'Withdrawn' Songs

[TJ]

Namely those that were pulled for some reason and have yet to resurface in any form. I can think of two off the top of my head - Ice-T and Body Count's 'Cop Killer', which was pulled after complaints from politicians and police chiefs but was really just a bit of standard heavy metal with nothing really remarkable about it; and Happy Mondays' 'Desmond', withdrawn after Apple kicked up a stink about the unathorised pilfering of lines from 'Ob-La'Di-Ob-La-Da' (although they never seemed that bothered about Shaun Ryder later borrowing from 'Ticket To Ride' or 'A Day In The Life', the latter of which they didn't even ask for a credit for). Despite being a massive Happy Mondays fan of some sixteen years standing, I have to confess that I've never heard it.

[non capisco]

Wasn't 'Purple Paralellogram', a duet between Noel Gallagher and Evan Dando, meant to be on either a Lemonheads or Oasis album/b-side, but was withdrawn because Noel decided it was shite? Or am I barking up the wrong tree and he simply decided it was shite the morning after they wrote it, and it's never actually been recorded at all?

Chris Martin originally sang the chorus on the Streets' 'Dry Your Eyes', but backed out becuase he thought Mike Skinner singing it himself sounded better, and he's probably right. That's the only other not-very-good example I can think of at the moment. There must be tons more obscure ones.

[TJ]

There's Pink Floyd's 'Scream Thy Last Scream!' and 'Vegetable Man', both pulled from "A Saucerful Of Secrets" at the last minute, but they've been widely available on bootleg for years. I think the first confirmed sighting was 1971.

[TJ]

And The Charlatans' 'Silly Thing', scheduled to appear on the b-side of the withdrawn 'You're So Pretty - We're So Pretty', and still yet to resurface.

[Jemble Fred]

There was that time that Paul McCartney had the idea of rewriting If I Had A Hammer for some fuck-awful flag-waving 911 Tribute... but then he sat down and worked out that it would be one of the most despicably awful sickening moves of his entire career, and decided not to do it at all never.

Yes this is what happened don't kill me with facts.

[Fuckwittio]

There's Ice Cube's anti-Korean shopkeeper rant 'Black Korea' , removed from the Death Certificate LP, I believe. It's pretty nasty, but it moves along nicely.

"So don't follow me up and down your market,
Or your little chop suey ass'll be a target
...
You can't turn the ghetto into black Korea."

[Fuckwittio]

Oh yeah, and the Ramones' 'Carbona Not Glue', removed from later pressings of Leave Home due to complaints from the company that makes Carbona (a form of paint stripper, if I remember rightly). It's been reinstated on the most recent CD reissue.

Then of course, there is the case of Prince withdrawing the entire Black Album just as the presses were rolling, most likely due to the wife-killer funk of 'Bob George'.

"What's he do? Manage rock stars? Who? Prince? Ain't that a bitch? That skinny motherfucker with the high voice?"

My favourite line from this song, though, is the superbly delivered threat:
"I'll kick your ass....twice!"

All in all, there's nothing so shocking about the Black Album, other than that Prince's standards could slip so much so soon after Sign O The Times (not that I'm saying it's shit, it's just...not great). The alleged reason for it's withdrawal is that Prince was taken over by an evil demon called Spooky Electric, which made him create the LP, but he was then saved by a good spirit named Camille (I think), who steered him through the creation of Lovesexy, which was all sweetness & light in comparison. A less ridiculous theory than that espoused by Prince was that he was worried that if he died just after it was released, it'd be the record he was remembered for.

Thank fuck he didn't pass away after Chaos And Disorder, then.

[JesusAndYourBush]

I think the first confirmed sighting was 1971.

What about the Radio 1 session on 31.12.67?

My favourite line from this song, though, is the superbly delivered threat:
"I'll kick your ass....twice!"

My favourite line is "For someone who don't like TV dinners, you sure eat enough of the motherfuckers."

I thought the reason the album was pulled was that bootleg versions appeared and Prince threw a pink fit and decided not to release it.  Thats one of the stories that was around at the time.

[TJ]

I think the first confirmed sighting was 1971.

What about the Radio 1 session on 31.12.67?

I meant on bootleg - sorry, should have been clearer!

[JesusAndYourBush]

I meant on bootleg - sorry, should have been clearer!

It's shocking that they still haven't had an official release.  The songs are much more quality that some of the stuff on Syd's solo releases, some of which really show his personality crumbling and are quite hard to listen to.  You'd have thought that they'd have been out on an official release, if only so Syd could get some earnings from them.

[Fuckwittio]

Not quite 'withdrawn' as such, since it was never released, but how about The Rolling Stones' 'Cocksucker Blues', which Decca were never likely to release as the band's final single for them, what with fruity lyrics such as "Where can I get my cock sucked? Where can I get my ass fucked? I may not be good looking, but I know where to put it every time." Lovely.

Amazing that in this day and age, where most reissues are scraping the bottom of the barrel in regards to demos/out-takes/rarities that bands as huge as the Stones or Pink Floyd have so much stuff left in the vault. I don't know why 'Vegetable Man' or 'Scream Thy Last Scream' haven't been officially released yet; the rest of the band apparently think they're too disturbing for official release but I reckon anything off The Madcap Laughs beats them in those stakes.

