Happy Music Monday! Today Scott’s gathered a whole bunch of songs that weren’t actually on any albums, at least not at first. Remember, bootlegs and live recordings don’t count! Don’t worry, you’ll keep up.
This song, like many here, was a b-side from a 1966 Walker Brothers single. Back then nobody knew the guy who was singing this would eventually grow into a guy who’d be doing this. Go figure, right? Anyway, Archangel’s sort of the first hint of what was coming. And it was hidden on the back of something else.
We’ve got more great stuff you could easily have missed if you only collected the albums. See you after the jump!
God Help The Girl - Baby, You’re Blind
The God Help The Girl project was an attempt to re-create those gloriously soulful girl groups, and it kinda met that goal! Along the way the team dropped a few singles for people to find. This particular one is a non-album track, but it’s just a stand-in for the one I REALLY wanted to use, Howard Jones Is My Mozart. Sadly I couldn’t find that anywhere on the Internet or I would have shared it instead. But this one’s nice too.
Violent Femmes - Gimmie The Car
The best way to hear the Violent Femmes was too young, on a bootleg cassette tape some other kid’s older sibling gave them in secret. The music wasn’t really that dangerous but it felt dangerous, and that made it magical. This particular b-side was easy to miss until the reissues started, so that made it extra extra cool. Plus it’s just a good freakin’ song.
You might say “Scott, using a song from a well-known EP and saying it’s not from an album is really sort of abusing the rules” and I would reply “You’re right! But I really just wanted to hear this song.”
Although he’s performed it live over and over and over, this particular song has never appeared on any studio-based Bowie record. It’s sort of a little badge of honor for Bowie fans, in a way. By the time you’ve finally heard this, you’re already committed to the cause.
Got any secret b-sides or unreleased hits of your own? Throw ‘em in the comments now! And hey, let us also just remind you: some images come from the corresponding Wikipedia page and are here under fair use. See you next week.