Rarities CD

Not exactly packed full of rarities is it? I think I already own most of these songs and live versions aren't exactly what I consider "rarities". The only item here that's legitimately special seems to be the Woodface era studio version of "Throw Your Arms Around Me". I don't think I'm familiar with "White Cloud Black Shadow" or "Pulled it all Down". Anyone know the history on these?

Tracklist

I See Red
Shark Attack
Pulled it all Down
Rock 'n' Roll Girl
White Cloud, Black Shadow
Cruel Black Crow
Throw Your Arms Around Me
Salt To The Sea

quote:

Originally posted by Paināporo:
I don't think I'm familiar with "White Cloud Black Shadow" or "Pulled it all Down". Anyone know the history on these?

'White Cloud Black Shadow': from Tim's 2002 musical 'Feedback'.

'Pulled It All Down': a song he wrote and recorded in honour of the many Victorian-era theatres demolished in NZ over the years.

I love the artwork...

quote:

Originally posted by Paināporo:
Not exactly packed full of rarities is it?

Tim may just disagree

TIM IS WRONG. If fans know all the words, then it's not a rarity.

Of course, I'm a big enough man to admit I could be the wrong one on that. After all, one man's rarity is another man's obscurity, which should be obvious to anyone.

It goes without saying, but it bears repeating.

quote:

Originally posted by CH Trader:

quote:

Originally posted by Paināporo:
Not exactly packed full of rarities is it?

Tim may just disagree

Well I question the sincerity of anyone who thinks an 8 song CD containing only 5 studio tracks is "packed full" of rarities. Maybe there are too many copyright issues between Tim and all his old record labels but it would've been nice to see a couple more tracks. Especially since this CD is getting a more proper release instead of being a one off for the fan club.

Well maybe it's been put together to sell as merch on his upcoming US tour...

I for one am curious, am glad to see it released, and have duly ordered a copy

quote:

Originally posted by Paināporo:
Well I question the sincerity of anyone who thinks an 8 song CD containing only 5 studio tracks is "packed full" of rarities.

Where does it say "packed full of rarities" other than your inital post? You make it sound like it's been built up as something it's not.

It's described on the Frenz mail out as Tim Finn-Rarities, Demos, Live Performances VOL.1, which I believe it is.

On the myspace it just says Rarities - other odds and bits/some unreworked demos/live tracks reworked.....strictly one for the fans.

Apparently not you.

Well I still purchased it I'm just, you know, a grumpy kind of guy.

I've never heard OF, let alone heard, four of the tracks, and one is much sought-after (by me at least), so I'm not complaining.

quote:

Originally posted by Paināporo:
Well I still purchased it I'm just, you know, a grumpy kind of guy.

You might like to know that, although not mentioned anywhere on the item itself, there's a surprise addition at the end of Salt to the Sea ... kinda like a bonus track without the huge gap ... of The Coca Cola Jingle.

I think it's a great collection and certainly hope that the vol. 1 means it's the first of many

Well, there you go...if it's got the Coca Cola jingle on it, it's gotta be a keeper .

I'd been wavering about whether or not to get this. Tim sort of lost me with Imaginary Kingdom. I know the majority of people here love it, but I just don't like it at all. So, I'd sort of pretty much decided not to get the rarities CD.

And then, mummakook, you mentioned that the Coca Cola jingle is on there. I don't know why, but that tidbit of information pushed me over the edge. *laughs* So I ordered a copy from his myspace site. For $10, you really can't go wrong. That's a very fair price for a thing like this, considering how short it is.

OHHHHHH MIGOD

I don't wanna go where there's no Coca-Cola.

