The Clash -- "The Story of the Clash, Volume 2"

In 1988, Epic Records released a double CD titled The Story of the Clash, Volume 1. It was a compilation album featuring most of the band's well-known songs—basically a "best of" collection.

Volume 2 was planned but never released. There has been some debate as to exactly what songs were supposed to be on the second volume. I've read that it was to be either live tracks or rarities, or a combination of both. Perhaps there was a disagreement among parties, and that's why it never materialized. 

When it came to determining what tracks to use for The Story of the Clash, Volume 2, I decided to include both rarities and live material. If this was to truly be a "story of the band," I think both sum up The Clash along with the "hits" of Volume 1.

In the 1990s, there were several Clash compilation albums that came out with B-sides, rarities and live tracks. Two of those albums stood out to me -- From Here to Eternity: Live and Super Black Market Clash.

DISC 1 - Live

1. London's Burning (Victoria Park, East London, 30 April 1978)
2. What's My Name (Music Machine, London, 27 July 1978)
3. City of the Dead (Lyceum Theatre, London, 28 Dec. 1978)
4. I Fought the Law (Lyceum Theatre, London, 28 Dec. 1978)
5. Drug-Stabbing Time (Lyceum Theatre, London, 28 Dec. 1978)
6. English Civil War (Lyceum Theatre, London, 3 Jan. 1979)
7. Capital Radio (Lewisham Odeon, London, 18 Feb. 1980)
8. Armagideon Time (Lewisham Odeon, London, 18 Feb. 1980)
9. Complete Control (Bonds International Casino, New York City, 13 June 1981)
10. Train in Vain (Bonds International Casino, New York City, 13 June 1981)
11. The Guns of Brixton (Bonds International Casino, New York City, 13 June 1981)
12. Clash City Rockers (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
13. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
14. London Calling (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
15. The Magnificent Seven (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
16. Know Your Rights (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
17. Should I Stay or Should I Go (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
18. Straight to Hell (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
19. Janie Jones (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
20. Career Opportunities (Shea Stadium, New York City, 13 Oct. 1982)

DISC 2 - Rarities

1. 1977 (B-side of "White Riot" single, 1977)
2. Listen (full version, 1977)
3. City of the Dead (B-side of "Complete Control" single, 1977)
4. Jail Guitar Doors (B-side of "Clash City Rockers" single, 1978)
5. The Prisoner (B-side of "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" single, 1978)
6. 1-2 Crush on You (B-side of "Tommy Gun" single, 1978)
7. Pressure Drop (B-side of "English Civil War" single, 1979)
8. Groovy Times (The Cost of Living E.P., 1979)
9. Gates of the West (The Cost of Living E.P., 1979)
10. Capital Radio Two (The Cost of Living E.P., 1979)
11. Justice Tonight / Kick It Over (dub version of "Armagideon Time," B-side of "London Calling" 12-inch single, 1979)               
12. Time Is Tight (from Black Market Clash, 1980)
13. Robber Dub (dub version of "Bankrobber" 1980)
14. Stop the World (B-side of "The Call Up" single, 1980)
15. The Cool Out (instrumental version of "The Call Up,” B-side of "The Magnificent Seven" single, 1981)
16. The Magnificent Dance (B-side of "The Magnificent Seven" single, 1981)
17. Radio Clash (B-side of "This Is Radio Clash" single, 1981)
18. First Night Back in London (B-side of "Know Your Rights" single, 1982)     
19. Long Time Jerk (B-side of "Rock the Casbah" single, 1982)
20. Cool Confusion (B-side of "Should I Stay or Should I Go" single, 1982)       
21. Mustapha Dance (dub version of "Rock the Casbah," B-side of "Rock the Casbah" single, 1982)      

In essence, From Here to Eternity: Live accomplishes the live portion. It includes tracks recorded from 1978 through 1982. At the risk of appearing lazy, I decided to simply take those tracks to make my "live" disc, with the main difference in that I put the tracks in chronological order. I also added a live version of "English Civil War" that appears on the compilation Clash on Broadway as there aren't any other tracks featured from 1979.

