The Sinceros - Demos and Rarities, 1978-1981

The Sinceros
Demos and Rarities
1978-1981
Studio demo recordings, good to very good quality
mp3@320 kbps

OK, Here's the last of The Sinceros stuff. This is a collection of various demos and rarities from throughout the brief history of the group, beginning with some early demo recordings from 1978, progressing up to their later recordings in 1981. The early (1978) stuff here is pretty rough, both in the recordings and the performances, but the later stuff is really good, and features many songs that can not be heard on any other recordings, either live or studio. So, this is definitely needed to complete any collection of The Sinceros music. After their first album, The Sound of Sunbathing (1979), they essentially completed recording what was planned to be their second album, to be titled '2nd Debut' (artwork featured above), in 1980, but then at the last minute the album was withheld and shelved by their label, Epic records. Much of the material for that album was later re-worked and re-recorded, along with several new songs, under the guidance of Producer Gus Dudgeon (most well-known for his work with Elton John), and was eventually released as Pet Rock in 1981. I don't know how much of the credit goes to Dudgeon (as opposed to the band just growing and maturing), but Pet Rock, is by far their best work, just a wonderful pop album for that time, with great songs, a great sound, and great production. The collection included here has couple of the songs from the 2nd Debut sessions, as well as several from later sessions that were not used on any released albums. For anyone interested at all in the music of The Sinceros, I highly recommend getting Pet Rock, as at least half of its songs (including some of their best) are not found on any of these bootlegs, and the others are in superior versions (actually, everything on that album is better than anything I have been able to post from them here).  Just a great, criminally underappreciated pop album.  In addition, only fairly recently, Pet Rock was reissued as a deluxe CD (actually, first time on CD, 2010 - Wounded Bird/Sony), that contained not only all of Pet Rock, but also the complete 2nd Debut tracks and several other additional bonus tracks, too (for a total of 25 Sinceros tracks). Well worth checking out, if you can find it. But until then, hope you enjoy this final sampling of The Sinceros. BTW, these recordings I've shared represent the only live/unreleased recordings of The Sinceros available as far as I know. If you have or know of any others, I'd love to hear/have anything you can share about them. Thanks.  

Tracklist:
First Demos (c. 1978):
01. Something's Happening Now
02. Rich Quick
03. Girl I Realise
04. Little White Lie
05. My Little Letter
06. Hollywood
07. Quick Quick Slow
08. Cry
09. Cry (instrumental)
Pathway & Matrix Demos (c. 1979):
10. Break Her Heart
11. Count The Beating Hearts
12. Little White Lie
13. My Little Letter
14. Take Me To Your Leader
15. Worlds Apart
2nd Debut (unreleased album, 1980):
16. Come On Out And Play
17. Down Down
Later Demos (1980-1981):
18. Knot On The Inside
19. City Summers
20. Everyday Girl
21. Falling Out With You
22. We Don't Get Along
23. You And I Make Magic
24. Coming Down
25. The Scene

New Link! (Updated 10/8/21)
The_Sinceros_-_Demos_and_Rarities_1978-1981.rar

The Sinceros - 1979 - Boston and London Radio Shows

The Sinceros
1979-11-18
Rat Club, Boston, MA
1979-06-20
BBC Radio One in Concert, Paris Theatre Studios, London, UK
FM Broadcast recordings, very good quality
mp3 @320 kbps

Here's some more Live Sinceros for you (well, at least for the few that seem interested), with a combination of 2 live radio shows from 1979, one from Boston, one from London. Although the setlist covers pretty much the same material as those previously posted (with the exception of a new rarity, 'Beady Eyes' included in this set), they are once again, fun shows worth hearing (and since there are so few available shows, they are all precious). So, here they are again, that great, fun, Power Pop group from the late seventies, The Sinceros. 

Tracklist:
Boston
01. Introduction and Tuning
02. Something's Happening Now
03. I Still Miss You
04. Count The Beating Hearts
05. Walls Floors and Ceilings
06. Up There
07. Disappearing
08. I Can't Stop
09. Little White Lie
10. Television Vision
11. Good Luck To You
12. Take Me To Your Leader
13. Worlds Apart
London
14. Something's Happening Now
15. I Still Miss You
16. Count The Beating Hearts
17. Little White Lie
18. Disappearing
19. Beady Eyes
20. Take Me To Your Leader
21. Worlds Apart
22. Are You Ready?

Mark Kjeldsen - Guitar and Vocals
Don Snow (a/k/a Jonn Savannah) - Keys and Vocals
Ron Francois - Bass and Vocals
Bobbi Irwin - Drums and Vocals

The_Sinceros_-_Boston__London_1979.rar

The Sinceros - 1978 - Hope & Anchor Pub, London

The Sinceros
Fall 1978
Hope & Anchor Pub, Islington, London, UK
(Date uncertain, as band played several dates there between September and December 1978)
Audience recording, good quality
mp3 @ 320 kbps

More Sinceros for you (fun Power Pop band, see previous post), this one a relatively early gig from the Fall of '78, at the Hope & Anchor Pub. This 1978 show features several different earlier songs that were not played on subsequent tours, including 'City Summers', 'Hanging On Too Long', 'Rich Quick', and 'My Little Letters'. Although the vocals and harmonies are a bit more rough around the edges here (probably more due to onstage sound/monitor problems, than their singing abilities), this nonetheless is a fun early show, with good sound quality.


