Siouxsie & the Banshees - Tinderbox Demos 1986

This is a small selection of demo's and studio out takes by Siouxsie & the Banshees circulated simply as the Tinderbox Demos.

Included with this boot were a few tracks that were off air recordings from BBC radio sessions and these eventually made there way on to the official BBC four disc box set in much better quality. The Tinderbox demo's featured here are a bit of a mystery and there is not a lot else I can add information wise except that they are interesting examples of work in progress.

Tinderbox was the seventh studio album released by the band and it was the first effort with new guitarist John Valentine Carruthers. The sessions took place at Hansa Studios, by the Berlin wall. Tinderbox was re-issued remastered and expanded in 2009, featuring in the bonus tracks an unreleased version of the 1987's "Song from the Edge of the World" and an unreleased song with lyrics of Steven Severin called "Starcrossed", recorded in May 1985. The b-sides of "Cities in Dust" and "Candyman", initially included as bonus tracks on the 1986 CD are now part of the Downside Up b-sides box set.

Source: Studio sessions.

Sound Quality: Good mp3@128kbps.

Genre: Punk, new wave.

Set:  Studio Sessions.

Set List:

01. Instrumental #1
02. Candyman Instrumental
03. Lands End Instrumental
04. Instrumental #2
05. Instrumental #3
06. Umbrella Instrumental
07. Party's Fall Instrumental
08. The Sweetest Chill - Live Take
09. 92 Degrees - Live Take
10. Candyman (Alt. Take) 

Comments:

Siouxsie Sioux: vocals, piano, whistle, Steven Severin: electric bass, keyboards, piano, drumbox, emulator, Budgie: drums and percussion, John Valentine Carruthers: guitars, keyboards, waterphone, (Siouxsie and the Banshees: producers).

Download link in comments below.

The Tourists - London 1980

This is The Tourists who came in to being from 1977 through to 1980. The band, are now better known for two of their members Annie Lennox and David Stewart who went on to achieve great success as Eurythmics. The band formed around a nucleus of two musicians from Sunderland in north-east England, Peet Coombes and Dave Stewart.

Peet Coombes was a guitarist singer-songwriter, while Dave Stewart, also a guitarist, had been a member of the folk rock band, Longdancer, who were signed to Elton John's Rocket Records label. The two moved to London and encountered Scottish singer Annie Lennox who had dropped out of her course at the Royal Academy of Music, where she had been studying flute and keyboards, to pursue her ambitions in pop music. The three of them initially called themselves The Catch, and released a single "Borderline" in 1977 on Logo Records, which failed to chart.

By 1977, they had recruited bass guitarist Eddie Chin and drummer Jim Toomey, and rechristened themselves The Tourists. This saw the beginning of a productive two years for the band and they recorded three albums: The Tourists, Reality Effect, and Luminous Basement, as well as half a dozen singles, including "Blind Among the Flower" (1979), "The Loneliest Man in the World" (1979), "Don't Say I Told You So" (1980), and two major hits, the Dusty Springfield cover "I Only Want to Be with You" (1979) and "So Good to Be Back Home Again" (1980), both of which reached the top 10 in the UK. "I Only Want to Be With You" was also a top 10 hit in Australia, and made the US Billboard Hot 100 at no.83. Coombes was the band's main songwriter, although later releases saw the first compositions by Lennox and Stewart. The band's music expanded using their folk roots, demonstrating some punk energy, reggae and 1960s pop influences. A key development was their decision to record later material with German avant-garde producer Conny Plank, and a transfer to RCA Records in 1980. The band toured extensively in the UK and abroad, including a support role on the Roxy Music Manifesto Tour.

They disbanded not long after this concert performance recorded for the BBC at the Paris Theatre, London in 1980.  

Source: BBC radio Broadcast

Sound Quality: Very good mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Power pop, new wave.

Set:  Full radio set.

Set List:

1.The Golden Lamp.
2.Don't Get Left Behind.
3.Loneliest Man In The World.
4.Useless Duration Of Time.
5.Fools Paradise.
6.Another English Day.
7.Deadly Kiss.
8.Blind Among The Flowers.

Comments:

Peet Coombes - guitar, David A. Stewart - guitar, Annie Lennox - vocal, keyboards, Eddie Chin - bass guitar, Jim Toomey - drum kit

New file link in comments below - Re-uploaded 2012 (Stealth project).

Cream - The Blues Years Live 1966 - 67

This is Cream live at Klooks Kleek, London on the 15th November 1966 and at Konserthuset, Stockholm on the 7th March 1967.