The Stones have a shitload of stuff I'd still like to hear, like the apparently obscene 'Andrew's Blues' and the Exile On Main Street outtakes. Surely a Stones Anthology would sell shitloads? I believe the band considered the notion, but then decided against it.

Cocksucker Blues the movie was of course commissioned by the band, but the release was stalled & the film is never likely to get a proper release, but it's easy enough to get it on ebay if you get in there before the seller is barred for breaking the rules.

[MonkeyDrummer]

There's Ice Cube's anti-Korean shopkeeper rant 'Black Korea' , removed from the Death Certificate LP, I believe. It's pretty nasty, but it moves along nicely.

"So don't follow me up and down your market,
Or your little chop suey ass'll be a target
...
You can't turn the ghetto into black Korea."

No Vaseline was also pulled from the same album for incting violence and t's anti-semetism. i think

[non capisco]

I thought the reason the album was pulled was that bootleg versions appeared and Prince threw a pink fit and decided not to release it.  Thats one of the stories that was around at the time.

Another one I read is that whilst on ecstasy he heard voices telling him not to release it.  I'll willingly believe any old tripe about Prince.

He's a Jehova's witness now. Imagine Prince turning up at your house in his cuban heels, symbol-shaped guitar slung across his back, clutching a copy of 'The Watchtower'. 'Can eye talk 2 u about religion?' I'd invite him in, as long as he delivered his spiel via the medium of song 'n' dance.

[Fuckwittio]

I thought the reason the album was pulled was that bootleg versions appeared and Prince threw a pink fit and decided not to release it.  Thats one of the stories that was around at the time.

Another one I read is that whilst on ecstasy he heard voices telling him not to release it.  I'll willingly believe any old tripe about Prince.

He's a Jehova's witness now. Imagine Prince turning up at your house in his cuban heels, symbol-shaped guitar slung across his back, clutching a copy of 'The Watchtower'. 'Can eye talk 2 u about religion?' I'd invite him in, as long as he delivered his spiel via the medium of song 'n' dance.

Apparently, an elderly Jewish couple from Minneapolis were surprised to receive a visit from Prince & Rick James last year spreading the word. They were quite nonplussed, but treated the visitors with respect, though they had to tell them they weren't in the least bit interested, being Yiddish and all.
I'd have made a deal with them: I listen, then you play. Even though their best days are behind them (permanently in Rick's case), it'd be a great fucking jam session.

[Malachi Constant]

I'd heard it was Prince and his wife. Where did you get Rick James from? I'm pretty sure he has never been a Jehovah's Witness.

[TraceyQ]

"Golden Boys" by Res is a bloody great song and had a fair amount of TV music station plays before it was pulled just before release. No one seems to know why...

[weirdbeard]

Wasn't 'Purple Paralellogram', a duet between Noel Gallagher and Evan Dando, meant to be on either a Lemonheads or Oasis album/b-side, but was withdrawn because Noel decided it was shite? Or am I barking up the wrong tree and he simply decided it was shite the morning after they wrote it, and it's never actually been recorded at all?
.

It was recorded and got as far as to being issued on promotional copies of that next Lemonheads album but it never appeared on the finished product nor has it been issued since.  Probably because it was total shit.

On a connected topic, there was a track called 'Step Out' which was to be included on Oasis' '(What's The Story) Morning Glory?'  As with the above song, it got as far as to be included on early promotional copies of the album.  Then it was taken off at a late stage.  All because there were a couple of lines which sounded more than similar to a couple of lines "Baby, everything is alright, uptight.  All the time" from Stevie Wonder's 'Everything Is Alright Uptight".  Wonder's laywers found out about the similarity and demaned a stupid amount of royalties from the Oasis album.  Not surprisingly, the track was removed, and later issued as a b-side.

[BetaKarraTene]

Related to the Oasis / Stevie Wonder thing, according to this website original promo copies of Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space contained a good portion of Can't Help Falling In Love in the title track which then had to be hastily removed for the proper release.

The Music have done a few live tracks that aren't anywhere to be seen with the new album or b-sides, most notably two acoustic tracks Middle Of Nowhere and Jigsaw (which I had the pleasure of hearing live). The Strokes had to pull New York City Cops from Is This It for the US release since it came out a few months after 11/9 (It was released the week before 11/9 here). Hope Of The States have a shedload of material that will probably never be released such as the fabled 9 Track Demo.

[Brainwrong]

I heard there was a duet between Liam Howlett and Del Naja of Massive Attack made. Or did that end up on some pron film?

[Silver SurferGhost]

I can only assume you were saving this one for me TJ, and hadn't actually forgotten about it or owt...

Viv Stanshall recorded a version of 'The Trail of the Lonesome Pine' as a *comeback* single in 1975. All ready to go, demo discs pressed. Coincidentally just as the original version by Laurel and Hardy was re-released...so it's been mouldering in the vaults ever since, despite allegedly being rather ace. The nearest it ever got to seeing the light of day was a version recorded for one of Stanshall's many and varied Peel sessions.

