Michael Shelley: discography

We've tried to make this a complete discography, with every permutation and piece of minutiae. Please let us know if you find any additions or corrections.

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Jimmy's Corner Released in the USA May 15, 2015 on the Confidential Recordings label. CLICK HERE to download Thirty instrumental songs, each under two minutes long The songs: 1) The Dog 2) Winner Of The Ebsom Oaks 3) John Lee PhD 4) Pal's Cabin 5) King Of Staten Island 6) Back Of The Country Squire 7) Ahmed Best 8) Late Night B And E 9) Pearl River 10) Jimmy's Corner 11) Speak Out With Ken Sander 12) Zing Zing 13) Iron On Patch 14) Frug Juice 15) If Bones Could Talk 16) Send The Bill To William 17) Howe About Matt 18) Bakers Holiday 19) Aranda Alandi 20) Frank Phils 21) Wessonality 22) Stymie Beard 23) Grape Juice Plus 24) We Have To Go To Main Street 25) Mamaroneck Avenue 26) Watch Your Head 27) Checkpoint Charlie 28) A Lot Of Friendly Advice 29) Savoir Faire 30) Larchmont Avenue Leftovers Released in the USA April 2012 on the Confidential Recordings label. A limited edition collection on non-lp cuts, cover songs, live songs, alternate versions, home demos and other previously unreleased oddball tracks. CLICK HERE to download CLICK HERE to download the free 17 page liner notes for "Leftovers". The songs: 1) Julie (Bobby Fuller cover) 2) Ridin' In My Car (NRBQ cover) 3) Little Things (Bobby Goldboro cover) 4) Walk (Gene Pitney cover) 5) Mellow Doubt (Teenage Fanclub cover) 6) I Don't Want Control Of You (Teenage Fanclub cover) 7) Baby It's You (Shirelles cover) 8) One Step Beyond (Prince Buster/Madness cover) 9) Cheeky Monkey - Free Again (Alex Chilton Cover) 10) Baby's In A Bad Mood (Non Lp Version) 11) Summer I Pissed You Away (Non Lp Version) 12) Too Many Movies (Non Lp Version) 13) The Girl With The Light In Her Eyes (Non Lp Version) 14) Don't (Non Lp Version) 15) No Smoking (Unreleased in the USA) 16) Little Monkey (Unreleased in the USA) 17) Have You Ever Shot Somebody (Non lp) 18) Goofball (Demo) 19) A Little Bit Lonesome, A Little Bit Blue (Demo) 20) Lisa Marie (Demo) 21) Hey Girl I Dig You (Demo) 22) Rollercoaster (Live At Stubbs, Austin Tx.) 23) Baby's In A Bad Mood - (Live At Stubbs, Austin Tx.) 24) That Kind Of Girl - (Live At Stubbs, Austin Tx.) 25) Surfer Joan - (Live At Stubbs, Austin Tx.) 26) Going To L.A. - (Live At Stubbs, Austin Tx.) 27) Think With Your Heart - (Live At Stubbs, Austin Tx.) Goodbye Cheater Released in the USA April 2005 on the Confidential Recordings label and in Spain April 2006 on the Rock Indiana label. CLICK HERE to download songs: We Invented Love Goofball Hurry On Up And Fall In Love Out A Little Bit Blue The Leaves Fell Off The Trees I've Been Trying Goodbye Cheater That's The Way I Feel Where Did I Go Wrong? Suddenly Free Move Along I Wanna Go Bummin' Around Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Recorded mostly live by Bryce Goggin (Pavement, Evan Dando, Apples In Stereo, Spacehog, etc.) at Trout Recording in Brooklyn, NY. Featuring the talents of: Dave Amels (The Stepford Husbands, Husky Team) – Keyboards, Steve Goulding (Mekons, Graham Parker) - Drums, Jon Graboff (Amy Rigby, Laura Cantrell, Beat Rodeo) – Pedal Steel, Guitars, Six String Bass, Mandolin & Mandocello, John Lee (Mercybuckets) – Bass, Dan Miller (They Might Be Giants) – Keyboards, Guitars, Glockenspiel, Drew Glackin (Silos, Tandy) – Lap Steel, Six String Bass, Guitars, Weissenborn and Jay Sherman-Godfrey (World Famous Blue Jays, Laura Cantrell) – Guitars. With special guests Jim Campilonngo – electric guitar & Laura Cantrell – vocals. The Illustrations are by Brooklynite Joel Edwards. CLICK HERE to see one of Joel's rough sketches. CLICK HERE to see some photos of the recording sessions.

