Category: Versions, versions

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John Foxx compilations across the years Part 4

Moving on from 2001 to 2008 and the next John Foxx compilation that was to emerge, ‘Glimmer: Best of John Foxx’. The metamatic.com website’s cryptic summary for 2008 states “Interlude. Operation by proxy and semantic extension. Despatched a couple of robot agents to the other side of the world, and hid in Durham Cathedral. Partial manifestation in the cobbled squares of Europe. An interrupted radio broadcast from Shinjuku. Remixed and remastered. Ambushed in Bethnal Green by Dub-terrorist Editions, Ltd armed with sprayguns – fended them off with x-ray vision and an old suit.”

‘Remixed and remastered’ was the order of the day here for the particular items of interest, with ‘Glimmer: Best of John Foxx’ acting as an advance landing party in September for a fuller scale double-disc CD remastering re-issue programme for three of John’s Virgin-era albums following shortly thereafter in October 2008. As for the remixing…more on that later under ‘Additionally of interest..’ below.

‘Glimmer: Best Of John Foxx’ UK compilation 2 x CD - front cover design
^ ‘Glimmer: Best Of John Foxx’ UK compilation 2 x CD – front cover design

Continue reading “John Foxx compilations across the years Part 4”

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Bill Nelson ‘Transcorder (The Acquitted By Mirrors Recordings)’ UK CD (Sonoluxe, CD052, 2022)

Bill Nelson has been a firm favourite of mine for a long time now and so, I can’t begin to tell you how welcome a release this CD was when it was announced. I had been a member of the ‘Acquitted By Mirrors’ (and later incarnations) of Bill Nelson’s fan club/information service while they were on the go, so I already had a few of the exclusive fan club EPs that this release is compiled from already, but there were a lot of gaps. So, the prospect of a release that gathered them together was mouthwatering – and I got my order in super-quick, as Bill Nelson releases have a tendency to sell out in record time and consequently sell for inflated sums on the resale market.

Bill Nelson: 'Transcorder (The Acquitted By Mirrors Recordings)' CD front cover design
^ Bill Nelson: ‘Transcorder (The Acquitted By Mirrors Recordings)’ CD front cover design

Continue reading “Bill Nelson ‘Transcorder (The Acquitted By Mirrors Recordings)’ UK CD (Sonoluxe, CD052, 2022)”

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‘Times Square’ – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack US LP (RSO RS-2-4203, 1980)

‘Times Square’ was one of those movies that tapped into the late ‘70s music scene vibe and fashions and which I read about in the pages of ‘Smash Hits’ and ‘Record Mirror’, my two go-to music rags of 1980, rather than actually see at the time. I had been to see the UK film ‘Breaking Glass’ in August or September of 1980 (memory is hazy on dates) and this US flick while quite different and a whole other story and perspective had a similar appeal. But funds were tight back then and it passed by its cinema release and it wasn’t until a few years later that I saw it in the days of home VHS rental, which is more likely a 1982/1983 timeframe, long after the hype.

'Times Square' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - front cover design
^ ‘Times Square’ Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – front cover design

Continue reading “‘Times Square’ – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack US LP (RSO RS-2-4203, 1980)”

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Side by side: New Order: (The Best Of) New Order 1994 EU and 1995 US CDs

It’s all about the versions on VersionCrazy and sometimes you come across releases that you make an assumption on, that they will be pretty much standard fare but – somehow, it turns out that they manage to throw up some weird and wonderful regional variations of interest. One such example is this ‘(The Best Of) New Order’ compilation CD from the band, the first fruits for London Records of their deal to acquire the band after the sad demise of the original Factory Records. I guess it was to be expected that after the band was scooped up by a major label (well, in some territories, since they were already on Qwest/Warner Bros. in the US) they would work that back catalogue hard. ‘(The Best Of) New Order’ was the first such example from this deal with London Records, a compilation first released in November 1994 on CD, cassette, LP and video cassette even. But of interest to this article are the differences between that 1994 edition and the American release that followed in 1995.

Side by side: New Order - (The Best Of) New Order EU and US compilation CD front insert designs
^ Side by side: New Order – (The Best Of) New Order EU and US compilation CD front insert designs

The November 1994 edition tracklist on CD goes like this and is notable for including a number of new ’94’ remixes of some of the tracks; (which I have highlighted in bold text) Continue reading “Side by side: New Order: (The Best Of) New Order 1994 EU and 1995 US CDs”

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John Foxx compilations across the years Part 2

The second part of this series looking at John Foxx’s music as compiled over the years… 1989’s (presumably) self titled promo video clip collection and 1992’s compilation CD, Assembly’.

John Foxx video compilation (Virgin Music Vault, VVC582, 1989)

John Foxx 1989 UK VHS video EP
^ John Foxx 1989 UK VHS video EP

This odd little release was one in a series of short video compilations of Virgin label catalogue artists issued in 1989, while VHS was still the format of choice. Amongst other acts of interest in the series (at least for me…) were Skids and Magazine. This video was the first time I was able to view again some promo videos I had seen only a handful of times anyway back in the very early ’80s, and some I had never seen before, so it was a welcome purchase, despite the brevity (clocking in around 25 minutes). Being a UK based Top Of The Pops viewer, the videos were less common sights due to the frequent and memorable John Foxx appearances in the TOTP studio, not least for ‘Underpass’, ‘No One Driving’ (the latter with no less than four Yamaha CS80’s for the backing band!) and ‘Europe, After The Rain’. Continue reading “John Foxx compilations across the years Part 2”