PAUL SOLO/POST BEATLES' ANTHOLOGY
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Since "Everything Paul" seems to be slowing down, I thought I would revive the discussion of a much needed (in my opinion) Paul McCartney Solo/Post Beatles' Anthology. Yes Paul has had several Career Spanning Compilations and Greatest Hits packages but I think they are generally weak relative to the overall strength of Paul's Entire Discography. Here they are up to this point:
Wingspan Hits and History 2001 - While this was pretty good, it only goes to the early 80's. I like the fact that it was divided into Hits and History, but Paul's career has been great over the last 40 years which is not covered at all.
Wings Greatest 1978 - This was strictly a 70's "Hits" collection and it has serious omissions.
All the Best 1987- Again a glorified greatest hits collection and only goes to 1984.
Pure McCartney 2016 - The most expansive Compilation to Date but it still doesn't include Egypt Station, McCartney 3 and doesn't contain any songs from Flowers in the Dirt and only one from Driving Rain. The other problem is that it includes very little top notch great deep album cuts, B-Sides, Unreleased songs or great rare 'live" tracks.
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In summary, Paul needs a current and full Antholody that includes great songs from his entire career. Too many of these compilations have glaring gaps and they don't cover his full career including great "deep tracks" from albums, great B-Sides Unreleased tracks and finally great rare "live" tracks that are better in some cases than the originals from released albums.
The best way to cover Paul's enitre career is doing this Anthology by DECADE. Because Paul was so prolific in the 70's, I think he would need to have 2 CD's from this Decade. This is where I'm going to start:
70's Disc 1
1. Oh Woman, Oh Why - B-side of Another Day (Rarely Heard on American Radio)
2. Maybe I'm Amazed - Still like the original album version the best
3. Every Night - Still like theoriginal album version the best
4. Junk - great track and rarely played on the radio
5. Give Ireland Back to the Irish - great rocker and one of Paul's early singles but promply banned from being played on the radio. Great vocals by Paul
6. Too Many People - Ram
7. Dear Boy - Ram
8. Eat At Home - Ram
9. A Love for You - Unreleased until Ram 2012 Remaster and Bonus Track
10. Dear Friend - Wildlife
11. Tomorrow - Wildlive (Along with Dear Freind the best song on Wildlife_
12. Little Lamb Dragonfly - Red Rose Speedway
13. Single Pigeon -Red Rose Speedway
14. My Love (Live track taken from Rockshow in 1976 (More bluesy and way Better than original album and single)
15. Country Dreamer (B-Side to Helen Wheels)
16. The Mess - live at the Hague (B-Side to the single My Love)
17. Best Friend - live in Antwerp (unreleased until 2018 Red Rose Speedway Remaster
18. Helen Wheels - Band on the Run (US Edition)
19. Bluebird (Live version on Rock Show 1976 (great version)
20. Band on the Run (live version from Rock Show 1976 (another great version that doesn't duplicate what you always hear on the radio)
21.Let Me Roll It (live version from Rock Sow 1976 (just the rocking version and MUCH SHORTER and not overblown the way Paul's been doing on his tours over the last 10 years)
22. 1985 - Great live version from 2010 in Argentina (this excludes the Band on the Run bit AT THE END you always hear on the radio or on the original album vrersion. It's shorter which is good and contains Rusty Anderson's great solo guitar at the end and Paul's singing at this point was still top nothch.
To Be Continued with Disc 2 starting with launch of Venus and Mars
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Just to emphasize that my previousl Paul Anthology Post so far is just on the 70's Decade and Disc 1 is only the first half of the 70's up and through the Band on the Run Album. The 2nd half of the 70's will start with the Release of Venus and Mars and run through the final album in the 70's... Back to the Egg.