I Blame You Released in Japan, on the Nippon Crown label, October 25, 2000 and in the USA on the BAR/NONE label in March 2001. CLICK HERE to download songs: Mix Tape Face In My Pocket Dear Mr. Webster Stoop Sale Nine Lives Don't Fence Me Out Rollo Favorite Graduate Let's Fall In Hate Listening To The Band I Blame You Don't Wait Up This album features the solid rhythm section of Dennis Diken on the drums, and John Lee on bass and features some fine contributions from Dave Amels (tons of keyboards), Lief Artzen (trumpet), Mark Bacino (vocals), Frank Bango (accordian & vocals), Andy Burton (electric piano), Laura Cantrell (sings a duet), Jon Graboff (pedal steel & guitars), Jon Niefeld (sings), Jordon Peugh (percussion) and includes songs cowritten with Stevie Jackson, Francis Macdonald and Jay Sherman-Godfrey. Most of the overdubs were recorded in Michael's Brooklyn apartment. The Nippon Crown version has the song "Little Monkey" (another instrumental) instead of "Rollo". Too Many Movies Released in the U.S.A. 7/21/98 on BIG DEAL, and 12/16/00 in Japan on The Nippon Crown label and January 2001 on SHOESHINE. CLICK HERE to download songs: Baby's In A Bad Mood Too Many Movies The Pill Lisa Marie Sweet Little One Sluggo You Were Made To break My Heart Summer, I Pissed You Away Surfer Joan Jigsaw Girl She's Not You The Girl With The Light In Her Eyes That's Where The Plaque Is This album features a wider variety of musicians then "Half Empty". About half the songs were recorded in Glasgow (while Michael was there to play a few UK shows), two songs in Los Angeles one was recorded with the band Baby Lemonade backing him up. The remaining tracks recorded with his NY band in Brooklyn and Connecticut. The album features lots of great keyboards (Chris Geddes from Belle And Sebastian and Dave Amels) other electric guitarists (Jay Sherman-Godfrey from the World Famous Blue Jays, Stevie Jackson from Bell & Sebastian), lots of harmonies and singing (from all of the above and Laura Cantrell (wfmu dj and performer), and Francis Macdonald (who plays about 10 instruments on this record). Keep your ears peeled for pedal steel, fiddle, clarinet, saxophone, upright bass, string section, toy piano, conga drum, etc. The Nippon Crown Version has four bonus tracks, three of them are alternate versions of songs on the album ("Baby's In A Bad Mood", "Too Many Movies" and "Summer I Pissed You Away"), and one is an instrumental, "No Smoking", which was recorded during the sessions for the "I Blame You" album. The SHOESHINE release of the album features the alternate version of "Summer I Pissed You Away" instead of the album version. It was recorded in 1999 in Brooklyn with Dave & Mike from Baby Lemonade, and finished up at Jay's house. Great cover art by Ward Sutton Click here to read the reviews! Half Empty Released 7/97 in the U.S. on BIG DEAL, 4/99 in the U.K. on SHOESHINE and 11/22/00 in Japan on Nippon Crown. Click here to look for it over at amazon.com! CLICK HERE to download songs: Don't Think With Your Heart Rollercoaster Tonight Could Be The Night Mary Rochester What Makes Me Fall Shrink Me Down (All Over The World) Going To L.A. Sockets Sadderday I Dont Want to See You Anymore This album features the drumming of Brendan O'Malley, bass playing of Paul Koenigsberg, organ playing by Dave Amels, and an amazing guitar solo (on Think With Your Heart) by Jay Sherman-Godfrey. Cover painting by Takashi Tadatsu. The Nippon Crown version has three bonus tracks, "Don't" (a full band version recorded in Glasgow during the "Too Many Movies" sessions) "Rollo" (an instrumental that can be found on the U.S. version of "I Blame You") and "Ridin' In My Car" (an NRBQ cover, previously available only on the Hit The Hay compilation from Sweden) There was a neat green cassette tape promo version. Click here to read the reviews!! Cheeky Monkey "Four Arms To Hold You" Click here for the Cheeky Monkey story! Released on Big Deal in the U.S., Tone Vendor in Japan and Shoeshine Records in the U.K. BUY IT! songs: That Kind Of Girl Monkey Man Big Dumb Boy Robert Lloyd Down Uddingston Church Gun Terror I Wanna Live With You Gerry Cheevers Chasin' Each Other Around The Room All I Can Do Is Cry Let It Flow You Don't Want Me Anymore This album was recorded at Riverside studios, in Busby, Scotland (just outside of Glasgow) in three days. Francis Macdonald and Michael cowrote most of the songs, and do all the playing and singing. This album also was released in an excellent looking limited edition lp record on SHOESHINE. The