Tracklist
01. Something's Happening Now
02. I Still Miss You
03. Quick Quick Slow (with alternate opening)
04. Count The Beating Hearts
05. Are You Ready?
06. City Summers
07. Walls Floors and Ceilings
08. Hanging On Too Long
09. Rich Quick
10. Good Luck To You
11. Girl I Realize
12. Little White Lie
13. My Little Letter
14. Take Me To Your Leader
15. Worlds Apart
16. Take Me To Your Leader

Mark Kjeldsen - Guitar and Vocals
Don Snow (a/k/a Jonn Savannah) - Keys and Vocals
Ron Francois - Bass and Vocals
Bobbi Irwin - Drums and Vocals

New Link! (updated 03/29/21)
The_Sinceros_-_Hope_and_Anchor_1978.rar

The Sinceros - 1979-12-13 - Palladium, NYC (plus bonus tracks)

The Sinceros
1979-12-13
The Palladium, New York, NY
FM Broadcast (WNEW-FM), very good quality
with bonus tracks from:
1980-09-22 (or 23), Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK
1980-01-18, Goldsmith College, London, UK 

Here's another fine, but relatively unknown, band that popped-up as part of the British New Wave movement in the late seventies-early eighties, had some (but not enough) success, then disappeared without a trace a couple years later, never to be heard from again. It's too bad, cause I really liked The Sinceros' sound and style. They played what I guess would be considered Power Pop. Their music was energetic, bright (almost cheery), and just a whole lot of fun. Their songs were quick, catchy, and clever. They were a wonderful antidote to the bludgeoning anger, aggression, and heavyness of the punk movement at that time. Sure, it's pretty lightweight pop, but it's quirky and fun stuff. They only made 2 albums, The Sound of Sunbathing (1979) and Pet Rock (1981), before breaking up by the end of 1981. They were lead by the singing and songwriting of Mark Kjeldsen, but all four members sang and contributed in various ways. I stumbled upon these guys quite accidentally myself, when I picked up their 2nd album (Pet Rock) based on what I recalled as a previous recommendation by my old college roomate (It actually turned out his recommendation was for a different band altogether, The Sorrows). But once I listened to The Sinceros album, it immediately became one of my favorites from this period, and the rest of the eighties (BTW, I later heard The Sorrows, and was not impressed, so much for that recommendation). Anyway, so here are The Sinceros, another in a long line of wonderful, talented, original bands, that never quite made it. But at least we will always have the music that they did make, to enjoy and remember them by. Fortunately, there are several live shows that were recorded, as well as several demos and unreleased tracks by them that we can share and enjoy. Thus, this is the first of multiple posts featuring The Sinceros. Check 'em out if you have any interest in new wave/power pop, or just fun pop-rock music. By the way, after the band broke up, most of the band members went on to successful musical careers: Don Snow (later J.Santana) played in multiple incarnations of Squeeze and Procol Harum over the years, as well as being a regular member of Van Morrison's Band. Ron Francois briefly joined The Teardrop Explodes, and then moved to Australia to join The Eurogliders, and has stayed there, working with many different Australian bands and artists over the last several years. Bobbi Irwin has worked extensively with Nick Lowe and Van Morrison, among others. Mark Kjeldsen, however, after briefly joining another band, left music and became a social worker in London, but his life was tragically cut short when he died of AIDS in 1992. 

Tracklist:
Palladium tracks:
01. Something's Happening Now
02. I Still Miss You
03. Quick Quick Slow
04. Count The Beating Hearts
05. Disappearing
06. Little White Lie
07. Good Luck (to You)
08. Take Me To Your Leader
09. Worlds Apart
10. Walls, Floors & Ceilings
11. Up There
12. I Can't Stop
13. Television Vision
14. Girl I Realize
15. Are You Ready?
Hammersmith tracks:
16. Disappearing
17. I Can't Stop
18. Little White Lie
19. Socially
20. Take Me To Your Leader
21. Worlds Apart
Goldsmith College tracks:
22. As The World Turns
23. Come On Out And Play

Mark Kjeldsen - Guitar and Vocals
Don Snow (aka Jonn Savannah) - Keys and Vocals
Ron Francois - Bass and Vocals
Bobbi Irwin - Drums and Vocals

New Link (Updated 11/13/23)
The_Sinceros_-_Palladium_Plus.rar

The Palladium show was part of a larger concert that also featured Bruce Woolley, Paul Collins' Beat, and 20/20 Band (their songs not included here), which was all broadcast on WNEW-FM and was known as the "$5 Rock and Roll Show".