the New Wave staple, 'I Want Candy' (video), originally a 1965 hit by The Strangeloves. 'I Want Candy' was also one of the first music videos to appear on MTV when it launched. 'Do You Wanna Hold Me?' (video) is my favourite Bow Wow Wow single and it's usually overlooked in favour of their other, bigger hits. By 1983, the group had released three albums and were due to embark on a world tour but tensions in the group were rising, as the members were suffering from illness and exhaustion after intense touring in the USA. After a rest, the guys in the band ousted Annabella in order to form a new group with guitarist Ashman on lead vocals. The new group, Chiefs Of Relief, were a more straight forward pop/rock outfit who issued a handful of singles and one album before disbanding after a few years together. Annabella went on to have a solo career but met with little success herself. Since his time in Bow Wow Wow, David Barbarossa has been involved with many other successful musical projects, such as Beats International, Adam Ant, Republica and Chicane. He also wrote a novel entitled 'We Were Looking Up'. In 1995, Ashman died from diabetes complications at the age of 35. Gorman continued to perform and has had success as a record producer (Fuzzbox, Voice Of The Beehive, Soho, Malcolm McLaren) and a composer for films and advertising. In 1997, Lwin and Gorman re-united as Bow Wow Wow for the 'Barking Mad' tour, adding guitarist Dave Calhoun and drummer Eshan Khadaroo. The tour produced the live album, 'Wild In The U.S.A.', which also included remixes of previous Bow Wow Wow tracks. In the wake of the well received tour, there were reports that the band planned to record new material. A few new tracks from the band ('Eastern Promise', 'A Thousand Tears') have surfaced on obscure releases and other previously unrecorded songs have been performed live, but presently, no new studio album has been announced. In 2006, Bow Wow Wow recorded a cover of The Smiths' song 'I Started Something I Couldn't Finish' for a new The Smiths tribute record that was made available on iTunes in January 2007, the first new Bow Wow Wow recording in over 20 years. Click here to listen to/buy that. The band continue to play together on and off with various musicians, and during 2005-06, No Doubt drummer, Adrian Young joined the band for touring commitments. BowWowWowSpace.

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:: Annabella :: Don't Dance With Strangers :: Download

Myint Myint Aye ("high, high, cool") or Annabella Lwin (the English name given by her parents) is an Anglo-Burmese singer, songwriter and producer best known as the lead vocalist of Bow Wow Wow. In 1980, at the age of 14, she was spotted by a friend of Malcolm McLaren singing at the dry cleaners where she worked part time. Following her successful audition for the lead singer position in McLaren's new pop group experiment (the yet-to-be-named band, Bow Wow Wow), McLaren had her transfer from a mixed comprehensive school in London to The Sylvia Young Theatre School. The group would go on to top charts over the next 3 years with the hit songs like 'Go Wild In The Country' and 'I Want Candy'. Lwin become the subject of some controversy when she posed nude for the cover of 'See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang, Yeah. City All Over! Go Ape Crazy', the group's first full-length album. The sleeve recreates Manet's 1863 painting, 'Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe' (Lunch On The Grass) and she was just 15 years old at the time. Her outraged mother cried exploitation and involved Scotland Yard in an attempt to keep her sexualised daughter from leaving the country with McLaren. After three full-length albums, Annabella, then 17, was 'ousted' from the band (she read the news in 'NME') in September 1983. She was then talked into a solo career with RCA, with her first solo track, 'Passion Play', appearing on the soundtrack of the lost '80s film 'Thief Of Hearts'. A year after that, 'Don't Dance With Strangers', her debut single appeared, without much fanfare or support. As a result, it was eventually left off her 1986 debut solo album, 'Fever', which included her second single, 'War Boys' (a minor dance hit) and contributions from producers The System (Evelyn 'Champagen' King), John Robie, (New Order, Chaka Khan), Zeus B. Held (Dead Or Alive, Divine) and Greg Walsh (Heaven 17). The title track (video) became her most successful solo single, a modern take on the oft-covered Peggy Lee classic. The album, a polished synth-pop effort, wasn't very successful and RCA subsequently dropped her, much to her relief. After some time out, Annabella began collaborating once again with like-minded musicians and formed a band called The Naked Experience. Holding a showcase at a friends suggestion, several labels expressed an interest in signing Lwin as a solo artist and Sony Records offshoot, Sony Soho Square, inked a one album deal with her in 1994. Two singles were issued from the union that year; 'Car Sex' and 'Do What You Do' (video), with the full-length album (featuring collaborations with Guy Chambers, Billy Steinberg, Ellen Shipley and Steve Lironi) being shelved. You can hear one of the unreleased tracks here - sounds pretty good to me! Sort've new age house? We may actually get to hear the full album one day as Annabella does in fact own the rights to it all... Lwin next decided to reform Bow Wow Wow with former member Leigh Gorman in 1997. They toured, signing with Cleopatra Records to release a live album in 1998, remix/re-record some of their old hits and also contribute a cover of 'Like A Virgin' to the label's Madonna tribute album, 'Virgin Voices', in 1999. The band again split soon after but have reformed several times to tour since. Annabella, meanwhile, has been songwriting, touring and recording material independently, as well as appearing as a featured vocalist on tracks by other artists, such as Tony B of Groove Radio, Jason Nevins and Utah Saints (the latter collaboration has yet to be officially released). Trivia! Lwin is a practicing Buddhist. Website.

640
:: Lisa-Marie With Malcolm McLaren :: Something's Jumpin' In My Shirt (Walk The Body Mix) :: Download

On 8th April 2010, one of the great post-modern operators of the last fifty years, an artist and promoter that combined aggressive opportunism with a sharp eye for the next big thing, Malcom McLarren died, aged 64. He played the role of entrepreneur, band manager and eccentric, leaving his mark on many muscian's careers, including those of New York Dolls, The Sex Pistols, Adam Ant, Bow Wow Wow, Boy George and even Red Hot Chilli Peppers. His own musical output began with 1983's 'Duck Rock' album, a collaboration with The World's Famous Supreme Team, a duo of hip-hop radio disc jockeys from New York City who were also among the first DJs to introduce the art of scratching to the world. The album mixed up influences from Africa and the Americas, including hip-hop and proved to be highly influential in bringing it to a wider audience in the UK. 'Duck Rock' features clips of 'The World's Famous Supreme Team Show' between the tracks, as well as special vocal appearances from the duo themselves. Two of the singles from the album, 'Buffalo Gals' and 'Double Dutch' (video), became top 10 hits in the UK. He then fused electronic music with opera on the 1984 single, 'Madame Butterfly' (video), based on the opera of the same name. The track uses drum machines, atmospheric synthesizers and spoken verses in it's unique and beautiful arrangement. It reached #13 in the UK and #16 in Australia. The producer of the single, Stephen Hague, became a much sought after producer in the electronic pop genre as a result of his work with McLaren on the following album, 'Fans'. McLaren's 1989 album, 'Waltz Darling', featured a funk/disco/vogue inspired set of tracks. It incorporated elements of his former albums, such as spoken verses, string arrangements and an eclectic mix of genres but featured prominent musicians like Bootsy Collins and Jeff Beck with a glitzy, Louisiana-style production aimed at the US market. The singles, 'Waltz Darling' and 'Something's Jumpin' In Your Shirt' (video) became top 20 hits through out Europe, with the single 'Deep In Vogue' bringing the art of voguing to the attention of the world long before Madonna. In 1992, McLaren co-wrote the song, 'Carry On Columbus' for the feature film of the same name, which plays over the end credits. In 1994, he released the concept album 'Paris', with French artists Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Hardy. In 1998, McLaren released 'Buffalo Gals Back 2 Skool', an album featuring hip-hop artists like Rakim, KRS-One, De La Soul and producer Henri Scars Struck revisiting tracks from the original 'Duck Rock' album. His song 'About Her', based on 'She's Not There' by The Zombies, rose to prominence in 2004 when it was used by director Quentin Tarantino in 'Kill Bill Vol. 2'. McLaren was accused of plagiarism for this song in 2005 for allegedly copying the work of a French musician, but was cleared of the charges in November 2005 when the court in Angers, France threw out the case. The song uses Esther Bigeou's 'St. Louis Blues' by repeatedly playing the verse, "My man's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea"... McLaren's solo work, particularly from the 'Duck Rock' period, has also been sampled by other artists. In 1999, Dope Smugglaz had a UK top 20 hit with the track 'Double Double Dutch' which made extensive use of samples from McLaren's original 'Double Dutch'. In 1997, Mariah Carey's 'Honey' sampled 'Hey DJ (Buffalo Girls)'. In 2002, Eminem released 'Without Me', which references McLaren's song, 'Buffalo Gals'. In 2007, McLaren's song 'World's Famous' was sampled by Amerie on the song, 'Some Like It', from her album 'Because I Love It'. This version of 'Something's Jumpin' In My Shirt' can be found on the 3" CD single and is a personal favourite. Whatever happened to Lisa-Marie, you say? She's actually a model and actress who played Vampirella in 'Ed Wood' and is the former wife of film director Tim Burton! R.I.P., Malcy.

