Webster defines "obscure" as "shrouded or hidden; not clearly seen; relatively unknown; not prominent or famous" ... but NOwhere does it say that "obscurities" can't be "totally freakin' cool!" 　　 　　 If you're one of those Orleans fans who proudly proclaims, "I've got everything those guys ever did!" ... or even of you're not ... get ready for a treat --- 13 previously unheard studio recordings ... from as long ago as 1977 to as recently as 2008! 　　 　　Orleans has been going since 1972 - that's now 37 years! The group has always featured at least half of the original members both live and recorded, including the Hoppen Brothers - responsible for the globally popular vocal sound first heard on 1975's Dance With Me and continued with Still The One and Love Takes Time. Larry has been lead songer on the radio hits. 　　 　　Unlike our Still the One: Live - 30th Anniversary Retrospective, which mined gems from our personal vaults of concert performances, Obscurities gets its juice from our secret stash of ALL STUDIO CUTS! So where did they come from? 　　 　　 　　Well, 1/3 of these are well-produced, high quality "demos" of songs that did NOT wind up on any Orleans album. That doesn't mean they're not great tunes ... it just means that, at the time, we had too much material and something had to give ... so these tunes got passed over. 　　-------------------------------------------- 　　On the other hand, another 1/3 of these tunes DID make it to Orleans albums ... after they were recut as "masters". Why? 　　 　　A common axiom in the music biz is "don't fall in love with a demo". Usually, demos are not up to the stringent audio quality standards required to be put on a finished product and, therefore, really need to be re-done. But sometimes a demo can capture a certain magic that may be lost in the translation, no matter how good the "master recording" comes out. These 4 cuts have that "thang"! 　　------------------------------------------------ 　　The last 1/3 of this collection were done for cofounders Lance and Larry Hoppen's solo projects ... and, as a special treat, we even have one BRAND NEW MASTER RECORDING for you! 　　 　　 　　A sound sample is worth a thousand words, so lplease check out the 13 audio clips here at CD Baby. 　　 The first 2 demos come from '77, as Larry, the late, great Wells Kelly and Lance regrouped after John Hall's first departure. Slippin' Away made it to 1979's Forever album, while You've Been Runnin' found a home on the (also obscure) 1980 Orleans album (with the pencil sketch cover). 　　 　　Larry and Lance carried on after Bob Leinbach, R.A. Martin and Wells left in '82, cutting a mixture of Larry's tunes (I Wanna Be In Love) and some that we got from John (Don't Break the Code and You're Mine - which later became the single from 1986/Nashville's Grown Up Children album) 　　 　　Upon reuniting with John Hall in '85, we got busy prepping for our Nashville debut with tunes like Open Up Your Heart and The Great Divide (which finally resurfaced on 1996's Ride CD). 　　 　　Circa 1990, Larry cut tunes for solo projects (Play It By Heart, I Found Somebody, Kelly, UnSettling Down) with some help from Bob, other friends / Woodstock musicians and Lance. 　　 　　Start From Where You Are comes from a recent cowrite - Lance with Shawn Gallaway.And finally, Larry, Charlie Morgan and Lance cut The Moment early in 2008 in collaboration with two of the writers. 　　------------------------------------------- 　　If you liked Still The One, Dance With Me, Love Takes Time, Let There Be Music and/or other records by Orleans, you can't go wrong with "Obscurities"!