POST #205

Here's a quick FYI post. I know that many of my regular visitors are fans of The Waterboys, and lead Waterboy Mike Scott, so I wanted to make sure everyone was aware that Mike has just created an account over at SoundCloud. He currently has 21 unreleased tracks up for grabs, mostly his own demos, or tracks with the band, but in some cases something completely different.

The songs can be had through his own site, or directly from SoundCloud.

Here's a few to get you started:

Mr Wickham Composes by mickpuck

Mick Puck Writes 'Something That Is Gone' In The Shower by mickpuck

If You See Jimmy Hickey by mickpuck

While you're over there, take a look around SoundCloud, if you haven't already. There's a lot of cool stuff up there.

WATERBOYS BEAR WITNESS

A quick update. The Waterboys have just posted a video in support of Iranian protesters. Lyrics are from a W. B. Yeats poem. Music by Mike Scott.



UPDATE: I had a couple of people looking for the lyrics. Here they are, direct from The Waterboys website.

LET THE EARTH BEAR WITNESS
words by W.B. Yeats

They shall be remembered for ever
They shall be alive for ever
They shall be speaking for ever
The people shall hear them for ever

Let the sea bear witness
Let the wind bear witness
Let the earth bear witness
Let the stars bear witness!

On an unrelated note -Michael Jackson R.I.P.

I'll be back tomorrow with some fresh goodies.

MIKE SCOTT

Not even 24 hours after whining about spending too much time at work, I got half a day off. That was enough time to, while doing various chores around the house that had been ignored for ages, upload a new batch of songs.

Mike Scott is The Waterboys. But you already knew that.

Aside from the many Waterboys albums, Mike has also released two commercial solo albums, a couple of fan club-only discs, and has guested on several songs from friends.

I’m not going to give you some big ol’ blurb about him. My thoughts are, if you’ve been frequenting this blog, then you probably have similar music tastes to me. If that’s the case, there isn’t anything new I can tell you about him.

Here’s some music:

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Mike Scott - “Why Should I Love You?” (Kate Bush cover) From the compilation, Come Again.
Mike Scott - “Two Great Waves” B-side of the “Building the City of Light” single.
Mike Scott - “The Seaweed Shoveling Song” From the fan club-only album Lion of Love.
Ian McNabb with Mike Scott and Anto Thistlethwait - “Salt of the Earth” Ian is the lead singer of Icicle Works. Mike has worked with him a few times. Here, Anto (another Waterboy) and Ian trade vocals. From the Beggars Banquet RSVP compilation.
Mike Scott - “Mother Cluny” B-side of the “Bring ‘em All In” single.
Mike Scott - “Love Anyway” (demo version) From the “Rare, Precious and Gone” single. Original version is on Still Burning.
Mike Scott - “I’ve Been In the Storm For You” From the fan club-only album Sunflowers.
Mike Scott - “Glastonbury Song” (live solo) Recorded at the Greenbelt Festival on August 28, 1994. Released on a bootleg attributed to The Waterboys, though it was a solo show.
Carlos Nunez with Mike Scott and Paddy Keenan - “Raggle Taggle Gypsy” I’m sure Waterboys fans will recognize the song. This particular version is from Carlos’s album Os Amores Libres.
Mike Scott - “Bleeker Street” From the “Building the City of Light” US promo single.

Mike Scott solo discography:

Sunflowers, 1994 (fan club only)
Bring ‘em All In, 1995 (all songs written by, and all instruments performed by Mike)
Lion of Love, 1996 (fan club only)
Still Burning, 1998 (US version has 4 extra tracks!)

On another topic: I just received word that one of my posts has been taken down due to a DMCA violation. Seriously, all they had to do was ask, and I would have removed the links to the files. I've said it before, I'm not looking to take any money out of anyone's pocket. I post music here because I love it and want people to hear it, and hopefully, to purchase the more commonly available stuff and support the artists.

My apologies if the artist involved felt I was trying to steal from him. I was just trying to get more people to give him a listen. He deserves the attention.

WORLD PARTY

British band World Party is one of those solo - project - masquerading - as - band bands (see also The The, The Waterboys, Smashing Pumpkins). This particular band is comprised of Karl Wallinger. . . And whoever else he feels like working with at any given time.

Wallinger, prior to forming World Party, was a member of Mike Scott’s Waterboys. He released two albums with The Waterboys, leaving just before the Fisherman's Blues era.