639
:: The Sex Pistols :: Submission :: Download

Together for just two turbulent years at the end of the '70s, The Sex Pistols ripped the face right off of popular music. Their violent performances and raw, nihilistic singles revolutionized the idea of what rock & roll could be. In the UK, the group was considered so dangerous to the very fabric of society that they were unceremoniously banned across the country. Brilliant, eh? In America, whilst not having quite the same impact, countless bands were inspired by their sheer sonic force, while countless others found inspiration in their independent, do-it-yourself ethics. Guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook were regulars at SEX, a boutique owned by their manager, Malcolm McLaren; bassist Glen Matlock worked at the store. McLaren's initial premise for the band was that they would act essentially as a marketing exercise for the fashions sold at SEX. Vocalist John Lydon, who would later adopt the stage name Johnny Rotten, met the rest of the group at the shop and was asked to join the band. While the band played simple rock & roll loudly and abrasively, Rotten arrogantly sang of anarchy, abortion, violence, fascism and apathy; without Rotten, the band wouldn't have been such a threat to England's government - he provided the band's conceptual direction, calculated to be as confrontational and threatening as possible. The publicity caused by their caustic first single, 'Anarchy In The U.K.' caused the band to be immediately dropped by their record label, EMI. Matlock was fired before their next single, 'God Save The Queen' (video), which was released on Virgin Records and banned by the BBC. Matlock's replacement was Sid Vicious, a tough street kid who, unlike the rest of the band, couldn't play his instrument. McLaren liked him however, so he was in. After releasing one infamous album, 'Never Mind The Bollocks - Here's The Sex Pistols', in 1977, the band headed over to the USA for a tour in January of 1978; it lasted 14 days. Rotten left the band after their show at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom on January 14, heading back to New York. He would form Public Image Limited later that year. McLaren tried to continue with the band but Cook and Jones soon turned against him and his constant meddling. In the two decades following The Sex Pistols' implosion, an endless stream of outtakes, demos, repackages, re-issues and bootlegs were released on a variety of labels, which has only helped add to their grubby cult status. In 1996, to celebrate their impending twentieth anniversary, The Sex Pistols shamelessly reunited, with original bassist Glen Matlock taking the place of the deceased Sid Vicious. The band embarked on an international tour in June of 1996, releasing the 'Filthy Lucre' live album the following month. Four years later, Julien Temple (who helmed the band's first movie, 'The Great Rock & Roll Swindle') directed the documentary film, 'The Filth & The Fury' (which is worth a watch - here's the trailer). Heavily criticized  for it, The Sex Pistols have reformed several times now and in 2006, they sold the rights to their back catalogue to Universal Music Group - quite literally becoming a "sell out". The Sex Pistols were also inducted to The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2006, but the band rejected the honour with coarse language on their website and an obscene gesture from Lyon on UK TV. According to Jones, "Once you want to be put into a museum, rock and roll's over"... Bonus! I initially thought it might be fun to assemble cover versions of the whole 'Never Mind The Bollocks...' album, until it dawned on me that not all of the tracks have been covered! So, instead, I bring you 'Never Mind The Bollocks - Here's Some Cover Versions' instead. It's a 4 track EP featuring the unlikely efforts of Bananarama, Lady Sovereign, Nouvelle Vague and Veruca Salt. Click here for that!

638
:: PJ & Duncan :: Stepping Stone (Radio Edit) :: Download

Putting Newcastle Upon Tyne on the map (err...), local teen soap 'Byker Grove' is responsible for giving erstwhile cheeky chapies Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (AKA Ant & Dec and/or PJ & Duncan AKA) a foot in the showbiz door. After leaving the show, they turned their hand to pop music, releasing songs such as 'Tonight I'm Free' (#62), 'Why Me? (Is It Justified)' (#27, video), 'If I Give You My Number' (#15) and 'Our Radio Rocks' (#15) under their 'Byker Grove' character names, PJ & Duncan. Their most famous hit was the Brit Award nominated 'Let's Get Ready To Rhumble' (#9, video) for which they had a memorable choreographed routine (I'm doing it right now!) by London choreographer Mark Short, who also worked with Liberty X, Peter Andre and, er, Tina Turner. But this was always my favourite Peej & Dunc song, their cover of The Monkees' hit, 'Stepping Stone' (#11), also covered by The Sex Pistols and The Farm. In total, the pair released 15 singles and three studio albums; 'Psyche' (1994), 'Top Katz' (1995) and the first under their own names, 'The Cult Of Ant & Dec' (1997). The duo never had a number 1 hit in the UK, however, and the closest they came was when their World Cup 2002 one-off effort, 'We're On The Ball', reached number 3. The number 1 that particular week went to Will Young, winner of 'Pop Idol', a show which Ant & Dec themselves presented! They went on many promotional tours to plug their releases between 1994-97, travelling to Germany, South East Asia, South Korea and Japan where they and their music were hugely popular. In Japan, the duo's 'Eternal Love' single (a UK #12) was number 1 for many weeks, for example. Their popularity had began to wane in the music charts by 1998, so the pair concentrated on television work, which they had continued with part-time for the BBC and Channel 4 during their pop music careers. In 1998, ITV quickly snapped the duo up after the BBC wrote them off, believing they had run their course on TV, as with the pop charts. Ant & Dec went on to enjoy huge success fronting ITV1's Saturday morning children's programme, 'SMTV Live' (and 'CD:UK') alongside Cat Deeley, which was voted number 27 in 'The 100 Greatest Kids' TV Shows' programme that aired on Channel 4 in 2001. They subsequently morphed into the faces of light entertainment, and in particular, Saturday night telly, presenting mega-hit shows 'Pop Idol', 'PokerFace', 'Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway', 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!' and 'Britain's Got Talent'. Trivia! The duo's catalogue numbers for their two-part cassette/CD single releases were ANTX and DECX, which I always thought was rather cute. More Trivia! Ant is married to ex-Deuce member, Lisa Armstrong. Top Tip! Don't watch anything featuring Ant & Dec on HD TV. It's pretty scary how old they actually look nowadays! This 32 track, 2CD compilation is very easy on the pocket at just £2.77!

