Yes, it's another one of those idle speculation threads!

Back in the days of "The Service" fan club magazine, there was an edition that came out circa 1984/5 listing the titles of some of the new tracks that John was working on, which subsequently formed part of the "In Mysterious Ways" album.

As is the nature of such things, several of the listed songs didn't make it onto the finished album but finally appeared on the 2CD re-release last year. However - one track called "My City And My Pride" has to the best of my knowledge never been performed or released. I'm just curious to know if there ever was a song of this name and if so, what happened to it?

And just in case I imagined it, I found an old thread on the Ultravox forum that confirms I didn't!

http://www.ultravox.org.uk/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000345#000000

Hmm, interesting. Didn't know about this.

I would suspect that the song was either unfinished (hence not being included on last year's reissue) or renamed as something we already know.

I'm sure Mr Harris will duly inform us

There were only ever two editions of The Service - both of which WILL be featured in the (soon to be revamped and expanded) Archive . The track-listing to which you're referring to was part of the introduction to the second edition.

A track entitled My City and My Pride definitely existed at some point.

As for why it didn't appear on the remastered double disc edition of In Mysterious Ways? Maybe the tape which contained it fell apart when it was being transferred, maybe the tape had been incorrectly labeled and there wasn't time to go searching through the other tapes for it, maybe the tape was successfully transferred - but John doesn't like the track anymore, or maybe the track will eventually be released at some point in the future, perhaps under a different name. At the moment it really doesn't matter.

But that's no different from the other tracks whose existence (for whatever reason) have become common knowledge despite never having been formally released - The Joker, Radio Beach, Hanging in the Air, The Shadow of Your Smile, Eurotrash, Meeting Venus, City Doesn't Care, Car Crash Flashback, The Day the World Ended, Dark Love, Storms of Things, Do the Mutation, etc. The fact that they exist (or once existed) doesn't necessarily mean that they will ever get released. This happens all the time - just because a track comes into being doesn't mean that it should ever see the light of day.

When the Discography gets 'upgraded' (it's one of the many things I'm currently working on) then all of these tracks will be featured, with a note of their current 'status' so that when this subject is raised again (as it inevitably will be) the information will be easier for everyone to find.

Oddly enough, this reminds me of a thread from a while back where I was being asked when the track TBC was going to be released.

Rob

"Do the mutation"....

What a title!!! John has simply got to release that one at some point!!!

It IS a great title - but I really can't imagine that it'll ever get released...

Rob

I recognise some of those titles from what's been said about Blitz, but I'll be interested to find out what periods those other titles (especially that one!) are from.

I was going through some of the EV PDFs recently and had totally forgotten that a tracklisting for Urban Motets had been listed in there too. I thought it was interesting to see how those song titles are very much in-keeping with those of the Cathedral Oceans albums and My Lost City.

That is one album like many fans (OK, all fans) I really hope sees the light of day at some point. I guess it would kind of complete the cycle of city-themed instrumental works.

I take it those titles will appear in the archive?

The other track mentioned in The Service, alongside "My City and My Pride" was (then) called "And Of The Sky".

This has subsequently been released on the definitive 2xCD edition of In Mysterious Ways as "And The Sky"

(see later correction)

Precisely...

Absolutely... and just for the record, they are A Charmed Life, Twilight Avenues, Finsbury Square, Arriving, As Best I Could, Lost Apartment, Unspecified City, Watching the Patterns in Passing Crowds, I Will Always Meet You, A Many Splendoured Thing and Summer Lover.

Rob

Perhaps there's going to be a release one day entitled

"My Lost RECORDINGS"... or "My Lost TAPES" :p

Don't say that...

Otherwise I'll get asked when My Lost Recordings and My Lost Tapes are going to get released...

Rob

Hee hee... Surely not? :rolleyes:

Too late!!!!

Many thanks for an interesting and informative response Rob, though I'm sure your heart must sink every time someone starts another "unreleased song" thread!
By way of compensation perhaps I could email you an mp3 of the 12" Zeus B Hulkkonen remix of "TBC" I bought at a record fair in 1987????!!!

Not really, as it shows that there are people 'out there' who are interested in John.

If my heart sinks it's because people can't easily find the information they're looking for - and that means that I have to tear myself away from working on the website to go through my notes to assemble an answer which I can then post. It's a bit of a Catch-22 situation.

And that's far from ideal - but the 'new look' site should address all of those issues.

Nah, I've already got a copy...

Rob

This thread reminds me of an interview John gave in a music mag in late '84. Can't remember which one I'm afraid.

He discussed recording sessions undertaken that year. After the Golden Section tour had ended he said that he decided to retain his live band - Robin Simon,Peter Oxendale,David Levy and Barry Watts,in order to record some new tracks.If my memory is correct, John said that he wanted to record tracks with more of a band feel.

When In Mysterious Ways finally appeared only one track, This Side Of Paradise, was recorded by this line up and so I guess was from these '84 sessions. However the B-side Stairway (Hiding In Plain Sight) has a similar feel and I'm guessing were recorded by the same line up. It was only after hearing the 2 disc IMW that I heard more tracks that have a similar sound.These are And The Sky and Shine On (alternative version) and possible even Enter The Angel (alternative version). I don't expect Rob to know the details of every recording session John has ever undertaken but any info about the line up of these recordings would be of interest to me. (I know, what a sad anaorak I am).

If your an anorak, then I'm a kagool! :p

There's an interview with John from Feb 1984 for' In the City' when he refers to "recording again, using the musicians from the last tour" and describes how they have just recorded "And Of the Sky" in 4 hours.

I think you're right with the 'sound' of this material and its date and the musicians, because this interview was soon followed by the publication of The Service 2, when he refers to this track again by its subsequent name "And The Sky"

(thus I should correct what I said above - The Service actually refers to the song (correctly) as "And The Sky")

At the time that was written, the 'alternative versions' as on IMW Disc 2 were already recorded

(information©metamatic.com)

It's also worth noting that Hiding In Plain Sight is named among these songs, so quite why it 'ended up' being called Stairway on the album is something of a mystery?

Pass me coat...

Cheers for that Martin. Glad to know I'm not the only one interested in the smallest minutiae about John's recording.

Ooh no, far from it.

Though I'm very pleased about exactly the same thing