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Paul McCartney Solo/Post Beatles' Anthology
The 70's Part 2/Disc 2
1. Love In song- from Venus and Mars
2. Magneto and Titanium Man - from Venus and Mars (great little underplayed rocker)
3. Call Me Back Again - from Venus and Mars
4. Junior's Farm - Single and great rocker
5. Sally G - B-side to Junior's Farm
6. Listen to What the Man Said - from Venus and Mars
7,. Letting Go - from Venus and Mars
8. Beware My Love - from At the Speed of Sound (great underplayed Rocker)
9. Silly Love Songs - from At the Speed of Sound
10. London Town - from London Town album
11. I'm Carrying from London Town
12. Waterspout - Unreleased from London Town Sessions
13. Don't Let It Being You Down- from London Town
14. Mull of Kintyre - Single
15. Girls School - B-Side to Mull of Kintyre
16. Daytime Nightime Suffering - Great B-side to Goodnight Tonight
17. Gettinhg Closer - from Back to the Egg
18. Old Siam Sir - from Back to the Egg
19. Arrow Through Me - from Back to the Egg
20. Goodnight Tonight - Single
21. Winter Rose/Love Awake from Back to the Egg
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Just a quick thought. I think if he did Anthology project for his post Beatle career, you would not need most of the songs listed from the 70's unless you had different versions of these songs. I think for the most part Wings stuff has been covered and heard over the years. The only songs from this era I would include would be some of the B sides and unreleased songs you mentioned. I want any Anthology project to be mostly "deep cuts", demo versions, live versions, unreleased songs or B sides.
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You guys need to look at some bootlegs. Check out this set. MoMac Hidden Tracks. Quite a few are on youtube. I have the complete set from years ago. It is a 32 cd set. Here's an example:
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
Just a quick thought. I think if he did Anthology project for his post Beatle career, you would not need most of the songs listed from the 70's unless you had different versions of these songs. I think for the most part Wings stuff has been covered and heard over the years. The only songs from this era I would include would be some of the B sides and unreleased songs you mentioned. I want any Anthology project to be mostly "deep cuts", demo versions, live versions, unreleased songs or B sides.
Thanks for the imput Yankeefan. I was trying to stay away from the "hits" in general. As a consumer and big Paul fan, I would want a tracklist that had the "good" deep album cuts that you never hear on the radio. On top of this criteria, I would want versions of the big hits that sound different and even better than what you hear on the radio. "My Love" is a perfect example where I think the "live version" from Rock Show (1976) takes it from a sentimental ballad to a bluesy soul like version. On the Wings Over America tour, Jimmy McCulloch does a great job of replicating Henry McCullough's original Solo and Paul's soulful singing is so much better than what you always hear on the radio.. I also really love the "live" version of "1985' when Paul started to include the song on his tours in 2009. The one I chose is from 2010 in Argentina when Paul was still singing great and Rusty Anderson does a fab guitar solo at the end. I like the fact that they do away with the "Band on the Run" snippet you always hear on the album version. And I always loved Paul's "live" version of "Bluebird" on the "Rockshow " disc from the 1976 Wings Over America tour.
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oobu24 wrote:
You guys need to look at some bootlegs. Check out this set. MoMac Hidden Tracks. Quite a few are on youtube. I have the complete set from years ago. It is a 32 cd set. Here's an example:
O...M...G...that is over 16 hours of music?! Wow!
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"And I always loved Paul's "live" version of "Bluebird" on the "Rockshow " disc from the 1976 Wings Over America tour."
This is one of the few BOTR songs that has not been played to death and would be welcome addition to an Anthology album. I totally agree with you about using the live version from the WOA tour. Actually a even "deeper" cut from BOTR would be song like "No Words".
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oobu24 wrote:
You guys need to look at some bootlegs. Check out this set. MoMac Hidden Tracks. Quite a few are on youtube. I have the complete set from years ago. It is a 32 cd set. Here's an example:
Thanks for sharing, will check it out when I have plenty of time to kill -lol.
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oobu24 wrote:
You guys need to look at some bootlegs. Check out this set. MoMac Hidden Tracks. Quite a few are on youtube. I have the complete set from years ago. It is a 32 cd set. Here's an example:
This is the sort of stuff I love! I want more of it.
