U2 - Lemon: Unauthorised Live (1993) Bootleg

(Irish 1976 - Present)
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The cover says "Live In Seattle" but from the research I've done (see U2 Gigs), U2 didn't play Seattle on their Zoo TV tour. Because this is an Australian bootleg, and "Dirty Day" was only first played during the Australasian section of the Zoo TV tour, I'm thinking that this recording is from one of their Zoomerang concerts. In fact, I reckon it is from their 2nd Sydney Concert held on 27th November, 1993 due to the similar track listing and because this particular concert was recorded on Video: Zoo TV: Live from Sydney.and broadcast live on FM Radio, making it easy pickings for the bootleggers
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One interesting side note is that the Sydney show from the previous night is infamous as being the only U2 concert to be missed by a member of the band. Adam Clayton was so severely hung over that he could not take the stage, and the show could not be postponed as it was a necessary rehearsal for the videotaping of the next night's concert (which, as well as being recorded for official video release, was also to be broadcast live). Adam's bass technician, Stuart Morgan, filled in on the bass, and Bono informed the crowd that Adam was "sick".
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The following is an extract taken from 'U2: The Rolling Stone Files' by editors of Rolling Stone magazine, Sidgwick & Jackson Publishers, 1994. p215-216, where Bono discusses the changes that they had made to their setlist during the later stages of the Zooropa '93 concerts.

The U2 MANAGEMENT crew, friends and hangers-on pile on a bus that will travel from Sydney Football Stadium to a 5 star Hotel in Sydney, about a half-hour trip. It's about 1:30 A.M., the 2nd show ended a few hours ago, and only four shows remain until the end of the Australasian leg of Zooropa '93. It feels like the last week of school.
Bottles of wine are being passed around and someone shouts for music. Someone else pops a cassette in the deck. Over the speakers comes the fanfare that begins "Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car," on Zooropa. An instant collective drunken groan: "Oh, nooooo!"

The Zoo TV show, which starts out so explosively, fades out on a far more ambiguous, introspective note. A desperately searching "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" is followed by an equally desperate, equally searching "Love Is Blindness." Then comes Bono's eerie, falsetto rendering of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love." "Elvis is still in the building," Bono says softly, as U2 exits the building and Elvis' own version of the song comes up on the PA. Through all this Bono is dressed as the devil.
What's the meaning of all that Elvis business at the end of the show?

THE EDGE: Well, we wanted to move away from the well-established and longstanding tradition of ending on "40" [laughs]. It seemed like the only way to make sure we didn't have to.
Really, who else but Elvis could have made that possible? You have to call in the big guns, it always comes down to that.
I think at this stage, yeah. People still start singing "40" at the end of the set. I guess it'll be a while before we can lay that one to rest. People come to the shows who have seen U2 before, and you're constantly having to deal with their expectations as opposed to what you're trying to do. I know there are a lot of people who come away disappointed from the Zooropa show because we didn't play "Sunday Bloody Sunday" or whatever other old song they wanted to hear.
But you dose the set proper with "Pride." How does a song as emotionally direct as that fit in with all the irony and media chicanery in the rest of the show?
At the beginning we weren't sure if that was going to work. I think it does work. It may be a bit of a jump to go from something as ironic as Bono as MacPhisto or the Hy and yet pull off "Pride," complete with Martin Luther King on the video screen. But it comes at a part of the concert where to make a connection like that is important. Amid the uncertainty there are certain ideas that are so powerful and so right that you can hold onto them no matter how screwed up everything else is.

Bono as 'MacPhisto'

