SECRET SAUCES RADIO #019: OUTTAKES

Outtakes are a lot of fun for record nerds. Tracks recorded during sessions, passed on for the album or b-side and often abandoned until years later when a compilation or box set is being compiled. Some were clearly abandoned for a reason, but a lot of them are actually great. Here's an hours' sampling of some good ones. Here are some notes (when I can be arsed to write them) on this special nineteenth Secret Sauces Radio show, which can be listened to on Mixcloud here...

SECRET SAUCES INTRO IDENT

Trigger Happy TV Outtake

This clip of Dom Joly annoying a Timber man was recorded for Series 2 of Trigger Happy TV in 2000 but didn't make the cut, appearing as an extra on the 'Best Of Series 2' DVD. Someone has uploaded that extras portion on YouTube and you can watch it here.

1) GUIDED BY VOICES - Fire 'Em Up, Abner

This outtake is from the 'Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia' sessions which were recorded at Steve Wilbur's 8-track garage studio in 1989, where the majority of '0s/early '90s GBV tracks were recorded. Steve Wilbur is an unsung hero in my opinion. This, and four more outtakes from those sessions are available on the 'Delicious Pie & Thank You For Calling' disc in the 2004 5CD/1DVD 'Hardcore UFOs' box set.

2) THE REPLACEMENTS - Nowhere Is My Home

This outtake was recorded during a session produced by Alex Chilton in January 1985 at Nicollet Studios. Alex Chilton is of course the Big Star legend that The Replacements later recorded a song in tribute to. Curiously this track was never re-recorded in the sessions for the Tim album later that year with Tommy Erdelyi - perhaps they thought they had got the perfect take with Chilton and it didn't fit with the rest of the album sonically speaking. This track first made an appearance on the UK-only compilation 'Boink!!' in 1986 (it's a rare one). It next appeared on the 2008 expanded CD of 'Tim' released by Rhino. On the 2023 'Tim: Let It Bleed' box set, it appears in an alternate mix and an alternate recording.

3) NEIL YOUNG WITH THE SANTA MONICA FLYERS - Everybody's Alone

This is one of the many Neil Young tracks he would tinker with for years with various bands in various arrangements. A take with Crazy Horse (recorded on the 4th August 1969) first appeared on the 'Topanga 2: 1969-1970' disc of 2009's 'Archives Vol. I' box set, and an alternate mix of that take appeared on the 'Early Daze' archival release in 2024. Neil would play this song solo acoustic throughout the later months of 1969 - none of these takes have been 'released' officially, though a handful of them appear on his Archives website as Timeline Concerts (and the odd bootleg appearance).

This take was recorded on the 26th August 1973 during the Tonight's The Night sessions with The Santa Monica Flyers, Neil's band for that record and tour. It appeared on the 'Tonight's The Night: 1973' disc of 'Archives Vol. II' box set released in 2020. Confusingly, the preceding disc is entitled 'Everybody's Alone: 1972-1973' but does not include a recording of this song.

4) STEPHEN STILLS - My Love Is A Gentle Thing

This outtake was recorded at Wally Heider's studio in Los Angeles, CA on April 18th 1975. It made its first appearance on the 1991 Crosby, Stills & Nash box set 'CSN', which has some selections of solo material. Oddly, it was included on Manassas' 2009 compilation 'Pieces', where the sleeve notes state "although not recorded at the Manassas sessions, this 1975 recording of an earlier composition was selected for this collection for creative reasons". The 'earlier composition' refers to a 1968 demo of this song, which was released a couple of months earlier on the Crosby, Stills & Nash 'Demos' compilation.

5) THE LA'S - Failure (John Porter Version)

Here's a small sample of the dozens of versions of tracks by The La's. If you are unfamiliar with the story, the Lee Mavers fronted band spent years and a fuck ton of money recording, shitcanning and re-recording the tracks for their debut album (after a good couple of years of demoing before they were signed). Eventually their label Go! Discs grew tired of Mavers' perfectionism and pushed out the latest Steve Lillywhite-recorded version as the album, without the band's permission. The La's - and Mavers in particular - instantly disowned the album and vowed to re-do it. That was 1990 - there have been no new La's or Mavers songs officially released since. He still writes and plays, and apparently the material is incredible. But he won't release a second album until he's finished the first!