637
:: Ultrasound :: Sentimental Song :: Download

Three-fifths of late-90s indie band Ultrasound originally met at Wakefield College, Yorkshire, in 1989. Mature student Andrew 'Tiny' Wood (vocals, guitar), 16 year old classical cellist, Richard Green (guitar) and Andy Peace (drums) met on the Popular And Commercial Music course, before all three moved on to a music degree course in Newcastle Upon Tyne. It was here they first encountered future bass player, Vanessa Best. Following a succession of short-lived bands, Wood, Green and Peace teamed up with guitarist and songwriter Paul Hope, an old ally and band mate of Wood's who'd worked with him in a band called Step TLV. Joined by Hope's flute-playing wife Rachel Theresa, the four put together a psychedelic rock band called Sleepy People. For the next two years, the band toured around the UK playing in various small venues around the UK and gaining underground attention. Wood, Green and Peace all appear on Sleepy People's 1994 album, 'Blunt Nails In A Sharp Wall'. Wood and Green left Sleepy People in 1995, taking keyboard player Pete Haslam with them. They also reconnected with Peace (who'd left the band some time previously). Moving to London, they formed a new progressive/art-rock band called Pop-A-Cat-A-Petal, which began earning underground attention (in particular after supporting cult band Cardiacs). At this point, Green played bass (as he had in Sleepy People) and Wood doubled on guitar and harmonium as well as lead vocals. The band released a self-titled EP on Org Records in 1995, but did not prosper. Tiny was later to comment "Pop-A-Cat-A-Petal had a bit too much prog-rock about it". Now living in London and singing back-up vocals in a George Michael tribute band, Vanessa Best was then added to the Pop-A-Cat-A-Petal line-up as bass player, with Green moving to lead guitar. With the subsequent departure of Haslam, the band began to reduce their more obvious progressive rock influences in favour of a stronger element of 1970s glam rock and a more pronounced indie outlook. The band changed their name to Ultrasound at around the same time. Ultrasound released their first single, 'Same Band' on Fierce Panda in 1997. It brought them some favourable press in 'NME', who described it as "like The Who's Tommy - in its entirety - squeezed into four-and-a-half minutes... utterly heroic and bizarrely, by some distance, their most understated moment". This led to the band performing in the 'NME'-sponsored Unsigned Showcase event, which in turn led them to a deal with Nude Records following a bidding war between various labels excited by the band's powerful live presence. Around this time, Matt Jones was brought into the band on keyboards to expand the sound. With Nude's promotional strength now behind them, Ultrasound began to ascend the ranks of British indie bands. The band's first two singles for Nude were 'Best Wishes' and follow-up 'Stay Young' (citing Gary Glitter just as he returned to the news...), which reached number 30 in the charts in 1998. The band received some very favourable reviews (most notably for their 1998 Glastonbury Festival performance during a torrential downpour) and began to build a growing fanbase. Ultrasound rapidly began to gain attention due to being perceived by both press and public as a band of self-confessed outsiders with an image unusual for successful pop stars. The band were often compared with Pulp, Radiohead and Manic Street Preachers, which enabled them to attract some of the typically devoted fans of these bands. Tiny Wood became an unlikely music-press pin-up, flaunting aspects of his image which would generally have been considered weaknesses. These included his age (he was already in his 30s when Ultrasound began gaining attention), his obese physique and his love of 1970s British progressive rock (something of a taboo in the British indie-music press at the time). The band compounded their 1998 success by playing a string of music festival dates, releasing another single in October 1998 - 'I'll Show You Mine' - and the band toured with the similarly glamorous Placebo. During 1998, Ultrasound had been hard at work in the studio in between live commitments, attempting to record their debut album, 'Everything Picture'. Rumours began to build that - in keeping with the band's taste for old-school progressive rock - the album would be a double album, possibly even a triple album. The band released their fifth single, 'Floodlit World' (a re-recording of their debut single's B-side) in March 1999. It was both a 'Melody Maker' Single Of The Week and a modest chart success, reaching number 39. Here they are performing it on 'Later With Jools Holland'. 'Everything Picture' was released in April 1999. As promised, it was a double CD/triple vinyl album. However, the it received poor reviews for it's great length and alleged lack of focus, indicating that Ultrasound's rapid rise might be faltering already. In fairness, the album does suffer from over-indulgence but there are flashes of genius, such as 'Sentimental Song', which features a wonderful sing-a-long anthem moment in it's dying minutes... The album reached number 23 in the album charts - a considerably lower position than the initial hype had suggested it would attain. Nonetheless, Ultrasound maintained their high media profile via a guest appearance at London Fashion Week, at which Tiny contributed to the Red Or Dead fashion house display by posing as a model and flashing his substantial stomach (on which the word "Unique" had been scrawled in makeup). This particular opportunity gained an appearance on the front page of 'The Independent'. Not to be outdone, Peace and Jones carried out a naked catwalk streak, which was captured on live TV. During the summer, the band cancelled a set of crucial live dates during the festival season, including an important show at the T In The Park festival in Scotland, although they did fit in a second Glastonbury appearance. Album track 'Aire & Calder' was selected as the next single, although the band clashed with record label regarding the editing of the track for radio play and it was eventually cancelled. Ultrasound's fanbase meanwhile were starting to lose interest following the over-extended debut album and long spells in the studio working on a follow-up album. Inside the studio, insurmountable tensions within the band had grown and culminated in Richard Green walking out of the band. Ultrasound officially split up on October 12, 1999. Tiny Wood returned to Newcastle and briefly attempted to reform Ultrasound with a new line up including drummer Paul Boundey, Andy Taylor, ex-Sleepy People bassist Bill 'Cowboy' Bailey, and keyboardist Carlie (Andy Peace was apparently also involved at an early stage). The new version of Ultrasound performed their live debut at the Newcastle Arts Centre in the spring of 2000. Although they went on to play a few more concerts in small venues (and allegedly made some recordings), they were not accepted as a continuation of the band and didn't survive for long. Following the collapse of his attempt to reform Ultrasound, Tiny Wood formed a new band called Siren and took on the role of lead singer in Blue Apple Boy. Richard Green settled in Leeds and formed The Somatics and later The Heavens, for whom he is songwriter, singer and guitarist. Green has also contributed to Corinne Bailey Rae's 2010 album 'The Sea', playing guitar on the track 'Paper Dolls'. Matt Jones went on to form the critically acclaimed Minuteman and performed with many acts, including Engineers and Beth Rowley. Vanessa Best and Andy Peace went on to form The Sunshine Valley Dance Band with former Spiritualized/Slipstream guitarist Mark Refoy. Best also formed the rare Northern soul band The Soulwinners with Matthew Priest and Andy Miller from Dodgy, with whom she continues to play. Bonus track! Click here to download 'Underwater Love Story', a B-side from the 'Stay Young' single, which features Vanessa Best on lead vocals.
 