This material has been circulated as individual bootlegs and as part of Cream bootleg compilations, most notably as the first of two CD's titled 'Renovating The Blues'.

The concerts drew on material from Creams debut album 'Fresh Cream' and demonstrate clearly the powerful influence blues music had over both Cream and their early audience.

Klooks Kleek for example was a club based in the Railway Hotel, Hampstead, London with a capacity of around 100. The venue had a strong blues association, and other rock bands with a strong early blues pedigree played there including Ten Years After whose second album 'Undead' was recorded at the venue.

There has been talk that the Cream concert may have been recorded with a live album release in mind, however a number of issues around the mix and the equipment would have ruled this out and it seems inconceivable that Cream would have accepted a sub standard release despite their excellent performance on the night.

The Stockholm gig was recorded for radio broadcast and and as a result is also of good audio quality. Early bootlegs of this show had problems around speed, some were sped up by 10 to 15%, however this version is corrected, which suggests it came from the 'Renovating The Blues' source which is the best version after alot  of care and attention went into correcting the speed and audio quality.

Source: Soundboard London - FM Broadcast Stockholm

Sound Quality: Very good mp3's London @192kbps Stockholm @320kbps 

Genre: Blues Rock 

Set: Likely that London was the end of the first set and start of the second and Stockholm radio edit only (cannot confirm full details).

Set List:

Klooks Kleek - London 1966.

1. Steppin' Out
2. Sweet Wine
3. Meet Me In The Bottom
4. NSU
5. Hey Lawdy Mama
6. Sleepy Time Time
7. Crossroads.

Konserthuset - Stockholm 1967.

01. N.S.U.
02. Stepping Out
03. Train time
04. Toad

05. I'm So Glad 

Website: Official Reunion Site HERE. 

Comments:

Cream's debut album, Fresh Cream, was recorded and released in 1966. The album reached number 6 in the UK charts and number 39 in the United States. It mainly consisted of blues covers, including "Four Until Late", "Rollin' and Tumblin'" (written by Muddy Waters), "Spoonful" (written by Willie Dixon and recorded by Howlin' Wolf), "I'm So Glad" (written by Skip James) and "Cat's Squirrel". The rest of the album featured songs written (or co-written) by Jack Bruce, most notably "I Feel Free" (which was a UK hit single, but only included on the American edition of the LP), and two by Ginger Baker (one of which, "Toad", contained one of the earliest examples of a drum solo in rock music). Ginger Baker also collaborated with Jack Bruce's then-wife Janet Godfrey to write "Sweet Wine."

The early Cream bootlegs display a much tighter band showcasing more songs. All of the songs are reasonably short five-minute versions of "N.S.U.", "Sweet Wine" and "Toad". But a mere two months later, the set list shortened, with the songs then much longer.

Download links (two) in comments below.

Doves - Boston USA 2001

This is Doves live at the Axis Nightclub; Boston, MA, USA, back on the 28th June 2001. The concert was recorded for radio broadcast by Bostons WBCN.

Doves are an English alternative rock band, originating from Wilmslow (near Manchester). The band comprises brothers Jez Williams (guitar, vocals) and Andy Williams (drums, vocals), and Jimi Goodwin (bass, vocals, guitar). The members started working seriously together after meeting at The Haçienda in Manchester. Doves' unofficial fourth member is Martin Rebelski, who plays keyboards. To date, the band has released four critically acclaimed and commercially successful studio albums, and their first career-spanning compilation album The Places Between: The Best of Doves was released in April 2010.

After meeting again at The Haçienda in 1989, the Williams brothers and Jimi Goodwin formed Sub Sub, releasing their first single "Space Face" in 1991, and then in 1993 they released "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)," which reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. On the Williams twins' birthday in February 1996, the band's Ancoats studio caught fire and burned down, leading the band members to abandon their previous dance-oriented style and start afresh as alternative rock band Doves in 1998.

Of the threesome's change of direction, Jez Williams has said: "We were faced with a really black and white decision: throw the towel in or carry on. And if you're going to carry on, you've got to put everything into it to justify it, because before that you've lost everything. That was quite a liberating feeling, actually.

Source: FM Broadcast

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps 

Genre: Alternative Rock, Indie.

Set: Full Set.

Set List:

01 - Intro
02 - Firesuite
03 - Rise
04 - Sea Song
05 - Catch The Sun
06 - The Man Who Told Everything
07 - Lost Souls
08 - A House
09 - The Cedar Room
10 - Spaceface
11 - Encore Break
12 - Here It Comes
13 - N.Y.

Website: Official Site HERE.

Download link in comments below.