Celebrating vinyl / CD / cassette / memorabilia releases of musical gems and curiosities from the punk era onwards
The Japanese record industry, much to the delights of collectors such as I, always seems to have acted with impunity when it comes to its releases, never shying away from taking a grab-bag approach to compile releases which probably have the artists themselves holding their faces in horror. Yes, we are talking about these albums and mini-albums that have no equivalent releases elsewhere and the early ’80s in particular was a great period for this.
The debut release from The Passions released in Spring 1979, a double A side single – both sides are something of an earlier draft of of the sound that can be heard on their debut album, ‘Michael and Miranda’, with ‘Needles and Pills’ leaning a bit towards a more traditional rock vocabulary, I dare say. Vocally quite different, ‘Needles and Pills’ especially, due to the presence of Mitch Barker on vocals. This single is the only recorded outing for this version of the band – basically the same line-up as recoreded ‘Michael and Miranda’ but with the addition of Mitch on vocals, though ‘Body and Soul’ has the more familiar presence of Barbara Gogan sharing much of the vocals and of the two songs it more obviously fits the Passions template, as evinced by the fact that it lasted in the set list for gigs through 1980. ‘Needles and Pills’ was written by the bands original guitarist, Dack Dyde, though by the time of the recording he had left the band.
Continue reading “The Passions ‘Needles and Pills’/’Body and Soul’ 7″ single (Soho, SH5, 1979)”
How fitting that a band for whom the word ‘cute’ would so often be applied to, to the point of overdose, should see a 3″ CD miniature of their 1984 single ‘Since Yesterday’ appear and which can only be described as… errrrr… cute, when shrunk down to such a size.
The packaging is a pretty accurate take on the Japanese 7″ release, though the label design differs and it doesn’t include the extra black and white gatefold insert that came with the 7″. It appears to hail from 2004, released as part of a series of ’70s/’80s classic hits to accompany sweets, apparently. Sadly, despite the cover art retained from the original 7 inch single design which lists the original B side too, the CD is a one track only affair, so ‘By The Sea’ is not present – a real shame as it is one of the songs which never made it on to the Japanese 1997 re-issue of the ‘Strawberry Switchblade’ album and remains unissued on CD to date. The version of ‘Since Yesterday’ is the regular 7″ single/album version. Continue reading “Strawberry Switchblade ‘Since Yesterday’ Japanese 3″ CD single (WEA, WQSP-1005, 2004)”
With this post I’m going to look at the various releases on CD of ‘Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven’, the debut album by Love and Rockets, released in Late 1985 and a particular favourite of mine through the years – and specifically digging about at the various different mixes of some of its tracks and bonus tracks which were added to the numerous CD issues.
Winding back to 1985, the album was preceded by two related releases ahead of its release: firstly, the fabulous (IMHO) single, ‘If There’s A Heaven Above’, which in the UK came in 7″ and 12″ versions, the 12″ including an extended version of the A side, which remains one of my all time favourite songs and, in particular, 12″ mixes – at least, the actual mix that was on the original UK 12″, because the version labelled as such on the 1999 UK CD re-issue is not the same. The B side on both 7″ and 12″ was ‘God and Mr Smith’ (4 mins 47 secs), a rearrangement of the A side stripping out the main vocals and including copious samples, largely of an eastern bent. Continue reading “Love and Rockets – ‘Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven’ on CD”
A companion release from the same series as the Flying Lizards ‘Move On ‘Up’ 12″ documented in a previous post. Taking the usual cavalier attitude to track selection and sleeve design that many Japanese releases of this period had, this little beauty gathers together a selection of tracks from three of John Foxx’s 1980 singles (‘Miles Away’, ‘Burning Car’ and the extra single from the ‘No-One’s Driving’ double-pack 7 inch) in a sleeve/label design unlike any other Foxx release.
Along the way, it has also managed to include a different mix of ‘Miles Away’, the same one as used in the promo video for the single, I believe. (This mix finally made it on to CD with the late-2008 2-disc re-issue of ‘The Garden’.) Continue reading “John Foxx ‘Burning Car’ Japanese ‘Pic Label’ series 12″ single (Virgin, VIP-5903, 1981))”