636
:: Suede :: Elaine Page :: Download

Since I last featured Suede on the site (entry 347), Brett Anderson, Mat Osman, Simon Gilbert, Richard Oakes and Neil Codling, the band's second incarnation, have reformed. Following persistent rumours, the band's former label head, Nude Records' Saul Galpern, officially announced on 15th January 2010 that Suede would be playing together again for the first time since 2003, for a one-off gig. The band played London's Royal Albert Hall as part of the 2010 Teenage Cancer Trust shows on 24th March 2010. Despite the gig initially being billed as a one night only reformation, when questioned in early February, Anderson refused to confirm that the band wouldn't continue. The band subsequently announced two UK 'warm up' gigs prior to the Royal Albert Hall show, at the 100 Club in London and The Ritz in Manchester. The trio of gigs were very well-received by critics, including a glowing two-page review in 'NME'. Appearances at the Smukfest Festival in Denmark on 7th August, Parkenfestivalen in Norway on 21st August and The O2 Arena in London on 7th December have since been confirmed. It has been reported in the press that a new record deal with Warner Music Group is also on the table... So while Suede mull that over, I've been re-visiting some of their back catalogue, particularly their fan club releases. 'Elaine Page' is a previously unreleased track featured on their final CD release, 'See You In The Next Life', a collection of demos and rarities which was presented free to members of the Suede Information Service in February 2004... "She packs her bags, has a fag..."... classic Anderson lyrics, there. Bonus Track! Click here to download 'Implement Yeah!', a very old Suede song which was originally recorded when Justine Frischmann was still in the band. Lyrically, it's about The Fall's Mark E. Smith, and a live version recorded at Reading Festival with Justine in 1997 was released on a fan club-only enhanced CD in 1998. This re-recorded studio version was exclusively included on 'B.S.E. (Bangin' Summer Extravaganza)', a free CD which accompanied the June 1999 issue of 'Select' magazine. It was intended to be included on the Mini Disc format of Suede's 'Electricity' single, which would have been the first ever single released on this format, but it was withdrawn. Also, as a massive double-bonus, I've uploaded both the 'Suede' and 'Dog Man Star' albums, which I have expanded myself with bonus tracks. 'Suede' (here) features 11 bonus tracks, whereas 'Dog Man Star' (here) features 14, all of which are taken from B-sides and exclusive compilation appearances from each era. Look out in particular for 'Sleeping Pills (Live On The Mark Goodier Show 27.04.1992)', Suede's take on The Pretenders' 'Brass In Pocket' and 'Eno's Introducing The Band'. Here's the infamous clip of Suede performing 'Animal Nitrate' live at The Brit Awards in 1992. Official website.

635
:: Raissa :: Strange World :: Download

Raissa (Khan-Panni) is a singer and songwriter with mixed roots (there's Chinese, Indian, Mexican and Russian in her blood!), who grew up in South London during the '70s and '80s. As a teenager, she spent time travelling around Europe, busking and immersing herself in international cultures. Relocating to Bristol to study a music course in the early 1990s, the local music scene introduced Raissa to collaborators Dan Birch and Paul Sandrone. With all three working under the banner Raissa, it wasn't long before their musical adventure brought them to London and two releases swiftly followed. 1996's 'Sleeping Bugs' (on Fat Cat Records) would serve as early sketches of songs which would later re-appear, re-recorded on their subsequent albums for Polydor, the first of which was 'Meantime' in 1997. This set of songs was home to the singles 'Worm', 'Green As Sea' and 'Your Summertime' (which was released twice). An important friendship with Brett Anderson and his band Suede brought a support slot on a high profile UK tour, and USA hip-hop trio Cypress Hill even offered their remixing services to the group. 1999 saw a follow up set, 'Believer', Raissa's finest hour, which is filled with beautiful jazzy arrangements, trip-hop beats and damn fine pop sensibilities. The new album was heralded by the Radio 1-playlisted single, 'How Long Do I Get', and a rigorous year of promotion saw the band televised in interviews and performances on 'TFI Friday', 'T4' and 'The Big Breakfast'. Live gigs followed, including a second Suede tour slot, a European tour of their own and a duet with Brett Anderson on the Cole Porter tribute album, 'Twentieth Century...'. For reasons unknown, 'Believer' sold poorly despite rave reviews and much hype, and Raissa, the band, disbanded quietly. In 2002, Raissa hooked up with dance act LHB, providing guest vocals for their live shows supporting Kylie Minogue's 'Fever' tour. She was also apparently collaborating on their (still) forthcoming album, 'Learn To Love The Music Machine'... More recently, Raissa has returned with a new musical project, The Mummers. They released their wonderful debut album, 'Tale To Tell', in June 2009 - "Part French film score, part oompa band, part soundtrack to a nature documentary" ('The Times'). They appeared on 'Later' to promote the album - click here to watch a clip! The Mummers are releasing a new EP later this summer, too, so if it floats your boat, keep your eye on their website or MySpace page. The track here for download is the haunting 'Strange World'. It resonates from the speakers like a post-coital Alison Goldfrapp, all satisfied and calm. It's but one of a set of astounding songs found on 'Believer' so pick up a copy here if you like this taster - I certainly struggled to pick just the one track! So here is another! Click here to download the single, 'How Long Do I Get'. There's a nice and neat little fansite here.

634
:: AngelPie :: She :: Download

AngelPie was a brief collaborative project between vocalist Marina Van-Rooy, percussionist Steven Humphreys (ex-La Magia/The Willing Sinners - both with Marc Almond), guitarist John McEvoy and producer Mark Saunders. Saunders has worked with some of the most influential artists and writers of the 21st century. After playing drums in bands since leaving school, Mark's career in recording took off in 1984 as an assistant at West Side Studios, London. Besides brewing copious amounts of tea, Mark got to learn from the studio owners, Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, who had great success producing Madness, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Lloyd Cole And The Commotions, Elvis Costello and later Bush. In 1985, Mark got his first engineering credit on David Bowie and Mick Jagger's 'Dancing In The Street' cover version. A year later, he became a freelance engineer and was discovered by Rhythm King, a label at the forefront of the British dance music. Working on a couple of Bomb The Bass mixes led to the band's founder, Tim Simenon, asking Mark to co-produce Neneh Cherry's 'Buffalo Stance'. The success of 'Buffalo Stance' and Neneh's 'Raw Like Sushi' album resulted in a flood of pop and dance work for acts including Erasure, Depeche Mode, Lisa Stansfield and Yazz. Robert Smith from The Cure also used Mark's radio-friendly mixing skills to remix all singles from the 1989 album, 'Disintegration'. One of these, 'Lovesong', is The Cure's highest charting single, reaching number 2 in the Billboard Top 100. Working with The Cure broadened Mark's musical horizons and lead to work with more alternative acts like Ian McCulloch, The Mission, The Farm, The Heart Throbs and The Sugarcubes. Mark was also still delivering pop and dance remixes for the likes of The Human League, Lindy Layton, Claudia Brücken, London Beat and Jean Paul Gaultier. Whilst working on Ian McCulloch's 'Mysterio' album in 1992, Mark met John McEvoy, who was starting a new project he thought Mark might be interested in... AngelPie appeared in 1994 with two unsuccessful singles ('Tin Foil Valley' and 'She') and one album, the oddly-titled 'Jake' (albeit unreleased), mixed by Dave Bascombe. The inlay of 'She' actually promoted the forthcoming 12 track album, giving the full track list, which was; 'Tin Foil Valley', 'Tipsy Q Horses', 'You're So Real', 'She', 'It's Only Love', 'Inner Shrine', 'Frozen Fling', 'Cactus Fruit', 'Spice The Dice', 'Set Yourself Free', 'Smile' and 'Neptune's Daughter'. The album is still showing up on Amazon - "Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock"... Anyway, the player on Saunders' website does have the sublime 'Neptune's Daughter' available for streaming. But if that's not enough for you, then maybe I can help! Get in touch. AngelPie promoted 'She' with a performance on Channel 4's 'Naked City', hosted by Caitlin Moran, but sadly there's no footage to link to... :( Here's the promo video for the single, though! The project disbanded soon after, probably due to the utter failure of both singles... Anyway, Mark's '90s work with The Cure on their albums 'Wish' and 'Mixed Up' lead to one The Cure fan, Tricky, asking him to co-produce, program and mix most of his critically acclaimed 1995 debut album, 'Maxinquaye'. This in turn led to impressed Tricky fans such as Cyndi Lauper, John Lydon, David Byrne and Cathy Dennis hiring Mark to work on their own albums. He also worked with some of my own favourite acts during the '90s, like Siouxsie And The Banshees, Alison Moyet and Raissa. In the late '90s, Mark emigrated to New York and side-stepped into writing and producing music for big brand campaigns for companies such as Nike, Reebok & Motorola, although he continued to work on select artist projects for Erasure, Femi Kuti and Marilyn Manson. Mark's most recent credits include work with A-Ha, The Sounds, Dangerous Muse and Shiny Toy Guns. While diversifying into TV and film work, Mark became an early adopter of the surround sound format and has been brought on board to consult, record and mix surround projects for PBS, EMI, David Byrne and film director Luc Besson, as well working on an exclusive project for Apple as part of a their major product release of Logic 8. Having worked on many commercially and critically acclaimed records as an engineer, producer and mixer, Mark has also continued to develop his writing skills and is establishing a name for himself as a co-writer. Recent co-writes have included tracks with Cathy Dennis, PNAU, Bodyrockers & Teddy Geiger. As well as his major label production, mixing and writing projects, Mark is also helping to develop a new generation of independent musical talent through Beat360 - an online platform providing affordable mixing and mastering solutions. Trivia! AngelPie's 'Jake' was actually named after Mark's dog, who was in the studio while the band were recording the album.

