SECRET SAUCES RADIO #021: DEMOS

Back to regular programming after last week's bout of lazyitis/seeing Redd Kross and Melvins. Here's a 'demos' special - one hour of demos mainly found on deluxe editions, box sets and compilations. Many of these didn't progress past the demo stage, and the ones that did get re-recorded were often changed drastically.

Here are some notes on the twenty-first Secret Sauces Radio show, which can be listened to on Mixcloud here...

SECRET SAUCES RADIO INTRO IDENT

Chris Morris 'Loose Ends' 1988 Demo sample

In 1988, Chris Morris sent in an eight minute demo tape to BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends. Morris had previously presented an afternoon show for BBC Radio Cambridgeshire in 1987 (no recordings are out there), before moving to BBC Radio Bristol from 1987 to 1990 for his show, 'No Known Cure' (some recordings are out there). Moving to BBC's GLR, he soon met Armando Iannucci and co-created On The Hour and The Day Today with him, before hitting new highs with Brass Eye, Blue Jam and Jam and so on.

This demo tape is either heavily inspired by, or heavily parodies Victor Lewis-Smith, who later had some beef:

"In 1988 Morris interviewed Victor Lewis-Smith, now a Daily Mirror and Evening Standard columnist, then ground-breaking broadcaster and telephone prankster. The pair took an immediate dislike to each other, with Lewis-Smith accusing Morris of ripping-off his style and jokes. Lewis-Smith said: “Imitation is the sincerest form of being an unoriginal thieving bastard”. Morris countered the allegations with the comment: “He reserves the sole right to recycle his own material so frequently, I don't know why anyone else would bother.”

Loose Ends broadcast a short extract of the tape in 1989 but it was unheard in full until leaking online in 2006. It's not very good for Morris standards, but it's a nice thread for a 'demo special'.

1) HÜSKER DÜ - Do You Remember? (Northern Lights Sessions, St. Paul, MN, Late 1979)

'Do You Remember?' is an English translation of the Danish and Norwegian 'Hüsker Dü?'. This was one of the band's earliest tunes, being somewhat of a theme song, and this recording was made in the basement of the Northern Lights record shop where bassist Greg Norton worked. The band were offered rehearsal space in the basement (if they cleared it out) and were soon recording demos in there with fellow Northern Lights employee and Fine Art member Colin Mansfield, who owned a 4-track and a few mics.

These sessions open the 2017 box set 'Savage Young Dü' of their early recordings, and while this track is labelled 'previously unreleased', it was actually previously released as a bonus track on the 1993 CD & cassette reissue of their debut studio album 'Everything Falls Apart'. The liner notes mislabel it as being "recorded live by Bill Bruce in a St. Paul basement, 1980". Bill Bruce had in fact recorded the band's very first demos in May 1979, though 'Do You Remember?' was not part of these. The band continued to play the song for a couple of years though it never graced any of their records until these reissues. Check out this fast and furious live recording from Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco (25/07/1981) a couple of months before 'Land Speed Record' was recorded!

2) RED CROSS - Rich Brat (Joe Nolte Demo, Media Art, Hermosa Beach, CA, August 1979)

'Red Cross' are of course 'Redd Kross', before they were forced to change their name. I'm sure I've gone over that in excruciating detail in a previous one of these. This track is taken from the band's first demo, recorded in August 1979 at Media Art in Hermosa Beach, with Joe Nolte of The Last producing and Spot engineering. These sessions were scrapped and six songs were recorded in October at The Shelter in Hollywood with Roger Harris and Jim Mankey, which would become the 'Red Cross EP' in 1980. By that point, 'Rich Brat' was dropped and this is the only studio recording.

With it being recorded at Media Art by Spot, produced by Joe Nolte and featuring drums by Ron Reyes and guitar by Greg Hetson (not to mention Jeff and Steve McDonald), it's a star-studded first demo!

