Category: Compilation albums

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John Foxx compilations across the years Part 9

The John Foxx compilations went into overdrive for 2016, with no less than three compilations across CD and vinyl formats that were released throughout the year.

‘Burning Car’ UK LP (Metamatic Records, META59LP, 2016)

Release date: 28th January 2016

While the album doesn’t contain any otherwise previously unreleased material you can’t source elsewhere, if you are in the market for a vinyl companion piece to ‘Metamatic’ that gathers up the wonderful single versions and B sides of the period and salts it further with various alternative versions and curios of the period, and then package it up beautifully in a harmoniously worked sleeve design…then this release is for you!

John Foxx 'Burning Car' 2016 compilation LP front sleeve design
^ John Foxx ‘Burning Car’ 2016 compilation LP front sleeve design

Continue reading “John Foxx compilations across the years Part 9”

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‘Street Level (20 New Wave Hits)’ UK compilation LP (Ronco, RTL2048, 1980)

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?!

'Street Level' compilation - label design
^ ‘Street Level’ compilation – label design

Welcome to the world of the budget label TV advertised compilation – Ronco, K-Tel etc. Continue reading “‘Street Level (20 New Wave Hits)’ UK compilation LP (Ronco, RTL2048, 1980)”

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Scritti Politti ‘The Basics’ Japanese mini album LP and cassette [Virgin, 20VB-1083 / 20VC-1083, 1986]

‘The Basics’ is a curious oddity, a 1986 Japanese-only compilation that gathers together various mixes of five singles that were peeled from the ‘Cupid & Psyche ’85’ album. It comes housed in a design based on the UK 1985 12″/gatefold 7″ single sleeve design. Why the title of ‘The Basics’? I have no idea. And despite being housed in a sleeve filched from the UK 12″ of ‘Perfect Way’, the mix of that song that is included is actually a quite different mix from the US 12″ single! Odd!

Scritti Politti 'The Basics' 1986 mini-album - LP and cassette front cover designs
^ Scritti Politti ‘The Basics’ 1986 mini-album – LP and cassette front cover designs

The sleeve lists various differing mixes included – definitely worth a deeper dive… Continue reading “Scritti Politti ‘The Basics’ Japanese mini album LP and cassette [Virgin, 20VB-1083 / 20VC-1083, 1986]”

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Propaganda ‘p:Machinery (The αlpha/βeta Definition)’ Record Store Day LP (ZTT / Universal Music Recordings, ZTDS 96 / 7535890, 2025)

Another Record Store Day and another new, limited edition Propaganda release culled from the ZTT label archives. 2024’s, ‘Die 1000 Augen Des Dr. Mabuse’, was very much a ‘Part 1’, so you might have expected any Propaganda RSD release to continue onwards with that. But no, this year moved to focus on both sides of the band’s ‘p:Machinery’/‘Frozen Faces’ single, first released in summer 1985. The Propaganda of ‘A Secret Wish’ were always about the duality, so as well as both songs, this release also features the subsequent αlpha and βeta versions that have come to be released or retitled over the many ‘after the fact’ releases from ZTT.

Propaganda 'p:Machinery (The αlpha/βeta Definition)' Record Store Day LP 2025 front cover design.
^ Propaganda ‘p:Machinery (The αlpha/βeta Definition)’ Record Store Day LP 2025 front cover design.

Continue reading “Propaganda ‘p:Machinery (The αlpha/βeta Definition)’ Record Store Day LP (ZTT / Universal Music Recordings, ZTDS 96 / 7535890, 2025)”

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John Foxx compilations across the years Part 8

There was only the one compilation released in 2015, though it was announced by the Metamatic mailing list as being the first part of two. Specifically, ‘20th Century: The Noise’ was the first compilation to be released on the Metamatic label itself and noted as being “the first part of a double release to celebrate 35 years as a solo artist”. (The second part would be 2016’s ‘21st Century: A Man, A Woman And A City’, amongst other such releases that year, which we will of course come to in the next post in this series.)

John Foxx - 2015 - 20th Century - The Noise CD front cover design
^ John Foxx – 2015 – 20th Century – The Noise CD front cover design

‘20th Century: The Noise’ UK CD (Metamatic Records, META57CD, 2015)

An email from the Metamatic mailing list from 25 July 2015 noted that this compilation was released on Friday 24 July 2015 and that it featured 17 tracks, including the 2014 Metamatic re-masters (where relevant) and a new master of ‘No-One Driving’ (Single Version), as well as a previously unreleased track, ‘Musique Electron’, and rare variant (from a various artists compilation album) of a ‘Cathedral Oceans’ track, ‘Splendour’. With artwork by Barnbrook and images by John Foxx, it made for an attractive package, with the keen price point offer tempting for those exclusives.
Continue reading “John Foxx compilations across the years Part 8”