Category: Obscurios

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Kraftwerk – ‘Home Computer’ Promo 7″ (EMI Odeon SDP-867, 1981)

This curious 7″ single hails from Brazil and the background to its release I presume to be its use in a television series from late 1981 into 1982, ‘Brilhante‘. What is of particular interest is that both sides feature unique edits of the track. When I say edits, I really mean they are faded out at specific points – in the case of the A side at the 2 minute 17 mark and in the case of the B side 4 minute 47 mark. The A side edit is abrupt, while the B side edit had a somewhat more generous use of the fader control. Not terribly exciting in comparison to some of the editing scissor work on single edits from around the world, such as ‘Autobahn’. Mind you, that was a case of whittling down 22 minutes down to a mere 3 to 4 minutes. Still, it is an interesting curio to have ‘Home Computer’ as a single on its own. The labels don’t mention it, but the the record pls at 33 1/3 RPM for some reason, rather than the more common 45 RPM.

Kraftwerk – Home Computer Promo 7" (EMI Odeon SDP-867, 1981) front
^ Kraftwerk – Home Computer Promo 7″ (EMI Odeon SDP-867, 1981) front

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Tiger Lily ‘Monkey Jive’ UK 7″ single (Dead Good Records, DEAD11, 1980)

As I pen this piece, Ultravox! have enjoyed a moment in the sun once more, with the issue of the ‘Island Years’ CD box set gathering their three Island-era LPs (and rarities) and coloured vinyl reissues of their first three long players. So, it is as good a time as any to look back on the proto-Ultravox! single recorded by Tigerlily, namely ‘Monkey Jive’ / ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’, the particular version featured here dating from October 1980. (A small piece about it in Smash Hits of the era can be viewed here.

Tiger Lily 'Monkey Jive' UK 7 inch single front cover
^ Tiger Lily ‘Monkey Jive’ UK 7 inch single front cover

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Wire ‘Exploded Views’ Italian Book / ‘Live – May 1990’ CD (Stampa Alternativa, SCONC.25, 1994)

Never been entirely sure where this fits into the grand Wire scheme of things, whether it is official, semi-official, unofficial – does it count as one of those ‘objects’ that numbered up to 47 at one point? I’m unsure, since it clearly has input from the band somehow or other, whether that be via the separate interviews or the exclusive live recordings – this is no mere cut and paste history in cuttings type affair. But neither is it an ‘Everybody Loves a History’ nor a ‘Read and Burn’. It shares a series with similar tomes on many other alternative favourites, more likely appearing due to quirks in Italian copyright law than official sanction, I’d wager.

Wire - 'Exploded Views' book, front cover
^ Wire – ‘Exploded Views’ book, front cover

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John Foxx ‘My Face’ UK yellow plastic ‘Smash Hits flexi-disc, 1980

Something of an indulgence in this post – ‘My Face’ was a previously unreleased track that John Foxx gave away to Smash Hits magazine in late 1980, issued via the medium of a one-sided, crackly bright yellow plastic flexidisc – and what you see here is it wrapped in my home made cover design of the time. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t alone in putting together my own cover design – I was obviously trying to channel the spirit of the preceding ‘Burning Car’ and later ‘Europe After The Rain’ sleeve designs in typeface and coloured line elements when I got round to drafting this.

John Foxxx 'My Face' flexidisc housed in home-made sleeve
^ John Foxxx ‘My Face’ flexidisc housed in home-made sleeve

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