News

I didn’t know this bad-boy even existed until a couple weeks ago. This is basically the third iteration of this promo. There were some differences between #1 and #2 and the track “Pushing Drugs”. This one looks to be the same as #2 but with just a different cover. When I get it, which should be sometime in the next week, I’ll let you know if it’s worth archiving. Stay tuned!

Awhile ago I asked the members of this site to donate some of their $$$ in order to keep this site going. Well I’m happy to say that we’ve met our goal and we’re all paid up for 2015. I owe everyone who donated a HUGE thanks and bear-hug. Thank you so much!

Here’s some updates to look forward to:

• A special rip of The Wolf dual-disc DVD with perhaps the best audio you’ll ever here from the album
• German Press Kit scans
• Review of the show I just went to/my meet-and-greet experience with Andrew W.K.!

It took an enormous amount of work to transcribe and compile all of these. Thanks Dot! Click here to read the following:

1. 10 Questions With Andrew W.K. – 92.3 Xtreme Radio
2. Ann Arbor’s Andrew W.K. takes feel-good role at Ozzfest
3. Playlouder.com – The Grand Old Puke of (New) York
4. Playlouder.com – 24 Hour Party Person
5. GSU Signal – Andrew W.K. proves himself as the rock star for the 21st Century
6. Jessica (TinyDJ) with Andrew W K at the 9:30 Club in DC – WNRN 91.9FM
7. The Road Ragers
8. The Underground Newspaper – Double Issue 3/4
9. Pheedback Music
10. The Chunklet Celebrity Advice Column: Ask Andrew WK!
11. NCCU Campus Echo
12. While You Were Sleeping: Issue 17
13. Flaunt – April/May 2002
14. The Daily Cardinal
15. Selector Magazine
16. Offbeat Magazine
17. Blender Magazine – April 2002
18. Rockfiend.net

I told you the goods will keep coming in the following weeks! So today I’ve got an encore to last week’s CD that was archived (full of The Wolf demos). I kind of cringe at the label “demos” because that’s not necessarily what these are. Really they are unfinished tracks from the recording process. But that’s kind of a convoluted headline. Anyway, here is my analysis of these tracks just as I did last week.

Tracklisting

1. Untitled (Close Calls With Brick Walls?)
2. Tear It Up
3. Violent Life
4. Your Rules

The first track is another unused track that we’ve never heard before!!! It’s actually pretty cool. Maybe we’ll hear it fleshed out on some official release in the future? #2 Tear It Up – another version, are you kidding me?! #3 Violent Life – this track is exciting because to me it sounds like this was an attempt to turn this b-side from I Get Wet (officially released on the Party Hard single, but probably taken from the 1999 recording sessions) into a full fledged track intended to appear on The Wolf. During this era of AWK this is the track they would play at the beginning of every live concert. So now we have a very cool Wolf-sounding version of it. #4 Again, another version of Your Rules. However in this track it almost sounds like something was being isolated on purpose in order to add to it later.

The End of Our Lives

OK lastly this fifth track and version of The End of Our Lives was not included on the CD above. It’s rather unique. What’s cool about this version is it contains a metronome which kind of acts like a quasi percussion for the song. Also this version contains an unused verse that never made it into the final version or even into last week’s version. But I really, really like it. So there you have it. Did you ever think we’d get Wolf demos? Crazy.

It’s going to get even crazier. I’ve got tons of demos from I Get Wet. They will blow your mind. Some might be disappointed that most of these Wolf demos don’t contain lyrics (I find it kinda cool to have a bunch of instrumental tracks though). But I promise these I Get Wet demos will not disappoint. In fact the next thing archived I think will go down in AWK history.

Remember, you need to join the free fan club to download 18 more minutes of the party!…

Archived: 2003-03-16-Working Ruffs #2 [Demo]

Archived: 2003-04-22-Piano [Demo]

Happy late 11th birthday to The Wolf! Released 9/9/03.

This contains over an hour of AWK demos!  It’s an 11 year-old recording session from Andrew W.K.’s second LP, The Wolf. The “Ruffs” are dated April 23rd, 2003. That’s almost 5 months before The Wolf was released. I can’t believe we are lucky enough for stuff like this to still exist. Not only that but by a series of fortunate events I’ve recently obtained it and have archived it to you for your party pleasure.

