THE LEMONHEADS - IT'S A SHAME ABOUT RAY (30TH ANNIVERSARY)

Fire Records

£23.38

Format: LP, Coloured Vinyl
Catalogue No.: FIRELP624W
Barcode: 0809236162496
Release Date: 15 Dec 2023
Genre: Rock

Classical Edtion
White Vinyl

Ltd edition WHITE vinyl, DL card of extras and demos also included. Lemonheads’ seminal album ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’, lovingly reissued by Fire Records for its 30th Anniversary in 2022. The long overdue reissue includes a slew of extra material, including an unreleased ‘My Drug Buddy’ KCRW session track from 1992 featuring Juliana Hatfield, B-sides from singles ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’ and ‘Confetti’, a track from the ‘Mrs. Robinson/Being Round’ EP, alongside demos that will be released for the first time on vinyl. This reissue celebrates their prestigious fifth album, these deluxe bookback editions feature new liner notes and unseen photos. Described by music journalist and author Everett True as “A 30-minute insight into what it’s like to live hard and fast and loose and happy with like-minded buddies, fuelled by a shared love for similar bands and drugs and booze and freedom.”. ‘It's A Shame About Ray’ had a considerable impact back in those heady, carefree days of '92, the record perfectly captures Dando’s ability to effortlessly encapsulate teenage longing and lust over the course of a two-minute pop song. Singles such as 'My Drug Buddy' and the breezy perfect pop of the title track might stand out (plus the add-on of 'Mrs. Robinson' which later copies included), but the album's real strength lies in the tracks in-between; the truly fantastic 'Confetti' (written about Evan's parents' divorce), and the eye-wateringly casual acoustic cover of 'Frank Mills' (from the "hippie" musical Hair), a version that seems to resonate with every ounce of pathos and emotion felt for the lost 1960s generation. To hear Evan Dando sing lines like 'I love him/but it embarrasses me/To walk down the street with him/He lives in Brooklyn somewhere/And he wears his white crash helmet' is to truly appreciate how wonderful and tantalising pop music can be. Then, there's the rush of insurgency and brattishness on the wonderfully truncated 'Bit Part'; the topsy-turvy 'Ceiling Fan In My Spoon'... this was male teenage skinny-tie pop music on a level of brilliance with The Kinks, early Undertones, Wipers.

Original Record
A1 Rockin' Stroll
A2 Confetti
A3 It's A Shame About Ray
A4 Rudderless
A5 My Drug Buddy
A6 The Turnpike Down
B1 Bit Part
B2 Alison's Starting To Happen
B3 Hannah & Gabi
B4 Kitchen
B5 Ceiling Fan In My Spoon
B6 Frank Mills
7" Single
C It's A Shame About Ray
D It's A Shame About Ray (Triple J Acoustic Session)
Essential Extras
1 Mrs. Robinson
2 Shakey Ground
3 My Drug Buddy (KCRW Session) With Juliana Hatfield
4 Knowing Me, Knowing You (Acoustic)
5 Confetti (Acoustic)
6 Alison's Starting To Happen (Acoustic)
7 Divan
Demo Recordings
8 It's A Shame About Ray
9 Rockin' Stroll
10 My Drug Buddy
11 Hannah & Gabi
12 Kitchen
13 Bit Part
14 Rudderless
15 Ceiling Fan In My Spoon
16 Confetti