Something of an indulgence in this post – ‘My Face’ was a previously unreleased track that John Foxx gave away to Smash Hits magazine in late 1980, issued via the medium of a one-sided, crackly bright yellow plastic flexidisc – and what you see here is it wrapped in my home made cover design of the time. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t alone in putting together my own cover design – I was obviously trying to channel the spirit of the preceding ‘Burning Car’ and later ‘Europe After The Rain’ sleeve designs in typeface and coloured line elements when I got round to drafting this.
‘My Face’ still had something of the stark electronic sound that the ‘Metamatic’ era material had, though it was destined not to be included on the follow-up album, ‘The Garden’ – though that album’s ‘You Were There’ seems to have echoes of the song’s melody?
‘My Face’ would eventually appear in pristine, crackle-free form on CD, appended to later re-issues of ‘Metamatic’, but back in the day the only other release for it was on a self-titled Canadian album that took bits from ‘Metamatic’ and the singles of the time and concocted a new selection, wrapped in a sized-up near facsimile of the ‘No One Driving’ sleeve design.
Nice to see I’m not the only record geek who’s been known to make sleeves for bonus flexidiscs! I wonder if I still have my Bill Nelson “Acceleration” sleeve I made to house that Trouser Press flex ca. 1982? I can remember when I got that Canadian “John Foxx” album just to get “My Face” in full quality. I may have gotten that LP even before the flex itself, now that I recall. The actual flexi was a mail order item in the mid-80s for me. The Canadian LP was interesting because it was also a gatefold cover; the only one in the [solo] Foxx canon until the recent re-issue of “Metamatic” on white vinyl, which I’d like, if not actually need.
I was a big Foxx fan back in 1980, & an avid Smash Hits reader too, so I absolutely adored this garish yellow flexi as a kid. It’s rather amusing, in hindsight, that one had to tear a strip off of “young pretender” Gary Numan’s face when removing it from the front cove thoughr, eh?
Oh yes! I’m afraid that I too in my teenage haste to prise the said flexi from its cover mount managed to end up giving Mr Numan a couple of bald patches with the ripped off tape – like he wasn’t having enough trouble in the hair department already!
for that total 80’s feeling (or to relive your lost youth) then check out
http://likepunkneverhappened.blogspot.co.uk/
a site dedicated to the smash hits magazine, see gary numan without his hair torn off
Can’t recommend the labour of love that is Like Punk Never Happened highly enough – and welcome aboard Lieutenant 030 😉
Stuart Maconie had John as a guest on his RadMac show earlier this week – the interview is available as a stand alone sound clip on the BBC 6Music website. The following link works but they’ll no doubt take it down in due course.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02y5mtb
He was in quite amusing form in that one!