Demo versions of album tracks

noelindublin · Loudmouth

Demo versions of album tracks

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Sadly few have come to light. The most interesting ones would be the aborted Wainman and Godley & Creme sessions. Not even the Virgin/Ensign demo has surfaced. I don't think there is much chance that any will come out now given the time since the recordings. Only hope is someone like Roberts or Briquette having the tapes in the attic.

jamieuka · House on Fire

Because V Deep has always been my favourite Rats album, I would love to hear some of the Godley & Creme sessions. However, didn't I read recently (here?) that Godley & Creme claim that V Deep *is* the sessions and that Visconti effectively merely added polish?

noelindublin · Loudmouth

ArrGee wrote:

Sadly few have come to light. The most interesting ones would be the aborted Wainman and Godley & Creme sessions. Not even the Virgin/Ensign demo has surfaced. I don't think there is much chance that any will come out now given the time since the recordings. Only hope is someone like Roberts or Briquette having the tapes in the attic.

Gary Roberts said in an interview with BTR that he may have some recordings in his attic. Maybe its the same with Simon Crowe.

Wonder what goodies BG himself has in his attic- possibly a minor threasure trove. We can only dream.

-- Edited by noelindublin on Tuesday 1st of February 2011 02:26:32 PM

noelindublin · Loudmouth

jamieuka wrote:

Because V Deep has always been my favourite Rats album, I would love to hear some of the Godley & Creme sessions. However, didn't I read recently (here?) that Godley & Creme claim that V Deep *is* the sessions and that Visconti effectively merely added polish?

If you google Lol Creme interview 1981there in a Melody Maker interview with said gent which briefly mentions them working with the Rats. Further down there is an extract from Tony Vinconti's autobiography which is more detailed telling of G and C's involvement with recording V Deep.

This interview seems to be on Facebook site dedicated to Godley and Creme and I just came across it trying to find out more about any recordings they may have done with the Boomtown Rats.

I've always liked V Deep and even Geldof himself has claimed it as his favourite Rats album. I know its not to everyones taste but I've never had a problem with it.

jamieuka · House on Fire

noelindublin wrote:
google Lol Creme interview 1981

This interview seems to be on Facebook site dedicated to Godley and Creme

even Geldof himself has claimed [V Deep] as his favourite Rats album. I know its not to everyones taste but I've never had a problem with it.

Thanks, that is indeed the same source (Facebook, of all places) I was remembering. Visconti says he finished overdubs and mixes, C & G claim main production and it sounds like they wos robbed.

I'm sure I've also read Geldof saying that ITLG is his hands down favourite or maybe I'm getting confused: did he say that 'Dave' is his hands down favourite song which merely appears on ITLG?

noelindublin · Loudmouth

jamieuka wrote:

noelindublin wrote:
google Lol Creme interview 1981

This interview seems to be on Facebook site dedicated to Godley and Creme
even Geldof himself has claimed [V Deep] as his favourite Rats album. I know its not to everyones taste but I've never had a problem with it.

Thanks, that is indeed the same source (Facebook, of all places) I was remembering. Visconti says he finished overdubs and mixes, C & G claim main production and it sounds like they wos robbed.
I'm sure I've also read Geldof saying that ITLG is his hands down favourite or maybe I'm getting confused: did he say that 'Dave' is his hands down favourite song which merely appears on ITLG?

The critics weren't too kind to V Deep so maybe Godley and Creme escaped with their reputations by not being credited "properly".

It would be interesting to hear what Geldof actively dislikes from his Rats career.The stuff he's embarrassed about or wondered why he had written it? Those "what was I thinking " moments!

jamieuka · House on Fire

noelindublin wrote:
The critics weren't too kind to V Deep so maybe Godley and Creme escaped with their reputations by not being credited "properly".
It would be interesting to hear what Geldof actively dislikes from his Rats career.The stuff he's embarrassed about or wondered why he had written it? Those "what was I thinking " moments!

Were the critics ever kind beyond the early days? I can't imagine G & C were in it for the potential rep!

