Category: Versions, versions

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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 records (AHOY CD304), it first appeared on 17 November 2008, only to be withdrawn due to some errors and sleeve notes controversy, detailed below.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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Hard Corps ‘To Breathe’ West German 12″ (Polydor/Metronome, 883-413-1), 1985

To this day I still don’t know what the story is behind this single and why it was never properly released, seemingly withdrawn at the last minute back in late 1985 – no doubt why it is extremely difficult to come by.

Hard Corps ‘To Breathe’ West German 12″ front sleeve design

This particular copy is the West German 12″ edition. The tracks on this 12″ are;

To Breathe (Extended Version) (5.46)
Metal And Flesh (5.30)
To Breathe (Instrumental) (3.50) Continue reading “Hard Corps ‘To Breathe’ West German 12″ (Polydor/Metronome, 883-413-1), 1985”

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Skids: ‘Days In Europa’ Jap promo CD (Virgin VJCP-23105)

A curiosity, to be sure. ‘Days In Europa’ has a bit of version history to it from not long after its first release. Originally issued on vinyl in late 1979 it was re-issued in remixed form and a new sleeve design within six months! The original version was produced by Bill Nelson and came in a sleeve design copied from a magazine cover (Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung) from the time of the 1936 German Olympics, the Skids appropriation of which came in for some flak about flirting with Nazi imagery. The remixed version changed the sleeve design radically (though the original design makes a cameo appearance as a painting on the wall), removed one song (‘Pros And Cons’) and replaced it with an earlier single, ‘Masquerade’, and generally fiddled about with the sound somewhat. I have to say that I much prefer the original Bill Nelson production.

Skids: ‘Days In Europa’ Japanese promo CD front cover design and OBI

This Japanese CD dates from 1991 and was the first appearance on CD for the album. On first look you’d expect it to be the remixed version from 1980, since that is the sleeve design (and tracklisting!) that the CD features. It is actually the 1979 Bill Nelson produced version included in the CD however and only comes with the ten tracks from the original issue. Therefore, despite the fact that the sleeve design lists ‘Masquerade’ as one of the songs, you won’t find it on there and ‘Pros and Cons’ is included instead. Continue reading “Skids: ‘Days In Europa’ Jap promo CD (Virgin VJCP-23105)”