Year by Year: Cocteau Twins – 1986 – The back catalogue CD releases

1986 CD re-issue series

Released in early July 1986 (mostly?), 4AD issued all of the Cocteau Twins albums to date on CD format, in some cases compiling and enhancing or combining some of the releases along the way in the same way that some of the cassette editions had been released before.


CD: ‘Garlands’ (4AD, CAD 211 CD)

Released in early July 1986, this initial CD version ran with the enhanced track listing that the 1983 cassette release introduced, by way of including the band’s second John Peel session of January 1983 as bonus tracks – and then went a step beyond the cassette by also including a further two tracks. These were the tracks intended to be the band’s very first single release, ‘See No Evil’ and ‘Perhaps Some Other Aeon’, which until that point were only ever released on i) a giveaway flexidisc with ‘Vinyl’ magazine in Holland for ‘See No Evil’, and ii) the ‘An Hour Of Eloquent Sounds’ compilation cassette, respectively, although in a very different recording – the version of ‘Perhaps Some Other Aeon’ on this CD is quite different by comparison to that earlier cassette release version.

The main image on the front cover is retained from the vinyl version, but the rest of the design is different and incorporates the additional photographic image that was first used on the 1983 cassette edition.

Cocteau Twins 'Garlands' UK 1986 CD front insert design
^ Cocteau Twins ‘Garlands’ UK 1986 CD front insert design

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Year by Year: Cocteau Twins – 1986

Much like 1985 had been, 1986 was another productive yet non-standard year, with  the band shying well away from the traditional album and accompanying singles music business way of doing things. This year saw a stripped-down duo version of the band release a unique, subsequently well-loved minimal sounding album, one full-band, full-blooded EP and a collaborative album that didn’t even mention the band by name… plus a few more compilation releases yielding different versions or exclusive tracks once more…


CD: ‘The Pink Opaque’ (4AD CAD CD513 / Relativity EMCD 8040)

Cocteau Twins - 'The Pink Opaque' UK/US CD - front
^ Cocteau Twins – ‘The Pink Opaque’ UK/US CD – front

1986 got off to a start with the first ever CD release by 4AD (apparently), in the form of the compilation album ‘The Pink Opaque’ – this CD version was issued in the UK with a release date of 17th January 1986 and I’m unsure of the US release date – the significance being that this was a joint pressing between 4AD in the UK and Relativity in the US. The CD has an identical track listing to the vinyl/cassette release of this compilation from the previous year. So, it is primarily of interest as far as versions go of containing the remixed/re-recorded ‘Wax and Wane’ and the non-album previously cassette-only ‘Millimillenary’. It’s worth noting too that the version of ‘Pearly-Dewdrops’ Drops’ is the 7″ version. Continue reading “Year by Year: Cocteau Twins – 1986”

Kraftwerk – ‘The Robots’ Brazilian 7″ EP (Capitol Records, 31C 016 85870, 1979)

From 1979, and an era where releases could be weird and wonderful depending on the region of the globe they hail from and how that region liked to do things, a unique picture sleeve four track 7” EP from Kraftwerk. This is the kind of release that, from roughly 1986 onwards, became something of a rare occasion for Kraftwerk, the more that they standardised releases across the world with the ‘Musique Non Stop’ single and ‘Electric Cafe’ album.

Kraftwerk - 'The Robots' Brazilian 7" EP front cover design
^ Kraftwerk – ‘The Robots’ Brazilian 7″ EP front cover design

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The Human League – ‘Holiday ‘80’ Japanese ‘Pic Label’ series 12″ single (Virgin, VIP-5906, 1981)

Another post documenting one more of the ‘Pic Label’ series of Japanese 12” compilation mini-albums that were such a collector’s delight – so far we have covered The Flying Lizards, John Foxx, and Japan – this time around the release is less unique, as it is based on the existing ‘Holiday ‘80’ EP from 1980, though no less appealing.

Human League - 'Holiday '80' Japanese Mini-LP - front cover design
^ Human League – ‘Holiday ’80’ Japanese Mini-LP – front cover design

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Tones On Tail – ‘Tones On Tail’ UK compilation album (Situation Two, SITU 12, 1985)

Early 1985 is when this compilation album was released in the UK (there are also releases from the US, Canada and Greece) and on paper it should be a straightforward round up of the tracks from the band’s first three single releases – things are never quite that straightforward though.

Tones On Tail 1985 UK compilation LP front cover design
^ Tones On Tail 1985 UK compilation LP front cover design

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