ANOTHER POST WITH DEMO VERSIONS

I finished up last week with the opportunity to enjoy and hopefully appreciate some demo versions from The Go-Betweens.  I thought I’d start this week with some from Prefab Sprout.

It all comes courtesy of the b-sides of the 12″ version of Nightingales,  the fourth of what ended up being five singles lifted from the 1988 album, From Langley Park to Memphis.

mp3:  Prefab Sprout – Nightingales (12″ version)

It’s a bit different from the album version in that it’s a couple of minutes longer (extending out to 7:26 all told) and has been remixed.  There are strings and a choir in the mix, along with a harmonica solo courtesy of Stevie Wonder.

It’s maybe the fact that there the A-side is so polished that the B-side was turned over to demos.  Here’s Paddy McAloon‘s sleeve notes:-

“What is a demo?  A demo is Mother Nature’s way of showing fellow Sprouts, managers, producers and Muff Winwood what I get up to when not on tour, and is also a starting point for future records.

My demos come in two sizes: the very rough and the overblown. The first is often no more than a voice and guitar or keyboard along with a one bar drum pattern, leaving everything to the listener’s imagination except the tune and lyric.

The overblown is more complex, not only in sound but in the intentions behind it.  Musically, it’s meant to be a model of the record, all the parts of the arrangement are included, in theory saving you time and money when you go into a studio to make the real McCoy.  All that is then left for you to do is to sing and play it better perhaps using better sounds. And that’s the problem, sometimes you capture a performance or a sound on a demo that you can’t recreate. Sometimes you put too much into it and then have nothing left for the record.

mp3:  Prefab Sprout – Life Of Surprises (24 track)

Life Of Surprises is one of those.  We tried to re-record it but it wasn’t interested.  In fact, it decided for itself that it should go on the Protest Songs album (coming soon). But here’s a sneak preview.

mp3:  Prefab Sprout – King Of Rock’n’Roll (16 track)

I’ve included the King Of Rock’n’Roll home demo to give you some idea of how far a song can change on its way to the shops.

mp3:  Prefab Sprout – Bearpark (4 track)

Bearpark is very rough.  It was my first recording on a 4-track cassette player with a Dr. Rhythm drum machine accompanying me.  I felt like Phil Spector when I’d finished it.  O.K. so the drums are hilarious and the arrangement eccentric, and you may even think you can do better – well, be my guest, I like cover versions. But remember one thing – don’t spend too long on the demos.

PADDY McALOON, November ’88.

Nightingales wasn’t a hit single, only reaching #78.   Worth mentioning that Life Of Surprises would later be issued as a single in 1993, as part of the promotional efforts for a ‘Best Of’ release.  It went all the way to #24……..

JC