The Cure - Rare 12" Versions - 2007

I bought this album a few years back.  It was an impulse buy on a visit to Amoeba Records.  By that I mean I did not go there to buy the record, but when I saw it I had to pick it up.  There are some good remixes on this record that I had never heard before.  I have a feeling the record isn't in print anymore because I see it going for quite a few bucks on ebay.  I guessing that means that it is out of print.

Another thing I think I am going to do is now post any direct link to download, because it is The Cure.  By that I mean, they are mainstream enough and have the backing of a big label so I think posting a link will just invite trouble.  However as always, if you are really interested in listening to the tracks, drop me an e-mail and I'll see what I can do about sharing the music with you.  In the mean time you can enjoy the album artwork.  Below is the track listing.

Enjoy!

01 Closer To Me (Closer Mix)
02 Love Cats (Extended 12" Version)
03 Why Can't I Be You (FK Mix)
04 Boys Don't Cry (New Voice Club Version)
05 Lullaby (Extended 12" Version)
06 Hot Hot Hot (Extended Mix)
07 Pictures Of You (Extended Dub Mix)
08 The Walk (Everything Mix)

Klark Kent - Music Madness From The Kinetic Kid 10" EP - 1980

This is a record I've wanted to write about for a long time.  I prepped this page actually several years ago (uploading the images), but never got around to writing the post.  Then I ran into the trouble of having my mediafire account wiped out and I backed off on writing anything for a long while.  Well, now I'm back in the swing and I figure I'll try and take out anything that might be a red flag to the powers that be and try to fly a little more under the radar.  I'll try and not list track names or even make it appear that I'm posting music from the record.  Of course if you are interested in hearing this rare gem, contact me and I'll see what I can work out.

Klark Kent was a side project from Stewart Copeland of The Police.  This little EP is a super fun power pop/new wave record.  Even the packaging of the record is fun.  It is a 10" record and the sleeve is actaully in the shape of the letter K.  Another interesting thing about this record from my perspective is that a friend of mine gave this to me for free.  He just wanted me to digitize it for him and burn him a disc.  Can't beat that deal.

Well the EP has 8 tracks.  The first track is stellar and super catchy.  It is my favorite track by far.  The 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th tracks all have echos of The Police musically.  The vocals aren't very Sting-like, but the music is very reminiscent.  To me it shows how much influence Copeland probably had on the sound of the police.  The scans I have included give you the track names as well as the lyrics that were on the inner record sleeve.  Sorry the images aren't better.  I did these several years ago and my techniques weren't as refined.  You can also see that is was pressed on Kryptonite Green vinyl.  Pretty cool.

I don't know if this is available on CD or for purchase anywhere.  You can find the songs collected on a compilation entitled "Kollected Works." It goes for a mint on Amazon.   If you don't have that kind of cash, I'm sure you can find copies of the vinyl on Ebay for a more reasonable price and I'm sure other blogs have featured this record as well because it is an interesting footnote in rock music history.






Enjoy!

John Mayal - Turning Point - 1969

This one won't be up long because it is a pretty easy record to find. This record I've seen quite a bit over the years in the thrift store bins. It is always pretty beat up. My copy isn't great by any means. I also digitized this years ago long before I had click repair to clean things up and I didn't feel like going back. So you'll have to enjoy my snap, crackle and pop copy.

It was one of those records I picked up not knowing much about the music. I looked at the picture and the liner notes and I think I knew I was in for some blues, but that was about it. It is also one of those records that I bought with a bunch of other records and so I didn't get around to listening to it for a long time. When I did finally drop a needle on it I loved it. It one of those records where I understand why it isn't necessarily a classic for the general public like say a Cream record, but if you like blues rock from that era then you'll probably enjoy this record. I certainly do.

I really like "The Laws Must Change". It is a longer number basically about legalizing marijuana. Though I'm not really in favor for legalizing marijuana I do like the sentiment of protest songs. I think much of the sentiment could work for some of the occupy movements around the country. I'm all for calling for change by calling for laws to change through peaceful means. So I really like lyrics like "You're screamin' at policemen but they're only doin' a gig" and "don't throw rocks at policemen but get the knots of law untied." It's a nice change from the sentiment that all policemen are bad.

