Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Wondermints - Scavenger Hunt (Version 2)

It's high summer in the western hemisphere and we are currently in the middle of a scorcher. The heat makes me long for some summer beach tunes. The new Beach Boys album has its moments but what I'm really longing for is a new one from the Wondermints. Its a tall order since Wondermints albums have been few and far between since the start of the band back in 1992. All told, there have been just five albums released during that 20 year period. The last effort 2009's Kaleidoscopin' was an official compilation of rare b-sides that Wondermints fans have been collecting and recompiling since the very early days of the band.


Since the band itself has been spending its more recent years supporting Brian Wilson during his welcome comeback, I've been only able to put my hands on a hand full of tracks (many of them solo tracks by band members) that were not included in Kaleidoscopin'. This is obviously a work in process and I am not finished with the project. (This is the second version of this compilation. Thanks very much to some of our loyal contributors who helped me fill in the missing bonus tracks from "Mind If We Make Love to You".) Its summer and I'm enjoying this compilation - however if you have any other Wondermints tracks I am missing , please drop me a line. I'd like to add them in. Enjoy and stay cool.

1. Getting Better - Beatles cover recorded (but not used) for a Phillips commercial
2. Bionocle - Newer Nick Walusko track from his MySpace page
3. Surf's Up - Nice live cover version of the Beach Boys track. Probyn Gregory sings
4. Do You Have Any Regrets - Classic Darian Sahanaja cover of unreleased Brian Wilson song. Released as a single
5. A Time to Live in Dreams - Newer Probyn Gregory track from a Stephen John Kalinich (poet and Beach Boys lyricist) compilation
6. I Send Up My Prayer - Track written and sung by Probyn Gregory on an album by Dutch band leader Eric Van Den Brink.
7. I Wanna Pick You Up - Classic Darian Sahanaja cover of the Beach Boys track from Love You album. Released as a single
8. Valentunes - Probyn Gregory demos from the 1980's (and it shows
9. Our Prayer - Wondermints live cover version of Beach Boys Acapella hymn
10. Theme to the Family Way - Darian covers Paul McCartney instrumental soundtrack at a live McCartney tribute concert
11. The Bubbler - Short instrumental track from Probyn Gregory
12. Out of Mind - Demo bonus track from "Mind if We Make Love With You"
13. Ride - Instrumental version. Bonus Track from "Mind if We Make Love With You"
14. Time Has You - Demo bonus track from "Mind if We Make Love With You"
15. I Send Up My Prayer (Demo) - 1980s solo Probyn Gregory demo of track 6

16. Custome Machine - Live sounding beach party track
17. I Just Wasn't Made of These Times - From the earliest Wondermints tapes, Nick Walusko sings this version of the Brian Wilson track