Japanese version had one bonus track "Free Again" (a cover of an Alex Chilton song) and the following message printed on the spine: The critics rave! 7" & 8" Records Michael Shelley "Think With Your Heart"/"Rollercoaster" 1997, Shoeshine Records "Baby's In A Bad Mood"/"Dont" (non album version) December 2000, Shoeshine Records "Little Things" EP September 2004 on the Heliotone Records label This is a lathe cut 8" limited edition on clear vinyl. Some have a black sleeve, some have a white sleeve. Side A: Little Things, Don't (non lp version), Little Monkey Side B: Julie, One Step Beyond, Baby's In A Bad Mood (non lp version) Click on the record cover for more info Cheeky Monkey "That Kind Of Girl"/"Free Again" 1997, Shoeshine Records The B side is an Alex Chilton song, not available on the Cheeky Monkey album. The Sloppy Joes "The Girl With The Light In Her Eyes"/"Keep On Truckin'" 1991, Diesel Only Records Compilation Contributions "Sounds of the Northeastern Freeform DJ" was released in 2004 by radio station WFMU as an incentive for their pledge drive. It's a lovely boxed set of three 7" records of short recordings by WFMU staff members. It includes a rather odd song Michael wrote just for the ocassion, "Have You Ever Shot Somebody". The station has a few left over copies for sale, CLICK HERE to order yours and support freeform radio! Michael's version of "Mellow Doubt" appears on Teenage Fanclub Tribute - What A Concept? on the Not Lame label. Michael plays all this instruments on this quirky cover. The album also features The Shazam, Redd Kross, Superdrag, Gigolo Aunts, Splitsville, The Mockers, Jet Lag, Sparkle Jets, Barely Pink, and tons more - 24 tracks total! "Is This Music", a Teenage Fanclub tribute was released December 23, 2002 by Painted Sky Discs in Japan. It includes Michael's version of "I Don't Want Control Of You", featuring Dennis Diken on the drums and co-produced by Don Fleming. Also included are songs by Francis Macdonald, The Pearlfishers, Jon Auer, Duglas T. Stewart, The Mayflies USA, Mike Randle and more. ALSO: Great cover art by Jad Fair! "That's Where the Plaque Is" appears on the amazing record Greasy Kid Stuff: Songs From Inside The Radio on the Confidential Recordings label. This is a "best of" compiled by the hosts of the WFMU kids radio show "Greasy Kid Stuff". Also appearing: Yo La Tengo, The Waco Brothers, The Phantom Surfers, The Nutley Brass, The Happiest Guys in the World, Tony Burrello, T. Lance & the Coctails, James Kochalka Superstar with the Zambonis, The Fastbacks, The Mr. T Experience,The Go-Nuts, Hoppin Haole Brothers, S. F. Seals, and The Dandy Lions! The Stiff Generation, was released July 30, 2002 by Groove Disques. Included on this fine tribute to the Stiff record label are two short sections of an instrumental version of the Madness song "One Step Beyond" that Michael recorded on his four track. Also apperaing: Matthew Sweet, Amy Rigby, Bill Lloyd, The Bigger Lovers, The Lowe Beats, Frisbie, Photon Band, Ian Gomm, The Trolleyvox, Clive Gregson, Huw Gower, Bobby and Robin Sutliff, Nixon's Head, The Anderson Council, and Janas Hoyt & The Mary Janes and more!. Michael had a version of the great Chip Taylor song "Julie" on the compilation Our Favorite Texan: Bobby Fuller Four-Ever on the #9 records label from Japan. This is a really excellent tribute album with contributions from Marshall Crenshaw, Young Fresh Fellows, The Incredible Casuals, Buzzed Meg, Health & Happiness Show, Sleeping Giant, Richard Barone, Charlie Chesterman, Bill Lloyd, Liquor Giants, George Usher, Jamie Hoover and more! Read all about it here We Want The Airwaves was released in Spain on the Munster label in March of 1999, and features Michael's cassette demo version of "Shrink Me Down All Over The World" (The "real" version appears on the album HALF EMPTY). Also on this compilation are The Shame Idols, Chris Von Snidern, Shake Appeal, The Rooks, Martin Luther Lennon, The Roswells and more!!! Released on cd and LP! "Baby It's You" on What The World Needs Now...Big Deal Recording Artists Perform The Songs Of Burt Bacharach Big Deal. "The Real Meaning Of Christmas", Michael's Holiday classic, can be found on The Tarquin Records All Star Holiday Extravaganza! Also featuring songs by The Philistines Jr., The Zambonis, the Mommyheads, Monopuff, The Incredible Casuals and more! (35 tracks in all!) A non lp slow version of "Girl With The Light In Her Eyes" came out in Japan on a cd that came with Vol. 14 of the magazine Beikoku-Ongaku, the "Nerd Boy Rock" issue!.

