Demo tapes which became commercial releases AS IS

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You know those stories where the company man is supposedly so thrilled by the demo that they offer to release (a chunk of) it with minimal embellishment.

eg. 4AD is said to have done this for at least these strapping young Americans:

Pixies - Come On Pilgrim
Red House Painters - Down Colourful Hill

Highlight other, erm, amusing anecdotes of this nature. I'm guessing there must be recent rap and IDM examples?

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Thursday, 24 March 2005 22:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Edith Frost--Calling over Time (i think, not sure)

― telescoper, Thursday, 24 March 2005 22:44 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm pretty sure Mötley Crüe's Too Fast for Love started that way, and definitely Manowar's Into Glory Ride.

― Ian Christe (Ian Christe), Thursday, 24 March 2005 22:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Then there are the legendary demos that eventually find commercial release, like Thinking Fellers' Wormed, by Leonard cassette.

― Ian Christe (Ian Christe), Thursday, 24 March 2005 22:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I remember seeing this fact touted in one-sheeters for crappy artists all the time.

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 24 March 2005 22:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Fiery Furnaces - Gallowsbird's Bark

― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 24 March 2005 22:47 (twenty-one years ago)

pj harvey

― The JaXoN 5 (JasonD), Thursday, 24 March 2005 22:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Springsteen - Nebraska

(I think)

― jared, Thursday, 24 March 2005 22:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Then there are the legendary demos that eventually find commercial release...

Haha, and then there are the not quite legendary nor particularly listenable ones like the Saints' Most Primitive Band in the World.

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Thursday, 24 March 2005 22:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Daft Punk - Human Aft... err...

― jared, Thursday, 24 March 2005 22:56 (twenty-one years ago)

"This is Tim Hardin" was never supposed to come out but he was too high to make a new record that the company put it out anyway, against his wishes.

And yes, Nebraska was demos.

― andy --, Thursday, 24 March 2005 23:00 (twenty-one years ago)

"Gallowsbird's Bark" is definitely not demos, at least not in the traditional sense (they may have recorded it before sending it around, but it was recorded at a very nice, expensive studio).

― Hurlothrumbo (hurlothrumbo), Thursday, 24 March 2005 23:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Sigh -- obviously they recorded it before sending it out, but you know what I mean, I hope.

― Hurlothrumbo (hurlothrumbo), Thursday, 24 March 2005 23:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Wasn't Come on Pilgrim a distilled version of the their demo, the rest having finally been released a couple years ago?

Maybe I'm nitpicking.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Thursday, 24 March 2005 23:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On"!

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 24 March 2005 23:08 (twenty-one years ago)

The Silver Jews - The Arizona Record

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 24 March 2005 23:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Springsteen re-recorded the 'Nebraska' songs, but they just didn't work, so he ended up releasing the originals he made in the kitchen.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Thursday, 24 March 2005 23:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't really know much of the backstory behind GBV, but Bee Thousand was recorded in a basement right? You can hear people opening doors, talking, etc. And if that applies, then probably a bunch of other early GBV too.

― sleep (sleep), Thursday, 24 March 2005 23:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Raunchy Young Lepers rules and shits on this thread.

― donut debonair (donut), Thursday, 24 March 2005 23:44 (twenty-one years ago)

"Galang"!

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Thursday, 24 March 2005 23:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Prince "Dirty Mind"

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 24 March 2005 23:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I think in the age of ProTools (et al) and cheap accessible recording technology "demo" doesn't always mean the same thing anymore. a whole heaping lot of indie artists, if not the majority these days, make their first records (or their first signed records) on their own budget and small indie labels get them without having to pay advanced for recording (at most paying for mastering).

― william fields, Friday, 25 March 2005 00:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, with Gallowsbird's, it was recorded as a demo under a demo agreement with Rough Trade. They then wanted to release it as-is, but they went in and rerecorded some things and added a few others. So it is a demo, but not really released as-is.

― Eppy (Eppy), Friday, 25 March 2005 00:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I remember reading that Freur released their original demo of "Doot Doot" rather than the version produced by Conny Plank - I don't think that version has ever been released.

