Yep Roc is recirculating their limited-edition RSD vinyl release The Bootleg Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw on October 23.
Here's the scoop:
Originally released by Yep Roc on brown vinyl for Record Store Day back in April, the 15-track Marshall Crenshaw archival compilation, The Bootleg Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw: 1984-1987, is being re-released by Yep on black vinyl on October 23rd.
Marshall dug through his vast archives and assembled a collection of previously unreleased recordings, demos and live songs, including a cover of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day,” featuring Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg, "The Blues Is King" recorded with Let's Active's Faye Hunter and Mitch Easter, and a Marshall-ized update of an overlooked Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps gem "Right Now,"
One particularly cool artifact included here is a demo snippet featuring vocals by Kirsty McColl. Marshall had been working on a demo for the song, “(We’re Gonna) Shake Up Their Minds,” but had hit a block in writing it. According to Marshall, “ At one point when I was struggling to write it, I sent the backing tracks to Kirsty MacColl to see what might happen. She wrote her own song (‘All I Ever Wanted’) over the tracks; it wound up on one of her albums (and a UK single too, but not one of her hits unfortunately). I’m presenting this the way I found it on the tape reel- my demo, followed by the last bit of her demo, which I accidentally recorded over.
The Bootleg Sounds LP provides a rare glimpse into an artist’s songwriting and recording process, as well as featuring some very fine recordings finally seeing the light of day.
The limited edition Record Store Day 2026 LP only release is now available on CD, and back in print, this time on black vinyl. Get a copy of The Bootleg Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw: 1984-1987 is available for pre-order via Bandcamp right hereor use Marshall's own pre-orderlink. Just don't waste your time trying to get it fromYep Roc, they haven't updated their site in months. Check out the track list followed by an interview with Marshall along with a couple of live clips from a 1985 performance at The Ritz in New York below.
The Bootleg Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw: 1984-1987
R.E.M. is re-releasing their 1981 debut single recorded in the Winston-Salem garage of Mitch Easter's parents.
Here's the scoop...
For the first time in 40 years, rock icons R.E.M. are reissuing their foundational, debut single “Radio Free Europe,” first released in 1981. While many fans know the 1983 version of the song, which appeared on the band’s first studio album Murmur, only a lucky few have heard this version, which marks one of R.E.M.’s earliest recordings. Due for release July 23rd via Craft Recordings, and available to pre-order today, Radio Free Europe (Original Hib-Tone Single) will be presented in its original format: as a 45-RPM single, housed in a jacket featuring photography by Michael Stipe. In an homage to the band’s hometown, the single was pressed in Athens, GA at Kindercore Vinyl.
In addition to the 7” single, R.E.M.’s 1981 demonstration tape—titled Cassette Set—is also being made available for the first time. This ultra-rare collection will be available exclusively via the official R.E.M. store as a bundle with the 7”, limited to 1,500 copies worldwide. The Cassette Set tape—also releasing July 23— will replicate the original packaging, which was self-assembled by the band, using photocopied cardstock for the J-card inlays and handwritten cassette labels by Stipe.
In 1979, singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry were students at the University of Georgia, in the vibrant college town of Athens. Buck worked at Wuxtry Records—a local record store that Stipe frequented. The two young men quickly bonded over their shared love of proto-punk bands like the Velvet Underground and Television. Roommates Mills and Berry, meanwhile, met in high school and had already played in several bands together in their hometown of Macon.
That fall, the four young men met through a mutual friend, Kathleen O’Brien, and began casually playing music together. Several months later, O’Brien was organizing a concert/ birthday party and invited Stipe, Buck, Mills, and Berry to open the show. The group played a loose set of covers and original songs to more than three hundred people. Needless to say, it was a success.
Within a few months, they built a following in the local scene. By early 1981, they had a fanbase that expanded beyond the confines of Athens. That spring, the band were connected with singer, songwriter, and producer Mitch Easter (later of Let’s Active), who booked the band for a session at his Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, NC.
On April 15th, set up in Easter’s parents’ converted garage, R.E.M. recorded three songs: “Sitting Still,” “White Tornado,” and “Radio Free Europe.” The resulting tracks were copied to several-hundred self-produced cassette tapes—approximately 400 copies—and distributed to clubs, journalists and labels. The collection, titled Cassette Set, included a few playful additions; “Sitting Still” was prefaced by a few seconds of a high tempo run through of the song done in Polka-style; “White Tornado” was followed by an aborted “White Tornado” take where Buck blunders, the song grinds to a halt, and Buck is heard apologizing before Easter’s voice appears. This Cassette Set was the only place to get the very original Easter mixes of “Sitting Still” and “Radio Free Europe.” Outside of the copies originally produced, this early demonstration tape collection has never-before been reissued—until now.
A copy of the tape also made its way to Jonny Hibbert, who owned the Atlanta-based indie label, Hib-Tone. Impressed, Hibbert offered to put out the band’s first single. On May 24, the band returned to the studio and laid down some overdubs onto “Radio Free Europe” and Hibbert mixed both “Radio Free Europe” and “Sitting Still” the next day.
