Xtc New Compilation Round Up, We Want To Pick Your Brains... Options

[Steve]

Hello, your dear helmsman Andy Partridge here. I want to pick your brains and I have my hand whittled cocktail stick at the ready. XTC would like to release an APE version of RAG AND BONE BUFFET, hooray! lots of new notes ,photos and a sparkling remastering job. Thats all good, but we also think there is a sister volume to be found. Yes,another herd of B sides, extra tracks or odious oddities that found themselves escaped into the wider world and we'd like your help in rounding them up.

The new disc has a working title, BRIC-A-BRAC BREAKFAST, and we already know some of the songs that will be included. Tracks like SPIRAL, SAY IT, WHERE DID THE ORDINARY PEOPLE GO? etc. What we'd like you to do is if you can think of a favourite piece of missing work from XTC{the 12 inch remix of KING FOR A DAY anyone?} then get yourself over to the forum{under the Everything else XTC section} and list away. What tracks can you think of that may have slipped the net? That aren't included in RAG AND BONE, or aren't sitting snug on a regular album somewhere, something you would like brought back from the grave?

Happy tapping, and i'll be over to look at the results shortly.

[saturnboy]

If it won't be on the upcoming English Settlement remaster - I would really like to see/hear the original Heaven Is Paved With Broken Glass mix from the Ball and Chain single on this proposed compilation!

It would be nifty if some of the real oddities coud be added too - things I've haven't heard like the country and western style short instrumental version of Didn't Hurt A Bit you did for some (I think) TV show, or the nifty original and aborted mix of Living Through Another Cuba that was recently and briefly featured on the XTC MySpace site. What other similar unknown goodies like that are there?

Here's another idea - how about some more sonically finished versions (using more recent shed technology) of songs you loved but were never given thumbs up by the band? Songs like Everything, Always Winter Never Christmas, Wonder Annual, etc.

Cheers,
saturnboy

[Bimble]

Blimey

This post has been edited by Bimble: Jan 13 2010, 06:40 PM

[Spastic Minnow]

Always Winter Never Christmas is my choice for the great lost track. I usually think of it as a top ten track of anything XTC have done.


But this does bring up the question of what the difference will be between the R&BII disc's songs and the extra tracks on the expanded albums. Wouldn't the 12" King For a Day remix be a contender for an expanded Oranges and Lemons?

or are we talking about overlapping songs?


The other obvious contenders would be Colin's demos, especially post-Nonsuch stuff like Mates, the best of the tracks that would have been on Fuzzy Warbles if he had participated.

[ColinEd]

I think that Living in a Haunted Heart is a lost treasure, perhaps with a little more finishing?

[Blushift]

First off, thanks Andy for asking us for input. Very cool of you!

I'm going to have to think about this some. My first thought was the same as Saturnboy's about HIPWBG. That B-side is nowhere else. A nice clean version instead of my poppy vinyl would be sweet.

Are we talking strictly songs that would have been considered "XTC", or are we allowed to include songs by you or Colin that could have been XTC songs?

I am leaning towards keeping 12" remixes of original songs off of a compilation like this. That didn't seem like the intent of the original Rag&Bone. You can always release a cd of the best 12" remixes.

[Duckworth]

'My paint heroes' & 'Skeletons' would spring to mind. Colin's original (unused I think?) demo for 'Find the fox' is beautiful, I'd love to hear that out there.

T.

[saturnboy]

Just remembered...... how about the cover you did of Beefheart's Ella Guru?

This may be beyond the scope of the project but I really enjoyed the live songs from Australia you remixed for Coat of Many Cupboards - Dave in the band but yet the songs are from the first two LPs. A few more of those please!

[Jeff Truzzi]

Just remembered...... how about the cover you did of Beefheart's Ella Guru?

Seconded. I posted a YouTube link to the (audio only) song in the Ella Guru thread (wherever that is...oh I think it's in the Harold Budd section) and have listened to it a BUNCH of times. That would be quite nice to have. (I've long lost the vinyl EP it came from.) Isn't that just you and Colin?

Thanks for asking for our input, Andy!
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[saturnboy]

Just remembered another one....... The Good Things, from the Testimonial Dinner tribute!

No, wait, that was Terry and the Lovemen wasn't it.......... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[egghead]

Just remembered another one....... The Good Things, from the Testimonial Dinner tribute!

No, wait, that was Terry and the Lovemen wasn't it.......... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

love that siggie saturnboy (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[Mr Tein]

on behalf of the backporch

Oh, where to start:
- Cherry In Your Tree from the Carmen Sandiago s/track
- the Live B-sides from the Canadian "Love At First Sight" single
- The Good Things (band version) from Testy Dinner
- "Young Cleopatra" (band out-take from Mummer sessions - not strictly a demo I know, but it *does* exist and I'd love a pristine copy)
- original 7" B-side version of "Heaven Is Paved With Broken Glass"

Cheers,
Dom

[MXYZPTLK]

...how about doing an enhanced CD thing & slapping a few vids on it- a select few post 'Look Look' vids would be nice such as 'Funk Pop a Roll', 'All You Pretty Girls' & 'Grass' but i'd really like to see the Channel 4 Prisoner special footage of 'The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul' & maybe throw in 'The Road To Oranges & Lemons' puppet show for good measure!