Michael's cool version of the classic NRBQ song "Ridin' In My Car" is out on the compilation HIT THE HAY VOL.3 on the Swedish label Sound Alsleep which also features tunes by Ben Vaughn, The Skeletons, The Incredible Casuals, the Minus 5, Mike Ireland, Robbie Fulks & more!!

There are three of Michael's album tracks on "A Shoeshine Celebration", released on the Nippon Crown label in Japan. This twenty track album includes "Think With Your Heart", Dear Mr. Webster" and "Seeet Little One" as well as contributions from Nice Man, Kim Fowley, the Scruffs and much more!

Folks in the U.K. can buy a low price Shoeshine Records Sampler featuring two Michael Shelley songs, and tracks from Astro Chimp, Cheeky Monkey, Speedboat, Ben Vaughn, Major Matt Mason USA, Laura Cantrell, Radio Sweethearts, John Herald, Paul Burch, Tim Carroll, Nice Man and more!

In 1999 There was a BIG DEAL sampler released in Japan on the Victor Entertainment label. It has a nice cover (with SPAM-like can, and a blue smurf-like character) and "Baby's In A Bad Mood".

The Swedish label Sound Alsleep released a compilation called "Fireworks" which has "Think With Your Heart" and The Sloppy Joe's version of "The Girl With The Light In Her Eyes", and 22 other tracks.

Michael's version of the Gene Pitney song "Walk" was included on the album "He's A Rebel: The Gene Pitney Story Retold" on the To Ma' Lou label.

BIG DEAL released a free sampler in 1999 called "Big Deal Annual Volume II" with sixteen tracks. They gave away 20,000 of them! It contains "Think With Your Heart" and Cheeky Monkey's "I Wanna Live With You" and 14 other songs from the BIG DEAL catalog, click the image to the left for a full list.

There are a few other releases out there, good luck finding them!