DRASTIC PLASTIC: NME (1985)

1. My Ever Changing Moods (Live) - The Style Council

Exclusive version, recorded live in Liverpool, of Weller and Talbot's fifth single which made #5 in the UK chart in 1984. The track also remains one of Weller's biggest hits of his career, also hitting the Top 30 in the US.

2. Forest Fire (Live) - Lloyd Cole & The Commotions

Another exclusive live track, this one recorded in London, of a current music press favourite. Forest Fire appeared on the band's classic debut album Rattlesnakes which hit #13 in the chart, this track put out as a single just missing the Top 40 at #41. Two more albums and a clutch of hits continued throughout the 80s until Cole pursued a solo career with varying degrees of success. To celebrate twenty years of Rattlesnakes, he teamed up again with the Commotions in 2004 for a one-off tour of the UK.

3. Bad Influence (Live) - The Robert Cray Band

One of the most influental and critically acclaimed blues guitarists and singers of the last four decades, Robert Cray's 1983 Bad Influence album was the one to put him on the map though he had to have wait a further three years until his mainstream breakthrough, Strong Persuader, in 1986. This live take of the title track of his 1983 album was recorded in Chicago.

4. Real Life (Just Around The Corner) - Prefab Sprout

In 1984, Prefab Sprout released their debut album Swoon which drew comparisons with Aztec Camera and Steely Dan. An instant critical favourite, the album hit #22 in the UK and the band quickly followed this up with a new single, When Love Breaks Down, a more commercial, lush affair which stalled at #88 in the chart. However, despite a couple more underachieving singles with Faron Young and Appetite, the band released their second album, Steve McQueen, in 1985 to even greater reviews than the first. The album hit #21 and When Love Breaks Down was granted a re-release. The single this time broke into the Top 40 at still a surprisingly low #25 and remains a radio classic to this day. Real Life... was featured as a bonus track on the 12" re-release. A successful career followed for the next two decades, with Paddy McAloon becoming an in-demand songwriter for artists as diverse as Kylie Minogue, Momus and Jimmy Nail. Ill health has blighted McAloon in recent years but 2009 saw the release of a new Sprout album, Let's Change The World With Music, recorded in 1993.

THE HIT: RED HOT EP (1985)

A rare EP from the shortlived magazine 'The Hit'

1. Kick Over The Statues (The Ramsey McKinnock Mix) - The Redskins

Left-wing rockabilly indie pop from York from a band who released a clutch of critically acclaimed singles and one album, Neither Washington Nor Moscow, in 1986. Signed to Decca, the band soon cracked the national singles chart with Keep On Keepin' On which hit #43; the follow up Bring It Down (This Insane Thing) hit the Top 40. Kick Over The Statues was released as a limited edition 7" single on Abstract Records in 1985 and was featured on the album which hit #31. Not long after, the band split. This remix is exclusive to this EP release.

2. Every Bit Of Me - Simply Red

There was a time when Simply Red were considered somewhat alternative. Mick Hucknall's first punk band The Frantic Elevators released a number of singles between 1979 and 1982. Hucknall re-emerged in 1985 with his new blue-eyed soul band and immediately hit the Top 20 with their take on the Valentine Brothers' Money's Too Tight To Mention. Hucknall, or Red as the sleevenotes declare the vocalist to be called, received support from the weekly inkies as is evident from their appearance here but the more sappy Simply Red became, the more the band became less NME and rather more Take A Break. The rest is history....This track is an exclusive studio take of a track which appeared on the Money's Too Tight 12"

3. Walls Come Tumbling Down (Live) - The Style Council

Released prior to their second album Our Favourite Shop, Walls Come Tumbling Down's opening war cry 'You don't have to take this crap' was an immediate signpost to the return of Paul Weller the angry young man, though  still embracing the jazz and funk tendencies explored on Cafe Bleu. The single hit #6 at the beginning of 1985 becoming one of Weller Mk2's biggest hits. This version, recorded live at the Manchester Apollo, is exclusive to this release.

4. Taste Of Cindy  - The Jesus & Mary Chain

A taster for JAMC's debut album Psychocandy, this a one and a half minute feedback drenched racket gave little indication that the album would sound like anything else. And indeed it didn't; the album became an instant classic. This, of course, features Bobby Gillespie on drums.