"White Cloud Black Shadow" is particularly lovely - a very gentle demo, reminescent of "Winter Light" in atmosphere. Love the line "white cloud casts a black shadow on a green hill".
"Pulled It All Down" - I remember reading about this at the time Tim sang it to a bunch of city counsellors as a protest to the proposed demolition of an old theatre in Devonport. I think he said that he wrote it the day before the submission - it sounds like it but still quite catchy of course
"Throw Your Arms" sounds more produced than the other Woodface Demos and is very much a Tim lead vocal with Neil in the background. Very nice to have a studio version of this (unless you also count Neil's radio version on the "Acoustic" CD)
Of the other tracks, the two live versions are excellent, and the Coca Cola jingle an unexpected bonus. "Cruel Black Crow" (which I've always taken to be about depression)and "Rock 'n' Roll Girl" of course have been around for some time and are both essential Tim tracks that deserve a wider audience. Both tracks sound remastered. "I See Red" has also been remastered and sounds LOUD.

It's great to see Tim putting these bits and pieces out. Interesting choices for the first CD. For future releases, I'd love to see the remaining "Les Patterson" tracks get a proper CD release and there's the vinyl B-sides from "Escapade" as well. I also read recently of something called "The Tunnel" recorded at the "Tim Finn" sesssions - could you dig that one out Tim? And then there's the recent MySpace tracks - the list goes on and on

quote:

Originally posted by brownie:
I'd been wavering about whether or not to get this. Tim sort of lost me with Imaginary Kingdom. I know the majority of people here love it, but I just don't like it at all. So, I'd sort of pretty much decided not to get the rarities CD.

And then, mummakook, you mentioned that the Coca Cola jingle is on there. I don't know why, but that tidbit of information pushed me over the edge. *laughs* So I ordered a copy from his myspace site. For $10, you really can't go wrong. That's a very fair price for a thing like this, considering how short it is.

Glad I was able to persuade you, brownie I don't think you'll be disappointed. As you'll glean from David's review, it's not all new stuff anyway, so even if the newer stuff is less to your liking there should be something of interest there. Hard to go wrong at the price anyway!

For my part I'm particularly happy to have things like Pulled it all Down, which haven't been seen before, but it's also good to have crisper versions of things like the Coca Cola jingle. Looking forward to what might turn up on volume 2, and beyond!

Desperate to get this - paypal is a pain to register for so it seems though, so I hope stocks won't go quickly.

I'm pleased to have Cruel Black Crow on CD after all this time.

Maybe this first set is fairly short in order to test the water - see if there's a lot of demand for his rarities before rolling out the more obscure stuff? It'll be great to see how regularly he's going to put these things out - if there's seemingly no record label involved in the pressing etc (albeit probably in the background sorting licencing etc), he could in theory put one out every couple of months (he must have an absolute *mountain* of stuff recorded that's never seen the light of day).

Originally posted by Spence:
I'm pleased to have Cruel Black Crow on CD after all this time.

Cruel Black Crow has been on CD for a long time. It appeared on the UK CD single of How'm I Gonna Sleep. It's a shame there isn't any REALLY rare stuff on there, but it probably does come under copyright issues etc.

You know honestly, some of those rarities are probably rare for good reason.

Although they can still be funky and funny to listen to. I always get a kick out of "Not Made of Stone"...

"have you ever seen a face like that
staring at you from the mirror?
pink carnation and a ten-gallon hat
it's a lovesick gorilla!"

Now that's vivid mental imagery.

Ah there are a few classics like that, but to me that's all part of the charm of music, seeing what gets dumped and what evolves years later. So I'm very glad to be able to have these rarities, including the stuff I've had for years but now have a cleaner version of. I hope it's the first of many.

White Cloud, Black Shadow along with Pulled it all Down and Rock 'n' Roll Girl you'd have to say are rare. As for the others, do those of us who've had them for so long just take them for granted? Not everyone has had such access to them.

There was talk in an interview PG included in the last club newsletter (and VIP email I think it was) about how John was digging up a whole pile of old stuff. I do hope that's not John at EMI who's now leaving.