"Everybody wants a long life. Longevity has its place. But I don't care about that now. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land!"( Passage spoken by Martin Luther King on the videowall during 1/2 V version of "Pride")
There's a really theatrical element to that MacPhisto character.
BONO: The cabaret aspect ... I was called by a tabloid photographer, who said, "You know, the fellow you do in the fin-ah-lay" [laughs]. I thought, "Oh, wow."
It's great, your singing an Elvis song in the fin-ah-lay, too.
For me, MacPhisto is sort of sad, bad, not so funny but might be. It's like taking the rock jerk that the Fly is and—if you're going to play him—take him to his logical conclusion, which is when he's fat and playing Las Vegas. It's a bookend to the funky and fucked-up swagger of the Fly.
It's rather poignant. Also, whoever he is now—Jesus or whoever—Elvis once was the devil.
The "devil's music"—that was the thing, wasn't it? The beat. The sadness of that last song, though, that child's voice, that falsetto as the song ends, is the most poignant moment of the show, because, in among all those fucked-up qualities, there's just that little childlike voice. That voice to me is the cover of Boy. If you study those films of Elvis—and I have—there were some very powerful moments as he was in decline. Maybe more powerful than when he was the svelte pop hero.
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This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from my Grapefruit Bootleg CD and includes full album artwork as per usual. I've also included artwork associated with an alternative release of this amazing concert - 'Zoomerang Live Down Under' & the first half of the concert which was released under the title 'Mysterious Ways' by the same Australian bootlegger.
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Track Listing
01 - Dirty day
02 - Bad - You've got to hide your love away -All I want is you
03 - Bullet the blue sky
04 - Running to stand still
05 - Where the streets have no name
06 - Pride (in the name of love)
07 - I still haven't found what I'm looking for
08 - Stand by me
09 - Desire
10 - Help! - Ultra violet (light my way)
11 - Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car
12 - Lemon
13 - With or without you
14 - Live is blindness
15 - Can't help falling in love
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U2 Lemon Link (172Mb)  New Link 04/10/2026

Jeff Duff Orchestra - Selftitled (1989) plus Bonus Track

(Australian 1971 – Present)
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Think of Bowie channeling Sinatra, fronting Blood, Sweat & Tears (playing Chicago covers) and you might get an idea of what Jeff Duff is like (that quote from Aztec Music who has reissue Jeff’s band Kush first two albums on CD).
Born in 1950 this eccentric singer with his jazz – rock style band Kush released a great version of McArther Park. With the break up of Kush in 1975, Duff went solo and went to the U.K. The British accepted his style but he caused a stir with the mainstream media. In ’88 Duff returned to Oz to play Secta in the film “Sons Of Steel”. Later that year he formed the Jeff Duff Orchestra, an all girl group of classically trained musicians. In ’89 Jeff Duff Orchestra recorded “Walk On The Wild side” for the second time, this time on the Captain Vimto label where it became a hit. I think it’s very different than the original Lou Reed version… see what you think. [extract from Ozzie Musicman]
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America born Jeff Duff (aka Duffo) possesses an excellent tenor voice which seems more suited to opera, but he has succeeded in recording in the rock medium. As lead singer of the Chicago / Blood, Sweat And Tears - influenced big band Kush (1971-77), Jeff secured plenty of attention with his antics and bizarre choice of costume. The band, limited by its size, could only work the large venues and cabarets, and despite the huge effort to maintain the band, managed to record two albums and have two Top 40 singles. Upon its demise, Jeff formed his own group and toured with a lively and varied show, which failed to relate to confused, conservative audiences. Jeff moved to the UK in 1978 where he recorded and performed as 'Duffo', releasing several albums, touring Europe and having sporadic chart success in Holland and Italy. He also recorded under the names Ivor Biggin and Jupiter Jones. It was somewhat surprising to see him return to Australia to indifferent audiences in 1988, when he performed as a jazz singer with his Jeff Duff Orchestra, an experimental outfit, and is the focus of this post.  His signature song remains Lou Reed’s "Walk On The Wild Side", which he has recorded at least three times. The Jeff Duff Orchestra album featured some reworking of older material, ‘Pilot’ and the excellent ‘Killing This Affair’. Jeff appeared as 'Secta' in the Australian science Fiction movie 'Sons of Steel', released in 1989, featuring Duff single, 'Here Come the Freaks', which is also included on the album featured here. [Extract from All Music.com]
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Jeff Duff returns with some classical insight
(Rolling Stone #431 May 1989 p22  by Samantha Trenoweth)
The former Kush singer returns from the wild side with an all-girl orchestra and a new approach to
the pop.
IT'S SIX O'CLOCK ON A Friday evening in the middle of Kings Cross. A tall, thin man, dressed in white on white, is standing by an iron grille, waving. Jeff Duff has decided to meet me on die pavement because the doorbell to his bedsit doesn't work. A woman walks past in the highest shoes imaginable, the brightest of lipsticks and the shortest of skirts. "I used to look just like that," quips Duff recalling his Seventies past.
Back in the early Seventies Duff sang with a jazz rock band from Melbourne called Kush and began to indulge his cabaret fantasies that had more than a touch of camp. Kush recorded two albums; 'Snow White and the Eight Straights' and 'Nah, Tellus Wh't Kush Means, Yer Great Sausage'. Duff was not unfamiliar with wearing lingerie or bananas on his head.

