THE FRAMES

The Frames are still, unfortunately, not very well known 'round these parts. When people have heard of them, it's usually as the band with that guy from that movie.

Roberto, over at Voices from the Moon, posted a bunch of their stuff a couple weeks back. That reminded me that the one post I did on them ages ago no longer has valid links. So, I figured it was time to put up another batch of b-side goodies.

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The Frames - "The Dancer" (acoustic version) Taken from their first ep, Turn On Your Record Player. The regular version is on the long out-of-print (though it can be downloaded from itunes) debut album, Another Love Song.
The Frames - "Stamp My Name" B-side of "The Dancer" single.
The Frames - "Nixxi Focal" An odd little instrumental from the "Masquerade" single. Completely unlike anything else I've ever heard from them.
The Frames - "Roger" This was on the original version of their second album, Fitzcaraldo, but was replaced with "Evergreen" on the more common version.
The Frames - "One Irish Rover" A hold-over from my first post. I had to put it up again. I love this song. Featuring a guest appearance from Hothouse Flower Liam O'Maonlai. From the "Revelate" single.
The Frames - "Raglan Road" A traditional song recorded for the Liss Ard, Vol. 1 compilation. (has there ever been a vol. 2?)

Buy some of The Frames albums:

Another Love Song, 1992
Fitzcaraldo, 1996
Dance the Devil. . . , 1999
For the Birds, 2001 (buy)
Breadcrumb Trail, 2002 (Ireland & Czech Republic-only live album)
The Roads Outgrown, 2003 (buy) (US-only b-side comp)
Set List, 2003 (buy) (live)
Burn the Maps, 2004 (buy)
The Cost, 2006 (buy) (a Deluxe Edition is available from iTunes with extra tracks)

I'm also putting in the coments section a list of the rarities that I've never been able to hunt down (the ones I know of, anyway). If anyone has any of them, and would like to thank me for all the hard work. . .

UPDATES

A note for the visitors of this blog. . . There are currently two more posts scheduled for the next two Fridays. Beyond that, I don't know how much updating I'll be doing for a while, as I'm going to have to spend my time searching for a new job. The company I've worked for for the past 7+ years let me go this morning.

If anyone out there has any positions for a guy with about 20 years retail management experience (about half of that in music retail), feel free to email me.

NICK CAVE and the BAD SEEDS

I've posted on Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds before. If you don't know who they are, then either you've been living in a hole for the last 30 years, or you've been addicted to top 40 radio crap for as long. Either way, seek help - preferably in the form of their latest album, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!, or perhaps pick up some of the remasters.

For all the rest of you who are already familiar with the wonderfully dark world of Nick, here's a batch of rare promo items from the marketing of their 2001 album, No More Shall We Part.

Firstly, we have a four song promo-only EP titled Live Radio Sessions. As the name implies, it's four tracks recorded live for a radio program.

Secondly, we have a promo-only VHS documentary called The Hallelujah Tapes. The tape is about 25 minutes long, and that's a lot for anyone to download. There's only 2 full length songs within the documentary, so I edited each of those into their own files and I'm posting them. If there's enough interested folks, I'll look into posting the whole 25 minute doc.

Also included on the tape (aside from the documentary) is the video for "As I Sat Sadly By Her Side". I hadn't planned on posting it, since I thought it had been officially released on The Videos DVD. Turns out it's not on there, so I'm upping it, too.

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Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow (radio session)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - No More Shall We Part (radio session)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - God Is In the House (radio session)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - We Came Along This Road (radio session)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Sorrowful Wife (mpg) - Hallelujah Tapes
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - God Is In the House (mpg) - Hallelujah Tapes
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - As I Sat Sadly By Her Side (mpg) - promo video

By request, here's the full Hallelujah Tapes (rar file, no password)

Buy some of their albums:
(First four albums are currently scheduled for re-issue in May)

From Her to Eternity, 1984
The Firstborn is Dead, 1985
Kicking Against the Pricks, 1986
Your Funeral. . . My Trial, 1986
Tender Prey, 1988 (buy)
The Good Son, 1990 (buy)
Henry's Dream, 1992 (buy)
Let Love In, 1994 (buy)
Murder Ballads, 1996 (buy)
The Boatman's Call, 1997 (buy)
No More Shall We Part, 2001 (buy)
Nocturama, 2003 (buy)
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus, 2004 (buy)
B-Sides and Rarities, 2005 (buy)
Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!, 2008 (buy)

Of course, if any of these songs or videos turn out to be on the upcoming remasters, I'll yank 'em down. Gotta support the artists.

