"The Great Pop Group Strike" ("Optimistic Fool" out-take)

 

















According to the extensively diagram’d and footnote’d worksheet suspended in gaffa in the studio (OK, it was sellotaped to the wall… same thing…), “The Great Pop Group Strike” was supposed to be the last song on side two of “Optimistic Fool”. In the end it was decided that the final song should be “First Of A Million Love Songs” (which was about Take That, by the way: during our brief period working with BMG it had been suggested by some bright spark at the company that the fledgeling-not-yet-smash-hit 'That would benefit if Steve would work with Gary Barlow on a couple of songs!): apparently it was more “contemplative” and had more “slow burn”. Well, yes… OK, whatever  you say, but so much for those gaffa’d (sello’d) notes, right? And as “The Great Pop Group Strike” didn’t fit anywhere else on the album it was abandoned. Here's a version still with Steve's guide vocal. I agree, not enough “slow burn”.

"Think Bubble" is an album (LP only) of 1995 demos for an unreleased Pooh Sticks album.
See 'About Me' for details.