A desirable release back in the day for UK dwellers such as I, another tasty US 12″ EP that contains otherwise unavailable mixes and, in ‘Producer’, a track that was never issued this side of the ocean at all – and packaged up in a unique sleeve design as well, taking its styling cue from the ‘Songs Of The Free’ parent album.
^ Gang Of Four US 1982 ‘I Love A Man In A Uniform’ (Remix) 12″ EP front cover
Side One:
I Love A Man In A Uniform (Remix) (5:35)
Produced by Mike Howlett and with Jon King and Andrew Gill.
Remixed by Steve Sinclair with Hugo Burnham. Engineered by Randy Burns. Executive Producer David Rostamo.
Side Two:
Producer (2:33)
Produced by Mike Howlett and with Jon King and Andrew Gill.
It would be the late summer of 1981 before my curiosity got the better of me and I bought my first record by Wire. It was an educated guess – I’d heard nothing by them (not even on the John Peel show, which I had begun to tune into fairly frequently from 1980 onwards), but every time I read about them (and related solo releases) in the music press it seemed to make sense that I would like them. The first releases I would get hold of were the ‘Our Swimmer’ single (which has been covered in a previous post) and the ‘Ends With The Sea’ 7″ single by BC Gilbert and G Lewis – names I was already well familiar with by the more intriguing moniker of DOME. Smash Hits reviews had enthused about the first two albums released by Dome – particularly ‘Rolling Upon My Day’ from the first album. Photos of the duo pictured a serious and no nonsense duo, the record sleeves equally arty and intriguing. The calling card of that first single purchase convinced me enough that when readies allowed, I would definitely investigate further.
^ Dome ‘Dome 1’ 1980 UK LP front cover^ Dome ‘Dome 2’ 1980 UK LP front cover
The first of those two Dome LPs I would come across was actually ‘Dome 2’, a second-hand copy, in December 1981. I bought it along with Joy Division’s ‘Still’, New Order’s ‘Movement’ (both of which quite recent releases) and ‘154’ by Wire (complete with its free 7″ EP). A mammoth listening session awaited that Saturday afternoon. Continue reading “Dome ‘Dome’ and ‘Dome 2’ UK LPs”
Back in the early ’80s and my nascent record buying bug began to flourish with a regular wage packet from a Saturday morning job, there were many a tempting release to be found in the record racks of local shops such as 1-Up, The Other Record Shop, Bruce Millers, Easy Rider and the like. The exotic, foreign pressed 12″ EPs or mini-album that scooped up tracks from individual 7″ single releases and brought them together in a new sleeve design were especially eye-catching. With its bright yellow cover design and stark type arrangement, this positively shouted from the racks. However, it would be some time later before I would come across a copy – before then would be a copy of ‘Solid Gold’ swapped from a school friend and the wonderful ‘Another Day, Another Dollar’ mini-album, found in the second-hand racks of 1-Up, which I have written about before. And far from the expected compilation of tracks from the singles, on close listening there is far more going on, as we’ll see…
^ Gang Of Four US 1980 ‘Yellow’ 12″ EP front cover
In the UK (and various other territories) the Gang Of Four were signed to the establishment machinery that was EMI Records – however, in the US, they were signed to Warner Brothers Records instead – since the US EMI equivalent, Capitol Records, had passed on the chance to sign the band (a facsimile of the rejection letter having most recently been one of the items of ephemera in the 2021 ’77-81′ boxed set). So, there was inevitably some leeway for Warner Brothers and their take on how the band’s releases should work – this EP (which isn’t actually called ‘Yellow’, though that has become its unofficially official title these days, not least on CD re-issues). Additionally, when it comes to the music, this EP is not quite as straightforward as its cover credits might indicate. Continue reading “Gang Of Four – ‘Yellow’ US 12″ EP (Warner Brothers Records, MINI 3494, 1980)”
Over a few posts, here are a few button badges from back in the day – these are all of 1979/80/81 vintage as collected by my younger brother at the time, who was quite The Police fan, also tracking down a good many tasty foreign picture sleeve variations and coloured vinyls – what band they were for that!
