Oh what fun bands had when the CD format really started to take hold at the beginning of the 1990's. Hidden bonus tracks began to be concealed at the end or, more irritatingly, before the beginning, of increasing numbers of albums. I'm sure there are still CD's in my collection featuring hidden tracks that I've yet to discover. A particularly time-consuming example of the trend was Cracker's second album 'Kerosene Hat', issued in 1993. Tracks 1-12 are quite straight forward, forming a very worthy successor to the band's self-titled début, released the previous year. The end of the album proper is followed by two short tracks of silence before 41 seconds of random noise entitled 'Hi-Desert Biker Meth Lab' appears to bring proceedings to an end. But no, oh no, the fun is only just beginning. Next comes no fewer than 54 tracks, each comprising between 3 and 6 seconds of silence, before the epic 'Euro-Trash Girl' bursts from the speakers. Then another 19 short silent tracks leading into 'I Ride My Bike' and a further 11 (taking the bewildered listener to Track 99!) before the whole shebang really does conclude with a half-hearted demo of the album's title track.
'Euro-Trash Girl' was already a live favourite with Cracker fans before the release of 'Kerosene Hat' and would rise to even greater prominence the following year as the title track of a 5 song EP.
