EXCLUSIVE PLAYLIST: Chris Jones’s from Mega City Four

We asked Mega City Four drummer player Chris Jones to compile a mixtape of his favourite songs.

He chose to give us a run through of his favourite tracks from then and now. It’s an absorbing listen and here’s Chris to take you through his choices and reveal his favourite tour van tracks, the most emotional track he’s ever heard and a surprising but begrudging admiration for Christina Aguilera!!

THESE ARE SOME OF THE SONGS THAT I LOVED BACK THEN:
TANK – I FELL IN LOVE WITH A STORMTROOPER (from the album “The Filth Hounds Of Hades”).
This isn’t on Spotify but here it is on Youtube.
Even before I was in the band we all used to congregate on a Friday and Saturday night at a club called “The Agincourt” in Camberley, near where we lived. (It’s still there but not the same). Whenever this song came on all of us and our mates used to rush to the dancefloor and headbang to this track (even Wiz). It was awesome. I was a big fan of The Damned and Motorhead anyway so when this album came out I was in rock heaven. Algy Ward, god bless him.

THE GODFATHERS – I WANT EVERYTHING (from the album “Hit By Hit”)
We used to listen to this album every time we got in the van to go to a gig in the early days. The lead guitar intro was like nothing we’d heard before and was mind blowing. On the way back from gigs it sent us mental. We would play this album and take turns to hang out of the side of the van (like, right out whilst we would be held by our ankles) and try to drink a beer and smoke a fag whilst someone would drunkenly hang on to us as we sped along the M4. We called it “the dangle.” It got worse with us performing the “sumo dangle” but that’s another album!! This record was a massive influence on us and we loved it so much that we did cover the song “I’m Unsatisfied” at a few early gigs, (like the Marquee in Wardour Street). I’ve heard they’re still playing. Gotta see them again to relive that sound. Genius.

THE ROLLING STONES – TUMBLING DICE (from the album “Exile On Main Street”)
Everything on this album really moved me, but mainly “Tumbling Dice”, “All Down The Line” and “Shine A Light”. I agree that they didn’t always make great albums, but there’s something special about pi**ing off to France with all your mates and recording an album in your Khazi, or basement or kitchen or whatever, getting all of your gear nicked in the process, and still coming out with a record that has more soul then anything I have ever heard before. Whatever was going on around them at the time didn’t matter. That record was gonna be good whatever happened.

THE REPLACEMENTS – HERE COMES A REGULAR (from the album “Tim”)
We played this album to death on tour, and to be fair some of it wasn’t great but this one song is special. Gotta love a bit of drinkers misery when you’re feeling a bit down, we’ve all been there. But Westerberg had it off the scale. Listen to this song and just imagine being there in the bar with him at the time. Isn’t that what makes a great song? But this was like Cheers meets Withnail and I. “I’ll take a great gig whisky to ya anyway”. Cheers Paul.

AFGHAN WHIGS – TONIGHT (from the album “Congregation”)
I just bumped into this band along the way. I was given a free album by our publicist at the time. They were hailed to be the next best thing from the Sub Pop label after Nirvana and Mudhoney but most people brushed them aside. I loved them and this track in particular. Great players with soul and feeling. Also still going I believe. Great album.

DINOSAUR JR – OUT THERE (from the album “Where You Been”)
I’ve seen a lot of good guitar players in my time, but this guy, wow! What a legend. The lead guitar playing on this song was ridiculous. Me and Wiz went to see the band at Brixton Academy when we were recording Magic Bullets and we stood there like a couple of statues for the whole gig in amazement. When the band had finished we went up to the front of the stage to try and work out how Mascis came up with that massive sound. He had about six normal black Marshall amps, regular rock stuff, then there was a crafty white one that we’d never seen before, and then there was this green mothefu**er on its side like some kind of an alien intruder. Man, that guy knows his stuff.

THE LEMONHEADS – RIDE WITH ME (from the album “Lovey”)
By far the most emotional song that I have ever heard, but I have no idea what it’s about! Probably drugs knowing Evan. I just remember playing the hell out of this record and always trying to play all of the songs on the guitar when I was drunk. Hopeless!! But it will never leave me.