Jeff Duff Orchestra On "The Money or the Gun"

These days Jeff Duff looks, you might almost say, elegant. What's more, he looks pretty well unmistakably male. Upstairs, in the tiniest of rooms he offers pumpkin seeds, a copy of the Jeff Duff Orchestra's live album and a single rose. Not, one suspects, in the spirit of payola but rather because he likes roses and likes making friends. Mr Duff calls forth all sorts of Victorian expressions like "delightful", "charming" - and he is all of these things and also talented.
"Do you like my view?" he enquirers, throwing open a window to reveal a huge exhaust fan and a brick wall. "It's hot very pleasant but it's typical of the rock & roll lifestyle. Bob Dylan probably had the equivalent in Greenwich Village... and I tend to be a bit more productive and creative when I'm living in squalor."

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Jeff left Australia in 1978 after the break-up of Kush, spent ten years in Europe, changed his name to Duffo and made some interesting records which sold quite respectably. In the two years since his return to Australia he has had some chart success with a version of Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" and assembled the Jeff Duff Orchestra with a line-up that is, aside from Duff himself and the drummer, all women.
"We're combining a bit of the pop culture with some classical insight" he explains. "We've had a battle with venues. They sort of flip out. After they've seen us it's okay but our agent has trouble' convincing them that there's this girl orchestra with a singer and they have violins and no guitars.
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"Also we have this tendency to write songs which are very melodic. You know, they're not four-on-the-floor so people can dance their butts off. Still, it's interesting seeing the way people approach our music on the dance floor. A lot of them end up embracing one another, whether they be male and male, female and female or whatever... which is a good thing, I guess, instead of banging their heads against the wall. Once people get to see us they do seem to like it. It's not that 'we're trying to be different, it's just the way we are."
Jeff Duff still takes his music very seriously — and his ambition to be one of the world's great singers. Similarly his writing which revolves around a fascinating blend of the mundane, the tragic, the fantastic and the absurd. The current crop of songs on the Orchestra's debut,show a new depth to his dry humour.
"You've got to get the sexual scandal connotations into the article," he adds finally with a smile, ever the showman. "Now, who did I sleep with last night? No, it was just me and the teddys on the pillow."
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This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from vinyl and includes full album artwork for CD.  If you followed Jeff while he was fronting Kush, then you'll appreciate how he has taken his musical style to a new level on this album. His reworks of "Macarthur Park" and "Walk On The Wild Side" demonstrate his musical prowess, as do all the tracks on this album. I have also chosen to include as a bonus track, a recording of "Stairway To Heaven" which he made on the ABC show "The Money or the Gun" back in 1990. This album should not to be missed.
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Track Listing  
01 - Pilot   
02 - Hurt Me Tenderly   
03 - Nastassia   
04 - Dwarfs   
05 - Macarthur Park   
06 - Walk On The Wildside   
07 - Venice   
08 - Killing This Affair   
09 - New Boy   
10 - Freaks
11 - (Bonus) Stairway To Heaven *
* From the TV series "The Money or the Gun"

Band Members:
Jeff Duff (Vocals)
Freny Ardeshir (Keyboard, Backing Vocals)
Sally Cooper (Bass)
Helen Lutz (Violin)
Linda Patching (Violin)
Phillip Edwards (Drums)
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Jeff Duff Link (116Mb) New Link 16/05/2021

Lou Reed - Live Not Authorised (1972) Bootleg

(U.S  1964–2013)
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New York born, Lou Reed was leader of that city's seminal Velvet Underground until their disintegration amid apathy end of 1970. The Velvets had never achieved the attention their work warranted, and Reed was to claim that all the mistakes of his solo career were born out of this frustration, of a lust for some kind of success and for recognition of his former group's importance.
Either way, the Velvets split left Reed drifting in and out of music circles for a year - he worked for a spell with his father's accountancy firm in Freeport, Long Island - before RCA proffered a solo contract at the suggestion of New York writer and producer Richard Robinson. Interested in what was coming out of Britain, and with Reed having every reason to be disenchanted with New York, the pair traveled to London December 1971 to work on Reed's eponymous solo debut using an oddly mixed line-up which included Steve Howe, Rick Wake-man and Clem Cattini.