Tracklisting

1. Blow Your Bone (Victory Strikes Again)
2. Never Ending Party (Long Live The Party)
3. Addicted To Life (We’re Not Gunna Get Old)
4. Free Jumps (vocals)
5. I Love Music
6. I’m Totally Stupid
7. Never Let Down
8. New Piano Song (The End of Our Lives)
9. New Song (World)
10. Really In Love
11. Tear It Up (vocals)
12. The Mom (The Song)
13. Your Rules

There’s a couple interesting things to point out in the track listing. First of all, apparently the working title for “Victory Strikes Again” AND the album was originally “Blow Your Bone”. Based on an early ad for the album I’ve mocked up what the potential artwork would have looked like for that album. I’ve read different stories and Andrew even gave me another rendition of why the album title was changed to “The Wolf”. Whatever the actual reason is, sometime between April and September it was in fact changed.

Next is track #2 “Never Ending Party”, simply put the track’s name changed to “Long Live The Party”. The musical arrangement of “We’re Not Gunna Get Old” was going to be featured on The Wolf but was retitled to “Addicted To Life”. Obviously since there are no lyrics inserted at this point in the recording process it’s hard to know how different the song was going to be. A lot of the tracks from The Wolf are actually carried over tracks from the 1999 recording sessions and even songs considered and re-recorded for I Get Wet. However that’s not the case for “The End of Our Lives” it was written explicitly for this album, which makes sense why it’s temporarily titled “New Piano Song”. –This kind of made me chuckle, because aren’t all his songs “new piano songs”? Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of the item is track #9, an entirely new song we’ve never heard before! 11 years later and we’re finally hearing it from the cutting room floor. This version of “Really In Love” is 7 minutes and 30 seconds long. Holy cow! I’m not the sharpest knife in the box so it wasn’t until I read the name for #12 did I ever realize the acronym for the “Mother of Mankind” album is MOM. It would have been really interesting to listen to a different version of “Don’t Ever Stop The Noise” & “The Song” reworked as  “The Mom”. One has to wonder what in the world that would have sounded like?!

You’ll notice quickly while listening that most of the tracks don’t have lyrics. So it almost plays as the long rumored all-instrumental album Andrew was planning to release. So until that pans out enjoy these archived tracks.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, I plan on archiving even more stuff next week so please spread the word and check back soon.

Was there anything I missed? Let me know what cool things you noticed in the forum. And remember you need to join the fun club to download anything on the site. Enjoy!

Archived: 2003-04-23-AWK Ruffs [Demo]

The Unreleased Album

Although not technically true, to me this is the genesis of Andrew W.K.. I don’t know how many times I’ve written about this album but based on past experience it probably won’t be the last. I suppose it’s because I’m obsessed with these tracks. I’ve put more legwork and spent more time scrapping for details about these tracks than perhaps any other piece of AWK material out there. Because of that, what once was a relatively vague piece of audio is now much more clear.

But first, I’m happy to announce that I have another update to our music archive. I finally have the album properly archived and up to par with the rest of the archived material on this site. Though this is probably the 3rd iteration of this release be sure to re-download it. It features full album art and HQ audio (320 KBPS, MP3s). -Much thanks to P.C..

If you’re wondering what in the world this mysterious album is,  read on…

The Genesis of Andrew W.K.

There are three different contexts to view this unreleased album. 1) The “1999 Recording Sessions” are a library of 40 or more songs that were recorded in 1999.  These were subsequently used on EPs, a promo/demo/press kit, and though it never materialized, an LP on Bulb Records. Some songs have still never been released or heard. 2) The “S/T Full Length Album Promo” is a promo handed out that arguably help land Andrew W.K. a record deal and also helped convince eventual members of his backing band to initially join the band. The “We Want Fun” LP is a canceled Bulb Records LP that was slated to be released January, 2001.