THE POSIES – DREAM ALL DAY (from the album “Frosting On The Beater”)
This band came out of nowhere and had a great sound. Sometimes we would play this album whilst waiting to go on. Really gets you in the mood for rock! “Dream All Day” is the first track with a wicked guitar intro. Great drummer too. And the last track on the album is awesome also.

AMIEE MANN – I SHOULD’VE KNOWN
Nothing to say about this song really other than “I loved it”. Never liked anything else that she did but this one just grabbed me and I played it to death back in the day. Great pop song.

SMASHING PUMPKINS – 1979 (from the album “Melancholy And The Infinite Sadness”)
I heard this song for the first time in a taxi with the band on Sunset Boulevard going to an interview with the legendary Rodney Bingenheimer at KROQ, the Los Angeles radio station. (This was the interview where we took the piss out of the Manic Street Preachers). I liked the band anyway but this was the first time I’d heard anything from this mega double album. I’ve loved the band ever since.

AND NOW…
NEIL YOUNG – INTO THE BLACK (from the album “Rust Never Sleeps”)

I used to be in a band called Loose Kaboose years ago. The singer made me a tape of an album by Ted Nugent ‘cos he thought I might like it! On the end of the tape was this song. Fucking hell, what a sound. This was grunge way before Sub Pop. He invented it. Went on to make a few other decent records too!!

WARREN ZEVON – DESPERADOS UNDER THE EAVES – (from the album “Warren Zevon”)
My band recently did a tribute gig to celebrate the life of Warren Zevon after 10 years since his death. I trawled through all of his albums to find the best songs for the gig but this one stood out as the best. It’s a sad indictment of a hugely talented man with serious personal issues but that was his life basically. A beautiful song.

BOCELLI – TIME TO SAY GOODBYE
I first heard this song on a visit to Las Vegas. It was being played outside The Mandalay Bay hotel accompanying a huge water fountain display. It stuck in my mind and then it re-emerged on many episodes of The Sopranos. A big fat bloke also sang it at half time during a game I went to at Reading football club a few years ago. Don’t think that lot really appreciated what they were witnessing though! Really special.

CHRISTINA AGUILERA – BEAUTIFUL
I fu**ing hate Christina Aguilera but I so wish I had written this song. I apply a test to any song – “How good would this song be if John Lennon had sung it” – I would love to have heard that. This song would have passed the test.

DOVES – CATCH THE SUN
I first heard this song on a compilation album called “The Album”. Genius! It included such horrors as Coldplay, The Divine Comedy and David Gray. The beginning of this song sounds like Swervedriver (a band that I also loved) but has a fantastic chorus that just grabs you and makes you feel happy.

JET – LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE (from the album “Get Born”)
Donkeys years ago MC4 played a gig with The UK Subs. God knows where it was and it was never to be repeated, but that night the UK Subs singer, Charlie Harper, said that he had a dream the night before that MC4 were the new Beatles! A compliment I guess, but that’s how I feel about this band. This is a song that could have been written by The Beatles if they were still going. I just love it.

THE SNAKES – THE BAND PLAYED ON (from the album “The Last Days Of Rock n Roll”)
I’ve been a fan of this band since they began about 10 years ago and had the privilege of becoming the drummer in 2012. I had to learn all of this album in a hurry and realised that at the time nobody had heard any of the tracks. It is the best album they have done and one of my favourite of all time. “The Band Played On” is a tribute to Dan Tilbury’s fantastic drumming. This song was essentially written and recorded in the studio in no time at all and the outcome is fantastic. Long may it continue.

GENE CLARK – SOME MISUNDERSTANDING (from the album “No Other”)
As a former member of The Byrds, Gene Clark went on to make many albums and many bands have covered his songs, but this is a beauty. Just quality song writing and beautiful melodies. Just what you want from an album really.

ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT – ON A ROPE (from the album “Scream Dracula Scream”)
Never did get to see this band but love this album. “On a Rope” has the best guitar riff. Real air guitar stuff.

IPANEMA – MISERY AND VOMIT/IS IT RAINING OUTSIDE (from the album “Ipanema”)
This band were by far and away better than anything that Mega City Four did. To be honest I could see where Wiz was going when we recorded “Soulscraper” and I wish I could have been part of it. But Lawrence was far better than me. I can’t decide between these two songs, both classic Wiz vocally, but the guitar playing was up there with the best. Never got to see them, gutted.