The result was less than satisfactory, but Reed persisted with British studios and players -though he did axe Robinson virtually at the point his producer was packing for return to London studios. This probably had less to do with Robinson as the fact that David Bowie, nascent androgynous hero of British rock, had shown interest in producing Reed himself; Bowie's work and attitudes owing a large debt to Reed and Velvets.
The result of this coupling was Transformer, which appeared late 1972 and spilled forth a whole closet-full of twilight zone characters on a public whose appetite for this "daring" new turn in rock had been whetted by the likes of Reed disciples Bowie and Roxy Music - It mattered not to them that the figures and scenarios of Reed's former (Velvets) work had been reduced to cartoon proportions, or that Reed was parodying Reed (as he would on each successive album) - this was what his new audience wanted to hear, and it had undeniable commercialism.
It even yielded a smash hit in Walk On The Wild Side, though how the single got played on BBC Radio 1 remains a mystery -presumably nobody there knew what "giving head" meant. Nonetheless, there was Reed in 1973 with the success he craved - a hit album and single in America and' Britain. [extract from The Illustrated New Musical Express Encyclopedia of Rock, by Nick Logan & Bob Woffinden, Salamander Books, 1977. p191-192]
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This post features Lou Reed performing at Ultrasonic Recording Studios in Hempstead, NY on 26th December 1972 with his band - The Tots - recording live for radio. Recorded just a month after the release of Transformer, it is a great show, featuring great stereo quality, with the band really delivering driving versions of some Velvet Underground numbers and Lou’s early solo work, including "Walk On The Wild Side", "Vicious" and "Berlin" – the track that would title his next release six months later. This is the show that every Lou Reed fan would love to see. It’s got minimal attitude, lots of great songs (including a generous smattering of hits) and FM quality sound.  I really love the fact that ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ had only been out for a little over a month. the crowd loved the ‘giving head’ line!
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The post itself consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from my AMCOS CD along with associated artwork, including covers for equivalent bootleg releases such as 'Hero & Heroine' by Swingin' Pig, 'Streets of Berlin' and 'Sweet Jane'. Quality of the recording is damn good (9/10)  and this is one bootleg that you can't afford to miss.
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Track Listing
01. Vicious
02. Waiting For The Man
03. Sweet Jane
04. Walk On the Wild Side
05. Walk And Talk It
06. Berlin
07. Rock 'N' Roll
08. Satellite Of Love
09. I'm So Free
10. Heroin
11. White Light/White Heat 

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Lou Reed And The Tots:
Lou Reed - Vocal / Guitar
Vinny Laporta - Guitar
Eddie Reynolds - Guitar
Bobby Resigno - Bass
Scottie Clark - Drums

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Lou Reed Link (132Mb) New Link 16/01/2025
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Peter Allen - Tenterfield Saddler (1978)

(Australian 1968–1992)
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Peter Allen was born on Feb 10, 1942 in a little town in the hills of N.S.W. He learnt piano from an early age and was playing at the local pub by the time he was ten. Peter left school in his mid-teens and decided to further his career in Sydney. It was there that he met Chris Bell and they joined forces as the Allen Brothers.  After releasing several records and becoming TV regulars, they set out for the Orient where they met Judy Garland. Judy enticed the duo to the US where Peter met her daughter, Liza Minnelli. The couple subsequently became engaged late in 1964. They were married in 1967. However, the relationship became strained as Liza became a star and Peter's career seemed to stagnate.

Finally, in 1970, the couple broke up and so too did the Allen Brothers. From this point, Peter began to nurture his talent for song-writing. He moved to Greenwich Village where he gradually developed a cult for his bizarre stage antics in the small clubs in the area.
As his popularity in cabaret began to increase, Peter directed his songwriting talents to expatriate Australians, Olivia Newton-John and Helen Reddy.

It was for Olivia that he wrote the dual Grammy Award winning song, "I Honestly Love You" in 1974. He returned to Australia in September 1975 as the opening act for Helen's show in Sydney.
Meanwhile, in the US, Peter was beginning to attract bigger audiences and had moved into bigger clubs. In 1976, Dee Anthony (Peter Frampton's manager), took over his affairs and things began to happen. Peter teamed up with composer, Carol Bayer Sager. He also recorded "I Go To Rio".
Although the single eventually topped the Australian charts, it was not until that amazing film clip of the song was shown on the pop show Countdown, that it received any airplay. By the time Peter arrived back in Australia in September 1977, the record had made number one and he was met with a tumultuous reception right throughout his tour.

