(SPECIAL EXTRA-LONG, STUFF-YOU-CAN'T-BUY EPISODE!) First up, a barely released version of
The Reverend Horton Heat's great song "Party Mad" from a 1990 local music collection called Tales from the Edge Vol. 1. This CD was released by one of the very first "alternative" format radio stations in the country, the original EDGE which was later bought by Clear Channel and chained all over the country. Still in it's infancy in 1990, 94.5 The Edge was truly "The Cutting Edge of Rock" (
read an article featuring the creator of both the station of the Tales from the Edge series). A notably worse, but still decent version of "Party Mad" was released a full 14 years later on their 2004 album
Revival (
iTunes). Next was the bootleg version of
Coldplay's "Trouble" which made it's way into the rotation of many radio stations in 2000 much to the chagrin of the band. Radio station's largely acquiesced to the wishes of the band, and the song was never heard from again, nor was it's remixer. After that
The Concretes did "Teen Love" from their first, not-so-released (in the U.S. anyway), and now out-of-print album
Boy, You Better Run Now. Then another anonymous mashup from the seedy underbelly of the internet,
Björk vs.
The Supremes with "Isobel (The Supremes Mix)" or sometimes referred to as "The Old School Mix", this song has obviously never been released. After that,
Bob Peck did "Sweet 16" from the
RE/Search collection's
Incredibly Strange Music Vol. 1 (which is perhaps the
most purchasable thing in this episode). Then
Sounds in My Head favorite
They Might Be Giants did "Your Racist Friend (The Sampladelic Remix)" from the 12"
Don't Let's Start single from 1990. The un-remixed verion can be found on their landmark album
Flood (
iTunes). Then
Davíd Garza (from his early days as
Twang Twang Shocka Boom) did "Always Give Your Love Away" from the cassette-only, 1990
Me So Twangy. And finally
R.E.M. did "Shiny Happy People (The Pop Mix)" from a radio promo from 1991.
No, it's not an email hoax, NPR and PBS really are in jeopardy! If you haven't, PLEASE go sign the petition to let congress know that you don't want public broadcasting destroyed just because the Bush administration cut taxes for billionaires and thus destroyed the federal budget.