THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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SONGOGRAPHY:

Caspar Babypants : Chris Ballew : EGG : PUSA : SUbSET : The Tycoons

The Presidents Of The United States Of America


Track: Source: Year: Details:
5,500 Miles Love Everybody 2004 this one was on the cassette that I made in 1992 that Dave head and became the PUSA thing…that tape had kitty and boll weevil and other on it….but we couldn’t handle this one back then….I wrote a whole new verse for this version…the first verse is new…about driving my old VW van home to Seattle to stay in 1992…that feeling of finally being home was the good feeling that became the spirit of PUSA for me….nice to finally get this one out into the world….and a bit of the classic loud quiet loud quiet that made our first album so fun to play live…I like the way the verses barely rhyme…the end part is brand new for this version too…it needed a hook at the end…like the reward for getting through the story…the reward at the ed of the trip
Ace Of Spades (live) Unreleased live track xxxx Motorhead cover. Usually played after the We're Not Gonna Make It.
Baby You're A Rich Man (live) Unreleased live track 1995 Beatles cover. Performed live multiple times. Mostly in 90's.
Back Porch S/T 1995 -
Ballad Of The Unstoppable Female (The Anna Nicole Smith Story) Mixed Up SOB (Single) 2008 B-Side from the These Are The Good Times People (2008) album
Bath Of Fire II 1996 -
Basketball Dream II 1996 Hidden track on II album.
Blank Baby (demo) Freaked Out And Small (remaster) 2004 -
Blank Baby Freaked Out And Small 2004 -
Body (original) Froggystyle 1994 Demo tape.
Body S/T 1995 -
Boll Weevil (original) Froggystyle (cassette) 1994 Demo tape.
Boll Weevil (demo) S/T (10th Anniversary CD) 2004 -
Boll Weevil S/T 1995 -
Born On Bellevue  (live) Spin Sessions (radio promo CD) xxxx Improvised acoustic song during Spin Sessions radio show.
Born To Be Wild (live) Unreleased live track 2008 Steppenwolf cover. Played on NYE 2008.
Bug City II 1996 -
Bye Bye ? ???? ?
Ca Plane Pour Moi Ca Plane Pour Moi (single)
Rarities
1997  
Candy (demo) S/T (10th anniversary CD) 2004 -
Candy S/T 1995 -
Candy Cigarrette (original) Froggystyle (cassette) 1994 -
Candy Cigarrette S/T (10th anniversary CD) 2004 -
Carolyn's Booty S/T (10th anniversary CD) 2004 -
Cat Scratch Fever (live) Unreleased live track 1997 Ted Nugent cover. Performed live in 1997 tour. Usually as intro to Kitty.
Christmas Jungle Unreleased studio track 1996 Originally recorder for II album. Uncirculating
Christmas Piglet O Come All Ye Faithful (CD)
Play This And They Will Buy (Compilation CD)
1995 -
Clean Machine Love Everybody 2004 sort of a vague love song about a girl who is able to bust through the clutter of brain baggage and clean up my life….there have been many previous versions of this song and again PUSA was able to find a way to make the song shine…the other versions were sort of wimpy and we busted the energy up a notch or two…we are sort of trying to be the cars on this one…this one got new lyrics in the second verse at the last minute to focus the images…I wrote a bunch of really abstract songs like this in the years between PUSA then and PUSA now…good songs but lacking the story telling thing of the old days…this is a bit of new territory for us but that is good…need to try new things…
Cleveland Rocks Pure Frosting 1998 Theme song from The Drew Carey Show.
Clump Unreleased live track 2008 EndSessions 2008.
Confusion S/T (10th Anniversary CD) 2004 -
Cool Time (live) Unreleased live track 2003 Played as an "intro song" on 2003 tour.
