Well, I never – having boasted in the first post of this series that there were so many of these little lapel-affixed fellows in the collection it may run to quite a few posts, it’s been six years since then! Better late than never, I suppose, here is a further trawl through the haul…
^ Gary Numan – red/white striped button badge
^ Gary Numan – live shot button badge
An opening post in a long-running series that will be appear periodically, the aim is to document one of my long-standing, enduring favourites – Cocteau Twins. This is a band where I bought their records from the very first release, ‘Garlands’, shortly after its release, and onwards. Much like another of my favourites, Durutti Column, the Cocteau Twins have an interesting discography to examine since they were very much an act where you found fine quality work not only on albums but on 12″ EPs (a Cocteau Twins speciality) as well as gifted to obscure compilations (more often than not exclusive tracks or versions).
^ An assemblage of Cocteau Twins releases from over the years
Year by year, the plan is to document when a primary release first made an appearance and to highlight the obscurities that can be found here and there on compilations and the like. Like other post-punk acts of the era, there have been re-issues over the year, in some cases where bonus tracks have ended up removed so as to restore original album running orders to match the original vinyl releases. (Wire also spring to mind here…)
Having worked away steadily and with increasing pressure since 1979, Bauhaus finally arrived into the upper ends of the UK charts with the double impact of the ‘Ziggy Stardust’ single (top 20) and ‘The Sky’s Gone Out’ album (top 5) in late 1982. The early months of 1983 would see two more singles and further success, a major tour and then the belated release of ‘Burning From The Inside’ following the band’s implosion in the summer of 1983 and split. It all seemed premature and left a void, such that the pent up demand for their work would see numerous digs into the archive over the next couple of years and beyond – undead, the maschine rolled on, starting with this ‘4AD’ mini-album in September of 1983…
^ Bauhaus – ‘4AD’ UK Mini-Album front cover design
Having already taken a deep dive into the complexities and version craziness of Brian Eno’s ‘Music For Films’, we are by no means done here. There is plenty left in the tank with the variations of the belated follow-up volume – with a particular focus on how you might piece together a digital version. (The answer is, not completely…)
^ Brian Eno – ‘Music For Films Volume 2’ 1983 front cover
A further selection of Bowie button badge goodness for your delight… winding the clock slightly further on to take in the ‘Scary Monsters…’ period, ethic is where my own Bowie fandom really came into its own.
^ David Bowie button badge selection 2