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I would absolutely love an anthology like this. We could endlessly squabble over individual tracks here and there but the overall idea and your list are great.
I think Paul well deserves to have an in-depth anthology too. It’s crazy to think that even without The Beatles (!), and without Wings (!), he still should be considered one of the greatest pop/rock musicians ever.
I also love the idea of dividing up the tracks by decade. That’s kind of how I group Paul’s albums in my head anyway because the phases of his career tend to fit pretty well within the decades.
As a big Paul fan I’d prefer a track list like yours because it’s much more complete than Pure McCartney. But I also get the feeling that an anthology is basically what Pure McCartney was intended to be. So although I’d love it, I don’t know how likely it is to happen anytime soon.
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McCall wrote:
I would absolutely love an anthology like this. We could endlessly squabble over individual tracks here and there but the overall idea and your list are great.
I think Paul well deserves to have an in-depth anthology too. It’s crazy to think that even without The Beatles (!), and without Wings (!), he still should be considered one of the greatest pop/rock musicians ever.
I also love the idea of dividing up the tracks by decade. That’s kind of how I group Paul’s albums in my head anyway because the phases of his career tend to fit pretty well within the decades.
As a big Paul fan I’d prefer a track list like yours because it’s much more complete than Pure McCartney. But I also get the feeling that an anthology is basically what Pure McCartney was intended to be. So although I’d love it, I don’t know how likely it is to happen anytime soon.
Great Post McCall. Yes, you can quibble over a few tracks that didn't make the cut. I was doing that myself when I was putting the tracklist together. But in general, I've included most of the big hits and most publicized songs from their respective albums. I've also included the best deeper cuts from those same albums. And I've included the great B-sides that never got on those albums at the time. Finally, I included the good/great unreleased songs from that time period. Just because a song is unreleased or designated as a B-Side doesn't make it a good/great song. I think I've picked the cream of the crop relative to B-sides and Unreleased. And as far as the "big hits", I selected alternate/live versions of big hits "that everyone knows" that would give the compilation a new and different sound than what you would expect. As a big fan, that is what I would want.
As far as your last point, I don't know how realistic this type of compilation/anthology would be. In my opinion, Paul needs it. What he currently has doesn't do justice to his music legacy imo. I realize that the record buying landscape has changed considerably over the last few years. But in my opiinion, there are enough music fans especially in the 50 to 70 year range who are still old school and who still buy CD's. That is who Paul needs to reach. The younger generations probably are not buying CD packages. They are streaming and making their own playlists.
My final point is...When was the last time you have heard the songs below on the radio or on a playlist you hear at a store:
Every Night
junk
Too Many People
Dear Boy
Eat At Home
Tomorrow
Dear Friend
Little Lamb Dragonfly
Dingle Pigeon
Bliebird
Love in Song
Magneto and Titanium Man
Beware My Love
I'm Carrying
Don't Let It Bring You Down
Getting Closer
Arrow Through Me
Winter Rose/Love Awake
The above songs are not "obscure" songs. They are great tracks and most Beatle and Paul fans would love to hear them. The problem is that they are not convenient for fans. The publicity that this kind of compilation would receive would be strong especially if the articles highlighted all the rare tracks (the B-sides, unreleased and rare live recordings) in these packages. My answer to McCall's final question...time is wasting and Paul needs to do it now. Paul doesn't need fancy packaging. Just Cd's with about 20 songs per Disc thoughout all the Decades.
My next list will focus on the 80's. You probably don't need 2 Discs each for these remaining Decades. Looking forward to hitting the 80's.
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Now onto the 80's...keep in mind the critieria for songs- No Beatles (songs Paul wrote when he was a Beatle), and no Covers. Just songs that Paull wrote or cowrote from 1970 to the current year 2021.
*Unlike my 2 Disc 70's tracklisting Above which was generally sequential, I'm going a little out of order here because the first 2 Unreleased tracks work potentially so well as openers.