I also really like "Room to Move" because it really cooks. There is some great harp being blown on that track.

The song "California" is almost 10 minutes long. It wonders and weaves. It seems like the track that was good to trio out to or smoke pot to because of it's spacey mellow quality. However I find that even without the drugs the song can get you into a cool mellow vibe. I also live in California and am partial to songs about the state, just as I'm also partial to songs about Chicago where grew up.

I don't know if this record technically falls into the jam band category (I'm not really good at placing labels and classifications on things), but the songs do have a certain jam quality. The album is live and the songs are generally long. It is a record for people who like music that breaks out of the 3 minute pop song format. Jazz and blues fans I think will find something they like. So if you think you are one of those people, give it a listen.

Enjoy!

01 The Laws Must Change.m4a
02 Saw Mill Gulch Road.m4a
03 I'm Gonna Fight For You J.B..m4a
04 So Hard To Share.m4a
05 California.m4a
06 Thoughts About Roxanne.m4a
07 Room To Move.m4a

John Mayall - Turning Point - Side 1 - 320K.zip
John Mayall - Turning Point - Side 2 - 320K.zip

SAP Music Too Much Stress Mix 2011

I finally got around to making some art and breaking up the tracks for this mix. I've been collecting these songs for a long time, throwing them in a folder whenever something grabbed me. There are a few that I threw in last minute, though. The whole thing came together in a Sunday afternoon. What that really means is that it doesn't get too fancy. A few edits here and there, some cross fades and bang its done.

The inspiration for this mix was music to listen to when life or people are driving you up the wall. You want to just scream. Sometimes having some lyrics and a song to scream can be good therapy. Sometimes just playing a few of these songs really loud will help. Maybe your boss is driving you crazy. Maybe you job feels like it is going nowhere. Maybe your love life has everything but love and you just want out. Whatever the case may be I think these songs may speak to you.

A little warning is that unlike most of my mixes, this one isn't family friendly. There are a few spicy sentence enhancers as Spongebob would say. So you may want to refrain from playing in this in the car on a family roadtrip. This is more of a mix to play when you're alone, stuck in traffic, heading to or from work.

As per usual with these mixes, I'm not typing up the playlist. Just click on the image with the track listing to find out what is on the mix.

I'd also like to take a sentence or two to plug my new photo blog Something I Saw Today. I just started it a couple days ago. The quick story is I got a new camera and I'm having a blast taking photos. So I thought I'd challenge myself to shoot at least one photo everyday. So I started a blog which I'm hoping will help me keep up the discipline. I say that, but so far it has been easy because it has been the weekend and I had a day off from work. We'll see if I can keep it up. Anyways, give it a look. Like I said, it is just photos. Hopefully interesting photos on some level.

Something I Saw Today

Enjoy!

SAP Music Too Much Stress Mix 2011

Too Much Stress Mix by SAP Music

Chia Pet - Meha - 1993

And the music keeps coming.

This is actually from a CD and not a record. Chia Pet was a band from Chicago in the late 80's early 90's. I saw these guys quite a few times as a kid because the drummer was a good skate buddy of mine. For those who have perhaps read everything I've written over the years you may have picked up on the fact that as a kid I was all about skateboarding. My friends and I had a skateboard team and we called ourselves Team SAP. If you ever wondered where the name for the blog came from, well now you have your answer. So below is a picture of Kurt Stevens who drummed in Chia Pet as well as another great Chicago band No Empathy.

I hadn't listened to this disc for quite a few years and I threw it on last week. It holds up great. The opening track is just fantastic. A song about Valerie Bertinelli, Eddie Van Halen and even a reference to Wolfgang Van Halen who was a child at the time, but is now part of Van Halen.

"Talk About It" is also a really big stand out. This song will get up and dancing for sure. And "Meat Beer And Chocolate" not only has a great title, but the song rages as well.