Could Have Been A Lady Unreleased studio track 1996 with Kim Thayil (Soundgarden). April Wine cover song. Recorded during a drunken, late-night session at Seattle's Bad Animals studio. In very limited circulation
Cut Me Open (web demo) Unreleased studio track xxxx -
Death Star (demo) Freaked Out And Small (remaster) 2004 -
Death Star Freaked Out And Small 2004 -
Deleter These Are The Good Times People 2008 -
Devil In A Sleeping Bag Twisted Willie (tribute)
Pure Frosting (Japanese CD)
1996 Willie Nelson cover. Slightly different lyrics.
Dueling Banjos (live) Unreleased live track xxxx -
Drool At You Love Everybody 2004 songs about crushes…ahh summertime…we tracked this at egg first and the version from there just was a mess..we couldn’t get the right feel..we really didn’t know the song well at that point…so we re did it at Jupiter and worked out the parts at the shack at my house…that guitar line was originally the bass line but it was too hard for me to play it and sing at the same time …I always feel like the Beatles on speed during the chorus…this one started as the song “here” on a cassette that I made back in 1996 but didn’t have the chorus part…that came 2 years ago and the end came with this version….bits and parts
Dune Buggy S/T 1995 -
Emergency Transmission (web demo) Unreleased studio track - -
Everybody's Happy Nowadays (live) Unreleased live track 1995 Buzzcocks cover.
Farm Food Unreleased studio track ???? Variation of Peaches.
Feather Pluckn (original) S/T (Popllama) 1995 Extended version.
Feather Pluckn S/T 1995 -
Feel Like Making Love (live) Unreleased live track ???? Bad Company cover. Intro song to Peaches
Fire The Pilot Mixed Up SOB (EP) xxxx B-Side from the These Are The Good Times people album.
Flame Is Love These Are The Good Times People 2008 -
Free Falling (live) Unreleased live track xxxx Tom Petty cover.
French Girl These Are The Good Times People 2008 -
Froggie II 1996 -
Fuck California S/T (10th anniversary CD) 2004 -
Gary's Teeth - xxxx -
George Of The Jungle George Of The Jungle (Soundtrack) xxxx -
George Of The Jungle (Main Title Movie Mix) George Of The Jungle (Soundtrack) xxxx -
Ghost Are Everywhere These Are The Good Times People se 2008 -
Groove Is In The Heart (live) Unreleased live track xxxx -
Hand In Hand Freaked Out And Small (remaster) 2004 -
Heading Out Freaked Out And Small 2004 -
Heaven 90210 Unreleased ???? Urge Overkill cover.
Highway Forever Love Everybody 2004 this is an old song…I think I wrote this in 1986 in college in new York…I had already driven across the country many time by then and I had seen a Chris Isaac video on the met and this started out like that…real haunted and spooky sounding with reverb and tremolo guitars…this one was a staple of the set when I played on the street for a living….in fact the first time PUSA played it live was at SXSW last year…after the show I was walking along and saw my old friend marry Lou lord playing on the street…we used to bask in the same spots in Boston although she really stuck with it and I stopped to do other jobs…we always had a thing where if I saw her playing I was to give her a bathroom break and sing a couple of songs to keep her spot…this time was no different and I decided to play highway forever…just as I was about to start a big sweaty dude came huffing down the street with a big upright bass with flames painted all over it…I grabbed him and said “I need you now”…he was cool and learned the chords in a flash and we kick out highway forever rockabilly style…I still think about that performance when we do it live….great song with great live gags (invisible harmonica) and a different feel that we never tried….pure rock and roll.
Hillybilly Drummer Girl Unreleased studio track 1996 Fastbacks cover. Was originally planned to be released on II album. Uncirculating.
Honky Tonk Masquerade (live) Unreleased live track 1995 Joe Ely cover.
Hot Carl Pure Frosting 1998 Hidden track on end of Pure Frosting album.
In My Time Of Dying (live) Unreleased live track xxxx Traditional gospel song. Led Zeppelin rendition...
I'm Mad Freaked Out And Small 2004 -
I'm Too Sexy (live) Unreleased live track 1997 Right Said Fred cover.
I've Got A Feeling (live) Unreleased live track xxxx The Beatles cover.
Japan Rarities
Pure Frosting
1997
1998
-
Jason And The Undertones (live) Unreleased live track 1996 ??
