Okay, I was looking over the "Interactive Features Discography" (although how interactive it is is debatable) and I noticed there are a bunch of songs on there that I've never heard of, haven't heard mention of, and really have no idea where these came from so I wanted to get the history on these tunes from those in the know. The URL is:

http://pubweb.northwestern.edu/~wfb623/features/

Anyways, what's the story with these tracks:

48
5/4
Captain Williams
Could've Been
Disco/Discotheque (same song?)
I Won't Let You Down
Psycho Santa
Smooth
Soon Discover
Untitled Christmas Song
Untitled Thunder 94 Song
Willie and the Willigers

Were these improvs? Songs that later became standard tunes? One offs?

Some were improvs. Some were songs that were played a few times and dropped. Some are from the distant past.

Yeah, okay, so the connectivity that I intended to include between songs and albums and various things (ie the "interactivity," maybe not the best word. It sounded good) hasn't been implemented yet. Gimmie a break, I'm busy.

In any case,

48: Also called "Try" by some, I was told by Rollum that the title was actually 48. A live mp3 ended up on the mp3 site under some weird name like "Immature Passage."

5/4: When the original Krampf sessions were recorded, (the sessions that are partially available on the website player), smee listed this as a recorded song, and stated that it hadn't been played live yet. Since her dad was the producer of those sessions, I assume it was correct. Was 5/4 a song that we now know under a different name? I've not heard anything to that effect.

Captain Williams: I've yet to hear this. It was about Rich Williams, the man in charge at Spongebath.

Disco: Appears under the title "Rod Stewart" on some of jamie's old setlists. I've never heard this one either.

Discotheque: This was recorded as part of the Rawlings sessions, and live mp3s have appeared on the mp3 site. The commonly held belief is that this song evolved into Temporary Blues, as Stick Together did into Leave It All Behind. There are parts of Discotheque that, musically, are present unchanged in Temporary Blues, but the songs are rather different too.

Psycho Santa: A special Christmas show one-time thing, near as I can tell. It was an event of some lore.

Untitled Songs: Likely one-offs as well. One played live on Thunder 94 radio, may it rest in peace.

Willie and the Willigers: An oldie. Another that I've not heard, though for awhile it seemed to be the message board default for "old, obscure rarity to yell for." Think Your Smile in that regard.

The others I know even less about.

Will

If someone did some serious detective work through this message board, all the mysteries of this song would unravel.

Have I mentioned I miss BrianEno2?

I'm on it!


Courtesy of Tom Foolery, from February 2002. Doesn't answer the question, exactly, but it's of some interest...

Additionally, Willie and the Willigers was last played on 1/19/00.

Furthermore, Keith, you said the following, although I assume it's a joke: "I have a live acoustic recording of Willie and the Willigers taken from a drunken performance in my kitchen back in '98." From this thread.

That's really all the salvagable information this board has to offer.

(Edited by Jakob Dorof at 5:58 pm on Jan. 26, 2004)

I have the Thunder 94 Show, and I don't have an Unititled song listed on that bootleg. Are you sure it isn't Untitled Lightning 100 Song? (which really rocked).

Smooth and Could've Been are on the Thunder 94 Show.
Soon Discover can be heard on the 9/18/99 bootleg.
Psycho Santa and Untitled Christmas are from 12/16/00.

I believe that "Untitled Thunder 94 song" was courtesy of TF. Perhaps he can shed some light...

Will

I don't know if "that thread" exists anymore, Keith. Add another one to the file of "posts that have disappeared," I guess. Did anyone else notice that I never got any response to my big question about disappearing posts? What's up, BrianW? Tell us the truth!

The following are definitely real Features songs (I've heard them):
"Captain Williams" - Existed sporadically for many years, in several different incarnations. I heard it as recently as 2002 in soundchecks. It's a great song!

"Disco" - Was never officially named, I think. I heard long ago from Keith that it was tenatively called "Disco," so that's what I've taken to calling it. Only played a handful of times in 2001, I think. I originally called it "Rod Stewart" because I thought the main guitar riff sounded like the one in a Rod Stewart song that I still can't think of the name of. This is one of my very favorite Features songs. BRING IT BACK, FEATURES!

"Discotheque" - NOT the same as "Disco." This is an older song, not played since the "I wanna go home" part was extracted and used in "Temporary Blues." I never cared for this one very much, but it was a Roadie favorite.

"I Won't Let You Down" - Played only a couple of times in the summer of 2001. I have a recording of a show with this one. It was a nice little Features ballad.