I've also included a scan of a Chia Pet matchbook that I've somehow managed to keep all these years. Came across it recently and decided it needed to be scanned. To tell you the truth, the matchbook is what kicked off my listening to the CD and deciding I should share the music.

Enjoy!

Chia Pet.zip

01 Mole Lake.m4a

02 Teheran En Glas.m4a

03 Meat, Beer & Chocolate.m4a

04 Talk About It.m4a

05 Biscuit.m4a

06 T-Bone Mattias & That Fabulous 60's Muff.m4a

07 Immelmann the Owl.m4a

08 Juan Combe.m4a

09 Kindergarten.m4a

10 Red Snapper.m4a

11 Micro - Eye.m4a

A little over a year ago Chia Pet got together for a reunion. Here is a flyer for that reunion. Palatine was my hometown, by the way.














Here are some Chia Pet videos.

Jump to about the 3:30 minute spot to get "Meat Beer & Chocolate".



And this one is super funky. Wish I had a record or CD of this song. It really gets the feet a shufflin'.



Here is a bonus track from No Empathy. There wasn't a lot of love for Ben Weasel amongst the people I hung around with.



And here's the great original.



And one more No Empathy track.

Stone Fury - Let Them Talk - 1986

Am I on a roll or what? Another post in the same week. This is my companion piece to the More record from the post last week. I picked this up for the cover, especially the hair. The actual music on the record is pretty weak. The first track is okay, and by that I mean it isn't un-listenable. The rest of the record is all rather dreadful and not even in a cheeseball fun way. It's just bad. The badness reminds me of Dirk Diggler's band in Boogie Nights.



Enjoy! (if you can)

Side 1
01 Too Late
02 Lies On The Run
03 Let Them Talk
04 Babe

Side 2
05 Eye Of The Storm
06 Doin' What I Feel
07 Let The Time Take Care
08 I Should Have Told You
09 Stay

SAP Music Anti-Valentine Mix 2011

As promised here is the first annual "Anti-Valentine Mix". I hope to make this a tradition. It's great to be in love on Valentine's Day, but if you aren't it can be a lame holiday. Having a soundtrack to those feelings may be just the thing you need to get you through all those mocking pink hearts.

As implied by the cover artwork, this is the exact opposite of yesterday's "Valentine Mix". These songs are darker. They are full of pain and heart break. Some are full of anger and perhaps even revenge (see tracks 3 and 4). I've thrown in a couple heart wrenching break ups on there. One not listed in the track listing, but is buried in there is the break up of Ross and Rachel on Friends. Now I never watched Friends beyond maybe the first 5 or 6 episodes, so hearing this dialogue was a first for me. I had no real attachment to the characters and I've never been a Jennifer Aniston fan, but this scene really got to me. I could feel both of the characters' pain. Well done. I guess that is why people watched that show.

Anyway, I've got a great scene from "Lost" in there. I'm a huge fan of that show and recommend it to everyone. Even if they've seen it I tell them to watch it all through again. You make all sorts of new connections each time you watch it. The acting is great and the Michael Giacchino score has to be one of the all time greatest scores, not only on TV but in film as well.

You'll see some of my favorite artists from the Valentine mixes showing up here as well. Romance faves like Sam Cooke could also sing about the pains of love as well. She & Him as well as Cee Lo show up on both mixes.

So if you're in a bad relationship, just got out of a relationship, had your heartbroken, tired of trying to find love or if you just don't get what all this fuss over love is, then this is the mix for you for the month of February.

For a better view of the track listing click here.

Enjoy!

SAP_Music_Anti-Valentine_Mix_2011-128K.zip

Printable CD Cover Below.

SAP Music Valentine Mix 2011

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and so I've pulled together another mix this year of songs to get you in the mood for love. At least I hope they do. Love and romance is sort of a subjective thing, so maybe these songs will connect with you and maybe they won't.