Jazz Guy Freaked Out And Small 2004 -
Jennifer's Jacket Love Everybody 2004 Dave and I struggled with this on in the studio for hours and finally decided to record the guitar and vocal live and add from there…again the solution was to keep it simple…the ending was recorded a month earlier by me and Jason in the shack….so we had to do the whole beginning part and weld it to the ending….whew….there is a real Jennifer and she really did have a jacket like this…falling apart…a folk song…that was way back in 1987 in Brooklyn ny where I lived after college…no money to buy things like new jackets…feels like a good farewell song for the record with that big 6 string chord ringing out….sort of a drinking song at the end…it was fun to do one song completely in the shack from recording to mixing…I tinkered with the guitars and vocal at the end for days to get them to do what I wanted but it was worth it….
Jilted On The Tarmac Some Postman EP xxxx  -
Jupiter (demo) Freaked Out And Small (remaster) 2004 -
Jupiter Freaked Out And Small 2004 -
Kashmir (live) Unreleased live track 1997 Led Zeppelin cover. Part of Kitty on live shows.
Kick Out The Jams S/T 1995 -
Kitty (original) Froggystyle (cassette) 1994 Demo tape
Kitty (demo) S/T (10th Anniversary CD) 1995 -
Kitty S/T 1995 -
Kitty (clean) Rarities 1997 -
Knight On The Town (live) Unreleased live track ???? Performed with Kula Shaker
Ladies And Gentlemen (demo) Fan Eyes Only (cassette) 1998 -
Ladies And Gentlemen Part I II 1996 -
Ladies And Gentlemen Part II II 1996 -
Ladybug These Are The Good Times People 2008 -
Last Girl On Earth (demo) Freaked Out And Small (remaster) 2004 -
Last Girl On Earth Freaked Out And Small 2004 -
Let's Lynch The Landlord Volcano (CD Single)
Pure Frosting (Japanese CD)
1997 Dead Kennedy's cover
Little Indian Princess (original) Froggystyle (cassette) 1994 Demo tape
L.I.P
Little Indian Prices
II 1996  
Loser (live) Unreleased live track 2008 Beck cover. Played unplugged on EndFest 2008.
Look's Like We Made It (live) Unreleased live track xxxx Barry Manilow cover.
Loose Balloon These Are The Good Times People 2008 -
Love Delicatessen Pure Frosting 1998 -
Love Everybody Love Everybody 2004 I am so excited for this song to be a single….please everybody help us make this a single! ….we have never had a single that takes advantage of the open bouncy 2 string riff the way this one does…this riff was in circulation a while back and I would just sit around and play it for hours by myself….then I heard this cool thing on the radio that was like a go-go from france kind of organ thing and I started singing along with it and sang” you gotta love everybody make them feel good about themselves” …I taped myself singing to the radio and found the bit a month later and remembered that 2 string riff and the 2 fit together like glue….the music part of the verse was made up live in front of a crowd at a ski resort in Minnesota…the verse lyrics were all written over a week in the winter and all at 3am looking out over the city while we lived downtown while our house was being remodeled….I am really proud of those lyrics…I think I tapped the story telling power that I had in the old days and it felt great to write a fresh new song special for this new record….me love this one and we love to play it live…bouncy and new wave fun…
Lump S/T 1995  
Lump (4-track original) S/T (10th Anniversary CD)
Rarities
1997 Recorded 1994 in Ballard, WA on 4-track cassette. Chris Ballew - All instruments
Lunatic To Love (original) Froggystyle (cassette) 1994 Demo tape.
Lunatic To Love II 1996 -
Mach 5 II 1996 -
Mama Said Knock You Out (live) Unreleased live track xxxx LL Cool J cover. Performed on Japan tour 1997
Man (original) Froggystyle (cassette) 1994 Demo tape
Man (opposable thumb) Pure Frosting 1998 -
Meanwhile Back In The City (demo) Freaked Out And Small (remaster) 2004 -
Meanwhile Back In The City Freaked Out And Small 2004 -
Miserlou (live) unreleased live track 2009 Dick Tale cover.

Played with Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) at Crocodile Cafe, Seattle, WA - 2009-09-30
Mixed Up SOB These Are The Good Times People 2008 -
Mobile Home Pure Frosting 1998 -
More Bad Times These Are The Good Times People 2008 -
More Rok! Fan Club X-Mas  (cassette) 1996 Fan club tape from 1996.
