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
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
Three albums in to Peter Murphy’s solo career, 1989’s ‘Deep’ brought the ex-Bauhaus frontman a high degree of well-earned success in the US, having put in the stateside touring miles the year before and with the new LP a strong piece of work. Success to such an extent that a series of single releases in addition to the pre-album single ‘Cuts You Up’ saw light of day in the US. These were of high appeal to a fan and collector such as I, on the other side of the Atlantic, where ‘Deep’ wouldn’t even receive a UK release until 1990, and would merit only the one accompanying single release, such were the disparity in fortunes for Murphy between homeland and the US.
^ Peter Murphy – A Strange Kind Of Love US promo insert front cover design
It’s a particular favourite of mine, this album, what with its high-tech, high-sheen finish of meticulously crafted pop – it got a vinyl re-release last year on Rough Trade and for some reason the CD issue was delayed… and now there is a Japanese issue too with one extra track…
^ Scritti Politti ‘Cupid & Psyche 85’ 2022 Japanese re-issue CD – front cover design and some of the additional inserts/disc
It was going to be just a straight re-release of the existing CD incarnation, which featured the original album tracks plus four additional bonus tracks of some of the ‘Versions’ from the contemporary single B sides. As it turns out, it is not just a straight re-issue and there are differences… and to add to that, there is this, the Japanese CD re-release which comes with an extra bonus track for Japan only. Continue reading “Scritti Politti ‘Cupid & Psyche 85’ Japanese re-issue CD [Rough Trade / Beat Records, RTRAD695CDJP, 2022]”
There are quite a number of different versions out there for ‘Whistling For His Love’, one of Danielle’s uniquely odd and wonderful tales set to a sweetly electronic, sequencer-driven backing. The original version was first released on the Japanese only album ‘The Chemical Wedding’, which I focussed on a few posts back – while the second, most commonly available version, was first released on the ‘Dark Adapted Eye’ album and subsequently on the flip side of the UK single, ‘White Knuckle Ride’*in 1989 – and also the ‘Comatose Non-Reaction’ compilation album from 1995.
As well as those two, four other mixes are to be found on this promo-only 12” EP from Sire Records…
^ Danielle Dax – ‘Whistling For His Love’ US 12″ Promo front
