User:ChineseLamps/Barenaked Ladies demo tapes

The Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies released five demo tapes before being signed to Reprise Records. This page only includes the tapes released before the release of Gordon. All other EPs are not included.

Buck Naked
Buck Naked was the Barenaked Ladies' first indie tape release, with just Ed Robertson and Steven Page. The first known tape was released in 1988 (though most were released in 1989).

There are four editions of this tape, each with different track listings. The earliest version, dating from "Fall 1988", features five songs different from future editions, as well as a cover that is different from later versions: it is green with the faces of Page and Robertson pasted onto photos of Terence Trent D'Arby. This edition of the tape is very rare, with fewer than 100 copies of it existing. The second, third and fourth editions feature a white cover with a black-and-white photo of Page and Robertson. Each of these editions have essentially the same track listing, but with a few more songs added every edition. There were more copies of these editions made, with 150-600 copies made. It was recorded on a four-track recorder. The tapes were sold by the band off the stage.

The different editions feature songs which the band would eventually re-record for later releases. "Be My Yoko Ono" and "If I Had $1000000" would appear on The Yellow Tape and the their first album Gordon (both eventually becoming hits). Also recorded for Gordon (as the so-called "naked track") was "The King Of Bedside Manor". "The Great Provider" would be recorded again for the second album, Maybe You Should Drive, and the Bucknaked recording would appear on the "Jane" CD single in 1994. "Night Photographs" would be recorded for The Pink Tape and that recording, with the pitch corrected, would appear on The Ladies Room, Vol. 1 fan club CD single in 1997. "Trouble With Tracy" was performed live, with a live recording appearing as the B-side to the "Brian Wilson" single in 1993. "Road Runner" would be performed live as well, with a live version appearing on The Ladies Room, Vol. 7 fan club CD single in 2003.

Track listing, green edition
(the second side of the tape includes most of the songs from The Police album Zenyatta Mondatta).
 * 1) "Road Runner"
 * 2) "Only You" (early version of what would later become "Lilac Girl")
 * 3) "Night Photographs"
 * 4) "Wishing Well"
 * 5) "Really Don't Know"

Track listing, final black & white edition

 * 1) "Roadrunner" – 1:31
 * 2) "Lilac Girl" – 3:06
 * 3) "King of Bedside Manor" – 3:02
 * 4) "Trouble with Tracy" – 2:55
 * 5) "Great Provider" – 3:35
 * 6) "Night Photographs" – 3:00
 * 7) "Make My Heart Fly" – 1:35
 * 8) "Really Don't Know" – 3:53
 * 9) "Be My Yoko Ono" – 3:44
 * 10) "Psycho Killer" – 3:57
 * 11) "Rudi, A Message To You" – 3:33
 * 12) "If I Had $1000000" – 2:45
 * 13) "Wishing Well" – 4:08
 * 14) "Careless" – 4:08
 * 15) "How's the Level?" – 0:05

Barenaked Lunch
Barenaked Lunch (often referred to as The Pink Tape) is the Barenaked Ladies second indie tape release. The title is a pun on the novel Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs.

This was the first tape recorded with bassist Jim Creeggan and percussionist Andy Creeggan. The tape was recorded as a demo tape in 1990 and is also known as the Pink Tape. About 2,000 tapes were produced but were mastered incorrectly, with the songs playing too fast.

Track listing
All songs by Steven Page and Ed Robertson.


 * 1) "Night Photographs" - 2:13
 * 2) "The Trouble with Tracy" - 2:43
 * 3) "Blame It on Me" - 3:43
 * 4) "Be My Yoko Ono" - 3:11
 * 5) "If I Had $1000000" - 4:27

Barenaked Recess
Barenaked Recess is the Barenaked Ladies third indie tape. Unlike the others, however, this one was unreleased. Only six tapes were distributed to friends of the group in 1990. The tape was leaked to the internet in 2010 from a past owner of the tape. The torrent containing the tape contains "Blame it on Me", which is identical to the recording from "Barenaked Lunch". This, along with owners of the original tape claiming it isn't on their copy, reveals that "Blame it on Me" was probably added in on a second generation copy. The tape includes the debut of songs such as Brian Wilson, "The Flag", and "Crazy" which were later featured on Gordon, along with unreleased songs such as "Skinhead", and covers of Material Girl and When Doves Cry.

Track listing

 * 1) Brian Wilson  – 5:00
 * 2) "The Flag" - 2:58
 * 3) "Skinhead" - 2:23
 * 4) "The Flag" - 3:27
 * 5) "Lilac Girl" - 3:16
 * 6) When Doves Cry - 2:26
 * 7) Material Girl- 3:03
 * 8) "Crazy" - 2:36

Barenaked Ladies (The Yellow Tape)
The Yellow Tape is the Barenaked Ladies' forth indie tape release. It was recorded in 1991 at Wellesley Sound in Toronto (except for "Be My Yoko Ono", which had been recorded earlier at Number 9 Studios).

It was originally recorded as a demo for the band's performance at South by Southwest. The Yellow Tape did very well, becoming the first indie tape to achieve platinum status in Canada. Although officially self-titled, it is commonly referred to as The Yellow Tape, due to its yellow cover.

It was re-released by Cheree Records in CD and vinyl record formats as Barenaked Ladies in the United Kingdom. The UK release dropped the track "Fight the Power".

Early copies of the tape include an error in the J-card notes: drummer Tyler Stewart's name is misspelled as "Steward." It also includes a different address for the band's management.

In 1995, the band's Shoe Box E.P. single featured this recording of "If I Had $1000000", listed officially as "Yellow Tape Version," indicating the band themselves refer to this release by its common name.

Variety Recordings: Barenaked Ladies
Variety Recordings: Barenaked Ladies is the Barenaked Ladies fifth indie tape release. It was only issued to radio stations, and is extremely rare. It has an insert with tan paper with purple ink, showing off Steven Page's legs on the cover.

Track listing

 * 1) "New Kid (On The Block)" - 4:06
 * 2) "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" - 4:35
 * 3) "Blame It On Me" - 3:40
 * 4) If I Had $1,000,000 - 4:16
 * 5) "Crazy" - 2:23
 * 6) "The Flag" - 3:16
 * 7) "Hello City" - 3:15