Wednesday, December 4, 2013

8th Night of Chanukah: The Pursuit of Happiness - Love Junk demos and more!

Can't believe the final eve of the Festival of Lights is upon us already!  I'm going out with a bang, with one of my most substantial finds in recent years.  You might say this one is for the dedicated, and given the popularity of my previous TPOH entries, I know there will be no shortage of you downloading this robust 90-minute collection of demos (well, mostly demos) that were cut before Todd Rundgren got his hands on Moe Berg and his esteemed co-ed crew.  Not only do you get to revel in prototypes of the majority of the devastatingly phenomenal Love Junk, but there's a startling array of true-blue outtakes that have never seen the light of day in any incarnation ("If You Feel That Way," "One Milkshake, Two Straws" etc).  Fairly revelatory stuff too, with the occasional alternate lyrics, not-quite-solidified arrangements, and the like.  Even before they got signed, the group's telltale harmonies and backups were already baked into the cake, and not so much an invention of Rundgren as I mistakenly long assumed.   
The fact that there are so damn many songs here is the icing in the cake.  There are two live covers: "Last Kiss" (yes, the one Pearl Jam would later to the bank), and an homage to Runt himself with a version of "Couldn't I Just Tell You," though sadly that one is an incomplete recording that I gracefully faded out (sorry).  Tracks 22-25 were culled from TPOH's independently released I'm An Adult Now ep, which I made available here way back when.  If you're looking for a little dessert, may I point you to some of Moe's pre-TPOH endeavors, Modern Minds and Facecrime as well.  As for the main course, do enjoy.

01. I'm An Adult Now
02. Revolutionary
03. If You Feel That Way
04. All I Want (live)
05. Handsomest Man, Prettiest Girl
06. Shave Your Legs
07. Talk and Talk
08. Filling in the Spaces
09. Make It Through the Summer
10. When The Sky Comes Falling
11. Hard to Laugh
12. Looking For Girls
13. Last Kiss (live)
14. Killed By Love
15. Take You With Me
16. Wake Up and Smell Cathy
17. Walking in the Woods
18. One Milkshake, Two Straws
19. Ten Fingers
20. Man's Best Friend
21. Down On Him
22. I'm An Adult Now (radio mix)
23. She's So Young
24. All I Want
25. Killed By Love
26. Couldn't I Just Tell You (live) (cuts)

Hear

15 comments:

Doug said...

Many thanks!!!!!

eric said...

I just bought a copy of the Love Junk CD two weeks ago, so I'm going to enjoy hearing this one. Thanks for all the gifts this year, particularly that fantastic Sinceros collection.

Ralph Dodger said...

Fantastic! Many thanks.

Pernt said...

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD re-up this when you have the time. I had no idea it existed. TPOH are one of my favorite bands EVER. Moe Berg is genius.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart! You're doing fantastic work with your blog... it's the best.

spavid said...

I just updated the link. Thanks for the request.

Pernt said...

Bless you, my son. Your attention to detail, and your pursuit (get it?) of obscure pop gems is much, much appreciated from this delighted music fan. Keep up the good work!

Unknown said...

Just came across your blog and love it. Had a recent re-finding of The Pursuit of Happiness and wanted to know if there's any way you might update the links you have for the demos and the wonderful world of. Recently bought the CBC Brave New Wave Sessions of them live which is fantastic. Thanks in advance.

FINE said...

Agree with Brian. Would be great if this could be reuploaded. Thanks

FINE said...

Thank you!!!

Unknown said...

Thanks for re-upping the link. Great collection!

Seattleite said...

Can you re-up this link when you get a chance please? Thanks.

http://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com/2010/02/modern-minds-pre-tpoh-theresas-world-7.html

Seattleite said...

Can you re-up this too please? Really wanna hear Moe's old pre-TPOH bands.

Thanks.

http://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com/2012/02/facecrime-pre-tpoh-sex-and-revolution.html

Jr said...

Can you re-up this link nice blog. many thanks :))
https://www99.zippyshare.com/v/WGfnyPeZ/file.html nice Blog

robgronotte said...

Repost please? Just lost a hard drive. :(

DownOnHim said...

I love your blog, faithful reader for years and have gotten so many gems from you. This one, is probably one of the best. Thanks for doing what you do, probably with very little to gain from it except the joy you get in sharing this stuff with the world. You're an inspiration, my friend, and a blogger legend. :-)