1999 Recording Sessions

Throughout 1999 and perhaps into early 2000 Andrew W.K. recorded an unknown number tracks. However, to date I’ve accounted for 40-ish tracks which are listed below. These particular recording sessions all used the same setup to create a distinct sound and catalog of material. The easiest way to distinguish these particular recording sessions from another is by listening to the EP “Girls Own Juice”. The songs as they appear on that EP are unaltered tracks from these recording sessions. For simplicity, just imagine that EP having 40+ tracks rather than just the six.

Eventually this material was used as a groundwork for later releases. The first instance of the tracks being modified in some form is the follow up EP to Girls Own Juice; the Party Til You Puke EP. Though Girls Own Juice and Party Til You Puke sound very different, you can still hear the same sounding vocals used on both EPs. Once Andrew was signed to Island/Def Jam Records he did not start recording his debut album from scratch either. Rather, he used this pre-existing library of material as a basis for “I Get Wet” and even the follow up, “The Wolf”. However, the tracks that appear on those releases have many additional layers that have been stacked on top of the original recordings. Or they have been either completely re-recorded or altered in various ways. Here is a running list of the 40+ known tracks (a “(?)” indicates an unconfirmed 1999 recording session track).

S/T Full Length Album Promo

The Girls Own Juice EP pulled six tracks from the 1999 Recording Session and was manufactured in 1999, even though its copyright is printed (C)2000. Around the same time 12 other tracks were pulled to manufacture a limited amount of semi-professional promo CDs. This promo CD donned the title “S/T Full Length Album Promo” on the actual CD in sharpie, printed on the back cover and at least one copy even had it written over some masking tape on the case.

This promo was also included in a press kit that was sent out. Press kits are common in the music industry to promote an upcoming album release. In this case the tentative release on Bulb Records (see below). They can be defined by the entire packaged material sent out (photos, business cards, recordings, etc.).

This is what the press kit looked like for The Wolf

If a recording is included in the press kit it is sometimes referred to as the musician’s “demo”. In this case, the manufactured promo as described above. Not much else is known about the other contents of this particular press kit (if any).

This Press Kit and Promo CD became the catalyst for Andrew W.K.’s career. Prior to being signed to Island/Def Jam records Andrew W.K. and temporary manager Matt Sweeney passed out the Press Kit (and perhaps Girls Own Juice too) to friends and peers within the music industry. Andrew states;

I [Andrew W.K.] was fortunate enough to meet several people in New York who were willing to help pass my music out and one of these guys was a man named Spencer Sweeney. He helped me get my first few shows in New York and was extremely friendly and outgoing and through him I met his cousin Matt Sweeney who became my first manager that had real connections, vision and experience. It was exciting because just starting out there was nowhere to go but up. Matt got the music to Gary Hellsinger at Universal Publishing, who I am still working with, and Gary signed me. Matt also passed the music to Lewis Largent A&R who had just left MTV for Island / Def Jam and Lewis signed me there. Through Matt Sweeney, and in the course of about two months it all got going”.

The Press Kit was also used to recruit drummer Donald Tardy from Obituary. The promo was copied by Donald Tardy and then given to members of the backing band, thus assembling the original lineup.

To complicate things, apparently there were different versions of the promo passed out. They contained alternate track listings and artwork. For example, Andrew W.K. mentioned in an interview a track called “The Ruined Our Lives” and a “whole bunch of other songs” while discussing this promo. The most widely known version of the “S/T Full Length Album Promo” contains the following tracklisting.

1. It’s Time To Party
2. Free Jumps
3. Girls Own Juice
4. Your Rules
5. She Is Beautiful
6. Tear It Up All Night
7. I Love Music
8. Kill Yourself
9. Don’t Stop Living In The Red
10. Party Music
11. I’m Totally Stupid
12. Party Hard

Archived: S/T Full Length Album Promo

We Want Fun (Unreleased Bulb Records LP)

After Andrew W.K. released two EPs on Bulb Records, Bulb officially announced the release of a full length LP. In this announcement the album was given a name; “We Want Fun”. And it was scheduled to be released January, 2001. Because the album never materialized, this is perhaps the most ambiguous context to view these recordings in. The album should be considered in terms of a concept rather than an actual physical good. For example, there was never any set track listing or album artwork. This conceptual album is often confused with the promo CD (described above) promoting the upcoming album on Bulb. That said, the promo CD and the album probably would have been very similar in their contents. For example, some of the artwork from the promo CDs was intended to be used for the album cover. The track listing on the promo CD and the We Want Fun LP could have also been fairly similar. However, an example of how they could have been different is the fact that the promo CD did not have the track “We Want Fun” on it. One could make a strong argument that the album “We Want Fun” would have contained the song “We Want Fun” (probably as it appears on the Girls Own Juice EP).