633
:: Marina Van-Rooy :: Sly One :: Download

Marina Van-Rooy is a vocalist from Liverpool who was active on the 1990s dance scene. Now dubbed a 'rave veteran', she was signed to Liverpool's DeConstruction label, where she issued a pair of heavenly house singles; 'Sly One' in 1990, and 'Let You Go' in 1991. The latter was remixed by Sasha. Both were club smashes and are considered Haçienda dance floor classics to this day. Marina was produced by the team of Ian Martin Wright, Steve Cummerson and Peter Coyle (ex-The Lotus Eaters) who were also part promoters, with 3Beat and John Kelly, of G-Love, a legendary monthly Thursday night out at The Mardi Gras Club off Bold Street in Liverpool. Things went a bit quiet until February 1992, when Marina recorded a radio session for John Peel. She performed three new tracks; 'All Heaven's Open', 'Honey Drip' (listen) and 'Staying With Me', none of which were ever released officially. Marina next appeared fronting a mysterious electronic pop project, AngelPie, with producer Mark Saunders at the helm. They released two atmospheric singles (John Barry meets Cocteau Twins?) on MCA's alternative off-shoot, Oxygen Records in 1994; 'Tin Foil Alley' and 'She', neither of which even made it into the UK top 100. An album, 'Jake', was recorded but once again, never officially released. Also in 1994, Van-Rooy appeared performing vocals on 'Why Why Why', a track on fellow Liverpudlians The Lightning Seeds' 'Jollification' album. Icelandic art-pop collective, GusGus, made great use of Van-Rooy's debut single, 'Sly One' when they sampled it on 'Purple', a techno-house track just shy of 10 minutes in length, from their 1997 4AD album, 'Polydistortion'. Marina's sporadic recording output continued when she next turned up on a track called 'Pretty', from Reno's (AKA Phil Burns and Andy Holt) 2002 album, 'Thinking About The Good Times'. Burns had previously helped create A Guy Called Gerald's seminal 'Voodoo Ray'. These days, Marina is out of the music business and in recent years has been working as a make up artist. In lieu of any Van-Rooy videos available online, she can be seen in this promo clip, albeit at a very young age, dancing away in the background to Pale fountains' classic, 'Jean's Not Happening' from 1984. Trivia! While googling for information on Marina (there's very little!), I found myself visiting 'The Liverpool Echo' website, which listed her as competing in a 2004 10k run. She came 1076th with a respectable time of 59:56...

632
:: GusGus :: David (Radio Edit) :: Download

Icelandic techno smut anyone? This is a rather dirty song (video). GusGus vocalist Earth (AKA Urður Hákonardóttir) is singing about this guy called David who she fucked last night, repeating the line, "I still have last night in my body", which basically means his cum is still inside her. Filthy. It's a bit of a refreshing twist on your typical love (or lust?) pop song, though, no? We of course covered GusGus a while back in post 458, but I absolutely love this track, so here we are again... During the 4AD years (1995-99), GusGus had toured massively, travelling the globe with their thundering live shows. The touring life was pretty stressful for all nine members and eventually something had to give within the line-up. Six original members all left and the three remaining - producers Veiran, President Bongo and Herb Legowitz - soon found themselves on the hunt for a new vocalist. Enter female singer, Urður Hákonardóttir (the aforementioned dirty bitch). In 2002, GusGus re-appeared with their 4th studio album, 'Attention' on Underwater Records, which took them closer to the dance floor than previous outings. On the album, the band teamed up with the legendary producer Gareth Jones and Finnish multi-instrumentalist Jimi Tenor. 'Attention' demonstrates a sharply focused club act, full of creativity and with a new found energy. Daníel Ágúst sang on one track, but was on hiatus from the band to work on his own solo material. His debut solo album, 'Swallowed A Star', was released by One Little Indian in 2006. GusGus took a break from touring in favour of completing a follow up album, their fifth, which arrived in 2007. 'Forever', on Pineapple Records, was followed by a massive tour and the band performed at major festivals like Glastonbury, Creamfields and Benecassim, as well as building up a reputation as acclaimed DJs. Their sixth album, '24/7', was released on Kompakt in 2009 and manages to successfully flit between Boards Of Canada-esque electronica and '90s Rave. The album also saw the return of Daníel Ágúst as a full time member and features the singles 'Add This Song' and 'Thin Ice'. Now, just in case this is our last visit to all things GusGus, I'm also giving you this - 'Purple'. This is the last of three killer GusGus tracks, along with 'David' and 'Starlovers' (which we included in 458). Listen out for the Marina Van-Rooy sample... Trivia! The band's name is a reference to the 1974 German film, 'Ali: Fear Eats The Soul' by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, where a female character is cooking couscous for her lover, pronouncing it "gusgus". BuyBuy some GusGus. WebsiteWebsite.