A fantastic listen – thanks Chris!

Order the Sebastopol Rd Expanded Edition here.

EXCLUSIVE PLAYLIST: Gerry Bryant from Mega City Four

Patrick Fitzgerald's Playlist

Click to listen to Mega City Four

We asked Mega City Four bass player Gerry Bryant to compile a mixtape of his favourite songs.

Here’s Gerry to give you his track by track guide and reveals what gets him dancing down at the local and what he used to get up to on the back seat of the school bus…

1. Big Country – Inwards
Not one filler track on the first Big Country album.

2. The Clash – Stay Free
The Clash were one of my first punk loves. I bought ‘Give ‘Em Enough Rope’ on the day it was released and rushed home to put it on the deck. The vinyl was so thin it was like a flexi-disc. I don’t think anyone would forget the first time they heard this beautiful song.

3. Cockney Rejects – Badman
Nothin’ like a good shout occasionally. Mega City Four used to cover this very early on.

4. Husker Du – Too Much Spice
Reminds me of a stage of my life I’d rather forget about.

5. Fugazi – Suggestion
Great tune and lyrics from DC’s finest. Love the breakdown part.

6. Soundgarden – Switch Opens
I went to see this lot again recently and even though the sound was crap they haven’t lost it at all.

7. Buffalo Tom – The Bible
I love it when Chris sings.

8. The Damned – Wait For The Blackout
The coolest punk bass line ever.

9. Bad Brains – Banned In D.C.
A friend of mine, that’s now sadly passed away, always used to say that this lot were the best hardcore band ever and the worst reggae band ever. Just check out the guitar solo on this.

10. Pearl Jam – Rear View Mirror
Starts off killer then escalates to the perfect peek.

11. Swervedriver – Sunset
I’ve seen this band in London, New York, Boston and countless other places and Jimmy’s guitar is always mesmerising! Played their debut album ‘Raise’ to death and the vinyl is especially thin on this track.

12. The Wonderstuff – Can’t Shape Up
The greatest tune from the greatest album from one of the greatest song-smiths ever.

13. The Faces – Pool Hall Richard
Who doesn’t love Rod?

14. The Wrens – From His Lips
Saw this band over in L.A. in a small club on the east side and it was an unforgettable experience.

15. The Body Snatchers – Too Experienced.
The epitome of ska for me.

16. Firing Squad – Penetration
While all the other kids were getting down to the soundtrack from Grease on school bus trips I was on my own at the back listening to this on my trustee Waltham battery operated mono cassette player.

17. MC Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock – It Takes Two
Try not dancing to this when it comes on the jukebox down the local.

18. Beastie Boys – 3 MC’s & 1 DJ
Nice and raw as rap should be.

19. The Replacements – Unsatisfied
A desperate plea from probably the world’s greatest band ever.

20. Stealers Wheel – Stuck In The Middle
The first 7” I ever bought on from a car parts store on Albert Rd, Portsmouth for 15p. A university student we had staying with us said her boyfriend was in the band. I still have no idea if she was telling the truth.”

21. Black Sabbath – Spiral Architect
Proper metal from the gods of metal. Went to see them at Hammersmith Odeon in the 80s and the drum solo was seventeen minutes long followed by a fifteen minute Tony Iommi solo.

A fantastic and eclectic mix of hardcore, ska, pop, indie and hip hop – awesome! Thanks Gerry

Sebastopol Rd – the expanded edition is available now. Click here to order your copy.

EXCLUSIVE: Tales of Sebastopol Rd with Gerry and Karina!

Mega City Four’s Sebastopol Rd, their first major label album, is re-issued as a 2CD set 21 years after it’s original release.

Compiled by the band, the expanded edition features the remastered album, the Words That Say, Shivering Sand and Smells Of Petrol Stations EPs plus the b-sides from Top 40 hit Stop and 10 previously unreleased tracks, including 6 demos from the bands own archive and the complete Peel Session recorded in 1993.

