The Durutti Column – ‘Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone)’ Belgian CD (Factory Benelux, FBN 2 CD, 1991)

From the vantage point of 2026 and the myriad of Durutti Column re-releases that we have been fortunate to have available this century, you might wonder why it’s worth dwelling on a compilation from 1991, ‘Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone)’. And well you might, since everything on this CD is readily available nowadays. But… this was one of those very early CD purchases of mine once I had finally decided to adopt the format and was quite something at the time with its combination of familiar single releases, compilation album odds and ends, all gathered up along with previously unreleased tracks of the same early period from an abandoned album that made way for 1984’s ‘Without Mercy’ instead.

Originally released in 1991, this was a vital CD purchase at the time and was basically drawn from the following sources that were released throughout the 1980s, though recorded between 1980 through 1984;

• Single releases
• Various artists compilation album tracks
• The abandoned ‘Short Stories For Pauline’ album.

These original sources are examined in much greater detail below… and the tracklist notes those tracks which have multiple titles from their different releases.

Tracklist:

1. La Douleur (2:34) aka ‘Duet’
2. Madeleine (3:04)
3. Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone) (3:50)
4. Danny (3:41)
5. The Sea Wall (3:32) aka ‘College’
6. All That Love And Maths Can Do (3:39)
7. Snowflakes (4:26) aka ‘A Room In Southport’
8. Little Horses Of Tarquina (1:43) aka ‘Model’
9. Experiment In Fifth (3:37)
10. Take Some Time Out (3:31)
11. At First Sight (4:17)
12. Journeys By Vespa (3:21)
13. Destroy, She Said (3:47)
14. The Square (4:00) aka ‘Invitations’
15. Enigma (3:04)
16. Hommage To Martin? (3:11)
17. Piece For An Ideal (2:11)
18. Zinni (6:03)
19. Piece For Out Of Tune Grand Piano (12:56)

Original sources:

• Tracks 1, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 are from the originally planned for 1983 album ‘Short Stories For Pauline’ that remained unreleased until only in recent years, as a Record Store Day exclusive to begin with – some were also released under different titles on various compilations, as thus;
  • Track 1 from the album ‘Short Stories For Pauline’ with its original title ‘Duet’ and i) under the title ‘La Douleur’ (and credited as The Durutti Column / Blaine L. Reininger) from the 1987 compilation LP ‘Hommage À Duras’, and ii) under the title ‘Duet’ from the 1988 compilation LP ‘Operation Twilight: Crépuscule Instrumentals’ (Interior Music, IM005).
  • Track 5 from the  album ‘Short Stories For Pauline’ with its original title ‘College’ and under the title ‘The Sea Wall’ (and credited as The Durutti Column / Blaine L. Reininger) from the 1987 compilation LP ‘Hommage À Duras’.
  • Track 7 from the album ‘Short Stories For Pauline’ with its original title ‘A Room In Stockport’ and under the title ‘Snowflakes’ from i) the the 1985 Les Disques Du Crépuscule Christmas 7″ single with Paul Haig (‘Scottish Christmas’) / The Durutti Column (‘Christmas For Pauline’ / ‘Snowflakes’) and ii) the 1988 Les Disques Du Crépuscule expanded compilation CD re-release of ‘Ghosts Of Christmas Past’.
  • Track 8 from the album ‘Short Stories For Pauline’ with its original title ‘Model’ and under the title ‘Little Horses Of Tarquina’ from the 1987 compilation LP ‘Hommage À Duras’.
  • Track 14 from the album ‘Short Stories For Pauline’ with its original title ‘Invitations’ and under the title ‘The Square’ from the 1987 compilation LP ‘Hommage À Duras’.
• Tracks 2 and 3 are from the 1980 12″ single (Factory Benelux, FAC BN 2-005) and 1981 7″ single (Factory Benelux FAC BN 2-005 BIS) ‘Lips That Would Kiss’.
• Tracks 4 and 15 are from the 1981 French 7″ single ‘Enigma’/’Danny’ (Sordide Sentimental, SS 45 005).
• Track 6 was originally recorded in 1984 and later included on i) the 1986 7″/12″ single ‘Tomorrow’ (Factory Benelux, 7 FBN 51 / FBN 51) and the 1986 Italian 12″ EP ‘Greetings Three’ (Materiali Sonori, MASO 70003)
• Track 9 is from the 1981 compilation album ‘The Fruit Of The Original Sin’ (Les Disques Du Crépuscule, TWI 035).
• Track 16 is a previously unreleased out-take from the 1982 ‘Deux Triangles’ 12″ single sessions.
• Track 17 is from the 1980 compilation album ‘From Brussels With Love’ (Les Disques Du Crépuscule, TWI 007).
• Tracks 18 and 19 are from the 1982 ‘Deux Triangles’ 12″ single (Factory Benelux, FBN 10).

Obviously it was quite welcome to hear so many unreleased tracks but particularly of note, it was good to be able to easily access otherwise rare releases such as the 1981 7” single ‘Enigma’ / ‘Danny’ single and gathering up the various artists compilation appearances. There is so much good stuff that was generously given to compilation appearances and the like, there were riches here that were welcome to wider distribution. The opening track, ‘La Douleur’, one of the strays from the album ‘Short Stories For Pauline’ with its original title ‘Duet’, is an interesting one. Recorded along with Tuxedomoon viola player Blaine L. Reininger, it lived on in recycled and adapted form as not just a component of of 1984’s ‘Without Mercy’, and specifically the opening ‘Without Mercy (Stanzas I – III) but as seemingly the inspiration for that album’s neo-classical form overall. ‘Without Mercy’ is an album with fascinating history that will likely form a future post here.

This compilation CD would gain a later re-release in 2007 on the sister label, LTM (LTMCD 2484), but with some adjustments. As well as a revised running order, one track was dropped (‘All That Love And Maths Can Do’) and replaced with ‘Favourite Painting’ instead.

The artwork for the 1991 CD was adapted from the design work from the 1981 Factory Benelux 7” release of ‘Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone)’ / ‘Madeleine’. The 2007 LTM label re-release of the CD adapted it further and also added extensive sleeve notes that were absent from this original 1991 release.