Cherry Red Records this spring will dig into The Mighty Lemon Drops’ early years with a new 24-track compilation of material culled from the indie-pop favorites’ early singles, demos, BBC radio sessions and recordings made for the NME’s legendary C86 tape — plus it’ll include the band’s full eight-song Some Of My Best Friends Are Songs cassette release.
Due out March 31, Uptight: The Early Recordings 1985/1986 focuses on material that predates the band’s 1986 debut Happy Head, including self-released first single “Like An Angel,” which came out in 1985, and a number of tracks recorded for the BBC that year. Also included are four demos of songs that would appear on Happy Head, plus the band’s 1985 self-released cassette.
See full tracklist below:
Tracklist: The Mighty Lemon Drops, Uptight: The Early Recordings 1985/1986
1. “Like An Angel”
2. “Something Happens”
3. “Sympathize With Us”
4. “Now She’s Gone”
Tracks 1-4 issued on 7”/12” editions of ‘Like An Angel’ (July 1985)
5. “All The Way” *
Track 5 ‘Andy Kershaw Show,’ BBC Radio 1 (December 1985)
6. “The Other Side Of You”
7. “Waiting For The Rain”
8. “When I Dream”
Tracks 6-8 ‘Janice Long Show,’ BBC Radio 1 (February 1986)
9. “Happy Head”
10. “Pass You By” *
11. “Turn Me Round” *
Tracks 9-11 recorded For ‘C86’ (March 1986)
12. “Take Me Up” *
13. “My Biggest Thrill” *
14. “Behind Your Back” *
15. “Hypnotized” *
16. “Uptight” *
Tracks 12-16 demos recorded in Birmingham (June/July 1986)
17. “Pass You By”
18. “Take My Heart”
19. “Like An Angel”
20. “My Feelings”
21. “Sympathize With Us”
22. “Now She’s Gone”
23. “On My Mind” (Live)
24. “There She Goes Again”
Tracks 17-24 issued as cassette ‘Some Of My Best Friends Are Songs’ (May/June 1985)
* Previously unreleased
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
Im buying, love this band…got all their releases, ….never saw em live, ug!
Love The Mighty Lemon Drops…I’m excited about this release.
Sounds awesome. Saw them in 1990 with The Ocean Blue and John Wesley Harding…a great lineup. First time I learned that I should wear earplugs at shows!
Can’t wait for this! Saw them live during their heyday and it’s still a favorite among many shows over the years.
One of the best shows I ever saw was Julian Cope headlining, That Petrol Emotion second on the bill and the Mighty Lemon Drops as first support. Phenomenal show. Followed the MLD’s for quite a while and thought they turned into a second-rate Bunnymen live – still good, just not as good as their early years.
I’M ALL OVER THIS. THEY WERE AWESOME WHEN I SAW THEM IN CHICAGO IN ’88 ON W.W.E. TOUR. NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND SOME OF THE EARLY STUFF ON THIS RELEASE.