Click below to watch Gerry, the Mega City Four bass player, discuss his favourite track on the album, Prague, with Karina Fraser, the Chair Trustee of the Forward 4 Wiz Trust, a charity set up following the tragic passing of lead singer and chief songwriter Wiz.

Order your copy of Mega City Four – Sebastopol Rd Expanded Edition now.

Mega City Four vs The USA – Episode outtake!

After we posted the final episode of Mega City Four’s road movie made when they toured the USA in 1992, we found this brilliant outtake on the cutting room floor.

Gerry says “Mark Andrew McKay, from the Legendary ‘Newbury Comics’ and the band ‘Slapshot’, shows us around his bicycle after the show in Boston”.

Watch the previous episodes here.
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10
Episode 11

Sebastopol Rd Expanded Edition is available now – click here to order.

Mega City Four – Sebastopol Rd bundle

The 2CD expanded edition of Sebastopol Rd is released on 23rd September and to commemorate the occasion we have made an exclusive and very limited run of hooded tops to go with the album.

The unisex hoody has twin needle stitching detailing, a ribbed cuff and hem, a double fabric hood and pouch pocket with a small hidden opening to feed your headphone cord through. The hoody is made from 280gsm 80% cotton/20% polyester under Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) certified production.

These are limited to 50 pieces so be quick and order now!

Full information about the 2CD expanded edition of Sebastopol Rd can be found here.

Mega City Four – Sebastopol Rd – expanded edition

It’s another proud day at 3 Loop towers as we announce the release of a 2CD expanded edition of Sebastopol Rd by the magnificent Mega City Four. The album will be released on 23rd September – click here to order your copy now.

The album, originally released in 1992, was their first on a major label having signed to Big Life/Phonogram following the success of Tranzphobia and Who Cares Wins. It is home to the Top 40 hits Stop and Shivering Sand, plus ever popular single Words That Say and Prague, covered by Muse in 2010 on their Resistance single as a tribute to the band who had influenced them.

This remastered re-issue has been compiled by the band with input from the Forward4Wiz trust, who receive a share of the profits on this release.

The 39 track, 2CD set includes 10 previously unreleased tracks including demos taken from the box loads of cassettes and DATs found in guitarist Gerry’s shed, and the digipack packaging includes a 16 page booklet packed with sleevenotes from the band, memorabilia and rare photos.

Alongside the release will be an exclusive Mega City Four hoody only available at 3 Loop Music’s store.
Or you can order the hoody and the album together and save a penny shy of a fiver.

About Sebastopol Rd, Bass player Gerry says: “Things were going well for the band in general before recording this, our third album. The title ‘Sebastopol Rd’ comes from the rehearsal studio in Aldershot where we rehearsed the songs for the album. After the album release things got very exciting. We toured at the biggest venues we’d done and sold out The Astoria in London, something we’d always wanted to do because we loved playing there so much. I think this album still stands up today and I’m proud to have been a part of it.”

Sebastopol Rd Expanded Edition Tracklist:
Mega City Four Sebastopol Rd

CD1

Original Album
1. Ticket Collector
2. Scared Of Cats
3. Callous
4. Peripheral
5. Anne Bancroft
6. Prague
7. Clown
8. Props
9. What’s Up?
10. Vague
11. Stop
12. Wasting My Breath

Words That Say EP

13. Words That Say
14. Untouchable
15. Lipscar
16. Mansion

Shivering Sand EP
17. Shivering Sand
18. Everybody Loves You
19. Disturbed

CD2

Demos
1. Prague – demo *
2. Clown – demo *
3. Overlap – demo *
4. Back To Zero – demo *
5. Peripheral – demo *
6. Wilderness – instrumental demo *

Stop b-sides
7. Desert Song
8. Back To Zero
9. Overlap
10. Revolution (Live)
11. Who Cares (Live)
12. Finish (Live)

And Smells Of Petrol Stations EP
13. Distant Relatives
14. Miles Apart
15. Clear Blue Sky
16. Running Darkness

Session tracks
17. Stay Dead (BBC R1 Peel Session-19 Sept 93) *
18. Clown (BBC R1 Peel Session-19 Sept 93) *
19. Prague (BBC R1 Peel Session-19 Sept 93) *
20. Slow Down (BBC R1 Peel Session-19 Sept 93) *

* previously unreleased

Order your copy here.