This year I've done the mix in garageband, so it isn't just a playlist. Songs flow into each other and make for a nice continuous listen. I've got some fairly recognizable songs as well as some deeper album cuts. I've got bit of soundtrack score and dialogue from TV shows. There's pop, rock, Hawaiian, R&B, reggae. There is old and and new. It really runs the spectrum of musical flavors.

If Valentine's Day isn't your holiday and you hate it, then check back in tomorrow. I'm got an "anti-Valentine mix" all done and ready to go. It's is pull of break up songs, love sucks songs, I hate you because you broke my heart songs and even one song about VD. Don't want to miss that.

For a better view of the tracks click here.

Enjoy!

SAP Music Valentine Mix 2011_128K.zip

Printable Cover is below.

Styx - Come Sail Away 7" - 1977

Who would have thunk that finding the 7" version of
"Come Sail Away" would be so hard? A good friend of mine and friend of the blog sent me a message earlier today asking if I had the 7" single version of "Come Sail Away". It runs about half the length of the album version. I wasn't sure, but I thought perhaps I had the record. However I was at work and couldn't confirm it. So in the mean time I thought I would just short cut it and find it online. Surely someone else had digitized this or that it was available on some CD somewhere so I could download it. I searched on and off throughout the say, but I just couldn't find it. I couldn't believe it. In away it actually made me even more excited to get home and see if I did indeed have the record.

Well, as you might have guessed by now I did have the record. I kind of thought I did because I was pretty sure I recognized the cover. Sure enough I did have the record and I had scanned the cover years ago. I must admit that when I was scanning years ago it wasn't for the blog and so I wasn't as thorough which means I didn't scan the back and I didn't scan the record. I'll get around to it and perhaps update the post again, but that's not for tonight. The goal tonight is to just get the post up and get the music to my friend.

A big disclaimer is that the record is by no means pristine. There is some really annoying noise during the opening piano solo, but it passes quickly. Even with the noise and the pops and crackles near the end, the record is interesting to listen to because of it's edited brevity. If you are familiar with the album version you will be listening along and thinking the song is going to go one way and then it goes another. Gone is the instrumental bridge section of the song that normally kicks in at about the 3 minute mark. You know the part with all the synths that sound like lasers at first. It gets all spacey and trippy and then the big guitar chords kick in bringing everything back to the "angels" section of the song.

So have some fun remembering what this song sounded like on pop radio back in the day with this single version of the song. I've included the b-side for kicks as well. More of a prog rock piece really.

Enjoy!

01 Come Sail Away (7" Version).m4a

02 Put Me On.m4a

Here is a cleaned up version. This is the same recording, just cleaned up by a friend. It is a little better.

01 Come Sail Away (Single Version).mp3

Here is the 6 min. album version if you'd like to compare.

Holly Golightly - Christmas Tree On Fire 7" - 2006

Merry Christmas everyone. I know I said I didn't have any Christmas vinyl to post this year, but I actually do. It's not vintage and may not conjure up nostalgic memories of Christmases of yore, but it is still a fun little Christmas record about the Christmas Tree burning down the house. Serves as a good warning about the hazards of real Christmas trees in your house. Longtime readers of the blog know that I love Holly Golightly. She's gotten quite a few mentions over the years and I even posted some photos this last year from when I went to see her. This is a record she released a few years ago for Christmas. I'm pretty sure you can still find it online or at specialty record store so I won't leave the link active for long. You really should go find the record, buy it and support the lady. With that said, my Christmas present today is to share it for a few days.

Enjoy!

01 Christmas Tree On Fire.m4a
02 Hear My Call, Here.m4a

Weezer - Pork And Beans 7" - 2008

I'll give you warning now. These links won't stay live for long. Weezer is pretty mainstream and a big moneymaker for their label, so I'm just going to assume that if the links stay up, I'll have problems.

I have to say, I have been a Weezer fan since the beginning. A few weeks after "The Sweater Song" broke I saw Weezer open for Lush. There were about 40 people in the club, but they rocked the house. I went to see Lush, but came away from that concert loving Weezer. I only knew that first single, but during their songs were so catchy and fun I was instantly hooked from that performance.