'Rio' was followed hotly by his best selling album, Taught By Experts, and another single, 'The More I See You'. The next release by Peter was a double live album recorded at clubs in both Los Angeles and New York, entitled 'It Is Time For Peter Allen', which hit the shops in October 1977. [extract from Noel McGrath's Australian Encyclopedia of Rock, Outback Press, 1978. p 12-13]

He was the only Australian to win an Oscar, a Grammy and a Golden Globe, and wrote some of our most iconic songs before dying in 1992 at 48-years-of-age. Born in Tenterfield, his song "Tenterfield Saddler" continues to be a classic song that thrust Tenterfield into the limelight after its release. The Tenterfield Saddlery was made famous by Peter Allen's tribute to his past, and grandfather George Woolnough in the 'Tenterfield Saddler'.

However it is much more than just a song. For 50 years (from 1908 - 1960), this quaint blue-granite saddlery on High Street was a key meeting place in town. Saddler George Woolnough plied his trade, listening, undisturbed by the chatter and opinions of those who wandered in. One famous customer was Banjo Patterson.

Since 1860, the building has been used as a bank, private residence, and saddlery. Classified by the National Trust and in original condition - the old ceilings wear 130 years of tobacco stains, wooden floors are patched in places with scraps of leather, and visitors can see the working conditions of 100 years ago first hand.
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The Boy From Tenterfield

This Tenterfield is a wonderful spot,
Today it's freezing, tomorrow it's hot,
Today it's raw and rainy and gusty,
Tomorrow it's dry and dirty and dusty.
(A grumpy visitor, February, 1899)

More than ninety years after those words about Tenterfield were written, the first man ever to dance with New York's famed Rockettes found himself once again in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This time he was crouched inside a giant champagne glass prop waiting for the orchestra down beat to start his dinner show. The solo performance awaiting him would doubtless be demanding, but the man himself was intrepid, the man was a tank. But it was also true that the 1980s for Peter Allen had started in triumph then ended in calamity, testing him personally to the limit. He had buried in the past few years more friends, colleagues and lovers than he likely had the heart to dwell on. He had also seen his dream of a Peter Allen Broadway musical soar into a fantasy of goodwill and imminent triumph, then splatter into the reality of scornful reviews and a sniping, vengeful press. The worm had turned and now the song and dance man's most valuable resource, his energy, was beginning to ebb. The uninvited visitor illness was quietly creeping up on him.

Tenterfield Saddlery Today

The performer nonetheless had his vast experience and pronounced native cunning to fall back on. Once Peter's show was humming along he would pad it out by talking and telling gags instead of singing. He would tell the audience the same story he had always told them, the story of his childhood, 'Out in the bush, chasing kangaroos, eating koala bears for lunch.' This was Peter Allen's image, his show-business insurance and it made simple commonsense to maintain it. 'Never interfere with the legend, never correct it,' his former mother-in-law Judy Garland had decreed, and the bush bou-levardier was not about to. Not that he expected to be genuinely understood, not in his racket. Truth was far too complex a matter for legend and Peter Allen had too many incongruous and opposing qualities to be understood; it was one of his strengths that this gregarious, guarded, self-contained man had never expected to be understood. So Peter Allen would joke his way around the Broadway flop and tell them about the folksy Australian town he came from, Tenterfield.

The fact that Peter had never actually stayed on in Tenterfield would not be mentioned because it would only confuse the issue. Peter Allen, real name Peter Woolnough, had in fact grown up in Armidale. But Armidale had been almost (but not quite) sophisticated for an Australian country town, and what was the value of that to legend? Best to talk about this little kid dancing in the never-never land of the Tenterfield bush, hoofing and tapping and queening it up while his grandfather made saddles; destiny's tot rejecting the family business because he 'didn't want to work in leather,' as he put it. As for the other town, Armidale, it just wasn't funny, and didn't sound right in a lyric. More to the point, though, Armidale was cursed by memory and blighted by personal ruin. So Peter Alien was the boy from Tenterfield and that was that for the purpose of myth. [extract from Peter Allen The Boy From Oz by Stephen Maclean, Ranmsom House Aust, 1996. p3-4]
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This post consists of FLACs ripped from my trusty vinyl that has had a spin or two on my turntable - especially after watching the recent T.V mini series 'Not The Boy Next Door' and reading Stephen Maclean's biography 'The Boy From Oz'.  One can't help but be in awe of what Allen achieved as an Australian artist and how talented a musicianand songwriter he was. This album should not be missed and you'll not hear one pop or click in this recording. Full album artwork and label scans are included as usual. Note that this album was originally released in 1972 by Metromedia in Italy & US, catalog number KMD 1056 with a different cover (see right)
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Track Listing
01 - Tenterfield Saddler
02 - More Than I Like You
03 - The Same Way I Came In
04 - Good To See You Up There
05 - I Can Tell A Lie
06 - Just Ask Me I Been There
07 - Cocoon
08 - Harbour
09 - Somebody Beautiful Just Undid Me
10 - The Other Side
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Peter Allen FACs Link (212Mb)
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Swanee - Ready For Action: Live In The Snow (1983)