More Than A Feeling (live) Unreleased live track xxxx Boston cover.
Movin In mp3 2009 Song about Barack Obama "movin in". Released as free MP3.
Munky River (1995 version) Monkey River (CD Single)
Munky River (CD)
1995 B-side from S/T sessions, released as single. One of the songs that was also planned to be on II album.
Munky River Love Everybody 2004 this is a classic story image song…I just want to transport the people to a swampy river at sunset…why I don’t know but I am compelled to do it…there are maybe a dozen previous versions of this song…again it was all about boiling it down to the simple chords and telling the story…I had sound effects and all sorts of different banjos and stuff to try to get the picture across but it all was too cluttered…the solo cracks me up…that is Dave on a 6 string and me on a little monophonic synth…we Have mutated this part live into a soundgarden feel cause we don’t have the keyboard live and the solo sounded like a jam band with a guitar solo…super fun to play this one and mellow down into the groove…we tried a version of this song when we made our first record with cello and xylophone but it only made it onto some Japanese import rare album thing and I really wanted this song to have a proper PUSA version on a proper record
My Date With President's Daughter My Date With President's Daughter (VHS/DVD(?))    
Naked And Famous (Boston Demo) S/T (10th anniversary CD) 2004 -
Naked And Famous (New York Demo) S/T (10th anniversary CD) 2004 -
Naked And Famous (original) Froggystyle (cassette) 1994 Demo tape.
Naked And Famous S/T 1995 -
Nasty Masty (live) Unreleased live track 1994 Song written by Claire Dederer (Dave's sister) and her friend(s).
New York Groove Return Of The Comets (tribute album) xxxx Ace Frehley (KISS) cover.
Novocaine Hurricane Rarities 1997 -
Nuthin But Luv (demo) Freaked Out And Small (remaster) 2004 -
Nuthin But Luv Freaked Out And Small 2004 -
Oh Christmas Tree (live) Unreleased live track 2008 Traditional. Acoustic version.
Peaches S/T 1995 "
"You will NEVER hear a demo of Peaches cause it was never demoed! It went straight to the album..." - Chris Ballew
Peaches - Momo No Uta (live) Rarities 1997 -
Phenomenom (live) Unreleased live track 1997 LL Cool J cover. Short snipped played on Japan Tour.
Play That Funky Music (live) Unreleased live track xxxx Wild Cherry cover. Part of Boll Weevil on live shows.
Poke And Destroy Love Everybody 2004 this one has an obvious message that boys like to kill and girls don’t…now before you brand me a sexist consider that I am talking about boy energy and girl energy…a boy or girl can have one or the other or both inside themselves…fun classic bouncy riff…really fun to play…and good lyrical imagery to get into…this is actually a rough mix that Conrad did at egg so we could check out our sound…we intended to add more guitars in the chorus and all that but it has the great band in the room playing the song sound that we wanted to have on the record so we left it alone…smash your head on the pop rock
Poodle Mouth Rock School compilation xxxx -
Poor Turtle These Are The Good Times People 2008 -
Problems Love Everybody (European CD) 2004 Sex Pistols cover. Released as bonus track on European version of Love Everybody (2004) album.
Puffy Little Shoes (original) S/T (10th anniversary CD) 2004 -
Puffy Little Shoes II 1996 -
Road Runner Fan Eyes Only (Cassette) 1996 -
Rock 'N' Roll Pest Control This One's for the Fellows: A Sonic Salute to The Young Fresh Fellows 2004 The Young Fresh Fellows cover.
Rock You Like A Hurricane (live) Unreleased live track 1996 Scorpions cover. Part of Naked And Famous on live shows).
Rooftops In Spain These Are The Good Times People (Web only bonus track) 2008 B-Side from These Are The Good Time People sessions. It was actually written in Rooftop In Spain.
Rot In The Sun These Are The Good Times People 2008 -
Scrappy Puppy These Are The Good Times People (bonus track) 2008 -
Sharpen Up Those Fangs These Are The Good Times People 2008 -
She's A Nurse (live) Unreleased live track 2007 Planned for These Are The Good Times People album. Studio version uncirculating.
