Back in the day (1980, in fact in this case) it would have been de riguer to sneer at such a release as this. Ronco? Didn’t they make the ‘Buttoneer’?! The ‘Veg-O-Matic’?! What were they doing making a punk/new wave LP?! And take a look at the track listing – goodness, just look at that selection – where else might you find Gary Numan lumped in the same selection as The Plasmatics? The Sex Pistols with the Nick Straker Band?!
Welcome to the world of the budget label TV advertised compilation – Ronco, K-Tel etc.
Hallmarks of these multi-artist compilations would see 1) the occasional edit with the cutting scissors to chop track lengths down to allow as many as possible of them to be included each side, and 2) at least one (or more) bizarre, never before heard obscure tracks that stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the hits.
In the case of this album, regarding the former, it did at least include the following text on the album cover as fair warning: ‘To ensure the highest quality reproduction the running times of some of the titles as originally released have been changed.’ Fortunately, this compilation lacks the latter – a pretty solid, decent selection in fact, with no complete obscurities. Though you’d have to say, the Nick Straker selection sticks out like a sore thumb.
Side One:
- The Sex Pistols: ‘Pretty Vacant’
- The Stranglers: ‘No More Heroes’
- Pretenders: ‘Brass In Pocket’
- Ian Dury and the Blockheads: ‘Reasons To Be Cheerful Part III’
- Skids: ‘Circus Games’
- The Buzzcocks: ‘Have You Ever Fallen In Love’
- Magazine: ‘Sweetheart Contract’
- The Plasmatics: ‘Butcher Baby’
- Public Image Ltd: ‘Public Image’
- Blondie: ‘Denis’
Side Two:
- Boomtown Rats: ‘Someone’s Looking At You’
- Tom Robinson Band: ‘2, 4, 6, 8, Motorway’
- Gary Numan: ‘We Are Glass’
- John Foxx: ‘Underpass’
- Nick Straker Band: A Walk In The Park’
- XTC: ‘Making Plans For Nigel’
- Generation X: Valley Of The Dolls’
- The Members: ‘The Sound Of The Suburbs’
- The Dickies: ‘Banana Splits’
- Jona Lewie: ‘You’ll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties’
For sure, I can say straight off that the Gary Numan, John Foxx, XTC tracks are edits compared to the regular 7″ versions.