Paul McCartney Anthology/Compilation By DECADE
THE 80'S
1. Squid - a 1987 Instrumental Unreleased till 2020's Flaming Pie Remaster. Such a great "happy" instrumental to start the Disc and 1980's Decade
2. On the Wings of a Nightingale 1984 `A Paul McCartney song written for the Everly Brothers and for their comback tour. This was Paul's original demo.
3. One of These Days - McCartney 2
4. Pipes of Peace - title cut from Pipes of Peace
5, Tug of War/Take It Away - The 1st 2 tracks on the Album "Tug of War". I love the way George Martin segueway's these 2 tracks together as the album openers. Just classic George Maritin Production work.
6. Somebody Who Cares - Tug of War (terrific under the radar gem
7.Wanderlust - Tug of War (One of Paul's best)
8. The Pound is Sinking - Tug of War (another great album cut)
9. Keep Under Cover - Pipes of Peace
10. Through Our Love - Pipes of Peace
11. No Values -Broad Street Album
12. Not Such a Bad Boy -Broad Street Album
13, Stranglehold - Press to Play Album
14.. Good Times Coming/Feel the Sun - Press to Play Album
15. Yvonne's The One - Unreleased from the Press to Play Sessions (one of Paul's best unreleasedl songs ever)
16. Footprints - Press to Play Album (one of Paul's great hidden gems)
17.Mover Over Busker - Press to Play (a great rocker)
18.Only Love Remains - Press to Play
19. My Brave Face - Flowers in the Dirt Album)
20.. Put It There - Flowers in the Dirt
21. Back on My Feet - B-Side to "Once Upon a Long Ago"
22. This One - Flowers in the Dirt
23. Lovliest Thing - B-Side to "Figure of 8" Single
24. Distractions - Flowers in the Dirt (another great hidden gem)
25. Figure of 8 - Flowers in the Dirt
26. Tough on a Tightrope - Press to Play (extra track)
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I thought the 80's was supposed to be Paul's "WEAK" Decade. I ended up with 26 songs!
Like the 70's, maybe Paul would need 2 Discs for the 80's.. There were at least 8-10 more songs I wanted to include on my list. There were also the demo's from the Paul and Elvis collaborations that I didn't include plus you had the whole Cold Cuts/ Return to Pepperland songs from 1096-1087.
Maybe I'll do a 2 Disc 80's list and keep it to around 20 songs per Disc.
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BJ , sent you a PM - the red number is not showing up over the envelope!
I know it was a typo, but what did you mean to type after Cold Cuts/Return to Pepperland?
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B J Conlee wrote:
Now onto the 80's...keep in mind the critieria for songs- No Beatles (songs Paul wrote when he was a Beatle), and no Covers. Just songs that Paull wrote or cowrote from 1970 to the current year 2021.
*Unlike my 2 Disc 70's tracklisting Above which was generally sequential, I'm going a little out of order here because the first 2 Unreleased tracks work potentially so well as openers.
Paul McCartney Anthology/Compilation By DECADE
THE 80'S
1. Squid - a 1987 Instrumental Unreleased till 2020's Flaming Pie Remaster. Such a great "happy" instrumental to start the Disc and 1980's Decade
2. On the Wings of a Nightingale 1984 `A Paul McCartney song written for the Everly Brothers and for their comback tour. This was Paul's original demo.
3. One of These Days - McCartney 2
4. Pipes of Peace - title cut from Pipes of Peace
5, Tug of War/Take It Away - The 1st 2 tracks on the Album "Tug of War". I love the way George Martin segueway's these 2 tracks together as the album openers. Just classic George Maritin Production work.