This take of 'Failure' was recorded by John Porter in July 1987 at Matrix Studios in London. It would be their first recorded (and shitcanned) session since being signed to Go! Discs - their debut single 'Way Out' and its two b-sides were recorded the following month with Gavin McKillop at the Townhouse Studios in London. They would have subsequent sessions with Dave Allen, John Leckie, Bob Andrews, Mike Haas & Andy MacDonald, Jeremy Allom, Mike Hedges, and Steve Lillywhite where the album was attempted.

For comparison's sake, here are other versions of Failure: Steve Lillywhite, Jeremy Allom, and Mike Hedges.

Trigger Happy TV Outtake

This clip of Dom Joly outside a university offering dodgy clinical trials to a student was recorded for one of the series or Christmas specials, but didn't make the cut. It appeared as a bonus extra on the 'Trigger Happy TV 3' DVD.

6) DEVO - Modern Life

Or should I say modderin life? This outtake is from June 1982 during the 'Oh, No! It's Devo' sessions. It was later "restored, remixed and completed in November 1998 for CD-ROM video game Interstate '82", a vehicular combat game set in an alternate-reality USA in 1982, a sequel to 'Interstate '76' (you can buy 'Interstate '82' on PC here at GOG, or watch gameplay of it on YouTube here). It's quite cool that an alternate-reality 1982 game has a soundtrack of unreleased Devo tracks from the same year - another track 'Faster And Faster' from the same sessions is in the game too. Devo had quite an interest in gaming during the mid to late '90s, and released their own game 'Devo Presents Adventures of the Smart Patrol' in 1996. It received terrible reviews (download the .iso here or watch gameplay here).

This track first appeared on CD on the double-disc 'Recombo DNA' compilation of outtakes, released in 2000 by Rhino Handmade. It has since been expanded with extra tracks and new artwork by Futurismo, and available on 3xCD and 4xLP.

7) DANNY AND THE DOORKNOBS - Because Love

This outtake was recorded by Ethan James on 17th July 1983 at Radio Tokyo, Venice, CA. It first appeared on Trotsky Icepick's (they're the same band, basically) 1994 outtake compilation 'Hot Pop Hello'. The sleeve notes say it is "The Danny And The Doorknobs theme song, our very first recording". This of course excludes the track 'Melody' released in 1980 on the 'Happy Squid Sampler' 7", which was essentially a Vitus Mataré solo recording (with drums played by John Frank). In a recent episode of the You Don't Know Mojack podcast which covers the 'Hot Pop Hello' record, Vitus shares some additional info:

"first song recorded at Radio Tokyo in 1983 by Ethan James during band set up for a scheduled recording session by The Last. John Rosewall and John Frank on bass and drums. A throwaway song that was fun to play live, written for The Last but quickly abandoned. Kjehl Johansen filling in for Joe Nolte, always sounded about like this. Scratch vocal was cut live. This recording left unlabeled and lost on Tascam 8-track reel of tones until long after SST's reissue of the [Danny And The Doorknobs] Poison Summer LP."

'Hot Pop Hello' has recently received a great remaster/remix and is available to buy on Bandcamp here.

8) THROWING MUSES - Night Is A Flood

This track was a 1988 'studio demo' - I am unclear on where, or who produced/engineered, and whether it was recorded during the legendary House Tornado sessions, or a different session. It first appeared on the 1998/1999 (tracks were released once a month from October '98 to September '99 - as track 7, this would have been released in April 1999!) mp3 compilation 'Works In Progress 1', the first of a series of pioneering internet releases that shared various unreleased Kristin Hersh/Throwing Muses recordings. Unfortunately they are no longer available to purchase for download.

In 2000, this track appeared on a Kristin/Muses split 7" EP 'Underworld d-Tales Vol 11' in Greece, paired with Issue 125 of 'Fractal Press' magazine. I am yet to own a copy of this record, but I am looking forward to tracking it down, especially as 'Ivoguy' on Discogs commented that "even the demo "Night Is a Flood" sounds 10x better than the mp3"!