"Psycho Santa" - Okay, this was "Psycho Killer," ya'll, with a few little lyrical changes for Christmas ("Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho better," etc). Played only once, 12-somedateclosetochristmas-2000.

The following may or may not be real Features songs (I've never heard them [cough-somebodyburnmeaCDiftheyreallyexist-cough]):
"48"
"5/4"
"Could've Been"
"Smooth"
"Soon Discover"
"Untitled Christmas Song"
"Untitled Thunder 94 Song"

As for "Willy and the Willigers," let's just say that it's super-rare.

(Edited by jamiecarroll at 1:19 am on Jan. 27, 2004)

I can tell you this without breaching any non-disclosures.

If the mysterious 5/4 was recorded I have never heard it, I have heard everything that was mastered (I thought I did anyway) from both Krampf sessions. Unless it was given another name, but I can't for the life of me think of what it could be. Is one of those songs in 5/4 time? That may be your answer. I'm to much of a musical idiot to know 5/4 if it bit me in the ass so don't look to me.

I have some earlier versions of "Situation Gone Bad" on DAT that they recorded during soundcheck a year ago last fall. Matt was working on it as we toured. It was fun watching that song change over the course of three weeks.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were some fragments in those early versions that are now in newer songs. I have never listened to it again. And no, I'm not making copies. Why? Because I'm an asshole that's why. See what pancakes with Sina will do to a guy?

(Edited by Peace Frog at 11:29 pm on Jan. 26, 2004)

Yeah, I think I heard from an official source that the name was "Disco," but I could be crazy. Either way, I don't really remember anything about the song except that it was awesome. Anyone got bootlegs of it? I'm pretty sure it was played at the New Year's Eve show a couple years ago with Joe, Marc's Brother.

It's usually reserved for math rock bands like Character.

I looked back through the archives, Keith, and I can only find two instances of this song being played - 11/29/01 at 12th & Porter and 12/9/01 at the Boro. It looks like it might have been played 1/10/02 at the Boro, but I only see two times for certain.

Remember when the Features used to play once a month at the Boro?

(Edited by jamiecarroll at 4:08 am on Jan. 27, 2004)

Remember why they stopped playing there?

I say this as though I was there, but this vicarious messageboard living still left quite an impression from that event.

Will

So who is up for starting a Features live bootleg FTP site or CD-R trading site?

I think the bigger question would be, Who is willing to pass out some of "their" songs in order for the site to exist?

Yes, I think that we should start a trading "union" with a site, list of available bootlegs, traders and what they have/what they want, etc. I think it should also be limited to CD-Rs...MP3s are of lower quality, and CD-Rs just have a more official feel to it, like you really own it.

I really want to do this and know that I could, but I only have 11-7-03 (thanks joey) so I'm going to need to trade around first and see what's out there.

Speaking of which, anyone want to trade for 11-7-03? (Edit: PM me if you do...I have some other things you may consider trade-worthy)

In any case, I'll start working on such a site very shortly, perhaps even as early as tonight.

(Edited by Jakob Dorof at 11:29 am on Jan. 27, 2004)

I would as soon as I get a few shows (which are pending). There's no reason for anyone on the message board to be a cheap skate and withhold the goods. Cough cough...must have gotten a Peace Frog stuck in my throat.

That didn't sound right.

Seriously though, I think it's about time that someone starts compiling an official bootleg/trading site. Who knows how much stuff is out there. For the sake of posterity and all...

J

(Edited by somethingman at 11:36 am on Jan. 27, 2004)

Well, for one, mine's not a bootleg. It was recorded with their permission, so I would have a clean soundtrack for the documentary I am working on.

If I gave away all my material, I would A) be breaching the bands trust, and B ) making my doc less attractive, if you can get all of the music for free, anyway. Besides, who the hell really wants an unfinished version of Situation Gone Bad?

I agree, the novelty is fun, but in the end, it's unfinished, unpolished song. I know I wouldn't want my raw footage out circulating around, and so I'd assume they wouldn't want a half finished song being put forth.

I only brought it up to shed some light on the process of how a (or maybe one) Feature's song came about. Not to impress a MB of people on average a decade younger than me. If I wanted to impress you I would divulge the track listings of the new album and tell you all what they sound like and blah blah fucking blah.

The sense of entitlement around this place gets to be a little much sometimes. And before you start pointing your fingers at me again, there is a metric shit-ton of stuff I do not know about. The working of the Features has always been on a need to know basis and a lot of stuff I do not need to know, nor do I really care to. I knew when I posted that someone was going to try to call me out. So, I guess now, I'll just retreat to my hole and let all the wild speculation continue.

A fool says what he knows, and a wise man knows what he says.

