Unreleased

The first thing to do is to try to work out what should be considered a song that is “Unreleased” by any members of the The Alarm.

This for the purpose of this page falls into 3 categories.
1. An original song recording that was known to exist at that time of the career but did appeared on any release by the band of that era. Or is song known to exist but was only played live but never appeared on record in the period it was written.
2. A song that was recorded as a demonstration version but never appeared on an official release at the time of recording, this includes the bootlegs that can be seen as “official bootlegs” either acquired from the unofficial source selling the recording or was released by fans but with official backing of the band/members.
3. A cover song that was only ever performed live and never officially recorded.

Some choices of song may be on the cusp of unofficial or not, as some where then recorded many years later and in a different style

The Toilets / Seventeen – Alarm Alarm
Originally performed live as The Toilets. Demonstration recording as Seventeen. A snippet of this song was heard on the Absolute Reality tour flexi single and another version was recorded as part of the Vinyl soundtrack in 2013.

Seventeen – Destiny Calling
Demonstration recording

Seventeen – Four Minute Warning
Demonstration recording

Seventeen – Sixty Eight Guns
Demonstration recording – the last song written as Seventeen and captured as a recording on a 4 track recorder in North Wales prior to the Seventeen calling it a day

The Alarm – Mr Jones
This was a song that goes back to the origins of The Alarm, being played live at the second ever Alarm show at St Asaph, Wales in June 1981 with Mike Peters and Eddie Macdonald sharing vocals lines. This song would then vanish into Alarm history until 2014 when Mike Peters recorded a version of the song for the Peace Train CD.
Audio File – St Asaph, Wales 30th June 1981

The Alarm – Abolition
The first time this song surfaced was during a live stream by Eddie Macdonald during the Summer of 2020 and was a track included on, buried in the background of a demo the band recorded many years, even the date of the song at this point is uncertain but may be around the 1984/85 period
video Link – Eddie Macdonald – Summer 2020 live-stream – Abolition appears approx 15 minutes in

The Alarm – Georgie
A demonstration recording that never surfaced but has been heard by Steve and Jeff Fulton as part of their podcasts for thealarm.com they created with the approval and assistance of Mike Peters. This song evolved to be included in various parts of later Alarm recordings, the Strength to Strength demo from 1988 culminating in Let The River Run Its Course – The full story can be heard within this special podcast which includes an interview with Mike Peters – The Night Young Georgie Died Podcast

The Change Demo sessions included a number of songs that were never released at the time in their original format. Some of these would eveolve into other songs that where recorded under new names or at a later point in history after 1991.
The Alarm – New Frontier
Recorded in April 1988 by Mike Peters and Eddie Macdonald as an acoustic demonstration in a studio in Los Angeles in between touring.
The Alarm – Tears Of A River
An early idea that would become part of No Frontiers. Recorded in April 1988 by Mike Peters and Eddie Macdonald as an acoustic demonstration in a studio in Los Angeles in between touring.
Audio link – From the.alarm.change.demos bootleg
The Alarm – I Am What I Am

Recorded in April 1988 by Mike Peters and Eddie Macdonald as an acoustic demonstration in a studio in Los Angeles in between touring. On this the lead vocal is performed by Eddie Macdonald
Audio link – From the.alarm.change.demos bootleg
The Alarm – Strength To Strength

Recorded in April 1988 by Mike Peters and Eddie Macdonald as an acoustic demonstration in a studio in Los Angeles in between touring. This song would eventually be rerecorded and appeared in 2011 and appear in The Sound and Fury 30th Anniversary release. This song also has a relevance to the earlier idea that was Georgie from the 1985 era with a verse that Eddie sings on this demo.
Audio Link – From the.alarm.change.demos bootleg
The Alarm – Black Day
Recorded in April 1988 by Mike Peters and Eddie Macdonald as an acoustic demonstration in a studio in Los Angeles in between touring.
The Alarm – Know Me Like I Know You
An early idea that would evolve into The Rock. Recorded at Knimel Hall, St George, North Wales in 1988/1989.
Audio Link – From the.alarm.change.demos bootleg
The Alarm – Serve One Another
The Alarm – Uphill Battle
A song originally recorded in April 1988 by Mike Peters and Eddie Macdonald as an acoustic demonstration in a studio in Los Angeles in between touring. This did find its way onto the bootleg the.alarm.change.demos that surfaced from Red Dragon Records, Thailand in 1998
Audio Link – From the.alarm.change.demos bootleg
The Alarm – Crossroads
The Alarm – Take Me Home

Dave Sharp – Easterhouse
A song Dave wrote around 1991/1992 and was performed live but never made it onto any recordings

Mike Peters & The Poets of Justice – Ride On Angel
This song was only ever played live once at the very first Mike Peters & The Poets of Justice gig at Bath Moles Club on 17th July 1992. On asking Mike about why it was never played again, he responded that it was rewritten into another song.
Audio Link – Audience recording Moles Club, Bath, England, 17th July 1992

The Alarm – Uphill Battle
A song originally recorded in April 1988 by Mike Peters and Eddie Macdonald as an acoustic demonstration in a studio in Los Angeles in between touring. This did find its way onto the bootleg the.alarm.change.demos that surfaced from Red Dragon Records, Thailand in 1998
Audio Link – From the.alarm.change.demos bootleg

(Page updated 18/05/2021)

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