An early recording from The Waterfront - the band that would later become The Stone Roses - will be released next month. In 1983 John Squire, Andy Couzens, and Gary (Mani) Mounfield, vocalist David "Kaiser" Carty and bassist Chris Goodwin recorded a two song cassette demo.
As the story goes, though The Waterfront never ended up playing any gigs, the band gave copies of the cassette to friends and potential fans in Manchester and tried to use the recording to lure Ian Brown into joining the band. As fate would have it, Brown eventually joined The Waterfront but after a few life events and personnel changes, Squire, Couzens, Mani, and Brown formed a completely new band: The Stone Roses.
Bootleg recordings of the original demo tape circulated on the net for years, but The Waterfront have decided to release the recordings officially on April 21st for Record Store Day in the U.K. In a press release Carty reveals that the lo-fi demos have been remastered with all proceeds to benefit The Christie in Manchester (an extension of Europe's comprehensive cancer treatment center):
"It was a bit of a shock to be asked if I minded the songs being released after all this time. When I found out we don't get anything and the money goes to The Christie cancer charity, I was over the moon. What a fantastic cause having lost both my parents and numerous friends to cancer. It was only right we said yes, go ahead."
The 12 inch vinyl includes the two songs "Normandy (On A Beach)" and "Where The Wind Blows," along with cover art created by Factory Records/Hacienda designer Trevor Johnson.
This release will likely be restricted to Record Store Day in the U.K. (not Record Store Day in the U.S.), but we'll find out tomorrow when the full list of offerings for Record Store Day will be announced. In past years, some releases are globally available; others are restricted to certain countries.
UPDATE: The release will only be available for Record Store Day in the U.K.
Via Stone Roses News.
Published March 5th, 2018