There was that time that Paul McCartney had the idea of rewriting If I Had A Hammer for some fuck-awful flag-waving 911 Tribute.

If Maxwell had a Hammer/he'd bang-bang it in the morning/he'd bang-bang it in the evening/all over Joan's head
er, sorry. I wouldn't put it past him, though

...there was a track called 'Step Out' which was to be included on Oasis' '(What's The Story) Morning Glory?'...it was taken off at a late stage.  All because there were a couple of lines which sounded more than similar to a couple of lines "Baby, everything is alright, uptight.  All the time" from Stevie Wonder's 'Everything Is Alright Uptight".

The similarities don't exactly end there though, do they? That said, I actually like Step Out more than Uptight...

Perhaps I should post that in the 'Things you don't want people to know about you' thread
.

[mayer]

Ice-T and Body Count's 'Cop Killer', which was pulled after complaints from politicians and police chiefs

Ice maintains that he withdrew it, not directly because of the pressure/threats he was certainly receiving, but because the song had been available for ages, and that anyone wanting to by the Bodycount LP for that one song was buying it for the wrong reason, i.e. the controversy.

it's certainly true that Ice-T withdrew it, rather than the record company (Time Warner i believe), who supported him and the track.

(all info barely remembered from an article by Ice in The Faber Book of Pop (ed. Haneif Kureshi and Jon Savage).


re Ladies and Gentlemen, i've hosted it before, but for anyone who hasn't heard it....


Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We're Floating In Space (Elvis Mix)

[Fuckwittio]

I'd heard it was Prince and his wife. Where did you get Rick James from? I'm pretty sure he has never been a Jehovah's Witness.

You know, I'm not sure, so I could be mixing up anecdotes, but I'm pretty sure it was in Mojo and I'm pretty sure his name was mentioned, though I concede he would not make a very convincing Jehovah's Witness.

"Have you heard the good news...bitch!"

[Fuckwittio]

re Ladies and Gentlemen, i've hosted it before, but for anyone who hasn't heard it....

I've always loved this version, which I have on a promo copy. Jason Pierce apparently prefers the re-recorded version, and it's an excellent song, but doesn't quite spark as much as the original.

[Brainwrong]

I'd heard it was Prince and his wife. Where did you get Rick James from? I'm pretty sure he has never been a Jehovah's Witness.

You know, I'm not sure, so I could be mixing up anecdotes, but I'm pretty sure it was in Mojo and I'm pretty sure his name was mentioned, though I concede he would not make a very convincing Jehovah's Witness.

"Have you heard the good news...bitch!"

Prince is a Jehovas witness. Thats a fact.

[Fuckwittio]

I'd heard it was Prince and his wife. Where did you get Rick James from? I'm pretty sure he has never been a Jehovah's Witness.

You know, I'm not sure, so I could be mixing up anecdotes, but I'm pretty sure it was in Mojo and I'm pretty sure his name was mentioned, though I concede he would not make a very convincing Jehovah's Witness.

"Have you heard the good news...bitch!"

Prince is a Jehovas witness. Thats a fact.

Yeah, but that was never in question. Was Rick James a Jehovah's Witness, though?

[Spiteface]

There's Pink Floyd's 'Scream Thy Last Scream!' and 'Vegetable Man', both pulled from "A Saucerful Of Secrets" at the last minute, but they've been widely available on bootleg for years. I think the first confirmed sighting was 1971.

Vegetable Man was also a reason why The Jesus and Mary Chain's debut single "Upside Down" sold well. Pink Floyd fans bought it to hear Vegetable Man.

I have both versions on my computer somwhere.

[Brainwrong]

I'd heard it was Prince and his wife. Where did you get Rick James from? I'm pretty sure he has never been a Jehovah's Witness.

You know, I'm not sure, so I could be mixing up anecdotes, but I'm pretty sure it was in Mojo and I'm pretty sure his name was mentioned, though I concede he would not make a very convincing Jehovah's Witness.

"Have you heard the good news...bitch!"

Prince is a Jehovas witness. Thats a fact.

Yeah, but that was never in question. Was Rick James a Jehovah's Witness, though?

Oh right, dunno
sorry

[Ambient Sheep]

re Ladies and Gentlemen, i've hosted it before, but for anyone who hasn't heard it....

Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We're Floating In Space (Elvis Mix)

Arrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh wheresitgonewheresitgonewheresitgonewheresitgonewheresitgone?

Astonishingly - for someone who nearly bought that £70 limited edition 12 x 3" CD of that album - I'd never heard about this, and that's one of my favourite tracks in the whole wide world.  Where could I hear it, I thought?  And then you did me the pleasure...but it's gone already!!

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!

[fanny splendid]

Give me five minutes to finish uploading it, and i'll host it for you to download.

Thanks Mayer, I had not heard that mix before!

Edit: Here you go.

[Ambient Sheep]

Ta muchly!  Am downloading now.

Normally I'd go through "the usual channels" to look for it, but am on software-bereft dial-up laptop at the moment, so it would have been a LOT of hassle.  Thanks again.