For Disc 2, I took a similar approach: I took the tracks of the rarities compilation Super Black Market Clash and reorganized the songs in chronological order.

I can't say whether this is close to the original plan for Volume 2, but I think it certainly showcases the band as both a live act and a group with diverse music. For a cover, I tried to mimic Volume 1 by taking another photo of The Clash and using a similar layout.

The Underdogs - S/T

After three singles on Hideout Records in 1965 and 1966 that went nowhere, Detroit garage rockers The Underdogs probably thought they were finally going to break out in 1967 following the group's signing to Motown's V.I.P. imprint.

In January 1967, V.I.P. released their single "Love's Gone Bad" (b/w "Mojo Hanna"). The band recorded more tracks as well for what I assume was to be their debut album. However, according to the Both Sides Now website, V.I.P. Records only scheduled eight albums during its short life (and two of those were never released), and there's no mention of an Underdogs LP.

The band's newest single didn't sell any better than their previous ones, V.I.P. lost interest and the band faded away.

Then in 2016 and 2017 the collections Motown Unreleased 1966 and Motown Unreleased 1967 came out respectively and included a combined 12 Underdogs tracks. There's also one other track that can be found on the album Motown Sings Motown Treasures. Add the failed single and we've a nice 15-song album:

SIDE A

1. You Hit Me Where It Hurt Me
2. Come on Up
3. If You Don't Want My Love
4. Come See About Me
5. The Way You Do the Things You Do
6. One of These Days
7. Love's Gone Bad [extended version]

SIDE B
1. It's My Time
2. Mojo Hannah
3. I Want A Love I Can See
4. I Got A Feeling Baby
5. Bring It on Home To Me
6. Last Train to Clarksville
7. Need Your Lovin' (Want You Back)
8. Turn on Your Lovelight

This is an interesting collection, and it can be entertaining listening to a garage rock band perform Motown soul hits. A cover of the Supremes' "Come See About Me" doesn't stray far from the original. But "The Way You Do the Things You Do" is almost unrecognizable at the beginning, and the odd "na na na na" from "Land of a Thousand Dances" added in the middle is unexpected. I found an extended version of "Love's Gone Bad" online and included it here as a longer album version of the single.

I opened the second side with "It's My Time" as it seems like the obvious next single. It had actually been originally assigned to The Mynah Birds, but when Rick James was incarcerated and his band broke up, I guess the track was up for grabs.

The oddest choice is a cover of The Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville." Other than some fuzz guitar, it's basically the same song. Even more odd, according to notes on Motown Unreleased 1967, the song was originally assigned to the Isley Brothers.

I closed out the album with "Turn on Your Lovelight" as it gets the full Motown horn backup and it gives the album a grand conclusion. While most of these songs are enjoyable, there's nothing here that suggests to me that The Underdogs were anything other than standard '60s garage rock.

For a cover, I took one of the two or three band photos I could find, tinted it, and added the group name and VIP Records logo.

The Monkees - "L.A., D.C., Houston and Openshaw"

There were a lot of outtakes from The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees album, and I guess that shouldn't be surprising. Despite the success of the previous two albums, Headquarters and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. where the band members worked together as a team, for The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees the members worked mostly independently. As a result, there were a lot more tracks than were needed for a single album.

I guess I could have reconfigured The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees into a double album, but that's not as fun as creating a whole new LP.

SIDE A

1. Changes

2. If I Ever Get to Saginaw Again

3. Rosemarie

4. Lady's Baby

5. Carlisle Wheeling

6. Come on In

7. My Share of the Sidewalk

SIDE B

1. Tear the Top Right off My Head

2. Shake 'Em Up (and Let 'Em Roll)

3. Party

4. Nine Times Blue

5. War Games

6. Merry Go Round

7. Auntie's Municipal Court

The only real problem with assembling the tracks for this album is that it has only three with Micky Dolenz on lead vocals -- "Rosemarie," "Shake 'Em Up (and Let 'Em Roll)" and "Auntie's Municipal Court." The latter song actually appeared on the album The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees, however, I use the original, aborted track listing for that album (see here) that didn't include that song. Considering Micky sang most of the band's hits, the album is a bit lacking without more of his voice. But on the other hand, it allows the other three members to shine a bit.