9) THE BEACH BOYS - Lonely Days (Alternate Version)

This 'previously unreleased extended version' was released on the 2017 2CD compilation '1967: Sunshine Tomorrow' which pairs the first ever stereo mix of the 'Wild Honey' album with a bunch of outtakes from the Wild Honey and Smiley Smile sessions, as well as recordings from the abandoned 'Lei'd In Hawaii' 'live' album. Unfortunately the sleeve notes don't have any information on when or where it was recorded - it even has '(unknown)' as the writing credit.

The 2001 outtakes 2CD compilation 'Hawthorne, CA: Birthplace Of A Musical Legacy' includes a shorter version of this track. To complement the 2CD 'Sunshine Tomorrow' set/secure 50 year old copyrights (delete as appropriate), The Beach Boys released two digital compilations including even more material, the 29-track '1967: Sunshine Tomorrow 2: The Studio Sessions' and the 109-track '1967: LIVE Sunshine' (I wish they'd just released it all on CD as a box set like they did with the 'Feel Flows' and 'Sail On, Sailor' box sets). The 'Studio Sessions' set includes 'Lonely Days (Session Highlight and Track)', which is a familiar experience for Beach Boys freaks who have listened to every available scrap of their recordings.

10) MAY MAY - Real Man

May May is Muhammad Ali's daughter, Maryum Ali. She had a brief recording career in the late '80s/early '90s, with the album 'The Introduction' released in 1992. This track was produced by Prince Paul in 1993, presumably for a follow-up album that never materialised. I don't know if they recorded any more tracks, but this appears on his 2005 compilation 'Hip Hop Gold Dust' which comprises of unreleased and rare tracks. In the sleeve notes he says of this track:

"May May has to be hands down one of the most charismatic people I have ever worked with. I gave her this beat and she came up with some really cool rhyme style. I didn't know how the style would work at first but then I realized she had heard something in the music I didn't, and at the end of the day her performance was great. We added in live sax to give it a real jazzy feel and I mixed it all on an old Neve board to give it a classic warm feel. Unfortunately this song didn't make it past our ears... I really thought we were on to something really dope."

Trigger Happy TV outtake

This clip of Dom Joly battering a (fake) charity chugger for Albino Hippos during a street interview with Sacha Distel was shot for series 2 but never made the cut, appearing as an extra on the 'Best Of Series 2' DVD. Someone has uploaded that extras portion on YouTube and you can watch it here.

11) RADIOHEAD - Lift (Alternate Mix)

The great lost Radiohead hit, 'Lift' was played live a lot in 1996 supporting Alanis Morrisette in the States, receiving a positive reception from crowds and journalists alike. They recorded it during the 'OK Computer' sessions, and quickly abandoned it due to its commercial potential. Classic. It was a highly sought after unreleased track, and in 2017 it finally received a release on the 'OKNOTOK' 20th anniversary edition of 'OK Computer', complete with a brand new video. Unfortunately, that version is slower and just nowhere near as good as the live versions from 1996 which fans had been listening to for years.

Luckily for us, someone hacked Radiohead and leaked 18 MiniDiscs full of material from 1996-1997, which were culled to create the underwhelming white cassette in the big OKNOTOK box set. These MiniDiscs were chock-full of unreleased gems, including some great versions of Lift which live up to those '96 live performances - this is my pick of the bunch. Radiohead were understandably not pleased with the leak, but soon decided to release the MiniDiscs (with unauthorised samples removed) themeslves as 'MINIDISCS [HACKED]' on Bandcamp as a fundraiser for Extinction Rebellion. I felt bad so I bought it and it was for a good cause, but the bastards didn't even split up the 381 tracks. Thankfully someone on Reddit did.

12) NIRVANA - Blandest

This outtake was recorded at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle, WA by Jack Endino in June/July 1988. During these sessions, Nirvana also tracked 'Love Buzz' and 'Big Cheese' which would become both sides of the band's debut 7". This track would first be released on the 2004 'With The Lights Out' box set, and in the sleeve notes Jack Endino says:

"They were planning on the b-side being Blandest. And I said 'look guys, the a-side is a cover, so you want the very first original song that people hear from you to make more of an impression.' And Big Cheese is a way more lively tune."

'Blandest' later appeared on the 2005 box set highlights CD 'Sliver: The Best Of The Box'. Endino, in an old FAQ, says that the song was sourced from a cassette, as the band instructed him to wipe the tune at the time, which is why it never appeared on the 1992 'Incesticide' compilation.

