Re: (TV) The Lost Album - the known details

["Philip P. Obbard" <pobbard@yahoo.com>]

Most of what I know has been said here before, and the most 'complete' account
of the "lost album" comes from Clinton Heylin, in the (admittedly dreary) liner
notes for THE MILLERS TALE compilation. And it's not very detailed, besides.

Anyhow, here it is: Apparently, Verlaine and producer Dave Bascombe recorded at
least an LP worth of material in 1986 in London, but it was rejected by
Fontana. (Whether Fontana rejected a 'finished', sequenced LP is unknown - no
prospective track listing or LP title has ever come to light). Minus Bascombe,
Verlaine returned to the studio and recorded FLASH LIGHT instead, although he
did retain "The Scientist Writes a Letter" from the Bascombe sessions.

Fontana subsequently released 9 tracks from the "lost" album as b-sides for
material from FLASH LIGHT and THE WONDER (and one track, "Anna", on a various
artists' compilation). Those tracks are:

Sixteen Tulips
Circling
Smoother Than Jones
The Scientist Writes a Letter (Paris Version)
Vanity Fair
Call Me The
One Time At Sundown (The London 1986 Version)
Anna
Caveman-Flashlight

Whether these are *all* the tracks recorded for the 1986 LP is unknown, but it
seems unlikely. First, we know there were two versions of "The Scientist Writes
A Letter" since a slightly different one showed-up on FLASH LIGHT! Second,
while the total running time of the 9 tracks I named is 38 minutes, the
production of the tracks varies quite a bit - for example, "Call Me The" and
"Sixteen Tulips" both have a sheen that is absent from "One Time At Sundown
(The London 1986 Version)" or "Circling" or "Smoother Than Jones". Third, I
have it on some authority that at least one more song was recorded during these
sessions that did *not* make it to either a b-side or get re-recorded for
FLASHLIGHT. 

Similarly, not all of the 9 b-sides I named above are clear on who produced
them or when, so it's possible I might be making some bad assumptions. For
example, given its sonic quality, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that "One
Time At Sundown (London 1986 Version)" was never intended as more than a demo,
rather than a track for the 'lost' LP. Essentially, it isn't clear whether some
of the Fontana b-sides are actually from the 'lost' 1986 LP, or if they might
just be outtakes from the FLASH LIGHT sessions, or tracks recorded *after*
FLASH LIGHT was completed. Then again, Verlaine has rarely been one to release
outtakes or demos as b-sides - the most he has done is to release an occasional
alternate mix ("Ain't That Nothin'", "The Blue Robe", "Always") or an
instrumental version of an LP track. (Exceptions: "Your Finest Hour", and I
think "Lindi-Lu" was only released as a b-side in the UK, but it was on COVER
in the US).

Here's a final piece of information. In the text of QUOTE / UNQUOTE, the
Verlaine promo booklet released to promote FLASH LIGHT, John Angus notes that
Verlaine "recently recorded a batch of songs which may emerge as a mini-album
in the near future" (paraphrasing), and he mentions "Anna" as being among
these. Does this mean "Anna" and unnamed other tracks were never intended for
anything *other* than this "mini-album"? Or was Verlaine trying to salvage the
1986 sessions with this proposed mini-album instead? Or is Angus misinformed?

For all we know, some or much of the "lost" 1986 LP remains in the vaults,
unreleased. It's quite possible that Fontana only used the lesser material
(like "Circling" or the alternate "One Time At Sundown") for the b-sides, and
that Verlaine either re-recorded much of the 1986 sessions for use on FLASH
LIGHT or THE WONDER or else holds much of it in reserve to this day. 

It's even possible that Verlaine & Bascombe *did* get as far as finalizing a
track listing and LP title in 1986, and if so, I'd love to know what it was!

Anyhow, that's about everything I know. I realize it leaves a lot of questions
unanswered - so maybe someone on the list could pass this on to Tom himself
someday... ?

--Philip

--- Andy Ferguson <afne04343@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
> So what's the story on that album , then ?
> I've heard it mentioned a lot but rarely got the bare bones of the story -
> why it got lost etc .


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail!
http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/
--------------
To post: Mail tv@obbard.com
To unsubscribe: Mail majordomo@obbard.com with message "unsubscribe tv"