2nd Album Demos Playback Event: 27 April 18.00 (CET)

[MAndrews]

As part of the fund-raising for "Paint My Name ..." I will host a Meet The Author event in the Brussels area at the time and on the date given in the Subject of this post.

All proceeds go to the book. All money raised will be pledged 'live' by me during the event.

There will be parking at the venue and it can be reached by public transport - the end of the 44 Tram line.

As well as the opportunity to discuss my research with me, we will play the bootleg of the Sisters first ever Brussels concert and discuss the gig and The Sisters infamous 'arrest'. If you haven't heard the demo, it's one for real connoisseurs of Craig's bass!

And ...

We will also play the instrumental 'home demos' made by Wayne for the 2nd album. These are the ones Andrew turned down in Hamburg. Other than one track, these are not widely known at all. In fact, except for a few people these have remained secret for 34+ years. This playback is with Wayne's permission. Copies WILL NOT be shared. There are 9 and a half songs.

Bootleg + demos will last about 90 minutes.

There will then be the option of a curry buffet at a restaurant down the road and of going on into central Brussels to have a drink and visit the site of the Brussels concert and Philippe Carly's famous photos.

30 is the maximum number that can attend, even though it could just end up being me and Bruno B having a 'pintje', a listen and a chat. We shall see ...

(I hope also to do a similar event in late May in the Leeds area)

My question to you as fans - regardless of whether you might come or not - is this:

1. Bearing in mind that this is fund-raising, as well as an opportunity for Sisters fans to connect and hear some very rare music, what is a reasonable price to ask (in €)?

The aim is to do something fun, something that supports the book financially and doesn't offend by a high 'ticket price' - actually a bank transfer to me in advance.

When this is settled, I will post the full details.[/b]

[Swinnow]

Good thinking, would be up for the Leeds version

[Being645]

A good idea. I might even come over to Brussels to attend this lovely event ... ... A reasonable price? Something around the cost of a Sisters gig ...

[eastmidswhizzkid]

We will also play the instrumental 'home demos' made by Wayne for the 2nd album. These are the ones Andrew turned down in Hamburg. Other than one track, these are not widely known at all. In fact, except for a few people these have remained secret for 34+ years. This playback is with Wayne's permission. Copies WILL NOT be shared.

these days even the most anal of collectors often have to come to terms with semi-mythical recordings they have carefully hidden away like Voldemort's horcruxes finally seeing the light of day, as more and more of the fan community are into sharing things for the greater good. trades where some kind of masonic oath has been involved to keep the rare preciouses for the 'elite' and out of the hands of the proles have seen less cuntish fans sharing them anyway.
if these demos are played then there WILL be recordings made of them. inferior, pocket recorder sourced recordings that will make into the public arena and could potentially sully the source purity of the originals. Better to share copies i'd have thought. ...
Or you could NOT play them and simply lord it over the faithful -your pledge funders, your employers effectively.
a shame Wayne doesnt do something positive with them like Gary Marx did with 1995 And Nowhere.

[Gaijin]

Sad for the rest of us that are geographically challenged.

I'll get a Nando's and listen to GOM then.

[MAndrews]

We will also play the instrumental 'home demos' made by Wayne for the 2nd album. These are the ones Andrew turned down in Hamburg. Other than one track, these are not widely known at all. In fact, except for a few people these have remained secret for 34+ years. This playback is with Wayne's permission. Copies WILL NOT be shared.

these days even the most anal of collectors often have to come to terms with semi-mythical recordings they have carefully hidden away like Voldemort's horcruxes finally seeing the light of day, as more and more of the fan community are into sharing things for the greater good. trades where some kind of masonic oath has been involved to keep the rare preciouses for the 'elite' and out of the hands of the proles have seen less cuntish fans sharing them anyway.
if these demos are played then there WILL be recordings made of them. inferior, pocket recorder sourced recordings that will make into the public arena and could potentially sully the source purity of the originals. Better to share copies i'd have thought. ...
Or you could NOT play them and simply lord it over the faithful -your pledge funders, your employers effectively.
a shame Wayne doesnt do something positive with them like Gary Marx did with 1995 And Nowhere.

They are not mine to share. They are Wayne's and it would be a major breach of trust for me to share them. And for someone to record them knowing that, I would have thought, especially since Wayne's being a good sport allowing them to be played at all. I actually would be shocked if someone came to the event with that intention. If I thought that, I wouldn't be doing the events. It's very possible that he will do something with the demos in the future, so for now this event (and hopefully one in Leeds) is for some fans to enjoy themselves and support the book - listen to some music, have a bite and a chat. That's my intention.

[Swinnow]

Hat off to La Huss then. Hopefully see him.in Leeds before the year is out. Wonder how his book is going on as well, did he save some of the stories????