Thanks to the internet there's really no such thing as a rarity anymore. If a song's been released (even if only on vinyl) the chances are that it's on the net somewhere. I've seen a number of vinyl only Tim songs that some kind soul transferred into MP3s and put on the net. The bottom line is that now-a-days either it's been released or it hasn't. If it's already out there those in the know who actually want it will already have it. On the plus side this collection does have a couple songs that were not previously released and therein lies its true value.

Believe it or not, though, not everyone has a computer, fewer also have high speed broadband. Fewer again will know where to look or, in some cases, how to use the technology.

Just saying "it's on the internet" doesn't make it widely available.

I think that we're the hardest of hardcore fans, so its no real surprise that we've managed to get our hands on tracks containted on the disc.

I have lots of respect for any artist (whether I like their music or not) who goes out of their way to make more material widely available to fans, and I'm very grateful to Tim for putting this out, just in time to whet our appetites for The Conversation, no doubt.

So is "Throw Your Arms Around Me" basically a Crowded House song with Tim on lead vocal (like "All I Ask")? What I mean is, is that Nick on Bass, Paul on drums, and Neil playing guitar and singing backup?

Well I don't have any of the songs on this CD, aside from Cruel Black Crow which is a crappy quality mp3, and I've been hardcore in my time about Timbo. In fact, I haven't even heard of over half of the songs.

I know Throw Your Arms Around Me was recorded during the Murchison St demos for Woodface, I presumed this is what it is (without hearing it).

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Sadly:
You know honestly, some of those rarities are probably rare for good reason.

Although they can still be funky and funny to listen to. I always get a kick out of "Not Made of Stone"...

"have you ever seen a face like that
staring at you from the mirror?
pink carnation and a ten-gallon hat
it's a lovesick gorilla!"

Now that's vivid mental imagery.

Not Made of Stone had the potential to be one of those ridiculously catchy singles that, while corny "I bring you all of my attention span/if that's what you expect from me/I stand before you like your long lost man/Tim Finn is what you want him to be", manages to get stuck in everyone's head.

Such a great beat and energy to that song. I'd like to have it on Vol 2 if that ever happens.

quote:

Cruel Black Crow has been on CD for a long time. It appeared on the UK CD single of How'm I Gonna Sleep.

Yup, I knew that - I meant the only version *I* had was on vinyl (never did track down the CD single).

quote:

..and Rock 'n' Roll Girl you'd have to say are rare.

Was that not on the Steel City soundtrack though? Maybe not the same version (haven't listened to it in ages).

Being a bit of a hardcore fan of anything to do with the Finns this goes a long way to filling some of the gaps I havce in my collection. Yes I already have some of them, and it can sometimes feel like you're buying a lot of dupliactes to get the ones you don't have, but if it helps new fans to become hardcore, then all the better.
( If the Coca Cola jingle is included then the CD pays for itself (so to speak) for me) :-)

For some of us who are indeed fortunate enough to have had versions of some of the songs for a while, I think Camus and others would agree with me that it's good to actually have a good quality copy of some of these songs at last.

I'd call the version of Throw Your Arms more of a Finn Brothers recording, with more Tim on vocals, than Crowded House. Not sure who else was involved, if anyone.

quote:

Originally posted by AGM155:
Not Made of Stone had the potential to be one of those ridiculously catchy singles that, while corny ...

I like "Funny Way", but there's just something about the treatment of the whole "Count the hours" etc part in "Not Made Of Stone" that makes me wish that version of the song had been the one taken to completion.

It's always weird to hear these songs that contain each others' pieces within them!

Just as an aside, I think "Throw Your Arms Around Me" would have made an excellent bonus track to the (probably never going to see the light of day) Best of Tim Finn album.

I love this whole CD.

Some of the songs I have, some I knew of but didn't have, and some I'd never even heard of.

I love the packaging - the old type-written notes. I thought that was a really nice touch.

I'm thrilled that Tim called it "Volume 1", because I'll be looking extremely forward to more releases of this nature in the future.

quote:

Originally posted by Spence:

quote:

..and Rock 'n' Roll Girl you'd have to say are rare.