Shreds Of Boa Love Everybody 2004 I had a new years eve party at my house and that friend of mine and tads came and she was wearing a black boa…she got a raging dance party going and twirled her ass off that night…in the morning my living room was covered with shreds of boa….a light bulb went off and I had to write a song called shreds of boa….party song…we joke that the part at the end of the chorus is our primus quote…we used to get compared to them but I never listened to them really…Dave is playing a real 4 string bass on this one…he thought it needed a real low feel…nice job Dave…
Shortwave Love Everybody 2004
wow….I love that snare crack coming out of the mellow surf…this one is a mystery to me…I just like the images and the days of the week thing in the lyrics…musically it started out as a piano thing that I was going to forget if it weren’t for my wife saying that she heard me and liked the chords…it was super mellow and beautiful on piano…so I remembered what I liked about nirvana and other rock that sounds great reduced to simple chords…at its core a good rock song is a simple beautiful melody made fierce by a band…so I pumped it up and wrote some strange words to it and here it is…that keyboard solo was pretty hard…I like that it doesn’t go huge for the solo but goes into a harpsichord recital feel…funny….what does it all mean?
Shout (live) Unreleased live track xxxx -
Shout It Out Loud (live) Return Of The Comets (compilation CD) xxxx -
Slip Away Pure Frosting 1998 -
Snowy Snow (live) Unreleased live track 2008 Played acoustically on KUOW 94.9FM 2008-12-23
So Lo So Hi These Are The Good Times People 2008 -
Some Postman Love Everybody 2004 this is the great example of a song falling out of the sky fully formed….I had sent a package to a friend in Boston…a songwriter named Ramona…she never got the package with a cod of some new music I had been working on in it and when she told me I said “well, some postman is grooving to that thing” and a light bulb went off…I challenged her to a duel…she and I would each write a song called “some postman is grooving” and send them to each other….my first attempt at the song was improvised and all the lyrics were there from the beginning…the only change since that version is switching the 2nd and 3rd verses….it was slower and just a single guitar but mostly the same…this song was a great example of the talent that Dave and Jason have for arranging a song with me….we worked our booties off in the practice space trying different things…I had already recorded the song with 3 other bands when PUSA got a hold of it…none of the other versions were right and we were able to boil it down to its essence and fix the thing…that is my favorite part about PUSA…we can squeeze the true simple song out of the mess of failed previous versions….it was a bit hard to learn and feel comfortable playing but now it is a joy and a no brainer live..
Spoonman (live) Live At Moe (Compilation CD) xxxx Soundgarden cover.
Stranger (demo) S/T (10th Anniversary CD) 2004 -
Stranger S/T 1995 -
Starfucker (demo) Freaked Out And Small (Japanise CD) 2001 -
Sunshine Pure Frosting 1998 -
Surf's Down Love Everybody 2004 Instrumental

we tracked most of the record at Jupiter for the drum sounds then went to my shack for vocals and guitars and all else…this one was just made up on the spot with the record button on and we kept it and I added the noises and organs at the shack…the rest is live and on the fly. a nice little break from the song thing…when Dave and I were the dukes of pop in 1984 we made a cassette that had an intermission and I always like that idea…fun to do it again 20 years later ….wax up the board
-- Chris
Supermodel II 1996 -
Superstar Freaked Out And Small 2004 -
Supersonics Supersonics (CD single) xxxx press notes: ""Supersonics" is a song by The Presidents of the United States of America, released as a promotional CD in order to coincide with the Seattle Supersonics' appearance in the 1996 NBA Finals. The music for the song was the same as their earlier song "Supermodel," but with new lyrics to reflect the then current stars of the team. # "Supersonics" - 2:41 *The single was only available for purchase at the Seattle Supersonics team store. *The voice of the Seattle Supersonics, Kevin Calabro, speaks the last line of the song. He also provided soundbites from his play-by-play from past games. *The Presidents of the United States of America donated their portion of the proceeds from this single to Artists for a Hate Free America and Rock for Choice. The Seattle Supersonics donated their proceeds from the single to the Sonics Net Foundation"
Superstition (live) Unreleased live track xxxx Stevie Wonder cover. Part of Kitty on live shows.
