Tapes and B-sides.

[baratron]

I just posted this to the Wildhearts mailing list, and I thought it was personal enough to post it here too.

I'm young enough that I've been buying albums on CD for as long as I've been buying albums. What I used to do when I was younger was to make tape copies of everything to play on my walkman. These days, I have a CD walkman, and my old tape walkman is buried in a desk somewhere.

Recently, I've been going through a lot of my old tapes, wiping all the ones I don't want to keep. (Most of them are copies of things I have on CD, so there's no point keeping them). I've been re-recording over the old tapes, making up tape compilations, or things to play in other people's cars.

I've had a tape of "the Wildhearts' singles" since 1995. However, it occured to me today that there were quite a few songs missing. I didn't have anything after the "I Wanna Go Where the People Go" single on there. So today I got a new 100-minute tape, and just about squeezed all of the East/West-era B-sides onto it.

I tend to stick CDs on and listen to them whilst doing something else, often only getting up to change them when my CD player has gone through the 3 CDs in its stack. I don't listen to singles at all, really. I had the various Wildhearts albums that I listen to, my tape of the singles, and another tape called "The Best of the Wildhearts" which I made up myself. So I hadn't realised before now that there were several Wildhearts songs that I really like but have barely listened to. It's a really weird feeling suddenly discovering these songs after all this time. "Underkill" was one of them, also "Do Anything".

Also, I've noticed again for the first time in ages that at the end of "Fire Up" (which I always want to call "Fired Up" for some reason), there's a bit that should lead into "In Lilly's Garden". It makes me get all pondering again about what the original track listing for "p.h.u.q." should have been, before East/West got arsey. Hmmm.

Comments

[inquis.livejournal.com]

And it also has some background sounds on it which aren't there on the PHUQ version.

I've had a very similar experience recently as I MP3d my Wildhearts singles. Although I was pretty clued up on singles up to the end of FFL re-release, Anthem and Urge I really haven't listened to much at all (except White Lies). I have to say though, I don't think I was missing much. I'm not sure I've *ever* heard the vinyl b-sides though as I don't have a record player, but I needed to have the songs, for when I do have vinyl again.

I used to listen to the b-sides though, because I was lyric collecting. I think I still have a thank you on Longhair's page for tirelessly listening and understanding them for him.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

I still haven't bothered much with any of the EN-era stuff. You see, I generally play music while doing something else - like reading, working or doing stuff online. I just don't sit and listen to music without multi-tasking, unless I'm watching the band at the same time, which is a special case.

Now, while some of the songs on EN itself are really great, I can't listen to them in the same way that I normally listen to music - they're so noisy that they require my full attention. I have to listen hard to pick out the music from the distortion. And I suppose I can't be bothered to do that. And regarding the various B-sides from that time, I've never been particularly interested in cover versions anyway, unless one of my favourite groups covers something that is already a favourite song of mine (e.g. when Paradise Lost did "Walk Away" or Mega City Four did "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely"), in which case it's an interesting "shared influences/homage"-type thing.

No, it was just very strange realising that I had played the various B-sides from "Earth vs" about 5 billion times, but hardly listened to some of the others at all.

[bethdeth.livejournal.com]

EN is great to listen to on headphones, at unhealthy volume, while riding the train. It's almost as though the screeching of the train's wheels along the rails is piped in along with the music, making you feel one with everything, maaaan...

[chrismoose.livejournal.com]

i'll have to borrow some wildhearts stuff sometime... used to really like them, but haven't listened to them since I was about 16 and fell out with my then best friend....

[baratron.livejournal.com]

I don't know about borrow - that would imply that I could bear to part with it! But I can certainly record stuff to mini disc for you...

Re:

[chrismoose.livejournal.com]

okay, that would be fabby...
I'll give you some blanks next time I see you :)
I know how you feel about parting with music... I lent someone my Keith Jarret - Koln Conert almost a month ago, and haven't got it back yet!