Was that not on the Steel City soundtrack though? Maybe not the same version (haven't listened to it in ages).

Quite right Spence. Was checking something out for another thread and so listened to both back to back, tis indeed the same song, same version even! No wonder it seemed so familiar! Did I mention I'm just a little snowed under right now, that and the fact that I don't listen to Steel City much ... otherwise I'd be quite red indeed.

I may be being a bit unfair but I'm a bit miffed at the fact that I paid twice as much through the fan club as it costs to get it off Tim's Myspace page.

When I got PG's VIP email it implied that the CD was a really limited release via the club, so I jumped on it real quick to avoid disappointment.

Shame it turns out that I could have got it for £6 instead of £16 from Tim direct, and could have had it in my hands by now.

To be fair, we get so much good stuff off the club that I kinda treat it like a charity and am happy to pay a little over the odds, but it would have been nice to have the release arrangements made more clear.

Am I the only one who didn't get that it was also available through Myspace?

No, you are not the only one. I had no idea it was available via Tim's myspace until people started talking about it here, which was 2 weeks after Peter's email arrived. His email did imply that it was a rare club thing that one had to act quickly on because of extremely limited copies. I didn't enquire about the cost via the fan club, but I assumed it would be about $25US, which is what they always cost. I didn't want it enough to pay that much for it.

The price on the myspace site, however, was worth it to me, and I received it just a few days after I placed my order.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened. I ordered a signed copy of Everyone Is Here from the fan club, well before its release. I waited months and months (and months!) for it. In the intervening time, I went to a Finn Bros show and they were selling signed copies of it for half the price the fan club was charging. And I could have had it in my hands that day. I was not pleased. In fact, that experience made me swear off buying copies of CD's from the fan club, when it is clear those CD's will have a general release.

Paul H wrote:

quote:

I may be being a bit unfair but I'm a bit miffed at the fact that I paid twice as much through the fan club as it costs to get it off Tim's Myspace page.

When I got PG's VIP email it implied that the CD was a really limited release via the club, so I jumped on it real quick to avoid disappointment.

Shame it turns out that I could have got it for £6 instead of £16 from Tim direct, and could have had it in my hands by now.

To be fair, we get so much good stuff off the club that I kinda treat it like a charity and am happy to pay a little over the odds, but it would have been nice to have the release arrangements made more clear.

Am I the only one who didn't get that it was also available through Myspace?

No Paul, you're not the only one. I actually got a bit confused when I first read about the release through Tim's Myspace, because I thought that the Club release was the only place it was available, and I thought maybe there were two different CD's floating around.

I ordered mine through the Club, and have now got it. Once I've paid for something, I don't spend a lot of time worrying that I could have gotten it cheaper elsewhere or whatever - that serves no purpose.

I may order one through Tim's Myspace page anyway. My niece would love one, and despite what I've just said above, it would average out the cost.

I agree with Paul's other statement - I also think of the Club like a charity. We get great releases through it that we otherwise would not get, and the extra dollars and stamps etc go towards keeping it running and afloat. I for one would be lost if it folded, so not too much complaint from me.

quote:

Originally posted by Texas Rose:
We get great releases through it that we otherwise would not get, and the extra dollars and stamps etc go towards keeping it running and afloat. I for one would be lost if it folded, so not too much complaint from me.

Don't get me wrong: I wrote my rantlet with a heavy heart. Peter does great work for us, and many things - especially the Luton Tapes - are just wondrous. I also agree that the extra dollars raised are good for the club and, by extension, all of us.

But I believe in honesty and balance, and feel that I should also comment when things aren't so great. I won't accuse PG of deliberately misleading us because I don't for a minute think it was his intention, but I do feel the way it was presented was very misleading and I think that's a shame.

All PG needed to say was that the disc was also available via Tim's page. I also wonder why the huge discrepancy in cost...

Anyway, water under the bridge. I just wanna get the blinkin' thing in my mitts