Ash – have released the long lost ‘Bittersweet Blue’ single

Following the recent announcement of a special 30 th Anniversary Edition of their seminal debut album 1977, ASH have revealed a song that many fans will have thought lost forever. Bittersweet Blue was originally written before the Rockfield 96 album recording session, was performed supporting Therapy?
at The Point Depot in December 1995 and was finally committed to tape in early January 1996 before being jettisoned in favour of other songs which would comprise the soon to be #1 album.

Bittersweet Blue was turning into a beloved song among the band, so much so that they began to perform it live even before it had complete lyrics, with singer and guitarist Tim Wheeler improvising lyrics in the moment. However, what once looked to be lost to Ash folklore (and possibly a few luck
bootleggers) is now released to the world on 7” single with a brand new video.

Drummer Rick McMurray comments on the resurrection of Bittersweet Blue:

“After we began to play Bittersweet Blue live, it was probably the best part of 20 years before the song was mentioned again, when our back catalogue moved to a new home to be digitised. That’s when we discovered there were some missing master tapes. Fast forward a decade and, as we prepared to put together the 30 th anniversary package, our resident super sleuth, detective Wheeler, resolved the ancient mystery and discovered it had been mislabelled way back when. However, this was far from the end of the saga because what we had was a usable drum take, bass, some rhythm guitars, a scratchy vocal and not much else. Not even lyrics.

“What was to be done? Well, we asked the impossible and Tim delivered, getting in touch with his teenage self, writing lyrics and resurrecting this long lost treasure for your listening pleasure. And if that’s not enough sonic time traveling, we have visuals to match. It made perfect sense with all the above going into
this for us to shoot the video back in the rehearsal space we used in our formative years. It’s where we played the song for the first time all those years ago. It means so much to have this space immortalised for all time. Thirty years in the making, this is Bittersweet Blue. We think it’s turned out pretty damn good.”

Originally released in 1996, the 1977 album is the #1 platinum-selling debut that launched Ash from teenage upstarts to Britpop-era icons. Three decades on, this 30th Anniversary Edition celebrates the album that defined a generation with its breakneck energy, razor-sharp hooks and unforgettable anthems including Girl From Mars, Goldfinger, Kung Fu and Oh Yeah. The 30 th Anniversary Edition will be available on 2LP EcoRecord green and black ‘Inkplosion’ vinyl in gatefold sleeve; 2CD Digisleeve with booklet; and on all digital platforms. Pre-order / Pre-save https://ashband.lnk.to/1977anniversary

The band are also adding more dates to their global 1977 tour. Having already visited Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong, the tour heads to the UK and Europe in October, November and December. Tickets https://ash-official.com/