Category: Versions, versions

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The Golden Hour of The Future – Recordings by The Future and The Human League

Released in 2002, this CD finally shone official light of day on to early material by The Human League and immediate forerunners The Future that had been circulating in bootleg form for 20+ years. Hurrah!!! A compilation of this type had been mooted for official release long before – back in late 1981, Heaven 17’s ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ album inner sleeve advertised ‘The Future Tapes’ as a forthcoming release, for example.

The background story is even more involved than I was aware of and adds to the enjoyment of listening to this release now, albeit in some cases that is a pretty lo-fi experience, to be fair.

The Golden Hour of the Future - front cover design
^ The Golden Hour of the Future – front cover design

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Gary Numan – ‘Telekon’ 2015 Double LP re-issue (Beggars Banquet, BBQLP19, 2015)

Back to a favourite subject of mine, the variations to be found with Gary Numan’s wonderful ‘Telekon’ album. Here we have the most recent vinyl re-issue, from 2015 and the lure of the limited red vinyl double album edition clearly proved far too tempting. So, go on Beggars, give me yet another copy for the collection…

Gary Numan - 'Telekon' 2015 Double LP re-issue front cover design
^ Gary Numan – ‘Telekon’ 2015 Double LP re-issue front cover design

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Side by side: Brian Eno – ‘Music for Films (Directors Edition)’ promo UK LP (EG Records EGM1, 1976) and ‘Music for Films’ UK LP (EG/Polydor 2310 623, 1978)

Brian Eno’s ‘Music for Films’ has a complicated history and in this post I’ll do my best to unravel the differences between the original 1976 promo-only release, its 1978 wider commercial release and how the stray tracks have reappeared on CD in later years.

Brian Eno 'Music for Films' original 1976 promotional 'Director's Edition' - front cover
^ Brian Eno ‘Music for Films’ original 1976 promotional ‘Director’s Edition’ – front cover

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Bill Nelson – ‘Chimera’ and ‘Savage Gestures for Charms Sake’

Two Bill Nelson releases hailing from 1983, both of the mini-album variety that was so very much in vogue at the time. The first of these, ‘Chimera’, capped off Bill’s short but highly productive two year stint with Mercury records, the second, ‘Savage Gestures for Charms Sake’, saw the return to Cocteau Records as a going commercial concern once more. Both very enjoyable in their own way, they were later brought together on a single Cocteau Records CD for re-issue before later being being split apart again with ‘Chimera’ upgraded to a single CD expanded edition in 2005, while ‘Savage Gestures for Charms Sake’, other than a long since deleted stand-alone re-issue on CD in 1989, currently languishes in the wastelands. First up…

‘Chimera’

Bill Nelson - 'Chimera' UK mini album front cover design
^ Bill Nelson – ‘Chimera’ UK mini album front cover design

It has an unusual back story, this album. Recorded late 1982 at The Garden and Riverside Studios, it apparently started life with the intention of being a bridging four track EP between 1982’s ‘The Love That Whirls’ album and the next intended full-length album, but ended up a six track mini-album released around the time the intended album should have been with the addition of two extra tracks. (Production work for amongst others Gary Numan and The Units got in the way…) Continue reading “Bill Nelson – ‘Chimera’ and ‘Savage Gestures for Charms Sake’”

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Kraftwerk – ‘Computer World’ (Pathe-Marconi EMI, 2C 070 64370, 1981)

The French edition of Kraftwerk’s wonderful ‘Computer World’ album of 1981 is unique for its inclusion of ‘Mini Calculateur’, the en française rendition of ‘Pocket Calculator’. This is one of the four language variants of the song officially released on vinyl, the others being German, English and Japanese. The band also recorded an Italian language version (‘Mini Calcolatore’) and performed it in 1981 on the RAI television show ‘Discoring‘, but this language mix was not released on record. A pity, as it sounds great. (There have been additional live performance variations too, but these were the recorded ones.)

Kraftwerk - 'Computer World' Pathe-Marconi EMI French vinyl LP, 1981 - front sleeve design.
^ Kraftwerk – ‘Computer World’ Pathe-Marconi EMI French vinyl LP, 1981 – front sleeve design.

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