While the band preferred Easter’s original mix of the song, Hibbert chose his own mix for the 7-inch single, which featured “Sitting Still” as the B-side. An initial pressing of 1,000 was released in July 1981, with 600 copies designated for promotional use. Later, an additional 6,000 copies were issued, due to popular demand (and for practical reasons, as the first pressing inadvertently omitted contact info for the band.)
Despite mishaps along the way, the release of the “Radio Free Europe” single earned the band critical acclaim and an offer from I.R.S. Records. Under the new label, a more experienced R.E.M. re-recorded “Radio Free Europe.” The new version—which featured a slower tempo than its predecessor and slightly revised lyrics—was released as the band’s first official single with I.R.S., and appeared on their 1983 debut, Murmur.
The single garnered the band their first chart success, peaking at No.78 on the Billboard Hot 100, and helped to propel Murmur up the album charts, where it landed at No.36. Decades later, the song was regarded by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, while in 2010, “Radio Free Europe” was added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry—noted for having paved the way for subsequent indie rock acts “by breaking through on college radio in the face of mainstream radio’s general indifference.”
Despite the breakthrough success of that 1983 recording, R.E.M. has long stated that the rougher, Hib-Tone version of “Radio Free Europe” is the superior recording. And, while eagle-eyed fans may note that the single was listed as a track on R.E.M.’s 1988 compilation, Eponymous, and then on 2006’s I.R.S. years compilation (And I Feel Fine…The Best of The I.R.S. Years 1982-1987), the version that was labeled “Original Hib-Tone single” was, in fact, Easter’s original mix, not Hibbert’s. That formative pressing, however, has remained a sought-after rarity for four decades—and is available again for the first time here.
Have a listen to R.E.M.'s original Hib-Tone version of their "Radio Free Europe" single and the Cassette Set version of "White Tornado". Check the links section below for an interview with Mitch Easter.
The Velvet Crush's co-founder Ric Menck just posted on Facebook about Omnivore's plans to re-release the demos they cut for the group's classic 1994 album, Teenage Symphonies To God which have previously appeared on the Melody Freaks collection in 2002. Interestingly enough, Ric didn't mention anything about a vinyl issue and neither does Omnivore's press release which follows:
"Yes, it's true. There's a new Velvet Crush release coming soon! It's called Pre-Teen Symphonies, and it will be available through the fine folks at Omnivore Records!! It collects the demos we recorded for Teenage Symphonies To God, as well as a live show recorded in Chicago by the WXRT mobile unit.
"This stuff has been out before, but never in one place, and it has never sounded this good (totally remastered from original tapes!). I wrote the liner notes, and the cover of the CD features some really cool never before seen photos. It's been ages since there's been any new "product" by VC on the market, so I'm kinda excited about this! I'm really glad it's coming out on Omnivore, too, because they've been putting out some fantastic records for quite a few years now!"
Here's the Omnivore press release...
SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. — When Rhode Island’s Velvet Crush appeared on
the scene in the early 1990s, they were obviously a force to reckon
with. Signing with England’s Creation Records (Oasis, My Bloody
Valentine, Teenage Fanclub), they released their debut LP in 1991. But,
it was 1994’s Teenage Symphonies To God (the title being a play on Brian Wilson’s description of what would become SMiLE)
on Sony 550 Music that put them on the map. Co-produced by the
legendary Mitch Easter, it opened America’s eyes to what those over the
pond were so wild about.
But, what was the genesis of that record? We can now find out with Pre-Teen Symphonies,
a collection of 16 previously unissued tracks from Velvet Crush: eight
demos (including one for the classic single “Hold Me Up”) and eight
tracks recorded live in 1995 at Cabaret Metro in Chicago. The set,
available on CD and Digital, will be released July 22, 2016.
As the band—fronted by Paul Chastian (bass, guitar and vocals) and
Ric Menck (drums) with Jeffrey Underhill (guitar)—proved the past was
the future by taking elements from classic ’60s melodies, ’70s power
pop, and ’80s reinvention, Pre-Teen Symphonies is a unique look into the development of a classic, and the live power that drove it.
Menck writes in the liners: “It’s probably no exaggeration to make the claim that Teenage Symphonies To God was the pinnacle of our illustrious career as a band. It’s certainly the album by Velvet Crush that most people know. Pre-Teen Symphonies
collects all the loose ends, and hopefully, helps to usher in a new
chapter for the little band that could from Providence, Rhode Island.”
Pre-Teen Symphonies CD/Digital Track List:
1. Hold Me Up
2. My Blank Pages
3. Time Wraps Around You
4. Not Standing Down
5. Turn Down
6. This Life Is Killing Me
7. Weird Summer
8. Star Trip Live At Cabaret Metro, Chicago:
9. Window to the World
10. My Blank Pages
11. Ash and Earth
12. Time Wraps Around You