631
:: Hafdís Huld :: Who Loves The Sun :: Download

As a teen prodigy, Icelandic actress, vocalist and singer-songwriter Hafdís Huld Hákonardóttir became a member of leftfield techno house band GusGus in 1995. She was just 15 years old. She recorded three albums with the 12-member strong collective; Iceland-only 'Gus Gus' in 1995, 'Polydistortion' in 1997 and 'This Is Normal' in 1999. She toured the world with GusGus before leaving in 1999 to work on her own projects. She began to compose her own songs and collaborated with UK electronic duo FC Kahuna in 2001, co-writing and provided vocals for their singles 'Hayling' and 'Machine Says Yes', before touring the UK with them during 2002. During the same period, she made two independent feature films and modelled clothing for Extreme Sports. Hafdís Huld's debut release as a solo artist was the kooky 'Tomoko' single (video), released in 2006 on MVine/Red Grape Records. Her debut album, 'Dirty Paper Cup', the result of productive collaborations with a number of highly respected co-writers including Jim Abbiss, Boo Hewerdine, Pascal Gabriel and Chris Corner (Ex-Sneaker Pimps), was released soon after. The album went on to win the 2007 award for Best Pop Album at The Icelandic Music Awards, where she was also nominated for Best Video for 'Tomoko'. 'Dirty Paper Cup' was universally acclaimed by the press in the UK and Europe, receiving national radio play on BBC Radio 1, Radio 2 and 6 Music. During a radio interview with Phill Jupitus on 6 Music in August 2006, Huld revealed she was obsessed by chocolate and the colour pink, claiming that they come from God. Jupitus later claimed she was the "most mental guest" he'd ever had in the studio. Featured here is a beautifully simple cover of The Velvet Underground's classic, 'Who Loves The Sun', with a ukulele accompaniment, which is from the album and was also lifted as a single. Hafdís toured the UK in support of her album, with a three-piece band featuring Sarah Croft, Alisdair Wright and Steve Ling, who play guitar, keyboards, ukulele, xylophone and banjo between them. Huld and her band were invited to support Paolo Nutini on an 8 date sell out tour of the UK at the end of 2006 and she also played to great reception at festivals across the UK and Europe, taking in Glastonbury Festival, The Secret Garden Party, The Big Chill and Camden Crawl in the UK, Hultsfred Festival in Sweden, Airwaves in Iceland, Spot Festival in Denmark, Les Femmes S'en Melent and Europavox in France and Midnight Sun Festival in the Czech Republic. In February 2007, a headline UK tour was cancelled when Huld suffered a serious lung infection, from which she took 6 weeks to recover. The dates were later re-scheduled for May 2007. Hafdís next supported Mika in London and performed at In The City in Manchester and South By Southwest in Texas, USA and began debuting new material from her next album. She recorded an acappella version of the Sam Brown classic 'Stop!' in 2008, which was used on a pan-European TV ad campaign for Mercedes-Benz. Due to demand, a fully-instrumented version of the track was then released and charted well in Iceland, eventually receiving a worldwide digital release in late 2008 (buy). During 2009, Huld recorded a second solo album, 'Synchronised Swimmers' and two single releases preceded it, both reaching number 1 in the Icelandic singles chart; 'Kongolo' (which means 'spider' in Icelandic and was written about the urban climber, Alain Robert) and the title track. The album was released in Iceland in October 2009 and went straight into the album chart at number 2. A limited edition signed pressing of the album was made available online to international fans (buy), ahead of a full scale international release, which is expected later in 2010. Elsewhere, Hafdís has also lent her vocals to tracks by dance producers Ewan Pearson and Tom Middleton, wrote and recorded with Zend Avesta and Deltron 3030 and collaborated with Tricky on his 2008 album, 'Knowle West Boy'. She also found time to study at the London Centre Of Contemporary Music, graduating with a Distinction in 2006. Website.

630
:: FC Kahuna :: Hayling (Original) :: Download

In the late '90s, Dan Ormondroyd and a group of like minded friends from Leeds started a little club with an eclectic music policy called The Big Kahuna Burger. It built up a devoted following, gave Fatboy Slim his first DJ gig, hosted such luminaries as The Chemical Brothers, 808 State and David Holmes and earned accolades across the board, most notably Club Of The Year in 'The Face' magazine. Now DJ-ing at the club as FC Kahuna, with pal Jon Nowell, the duo began remixing, recording and undertaking DJ tours with bands like The Charlatans. Soon, boredom set in and the search for new challenges lead to a 2 pronged offensive ... setting up their own studio to make an album, and a new club residency at London institution Turnmills, with a night called Headstart. FC Kahuna released their debut album, 'Machine Says Yes', on the City Rockers label in the spring of 2002. They would later switch to Skint Records mid-campaign. Of the album, 'NME' said, "Easily as good as the last Chemicals' LP and snapping at the heels of Daft Punks' 'Discovery', 'Machine Says Yes' is as broad in it's retro reference as it is happy to revel in the futuristic". A number of singles were released from the album, most notably the title track and the absolutely beautiful, chillout compilation mainstay, 'Hayling' (video), which both feature Icelandic singer Hafdís Huld, ex-Gus Gus, on vocals. The album sold over 50,000 copies, and received a positive response from critics. Next, FC Kahuna put together a live band with Hafdís Huld on vocals and John Thompson on bass, and toured the UK supporting Röyksopp in 2002, which culminated in a sold out show at Brixton Academy in front of 4,000 people. The band also played at Coachella in Southern California, T In The Park in Scotland, Roskilde in Denmark, Reading and Leeds Festival in the UK and Benicassim in Spain. In 2003, they released their first mix album, 'Another Fine Mess' — an offshoot of the 'Another Late Night' compilation series — which featured tracks by Blur, The Polyphonic Spree, Green Velvet, Josh Wink and others. Among the artists remixed by the duo are New Order, Felix Da Housecat and The Faint. FC Kahuna have themselves been remixed by the likes of Tiga, Chicken Lips, Swayzack, Josh Wink and even Super Furry Animals! The later 'remix' is particularly interesting so as a bonus, click here to download 'Hayling (Super Furry Animals Dunk! Dunk! Dunk! Edit)'. The music of FC Kahuna has featured in TV shows such as 'Six Feet Under', 'CSI Miami' and 'Nip/Tuck', and in film productions such as 'Domino' and 'Layer Cake'. The music from several video games has also featured the duo, including 'Need For Speed Underground' and 'Crackdown'. It's unclear if the duo have disbanded at present but there's been no news since February 2009, when Dan posted a bulletin via MySpace saying a new album was completed and awaiting mixing... Everything FC Kahuna released is now criminally out of print physically, with the 'Hayling' CD single fetching about £20 online, but try Amazon Marketplace for a copy of the album on CD...

629
:: Bentley Rhythm Ace  :: T-Spot :: Download

Time for some sonic nonsense. Based in Birmingham, Bentley Rhythm Ace are Mike Stokes (AKA Michael Barriewhoosh) and ex-Pop Will Eat Itself bassist Richard March (AKA Barry Island). The group formed in 1995 after Marsh was introduced to Stokes at the house party of a mutual friend where Stokes was doing a bit of DJ-ing. Both blokes were more or less penniless, drank in the same pub and were forced to buy their records at the cheapest place possible - local car boot sales (see 'This Is Carbootechnodiscobooto', from their first EP). Discovering a shared love for screwball novelty records and offbeat grooves, the pair decided to embark on a studio collaboration, fusing the fruits of those dusty weekend jaunts with tight, infectious rhythms and engaging arrangements. A couple of other musicians have also worked within the band, namely live drummer Fuzz Townshend, with whom March previously played with in Pop Will Eat Itself, and EMF member James Atkin, who has made several guest appearances. The duo's head-scratcher of a name probably refers to the Rhythm Ace line of analogue drum machines manufactured by Ace Tone, some of which were rebranded and distributed by Bentley Pianos in the UK. To date, they've released six singles/EPs (check out the 'Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out' video here) and two widely acclaimed long-players (1997's 'Bentley Rhythm Ace' and 2000's 'For Your Ears Only'), on Brighton-based Big Beat label, Skint Records, also home to Fatboy Slim and X-Press 2. Following the release of their eponymous debut album, Stokes and Marsh took up a very successful monthly residency at Heavenly's Sunday Social club, famous for giving The Chemical Brothers their big break, and the pair also cultivated something of a devoted club following through their campy live performances, which often involved strange and unusual costumes and props (possibly originating from the same car boots as their records). The group pretty much split in late 2000, but have played the occasional low-key DJ set over the last 10 years, as well as issuing the 4 track EP 'Angel Face' featuring vocalist Sophia Lolley in 2004. BRA have also very recently announced plans to reform and they are now signed to Rocstar Records and managed by Cut La Roc. A string of tour dates are set for later this year. Bentley Rhythm Ace epitomises the Big Beat era, with their largely instrumental music still being used on TV advertisements and clip shows today. Bentley Rhythm Ace also delivered some rather excellent remixes for other acts, including Beastie Boys, Supergrass and Luscious Jackson. Click here to download those!