THE LIVING END

Australian punk / rockabilly band The Living End began their career as a Stray Cats cover band known as The Runaway Boys. Over the years they, obviously, started writing their own songs, and changed their name, but have maintained a bit of that Stray Cats' rockabilly attitude.

They're huge in their native land, but despite having a large following in The States, they have only had some limited success on the charts here. As I've said before, though, success here can often be the kiss of death.

Nearly all of their single releases over the last 15 years have had non-album tracks on them. I would post a bunch of those, but they've been pretty well covered elsewhere in the blogosphere lately. Just look around a bit if you're interested. It shouldn't take long to find them.

Here's a bunch of tracks from guest appearances on other artists' albums, compilations and the like.

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The Living End - "Rip It Up" (Little Richard cover) Taken from a free EP given out with the November 2000 issue of Juice Magazine.
The Living End - "Ready" From the wonderful Fat Wreck Chords compilation, Short Music for Short People. (buy) If you're unfamiliar with the album, it contains 101 different bands doing songs that average 30 seconds each. Well worth the couple of bucks to buy a legit copy.
Kasey Chambers with The Living End - "Crossfire" From fellow Australian Chambers' album Barricades and Brickwalls. (buy)
The Living End - "Sleep On It" Not a rare one for the Aussies, this was on their debut album, but was taken off the American version in order to add "Strange".
The Living End - "Leilani" (Hoodoo Gurus cover) Taken from the Gurus' tribute album, Stoneage Cameos. (buy)
Jimmy Barnes with The Living End - "Resurrection Shuffle" (Ashton, Gardner and Dyke cover) Jimmy is a legend in Australia. He's best known in The States for his duet with INXS on "Good Times" from The Lost Boys soundtrack. This is from his album Double Happiness. (buy)
The Living End - "Prisoner of Society" (reggae version) I believe this version originates from a radio session. The better known version is from The Living End.

The Living End discography:

Hellbound, 1995 (ep)
It's For Your Own Good, 1996 (ep)
The Living End, 1998 (buy)
Roll On, 2000 (buy)
Modern ARTillary, 2003 (buy)
State of Emergency, 2006 (buy)
White Noise, 2008 (buy)

THE (ENGLISH) BEAT

Here's one I shouldn't have to tell you about. The English Beat (or The Beat to pretty much everyone outside the USA) were a 2-Tone-era ska band from England.

They put out a total of three albums during their career. The first two had several hits in the UK, and other countries, but didn't do well in the States. The third album, Special Beat Service, however, changed that thanks to a lengthy tour of the States, and a descent amount of radio play.

Having finally made it big on both sides of the pond, they promptly broke up. The band's main singer, Dave Wakeling, didn't want to split the touring money between such a large group, so he decided to start a new smaller group, and he convinced the other singer, Ranking Roger to go with him. Together they formed General Public, and had a few more hits.

The two guitarists, Andy Cox and David Steel, went on to form Fine Young Cannibals, and score several hits. The rest of the band did time in several other ska bands, notably The International Beat and The Special Beat.

Though their have been reunion shows in more recent years, the entire original line up has never been on stage again.

Some of these "rarities" have been issued on the many best-of compilations that have been released since the demise of the band. However, to quote Bruce McCulloch, Best-of's are for housewives and little girls. So, if the songs aren't available on the regular albums, I still think of them as non-album tracks.

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The Beat - "Hit It" A single from 1981, not put on their albums.
The Beat - "Which Side of the Bed?" B-side of "Hit It".
The Beat - "Psychedelic Rockers" B-side of "Too Nice To Talk To", which was also a non-album track, but has been added to the cd of Wha'ppen?
The Beat - "March of the Swivelheads" An instrumental version of "Rotating Head" from Special Beat Service. This was also used in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
The Beat - "Mirror In the Bathroom" (Peel Session) Original version is on I Just Can't Stop It.
The Beat - "She's Going" (Peel Session) Original is on Special Beat Service.
The Beat - "Save It For Later" (Peel Session) Original is on Special Beat Service.

The Beat - "What's Your Best Thing?" B-side of "Save It For Later"

The Beat discography:

I Just Can't Stop It, 1980 (buy)
Wha'ppen?, 1981 (buy)
Special Beat Service, 1982 (buy)

Beat discography for housewives and little girls:
What Is Beat?, 1983
B.P.M., 1996
Beat This, 2000 (buy)
The Platinum Collection, 2005 (buy)
You Just Can't Beat It, 2008 (buy)