Fun fact, the cover art is taken from a giant painting Andrew made that hangs on the wall on the back cover of the Girls Own Juice EP.

Andrew Wilkes-Krier released Girls Own Juice and Party Til You Puke under his alias “Andrew W.K.”. Even after releasing those EPs and having gained traction under that stage name, Andrew Wilkes-Krier considered releasing the Bulb album under a new alias by which he called himself “Steev Mike”. In fact, officially it was never going to be released under the “Andrew W.K.” title. So its proper title should be “Steev Mike, We Want Fun”.

Sometime between the end of 2000 and the beginning of 2001, Island/Def Jam Records bought out Andrew W.K.’s contract with Bulb Records. And subsequently Andrew W.K. signed onto Island/Def Jam. Island/Def Jam canceled the release of Bulb Record’s LP and instead fleshed out the existing material; further worked on by Andrew W.K., studio musicians, and sound engineers. Island/Def Jam Records released “I Get Wet” on November 13, 2001 in the UK and March 23, 2002 in the US.

Misconceptions

The “We Want Fun Demo”

The “We Want Fun Demo” is a term referred to by fans as a specific set of audio tracks (above) that are widely circulated on the internet. These audio tracks are often mistaken for the actual We Want Fun LP. It is impossible for the source of these tracks to be the We Want Fun LP because that album only ever existed as a concept. Nothing was ever finalized or released.

It is assumed that the actual source of the audio came from the “S/T Full Length Album Promo”. How the promo was originally obtained and who initially leaked the audio tracks is unknown to me. It’s rumored to either be from an eBay listing, Aaron Dilloway, or from Andrew W.K. and/or a band member(s) handing it out to a hard-core fan(s) after a show. These audio tracks were circulated by an exclusive fan base for a number of years. In 2006 a member of the official Andrew W.K. Message Board leaked the tracks and they became much more widely available. When the audio was leaked fans had very limited information to go off of. Most didn’t even know it existed prior to hearing it for the first time. So it was given the inaccurate title of the “We Want Fun Demo” based on the fact that it was probably the audio for the canceled We Want Fun LP for Bulb Records.

The quality of that leaked audio left much to be desired. A new source of better quality audio presented itself in 2010 and was released via AndrewWKMusic.com. Additionally, an even better source of audio and full album art scans came from an ebay listing posted in late 2013. The seller obtained the copy in 1999 while attending an Andrew W.K. performance at a Starbucks in New York (13-25 Astor Pl, New York, NY 10003). The buyer graciously provided the audio and scans to AndrewWKMusic.com.

Similar Titles

The unreleased album entitled “We Want Fun” for Bulb Records should not be confused with the song “We Want Fun”. The song appears on various Andrew W.K. releases such as “AWKGOJ” EP, Jackass: The Movie: The Official Soundtrack, a “We Want Fun” promo sampler, and the “We Want Fun” music video.

I’ve been trying to track down the song Son Nano Kankei Neh Rock for over 5 years. I lost track of how many hours I’ve spent on Japanese websites. And trying to use Google Translate to make sense of it all. I’ve even solicited many AWK fans who live in Japan with no avail. The problem was that:

a) I didn’t live in Japan in 2008.
b) I didn’t have a Japanese cell phone or a phone carrier subscription in 2008.
c) I don’t speak or read a word of Japanese.

All of which should have been a requirement to get this 30-second song/ringtone. However, about six months ago I made a breakthrough and found some obscure Japanese website hosting it. So without further ado I bring you this rare track six years late. :)

Remember you need to join the fanclub/forum to download it. It’s free and easy to do. Join the fan club!