I think So Like Candy & Playboy to a man are good enough to be dropped into the running order with the official 13 songs. Maybe add a little echo or verb, EQ a bit. Personally I added them & dropped Oui Est Soilel, How Many People.
(I was looking for the right FitD thread to bump... and there's so many!) I'm a massive cheapskate and just streamed the 2017 rerelease, thinking I was happy enough with hi-fi versions of the beloved McCartney/MacManus demos... but the 1988 studio demos just got added to the version that's on Spotify, and this is my first time hearing them. WOW. I am thoroughly baffled as to why this wasn't working for them. It absolutely wipes the floor with the released record (IMO), and if fleshed out with some fitting tunes on Spike ("...This Town", "Tramp the Dirt Down", "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror", "Veronica", "Pads, Paws and Claws") and maybe an extra Macca leftover ("We Got Married", or - WHY NOT - "Lindiana"), this would've been top-tier for both of them, no question. And the production... if they'd hauled in Nick Lowe instead of Trevor Horn*, it'd have aged so much better. *Disclaimer: I love Trevor Horn and wish Macca had committed to an entire ZTT-style record, going full-on "Art of Noise"... but not with MacManus in the room.
Yeah, Macca backed out of this "duet" idea, we'll never know what could have happened...although at the end of the day he hasn't done too badly in terms of "fame", artistically ? Well who's to say ! We have to remember that in 1987 he was coming out of some really bad years and projects, PoP, Give my Regards, P2P, it really did NOT look good for him and that seemed like they could "threaten him", in hindsight of course, anything could have worked ;-)
I heard somewhere that the idea was for a 4 sided album with Paul, Neil Finn, etc. around 1988 that never took off. That would have been interesting.
I keep meaning to put together something that collects all of the McCartney/Costello material to see what a release featuring them both would have been like. I'm sure people have done this. Anyone out there would like to share suggestions for a coherent playlist?
Glad to see another fan discovering these tracks! Calling them "demos" is imo a euphemism for "abandoned album", as they are essentially finished studio masters. And you're right that they're absolutely essential for fans of both artists.
While I would have loved a Macca/Finn collaboration, I've never heard of that rumor. Crowded House was so relatively new at that point.
I don’t know if it was here or the official macca board. I don’t think it was just made up, though never can tell. Either way it sounded like a wouldn’t that be great project that never got beyond the initial “who would take each side “ stage. My recollection is 4 artists, 2 lps, each would get one side. Paul and Neil could still do this but it might not be “commercial “ enough. Then again what does Paul have left to prove?
Just a pain - downloading stuff. Wish all those tracks were on discs. I buy cds so I can “pop em in” & play. I buy records to stick on tt and play. Every time I go to download ....I feel like I’m at work. Oh well. Thanks for the info & reminding me I have to do this by 2020.
How do the Costello demos sound on the vinyl? That would be my primary reason for me to get this too.
Was playing and looking through the deluxe edition again yesterday. Some random observations. 1. The Elvis demos were a pleasure to hear once again. Such a shame that there were no other collaborations. 2. Enjoyed the Put It There documentary. It seems to get some rough press occasionally, and some of the video effects are distracting, but on the whole some great performance footage. 3. Looking at the photos in the book, it occurred to me that is this the only time where George Martin had longer hair than Paul, albeit perhaps receding a little at the front! 4. The download only items still really grates. They could easily have fitted in an extra disc (probably two) to incorporate this material and I am sure much more in the way of additional material. Even just watching Put It There revealed that there was a lot more that could have been included. 5. Paul was in great voice. 6. It was undoubtedly a good album. It is good to be able to return to these sets periodically. It does give a good overview of various albums and there are always little things that reveal themselves on a further revisit.
Speaking of downloads - has anyone had any luck redownloading the hi-res files? I moved mine to a USB stick which has somehow corrupted.
Why? This set is still available to buy new at Amazon, so I just wanted to know if I would be able to get the downloads before I bought it.