What's the origin of these tapes, and what percentage of the content is actually unreleased demos, rather than cassette copies of the final mixes from the studio for promo purposes or for the band to listen to at home? I see the reserve was not met on the auction even though the price got quite high, and now the tapes have been relisted, so there's another chance to own them, and hope that whoever ultimately does decides to share the rare tracks around the fan community online. I'd love to be able to afford to bid myself, but can't commit that kind of money to it at the moment, especially when it's not clear how rare the content really is :(
The tapes originally came from Rough Trade. The description on the Ebay listing goes through which ones are unreleased as opposed to being copies of the standard released versions:
Le Roi Des Formis - FULL DEMO SESSION 3 Tracks - UNRELEASED
Work In Progress - Olympic Studios Rough Mixes and Demos 2 Tracks - 16/7/97 and 18/7/97 - UNRELEASED
Work in Progress - Townhouse Rough Mixes and Demos 9 Tracks - 1/5/97 - UNRELEASED
Razzmatazz - Studio DEMO - Matrix Recording Studios 1 Track - Ed Buller - UNRELEASED
Razzmatazz - 12/1/93 Gift Records Promo
Common People - 21/11/94 Island Promo
Party Hard - Stretch and Vern Remix Island Promo
Common People - Doggy Disco Dub - 7/9/95 Island Promo
John Peel Session - 7/2/93 and Hit The North Session - 17/2/93 - handwritten inlay by Jarvis Cocker himself - with studio quality versions of both sessions - UNRELEASED
Disco 2000 - " 4'33 "
Babies - Promotional cassette with alternate versions of Styloroc, and an unreleased mix of Babies - along with other b-sides.
UNRELEASED
Terry Riley @ the Barbican featuring Pulp act 1 of 2. UNRELEASED
Lipgloss - promotional cassette.
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"Yes I saw her in the chip shop / so I said get yer top off"
Sorry, yes, I eventually saw the info in the eBay listing... I got sidetracked looking at the photos of each of the tapes originally!
Has it been confirmed that all the tracks labelled 'unreleased' actually are?
- The Babies cassette could just be the finished versions - 'original mix' being the 1992 version, and 'new version' being the His 'n' Hers version. 'Stylorol' may just be a typo. Granted, the '(M)' after Sheffield Sex City is interesting - maybe points to an unreleased mix, but it could still be the one we are used to.
- The Ed Buller Razzmatazz cassette may just be the finished version
- The 7/2/93 John Peel session are not unreleased. They're on 'The Peel Sessions' CD, and this version of 'You're A Nightmare' is also on the Lipgloss single.
- 5 of the tracks listed on the 9-track Town House cassette say 'Master' after them, so likely they are the final versions.
I don't mean to be cynical, but if people are willing to pay big bucks for these tapes, we need to be sure!
I can't find any info about what 'Terry Riley @ the Barbican featuring Pulp act 1 of 2' is. I checked the Pulp Wiki pages and couldn't see it mentioned there. Any ideas?
The Babies promo tape - they are finished versions, however the first version of Babies does differ to the one released on the Babies single, and Intro album. There are 2 versions of Styloroc on this cassette, the differences between the mixes are as of yet undetermined, however why include two versions only for them to be the same? As to what the M means at the end of the Sheffield Sex City, I presume it means Master.
Ed Bullers "Razamatazz" - The hand written sleeve comes from the Matrix Studios where it was recorded. Its a demo version.
The "Gift" "Razzmatazz" Is the finished version.
The John Peel session is indeed released HOWEVER the Hit The North was NOT released. Hit The North was broadcast on a very low quality AM radio - this is the actual studio tape from the performance that was ran through the sound desk.
The Town House tape - Yes the songs state they are masters HOWEVER - three of them ARE as their final versions, and the other two are unfinished versions. This is particularly notable with Im A Man, Seductive Barry and Party Hard.
The Terry Riley tape I have no idea about, I think Sturdy may have a little info about that?
I wonder if the different version of Babies is the one from the O.U. sessions at FON Studios. The typed inlay card doesn't mention there being two versions of 'Styloroc' on the cassette. Maybe one is the standard version and the other is the one from the Island Demo? Regarding the Ed Buller Razzmatazz tape, my error, I didn't realise he only worked on an earlier version of the track.
In terms of the John Peel tape and the Town House tape, maybe the listing should be updated with the extra info. It currently makes it seem like both of those tapes only contain unreleased material, rather than making it clear that some tracks are the same as commercially released versions.
Looking forward to finding out more about the Terry Riley tape. That's the really intriguing one for me in this batch. It's really exciting that there are still new things to discover about Pulp!
-- Edited by sbazb on Friday 16th of April 2021 11:21:01 PM
No, the version of Babies in question is a finished mix - and its very close to both released versions. The Fon version you mention is a very rough version of Babies with unfinished lyrics and just a really rough early version and is 100 percent not the same as the auction tape.
Styloroc is the same as the single release on Babies, there is literally no difference in the two versions on the tape - not that I can hear anyhow.
Thanks again, Scott. I hope we all get to hear these tapes one day. I replied to a thread last week started by someone who was interested in working on a proper Pulp retrospective boxset, and has experience doing similar releases with other bands. That thread has gone quiet though. A proper boxset would be a good home for these alternative versions and demos, and of course older rare tracks (80s demo tapes etc.). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the boxset idea gets backing from the band, record labels and they get the fans who have encyclopedic knowledge about all the unreleased stuff involved, to make it the best it can be. I can't help thinking that the idea will just become a re-release of all the stuff we already have though, because the record companies won't have the confidence to put time and money into compiling a rarities boxset. It might have worked back in 2011/12 when the band were touring again, but now...?
The Terry Riley one is an odd one in that it doesn't actually feature Pulp at all. They played a gig with him in 1998 where he played solo then they joined him for a rendition of 'In C'. It appears this is tape 1 of a 2 tape set, and just has his solo bits
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"Yes I saw her in the chip shop / so I said get yer top off"
Thanks for the info Sturdy. That's a shame. I was hoping it was an obscure live set that Pulp did as a band that hadn't made it to the lists on Pulp Wiki yet. Oh well...