3) GANG OF FOUR - Elevator (Rehearsal Room Demo, Leeds, 1977-78)

A staple of the band's early live sets, this track was recorded in demo form but quickly forgotten by the time of their debut LP 'Entertainment!' in 1979. This demo was released (on cassette & download) as part of Gang Of Four's '77-81' box set released on Matador in 2021. It was played live both by Gang Of Four and (former housemates) The Mekons back in the day, before being resurrected and played by 'The Mekons 77' and Gang Of Four in recent years - Gang Of Four regularly played it on their 'Long Goodbye' shows earlier this year - I was lucky to hear it at the Kentish Town Forum back in June. 'The Mekons 77' also played this song. Watch Gang Of Four playing it live in New York in 1980 here, The Mekons 77 (with Jon King and Hugo Barnum) playing it in Leeds in 2022 here, and Gang Of Four playing it in Somerville, Massachusetts in 2025 here.

3) RAMONES - Howling At The Moon (Sha-La-La) (Demo, Daily Planet Studios, New York, 1984)

This song, in its final form, was released on the 1984 album 'Too Tough To Die', Ramones' first LP with new drummer Richie Ramone. The recording on the album, also released as a single, has various classic 80s synth sounds and reverb-ed drums (watch the music video here). This demo from earlier in the year has a more straight ahead classic Ramones sound, especially with Joey's '1-2-3-4!' at the beginning. Both the demo and album were recorded by Tommy Erdelyi (aka Tommy Ramone) and Ed Stasium. This demo can be found on the 2002 expanded CD of 'Too Tough To Die', amongst other bonus tracks.

4) JOE STRUMMER, PAUL SIMONON & PETE HOWARD - Pouring Rain (Demo, July 1984)

This demo was recorded during the controversial 'The Clash MK. II' period of the band that resulted in the disastrous 'Cut The Crap'. Demos presumably recorded at the Lucky 8 studios in Camden (the renamed and re-fitted Rehearsal Rehearsals, original Clash HQ) were for the new album and were recorded with new drummer Pete Howard. New guitarists Nick Sheppard and Vince White were not involved in these demo recordings, which is why the couple of released tracks from the 'Joe Strummer 001' compilation/box set in 2018 were credited to these three and not The Clash... though it's likely more than that, due to the band completely disowning the MK. II lineup stuff. It's a shame as clearly the songs were good, but due to various sad circumstances the album that came as a result was crap. It could have been good though, but that's a story for another time. Either way, this song was one of the best of the new batch of tracks and it never saw proper release, despite it being played live throughout 1984. A live recording from The Paramount Theater, Seattle, WA, (30/05/1984 - credited to The Clash!) was released on the 2007 soundtrack album to the Julien Temple doc about Joe, 'The Future Is Unwritten'. Listen to it here.

Clearly Strummer was fond of this tune, as there is a second recording of it from Rockfield Studios in 1993, recorded for the Sara Driver film 'When Pigs Fly'. This was also released on 'Joe Strummer 001'.

5) VIOLENT FEMMES - Waiting For The Bus (Demo, Mark Van Hecke's Home Studio, Fall 1981)

Violent Femmes had their first two albums written, demoed and played live regularly, early on before their debut album came out in 1983. 10 demos recorded by Mark Van Hecke at his home studio in late 1981 appear on the 2002 and 2003 reissues of their eponymous debut and are a mix of songs from the first and second album (Hallowed Ground), plus this song that was not re-recorded. This song from those demo sessions made its debut on the 1993 compilation 'Add It Up (1981-1993).

Chris Morris 'Loose Ends' 1988 Demo sample

Another excerpt from the Chris Morris Loose Ends tape.

6) THE JAM - Simon (Demo, 1979)

This track was written and demoed for the 'Setting Sons' album in 1979, but quickly abandoned and never re-recorded properly. There is little information out there about the song, any recording details or why it was abandoned. It did not surface until the 2014 super deluxe edition of Setting Sons, amongst other demos. The sleeve notes by Pat Gilbert refers to it as a 'lost gem', but there is no further info elsewhere in the book.

