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The Durutti Column – ‘Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone)’ Belgian CD (Factory Benelux, FBN 2 CD, 1991)

From the vantage point of 2026 and the myriad of Durutti Column re-releases that we have been fortunate to have available this century, you might wonder why it’s worth dwelling on a compilation from 1991, ‘Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone)’. And well you might, since everything on this CD is readily available nowadays. But… this was one of those very early CD purchases of mine once I had finally decided to adopt the format and was quite something at the time with its combination of familiar single releases, compilation album odds and ends, all gathered up along with previously unreleased tracks of the same early period from an abandoned album that made way for 1984’s ‘Without Mercy’ instead.

The Durutti Column - 'Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone)' 1991 Factory Benelux compilation CD front cover design
^ The Durutti Column – ‘Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone)’ 1991 Factory Benelux compilation CD front cover design

Originally released in 1991, this was a vital CD purchase at the time and was basically drawn from the following sources that were released throughout the 1980s, though recorded between 1980 through 1984;

  • Single releases
  • Various artists compilation album tracks
  • The abandoned ‘Short Stories For Pauline’ album.

These original sources are examined in much greater detail below… and the tracklist notes those tracks which have multiple titles from their different releases.
Continue reading “The Durutti Column – ‘Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone)’ Belgian CD (Factory Benelux, FBN 2 CD, 1991)”

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Heaven 17 ‘Fascist Groove Thang’ UK 3″ CD single (Virgin CDT21, 1988)

This curious little 3″ CD single of Heaven 17’s 1981 debut single, ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’, featuring three 12″ single mixes from their back catalogue, was released as part the Virgin CDT series, a series of re-issues of classic singles from the Virgin back catalogue on the then in-vogue 3″ CD single format. The series flagged the selling point of containing ‘12” versions previously unavailable on compact disc’ by way of a flash box printed at the foot of the front cover design. The covers were tiny replicas in keeping with the original sleeve designs for the most part, and came packaged in generic Virgin records clear plastic ‘blister pack’ covers, though the choice of tracks often had odd combinations of mixes, that were not necessarily quite the intended ’12” mix’ that the hype would have you believe.

Heaven 17 - 'Fascist Groove Thang' UK 3" CD front cover design in generic Virgin 3" CD single series plastic pack
^ Heaven 17 – ‘Fascist Groove Thang’ UK 3″ CD front cover design in generic Virgin 3″ CD single series plastic pack

So, while on first sight this looks like it might include the original B side from the original single release, ‘The Decline of the West’, that is nowhere to be found and it instead included two other singles from 1981.

Tracklist:

  1. (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (4’53”)
  2. I’m Your Money (Specially Fortified Dance Mix) (5’42”)
  3. Height Of The Fighting (He-La-Hu) (Full Length 12″ Mix) (2’55”)

Continue reading “Heaven 17 ‘Fascist Groove Thang’ UK 3″ CD single (Virgin CDT21, 1988)”

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John Foxx compilations across the years Part 10

After no less than three compilation releases during 2016, there was a gap in any further mining of the vaults for stand-alone compilations until 2020, which is where we pick up the story, though it should be noted that 2018 saw the ‘Metamatic’ CD box set release that presented to the world for the first time many hitherto unreleased recordings from the John Foxx archives. This featured compilation from 2020 would in fact relate directly to 2018’s deluxe re-issue of ‘Metamatic’…

‘Concrete and Organised Noise’ UK LP (Metamatic Records, META64LP, 2020)

Release date: 24 January 2020.

This compilation, intended as some kind of ‘related works’ companion piece in the ‘Metamatic’ universe, was pressed up as a limited edition of 500 copies, on grey vinyl. It comes styled in a wonderful sleeve design by Jonathan Barnbrook, very much in keeping with the ‘Metamatic’ era house style, and focusing on a wonderful photo of John Foxx by Chris Gabrin, which again dates from the era and very much adapts Foxx himself and his ‘grey suit’ persona dead-centre into the narrative of the aesthetic.

The music contained in the album is a selection of tracks drawn from disc three of 2018’s 3 CD box set of ‘Metamatic’ (Metamatic META63BX, released 25th May, 2018). It is not a complete equivalent of that disc however, several tracks are missing. So, if you are seeking a complete record of the ‘Metamatic’ era archive, you’ll still need to seek that out.

John Foxx 'Concrete and Organised Noise' LP front cover design
^ John Foxx ‘Concrete and Organised Noise’ LP front cover design

So, much of the material presented here is instrumental, electronic pieces, but there are a few more ‘song’ based pieces that are found, principally earlier or alternative versions of some from either ‘Metamatic’ itself or the accompanying singles of the era. Continue reading “John Foxx compilations across the years Part 10”

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King Crimson ‘Sleepless’ West German 12″ single (EG/Polydor Records 817 990-1, 1984)

The ‘Beat’ album by King Crimson was my entry point to the band in 1982 – somewhat taken by the fusing of art rock and the Talking Heads connections, buying that album was something of an educated guess but one that paid off. ‘Beat’ was the middle album of a trio from the early 1980s and this ‘Sleepless’ single featured here was the lead-off single from the third part of that trio, 1984’s ‘Three of a Perfect Pair’. By this stage of the game, the band clearly had some ambitions to have something of a go at single chart success and ‘Sleepless’ took aim with a smoothed-out, funked up, sleek-lined rhythmic juggernaut of a sound that was fashioned into different mixes across the parent album as well as 7″ and 12″ releases, aided and abetted by celebrity mixers of the day, Bob Clearmountain and the more dance-groove focussed François Kevorkian – and in so doing, leaving us with some vinyl-only version craziness some 41 years on from its original release.

King Crimson 'Sleepless' 1984 West German 12" front cover design
^ King Crimson ‘Sleepless’ 1984 West German 12″ front cover design

Continue reading “King Crimson ‘Sleepless’ West German 12″ single (EG/Polydor Records 817 990-1, 1984)”

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Pete Shelley vs Power, Wonder and Love – ‘Homosapien II’ UK 3″CD single (Immaculate Records IMMAC 11CD, 1989)

2025 has been a good year for remembering the wonderful Pete Shelley, by way of various re-releases, firstly, the Record Store Day exclusive of the ‘Yesterday Is Not Here (Radio Sessions 1979 – 1983)’ album (which includes the first, acoustic guitar and vocal rendition of the song that is the subject of this post, in the form of ‘Homosapiens’), then new re-releases of Pete’s ‘Homosapien’ and ‘XL-1’ albums. But, what do we have here? Not one of these new releases, no – quite a curio in fact and one that passed me by back in the day.

Pete Shelley vs Power, Wonder and Love - 'Homosapien II' 3"CD single - front
^ Pete Shelley vs Power, Wonder and Love – ‘Homosapien II’ 3″CD single – front

Continue reading “Pete Shelley vs Power, Wonder and Love – ‘Homosapien II’ UK 3″CD single (Immaculate Records IMMAC 11CD, 1989)”