Matt Nathanson – “Headphones (Feat. LOLO)” – CD Promotional Single

If you know me, you know I’m a huge Matt Nathanson fan and I collect everything he does on Vinyl and CD…even the CD Promotional singles. I’ve posted a lot of the ones I have in my collection on the site already. But now, I finally found the most elusive single for me and the last one out there that I know about or even Discogs documents. It is the Promotional CD single for his classic song “Headphones”. It might be my favorite Matt Nathanson song of all time.

The song features singer LOLO and is off Matt’s album ‘Show Me Your Fangs’ released in 2014.  It is one of his best albums as well, so check it out as well. The CD promo was sent out to radio stations across the country sometime in 2014 and “Headphones” is the only song on the disc. I’m not saying this promo single is rare, but there is only 1 person on Discogs that states they have it in their collection (and that person might be me) and one has never been sold on Discogs. I bought mine off eBay while scrolling early one morning. I couldn’t believe my luck.

The song “Headphones” for me is about putting on my headphones, listening to music and escaping.  When you listen to music, it can take all your cares in the world and throw them out the window. With music, you can feel invincible (as the song states).  The song is everything I feel about music and how important it is in my life.  Heck, I even started a blog where all I talk about is music.  I have only known this song for 3 years now, but it is the soundtrack to my feelings on music.

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Journey – “Suzanne” (1986) – 7″ Single

Journey’s ninth studio albums was 1986’s ‘Raised on Radio’ and the second single off the album was “Suzanne” which was written by members Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain. The song went to #17 on the U.S. Charts and was one of three Top 20 hits from the album. An album that would reach #4 and sell over 2 million albums going double platinum. The band at the time was really only Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon as Ross Valory was out and during recording, so was Steve Smith which is why you only see 3 guys on the cover of the single.

The song came out in June 1986 and from an album that had 5 total singles. The song was about this guys ex-girlfriend who went on to become very famous and he can’t get her out of his head. Every time he sees here on TV, in the movies or hears her on the radio, he is tormented and can’t stand it. Steve Perry was asked if there was someone real the song was about, he basically said didn’t give a straight answer and said real or not, the girl in the song itself is real.

The version I have of the single is a 7″ Vinyl single and it is a promo as can be seen on the label with the words “Demonstration Not For Sale”. As a result, it is the same song on both sides so no new B-Side here. In the old days, the song would be Stereo on one side and Mono on the other, but by 1986, all stations were basically Stereo so no need for a Mono side.

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Matt Nathanson – “Faster” – Promotional CD

“Faster” is the first single off Matt Nathanson’s 2011 album ‘Modern Love’. The single in the U.S. came out on March 29, 2011 and it broke the Top 100 landing at #74…so not getting close to the Top 40 countdown. However, on the Adult Top 40 Billboard Chart, it reached #11 so the adults dug, kids…I guess not so much.

The promotional copy I found is from the U.K. and according to the note on the front, it was to be released on August, 6th, 2011. It was talking him up and the fact he was opening for Kelly Clarkson’s tour in America and Train in the U.K. Matt was heading to the U.K. to do his own set of shows. That Kelly Clarkson show was the one my oldest daughter and I caught at their Fox Theater, Atlanta stop. My brother-in-law, Ryan, worked with both Kelly and Matt in that year so we got free tickets to the show and ended up meeting Matt that evening and getting autographs and pictures. He was a truly stand-up guy with the way he treated my daughter. He made her feel that she was the most important girl in the room when he talked to her. Really cool.

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Needtobreathe – “Keep Your Eyes Open” (2012) – Promotional Single

A couple months ago I showed off a pretty simple, yet cool, UK Promotional CD for the Needtobreathe single “The Heart”. This time I found another UK Promotional single and this time for their 2012 hit, “Keep Your Eyers Open” off their 2011 album ‘The Reckoning’. This was scheduled to be released on September 3, 2012 in the UK (it was February 14, 2012 in the US) and was a radio edit. On the back of the case is a sticker to the people that the CD single went to…Carrie Curtis & Maree Douglas.

This packaging was not plain and simple like “The Heart”, there was a unique picture on front and back that I believe are exclusive to this release and even the CD itself had some color to it and not a simple CDr burn like the last one. Whereas “The Heart” Promotional Single was on Discogs, this one I can not find which I am assuming that means this one is very hard to find and obviously no one has cataloged it yet.

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Needtobreathe – “The Heart” – Promotional Single

As you know if you follow this site, I am a huge fan of Needtobreathe. I have all their albums on vinyl and now I am going after the cool and unusual stuff on CDs. The first thing I found was a promotional single for the song “The Heart” off their upcoming 2014 album ‘Rivers in the Wasteland’. There is a sticker on the front of the plastic wrapper that gives you all the promotional information that is upcoming for the band including the “Impact Date” or release date of the single on April 21, 2014. it mentions the producer who was Joe Chiccarelli who had worked with The Raconteurs, The Killers and U2. It even goes through the bands upcoming performances on TV and BBC Radio. Check it out below.

The Promo CD is out of the UK and I bought it from someone in the UK. The single was presented with a paper sleeve (black and white text only) and in a PVC wallet. Very simple presentation, no artwork or anything special like that. Plain and simple, but still really cool. The only song on it is “The Heart”, nothing else.

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Aerosmith – “Angel” (1988) – 7″ Single (The Aerosmith Collection – Bonus Edition)

The next single from the Permanent Vacation album we will discuss is the third single from the album, “Angel”. Again, we have another Promotional copy of the single which means “Angel” is the only song on each side. The song was written by Steven Tyler and Desmond Child and is one of the band’s biggest hits up to that time going all the way to #3 on the Billboard Charts.

Tyler feels this song was a big sell-out for the band he hated for Record Executive, John Kalodner, for forcing outside writers in to the band. Tyler felt the ballad made him look like he lost all his street cred. However, I am sure his bank account would disagree. And if you look at the next couple Aerosmith albums, there a few more ballads in the mix. It helped revitalize their career so it wasn’t all bad.

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