6. Somebody Who Cares - Tug of War (terrific under the radar gem
7.Wanderlust - Tug of War (One of Paul's best)
8. The Pound is Sinking - Tug of War (another great album cut)
9. Keep Under Cover - Pipes of Peace
10. Through Our Love - Pipes of Peace
11. No Values -Broad Street Album
12. Not Such a Bad Boy -Broad Street Album
13, Stranglehold - Press to Play Album
14.. Good Times Coming/Feel the Sun - Press to Play Album
15. Yvonne's The One - Unreleased from the Press to Play Sessions (one of Paul's best unreleasedl songs ever)
16. Footprints - Press to Play Album (one of Paul's great hidden gems)
17.Mover Over Busker - Press to Play (a great rocker)
18.Only Love Remains - Press to Play
19. My Brave Face - Flowers in the Dirt Album)
20.. Put It There - Flowers in the Dirt
21. Back on My Feet - B-Side to "Once Upon a Long Ago"
22. This One - Flowers in the Dirt
23. Lovliest Thing - B-Side to "Figure of 8" Single
24. Distractions - Flowers in the Dirt (another great hidden gem)
25. Figure of 8 - Flowers in the Dirt
26. Tough on a Tightrope - Press to Play (extra track)
Your criteria for picking these songs (alternate versions of the big hits, the best of deep cuts and b-sides, etc) is exactly what I, as a big fan, would want from a compilation like this. Maybe you're right too that a collection like this would bring mainstream attention to these songs, I would hope so, they definitely deserve much more appreciation. Of the songs you asked about hearing on the radio or in a store, I don't think I've heard any of them in those situations, which is a shame. I love all of them that you listed (except maybe Magneto and Titanium Man).
Your 80's list is great too. About the only changes I'd make would be to replace Move Over Busker with Summer's Day Song.
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B J Conlee wrote:
I thought the 80's was supposed to be Paul's "WEAK" Decade. I ended up with 26 songs!
Like the 70's, maybe Paul would need 2 Discs for the 80's.. There were at least 8-10 more songs I wanted to include on my list. There were also the demo's from the Paul and Elvis collaborations that I didn't include plus you had the whole Cold Cuts/ Return to Pepperland songs from 1096-1087.
Maybe I'll do a 2 Disc 80's list and keep it to around 20 songs per Disc.
Yes Nancy...I had the years wrong. I should have typed 1986 and 1987.
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McCall wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
Now onto the 80's...keep in mind the critieria for songs- No Beatles (songs Paul wrote when he was a Beatle), and no Covers. Just songs that Paull wrote or cowrote from 1970 to the current year 2021.
*Unlike my 2 Disc 70's tracklisting Above which was generally sequential, I'm going a little out of order here because the first 2 Unreleased tracks work potentially so well as openers.
Paul McCartney Anthology/Compilation By DECADE
THE 80'S
1. Squid - a 1987 Instrumental Unreleased till 2020's Flaming Pie Remaster. Such a great "happy" instrumental to start the Disc and 1980's Decade
2. On the Wings of a Nightingale 1984 `A Paul McCartney song written for the Everly Brothers and for their comback tour. This was Paul's original demo.
3. One of These Days - McCartney 2
4. Pipes of Peace - title cut from Pipes of Peace
5, Tug of War/Take It Away - The 1st 2 tracks on the Album "Tug of War". I love the way George Martin segueway's these 2 tracks together as the album openers. Just classic George Maritin Production work.
