Here's the details about the Be Here Now demos tape. I have copies of all of the forum posts to prove this was written, but it's easier just to copy and paste the info, for your reading curiosity.

The Mustique Tape: The Be Here Now Demos review by Bones:

Side 1 first impressions:

All acoustic. What I'm noticing straight away is the similarity between this tape and the famous "Esher" tape that Beatles fans know well. However, this is quite devoid of any sort of party like atmosphere/jam session, as its mostly just Noel, there are sporadic start/stops and a few guests on this side as well who you will know quite well.

The biggest negative is the mechanical nonsense. Obviously, this tape was made for self use so its there for musician reasons, its not intended to be consumed as pleasure. Its a canned drum machine mostly and some of the songs are affected by it negatively. It does not take away from the sheer brilliance of them. If this tape is ever opened for mass fan consumption, expect the BHN arguments to triple ten times over.

1. Angel Child Demo - You've all heard this I presume, right? I'll move on.

2. I Hope I Think I Know - all acoustic, seems to be double tracked, annoying drum machine. Recently on the 2006 semi-acoustic tour Noel played a jangly version of Whatever. That's what I'm reminded of listening to this. It's much more uptempo than the album track and it seems to fit Noels vocals more than Liam's. Its very short, maybe 2-3 minutes maximum. Excellent birth of the song.

3. Unknown song. As Tim was able to dub LTBL on the SOTSOG demos, "It's a Crime", I dub this "Untitled I"! A ballady type song. No mechanical interferences from the dreaded machine. Lyrics are seemingly unfinished. Not much singing either. Seems to be a very rough draft of a never completed tune. Never heard Noel playing like this.

4. My Big Mouth. It is ruined by the drum machine again acoustic. Vocals are subdued and its almost an instrumental. Noel even hums a bit. Seems to be unfinished at the time. The horrible drum programming made me want to skip it. It gets better near the end and is where it gets a bit fast and really strong.

5. Don't Go Away. No drum crap. This is the closest to a finished tune I've heard on this tape at this point. Almost a run through. Simple acoustic. Lyrics are pretty much what we know.

6. Unknown song. I dub it "Untitled II"! This reminds me most of the demo from 88 or 89, What If. Similar sentiment. It has to be about a bird. No drum machine! Will transcribe lyrics later.

7. D'Ya Know What I Mean. Very close to finished at least in the sense lyrically and structurally. Did not notice any immediate differences from the album version, just on an acoustic. Horrible sounding as it has that tape interference. No drum machine.

8. Fade In-Out BLINDER! Best track on the fucking tape thus far. You hear the tape start and I hear Noel say "Fuck, are ya ready mate", then I hear a voice say "Yea man" (I know that voice I'm thinking), then I hear a cough and Noel say "Should we just go?", other voice says "Yea", then Noel does a count in, and its simply an acoustic version of Fade In Out like the live acoustic performances (minus the bongos). I hear another guitar playing with Noel (obviously the other voice) and after a bit of playing I hear the other voice in a playful voice say "Happy?" and then Noel starts singing. Lyrically identical to the finished version and those acoustic performances. This was the last song on the side. After I heard it, I put on BHN for this track in particular. Then I fucking realize, the other voice is Johnny Depp! Of course! What is also telling is they used part of the demo in the album version, almost throughout the entire song as the acoustic backing track to the song is dead on to the album version, with added overdubs, Liam vocals, maracas, and that sort of shite, also in is the album version is part of the intro with Noel's cough. I had chills listening to the album version and coming to this realization.

side 2 analysis upcoming, still in shock from Fade In-Out! They should've released this like the tape version!

Side 2

1. The first track on side 2 is another acoustic version of Don't Go Away. It's a bit different from the first one on side 1. I think Noel's vocal take is a bit higher. It's unclear as to why this track is repeated, but there are some little things that make it clearly different. No drum machine.

2. It's Getting Better Man - oddest song on the tape thus far. Not completely acoustic and the first sign of an overdub as it is present on a fuzzy guitar, sort of reminiscent of the Hindu Times demo. The drum machine is absolutely obnoxious now and the metronome is very clear and in front. Short version as well, lyrics don't seem complete. Seems very skeletal. Sound quality is bafflingly bad. I wonder which generation this tape is. Probably 2nd or 3rd.

