Little do you know the amount of work that goes into the average four minute pop song. So, your friends at Balcony Radio decided to do something about that. We call it Embryonic, a music programme dedicated to highlighting the songs in their most basic form: the demo. In episode 17, we listen in as your favorites in rock, soul, country and places in between put pad to paper. Keep it down. Genius is at work.
Embryonic
Embryonic Ep 16
Time for another peak over the shoulders of giants. Join Balcony Radio for our tribute to works in progress, Embryonic. This week, we hit play on the cassette tapes of two dozen demo songs by your fav singers and songwriters. We’ve got sketches before all the ink and paint went on. Don’t mind the typos.
Embryonic Ep 15
Songs are great . . . but they are also w-o-r-k. Balcony Radio realizes this and has put together a little show called Embryonic to celebrate early versions and demos of songs by artists you know by heart. In episode 15, we flip through the notebooks of two dozen artists and pick out their best.
Embryonic Ep 14
It’s time to go back to before the egg. When a great idea is just a spark in the back of someone’s mind. We can’t answer the “which came first” question but we can listen to about 2 dozen sparks to find an answer. For episode 14 of Embryonic, we listen to early musical sculpturing.
Embryonic Episode 1
Rock and roll is hard work. Here are the first drafts of some tunes you may know. Sometimes the demo version is just as good as the finished one. Now shut up, tape is rolling. You like music, now buy it. Select from the palylist below. There is no limit.
PLAYLIST:
Stephen Stills: Black Queen (Just Roll Tape)
Bruce Springsteen: Red River Rock (The River Demos)
Uncle Tupelo: Grindstone (March 16-20, 1992)
The Stooges: Loose (Funhouse)
Spoon: You Gotta Feel It (Survive & Advance)
Buddy Holly: Love Is Strange (Living Room Demos)
Lou Reed: Perfect Day (Demo)
Ramones: Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio? (End Of The Century Expanded)
Neil Young: Sugar Mountain (Archives)
The Mendoza Line: Dollars To Donuts (If They Knew This Was the End)
David Bowie: Ziggy Stardust (Demos)
The Clash: Janie Jones (Clah On Broadway)
Velvet Underground: All Tomorrow’s Parties (Box Set)
My Morning Jacket: Hopefully (At Dawn & Tennessee Fire Demos)
Cat Stevens: Tuesday’s Dead (Demos)
Big Star: Femme Fatale (Keep An Eye On The Sky)
Paul Simon: Me & Julio Down By The School Yard (Demo)
Hank Williams: Honky Tonk Blues (Alone With His Guitar)
Richie Valens: Let’s Rock and Roll (The Richie Valens Story)
The Doors: Hyacinth House (Essential Rarities)
Laura Nyro: Stones Soul Picnic (Eli & The Thirteenth Confession)