7) ANDY PARTRIDGE - Happy Families (Demo)

This is the first demo of this song, which has many recordings (and releases). This is my favourite version though. A solo home demo, this recording has only ever been released on the fan-club cassette of Andy demos, 'Jules Vernon's Sketchbook' in 1987. I don't have any recording dates - it could be from 1982-1986. According to the original sleeve notes of the cassette, written by Andy, this track was "nearly finished in the Mummer sessions" in 1983 - and a rough mix of that version has since been bootlegged - listen here.

A later demo was released on the Andy Partridge demos CD 'Hinges' in 2006. Watch a very rare acoustic version performed by Andy on French TV in March 1985 here. Then, Andy Partridge produced a Japanese-language version of this song for Japanese singer Saeko Suzuki, for her 1987 album 'Studio Romantic'. XTC themselves would later record a version in 1988 for the soundtrack to the film 'She's Having A Baby' - this recording would later appear as the 7" b-side to 'King For A Day' in 1989, and on the 'Rag And Bone Buffet: Rare Cuts and Leftovers' compilation in 1990

8) THE BEATLES - Sour Milk Sea (Acoustic Demo, Kinfauns, Esher, May 1968)

After The Beatles' trip to India in early 1968, the band had a big batch of songs and recorded 26 of them acoustically at George Harrison's home in Esher in May. Many of the songs would be recorded by the band for their next album, the eponymous White Album. A few tracks did not make it to that album, later appearing on Abbey Road, later solo albums or languishing in the archives until reissues. This Harrison-penned tune promoting transcendental meditation would not be re-recorded by The Beatles or Harrison and was soon given to Apple signing Jackie Lomax, to be released as his debut single - listen to it here. This demo would not see release until the 2018 50th anniversary reissue of The White Album.

9) DAVID BOWIE - How Lucky You Are (AKA Miss Peculiar) (Publishing Demo, Radio Luxembourg Studios, London, November-December 1970)

This Bowie song was one of the first he wrote on piano, having exclusively written on guitar beforehand. Recorded at Radio Luxembourg Studios in London in late 1970, this was one of six songs on a reel submitted to his publishers Chrysalis. Ian Ellis and Harry Hughes from the band Clouds play bass and drums, respectively.

At the time, Bowie was into the idea of being a songwriter and seeing his songs being recorded by other artists - an example from around this time would be Peter Noone's recording of 'Oh! You Pretty Things' in April 1971, which hit no. 12 in the UK singles chart. Bowie found little success in getting his other compositions recorded by other artists until a while later, and apparently had sent 'Miss Peculiar' to the management of Tom Jones, hoping for a cover version. This recording was officially released on the 2022 box set 'Divine Symmetry', essentially a super deluxe edition of 'Hunky Dory' (I reckon this tune could've fit well on that album). The sleeve notes teasingly state that "in spring 1971 Bowie produced a fully orchestrated (but unreleased) studio version sung by his friend Geoff MacCormack". I'd like to hear that!

10) SEYMOUR - Sing (To Me) (Demo, 1989)

Seymour are Blur before they changed their name at the insistence of Food Records. There are several Seymour-era songs that were not re-used for early Blur releases - six of these recordings were released as b-sides to 'Sunday Sunday' in 1993, across various formats - the sleeve artwork says 'Blur - Sunday Sunday featuring Seymour'. A few of other Seymour tracks would be re-recorded and end up on Blur's 1991 debut LP 'Leisure', such as She's So High, Birthday, Fool and Sing. This is a Seymour demo of Sing, recorded by early Damon Albarn mentor Graeme Holdaway at the Beat Factory studios in London. This recording was first released as a fan club CD single in December 1999, but also appears on the 'Rarities One' CD in the 'Blur 21' box set released in 2012.

Chris Morris 'Loose Ends' 1988 Demo sample

Another excerpt from the Chris Morris Loose Ends tape.

