The Things
1985-xx-xx Los Angeles(?), California "Outside My Window" album demos & session outtakes (M?-ST)

01. I've Been Nowhere (mix 1)
02. Under Her Spell
03. Look What You're Doing (*)
04. You Can't Deliver
05. Love Is Gone (*)
06. Something Is Going Wrong (#) (mix #1)
07. I Won't Forgive Her (#)
08. I Know I'm Going Home (#)
09. There's No Time (#)
10. Sure Not Cryin' (#)
11. Young & Wild
12. Sidewalk Lover
13. When She Smiles (#)
14. No One Knows What We Understand (#)
16. I Sit & Wonder Why (#)
17. Something Is Going Wrong (#) (mix #2)
18. I've Been Nowhere (mix 2)
19. Age of Aquarius

Total Time ::: 1:26:52

::: Very fine to excellent quality with cassette generations. Check samples to assess & decide, sample the group, or get a touch of anticipatory hallucinogenic bliss.
::: From several different studio sessions, no further date information was given.
::: Warts: Cleaned up a splice at about 80 minutes & a few seconds are missing, not sure what song. Pitched playback rough due to multiple sessions but it's very close & much better than it was! Probably I missed a few dropouts. There is a bit of bass guitar & bass drum distortion at times from the original recordings. Overall, a delight.
::: (#) are unconfirmed song titles. Help would be great! No songlist came with my tape.
::: Tracks 1,3,4,5,10,18 are demos and/or alternate takes for "Outside My Window" (their 2nd album).
::: Tracks 2,12 are early demo or outtake versions recorded circa "Outside My Window" & were later re-recorded for "The Things" self-titled 3rd album.
::: All other tracks are unreleased demos & outtakes circa "Outside My Window".
::: (*) "Look What You're Doing" is a very similar arrangement to "Outside My Window", but all instruments & vocal trax are from a different take or session. Likewise, "Love Is Gone" is also sometimes simmilar to the album, but a faster version with the same pitch, so it's NOT a speeded up tape & is different than the released version. ALL tracks were carefully compared to all 3 albums to be sure they were not the same.
::: Thanks to Zongo for doublecheckin' the final few songs to be sure they were not the same as the album versions.
::: Thanks to Greg Shaw of Bomp/Voxx Records for making the world a better musical place in the 1980s. R.I.P. ("rock in peace").

Recording Information ::: studio master reels -> band's copies (probably cassettes) -> demo cassette compilation for Voxx, Dolby off -> cassette, Dolby off -> Maxell XLII-90 cassette, Dolby B on.

Playback 2011-07-xx ::: unknown generation Maxell XLII-90 cassette on Nakamichi BX-300 cassette deck, Dolby B on, azimuth & pitch adjusted, heads cleaned & demagnatized -> Tascam CD-RW900SL pro CD recorder -> CD-RW -> computer, EAC secure -> wavs -> Audacity (fades &/or glitches, dropouts, volume adjustments, no EQ) -> CD Wave (track splits) -> Trader's Little Helper -> yer ears. First uploaded week of 2012-03-31.

Line-up (unconfirmed) ::: Steve Crabtree - guitar, keyboards, vocals // Larry Klein - guitar, vocals // Bob Wier - bass, vocals // Roy McDonald - drums, percussion.

Nothing here ever commercially released to my knowledge. If I'm wrong, please advise & I'll take the offending trax offline.

CoolSonics 136 ::: Thanks to the original taper & traders! ::: Corrections welcome ::: This band had an incredible mix of genre's all bent into an era already long gone by the time they came around. They were my favourite 80s bands on Voxx Records, a label which promoted MANY fine bands. The first 2 records were in regular rotation in my house & this was one of my most played unreleased neo-psych cassettes in the era (& suffers for it a bit, sorry). It was great for driving around in the car. If someone can upgrade these, please do! It's a very pleasurable listen indeed. Well-crafted, timeless, instantly familiar songs with a clear sixties-bent almost perfect mix of psychedelia, garage affect & pop sensibility that hailed from the Byrds, Beatles, Love & many others of the same vintage. At times it sounds somewhat like Rain Parade. Great multi-part vocal harmonies, layered effects, jangly sounds & tripped out dual guitars. The guys were definitely tapped into the vein. If you are into the genre, both "Outside My Window" & "Coloured Heaven" are albums well worth seeking out if you still take the vinyl trip. Unfortunately, they've never made it into the CD world to my knowledge. As Zongo so observed, the demos are cool, but the album versions often supercede them in intensity. Rock on. (P.S. Do NOT let their choice for a song to cover at the end of these demos throw you off as it has little to do with the rest of their scene, it's harmless & admittedly a bit of a throwaway compared to the finery of the rest of the selections.).

Kudos to Zongo for life support, Lochner for mikes&more & Fast Freddie for runnin' Video Dick's Record Emporium with the bathroom office full of tape decks. Thanks to Hanwaker (few among us can keep his pace). Mountains of gratitude to Davmar, D.White, Sanchez, Elliot, The Florida Kid, Kloiber, Zingg, JTW, Bershaw, Boston Gold, Weeks, Dixon, Moore, Gough & SO many more for all that collecting & sharing... Royal thanks to The Man In The Palace, Doc Tinker, Brinkhoffs, Barely Eatin', Reel Master Gaule, Parrish & all the traders who housed me thru my music acquisition & travel years. Hats off to Brother Kent, Uncle Jake, Little Queenie (& her neighbor Frank) & his honor Ptomaine Thomas. Glasses raised to Byron for musical horizon expansion & much obliged to J & Thurston for keepin' my concert fires burnin' since my continental shift. Thanks to the Mods for keepin' DIME alive. Enjoy, share, give, spread peace. Yers truly, Knees

Do whatever you want with it except sell it, 'cause that ain't cool!