...these aren't B sides so i'm probably missing the point but i'd snap it up quick-smart with these juicy morsels...

[dudewarren]

I have absolutely no idea about the copyright implications of this, but I'd love to hear the live BBC version of Earn Enough For Us that was broadcast on Andy Kershaw's Sunday Live show along with Another Satellite, the live version of which is of course on Rag and Bone Buffet. 'Twas triff.

Other than that, Living In A Haunted Heart and Ella Guru would be good choices.

[Spastic Minnow]

whoops, we haven't mentioned Rip Van Ruben yet. Fantastic song.

I was slightly thinking though about my recommendations of Mates and other Colin demos above though. Realizing that bare bones demos like that maybe wouldn't be best on an album to accompany R&BB. They really should sound something like a finished product shouldn't they, or at least a step away or so. Skeletons might be good though, the copy I have doesn't sound good but that might just be because of the source (Napster 1999).

[donavan]

Crikey

[Mr Tein]

I dont really hold onto what has been released so some of this may have been...

1. Any more outakes like THAT WAG...

2. Psychedelic Christmas

3. Bags of fun with buster

4. Raising a fmaily in a house full of mice

[FireworkUK]

1. Rip Van Ruben Home Demo (Wrapped In Grey CD single)
2. Bungalow (Demo) (Wrapped In Grey CD single)

3. Train Runnin Low On Soul Coal Early Acoustic Performance from Play At Home TV Documentary.
Who owns this? I expect obtaining the rights might end up being too difficult.

4. Earn Enough For Us (BBC John Peel Sessions). I think all these Sessions were lost or
recorded over (!) but maybe someone has a decent copy of it somewhere..? I have a dodgy version
of the orginal broadcast on a bootleg CD so there's probably a better copy somewhere.

These have already been available on CD singles but remastered versions would be nice.

5. My Paint Heroes (Demo)
6. Skeletons (Demo)
7. Living In A Haunted Heart (Demo)
8. King For A Day (12" inch version)
9. The Good Things (Demo)
10. Always Winter Never Christmas (Demo)
11. Down A Peg (Demo)

12. Didn't Hurt A Bit Nonsuch Sessions Outtake.
I have a bootleg CD I got from somewhere about 10 years ago that had a short
outtake of the band playing Didnt Hurt A Bit. I assume while rehearsing for,
or recording Nonsuch. It's a much more rocked out version than the one on Coat
Of Many Cupboards and has no vocal. Anything like this is always fun to hear.

13. Anything from the Acoustic Radio Tour from 1989. The KROQ set was particularly
good. The band seemed to be havign the most fun during that one.
The improvised "made up song" that lead into a rendition of Kaleidoscope for a People magazine
photoshoot was quite funny too. Again, I expect there'll be rights problems with all these.

14. The Good Things (Testimonial Dinner version)

15. Sometime in the early 80s, a release was made in the UK on vinyl. I can't for the life of me
remember what it was but I remember the cardboard sleve had a transparent centre and it
had XTC printed all over the sleeve on a cream coloured background.
I think it was a 12" inch single of something. I remember the b-side featured the best
version of Living Through Another Cuba + General & Majors being played livet at I've heard.
I remember it clearly because fake cannon / missle firing sounds were being used thoughout.
These sound effects sounde dlike a mixture of an early tech keyboard faking a "bomb falling
fromt he sky sound" and recordings of real explosions. I'll try and find out what the disc was
and post back. I'm not dreaming this up though, Ive got the disc somewhere.

16. Something Dave Gregory has created.

17. That new track that you've had lying around for a while and not had the motivation to finish
until now. With a dash of input from Dave, the deluded optimist in me thought that a brief shout
from out of the silence could, just possibly, reingite things and cause an avalanche (in some form).

[geordiegav]

Oh I'd love the barryxtc dishcloth ringed out a bit more ...how about refrigeration blues,sargasso bar,the complete peel sessions from 77 and the Friday rock session from late 78 gotta love a bit andrews sax on Newtown animal ....the rest of the in concert programme nov 78 that got threw out from the transistor blast disc 3 that only included beatown and the rhythm....my wobbly old cassette creaks like a pensioners knees but boy do I love that set.

DG's first bit of official work would be nice too... I seem to remember an odd session for andy peeples show in April 79 with funky reworkings of spinning top and heatwave .

The suicidal versh of towers in london,I overhead,cheap perfume,human alchemy dub,Cuba dub, monkey men in human skinsuits and the tiny wonder of a song that pearl is should be fished out by those diving for tracks and brought up to the cd surface

Why not release the dick and fanny sleeve as a ltd edition print Andy? In fact I'm surprised you have not done a few runs of your artwork as prints full stop. Talking of which put me down for a marker moon one Asap

[Mr Tein]

I dont really hold onto what has been released so some of this may have been...

1. Any more outakes like THAT WAG...

2. Psychedelic Christmas

3. Bags of fun with buster

4. Raising a fmaily in a house full of mice

Okay maybe 2 & 3 werent serious contenders but if you never heard the buster gonad song... makes you realise XTC could have gone in a totally different direction,