11) THE FLAMING LIPS - Jets (Cupid's Kiss Vs The Psyche Of Death) (2 Track Demo)

This '2 track demo' was released on the 1991 EP 'Yeah, I Know It's A Drag...Wastin' Pigs Is Still Radical', the band's debut release for Warner Bros. The same demo version later appeared on the 3CD edition of 2017's 'Greatest Hits, Vol. 1' A studio version was recorded during the 'Hit To Death In The Future Head' but remains unreleased for some reason. A snippet was played during the excellent audio-documentary about the album, 'Autopsy Of The Devil's Brain', but luckily for us the whole recording is out there on YouTube. It's really great, and you can enjoy hearing backing vocals from Jonathan Donahue who would soon leave the Lips to concentrate on Mercury Rev full time.

There is a sequel to Jets entitled 'My Two Days As An Ambulance Driver (Jets Pt. 2)'. In October 1992, the band recorded a version for a BBC Radio 1 John Peel Session. This remains officially unreleased, but a studio version would be released on the 1994 mini album 'Due To High Expectations... The Flaming Lips Are Providing Needles For Your Balloons'.

12) GIRLY-SOUND - Clean

Before Liz Phair was releasing records under her own name through Matador, the tape-trading U.S. underground saw three tapes credited to 'Girly-Sound' being copied endlessly and circulating fervently in 1991 and 1992. The tapes were bedroom four-track recordings by Phair of tracks that would end up on subsequent albums (particularly her first two, 'Exile In Guyville' (1993) and 'Whipsmart' (1994)). The first (Yo Yo Buddy Yup Yup Word To Ya Muthuh) and third (Sooty) of the Girly-Sound tapes would primarily be Phair with her electric guitar. The second tape, 'GIRLSGIRLSGIRLS', would be Phair on acoustic and singing the more melancholy tracks. This is one of them. It's an early version of what would become the early breakthrough single 'Never Said', but the difference in arrangement and tone - the lyrics are mostly the same - gives the songs two totally different meanings. A lot of the songs on the 'GIRLSGIRLSGIRLS' tape would be in the 6-7 minute mark, all of which would be cut down heavily for their eventual release on Phair's studio albums.

The Girly-Sound tapes became somewhat of a legend, and some fans prefer those 3 tapes to what would come after. Despite heavy bootlegging, only small portions of those tapes would come out in drips and drabs in the following years, while most the songs were often re-worked and re-recorded for the studio albums. In 1994, a medley of three songs was released as 'Combo Platter' to the b-side of 'Supernova'. The following year, five songs were released on the 'Juvenilia' EP, and in 2010 a 10-track bonus CD of Girlysound recordings was included with the divisive 'Funstyle' album. It wasn't until 2018 when the tapes were issued (mostly) in full as part of the 'Girly-Sound To Guyville' 3CD/7LP box set. Unfortunately, a couple of tracks ('Fuck Or Die' and 'Shatter') were left off due to clearance issues due to Liz's reworking songs by The Rolling Stones and Johnny Cash. The three tapes were reissued separately in limited quantities alongside this box set, and the vinyl box set is a great release, with each Girly-Sound record in its own sleeve of the original cassette cover. Sadly, the 3CD issue splits the 3 tapes across 2 CDs and is housed in an ugly 90s-style fat-box case. The box set artwork is a bit naff too. Maybe one day we'll get another re-release.

13) GRANDADDY - Beautiful Ground (Original Cassette Demo)

This is a solo acoustic demo, released on the 2011 2CD deluxe edition of the 2000 Grandaddy album 'The Sophtware Slump'. By the time of its recording on the album, it had become attached to the character of Jeddy 3 - an alcoholic-poet android who drinks himself to death. It had a fuller arrangement and was entitled 'Jed's Other Poem (Beautiful Ground)'. The Jed character appears elsewhere in the Grandaddy catalogue: 'Jed The Humanoid' also from The Sophtware Slump, 'Jeddy 3's Poem' from the 1999 'Signal To Snow Ratio' EP, and 'Jed The 4th' from the 2017 'Last Place' LP, which tells the story of Jed's son.