(Australian 1979 - Present)
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John Swan, more commonly known as Swanee, was born John Archibold Dixon Swan in 1952 in Glasgow, Scotland. He came to Australia with his family in 1961 and is the only one of his siblings to keep his natural fathers surname. He is the older brother of Jimmy Barnes (Cold Chisel) and the uncle of David Campbell.

Swanee started his musical career as a drummer in the band Happiness before moving on to other bands such as Fraternity, Feather and Cold Chisel. He branched out on his own, under the name Swanee, in 1979, releasing the album “Into The Night”. His first commercial hit was in 1981 with his version of “If I Were A Carpenter” off the album “This Time Is Different” which featured two other hits, “Temporary Heartache” and “Lady What’s Your Name”

In 1983 he released a live album, recorded at the Thredbow Ski Resort in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia and is the feature of this post.

In 1987 he replaced angry Anderson as lead singer in Paul Christie’s “Party Boys” where he had another hit with “He’s Gonna Step on You Again” and then “Hold Your Head Up”. He left the band around 1989 to again pursue a solo career that still persists today.


Since 1990 Swan's recording career has been less than prolific, producing only two singles that year and an album, Heart and Soul in 1997, although he still maintained a constant live presence.

In 2007 Swan released the album Have a Little Faith (Liberation Records). The project was recorded with Nashville's best, and produced by leading expatriate producer /guitarist Mark Moffatt, now resident in Tennessee. Musician credits feature players who have been session men for Garth Brooks, John Fogerty, Billy Joel, Dolly Parton and Shania Twain among others.

In July 2014, Swanee released the album One Day at a Time (MGM Distribution), which is entirely his work in collaboration with Darren Mullan of Adelaide Recording Studio fame, and Tony Minniecon on 'Rescue Me'. Swanee was also named Senior South Australian of the year [extract from australianmusichistory.com]

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my 'Specially Priced' vinyl which I purchased back in the early 80's. I think the one thing that really caught my attention when I saw this album in the shops for the first time was the inclusion of the Led Zeppelin Medleys - especially featuring Black Dog and Whole Lotta Love. But there are some other great covers on this album, including Stevie Wright's "Evie" which really tears down the house along with Tin Soldier (Small Faces) and Born To Run (Bruce Springsteen)
Full album artwork for CD (thanks to Deutros) and LP are included along with label scans. Thanks to Greg Noakes for the publicity photos of Swanee.
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Track Listing
01 - Talk To Ya Later
 02 - Tin Soldier
03 - Lady What's Your Name
04 - Born To Run
05 - Led Zeppelin Medley 1
       (Rock N Roll, Stairway To Heaven, Whole Lotta Love)
06 - Led Zeppelin Medley 2
     (Black Dog, Rock N Roll)
07 - Mathew
08 - Evie Parts 1,2 and 3
09 - Motor Down
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Swanee were:John Swan (Lead Vocals)
Dennis Wilson (Guitar, Vocals)
Phil Screen (Drums)
Coz Russo (Keyboards)
John Srango (Bass)
Mark Tinson (Guitar, Vocals)
Taya (Backing Vocals & Keyboards)
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Swanee FLAC Link (288Mb)
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W.O.C.K On Vinyl - Peter Sellers: Sellers Sings The Beatles (1981)

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Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.
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The late Peter Sellers was one of Britain’s major screen comedy stars, his most memorable character being the bungling Inspector Clouseau in the ‘Pink Panther’ films. As a young boy, I just loved watching the Pink Panther and seeing Inspector Clouseau bungle his way through all of the Pink Panther Movies.

Sellers, born on 8 September 1925, first rose to fame in Britain as a member of the Goons, who created an anarchic radio series which ran until 1960. The Goons comprised Peter, along with Spike Milligan, Harry Seacombe and Michael Bentine.

John Lennon was twelve years old when he first heard the Goons and listened avidly to their radio shows until he was sixteen. Their influence was evident in his books 'In His Own Write' and 'A Spaniard In The Works' and in 1973 the New York Times commissioned John to write a review of the recently published book ‘The Goon Show Scripts.’The Goons were also the stars of ‘The Running, Jumping and Standing Still Film’, directed by Dick Lester, who went on to direct the Beatles movies.