Surely Geldof has always hated 'Rain'. Failing to future-proof 'She's So Modern' could be considered a mistake. The spoken intro to 'Do The Rat' has clearly proven to be an embarrassment. But I agree it would be interesting to discover what his least fondly remembered tracks are. My money's on 'Man at the Top' ;)

-- Edited by jamieuka on Monday 7th of February 2011 09:04:30 PM

Derek The Dane · V Deep

I have a BBC album where there is a demo version of Neon Heart on it and about 30 seconds of My Generation live.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

jamieuka wrote:

noelindublin wrote:
The critics weren't too kind to V Deep so maybe Godley and Creme escaped with their reputations by not being credited "properly".
It would be interesting to hear what Geldof actively dislikes from his Rats career.The stuff he's embarrassed about or wondered why he had written it? Those "what was I thinking " moments!

Were the critics ever kind beyond the early days? I can't imagine G & C were in it for the potential rep!

Surely Geldof has always hated 'Rain'. Failing to future-proof 'She's So Modern' could be considered a mistake. The spoken intro to 'Do The Rat' has clearly proven to be an embarrassment. But I agree it would be interesting to discover what his least fondly remembered tracks are. My money's on 'Man at the Top' ;)

Geldof's least favourite album appears to be err A Tonic for the Troops. Never had a good word to say about it since 1980, I remember reading about him dismissing it as his "pop" album whereas V Deep was his, ahem, masterpiece. Can't track down the quotes. Sometimes I think he just says these things to provoke me smile

BlastFromThePast · Mary of the 4th Form

noelindublin wrote:
Hi- Does anyone know if demo versions of any of the album tracks have ever come to light.

I have some unmixed backing tracks from the V-Deep recordings. These are basic tracks without vocals or embellishments. They are low quality though.

Also that's Visconti saying 'everyone was listening to chicken jazz' at the start of 'The Little Death'.

noelindublin · Loudmouth

Thats quite interesting to have unmixed backing tracks but they probably add little to the final outcome of the songs. Possibly they would be hard to recognise compared with the finished article. As a fan I always look out for bits and pieces that got away like pre album demo tracks, unused recordings etc. There are most likely such items lurking in various tape vaults or archives or with record companies but of what quality and in what quantity god knows.

Visconti played the recorded on Fall Down from Mondo Bongo. He complaned of some of the Rats not being up to scratch musically [No names mentioned] but it was probably his perfectionist nature. He thought Geldof wasn't a particularly good singer but again I've always found his voice very appealing and emotional.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

BlastFromThePast wrote:
I have some unmixed backing tracks from the V-Deep recordings. These are basic tracks without vocals or embellishments. They are low quality though.

Any chance of making them available to a select audience? Namely us!

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:
Visconti complaned of some of the Rats not being up to scratch musically

Wasn't too impressed with either guitarist, thought Fingers was good, but lazy and Briquette relied too much on overdubs. Still he did rate Simon Crowe as been very good and hardworking. Seemed to liked Geldof as well, but more for the ideas than his actual singing

http://boomtownrats.activeboard.com/t10399854/singing-is-not-his-geldofs-forte-tony-visconti/

BlastFromThePast · Mary of the 4th Form

I found two short snippets with vocals. I have uploaded on of them. It's from V-Deep and you#ll recognise it but with a difference. Here's the link:

http://soundcloud.com/blastfromthe-past/rats-2

BTR · Tonight

WOW! That is really amazing to hear!!!

I would LOVE to hear any others that you might have.

noelindublin · Loudmouth

BlastFromThePast wrote:
I found two short snippets with vocals. I have uploaded on of them. It's from V-Deep and you#ll recognise it but with a difference. Here's the link:

http://soundcloud.com/blastfromthe-past/rats-2

The Rats backing vocals use the lyric "hair styles" in place of "charmed lives" indicating perhaps that at this stage the final lyrics were not decided. The sound quality is quite good. Wonder is there any more vocal parts in these recordings. It would be nice to put up the second piece as well at some stage.

BlastFromThePast · Mary of the 4th Form

http://soundcloud.com/blastfromthe-past/rats-1

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

Blastfromthepast, that's brilliant. Wish I could hear more.

Would you mind if I put those clips on Facebook? do let me know if that is OK?

smile

noelindublin · Loudmouth

Thanks for the second upload. There is a bit of confusion here. You said both clips were from the V Deep recording sessions I think. The first is ok being Charmed Lives.

