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Gary Numan – ‘Telekon’ Jap mini LP sleeve (Beggars Banquet/Imperial, TECI-24261)

The subject of Gary Numan’s ‘Telekon’ album on CD is worthy of an article of its own and I will come to that in a future post to try and document the various mixes that have appeared on each. It has been re-issued on CD so many times and along the way different mixes of tracks have sneaked on without being highlighted. Meanwhile, in this current series on the Japanese mini-LP issues, I’ll concentrate on documenting the packaging that these fabulous little objects come with.

Outer sleeve (front), inner sleeve (front), additional booklet (front), Obi (front), CD label design

^ Outer sleeve (front), inner sleeve (front), additional booklet (front), Obi (front), CD label design

The cover and inner sleeve are pretty faithful to the original vinyl issue from 1980 – the CD label design is too (at least for side one of the original vinyl), except for it being blue instead of black, for some reason. But… that is the original UK label design! The Japanese vinyl LP actually had a standard Atlantic records label design (green/white/red)when first issued in Japan. It is also worth noting that while it comes with an additional booklet, this is not the same as per the additional insert that came with the vinyl LP. Continue reading “Gary Numan – ‘Telekon’ Jap mini LP sleeve (Beggars Banquet/Imperial, TECI-24261)”

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Side by side: Skids ‘The Absolute Game’ on CD in the UK

  • Captain Oi! records (AHOY CD304), 2008
    • + Re-pressing to correct errors, 2009
  • Track records (TRK1006CD), 2001

Well, another issue of Skids’ ‘The Absolute Game’ album has appeared on CD in recent months – bit of a botched route though. On Captain Oi! records (AHOY CD304), it first appeared on 17 November 2008, only to be withdrawn due to some errors and sleeve notes controversy, detailed below. This Captain Oi! issue is the second time the album has appeared on CD in the UK, it first appeared in the shiny silver disc format in 2001 courtesy of Track records.

Skids 'The Absolute Game' UK CD issues - Track records issue (left) and second Captain Oi! issue (right)

^ Side by side – Skids ‘The Absolute Game’ UK CD issues – Track records issue (left) and second Captain Oi! issue (right)

As well as the original album it also has a number of bonus tracks from singles of the period (‘Circus Games’ (7″ Single Version), ‘Goodbye Civilian’ (7″ Single Version), ‘Monkey McGuire Meets Specky Potter Behind Lochore Institute’) plus bonus tracks from the free album, ‘Strength Through Joy’ that originally came with the initial 20,000 copies of the vinyl album release (‘An Incident In Algiers’, ‘Grievance’, ‘Strength Through Joy’, ‘Filming Africa’, ‘A Man For All Seasons’, ‘Snakes And Ladders’, ‘Surgical Triumph’, ‘The Bell Jar’). Continue reading “Side by side: Skids ‘The Absolute Game’ on CD in the UK”

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Steven Severin ‘Kidnap Garden’, UK promo-only CD (Ryko, RMCD003)

‘Kidnap Garden’ is a promo-only CD featuring a variety of Steven Severin’s non-Banshees songwriting examples – not only his solo material but also examples from The Glove (his 1983 collaboration with Robert Smith of The Cure) as well as Marc and the Mambas.

'Kidnap Garden' front sleeve design

Commissioned by his publishing company of the period, Ryko, the CD is a promo-only affair released in 2004 and not commercially available. More’s the pity, as it is a nicely packaged selection, complete with sleeve notes including track by track comments courtesy of Mr Severin himself. Continue reading “Steven Severin ‘Kidnap Garden’, UK promo-only CD (Ryko, RMCD003)”

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Ultravox! – ‘Ha!-Ha!-Ha!’ Jap mini LP sleeve (Island/Universal, UICY-93074)

On the music side, this CD is as per the UK re-issue from 2006, so as well as the eight original album tracks it features six bonus tracks – ‘Young Savage’, ‘The Man Who Dies Every Day’ (Remix), Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alternative Version), Quirks, ‘The Man Who Dies Every Day’ (Live) and ‘Young Savage’ (Live). So, that is to say it is a bit of a mix up, from various different singles/EPs!

^ Front sleeve and insert designs, front cover of the booklet, label

The early copies of the original vinyl album came with a free 7″ single – it’s odd that only one side of that single is included (‘Quirks’), though the other side ‘Modern Love’ (Live) does feature as a bonus track on the ‘Ultravox!’ CD instead. Continue reading “Ultravox! – ‘Ha!-Ha!-Ha!’ Jap mini LP sleeve (Island/Universal, UICY-93074)”