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New Musik ‘Greatest Hits’ Promo 7″ EP (GTO, XP112, 1981)

This unusual release gathered together New Musik’s six singles to date, all tracks being edited down to lengths unique to this release, playing at 33 1⁄3. I am unsure of the date of release, but perhaps it either came around about the ‘Anywhere’ LP in early 1981 or the ‘Planet Doesn’t Mind’ single from late 1981. Although the label design is plain white, it seems to be before the period where GTO records were fully absorbed into the Epic roster, which their 1982 releases from ‘All You Need Is Love’ were the case.

^ New Musik ‘Greatest Hits’ Promo 7″ EP (GTO, XP112, 1981)

The first four singles run, all from the ‘From A To B’ LP are pretty strong, catchy and gave the band their biggest successes. By the time of the two singles from ‘Anywhere’, the sound was polished to perfection but the music took longer to absorb and its sophistication proved to be a harder sell – neither ‘Luxury’ nor ‘While You Wait’ would repeat chart placings of the earlier singles. Continue reading “New Musik ‘Greatest Hits’ Promo 7″ EP (GTO, XP112, 1981)”

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The Compact and Mercurial Bill Nelson Part 2: The Love That Whirls (Diary Of A Thinking Heart)

Welcome back to the second part of our look at the wonderful world of Bill Nelson on CD, a small number of CD variants that played fast and loose with running orders, which may either leave you smacking your lips in anticipation of the otherwise unavailable obscurities to be found, or bamboozled at the wrecking ball taken to otherwise fine original tracklists. We already looked at Bill’s first solo release on Mercury records, ‘Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam’ – now, we move on to his second, ‘The Love That Whirls (Diary of a Thinking Heart)’.

Bill Nelson 'The Love That Whirls' CDs
^ Bill Nelson ‘The Love That Whirls’ CDs

Cocteau Records, JC CD 16 (1986)

The first UK release on CD for ‘The Love That Whirls (Diary of a Thinking Heart)’, released 25th July 1986 (along with ‘Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam’) four years on from the original release date, under the ‘Cocteau Collectors’ imprint/series. Continue reading “The Compact and Mercurial Bill Nelson Part 2: The Love That Whirls (Diary Of A Thinking Heart)”

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Danielle Dax – ‘Fizzing Human Bomb’ / ‘Yummer Yummer Man’ / ‘Bad Miss ‘M” (Awesome AOR3 / AOR3T, 1985)

Dating from late 1985, this single originally came in two variants which swapped around the running order depending on whether you went for 7″ or the more luxurious 12″ versions. Perhaps it was down to budget, but the 12″ version seemed to get the better deal – as well as the extra track, for the packaging it came with full colour print on the cover and gold ink on the record labels, whereas the 7″ came with black and white print on the edited cover (though metallic ink for the type) and yellow ink for the type on the labels. It even found space to include the lyrics for all three tracks, whereas the 7″ could only make do with the musician credits.

Danielle Dax 'Fizzing Human Bomb'/'Yummer Yummer Man'/'Bad Miss M' double A side 12 inch single - front cover
^ Danielle Dax ‘Fizzing Human Bomb’/ ‘Yummer Yummer Man’/’Bad Miss ‘M” double A side 12 inch single – front cover
Danielle Dax 'Fizzing Human Bomb'/'Yummer Yummer Man'/'Bad Miss M' double A side 12 inch single - rear cover
^ Danielle Dax ‘Fizzing Human Bomb’/ ‘Yummer Yummer Man’/’Bad Miss ‘M” double A side 12 inch single – rear cover

The 12″ extra track, ‘Fizzing Human Bomb’, occupied side A exclusively. Meanwhile, side AA featured the two tracks that formed the 7″ single, ‘Yummer Yummer Man’ and ‘Bad Miss ‘M”. Does that make this a triple-A side single then?! Continue reading “Danielle Dax – ‘Fizzing Human Bomb’ / ‘Yummer Yummer Man’ / ‘Bad Miss ‘M” (Awesome AOR3 / AOR3T, 1985)”

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Tones On Tail – Burning Skies/OK, This Is The Pops versions

The versions

Burning Skies [12″ Version] (6’20”)

Burning Skies [7″ Edit] (4’13”)

Burning Skies [Gothic Rock compilation Edit] (5’15”)

Burning Skies [‘Something!’ promo CD ‘Single Edit’] (4’34”)

OK, This Is The Pops (7″ / 12″ version)

OK, This Is The Pops (fade-in start)

OK, This Is The Pops (‘phased’ version)

NB: All timings are approximate and intended as a guide for differentiation only

Tones On Tail - Burning Skies / OK This is The Pops 7 inch single front cover
^ Tones On Tail – Burning Skies / OK This is The Pops 7 inch single front cover

I never imagined there was going to be quite so much version craziness when I sat down to listen to these original vinyl releases and compare them against what has subsequently emerged across various compilation LPs and CDs. First off, it was a surprise to realise that the 7″ edit of ‘Burning Skies’ had never appeared on CD at any point – and in the end, no less than four different variants of ‘Burning Skies’ came to light when I dug the vinyl out for a spin. Similarly, ‘OK, This Is The Pops’ in the version as was released on vinyl back in 1983 (the versions on 7″ and 12″ are the same) hasn’t quite made it to CD unscathed either. I would love to know how these things come to be – can there be so many different tape boxes at Beggars Arkive that it is so easy to confuse? Or are these accidents that happen during remastering? Continue reading “Tones On Tail – Burning Skies/OK, This Is The Pops versions”

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Button badge goodness: Cocteau Twins

These badges all date from 10 December 1984, which – no coincidence – is when I saw Cocteau Twins play live at Edinburgh Playhouse. These were all on sale at the merchandise stall, along with a T-shirt design I bought but has long ago passed on to T-shirt heaven, through wear and tear.

Cocteau Twins 1984 badge set 1
^ Cocteau Twins 1984 badge set 1

There were two separate sets of 1″ button badges available, along with a more expensive enamel/metal badge, which was particularly beautiful.

Cocteau Twins 1984 enamel/metal badge
^ Cocteau Twins 1984 enamel/metal badge

I used to have the accompanying paper merchandise stall flyer that documented all the available merch along with prices, but it seems to have disappeared over the years. If I come across it again I’ll scan it and post it here for reference. Continue reading “Button badge goodness: Cocteau Twins”