A whole record came out of the box.
The four MP3 files had been sitting on an old Cruse Control web server. Together they turn out to be the complete What's It All For? CD by Tear.
The original disc identifies it as TEAR 001 CD and LIMITED EDITION. The sleeve credits all songs to Tear © 1998.
This is presented here as an archive object rather than a new Paul Cruse release. Paul and his wife knew the band, but were not present at these recording sessions.
Four tracks.
All four survived.
The files retain their old web-server filenames, but the titles and running order below follow the original CD itself.
What's It All For?
Lonely Rider
Dinner
Rivers Run Dry
The sleeve settles the details.
Who was there.
Trevor Piggott
Lead vocals, acoustic guitar, djembe
Michelle Brisa
Lead vocals, djembe
Amanda Clark
Lead vocals
Paul Skelton
Drums, percussion
Tim Connell
Bass guitar
Jethro Baker
Pianos & organs
Guest saxophone: Paul Bartholomew on Track 1.
Recorded & mixed by: Colin Rip at Music Works, Brixton, London, England.
Oil painting: John Day.
Promotion: Red Road Promotions.
The sleeve also contains a small contemporary breadcrumb from another part of Tear's history: a thank-you to “Justin the man with the van at Glastonbury!”
The bass player was definitely there by now.
Brixton wasn't a guess after all.
Paul remembered this final recorded Tear work as being made in Brixton around the period he and his wife were moving from New Cross to Moor Park in 1998. The surviving sleeve now confirms both Brixton and 1998.
It also clarifies another remembered detail: both Trevor and Michelle are credited with djembe on the CD.
Other parts of the earlier Tear story — including the precise venue and exact line-up on the first night Paul saw the band — remain memory rather than documented fact.
Keep the record.
Keep the memory.
Know which is which.