13) SUPERCHUNK - Makeout Bench

This outtake was recorded by Jerry Kee at Duck Kee Studios on Halloween 1990. It then appeared on the 1995 b-sides & outtakes compilation 'Incidental Music 1991-1995'. Incidentally, the music on the compilation dates from 1990 to 1994.

14) DAVID BOWIE - Bombers (Bowpromo Mix)

The legendary 'Bowpromo' was a promotional LP (limited to 500 copies) of David Bowie and Dana Gillespie, created by manager Tony DeFries' GEM (a pre-MainMan management company) in August 1971 to secure both of them a record deal. Bowie's side of the LP features 7 tracks, 5 from what was to be 'Hunky Dory', 'It Ain't Easy' which would be released the following year on 'The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars', and this song which would not see official release until the 1990 Ryko reissues of 'Hunky Dory', in a new mix. All tracks on the 'Bowpromo' aside from 'It Ain't Easy' are rough mixes, and were remixed for their eventual releases on 'Hunky Dory' and '...Ziggy Stardust...'. In 2017 for Record Store Day, 'Bowpromo' was released as a box set with additional memorabilia (minus the Dana Gillespie tracks), and in 2022 all tracks excluding 'It Ain't Easy' were included on the 4CD/Blu-ray box set 'Divine Symmetry'. 'Bombers' was recorded on 14-15th July 1971, according to the sleeve notes of that set.

15) THE KINKS - Lavender Hill

Recorded in August 1967, this track never made the cut for 'The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society' the following year, though there is no evidence that this track was ever seriously considered for the album. It first appeared on the 1973 contractual obligation LP 'The Great Lost Kinks Album' in the US, which was soon deleted. It was then reissued on the 3CD reissue of the 'Village Green' album, exposing a wider audience to this little-known track. In 2008, it appeared on the 6-disc box set 'Picture Book', where Ray Davies eviscerates it in the sleeve notes:

"Lavender Hill is a complete piss-take about hippies. Sometimes, to ease the tension in the studio, I used to present horrible material and see how long everyone could keep a straight face. I tried putting in as many production clichés and as much grotesque instrumentation as I could think of, and some studio people thought I was being imaginative. Hearing it now makes me melt with shame."

Wow! It has since appeared on the 2018 reissues of 'Village Green'.

Trigger Happy TV outtake

Dom Joly is a waiter and delivers a glass of water to an irate customer (actor) who starts to fight him. Soon, the rest of the diners (actors) start a giant fight to startle passers-by. Like a demented flash-mob long before that hideous craze started. Despite being cut from series 2 and only appearing as a DVD extra, this is one of my favourite ever THTV bits. So fucking stupid. Watch it here.

16) THE WHO - Glittering Girl (Stereo Mix)

This outtake dates from the sessions for 'The Who Sell Out'. The 2009 2CD deluxe edition has both mono and stereo versions - the mono version had been previously released on the 1995 expanded CD but this stereo version was previously unreleased. The 2021 deluxe box set includes both, but the 2021 deluxe 2CD edition only includes the stereo mix. So interesting.

I don't own any of the 2021 versions but the 2009 edition is vague on recording details, saying "date/London studio unknown, probably IBC Studios, October 1967." So interesting.

17) MICK JONES & JOE STRUMMER - U.S. North

This 1986 outtake was originally recorded for the Robert Frank and Rudy Wurlitzer film 'Candy Mountain' but didn't make the cut in the end. Greg Roberts and Dan Donovan from BAD play on this track too. Strummer & Jones quickly repaired their relationship after the dissolution of The Clash and all that drama, and Strummer worked heavily on the second BAD album 'No. 10, Upping St', co-writing and co-producing many songs. This track was due to appear on an aborted deluxe edition of that album back in 2011 or thereabouts, and was highly anticipated by fans. It didn't see release until 2018 on the 'Joe Strummer 001' compilation - at least we have it now! There's an interesting effect on this track where both Joe and Mick sing the vocals and their vocals are expertly blended - sometimes you hear Mick over Joe and sometimes you hear Joe over Mick, but both are singing it all and it is seamless.

Thanks for listening and reading. New 60 minute music mixes are uploaded to Mixcloud every Tuesday and I will post accompanying notes, with pointless trivia and endless links for you to enjoy.

See you next Tuesday!