I thought the jangly “Changes” sung by Davy was a good opener for side one, and Peter’s rockin’ “Tear the Roof Right Off My Head” a good opener for side two. Besides Micky's three lead vocals, Davy and Peter have lead vocals on four tracks each, and Mike sings lead on three.

All songs can be found on Missing Links, Missing Links Volume Two or Missing Links Volume Three. 

For an album title, I took a cue from The Monkees' Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. album that was named after their zodiac symbols (both Nesmith and Jones having the same, Capricorn). L.A., D.C., Houston and Openshaw is named after the towns each band member was born in.

For an album cover, I used a tie-dye (or is that batique?) background and placed over it The Monkees logo. Then I added London underground signs with the names of the cities, as well as the Colgems Records logo. Came out nice, I think.

David Bowie -- "Bowie-ing Out"

Tuesday is David Bowie's birthday -- he would have been 72 -- so I thought this would be a good time to offer this idea of a covers album.

Bowie's 1973 album Pin Ups was supposed to be the first of two collections of 1960s cover versions. While Pin Ups featured covers of British songs, the second was to be made up of songs by American artists. One tentative title for the second album was Bowie-ing Out although that title was being considered for a live album as well.

Why the plan for the second album fizzled is not really clear. What is known is that Bowie loved Bruce Springsteen's then-new debut album Greetings from Asbury Park and recorded two of the tracks. However, since Springsteen's album was a 1973 release, the two tracks didn't really fit the original concept of covering 1960s songs.

But while Bowie never released Bowie-ing Out, he did continue covering 1960s/early 1970s songs throughout much of his career. 

1. Growin' Up - Bruce Springsteen [Pin Ups - 1990 reissue]
2. I Keep Forgettin' - Chuck Jackson [Tonight]
3. Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan [Heaven and Hull (Mick Ronson)]
4. God Only Knows - Beach Boys [Tonight]
5. I'm Waiting for the Man - Velvet Underground [Bowie at the Beeb]
6. Knock on Wood - Eddie Floyd [David Live]
7. Alabama Song - The Doors [Scary Monsters (and Super Freaks) - 1992 reissue]
8. White Light/White Heat - Velvet Underground [Bowie at the Beeb]
9. I've Been Waiting for You - Neil Young [Heathen]
10. America - Simon and Garfunkel [The Concert for New York]
11. I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spaceship - Legendary Stardust Cowboy [Heathen]
12. I Wanna Be Your Dog - The Stooges [Glass Spider]
13. It's Hard to be a Saint in the City - Bruce Springsteen [The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979]

Since the Springsteen songs were from 1973, I used only covers of tracks that were from that year and prior. The rip-roaring version of "Like a Rolling Stone" actually comes from Mick Ronson's Heaven and Hull album and features Bowie on lead vocals.

Yes, I know that "Alabama Song" was written in the 1920s, originally in German and translated into English soon afterward. But let's face it, the version most people know is that of The Doors. 

I mixed up the songs from different years as well as studio and live tracks. Although it doesn't really mirror Pin Ups, I think this is an interesting compilation that forgoes the usual songs found on hits collections (and Bowie certainly has plenty of those already). This collection could have been a compilation album released during the 10-year gap between Bowie's Reality and The Next Day albums.

For a cover, I wanted something contemporary but also somehow mimicked the Pin Ups cover, where Bowie appears with supermodel Twiggy. I found it when I spotted a series of photos of Bowie posing with supermodel Kate Moss in (I think) 2003. I liked this photo best and added titles. 

Interestingly (at least to me), the Pin Ups cover shoot was photographed for Vogue Magazine, but Bowie requested the use of it for his album instead. The picture of him and Kate Moss was also part of a photo shoot for Vogue. So it all comes together.