The Prisoners "Rare and Unissued" 1988 + "Shine On Me" 1997 - 7"/45rpm

The Prisoners pre-empted the visceral energy of the Hives and the White Stripes and anticipated the baggy shuffle of the Charlatans and the Inspiral Carpets. Lead singer Graham Day's scorching Hendrix-influenced guitar riffs and organist James Taylor's hypnotising Hammond whirls and irresistible go go rhythms not only changed my life but far more influential music types too. - By Lois Wilson
...Ironically May 1986 saw the Prisoners at their busiest and best live. The band landed the support for the UK leg the Ramones tour, thirteen dates that took the band to the biggest venues they had played to date. In June the bands gruelling live schedule continued with nineteen dates in their own right including two nights in Madrid.
Sadly the stress began to take its toll. Squabbles with Stiff records over lack of artistic control and the lack of mainstream success finally started to manifest itself within the band, with arguments over such trivial matters as the loudness of guitar versus the organ at gigs. Their disregard for the music industry and Stiff Records in particular was all but evident in one of the last two tracks the band recorded in late August (‘Pop star party’) having already decided to split. When the band tried to retrieve the master-tapes of the two songs from the safe in Stiff’s offices the tape snapped in the ensuing tug of war!! Both ‘Pop star party’ and ‘Happiness for once’ both subsequently turned up on Hangman’s 1988 ‘Rare and Unissued’ retrospective LP, with the break in the master-tape on ‘Pop star party’ clearly audible!!
The band played their penultimate gig at the Fulham Greyhound on the 5th of September and officially split-up on the 16th of September, fulfilling the commitment of a previous booking at the 100 Club on London’s Oxford street two days later. - from:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/3042/history.html
If you can ever find a copy of the Prisoners "Rare and Unissued" on Hangman records, it's worth it - just for the liner notes! The sound quality varies but the content is killer.
The running theme through the liner notes is that the Prisoners were never very happy with their recorded output, due to the constant meddling of the record companies they were dealing with. That is why there is such a huge discrepancy between the crappy "style council" cuts of the studio recordings, and the completely intense, soulful and wigged-out sound that comes through on their live recordings (I know there are at least two live split LP's they did with Thhe Milkshakes)...
The Prisoners:
Graham Day (vocals and guitar), Jamie/James Taylor (hammond organ), Allan Crockford (bass) and Johnny Symons (drums).

traxfromwax:
1. Coming home 2. Revenge of the cybermen 3. He's in love 4. Trophies 5. Far away 6. Ain't no tellin 7. Come to the mushroom 8. Happyness for once 9. Be on your way 10. Buccaneer 11. Deceiving eye 12. Mourn my health 13. Pop star party 14. The more I teach you 15. Mourn my health

"Shine On Me" 1997 - 7"/45rpm
...Admittedly, their sound is a bit dated. On the other hand, it's just the ticket to hook your 80's obsessed friends into listening to the garage. Once they hear Revenge of the Cybermen, they'll be burying those Morrissey records in the back yard. - Dan Electreau
trax:
01 Shine On Me 02 Judgement Song 03 Small