(Edited by Peace Frog at 12:33 pm on Jan. 27, 2004)

Hey, great idea. Why don't you do it?

Who knows how much stuff is out there. For the sake of posterity and all, I think you need to get started right away.

Will

I agree. Anyone that decides to share music with you is doing you a favor. Try to keep that in mind. Just because someone has a recording doesn't mean that they're obliged to share it with the world, and you should never give them a hard time if they choose not to.

Concerning a Features FTP site or trading site or tree or whatever, I think we should keep this in mind: there's a *big* difference between trading recordings of live shows and trading studio recordings. Essentially, when the band plays a live show, unless they have a policy against recording, that show becomes public property, in a sense. Obviously, selling recordings of shows is unacceptable, but trading is all good and fair. Studio recordings, on the other hand, are a private matter. Unless the band chooses to release the recordings, they are strictly at the discretion of the band. Now I'm not claiming to be perfect in this area. I think we all have the Mahaffey recordings and the "Mississippi Album," and some of us have even more scandalous things. All I'm saying is let's utilize some common sense and courtesy in how we handle unreleased Features recordings.

Sorry for rambling...

Thanks for covering my six JC, and more importantly, putting in a more eloquent, and tactful way of why trading should have parameters.

True that. All in all, this is a very giving community, and I think that demands are the only things that have been met with refusals on this board. I'm all for a way to distribute live shows and things like that, but even then, these are things that most importantly the tapers should be doing if they want to.

When folks want a forum for trading to be opened so that they can get recordings, want someone else to set up this forum, and want someone else to supply all of the recordings, then it is hard to not be skeptical. Unfortunately, the world doesn't work like that, with others that have little to gain doing all of the legwork. You want shows? Start taping and trade to get them, or put the distribution work in yourself, or do something, man.

Will

smooth does indeed exist. talk to your mentor to hear it.

If you want RD's perspective on trading demands, there are my exact sentiments. Good job Will.

I double checked both radio shows. It should be Untitled Lightning 100.

I'm getting a few shows in a week or so from a member (name withheld to protect their inbox from flooding) and will post those to the website for trade.

JM

If this was in regard to my comment, I was being facetious. I don't know if you are actively involved in bootleg collecting or trading, but the fanbase of most bands tends to be pretty rabid. If someone has a rare recording of Kurt Cobain singing in the shower in 1988, I'm sure it would be snatched up like wildfire by Nirvana fans. People want EVERYTHING no matter what the quality and no matter what the band thinks about the material. If bands controlled such material, many many bootlegs would not exist. Who wants Eddie Vedder singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame?" Apparently many Pearl Jam fans. Really bad quality live recordings of Minor Threat? They are out there in large numbers. I have a really cheesy demo song of a certain highly popular red haired piano siren recorded during her days in LA in the 80s (sung for another band, she didn't write the song). I know for a fact that maybe ten people have heard this song and it isn't known to the fanbase. I know it is gold and would consider it for trade in that respect. In your case though, what you possess ties in personally to a project you are working on so it makes sense that you wouldn't want to let the material out (versus someone saying, "I'm going to keep this because I'm a bastard and can wear my crown as an elitist by not letting other fans have a copy of this or that song." ) The debate could go on and on.

J

Thanks much.

I believe that "Psycho Santa," which was played only on 12/16/2000, featured a very special back-up vocalist from the opening band.

YDDD is correct; I misspoke. All of the songs from the Thunder 94 show are present and accounted for. It should be "Untitled Lightning 100 Song," which was broadcast on May 5, 1999 (I think). The songs opens with, "When I was young, a sailor lost at sea/I swam the ocean with a fiberglass canoe." These lyrics eventually morphed into "Serious" (although they weren't present when that song first debuted). Musically, though, they are quite different.

"Soon Discover" was played at the 9/18/1999 show. That recording was one of the two shows that got me hooked on the band. I've always assumed that it was an early classic, but it may have not been played very much at all. (I also thought Matt was a pervert until I learned that "Laid" was a cover.)

I think "Captain Williams" and "Stick Together" were played around the same time. Also, for the record, the change from "Stick Together" to "Leave It All Behind" was not an evolution but a regression and is quite possibly the the greatest musical mistake ever made.

I'm still trying to find out when the band played on Thunder 94. If anyone knows the date of that show, please let me know.

...

I just wanted thought it was appropriate to note how amazing the resource Will has put together for us is. Even if all links don't cross reference each other, its still a great place to start for any fan. Bowl of Fire introduced me to the page after my first features show and I've been using it ever since. Thanks Wiyum!