[mh]

I don't really have a strong opinion on these either way.

As a Sisters fan they're probably almost as important a document of that era as the This Corrosion demos, but unlike the latter, these songs obviously never did make it to a Sisters release and therefore don't offer a different or interesting perspective on an otherwise more well-known number. At least so far as the Sisters are concerned.

If you were or are a Mission fan I guess the story might be different, but they're just rough instrumental versions of material that eventually made it to the first few Mission releases, aren't they? In other words, similar to what we've already heard on the Serpent's Kiss demo? The assumption that there's actually no hidden gems in there certainly seems reasonable.

So while it would certainly be nice to hear them, it's not really going to break my heart if I never do. I'd actually even settle for descriptions, I guess.

[MAndrews]

I don't really have a strong opinion on these either way.

As a Sisters fan they're probably almost as important a document of that era as the This Corrosion demos, but unlike the latter, these songs obviously never did make it to a Sisters release and therefore don't offer a different or interesting perspective on an otherwise more well-known number. At least so far as the Sisters are concerned.

If you were or are a Mission fan I guess the story might be different, but they're just rough instrumental versions of material that eventually made it to the first few Mission releases, aren't they? In other words, similar to what we've already heard on the Serpent's Kiss demo? The assumption that there's actually no hidden gems in there certainly seems reasonable.

So while it would certainly be nice to hear them, it's not really going to break my heart if I never do. I'd actually even settle for descriptions, I guess.

Yes, they are all clearly future Mish songs. Very clearly so. Here's a variant of something I wrote in the 8085 FB Group today:

"Hearing them lo-fi and instrumental and with a drum machine makes it easier to imagine them as Sisters songs. Wayne did intend them as Sisters songs with Andrew singing. There's no evidence he had lyrics or wanted to sing these songs at this stage they were made - late '84 into mid '85. The only lyrics I'm aware of are GoD - not in these demos. If we think of 'Floodland' as a post-split third album, then the FALAA formula - Marx and Hussey music/Eldritch words - would have made a really, really good second album, out in 1986. With the exception of 'Marian', there's a case to be made that in the 9 and a half demos, Wayne - overall - wrote 5 better songs for Album No.2 than for FALAA ..."

I was surprised to conclude that. There's a version of "Sacrilege" that's really tantalising. Very easy to imagine it as a Sisters song. This also surprised me. I saw The Mish as The Sisterhood in Birmingham in 1986 and was immediately struck how utterly un-Sisters they were. Perhaps it's because I don't actually know the early Mish records that well, but I think of these Wayne demos as Sisters demos, not Mish demos. I think they show Wayne in a good light.

[Swinnow]

I know I might need to.duck in this audience....

Those of us from an olde heavy rock audience that fell for The Sisters through their obvious Doors/Zep/Hawkwind influences were quite happy when The m*****n/Sisterhood took that rock influence up a notch. I/We still saw/bought both bands as the years went by. Ghost Dance too

[Being645]

Has anything become of this so far?

[MAndrews]

Has anything become of this so far?

It's definitely on. Booked a venue. Time and date as stated. More info to come next week.

[Being645]

Has anything become of this so far?

It's definitely on. Booked a venue. Time and date as stated. More info to come next week.

Good ... .... should be nice to listen to these demos thinking about how much they might have fitted in with the spirit of say Flood I ... ...

Also a gesture of goodwill and support from Wayne to make them available to you/us for this event, which should not remain without mention.
It were such a pity if your book didn't make it to release ... nonetheless, I would have loved it to reach much further than the ever same sad and glory of the early 1980s.
The second half of the 80s was so georgeous, even without any live gigs ... all that derived from the Sisterhood stuff and the cooperation with Patricia and the collaboration with James Ray and others. Eldritchs excursions into other fields of music and his work with other musicians, also along Merciful Release. Not only for that, the decades after 1985 are somewhat more interesting than the ever old myths about Wayne and Craig and Gary and Ben (however much I appreciate them). What happened after the Overbombing Tour, the end of UTR, and then Glasperlensiel, what about Adam, Chris (Sheehan) and Mike, why no more keyboards and background singers, how did they manage to return in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 ... and the 2000s ...all this hell with the record companies and no, no, no, no record-contract or self-release, the departure of Adam (hell) and the following Silver Bullet Tour with the arrival of the "new" (current) line-up ... there's such a hell lot more to tell ... but no. It's always the same ... ...

Still I'm looking forward with pleasure to your book as it is so far ... and if I can afford what you expect as a fundraiser contribution, I shall come to Brussels and give those old demos a listen ... ...
(except I should not be welcome ... in that case, just PM me. I don't mind not coming then and let you have your party, just like on FB.)

[MAndrews]

Has anything become of this so far?