George Martin originally recorded Sellers, producing an album called ‘Songs For Swinging Sellers,’ which proved to be a talking point between George Martin and the Beatles when he first began recording them.

Martin also produced the singles ‘Goodness Gracious Me’ and ‘Bangers And Mash’, duets between Sellers and Sophia Loren, both of which entered the British charts.

It was Peter who presented the Beatles with their Grammy Award at Twickenham Studios on Wednesday 28 April 1965. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences had given the award for ‘A Hard Days’ Night’ as the ‘Best Performance of a Vocal Group’ for the year 1964. When presenting the Grammy, Sellers referred to it as the ‘Grandma Award.’ The presentation was filmed and a clip appeared on the NBC Grammy Awards programme ‘The Best of Record’ on Tuesday 18 May 1965.

Incidentally, the presentation was made on the studio set of ‘Help!’ and, interestingly, Sellers had originally been offered the script of ‘Help!’ (Obviously under a different title) but turned it down.Sellers appeared as a guest of the Beatles on the Granada television special ‘The Music of Lennon & McCartney’ in which he dressed as Richard III and performed a cod Shakespearian rendition of ‘A Hard Day’s Night.’ His single of the number was issued on Parlophone R 5393 and reached No. 14 in the British charts in December 1965.   [extract from triumphpc.com]

And as the Beatles had paid tribute to Sellers’ comedy, he would return the favor, covering three of their most popular songs as only he could. At the top of the post, see Sellers do a spoken word version of “A Hard Day’s Night” as Lawrence Olivier’s Richard III. And above and below, he gives us several renditions of “She Loves You,” in several different accents, “in the voice of Dr. Strangelove, again with cockney and upper-crusty accents, and finally with an Irish twist. The recordings were all released posthumously between 1981 and 1983 on albums no longer in circulation.”

Peter Sellers & Ringo Starr

There are many more Beatles/Sellers connections. Before taping his “Hard Day’s Night” skit for Granada television special “The Music of Lennon & McCartney,” Sellers had presented the band with a Grammy for the song, which won “Best Performance of a Vocal Group” in 1965. “Incidentally,” writes Mersey Beat’s Bill Harry, “the [Grammy] presentation was made on the studio set of ‘Help!’ and, interestingly, Sellers had originally been offered the script of ‘Help!’ (Obviously under a different title) but turned it down.” Sellers and the Goon Show cast had previously worked with Richard Lester, director of the Beatles films and the John Lennon-starring How I Won the War.

Completists out there may have also heard the recorded conversation between Sellers and the Beatles that appears at the end of a bootleg version of the White Album, which circulated for years under the title The Peter Sellers Tape. That the band and the comedian got along so famously is no great surprise, nor that Sellers had so much fun reworking the rather silly, and infectiously catchy, pop songs of the Beatles’ early career, bringing to them his battery of characters and voices. We’ve saved what may be Sellers’ best Beatles cover for last. Below, hear him—in the voice of a lecturing vicar and with a backing choir—deliver “Help!” as a 45 RPM sermon. [by Josh Jones at openculture.com]
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This Month's WOCK On Vinyl is pretty straight forward - Peter Seller's renditions of these Beatles hits are some of the funniest satirical works that I've heard - especially his ''Third Reight'  interpretation of "She Loves You", portrayed as Dr. Strangelove and his Shakespearian rendition of ‘A Hard Day’s Night.’ portrayed as Richard III.  Now the W definitely standards for Weird, as does the C for Crazy; but I really think the O this month should stand for Outstanding, as this satirical material is simply brilliant.
I do hope you enjoy it too.
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Track Listing

01 - A Hard Day's Night
02 - Can't Buy Me Love
03 - Help
04 - She Loves You (Dr. Strangelove - Single Version)
05 - She Loves You (Dr. Strangelove - LP Version)
06 - She Loves You (Cockney)
07 - She Loves You (Irish)
08 - She Loves You (Chinless Wonder Version)
09 - She Loves You (Twits Version)
10 - Yellow Submarine
11 - Yes It Is
12 - Peter Sellers Talks With The Beatles
13 - Spike Milligan - Yellow Submarine 
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Peter Sellers Link (54Mb) New Link 16/01/2025

The Small Faces - Rarities (1984) plus Tin Soldier (E.P)

(U.K 1965 - 1969, 1977 - 1978)

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If  'The Who' were the mid-'60s heroes of West London's Mods, then The Small Faces sprang from their East London equivalent. In 1965 they broke into British charts with single "Whatcha Gonna Do About It?" and the whole country picked up on this physically small and sharply-dressed group, led by a former child actor Steve Marriott who was later to admit that he could barely play guitar in early days.