3. Stay Young. Fairly straight ahead acoustic take. No drum machine. No metronome. Nothing exciting. If you've heard him play this acoustic, you've heard this. I'm not a huge fan of this song if you can't tell.

3. Untitled IV. One of the best unreleased Oasis song I have ever heard. I refuse to title songs I do not know as you can tell. Lyrics are strong including the line "You have seen my soul and held my hand, take my heart and I will bear your burden, slow my love down and help me shine on" one of the most poetic things I think I've ever heard Noel sing. This is a definite ballad. Metronome is present, but thankfully no fucking drum machine. Bit short though. 2 minutes tops. No chorus.

4. Shout It Out Loud. Acoustic! At first I didn't realize this was Shout It Out Loud as the song is very different to start, but near the beginning I hear Noel sing, "Never be enough to learn, the river's deep and the road is long...." That's right. The genesis of "Shout It Out Loud". Total WTF moment and I had to rewind and listen again. It seems that this song was borne out of the middle eight. The melody is very similar to the version released 5 years later, buts its much slower and the middle eight was the original starting point so the intro threw me off. Excellent view into Noel as a songwriter. Second best track on the tape.

5. Fade In-Out. Another repeat track. Noel solo. No Depp involved. This seems to be much more of an earlier take of the song, so Im thinking the tape is out of sequence now.

6. I am now convinced the tape I have is out of sequence. Again, I am hearing Noel and Johnny Depp talking and they launch into a short medley of Daydream Believer with Noel singing in a laughable sneering type of vocal and then Johnny busts out the chorus of I Think I love You after. Very strange. Obviously following some drug taking. They sound like they are having a blast though. This would be very interesting in the hands of the NME I believe. Noel calls Johnny a vagina and has a fit of laughter, track ends abruptly.

7. Untitled V. Incomplete track as it ends suddenly. No lyrical content really. Seems to just be Noel fucking around or having a really early idea. Not even a minute in length.

8. The last bit on the tape is obviously The Girl In the Dirty Shirt. Actually has LIAM on vocals. It is an acoustic guitar track, but with the drum machine and some feedback driven overdubbing. I think Liams vocals were added afterwards as this was apparently recorded on an 8 track, it has the most polished sound on the tape in terms of tracking, as you can clearly make out the drum machine track, guitar track, overdub tracks and Liam vocals. Not complete either. It ends suddenly.


And there you have the account of the Mustique tape.


My assessment:

I have listened to it now twice in entirety. I have promised myself not to listen to it anymore as I don't want anything to happen to it and will wait to archive it digitally before I listen again. I have to say on one hand, I am blown away, and on another I am a bit let down but dont let that bring your enthusiasm down. It's already one of my favorite items in my collection, simply for the unique setting and content. It's a nice look into the history of Be Here Now. The biggest negative is our friend the drum machine. I am not overplaying its intrusion, but again this was not meant for mass listening.

Needless to say, it will raise eyebrows, and to hear early versions of the tunes its clear how much craziness must have ensued for it to get to where we heard it.

The best bits though are by far Fade In-Out on side 1, Shout It Out Loud on side 2, and just the personal nature of the recording. Take out Mr. Drum Machine and it'd be a stunner all the way around though. Noel should be smacked for using it.

Nice read, Frank, thanks. I'm glad it exits and hope it'll leak some day. Or is it yet another tease?

I have no idea if this guy was bluffing or not, but I figured it was a worthy trade... as he claimed the Mustique tape contained unreleased material and STC is unreleased material. I may have called his bluff though when I refused to post STC.

I gave him bad "info" about my source. What I gave him was a dead-end lead which I discovered 2 years ago, but never resulted in anything.

tbh if i had stop the clocks i would def trade for this. Imo this is alot more rare then stc as we will eventully get stc on a album release but we will never hear these demos

Yes, I would've chosen the Be Here Now demos any day over Stop The Clocks.

On the other hand, I'm very skeptical about this. As much as I would like it to be true, I think this should all be taken with a grain of salt...

so where is the dont go away demo?

How do we join this forum? I will exchange you my demos for stop the clocks! ;D

so let me guess a noel accoustic version which is claimed to be a demo

Yeah, see if you can find it, that would be very interesting if it was the same thing Bones posted. Yeah, ashleigh, it's an acoustic version.

Found it & uploaded it, but the how the f*ck do you PM on this forum??

** EDIT: Solved it. Sent it.

Who are you sending it to?