Watch the new video HERE
With the recent announcement from Ash of a special 30th anniversary edition of their seminal debut album 1977, the band are today revealing a song that many fans will have thought lost forever. ‘Bittersweet Blue’ was originally written before the Rockfield 96 album recording session, subsequently performed supporting Therapy? at The Point Depot in December 95 and finally committed to tape in early January 96 before being jettisoned in favour of other songs which would compromise the soon to be No.1 album. ‘Bittersweet Blue’ was turning into a beloved song among the band, so much so that they even began to perform it live before it had complete lyrics, lead singer and guitarist Tim Wheeler improving lyrics in the moment.
However what once looked to be lost to Ash folklore (and possibly a few lucky bootleggers) is now released to the world on 7″ single and with a brand-new video.
Buy the ‘Bittersweet Blue’ 7″ single HERE.
Drummer Rick McMurray comments on the story of resurrecting ‘Bittersweet Blue’:
“After we began to play ‘Bittersweet Blue’ live, it was probably the best part of 20 years before that 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 soon to be released 30th anniversary package, our resident super sleuth, detective Wheeler, resolved the ancient mystery, discovering 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 travelling we have visuals to match. It made perfect sense with all of the above going into this for us to shoot the video back in the rehearsal space in the band’s formative years. It’s where we played the song for the first time all those years ago. And 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. Hope the wait’s been worth it!”
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Originally released in 1996, 1977 is the #1 platinum-selling debut album 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 30th Anniversary Edition will be available on 2LP EcoRecord Green & Black ‘InkPlosion’ vinyl in a Gatefold Sleeve, 2CD Digisleeve plus booklet, and digitally. Pre-save / Pre-order the new collection HERE.
The band are also adding more dates to their global 1977 tour which kicks off in September, with stops across Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Japan and Europe before wrapping up in the UK and Ireland in December. For more information, visit the band’s website HERE.
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The digital and 2CD edition features on Disc 1 the original album in full – 12 tracks of high-voltage power-pop that still sound as urgent and melodic as ever, such as ‘Lose Control’ and ‘Darkside Lightside’. It also includes four additional tracks: the long-lost, near-mythical track ‘Bittersweet Blue’, ‘Oh Yeah (2026 version), ‘Girl From Mars (Demo 2026 Mix) and ‘Gone The Dream (Acoustic 2026 Mix)’.
Disc 2 captures a special live set from STABAL Studios in 2021, where the band perform 1977 in full, along with fan favourites from the era, including ‘Oh Yeah’ released as the first track from the performance, plus ‘Coasting’, ‘Sneaker’, ‘American Devil’, and ‘Silver Surfer’.
The 2LP presents the original album across LP1 with a specially curated collection of B-sides on LP2, that highlight the depth and creativity of the 1977 era. Standout tracks include ‘Day Of The Triffids’, ‘Luther Ingo’s Star Cruiser’, ‘Astra Conversations With Toulouse Lautrec’, ‘Cantina Band’, ‘Sneaker’, ‘T Rex’ and more.
ASH – GLOBAL TOUR DATES 2026
17th Sept – Unit, Tokyo (JP) – SOLD OUT
18th Sept – Quattro, Tokyo (JP) – SOLD OUT
19th Sept – Meta Valley, Osaka (JP) – SOLD OUT
21st Sept – Foo Chow Hall, Singapore (SG)
23rd Sept – Hong Kong Portal, Hong Kong (HK)
10th Nov – De Helling, Utrecht (NL)
11th Nov – Gebaude 9, Cologne (DE)
12th Nov – Hole44, Berlin (DE) – SOLD OUT
15th Nov – Effenaar (Small Room), Eindhoven (NL) – SOLD OUT
25th Nov – Electric Ballroom, London (UK)
26th Nov – Electric, Bristol (UK)
28th Nov – Spiegeltent, Limerick (IE)
29th Nov – Cyprus Avenue, Cork (IE)
1st Dec – Arena, Torquay (UK) – SOLD OUT
2nd Dec – O2 Guildhall, Southampton (UK)
4th Dec – Tramshed, Cardiff (UK) – SOLD OUT
5th Dec – UEA, Norwich (UK)
6th Dec – Rock City, Nottingham (UK)
8th Dec – Albert Hall, Manchester (UK)
9th Dec – Olympia, Dublin (IE) – SOLD OUT
10th Dec – Ulster Hall, Belfast (UK) – SOLD OUT
12th Dec – Northumbria SU, Newcastle (UK) – SOLD OUT
13th Dec – Barrowlands, Glasgow (UK) – SOLD OUT
15th Dec – O2 Institute, Birmingham (UK)
16th Dec – O2 Academy, Leeds (UK)
17th Dec – Roundhouse, London (UK) – SOLD OUT