Mega City Four vs The USA Episode 11

Back in 1992 Mega City Four went on their first and only tour of the USA and of course took a camera. The footage hasn’t seen the light of day until bassist Gerry found the tape whilst researching the upcoming Sebastopol Rd re-issue.

In Episode 11, our intrepid band are back in LA, to play their final show of the tour at the world famous Whisky A Go Go and get caught up in the Hollywood glamour and clamour of a film premiere before heading home.

Gerry says “We got entertained by a local rapper outside Slim’s in San Fran then had a whip round and got $48 dollars for a local that cleaned the bus. Onto L.A. and it’s Harrison Ford’s inauguration into the Hollywood Boulevard Hall Of Fame that was going on around the corner from out hotel. Played one last blindin’ show at the legendary Whiskey A Go Go then it was time to go back to Blighty and play a festival in Finsbury Park.”.

Click here to watch Episode 1
Click here to watch Episode 2
Click here to watch Episode 3
Click here to watch Episode 4
Click here to watch Episode 5
Click here to watch Episode 6
Click here to watch Episode 7
Click here to watch Episode 8
Click here to watch Episode 9
Click here to watch Episode 10

Tune in weekly for each new episode – or even better register with the site to receive news of all of our upcoming releases and exclusive content!
 

Mega City Four vs The USA Episode 10

Back in 1992 Mega City Four went on their first and only tour of the USA and of course took a camera. The footage hasn’t seen the light of day until bassist Gerry found the tape whilst researching the upcoming Sebastopol Rd re-issue.

In Episode 10, the band cross the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco and as the tour nears the end, they reflect on how the trip has gone.

Gerry says: “It was a weird one in San Francisco. We had to sound check then take all the gear down again,, for an election special night, then set it back up to play.
Spent the time in between trying to get Wiz to tell us what sort of biscuit he would like to be if he was one.”.

Click here to watch Episode 1
Click here to watch Episode 2
Click here to watch Episode 3
Click here to watch Episode 4
Click here to watch Episode 5
Click here to watch Episode 6
Click here to watch Episode 7
Click here to watch Episode 8
Click here to watch Episode 9

Tune in weekly for each new episode – or even better register with the site to receive news of all of our upcoming releases and exclusive content!
 

Mega City Four vs The USA Episode 9

Back in 1992 Mega City Four went on their first and only tour of the USA and of course took a camera. The footage hasn’t seen the light of day until bassist Gerry found the tape whilst researching the upcoming Sebastopol Rd re-issue.

In Episode 9,the band drop in on the Mayor Of Sunset Strip.

Gerry says: ‘While hangin’ out in L.A. we went to see the legendary Rodney Bingenheimer at KROQ then went to do more hangin’ out and play a show in San Diego.
There was plenty of tape left and nothing to film so as a consequence there’s quite a lot of footage of Louis, the bus driver, cleaning flies off the tour bus windscreen in the California sun”.

Click here to watch Episode 1
Click here to watch Episode 2
Click here to watch Episode 3
Click here to watch Episode 4
Click here to watch Episode 5
Click here to watch Episode 6
Click here to watch Episode 7
Click here to watch Episode 8

Tune in weekly for each new episode – or even better register with the site to receive news of all of our upcoming releases and exclusive content!

Mega City Four vs The USA Episode 7

Back in 1992 Mega City Four went on their first and only tour of the USA and of course took a camera. The footage hasn’t seen the light of day until bassist Gerry found the tape whilst researching the upcoming Sebastopol Rd re-issue.

In Episode 7, the band play gigs in Montreal and Detroit, the crappest place in America according to some!

Gerry says: “We finally make it to Montreal, home of the Doughboys, where they made us feel right at home, then on to Detroit. Danny fulfills one of his ambitions by having a blues jam with a guy in the bar next door.”

Click here to watch Episode 1
Click here to watch Episode 2
Click here to watch Episode 3
Click here to watch Episode 4
Click here to watch Episode 5
Click here to watch Episode 6

Tune in weekly for each new episode – or even better register with the site to receive news of all of our upcoming releases and exclusive content!