Sweet And Sour Unreleased studio track 2008 -
Sweet Emotion (live) Unreleased live track 1995 Aerosmith cover.
Teenage Girl Pure Frosting 1998 Originally planned for II album.
Tigerbomb (demo) Freaked Out And Small (remaster) 2004 -
Tigerbomb Freaked Out And Small 2004 -
Tiki God II 1996 -
Tiki Lounge God Pure Frosting 1998 -
Time Code Spirit Unreleased live track xxxx Nirvana cover (Smell's Like Teen Spirit).
Tiny Christmas Fan Club X-Mas (cassette) 1996 -
Tiny Explosions (demo) Freaked Out And Small (remaster) 2004 -
Tiny Explosions Freaked Out And Small 2004 -
This Is A Blitz mp3 2009 Released as free mp3 in 2009.
Thursday (live) Unreleased live track xxxx Morphine cover.
Toob Amplifier II 1996 -
Too Much Monkey Business Rarities 1997 Chuck Berry cover.
Tremolo Blooz (Original) Froggystyle (cassette) 1994 Totally different arrangement than was on Pure Frosting album.
Tremolo Blooz Pure Frosting 1998 -
Truckstop Butterfly These Are The Good Times People 2008 -
Truckstop On The Moon These Are The Good Times People (bonus) 2008 -
TV Eye (live) Unreleased live track xxx Stooges cover.
Twig II 1996 -
Twig (semi-acoustic) Rarities 1997 -
Useless Crushes Love Everybody (European CD) 2004 Bonus track on European version of Love Everybody album.
Velvet Universe Freaked Out And Small (remaster 2004 -
Vestina Love Everybody 2004 this is the first and only time we played this song…Dave on drums and Jason on guitar…piano added at the shack…we just rolled tape and Dave and Jason followed my lead…this is a Chris and tad song that we play live but hadn’t recorded yet…it just clicked and became Dave favorite song..we used to do a song called carolyns booty that had the same instrument switch thing…this song is about a friend of mine and tads who lost her job at her ad agency….shreds of boa is also about her…she is a freak…vestina is not her real name so done go looking for her…
Video Killed The Radio Star Rarities
Pure Frosting
1997
1998
The Buggles cover.
Volcano (4-track original) Rarities 1997 -
Volcano II 1996 -
Voodoo Child (live) Unreleased live track 1997 Jimi Hendrix cover.
Wake Up S/T (10th anniversary CD) 2004 -
Walk Don't Run (live) Unreleased live track 2009 The Ventures cover. Played with Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) at Crocodile Cafe, Seattle, WA - 2009-09-30
Warhead These Are The Good Times People 2008 -
We Are Not Gonna Make It S/T 1995 -
What I Like About You (live) Unreleased live track xxxx The Romantics cover. Part of Dune Buggy on live show(s)
What The Hell These Are The Good Times People (Napster version) 2008 Bonus track on "Napster edition" of These Are The Good Times People
Will You Be My Girlfriend (live) Unreleased live track xxxx -
When The Saints Go Marching In  (live) Unreleased live track xxxx Traditional song. Performed live on MadTV.
Whole Lotta Love (live) Unreleased live track xxxx Led Zeppelin cover. Part of Froggie on Japan tour 1997
You Shook Me All Night Long (live) Unreleased live track xxxx AC/DC cover.
You've Got Your Head On Backwards (live) Unreleased live track xxxx The Sonics cover
Zero Friction Love Everybody 2004 another one of those lyrically abstract songs that is too catchy to ignore…I think that I am just using a bunch of unrelated images to talk about simple easy living and how we all want it…not sure…this one came together at the last minute. it was the last song rehearsed and tracked for the album…we didn’t have time to really arrange it the way we liked so I took the instrumental mix and the vocal only mix and created this arrangement in the computer after the mix was done…I would do an arrangement and play it for the others and get feedback and do it again and again until it flowed right…I really wish we could have tracked it over again now that we know how the song should unfold but this version captures the wide open feel just right…Dave is playing a 6 string on this one for that big sound…a really fun one for the crowd to sing along to live in the quiet parts…pure pop