The snows are too deep, the frosts way too sharp, to do any spring cleaning in New England. Best to wait even for the baking summers to pack their bags and for the leaves to glow red and gold before attempting to put any real order into your life up here.

For singer/songwriter Lloyd Cole, now then is the time for ‘Cleaning Out the Ashtrays’ – for sorting through dusty boxes of cassettes, DAT tapes and CDs in his Easthampton hideaway, to take stock and try to make sense of all that forgotten music. All those lost songs; half remembered sessions, much-missed friends and fellow-musicians and gifted co-producers. A goldmine of music from 21 years as a solo artist.

Here, then, are 59 – count ‘em – nuggets from the Cole vaults. Four CDs bursting with alternate versions, rare b-sides, cover sessions (Lou Reed, Marc Bolan and Leonard Cohen songs among them), and a few tracks that the record companies – and on occasion, even Lloyd himself – just didn’t get at the time. An astonishing variety of material from just shy of 20 years as a solo recording artist – and yet they all bear the unmistakeable Lloyd Cole stamp.

The launch of the new Lloydcole.com, along with a healthy appetite for touring his folk singer set around the world, has helped establish a vibrant online community of Cole fans. Countless queries about lost b-sides and rumoured remixes sowed the seeds of the ‘Cleaning Out the Ashtrays’ project which Cole has researched and compiled himself.

Now, all of us can share in the riches that lay hidden inside that dusty old box.

Tracklisting:

CD1 “One Red Wine Glass”

The ‘L’ Word 3:23
b-side of the single ‘Weeping Wine‘ Polydor COLCD15

Mannish Girl 4:16
b-side of the single ‘Morning Is Broken‘ Fontana VIBES2

The Witching Hour 3:55
b-side of the single ‘Don’t Look Back‘ Polydor COLCD12

Wild Orphan 3:49
b-side of the single ‘No Blue Skies‘ Polydor COLCD11

Don’t Look Back (original mix) 3:40
previously unreleased

No Blue Skies (Skyline mix) 4:09
previously unreleased

Blame Mary Jane 3:52
b-side of the single ‘Don’t Look Back‘ Polydor COLCD12

Everyone’s Complaining 3:18
previously unreleased

Shelly I Do 2:58
b-side of the single ‘No Blue Skies‘ Polydor COLCD11

Somewhere Out In The East 2:21
b-side of the single ‘Weeping Wine‘ Polydor COLCD15

Chelsea Hotel #2 3:22
from the album ‘I’m Your Fan: The Songs of Leonard Cohen’

Pay For It (long version) 6:56
previously unreleased

Weeping Wine (original mix) 2:36
previously unreleased

Weird On Me 3:42
b-side of the single ‘She’s A Girl And I’m A Man‘ Polydor COLCD14

Children Of The Revolution 2:43
b-side of the single ‘She’s A Girl And I’m A Man‘ Polydor COLCD14

She’s A Girl And I’m A Man (pre op) 4:19
previously unreleased

CD2 “Re-Make/Re-Model”

Butterfly (the Planet Ann Charlotte mix) 6:51
b-side of the single ‘Butterfly‘ Polydor COLCD16

4 M.B. 4:46
b-side of the single ‘So You’d Like To Save The World‘ Fontana VIBED1

Love You So What (alternate mix) 4:15
previously unreleased

Morning Is Broken (alternate mix) 6:59
previously unreleased

Too Much Of A Good Thing (alternate mix) 4:39
previously unreleased

For The Pleasure Of Your Company 3:40
b-side of the single ‘So You’d Like To Save The World‘ Fontana VIBED1

Radio City Music Hall 2:47
b-side of the single ‘Morning Is Broken‘ Fontana VIBED2

Eat Your Greens 4:02
b-side of the single ‘Morning Is Broken‘ Fontana VIBED2

Vicious 3:53
b-side of the single ‘So You’d Like To Save The World‘ Fontana VIBES1

Mystic Lady 3:04
b-side of the single ‘So You’d Like To Save The World‘ Fontana VIBES1

The Slider 3:18
b-side of the single ‘Morning Is Broken‘ Fontana VIBES2

CD3 “Dangerous Music”

I Will Not Leave You Alone 2:21
b-side of the single ‘Like Lovers Do‘ Fontana LCDC1

Most Of The Time 4:07
b-side of the single ‘Sentimental Fool‘ Fontana LCDD2

Baby (original demo) 4:02
b-side of the single ‘Baby‘ Fontana LCDC3

Traffic (long version) 4:21
b-side of the single ‘Like Lovers Do‘ Fontana LCDC1

Millionaire 3:07
b-side of the single ‘Sentimental Fool‘ Fontana LCDD2

Happy For You (Stephen Street mix)
previously unreleased

Sentimental Fool (Stephen Street mix)
previously unreleased

Like Lovers Do (Stephen Street mix) 4:00
b-side of the single ‘Baby‘ Fontana LCDC3

Baby (Stephen Street mix)
previously unreleased

Sold 3:56
b-side of the single ‘Sentimental Fool‘ Fontana LCDD2

Brand New Baby Blues 3:17
b-side of the single ‘Like Lovers Do‘ Fontana LCDC1

Missing
previously unreleased 4:15
b-side of the unreleased single ‘That Boy‘ Mercury MERDD 511

Rain On The Parade
previously unreleased 4:36
b-side of the unreleased single ‘That Boy‘ Mercury MERDD 511
published by Chrysalis Music/Copyright Control

Millionaire (acoustic mix) 3:01
previously unreleased

The Steady Slowing Down Of The Heart 3:26
b-side of the single ‘Baby‘ Fontana LCDC3
published by Chrysalis Music

It’ll Never Happen Again 2:53
previously unreleased

CD4 “Difficult Pieces”

ClaireFontaine 2:28
b-side of the single ‘No More Love Songs‘ SANXD 198

I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself (with Robert Quine)
from the album ‘Great Jewish Music: Burt Bacharach’ Tzadik TZ 7114-2

Artificial Tears 4:40
b-side of the single ‘Impossible Girl‘ XIII Bis MU 764

If You Gotta Go, Go Now
previously unreleased 2:43
b-side of the unreleased single ‘That Boy‘ Mercury 5664622

Tie Me Down (demo)
previously unreleased 3:05
b-side of the unreleased single ‘That Boy‘ Mercury 5664622

Fool You Are (from the etc sessions) 3:28
previously unreleased

Fool You Are (Langer and Winstanley mix) 3:48
previously unreleased

That Boy (Langer and Winstanley mix) 4:37
previously unreleased

Si Tu Dois Partir 2:44
from the album ‘Pop Romantique: French Pop Classics’ Emperor Norton EMN7011

Santa Cruz (vocal mix) 1:11
previously unreleased

Late Night, Early Town (guitar version)
previously unreleased 4:10
b-side of the unreleased single ‘Cutting Out‘ Sanctuary SANXD225

My Alibi (piano version)
previously unreleased 4:18
b-side of the unreleased single ‘Cutting Out‘ Sanctuary SANXD225

For The Good Times (with Jill Sobule) 3:27
from the album ‘The Pilgrim: A Celebration Of Kris Kristofferson‘ American Roots Publishing 1203893

Coattails 3:20
previously unreleased

Romany Soup
from the album ‘Great Jewish Music: Marc Bolan’ Tzadik TZ 7126

ClaireFontaine (long) 3:13
b-side of the single ‘No More Love Songs‘ SANXD 198

Here’s what the outside of the box looks like – from left to right on this jpeg – back, spine, front. As usual this is Hosuk Lee Makayima’s work

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