Button badge goodness – Post-Punk Selection 2 (New Order, The Passions, John Foxx, Talking Heads)

A second instalment of a small but historical set of period badges, of a Post-Punk flavour, following on from the initial post in this series. Once again, I can vouch that all of these designs pictured date back to 1981/82, which is when I picked them up and would have almost certainly been from 1-UP records in Aberdeen, when they were still to be found on Rosemount Viaduct, or the Other Record Shop, when it was located on Union Street (and is infamous in history as being the location that witnessed the walk-out by John McKay and Kenny Morris from the 1979 ‘Join Hands’ Siouxsie and the Banshees’ tour.

Button badge goodness - Post-Punk Selection 2 (New Order, The Passions, John Foxx, Talking Heads)
^ Button badge goodness – Post-Punk Selection 2 (New Order, The Passions, John Foxx, Talking Heads)

Continue reading “Button badge goodness – Post-Punk Selection 2 (New Order, The Passions, John Foxx, Talking Heads)”

Side by side: Tones On Tail – ‘Tones On Tail’ US compilation CD and cassette (Beggars Banquet/RCA, 2410-2-H / 2410-4-H, 1990)

Another compilation that sifts through the Tones On Tail back catalogue panning for gold… this time out it was on CD and cassette formats only – and the cassette version included three extra tracks. This was issued in 1990 in the United States – and was the third compilation released in the US by this point (preceded by ‘The Album Pop’ in 1984 and ‘Night Music’ in 1987).

Tones On Tail - 'Tones On Tail' US compilation cassette and CD front cover designs side by side

    ^ Tones On Tail – ‘Tones On Tail’ US compilation cassette and CD front cover designs side by side

Continue reading “Side by side: Tones On Tail – ‘Tones On Tail’ US compilation CD and cassette (Beggars Banquet/RCA, 2410-2-H / 2410-4-H, 1990)”

Kraftwerk – ‘Tour de France’ MusikExpress magazine German 7″ single (Kling Klang/Parlophone, 2023)

The fourth example in a series of exclusive 7″ Kraftwerk singles made available from the German ‘MusikExpress’ magazine has just been released for the August 2023 issue. Celebrating 20 years since the release of Kraftwerk’s most recent album, ‘Tour de France Soundtracks’, the 7″ is a one-sided single with an exclusive edit of the album’s closing track, ‘Tour de France’.

Kraftwerk – ‘Tour de France’ MusikExpress magazine August 2023 issue German 7? single - front cover design
^ Kraftwerk – ‘Tour de France’ MusikExpress magazine August 2023 issue German 7″ single – front cover design

Of course, the detail there is that the closing track to the album was a 2003 re-recording of the version of ‘Tour de France’ first issued back in 1983, not the new 2003 album track Etape 1 / 2 /3 versions. UPDATE: And, thanks to a comment courtesy of Staggboy, to be more precise, the edit is derived from the 2017 3-D The Catalogue/Der Katalog version, rather than the 2003 ‘Tour de France Soundtracks’ album version. Continue reading “Kraftwerk – ‘Tour de France’ MusikExpress magazine German 7″ single (Kling Klang/Parlophone, 2023)”

Scritti Politti – ‘The “Sweetest Girl”’ version craziness

‘The “Sweetest Girl”’ never provided Scritti Politti with the full-on pop chart hit that might have ambitiously been hoped for, but the impact it made with its sea-change in style ensured its high profile all the same. What I had not quite appreciated until more recent years was just how many versions of the song there are and it’s curiously stop/start release history.

Scritti Politti - The "Sweetest Girl" versions
^ Scritti Politti – The “Sweetest Girl” versions

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Button Badge Goodness: The Cure (Part 3)

Time for the third and final part of this short series focussing on my badge collection for The Cure got back in the day… this time almost all from the 1985 UK tour (which I didn’t actually see and have my good friend Lieutenant 030 and frequent contributor to thank for buying them for me. The final one is the official ‘Cure Club’ badge from 1984 when I joined – it was a relatively short lived Cure official fan club of the time.

Of note, the 1985 badge set pack only contains the three button badges, it does NOT include the metal enamel badge – that was available separately, I just slotted it into the pack to keep them all together nicely.

The Cure 1985 UK tour badge set pack and separate enamel badge.
^ The Cure 1985 UK tour badge set pack and separate enamel badge.

Continue reading “Button Badge Goodness: The Cure (Part 3)”