To say World Party’s music is Beatle-esc is putting it mildly. He performs old Fab Four songs nearly as often as his own compositions. In fact, while putting this post together, I had trouble not making it a Wallinger - does - Beatles post. So, with great difficulty, here’s some non - album, non - Beatles, World Party tunes.

Ok, one Beatles tune, too.

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World Party - “Holy Water” B-side of “Ship of Fools”
World Party - "Basically" B-side of "Give It All Away"
World Party - “You’re a Hurricane, I’m a Caravan” (demo) Released on Wallinger’s website.
World Party - “World Groove (Do the Mind Guerrilla)” B-side of “All Come True”
World Party - “Penny Lane” (The Beatles cover) B-side of “Beautiful Dream”
World Party - “All the Young Dudes” (Mott the Hoople cover) Released on the Clueless soundtrack.
Karl Wallinger - “The Four Ages of Man” From the W. B. Yeats tribute compilation Now and In Time To Be.

World Party discography:

Private Revolution, 1986 (buy)
Goodbye Jumbo, 1990 (buy)
Bang!, 1993 (buy)
Egyptology, 1997 (buy)
Dumbing Up, 2000 (buy)

THE WATERBOYS

The Waterboys formed in Scotland in the early eighties. Throughout their 25+ years, the only constant member has been leader Mike Scott.

The band has gone through three distinct periods since its inception. In the eighties, they had a “Big Music” sound, typified by their hit “The Whole of the Moon”. In the late eighties, Scott moved the band to Ireland and transformed them into what has been called a “Raggle Taggle” band. After breaking up in the nineties, they later reformed as an experimental folk-rock band.

While I am a big fan of the early days, and to some extent the more recent, I’m going to concentrate on the Raggle Taggle period today.

After joining up with fiddler Steve Wickham (formerly of In Tua Nua), Scott assembled a revolving group of folk and rock musicians in Ireland. They took to recording umpteen sessions over the course of two and a half years, beginning at Windmill Lane in Dublin, and later moving the operation to the town of Spidal. Out of these sessions, the magnificent album Fisherman’s Blues was born.

Over the years, many of the other tracks recorded (and there were hundreds of them) have been issued. Some on singles, some on later albums and remasters, and many through bootlegs. Here’s some of the songs that didn’t make the original, or subsequent official albums:

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The Waterboys - “Lost Highway” (written by Leon Payne, made famous by Hank Williams) B-side of the “Fisherman’s Blues” single. Liam O’Maonlai of Hothouse Flowers guests on piano.
The Waterboys - “Raggle Taggle Gypsy” (live) B-side of “And a Bang On the Ear” single. A studio version later appeared on Room To Roam.
The Waterboys - “Drunken Head Ghost of Rimbaud Blues” Recorded at Windmill Lane on January 23, 1986. Unreleased.
The Waterboys - “Everybody Takes a Tumble” (radio session) Written during the Fisherman’s Blues sessions, but not recorded at that time. This session is from around 15 years later. A studio version finally made it out on Book of Lightning.
The Waterboys - “Golden Age Medley” B-side of “The Whole of the Moon” reissue single. The medley is comprised of four songs: “A Golden Age”, “Higher In Time”, “High Far Soon” and “Soon As I Get Home”. Two of these have had alternate takes issued, but these versions are unique to this medley.
The Waterboys - “Twa Recruitin’ Sergeants” Session recording from The Factory in 1988. Unreleased.
The Waterboys - “The Stolen Child” (remix) Released on the Now and In Time To Be compilation.
The Waterboys - “Lonesome and A Long Way From Home” Bonus track on the US edition of Too Close To Heaven.
The Waterboys - “Give That Fiddler a Drink” A rather drunken session recording from some time in 1986. Unreleased.

The Waterboys discography:

The Waterboys, 1983 (buy remaster)
A Pagan Place, 1984 (buy remaster)
This Is the Sea, 1985 (buy 2cd remaster) (buy original)
Fisherman’s Blues, 1988 (buy 2cd remaster) (buy original)
Room to Roam, 1990 (buy)
Dream Harder, 1993 (buy)
The Secret Life of The Waterboys, 1994 (b-sides and rarities from 81-85)
A Rock In a Weary Land, 2000 (buy)
Too Close to Heaven, 2001 (buy) (from Fisherman’s Blues sessions)
Universal Hall, 2003 (buy)
Book of Lightning, 2007 (buy)

For more information, you can check out the wiki, or the official site.