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Scritti Politti ‘The Basics’ Japanese mini album LP and cassette [Virgin, 20VB-1083 / 20VC-1083, 1986]

‘The Basics’ is a curious oddity, a 1986 Japanese-only compilation that gathers together various mixes of five singles that were peeled from the ‘Cupid & Psyche ’85’ album. It comes housed in a design based on the UK 1985 12″/gatefold 7″ single sleeve design. Why the title of ‘The Basics’? I have no idea. And despite being housed in a sleeve filched from the UK 12″ of ‘Perfect Way’, the mix of that song that is included is actually a quite different mix from the US 12″ single! Odd!

Scritti Politti 'The Basics' 1986 mini-album - LP and cassette front cover designs
^ Scritti Politti ‘The Basics’ 1986 mini-album – LP and cassette front cover designs

The sleeve lists various differing mixes included – definitely worth a deeper dive… Continue reading “Scritti Politti ‘The Basics’ Japanese mini album LP and cassette [Virgin, 20VB-1083 / 20VC-1083, 1986]”

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Propaganda ‘p:Machinery (The αlpha/βeta Definition)’ Record Store Day LP (ZTT / Universal Music Recordings, ZTDS 96 / 7535890, 2025)

Another Record Store Day and another new, limited edition Propaganda release culled from the ZTT label archives. 2024’s, ‘Die 1000 Augen Des Dr. Mabuse’, was very much a ‘Part 1’, so you might have expected any Propaganda RSD release to continue onwards with that. But no, this year moved to focus on both sides of the band’s ‘p:Machinery’/‘Frozen Faces’ single, first released in summer 1985. The Propaganda of ‘A Secret Wish’ were always about the duality, so as well as both songs, this release also features the subsequent αlpha and βeta versions that have come to be released or retitled over the many ‘after the fact’ releases from ZTT.

Propaganda 'p:Machinery (The αlpha/βeta Definition)' Record Store Day LP 2025 front cover design.
^ Propaganda ‘p:Machinery (The αlpha/βeta Definition)’ Record Store Day LP 2025 front cover design.

Continue reading “Propaganda ‘p:Machinery (The αlpha/βeta Definition)’ Record Store Day LP (ZTT / Universal Music Recordings, ZTDS 96 / 7535890, 2025)”

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Strawberry Switchblade – ‘I Can Feel’ – Japanese 7″ (Korova P-2074, 1986)

‘I Can Feel’ was the final single release by Strawberry Switchblade while they remained a going concern, though it was released only in Japan, in March 1986, to coincide with their final live tour, four dates played in Japan that same month.

Strawberry Switchblade - 'I Can Feel' - Japanese 7" front cover design
^ Strawberry Switchblade – ‘I Can Feel’ – Japanese 7″ front cover design

‘I Can Feel’ was a non-album single and, sadly, the interest in Strawberry Switchblade had waned so much in their home territories by this stage that the single did not even merit a release in the UK. Other than the original 7″ single release, the original 3’41” single version of ‘I Can Feel’ has only ever been re-issued on the Japanese CD copies of the ‘Strawberry Switchblade’ album in the late 1990s and onwards. Continue reading “Strawberry Switchblade – ‘I Can Feel’ – Japanese 7″ (Korova P-2074, 1986)”

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Wire – ‘Ahead’ UK 7″ and 12″ (Mute, 7 MUTE 57 / 12 MUTE 57, 1987)

Wire have proved to be a band who have come and gone from active duty many times over their nearing fifty year history. Often with several years of inactivity between each period, something seemingly compels the complex magnetism that exists between the band members, flipping poles to re-attract and re-form. The ‘Ahead’ single is from the period of Wire’s first reactivation (Wire (Mark 2) aka the ‘beat combo’ and partnership with Mute Records for their recordings) following their split in 1980 and their departure from existiing label, EMI/Harvest records.

Wire 'Ahead' UK 12" and 7" singles front cover designs
^ Wire ‘Ahead’ UK 12″ and 7″ singles front cover designs

It was quite the year, 1980, the short while it lasted for the band. They had a second attempt at recording their ‘Our Swimmer’ single (first recorded late 1979) with an aim to release it as the calling card for their post-EMI existence, including a possible release on Charisma Records – see Side by side: Wire – ‘Our Swimmer’ and ‘Second Length’ versions, for further details. More famously, February 1980 witnessed an  infamously self-immolating live appearance at the Electric Ballroom in London. By standard logic, a band that had freed itself from a label (and Wire were at pains to point out that they had walked away from EMI) might be more inclined to make use of such a gig as something of a commercial shopfront to woo a new a label. But no such intent from Wire. Its outright commercial suicide note of a performance put light to Wire (Mark 1) and torched it. But that gig is another story and will be documented before too long on VersionCrazy. Continue reading “Wire – ‘Ahead’ UK 7″ and 12″ (Mute, 7 MUTE 57 / 12 MUTE 57, 1987)”

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John Foxx compilations across the years Part 8

There was only the one compilation released in 2015, though it was announced by the Metamatic mailing list as being the first part of two. Specifically, ‘20th Century: The Noise’ was the first compilation to be released on the Metamatic label itself and noted as being “the first part of a double release to celebrate 35 years as a solo artist”. (The second part would be 2016’s ‘21st Century: A Man, A Woman And A City’, amongst other such releases that year, which we will of course come to in the next post in this series.)

John Foxx - 2015 - 20th Century - The Noise CD front cover design
^ John Foxx – 2015 – 20th Century – The Noise CD front cover design

‘20th Century: The Noise’ UK CD (Metamatic Records, META57CD, 2015)

An email from the Metamatic mailing list from 25 July 2015 noted that this compilation was released on Friday 24 July 2015 and that it featured 17 tracks, including the 2014 Metamatic re-masters (where relevant) and a new master of ‘No-One Driving’ (Single Version), as well as a previously unreleased track, ‘Musique Electron’, and rare variant (from a various artists compilation album) of a ‘Cathedral Oceans’ track, ‘Splendour’. With artwork by Barnbrook and images by John Foxx, it made for an attractive package, with the keen price point offer tempting for those exclusives.
Continue reading “John Foxx compilations across the years Part 8”