628
:: The Wonder Stuff :: Unbearable (Original Version) :: Download

'Unbearable' was the second single release by The Wonder Stuff, a group which originated from an earlier collaboration with group members of Pop Will Eat Itself, called From Eden. The original line-up was Miles Hunt (vocals, guitar), Malcolm Treece (guitar, vocals), Rob "The Bass Thing" Jones (bass - died July 1993) and Martin Gilks, (drums - died April 2006). Formed in March 1986, they self-financed their first EP, 'A Wonderful Day' and signed with Polydor in 1987. Further singles 'Give Give Give, Me More More More' (72), 'A Wish Away' (43) and 'It's Yer Money I'm After Baby' (their first top 40 entry) preceded their debut long player, 'The Eight Legged Groove Machine' in August 1988. The British press wrote scores of articles about the band, mainly because of the arrogant self-confidence of their leader, Miles Hunt. Hunt's brash public image was The Wonder Stuff personified - mean, self-satisfied, self-serving and scathingly witty. Accordingly, their colourful mixture of pop melodies, loud guitars, sneering lyrics and touches of dance music was sometimes brilliant and sometimes banal. 'Don't Let Me Down, Gently' (19) became their first top 20 hit in September 1989 and saw the band updating their sound, incorporating more stylistic flourishes to their basic, punk and new wave-inspired pop/rock. They added new band member Martin Bell, a violin and banjo instrumentalist, for their second album, 'Hup', issued in October 1989. Jones departed in December 1989 and more hits arrived in 1990 with 'Golden Green' (33) and 'Circlesquare' (20). A third album, 'Never Loved Elvis', was completed and released in 1991, the first single from which was 'The Size Of A Cow' (video) in April 1991. It became their first top 10 hit, reaching number 5 in the UK and was swiftly followed by 'Caught In My Shadow' (18) in May. Just after the third single from the album, 'Sleep Alone', in September, the group scored a huge commercial success when they covered Tommy Roe's 'Dizzy' with popular comedian Vic Reeves, reaching the top of the charts for two weeks in November and raising the band's profile hugely. The Wonder Stuff seemed to tour constantly, 18 months of which was captured in their rockumentary VHS release from 1993, 'Welcome To The Cheap Seats', also the name of a single release, featuring guest vocals from Kirtsy MacColl, which reached number 8. The Wonder Stuff were instant stars here in England but America never warmed to their music, despite a tour of the States on their own and as support act for Siouxsie And The Banshees in 1993, plus an appearance on 'Late Show With David Letterman'. Back in the UK, they undertook festival dates, including a headlining slot at the 1993 Reading Festival, where they previewed new material and a new single, 'On The Ropes' (10) was released in September, followed by the album 'Construction For The Modern Idiot'. Two more singles followed, 'Full Of Life (Happy Now)' (28) and 'Hot Love Now!' (19). After trying to gain a worldwide audience for five years, the band broke up in 1994, issuing the singles collection 'If The Beatles Had Read Hunter ... The Singles' (buy) and re-recording 'Unbearable' (16), an early fan favourite. They also played a farewell show, which was recorded and released on VHS. In the early 2000s the band regrouped to play five nights of concerts at London's Forum (as documented on the 2001 live set, 'Cursed With Insincerity') and then continued to play festivals throughout 2001 and 2002. After some squabbles over the direction of the band, half the members quit. Hunt and original guitarist Malcolm Treece decided to carry on and, after adding Andres Karu and Mark McCarthy, recorded and released 'Escape From Rubbish Island' in 2004 and 'Suspended By Stars' in 2006. 2010 finds The Wonder Stuff repackaging and re-releasing their album back catalogue in new remastered editions and continuing to play together live. Trivia! Miles' uncle Bill Hunt was the keyboardist in 1970s glam rock band Wizzard. Wondersite.

627
:: Pop Will Eat Itself :: R.S.V.P. (7'' Mix) :: Download

Comprised of vocalist/guitarist Clint Mansell, keyboardist Adam Mole, drummer Graham Crabb and bassist Richard March, Pop Will Eat Itself began their existence as a Buzzcocks-influenced indie guitar band, taking their name from an 'NME' feature on the group Jamie Wednesday (later known as Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine. The archetypal Grebo band (see also Ned's Atomic Dustbin, The Wonder Stuff, Jesus Jones), Pop Will Eat Itself formed in Stourbridge, England in 1986. Their self-produced debut EP, 'The Poppies Say Grrr!', was issued in 1986 and garnered a Single Of The Week accolade in 'NME'. However, while recording a follow-up, 'Poppiecock', PWEI became immersed in the burgeoning world of sampling, snatching material from sources as wide-ranging as James Brown to Iggy Pop, thus reinventing their sound. Click here to see a full list of all the samples that PWEI used over the years. Soon Crabb emerged from behind his drum kit to join Mansell as co-frontman, and a drum machine, Dr. Nightmare, was installed in his place. Honing a fusion of rock, pop and rap, the Poppies kick-started a small revolution. By the release of their 1987 full-length debut, 'Box Frenzy', and the minor hit single, 'There Is No Love Between Us Anymore' (66), Grebo - the label quickly given to the entire subculture of similarly grimy and raunchy bands - was all the rage in the British music press. The influence of hip-hop was even more pronounced on later top 40 hit singles like 'Def. Con. One.' (63 - video), 'Can U Dig It?' (38 - video) and 'Wise Up! Sucker' (41), all included on Pop Will Eat Itself's 1989 masterpiece, 'This Is the Day... This Is the Hour... This Is This!', their debut for the RCA label, recorded with the aid of legendary producer Flood. 'Touched By The Hand Of Cicciolina' (28 - live on 'Top Of The Pops' with Patricia Morrison from The Sisters Of Mercy!), an ode to the Italian porn-actress-turned-politician, and 'X,Y & Zee' (17) were also hits, while 1991's 'Cure For Sanity' album marked an increasing interest in dance music. On 1992's 'The Looks Or The Lifestyle', the band recruited a live drummer, Fuzz Townshend, and re-introduced some live guitar to complement their ever-mutating array of loops and pre-programmed drums. The record was their most commercial and polished work to date, peaking at number 15 in the UK album chart, and featured the top 25 hits 'Karmadrome' (17) and 'Bulletproof' (24). By January 1993, however, the band's biggest supporters at RCA had left the company and the remaining executives didn't quite understand the band or their music. The band were subsequently dropped from the label just prior to the 'Get The Girl! Kill The Baddies!' single release. Ironically, the single went on to peak at number 9 on the UK singles chart, becoming the band's biggest ever hit. Because of this, the band became the first ever to perform on 'Top Of The Pops' without being signed to a record label. After signing to Infectious Records in Britain, they were picked up in the USA by Nothing, a label owned by long-time fan Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. Sporting a new harder-edged, industrial funk-metal sound, PWEI resurfaced in 1994 with 'Dos Dedos Mis Amigos', preceded by the single 'R.S.V.P.' (video), which reached number 27 in the UK singles chart at the end of 1993. Here's the video, which bizarrely features a cameo from Gayle & Gillian, AKA The Twins, from Australian TV soap opera, 'Neighbours'. Prior to the release of a 1995 remix album, 'Two Fingers, My Friends', Crabb exited the group to focus on his ambient side project, Golden Claw Musics. After the rest of the band split in 1996, March and Townshend went on to form Big Beat band Bentley Rhythm Ace. Townshend also released two solo albums and Mansell has written a number of acclaimed film scores, including 'Requiem For A Dream', 'π', 'Doom', 'The Fountain', 'The Wrestler' and 'Moon'. Pop Will Eat Itself produced approximately 100 T-shirt designs over the years, including a design which subverts the familiar Pepsi cola logo and many featured the outlandish (often space-themed) cartoon characters that appear on the band's album artwork, from the round headed alien with toy ray gun known as Craig (thought to be named after the band's manager, Craig Jennings), to the jagged-toothed, sinister robotic head that serves as the official logo for all PWEI product. At one stage in the 1990s, it was, possibly apocryphally, observed that PWEI had sold more T-shirts than records. Almost all artwork and corporate identity for the band's record sleeves and merchandising was designed by the now hugely successful Sheffield-based The Designers Republic (website). Much of what would become the design company's metatextual and self-referencing motifs were first carved out on the sleeve of PWEI records. The Designers Republic's work with PWEI can be found in The Design Museum, London. Trivia! All PWEI songs were credited to a mysterious figure called Vestan Pance. Although the songs were mainly Crabb or Mansell compositions, the pseudonym was used for the band as a whole, as each member of the band had some form of creative input. It gave the Poppies a chance to exercise their humour, being an obvious pun on the English idiom "vest and pants". When Fuzz joined the band, a cheeky attempt to change the name to Vestan Pance And Socks was denied by RCA. More trivia! An early incarnation of the band formed in 1981 under the name From Eden and members included Malcolm Treece and Miles Hunt, both of whom famously went on to form The Wonder Stuff. Website. Buy some entry level PWEI for £3.99 here.