― Pangolino again, Friday, 25 March 2005 00:19 (twenty-one years ago)

William: I suspect that must be true. Perhaps the only remaining criterion then is the fuzzy one relating to expectations:

Did the artist, when recording, consider the results to be the most ideal representation for broad public exposure? Hmmmm...

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Friday, 25 March 2005 00:29 (twenty-one years ago)

This isn't quite the same thing, but White Town's "Your Woman" was recorded completely in a home studio, and only needed the most basic mastering job before it went to the CD pressing plant.

― Tantrum (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 25 March 2005 00:36 (twenty-one years ago)

The Strokes - The Modern Age EP

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Friday, 25 March 2005 00:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I think Randy Newman's "12 Songs" was recorded as demos...

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Friday, 25 March 2005 00:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Iron and Wine - The Creek Drank the Cradle

― Clay (cws), Friday, 25 March 2005 00:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I came to post Dirty Mind but Shakey Mo beat me to it. If he hadn't I would have said:

Dirty Mind pwns this thread.

― Ken L (Ken L), Friday, 25 March 2005 00:54 (twenty-one years ago)

McCartney's first solo album, with the exception of Maybe I'm Amazed, sounds totally like a demo. I have no idea if this makes it so.

I suspect many Hendrix numbers released posthumously may also have been demos only.

― jim wentworth (wench), Friday, 25 March 2005 02:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Eppy is correct about Gallowsbird's Bark. The original version is shorter, and a couple songs are recorded differently - "Two Fat Feet" is slightly different, "Bright Blue Tie" has a totally different arrangement. "Tropical Iceland," "Rub Alcohol Blues," and "We Got Back The Plague" were not on the demo. The rest of it is mixed differently/better and maybe a bit of overdubbing here and there.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Friday, 25 March 2005 02:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Wasn't that first Strokes ep ("Modern Age"/"Last Nite"/"Barely Legal") their demo?

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Friday, 25 March 2005 02:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I would've been the first to say Dirty Mind but I wasn't sure if it was actually meant to be a demo.

― What we want? Sex with T.V. stars! What you want? Ian Riese-Moraine! (Eastern Ma, Friday, 25 March 2005 02:35 (twenty-one years ago)

didn't devendra banhart have some demos released or something? that whole business with messages on people's answering machines and such.

also, i think the kills black rooster ep consisted of some demos, but i can't remember for sure if they were rerecorded for the ep or not.

― sovietpanda (sovietpanda), Friday, 25 March 2005 04:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Edith Frost--Calling over Time (i think, not sure)

nope. that's a jim o'rourke-recorded, rian murphy-produced studio recording. and a damn good one too.

Bee Thousand was recorded in a basement right? You can hear people opening doors, talking, etc. And if that applies, then probably a bunch of other early GBV too.

bee thousand and a bunch of other mid-period (but not early-period) gbv was indeed recorded at home, on four-tracks and eight-tracks. but they're not albums of demos. the recordings may be lo-fidelity and full of mistakes and noise, but they were consciously made that way for release.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Tom Waits' 'Innocent When You Dream(78)' on Frank's WIld Years is a demo I gather. He seems to like the song a lot, he puts it on that album twice and references the melody at least twice on later albums iirc.

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:14 (twenty-one years ago)

actually, Dirty Mind surprises me, because the previous two albums weren't really that much less sparse.. I thought the sparseness of Dirty Mind was a concerted studio effort, and not just an effect of being a demo. Huh.

― donut debonair (donut), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Nebraska... Also, Rockit.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Devendra Banhart
Michelle Shocked

both sounded like someone by the campfire or the side of the road

― Maria D. (Maria D.), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:23 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not certain about this one, but Roberta Flack, First Take ?

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Edith Frost--Calling over Time (i think, not sure)

Aaaah, AMG's bio suggests it was her very first EP that fits this description instead!

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Carole King's "It Might As Well Rain Until September" was a vocal demo she recorded (as she did with most of the Goffin/King compostitions) but the record company decided to release her demo as it was...