6. Somebody Who Cares - Tug of War (terrific under the radar gem
7.Wanderlust - Tug of War (One of Paul's best)
8. The Pound is Sinking - Tug of War (another great album cut)
9. Keep Under Cover - Pipes of Peace
10. Through Our Love - Pipes of Peace
11. No Values -Broad Street Album
12. Not Such a Bad Boy -Broad Street Album
13, Stranglehold - Press to Play Album
14.. Good Times Coming/Feel the Sun - Press to Play Album
15. Yvonne's The One - Unreleased from the Press to Play Sessions (one of Paul's best unreleasedl songs ever)
16. Footprints - Press to Play Album (one of Paul's great hidden gems)
17.Mover Over Busker - Press to Play (a great rocker)
18.Only Love Remains - Press to Play
19. My Brave Face - Flowers in the Dirt Album)
20.. Put It There - Flowers in the Dirt
21. Back on My Feet - B-Side to "Once Upon a Long Ago"
22. This One - Flowers in the Dirt
23. Lovliest Thing - B-Side to "Figure of 8" Single
24. Distractions - Flowers in the Dirt (another great hidden gem)
25. Figure of 8 - Flowers in the Dirt
26. Tough on a Tightrope - Press to Play (extra track)
Your criteria for picking these songs (alternate versions of the big hits, the best of deep cuts and b-sides, etc) is exactly what I, as a big fan, would want from a compilation like this. Maybe you're right too that a collection like this would bring mainstream attention to these songs, I would hope so, they definitely deserve much more appreciation. Of the songs you asked about hearing on the radio or in a store, I don't think I've heard any of them in those situations, which is a shame. I love all of them that you listed (except maybe Magneto and Titanium Man).
Your 80's list is great too. About the only changes I'd make would be to replace Move Over Busker with Summer's Day Song.
Thanks McCall. Great point about "Summer's Day Song". That's one that should be on the 80's List. As far as "Magneto" I became a fan when Paul and Band played it on their "Wings Over America" tour. It's a rocker that I came to love. But as you and I both say...you can quibble over a few of these selections but we understand the overall goal. Most of the songs I've listed for the 70's and 80's are "high quality" songs. This is not a Compilation for "completists". I do have my limits. A song like "Spies Like Us" was a quasi-US "hit" but I wouldn't include it because it is a relatively "bad" song. I'm sure a few might like it but I would never consider it a high quality song. It was more of a novelty song written for a movie. I think all the songs on the 70's and 80's list are hgh quality. Thanks again for your imput.
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As I have told you previously BJ, the McCartney team should hire you to take on this project -lol. I think you are into his post Beatle career more than his management team -lol. The job that they did on "Pure McCartney" was so bad and not well thought out. Like you have said, we all may like to add or delete a particular song from your list but IMO you have the intention correct on doing this type of thing. The best end result about this type of release would be to remind us of good/great songs we may have forgotten and for the casual fan to discover some good/great music. Finally, as "McCartney III" proved, McCartney has some unfinished stuff on tape that would probably be cool to hear and that is also perfect for Anthology.
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Revised 2 Disc Paul McCartney 80's Compilaton
Disc 1 (the 80's)
1. Squid - 1987 Unreleased Instrumental (Such a happy melody as a Decade opener)
2. Coming Up - Live Glascow version (done during Wings' European tour)
3. Summer's Day Song - from McCartney 2
4. One of These Days - from McCartney 2
5. Tug of War/Take It Away - from Tug of War (love the way George Martin segways these 2 songs together)
6. Somebody Who Cares - from Tug of War (great hidden gem)
7. The Pound is Sinking - from Tug of War
8. Wanderlust - from Tug of War (one of Paul's best ever)
9. Here Today - Pick the best acoustical "live" version (Paul has always done this poignant song on his tours)
10. Rainclouds - B-Side to Ebony and Ivory
11. I'll Give You a Ring - B-side to Take it Away
12. Pipes of Peace - from Pipes of Peace (Great Production by Geprge Martin)
13. Simple As That -Unreleased and Bonus track from Pipes of Peace (Appeared later on the "The Anti-Heroin Project" Album)
14. The Other Me - from Pipes of Peace
15. Keep Under Cover - from Pipes of Peace
16. Through Our Love - from Pipes of Peace
17. On the Wings of a Nightingale - Unreleased and Demo of Paul's song written for the Everly Brother's Comeback tour and album
18. No Values - from Broad Street
19. Not Such a Bad Boy - from Broad Street
20. No More Lonely Nights - from Broad Street (Paul's last "big" Billboard Hit and great guitar solo by David Gilmour)
21. Waterfalls - from McCartney 2
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Disc 2 to Follow... and 2nd Half of the 80's Decade