Looking for timeframe of various demos

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by mikebise

I was told "Impossible Task" was from the Rock A Little era. However, listening to that second version just now that you mentioned, the guitar sounds like the guy from Venice who played on several demos. Stevie met him in 1989... So, I have no idea. Now I would put it in 1991 with "The Mix-Down" and "The Dance".

I have never heard of "The Dance." Is there another pseudonym for this song?

I am not sure if "What Has Rock and Roll Ever Done For You?" was recorded in time for Rock A Little; it could have been. For some reason, I think of it in that burst of creativity Stevie displayed stemming from her February 1986 tour of Australia with Tom & Bob:

Whole Lotta Trouble
You Like Me
Two Kinds of Love
Juliet

Without a doubt WHRREDFY has to have been an RAL-era demo. It seems that she had not fully embraced that brash eighties sound completely until 1984 or so. Plus, RAL was the era marked by long, unwieldy song titles, e.g., "One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star" and "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You."

Also, since "Juliet/Book of Miracles" shares a co-writing credit with Lindsey, I suspect that it was something that was cooked up in the studio during the TITN sessions. In the working demo with Lindsey (which is one of my all-time favorite demos, evah!) you can clearly hear how tentative and embryonic the song is at that stage.