An odd choice of single perhaps, not the most immediate song to shout ‘single’ release from ‘Telekon’ – but then, neither was ‘This Wreckage’, was it? This 12″ single was only released in the then West Germany and was immediately of appeal to collectors worldwide due to its attractive sleeve design and unique pairing of tracks. Remember, for me anyway, this was the era of interesting import releases that would be listed in the back pages of music papers such as Sounds, NME, etc with excitingly brief descriptions as ‘diff pic bag’ indicating some (variable) picture sleeve design from the familiar UK versions.
So, this single took the live version of ‘Remember I Was Vapour’ that had originally been included on a free 7″ single given away with the initial pressing of the UK ‘Telekon’ album and placed this on side one and for side two took the ‘Telekon’ LP studio recording and wrapped it all in a nice picture sleeve that made use of the back sleeve photo from the ‘Telekon’ LP.
Of interest, it should be noted that the mix of the studio LP version is the original mix as found on the ‘Telekon’ LP of the time. I note this because as of 1998 and the ’20th Anniversary’ CD re-issue, the version of ‘Remember I Was Vapour’ was different – it completely missed out the synth solo in the middle of the song. More on this variation and ‘The Joy Circuit’ in a forthcoming ‘Telekon’ post…
i believe that coincidence occurs a lot more frequently than fate in this universe. not long after reading this article and what would turn up in a local record shop…. an almost immaculate copy that was promptly purchased. coincidence or fate?