It's definitely on. Booked a venue. Time and date as stated. More info to come next week.

Good ... .... should be nice to listen to these demos thinking about how much they might have fitted in with the spirit of say Flood I ... ...

Also a gesture of goodwill and support from Wayne to make them available to you/us for this event, which should not remain without mention.
It were such a pity if your book didn't make it to release ... nonetheless, I would have loved it to reach much further than the ever same sad and glory of the early 1980s.
The second half of the 80s was so georgeous, even without any live gigs ... all that derived from the Sisterhood stuff and the cooperation with Patricia and the collaboration with James Ray and others. Eldritchs excursions into other fields of music and his work with other musicians, also along Merciful Release. Not only for that, the decades after 1985 are somewhat more interesting than the ever old myths about Wayne and Craig and Gary and Ben (however much I appreciate them). What happened after the Overbombing Tour, the end of UTR, and then Glasperlensiel, what about Adam, Chris (Sheehan) and Mike, why no more keyboards and background singers, how did they manage to return in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 ... and the 2000s ...all this hell with the record companies and no, no, no, no record-contract or self-release, the departure of Adam (hell) and the following Silver Bullet Tour with the arrival of the "new" (current) line-up ... there's such a hell lot more to tell ... but no. It's always the same ... ...

Still I'm looking forward with pleasure to your book as it is so far ... and if I can afford what you expect as a fundraiser contribution, I shall come to Brussels and give those old demos a listen ... ...
(except I should not be welcome ... in that case, just PM me. I don't mind not coming then and let you have your party, just like on FB.)

[MAndrews]

It's definitely on. Booked a venue. Time and date as stated. More info to come next week.

Good ... .... should be nice to listen to these demos thinking about how much they might have fitted in with the spirit of say Flood I ... ...

Also a gesture of goodwill and support from Wayne to make them available to you/us for this event, which should not remain without mention.
It were such a pity if your book didn't make it to release ... nonetheless, I would have loved it to reach much further than the ever same sad and glory of the early 1980s.
The second half of the 80s was so georgeous, even without any live gigs ... all that derived from the Sisterhood stuff and the cooperation with Patricia and the collaboration with James Ray and others. Eldritchs excursions into other fields of music and his work with other musicians, also along Merciful Release. Not only for that, the decades after 1985 are somewhat more interesting than the ever old myths about Wayne and Craig and Gary and Ben (however much I appreciate them). What happened after the Overbombing Tour, the end of UTR, and then Glasperlensiel, what about Adam, Chris (Sheehan) and Mike, why no more keyboards and background singers, how did they manage to return in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 ... and the 2000s ...all this hell with the record companies and no, no, no, no record-contract or self-release, the departure of Adam (hell) and the following Silver Bullet Tour with the arrival of the "new" (current) line-up ... there's such a hell lot more to tell ... but no. It's always the same ... ...

Still I'm looking forward with pleasure to your book as it is so far ... and if I can afford what you expect as a fundraiser contribution, I shall come to Brussels and give those old demos a listen ... ...
(except I should not be welcome ... in that case, just PM me. I don't mind not coming then and let you have your party, just like on FB.)

Let's try that again, actually posting something!

All are welcome! Place limited to 30, although I don't think we'll get close to that. It's a very niche event! It will be €20. All money goes to the book ...

If they had made it to an album, the demos would have been a FALAA 2 type of record. Would have fitted better with Gary's GD songs that what Andrew wanted, which became Floodland. Which is why Andrew rejected them - he didn't want FALAA 2. My view is that a 2nd album with the best of the demo songs + the best of Gary's songs could have equalled FALAA, assuming Andrew could have written lyrics. I think of Floodland as a kind of 'third album' ...

The book is at 74% and I'm quietly confident we can pick away at the remaining 26%. Assuming that happens, Unbound have already said they would be interested in a Volume 2 ...

Right at the beginning of this whole process - about 2 years ago - I sketched out a five volume history of The Sisters, as something of a joke:

Shot With A Diamond Bullet 1977-84
White Line Fever 1984-90
Jet Black Leather Machine 1990-1996
Empire Down (or Ozymandias) 1996-2005
Distance Over Time 2005-2021

But seriously, there is a second volume in there. However, I might not want to write it after doing Paint My Name ..., nor might people want to buy it/pledge for it.

So I agree that the whole of Sisters history is damn interesting.

And yes, Adam Pearson is a very interesting person, inside and outside The Sisters.

[Being645]

hihi ... I like your five volumes ... ... and want to read them all.

It must be a lot of work only to collect and sort all the info in a chrongraphically correct order ... and that is only a first step of the making ... ...

[Swinnow]

Let's get Vol 1 before we worry about getting into and out of Mordor haha