The band has had its high points and not so high points. I won't say low points because I don't think there really is a bad Weezer record. This last year they have been on fire releasing 3 records in the span of about a year, Ratitude, Hurley and most recently Death To False Metal. Rivers is truly gifted with writing catchy hooks. They never cease to be fun.

This song Pork and Beans is a classic. It was from the moment it hit the airwaves. I've been at several events where this song has been on and people just start singing along. I picked up both versions of the 7" when it came out because of the 2 B-sides. I love the Psychedelic Furs and so I had to hear "Love My Way" and I was almost as excited to hear their version of R.E.M.'s "Oddfellows Local 151. Document is one of my favorite R.E.M. records. I think it may have been the first R.E.M. CD I owned. So for a short time only check these ditties out.

Enjoy!

01 Pork And Beans.m4a
02 Love My Way.m4a
02 Oddfellows Local 151.m4a

As an added bonus, here is some video of my son a couple years ago performing "Pork And Beans" at a high school battle of the bands performance. I was pretty proud of him. He and his friend Brett really got the crowd going.

Kix - Kix - 1981

Just wanted to get something up post Halloween. Yes, I know I was extremely lazy all October, just posting reposts. I can report that I did spend time in October working on the Christmas mix for the year.

This record was a bit of a surprise to me. I picked this up mostly because of the cheeseball photos, and I thought the music would be kind of cheesy. However I was pleasantly pleased to find that the album actually rocked quite well. It wasn't so much the hairband rock of the late 80's which I wasn't really into, but had a little more new wave influence than I was expecting. Listen to Heartache and you'll hear what I mean. Has a little bit of a powerpop vibe going on. Some songs rock a little harder, and there is the requisite heavy metal falsetto. For instance, take a song like "Kix Are For Kids". This is more in line with say Krokus. "The Kid" is a pretty catchy rocker and "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" is also infectious and closes the album well.

And lastly I'd like to say that even though I've given the music a B+ as far as quality I still stand by my opinion that the album photos are cheeseball.

Enjoy!

01 Atomic Bombs.m4a
02 Love At First Sight.m4a
03 Heartache.m4a
04 Poison.m4a
05 The Itch.m4a
06 Kix Are For Kids.m4a
07 Contrary Mary.m4a
08 The Kid.m4a
09 Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.m4a

Kix Side 1.zip
Kix Side 2.zip

Bob City - Swamp Buggy Racin' 7" - 1998

This is one of the 7" records I picked up last year at Amoeba in a 50 cent bin. I think I bought about 20 records that I knew nothing about. I've been taking my sweet time getting them ready for the blog. This big hold up is scanning the artwork. Anyway, I got nudged yesterday to get to posting something again, because it had been so long. Time flies. Work has been very busy. So I pulled this out today.

Still don't know much about Bob City, but I do think "Swamp Buggy Racin'" is a good rocker of a song. Give it a listen and I think you'll be singing along with the easy to remember chorus "swamp buggy racin'". "Dead Man" is not too bad either.

Hopefully this will tide




Enjoy!

01 Swamp Buggy Racin'.m4a

02 Dead Man.m4a

As a bonus I looked up some Swamp Buggy racing footage on youtube.

Echo & The Bunnymen - Lips Like Sugar 12" - 1987

Just this last week a friend gave me a small sack of records. They are all from the 80's and most of them are 12" singles. I have promptly started digitizing them to share. This is the first record from the collection which I'll post over the coming months. Many of these records are from pretty established bands like Echo or New Order or Morrissey or Depeche Mode, so I don't think I'm going to be sharing anything new that a die hard fan hasn't already collected from some other source. However, I do think on of the cool aspects will be the artwork, which may not be so readily available.

"Lips Like Sugar" is one of my favorite songs by Echo & The Bunnymen. On a side note I just have to say I find bands with "and" or "&" in their name to be annoying in this day of itunes. I hate having to keep track of whether I use the "&" sign of the word "and". It seems like I'm always fixing file names in bands like "Echo & The Bunnymen" and "The Jesus & Mary Chain".

