The Replacements Celebrate 40 Years of 'Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash' With Deluxe Box Set

The Replacements’ 1981 Twin/Tone Records debut, Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash, heralded the Minneapolis-based band’s competing tendencies toward indelible genius and reckless abandon. The ’Mats’ legendary founding line-up – lead singer/songwriter and guitarist Paul Westerberg, drummer Chris Mars, and brothers Bob and Tommy Stinson (lead guitar and bass respectively) – unleashed a thrilling, dynamic sound on the album with now-classic songs like “Takin’ A Ride,” “Shiftless When Idle,” and “Customer.”

The band celebrate their 40th anniversary of Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash this year with a 4CD/1LP set that offers a remarkable document of The Replacements’ formative years. Of the set’s 100 tracks, 67 have never been released before, including the first demos the band recorded in early 1980, as well as a professionally captured concert from January 1981. Along with a newly remastered version of the original album, it also uncovers many unreleased rough mixes, alternate takes, and demos from the band’s first 18 months together. The LP included in the set, titled Deliberate Noise, presents an alternate version of the original album using these previously unreleased tracks.

SORRY MA, FORGOT TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH (DELUXE EDITION) will be available from Dig! on October 22 for £67.99 and can be pre-ordered now at shop.thisisdig.com. An exclusive bundle is also available via Dig! for £70.99 that includes the boxed set and a 7” reissue of The Replacements’ first single “I’m In Trouble” b/w “If Only You Were Lonely,” The music from the collection will also be available through digital and streaming services.

SORRY MA, FORGOT TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH (DELUXE EDITION) is presented in a 12 x 12 hardcover book loaded with dozens of rarely seen photos. The set was produced by Twin/Tone Records co-founder Peter Jesperson, Rhino’s Jason Jones, and Replacements’ biographer Bob Mehr, who received a Grammy® for Best Album Notes for his work on the band’s acclaimed 2019 boxed set Dead Man’s Pop. Mehr again penned the detailed liners that accompany this set, which features new interviews with The Replacements. Former Replacements manager Jesperson also provides a remembrance of the Sorry Ma era.

The boxed set opens with a remastered version of the original album that’s been expanded with the non-album B-side, “If Only You Were Lonely.” From there, a second disc, titled Raised in the City, delves into the group’s very first recordings (“Try Me,” “She’s Firm,” “Lookin For Ya”), as well as studio demos for album tracks (including “Shutup” and “I Hate Music”), outtakes (“Shape Up,” and “Get On The Stick,” among them) and rare basement recordings (“Lie About Your Age,” “Johnny Fast”). A handful of these appeared on Rhino’s 2008 reissue of Sorry Ma, but more than a dozen included on the new set have never been released.

Four outtakes on the collection’s third disc, Tape’s Rolling, debuted on the same 2008 reissue, but here they’re joined by more than two dozen unreleased recordings. Highlights include electrifying alternate versions of “Johnny’s Gonna Die” and “Love You Till Friday,” alternate mixes for “Rattlesnake” and “More Cigarettes,” plus Westerberg’s home demos of “You’re Pretty When You’re Rude” and “If Only You Were Lonely.”

The Deluxe Edition ends on a high note with the earliest professional live recording of The Replacements. The previously unreleased concert, dubbed Unsuitable for Airplay, was captured by Twin/Tone’s mobile unit on January 23, 1981, at the 7th St Entry in Minneapolis, MN. A portion of the show was later broadcast on the local community radio station, KFAI.

The concert took place as the band was in the midst of work on Sorry Ma. The show’s setlist is packed with evolving versions of songs that would appear on their debut album (“Hangin Downtown,” “Somethin to Dü,” “Rattlesnake”), along with other early numbers that were never released (“Mistake,” “Excuse Me”), plus choice covers of The Heartbreakers’ “I Wanna Be Loved,” Slade’s “My Town,” The Kinks’ “All Day and All of the Night,” and Dave Edmunds’ “Trouble Boys,” among others.

SORRY MA, FORGOT TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH (DELUXE EDITION + 7” VINYL SINGLE)

Track Listing:

7” Vinyl Single:

A-Side: I’m In Trouble

B-Side: If Only You Were Lonely

Disc One: Original Album (2021 Remaster)

“Takin A Ride”

“Careless”

“Customer”

“Hangin Downtown”

“Kick Your Door Down”

“Otto”

“I Bought A Headache”

“Rattlesnake”

“I Hate Music”

“Johnny’s Gonna Die”

“Shiftless When Idle”

“More Cigarettes”

“Don’t Ask Why”

“Somethin To Dü”

“I’m In Trouble”

“Love You Till Friday”

“Shutup”

“Raised In The City”

“If Only You Were Lonely” – B-Side

Disc Two: Raised In The City – The Early Recordings

“Try Me” – Demo

“She’s Firm” – Demo

“Lookin For Ya” – Demo

“Raised In The City” – Demo

“Shutup” – Demo

“Don’t Turn Me Down” – Demo

“Shape Up” – Demo

“I Hate Music” – Studio Demo

“Careless” – Studio Demo

“Shutup” – Studio Demo

“Otto” – Studio Demo

“Get On The Stick” – Studio Demo

“Oh Baby” – Studio Demo

“Raised In The City” – Studio Demo

“Shiftless When Idle” – Studio Demo

“More Cigarettes” – Studio Demo

“You Ain’t Gotta Dance” – Studio Demo

“Don’t Turn Me Down” – Studio Demo

“Rattlesnake” – Basement Version

“Takin’ A Ride” – Basement Version

“Lie About Your Age” – Basement Version

“We’ll Get Drunk/Customer” – Basement Version

“Johnny Fast” – Basement Version

“Mistake” – Basement Version

Basement Jam – Rehearsal

Disc Three: Tape’s Rolling – Studio Outtakes, Alternates & Home Demos

“Careless” – Alternate Version

“Takin A Ride” – Alternate Version

“Shutup” – Alternate Version

“Otto” – Alternate Mix

“Raised In The City” – Alternate Version

“Rattlesnake” – Alternate Mix

“Love You Till Friday” – Alternate Version

“Customer” – Alternate Version

“Somethin To Dü” – Alternate Version

“Johnny’s Gonna Die” – Alternate Version

“I’m In Trouble” – Alternate Version

“I Hate Music” – Alternate Version

“We’ll Get Drunk”

“More Cigarettes” – Alternate Mix

“Get Lost” – Instrumental

“Hangin Downtown” – Alternate Version

“Shutup” – Alternate Version 2

“Somethin To Dü” – Alternate Version 2

“Don’t Ask Why” – Alternate Mix

“Kick Your Door Down” – Alternate Mix

“Love You Till Friday” – Alternate Mix

“Johnny’s Gonna Die” – Alternate Mix

“Like You” – Outtake

“Get Lost” – Outtake

“A Toe Needs A Shoe” – Outtake

“You’re Pretty When You’re Rude” – Solo Home Demo

“If Only You Were Lonely” – Working Version/Solo Home Demo

“Bad Worker” – Solo Home Demo

“You’re Getting Married” – Solo Home Demo

Disc Four: Unsuitable for Airplay – The Lost KFAI Concert (Live at the 7th St Entry, Minneapolis, MN, 1/23/81)

“Careless”

“Takin A Ride”

“Trouble Boys”

“Hangin Downtown”

“Like You”

“Off Your Pants”

“Get Lost”

“Excuse Me”

“Customer”

“I Wanna Be Loved”

“Mistake”

“My Town”