Chris Morris 'Loose Ends' 1988 Demo sample

Another excerpt from the Chris Morris Loose Ends tape.

14) PIXIES - Rock A My Soul

Pixies' 'purple tape' demo from 1987 was recorded by Gary Smith (RIP) at Fort Apache studios in Boston, the tape was manufactured and packaged in a Smith-designed sleeve and landed at the desk of Ivo Watts-Russell from 4AD, who soon signed the band. It's a very similar story to Throwing Muses' 'doghouse' demo from 1985.

The 17 track Pixies tape was not recorded as demos, but as an album to be released. Eight songs were pulled from the tape and released as the band's 1987 debut mini-LP 'Come On Pilgrim'. The remaining nine tracks were re-recorded for future records including Surfer Rosa, Bossanova, Trompe Le Monde and various b-sides - apart from this track. In 2002, SpinART Records and Cooking Vinyl released those nine songs as the 'Pixies' mini-album. Annoyingly, they were left off the 'Come On Pilgrim... It's Surfer Rosa' reissue in 2018. It would be cool to get the original tape reissued on CD and vinyl in its original sequence with its original artwork. It is the first Pixies record that never was.

15) STEREOLAB - Ping Pong (Demo)

The run of Stereolab deluxe editions from 2019 included many demos as bonus tracks, and they are fascinating listens. All stripped-back demos with guitar and vocals without any of the signature instrumentation that Stereolab are known for. This song, also a single, appears on the band's 1994 album 'Mars Audiac Quintet', and this demo appears on the 2019 2CD and 3LP reissues.

16) PJ HARVEY - Easy (4 Track Demo)

Initial pressings of PJ Harvey's 1992 debut 'Dry' included a bonus disc of demos, and in 1993 PJ Harvey followed up the second album 'Rid Of Me' with a separate disc entitled '4 Track Demos'. This album featured most of the songs from 'Rid Of Me' in solo-electric demo form, along with a few others such as 'Reeling' which received the full band treatment and was released as a b-side to '50ft Queenie', and this one, that was one not re-recorded elsewhere.

Aside from a few demo tracks as b-sides, PJ Harvey stopped releasing demo albums until a reissue series starting in 2020 where the 'Dry' demos bonus disc received a separate release, and her post-Rid Of Me albums received demo albums for the first time. The '4 Track Demos' album remains in print in its original form, but I had hoped we would get a separate 'Rid Of Me (Demos)' release that mirrors the original album and includes the tracks that were missing from '4 Track Demos' but appeared elsewhere as b-sides or on the 'B-Sides, Demos & Rarities' compilation from 2022. Oh well.

17) YOUNG KNIVES - In The Pink (Nolens Volens Version)

This track appears on Young Knives' 2004 self-released CD-R demo album 'Nolens Volens'. It's the great lost album of the 2000s. Many of these songs would be re-recorded for their 2006 album 'Voices Of Animals And Men' or as b-sides, with different arrangements. Some are improvements, some are different but still just as good. This is the one song that I think was definitely better first time around on Nolens Volens. There's a lot more different parts to the song on this version rather than the one found on 'Voices Of Animals And Men'. Listen to that one here and compare for yourself.

And I really hope that one day 'Nolens Volens' gets properly released, it's a gem.

18) THE GO! TEAM - Titanic Vandalism (Demo)

This demo is a curious one. The 2004 debut Go! Team album 'Thunder, Lightning, Strike!' was recorded by Ian Parton alone, before they became a 'band' for live performances and further studio recordings. There was an earlier demo draft of the album that got them signed to Memphis Industries, and a replica of this demo CD-R was included in the 2024 20th anniversary reissue. Along with demos of tracks that would eventually make T,L,S! was this demo of 'Titanic Vandalism' - a song with that title would appear on The Go! Team's second album 'Proof Of Youth' in 2007. This demo had mutated into two separate songs that would appear on Proof Of Youth - 'Titanic Vandalism' and 'Grip Like A Vice'.

SECRET SAUCES RADIO OUTRO IDENT

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!