This record is great because of the mixes. The 12" mix and the single mix are nice additions to the library. It is also nice to have a dub version of a song. Maybe I'll find a good use for that in some mash-up someday. "Rollercoaster" is a pretty good track as well. It really rocks and reminds me of some of the earlier Bunnymen work, kind of rough around the edges.

Enjoy!

01 Lips Like Sugar (12" Mix).m4a

02 Rollercoaster.m4a

03 Lips Like Sugar (Dub).m4a

04 Lips Like Sugar (Single Mix).m4a

Echo & The Bunnymen - Lips Like Sure 12".zip

Kansas - Two For The Show - 1978

If you are looking for a great recording or rip of this release, you have come to the wrong spot. This is a beat up record and I'm sure there are better copies out there. You can also still find this for sale on CD through many online channels. One of the reasons I ripped the record with the thought of sharing was that at the time a few years ago the CD release lacked a couple tracks. However since that time there has been a nice new 30th anniversary edition that has everything the vinyl record had. So if you like what you hear through all the dust and crackling go out and find the record or the 30th anniversary release of the CD.

So a few words about Kansas and how it relates to me. After all that is the whole point of me writing this thing. You can get the music just about anywhere. Hopefully there is some fun in reading about my experiences with the music that you can relate to and get some enjoyment out of it. Then again maybe that is just my self delusion. In which case, please humor me for a few more rambling sentences or paragraphs.

I'm really a music child of the 80's. I was pretty little in the 70's and so my association with a lot of 70's music is after the fact. Such is the case with early Kansas. I knew and listened to Kansas songs for many years purely based on the rock radio staples that played throughout the 80's on into today. "Dust In The Wind", "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Point Of No Return" were what I knew. Short well constructed rock songs, tailored for the radio. I really knew nothing of their more prog-rock roots or leanings. So this album really was my introduction to their earlier work. Some songs are better than others. It is by no means a must have record. If you already are inclined to be bored with prog-rock and it's indulgences you may want to just skip this all together and stick to the radio friendly classic rock staples. However if you like Emerson Lake and Palmer or early Genesis or Yes, you might want to give this a try. There is a good chance, thought that if you like those bands I just mentioned, then you have already checked this out.

After this record on into the 1980's Kerry Livgren became a born again Christian and their music shifted to reflect this conversion. It was during this phase that I was introduced to Kansas. I was listening to the radio when singles like "Hold On" and "Play The Game Tonight" were on the airwaves. They are still decent songs, but you don't hear them too much these days.

My memories of Kansas are tied to a couple things. The first thing is my best friend back in 5th and 6th grade, Jay Nelson. He introduced me to a lot of music. His allowance was more than mine and he bought an album just about every week. For some reason I think he bought vinyl confessions and he may have played it for me one time when I slept over at his house. That could be a faulty memory, though. I say that because Kansas also reminds me of Triumph who were gracing the airwaves also at the time. In case you missed it, the connection to Triumph is the second thing Kansas reminds me of.


In doing research I was looking at the various album covers. For some reason the cover to Audio-Vision didn't ring much of a bell for me. I don't know why I don't remember the cover. It cracks me up because it is a mixture or Mr. Roboto and disco. It's not exactly rock. The Vinyl Confessions cover is kind of boring, but at least it seems like a rock record.

So this one won't stay up long because it is a major label release and I'll probably get complaints if it remains up.

Enjoy!

Side 1
01 Song For America
02 Point Of No Return
03 Paradox
Two For The Show Side 1.zip

Side 2
04 Icarus Borne On Wings Of Steel
05 Portrait (He Knew)
06 Carry On Wayward Son
07 Journey From Mariabronn
Two For The Show Side 2.zip

Side 3
08 Dust In The Wind
09 Acoustic Guitar Solo
10 Piano Solo
11 Lonely Wind
12 Mysteries And Mayhem
13 Excerpt From Lamplight Symphony
14 The Wall
Two For The Show Side 3.zip

Side 4
15 Closet Chronicles
16 Magnum Opus
Two For The Show Side 4.zip