626
:: The Creatures :: Killing Time :: Download

The Creatures were formed in 1981 by singer Siouxsie Sioux and drummer Budgie, as a side-project away from parent group Siouxsie And The Banshees. The pair had the idea to form The Creatures during recording sessions for The Banshees' fourth album, 1981's 'Juju'. The track 'But Not Them' was rehearsed with just vocals and drums and they decided to pursue this approach, organizing additional studio time with the aim of recording a handful of songs in this style. The resultant material, much more primitive and drum-driven than The Banshees, would take the form of an EP, titled 'Wild Things'. The title track was a reworking of the hit by The Troggs and the other four numbers were original Creatures compositions, including the aforementioned 'But Not Them'. 'The Times' described their music as, "adventurous art rock built around Siouxsie's extraordinary voice and drummer Budgie's battery of percussion". The EP reached number 21 in the UK singles chart and the pair performed 'Mad Eyed-Screamer' on 'Top Of The Pops'. In 1983, The Creatures released their first full-length album, 'Feast'. To conceive it, the band chose to determine where to record the album by randomly placing a pin on a map of the world. The result was Hawaii, which led to the featuring of The Lamalani Hula Academy Hawaiian Chanters on some tracks. The week of it's release found the band on the front cover of both 'NME' and 'Melody Maker', the latter describing 'Feast' as "an album of filtered brilliance, fertile, sensual and erotic", while 'NME' accentuated, "The humours of Sioux's frosty larynx are nakedly outlined against skins of sometimes fabulous quality". The album was also a commercial success, reaching number 17 in the UK album chart, lead by the hit single (inspired by J. G. Ballard's book 'Crash'), 'Miss The Girl' (live on 'Top Of The Pops'). Shortly after it's exit from the charts, a follow-up, 'Right Now' (video), was recorded. It was originally composed by Mel Tormé and The Creatures revamped it by adding a brass section. It became their most successful single, reaching number 14, coupled with the AA-side, 'Weathercade'. After a string of successful albums and tours with The Banshees, The Creatures were reactivated six years later. Siouxsie and Budgie relocated to a stone barn in Jerez, Andalucía, Spain to record 1989's 'Boomerang'. Brass arrangements were used on some tracks and Anton Corbijn came to visit and photograph the pair for the artwork. The album was critically acclaimed and widely regarded as Siouxsie and Budgie's crowning achievement as The Creatures. 'NME' continued their support, writing, "it's a rich and unsettling landscape of exotica". One of the more melancholic songs found on 'Boomerang', 'Killing Time', was later performed live by Jeff Buckley. The Creatures gave their debut live appearance on UK television ('Big World TV' - video) and undertook their first at the beginning of 1990. With Siouxsie And The Banshees disbanding in 1996, it was the perfect time for The Creatures to once again reconviene. Early 1998 found them collaborating and touring with John Cale in Amsterdam and the USA, debuting then unreleased material to their audiences, before Siouxsie and Budgie set up their own label, Sioux Records. The 'Eraser Cut' EP (an anagram of The Creatures), was released in July 1998, followed in October by the single '2nd Floor' (video). Early in 1999, The Creatures released their long-awaited new studio album, the first in just under a decade, 'Anima Animus'. It's urban sound was a departure from 'Boomerang's very organic atmospheres, but it pleased many fans. 'The Times' wrote, "It's entrancing, hypnotic and inventive" and PJ Harvey selected 'Anima Animus' in her ten favourite albums of 1999. Other singles included 'Say' (dedicated to the late Billy MacKenzie) and 'Prettiest Thing'. The live albums 'Zulu' and 'Sequins In The Sun' were also issued via The Creatures website. Late 1999 saw the release of remix album, 'Hybrids', and a compilation of 'Anima Animus'-era B-sides and remixes was issued as 'US Retrace' (another anagram) for the American market. Siouxsie and Budgie returned with a full-length album, 'Hai!' in 2003. The drums sessions were recorded in Japan less than 24 hours after The Banshees had completed their one-off reunion tour, 'The Seven Year Itch'. Budgie got to fulfill a lifelong ambition to work with the Japanese drummer Leonard Eto, the basis of the album being a spontaneous drum duet between the two. The rest of the sessions were later done at their home studio over a period of several months. The single 'Godzilla!' was described as "spookily brilliant" by 'NME' and the reviews were unanimously favourable for 'Hai!'. In 2004, Siouxsie toured for the first time as a solo act but Budgie was still on hand as drummer and musical arranger. The set lists combined Banshees and Creatures songs, under the banner 'An Evening With Siouxsie'. A live DVD, 'Dreamshow', captured the last London concert of September 2004 performed with The Millennia Ensemble. This was to be the last release made by the pair as Siouxsie announced publicly during an interview with 'The Sunday Times' in 2007 that she and Budgie had divorced. Their musical partnership has been discontinued for the foreseeable future, and thus The Creatures have been formally disbanded. Siouxsie celebrated her 50th birthday in May 2007, and released the first solo album of her career, 'Mantaray', to critical acclaim in October of the same year. Click here to download a round-up of all the singles released by The Creatures. Trivia! 'Right Now' was sampled by Pop Will Eat Itself on their single 'Def. Con. One.'. Excellent fansite.