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The Passions ‘Love Is Essential’/’Jump For Joy’ French promo-only 7″ (Polydor 2814 357)

A promo-only 7″ of French origin, peeled from the third album by The Passions pairing the album track ‘Love Is Essential’ along with ‘Jump For Joy’, which had appeared early in 1982 as a single A side in the UK.

Passions 'Love Is Essential' 7" promo-only 7" single, 1982 - A side
^ Passions ‘Love Is Essential’ 7″ promo-only 7″ single, 1982 – A side

I picked it up at a record fair in Dundee in the early 1990s, I’ve no idea how common or rare these are – probably not much due to the lack of a picture sleeve and, as far as I can tell, the versions are the same as per the album mixes. Continue reading “The Passions ‘Love Is Essential’/’Jump For Joy’ French promo-only 7″ (Polydor 2814 357)”

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‘Dindisc 1980’ compilation album (Dindisc, DONE 1)

‘Dindisc 1980’ was a compilation of the acts on the Dindisc label of 1980 vintage, two tracks each from Martha and the Muffins, The Monochrome Set and Revillos, no less than three from Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark plus one from Dedringer.

'Dindisc 1980' compilation album, front cover
^ ‘Dindisc 1980’ compilation album, front cover

Packaged in a customary tastefully crafted sleeve courtesy of Keith Breeden and Dindisc house-designer Peter Saville, most of the tracks appear elsewhere on previous releases but at the time the principal attraction for me was the version of ‘Electricity’ by OMitD, as this was a new, slightly extended re-recording and unavailable anywhere else. (Note: This version did finally make it on to CD with the 2003 re-issue of ‘Organisation’ (DIDCDR6) as one of the bonus tracks.) The version of ‘Messages’ is the extended version from the 10″ single, while their cover of ‘Waiting For The Man’ had only previously been on the flip-side of the same 10″ single. Continue reading “‘Dindisc 1980’ compilation album (Dindisc, DONE 1)”

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Gary Numan – ‘I Assassin’ Jap mini LP sleeve (Beggars Banquet/Imperial, TECI-24262)

The last of these entries on the Numan Japanese replica mini-LP sleeve editions – ‘I Assassin’, originally issued on vinyl and cassette in 1982.

Front sleeve, inner sleeve front, additional booklet, obi (front) and CD label design

This CD release comes with 15 tracks in total – the 8 from the original album plus the same seven bonus tracks as per the UK Beggars Banquet re-issue from 2002 (BBL40CD). As for packaging – it pretty faithfully recreates the UK LP sleeve design, as shown in the photos – outer and inner sleeve. There is also an additional black and white Japanese text-only info and lyric booklet (8 pages), plus an extra record company contact card and of course the outer ‘obi’ band. The label design is as per side one of the original UK vinyl issue, even down to still including the ‘Dance’ text at the top. Continue reading “Gary Numan – ‘I Assassin’ Jap mini LP sleeve (Beggars Banquet/Imperial, TECI-24262)”

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New Musik ‘Anywhere’ UK cassette (GTO, GTMC044, 1981)

In the years before CDs became available and the eventually dominant format, record companies would tempt buyers into shelling out for cassettes by including extra tracks not found on the vinyl albums. One such example is New Musik’s second album, ‘Anywhere’, released in 1981. It includes two extra tracks that never appeared on vinyl, neither on the vinyl album nor any of the single B sides.

New Musik 'Anywhere' cassette

However, there is a slight confusion there, since the sticker of the cassette case proudly states ‘plus 2 free extra tracks not on the album – ‘Guitars’ & ‘And”. The track ‘Guitars’ DID actually appear on vinyl, as one of the B sides to the ‘While You Wait’ single. Turns out that the sticker is incorrect – ‘Guitars’ is not to be found on the cassette – the track ‘Under Attack’ is there instead, along with the other extra track, ‘And’. Continue reading “New Musik ‘Anywhere’ UK cassette (GTO, GTMC044, 1981)”

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Gary Numan – ‘Telekon’ Jap mini LP sleeve (Beggars Banquet/Imperial, TECI-24261)

The subject of Gary Numan’s ‘Telekon’ album on CD is worthy of an article of its own and I will come to that in a future post to try and document the various mixes that have appeared on each. It has been re-issued on CD so many times and along the way different mixes of tracks have sneaked on without being highlighted. Meanwhile, in this current series on the Japanese mini-LP issues, I’ll concentrate on documenting the packaging that these fabulous little objects come with.

Outer sleeve (front), inner sleeve (front), additional booklet (front), Obi (front), CD label design

^ Outer sleeve (front), inner sleeve (front), additional booklet (front), Obi (front), CD label design

The cover and inner sleeve are pretty faithful to the original vinyl issue from 1980 – the CD label design is too (at least for side one of the original vinyl), except for it being blue instead of black, for some reason. But… that is the original UK label design! The Japanese vinyl LP actually had a standard Atlantic records label design (green/white/red)when first issued in Japan. It is also worth noting that while it comes with an additional booklet, this is not the same as per the additional insert that came with the vinyl LP. Continue reading “Gary Numan – ‘Telekon’ Jap mini LP sleeve (Beggars Banquet/Imperial, TECI-24261)”