Original group contained Jimmy Winston on keyboards, but he was replaced by MacLagan immediately after first success and above was best-known line-up of band which continued to dominate U.K. singles charts over next three years. "Sha La La La Lee" was a second smash, followed by "Hey Girl", "All Or Nothing" (their first No. 1), and "My Mind's Eye" in 1966; "Here Comes The Nice", "Itchycoo Park", "Tin Soldier" (1967); and "Lazy Sunday" and "The Universal" in 1968.
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As time went by, group and Marriott in particular grew frustrated by label of Top 10 singles band. They tried hard with albums, but the results were never satisfying - not until the Ogden's Nut Gone Flake collection which charted at No. 1 in 1968. With its revolutionary circular cover, this has since been accorded quasi-classic status.
In 1969, Marriott left to form Humble Pie. Lane, Jones and MacLagan survived this near-fatal blow, eventually re-grouping as Faces with Ron Wood and Rod Stewart and going on to surpass Marriott's Pie in success and acclaim. Eventually both bands went sour.
Eight years later in March 1977, with Rick Wills in place of Ronnie Lane, Small Faces reconvened to make a fresh start. [extract from The Illustrated New Musical Express Encyclopedia Of Rock, Salander Press, 1977. p212-213]
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.Rarities - Linear Notes
Here come the nice... - fourteen rare tracks recorded by the great Small Faces between 1967 and 1969.
Sources: The songs featured on side one were all previously released on the 'From The Beginning' LP (Decca LK4879; identical German edition: 'Musik fur alle', Teldec ND153), both of them being non-original albums then, and deleted for many years now. Later on some of the gems appeared strewn around on other compilations here and there.
The eight takes on side two are sort of a mystery. Track one to seven were released for the first time in 1975 on a US low-budget album, falsely credited to "Rod Stewart & The Faces" (Springboard SP-4030, deleted as well), though there was neither Roddie nor The Faces on those tracks. Furthermore nearly all of them had been given wrong

The Small Faces Discography

titles, like "Anything" or "Sparkey Rides", to name but two. It was obviously the Small Faces playing somewhat obscure versions of their well-known compositions that did not appear anywhere else on record up to now. If's mostly longer alternative cuts, varied mixes and even a rough instrumental take of 'Tin Soldier". Track No. 8 was found on an Italian cheapo album credited to Rod Stewart again ("Ridin' High", Joker SM 3985), though if's the Small Faces with a different, prolonged version of "Wide-Eyed Girl On The Wall".
Nobody seems to know where the songs hail from but it's a fact that they are available again. And that's what counts [Linear Notes written by Bemd Matheja]

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This post consists of two parts: the first is a German only 14-track compilation LP of obscure and hard to find Small Faces rarities recorded between 1967 & 1969 with picture sleeve, featuring an instrumental take of their hit "Tin Soldier". The files are in MP3 (320kps) format, ripped from my "mint vinyl copy" which was still sealed in it's shrink wrap when I found it at a flea market some weeks ago, and full album artwork is included. 

The second part consists of FLACs ripped from my 'well worn copy' of their 1967 E.P entitled 'Tin Soldier' and again features full album artwork and label scans.

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RARITIES LP  

Track Listing
01. Come Back & Take this Hurt Off Me
02. Yesterday Today & Tomorrow
03. That Man
04. Baby Don't You Do It
05. Plum Nellie
06. You've Really Got A Hold On Me
07. Wham Bam Thank You Mam
08. Collibosher
09. Donkey Rides A Penny A Glass
10. The Hungry Intruder
11. Red Balloon
12. Tin Soldier (Instrumental)

13. The Autumn Stone
14. Wide-Eyed Girl On The Wall

The Small Faces:
Steve Marriott - vocals, guitar
Ronnie Lane - bass
lan MacLagan - organ
Kenny Jones - drums
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Rarities LP Link (93Mb) New Link 22/01/2026

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TIN SOLDIER E.P

Track Listing

01. Tin Soldier

02. Talk To You

03. Here Come The Nice 

04. Itchycoo Park

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Tin Soldier EP Link (65Mb) New Link 04/01/2024