A fine slice of prime Section 25, a band that in their original period on Factory were normally panned without pause as naught but Joy Division copyists, only to then be accused as New Order copyists as they drafted in the keyboards to fill their sound. This EP finds them somewhere between the two worlds, still guitar heavy but the sequenced synth patterns working their way in on ‘Sakura’.
Continue reading “Section 25 – ‘The Beast’ UK 12″ EP (Factory FAC66, 1982)”
One to sate the sweet tooth of any fan of all things 7″ and collectable in the world of Ultravox, this was a West German only release that paired a fairly raucous LP cut, ‘Frozen Ones’, along with an exclusive remix of one of Ultravox’s finest moments on the flip side, in the shape of ‘Man Who Dies Everyday’ – and all finished off nicely in a unique picture sleeve design – manna from heaven for scratching that collector’s itch – if you can find a copy, as it’s not too easy to come by.
Continue reading “Ultravox! – ‘Frozen Ones’ West German 7″ single (Island, 11 815 AT, 1977)”
The re-energised Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark will soon be releasing their second album since they returned to active duty, ‘English Electric’. The emerging picture points towards something that may revisit the spirit of 1983’s left-field wonder that is ‘Dazzle Ships’. Certainly the recently released cover artwork for the album harks back to Peter Saville’s angular design for that work.
In a previous post, I looked at the UK single release of ‘Nightporter’, which saw a 7″, 12″ and unique DJ edit 7″ editions. Another notable issue is the Japanese 12″ 6-song ‘Pic Label’ series EP (Virgin, VIP-4181). Retaining the same design for the front as the UK 12″ release, the rear featured a band pic along with the titles for the featured songs – which gathered together a number of edits and non-LP tracks that had surfaced originally on UK singles.
Of note, despite being a 12″ single, it is the 5’02” remix that is featured, as per the regular UK 7″ single, as opposed to the longer 12″ remix you might have expected to find. Similarly, despite being titled as ‘Long Version’, ‘Ghosts’ as featured on this release is in fact the same 7″ edit as per the UK single release. Finishing off side one, ‘The Art of Parties’ is the live ‘version’ that first appeared on the flip side of the ‘Ghosts’ UK 7″ single. Side two of this 12″ features a couple of tracks from the ‘Gentlemen Take Polaroids’ UK 7″ single along with ‘Life Without Buildings’, the superb B side of the original ‘Art of Parties’ single release. Continue reading “Japan – ‘Nightporter’ Japanese 12″ ‘Pic Label’ series single (Virgin, VIP-4181, 1982)”
Sold on their 1985 ‘Outside World’ tour, this small metal/enamel badge, delightfully inscribed with the legend, ‘The Propaganda Wish’ adds a dash of icy cool ‘Abba from Hell’ synth rock sophistication to any lapel!