However the second is from Geldof's first solo album- the track is The Beat Of The Night. Is this a Boomtown Rats track from those V Deep recordings, maybe a track they didn't proceed with or is it from Geldof's solo recording for the album Deep In The Heart Of Nowhere?

BlastFromThePast · Mary of the 4th Form

Jules wrote:

Would you mind if I put those clips on Facebook? do let me know if that is OK?

Jules. I'm not a fan of Facebook and so I would prefer if these clips did not appear there.

BlastFromThePast · Mary of the 4th Form

noelindublin wrote:
Thanks for the second upload. There is a bit of confusion here. You said both clips were from the V Deep recording sessions I think. The first is ok being Charmed Lives.

Just to clear up any confusion here.

I said:

'I have some unmixed backing tracks from the V-Deep recordings. These are basic tracks without vocals or embellishments.'

'I found two short snippets with vocals. I have uploaded one(Sic) of them. It's from V-Deep'

I didn't say the second clip was from V-Deep. In fact I don't know it's origin at all.

Cheers

noelindublin · Loudmouth

BlastFromThePast wrote:
noelindublin wrote:
Thanks for the second upload. There is a bit of confusion here. You said both clips were from the V Deep recording sessions I think. The first is ok being Charmed Lives.
Just to clear up any confusion here.
I said:
'I have some unmixed backing tracks from the V-Deep recordings. These are basic tracks without vocals or embellishments.'
'I found two short snippets with vocals. I have uploaded one(Sic) of them. It's from V-Deep'
I didn't say the second clip was from V-Deep. In fact I don't know it's origin at all.
Cheers

My fault for misreading, probably in my eagerness to discover some lost Rats artefacts.

The second track as I said already is basically Geldof doing The Beat Of The Night with slightly altered lyrics. It appeared on his first solo album.

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

BlastFromThePast wrote:
Jules wrote:

Would you mind if I put those clips on Facebook? do let me know if that is OK?
Jules. I'm not a fan of Facebook and so I would prefer if these clips did not appear there.

Fair enough.

BTR · Tonight

I always thought that 'Beat of the Night' must have been written in the Rats V-Deep era because it's in the same style. Interesting that my hunch was actually right.

I would really love to hear the other songs that you have.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

BlastFromThePast wrote:
Just to clear up any confusion here.
I said:
'I have some unmixed backing tracks from the V-Deep recordings. These are basic tracks without vocals or embellishments.'
'I found two short snippets with vocals. I have uploaded one(Sic) of them. It's from V-Deep'
I didn't say the second clip was from V-Deep. In fact I don't know it's origin at all.
Cheers

Thanks very much Blast From The Past. So interesting to hear them but so frustrating to only have short snippets. No need to answer , but how did you get hold of these? Intrigued.

noelindublin · Loudmouth

BTR wrote:
I always thought that 'Beat of the Night' must have been written in the Rats V-Deep era because it's in the same style. Interesting that my hunch was actually right.

I would really love to hear the other songs that you have.

Theres a certain similarity between the spoken word interlude in Skin On Skin the bit that starts with " London stops and everything's sweet/You look out of your window but there's no street/ The cars are gone/ the night is dead ...." etc and the Geldof solo song Beat Of The Night. The same sort of atmosphere permeates both songs and Beat is largely spoken rather than sung.

Musicians tend to recyle ideas in songs, certainly in terms of themes but sometimes musically as well. Geldof's lyrics have a reaccuring aspect throughout his career if one listens carefully enough.

BTR · Tonight

noelindublin wrote:
BTR wrote:
I always thought that 'Beat of the Night' must have been written in the Rats V-Deep era because it's in the same style. Interesting that my hunch was actually right.

I would really love to hear the other songs that you have.
Theres a certain similarity between the spoken word interlude in Skin On Skin the bit that starts with " London stops and everything's sweet/You look out of your window but there's no street/ The cars are gone/ the night is dead ...." etc and the Geldof solo song Beat Of The Night. The same sort of atmosphere permeates both songs and Beat is largely spoken rather than sung.
Musicians tend to recyle ideas in songs, certainly in terms of themes but sometimes musically as well. Geldof's lyrics have a reaccuring aspect throughout his career if one listens carefully enough.

It was 'The Little Death' that made me think 'Beat of The Night' might have been written around the same time.