― Jack Battery-Pack (Jack Battery-Pack), Friday, 25 March 2005 07:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Bob Dylan & The Band - The Basement Tapes

― jedidiah (jedidiah), Friday, 25 March 2005 14:55 (twenty-one years ago)

re "Basement Tapes"--I'm not enough of a Dylanologist to know the answer to this, but I've heard that some of the stuff released on the Columbia "Basement Tapes" was re-recorded or something? Or were versions recorded later? I have tapes of most of the outtakes from those sessions, they are obviously different in many cases from the official releases.

What about the Kinks's "Village Green Preservation Society"? Were not those also basically demos? They sound like it...

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Friday, 25 March 2005 16:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Wasn't Lisa Loeb's hit, "Stay," her demo? I know she didn't have a record deal.

― Lyra Jane (Lyra Jane), Friday, 25 March 2005 16:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought the sparseness of Dirty Mind was a concerted studio effort, and not just an effect of being a demo. Huh.
It was recorded at home on a sixteen-track (and the first two albums were also recorded at home if I'm not mistaken), but it's not like he was seeking a label at the time, hence why I'm uncertain as to whether or not it counts as a demo.

― What we want? Sex with T.V. stars! What you want? Ian Riese-Moraine! (Eastern Ma, Friday, 25 March 2005 17:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Wasn't Come on Pilgrim a distilled version of the their demo, the rest having finally been released a couple years ago?
Maybe I'm nitpicking.

yes. the original demo was 18 songs, with pleny of embellishment from producer gary smith. he made it for about a grand

― kephm, Friday, 25 March 2005 17:20 (twenty-one years ago)

The Silver Jews - The Arizona Record

-- gygax! (gygax0...), March 24th, 2005.

True? There was that 7" ep entitled Dime Map of the Reef before this rekkerd.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 25 March 2005 17:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I sometimes think we should have worked on them some more,” Joe told Guitar Magazine after the release of Death to the Pixies, when asked if he would have preferred to have rerecorded the tracks that eventually made up Come on Pilgrim. “But, in a way, it’s better as a snapshot. The thing was that we didn’t think we were making an album when we recorded the songs - we were just trying our best.”

― kephm, Friday, 25 March 2005 17:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, Michelle Shocked's "Texas Campfire Tapes" wasn't even a demo, it was just kind of a... field recording, pretty much.

Dylan's "Basement Tapes" were indeed overdubbed in places before the Columbia release. Bleh.

― Douglas (Douglas), Friday, 25 March 2005 17:36 (twenty-one years ago)

More 4AD: Ivo's like, "Vaughn is charging us too much for this sleeve. Well, we're just not going to be able to record the album." Anyway.. Livonia by His Name is Alive.

― Yngwie AlmsteenMay (sgertz), Friday, 25 March 2005 21:55 (twenty-one years ago)

The Foo Fighters' first album (and its still the best thing they've done).

― latebloomer: AKA Sir Teddy Ruxpin, Former Scientologist (latebloomer), Saturday, 26 March 2005 07:21 (twenty-one years ago)

fifteen years pass...

Ween's The Pod and Pure Guava were compiled from a collection of 4 track demo tapes (Don't Get 2 Close... was recorded on 16trk so maybe that breaks the rule)

― ringworm, Friday, 2 October 2020 19:37 (five years ago)

Pete Townshend’s first solo record, Who Came First, is mostly demos recorded in his home studio (“mostly” only because there’s a Ronnie Lane song on it recorded elsewhere). Townshend was alone among his contemporaries (save maybe McCartney) in being a skilled enough engineer (and drummer) that his home demos didn’t sound like “home demos.”

And even though there are full band versions of “Tommy’s Holiday Camp,” the one on the record is Townshend’s demo. Also, many key elements from his demos — the organ/synth tracks on “Baba O’Riley,” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” most of the synths and piano on Quadrophenia and Who Are You — ended up on the finished Who recordings.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 2 October 2020 21:51 (five years ago)

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