"Most of these songs were released in Europe as either B-sides or bonus tracks except 'Jumping Beans,' which was never released, and 'Man of Steel' which was originally released on a compilation record called SONGS IN THE KEY OF X. All the recordings were done between 1994 and 1997 in Los Angeles and New York City.I got together with Dave Schiffman in Los Angeles in 1997 to review B-sides and outtakes, some to be re-mixed for this compilation, and so this is not a completist collection, just some songs that I liked. I left plenty of songs out, and some I'm even tempted to re-record, but that's another session, and so here they are, some re-mixed oddballs.01 - Pray A Little Faster (trying to be Dylan)02 - Oddball (trying to be Stones)03 - Village of the Sun (trying to be Springsteen and Dylan)04 - Baby, That's Art (trying to be Bowie)05 - At the End of the World (trying to be Bowie)06 - Can I Get a Witness (trying to be Dylan)07 - Announcement (trying to be Daltrey)08 - Hate Me (trying to be Strummer)09 - Remake/Remodel (trying to be Sahm)10 - Everybody Got the Beat (trying to be Strummer)11 - Jumping Beans (trying to be Lou)12 - Just a Little (trying to be me)13 - You Never Heard About Me (trying to be Strummer)14 - Man of Steel (trying to be me)Frank Black Los Angeles, April 2000Played by Lyle Workman, David McCaffrey, Scott Boutier, Eric Feldman, Nick Vincent and Frank Black."

Frank Black’s Oddballs, a collection of rare gems recorded between 1994 and 1997, is available in 2013 for the first time on vinyl. Though technically a re-release, Oddballs is a special treat for fans and historians of Black’s epic career. In its initial release in 2000, it was only sold to the 5000 lucky folks who bought the first and only pressing. The album is currently out of print, which should be a crime.Oddballs’ was made during Frank Black’s transition from a solo studio magician to a purist who recorded everything totally live to 2-track (the method which would eventually be perfected by Frank Black and the Catholics).Many of Oddballs’ treasures are b-sides either from Black’s 1994 acclaimed studio masterpiece Teenager of the Year or from the totally raw and powerful Cult of Ray from 1995. Though these oddities are obscure, they are in no way throwaways. Rather, Oddballs gives us a deeper glimpse into Black’s unique vision of rock n’ roll. There are moments of real poetic beauty in the very surreally rocking “Announcement” and in the punky adieu to actor John Candy “At the End of the World”. These are songs at the heart of who Frank Black is at heart: an oddball. Here he is most open and carefree about it. Not many people can yell “Hate Me! My jacket’s not right” at the top of their lungs and make us like them, yet somehow Frank Black knows how to do it. Oddballs also features outtakes from that era including covers of Roxy Music’s “Remake/Remodel” and the Beau Brummels classic “Just a Little”.

"reply" was ( second part above this post, from 2/21/14)