‘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
This curious little promo CD came to mind recently with the news that Talking Heads – a particular favourite of mine, for a certain period of their work at least – will be releasing a series of deluxe reissue sets that gather together the original albums plus various related recordings, starting with ‘Talking Heads: 77’, obviously enough. I must confess straight off the bat however, I find past re-issues of Talking Heads material a mixture of frustrating and essential. Frustrating because while previous re-issues did come with some bonus material, so many particular versions – those released on singles particularly – have either never been re-released digitally, or if they have been, are limited to downloads/streaming and only in restricted territories. For the essential examples, well… look no further than the Record Store Day release from earlier this year, the ‘Live at WCOZ 77’ live double album that captures the band in fine form (and some of which had been included on their fantastic 1982’ live double album ‘The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads’. Already, based on some of the music forum discussion so far, these releases likely have their work cut out to please all. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
^ Various Artists – ‘The Flashback Four – Hits and Rarities’ US Promo CD front cover design
Time for another pause and update in this occasional series and rewind and absorb new information either from valuable reader comments or subsequent info coming to light elsewhere.
Suzanne Vega is an artist who I happened upon courtesy of the UK BBC television channel’s long running music series ‘Whistle Test’ in October 1985. It wasn’t the kind of style I’d have thought I would normally like, but there was something intriguing and ‘Marlene On The Wall’ proved to be catchy and a minor hit. Intriguing enough that I bought the debut album in early 1986 and became a firm fan from then on. There was a certain cool elegance and mysteriousness to the music on the whole and not the straight ahead folk I was expecting (other than perhaps ‘The Queen and the Soldier’, which I’ve never cared for).
A return to a VersionCrazy favourite, the ever wonderful Bill Nelson. It’s good to see news recently about a deluxe box set edition of Bill’s 1981 album ‘Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam’ due for release in late November. The path for the album to gain a release was far from straightforward – Bill Nelson had been signed to EMI imprint Harvest, but with the EMI/Thorn merger that took place, a cull of acts deemed surplus to requirements/the balance sheet saw an exit from EMI and plans for the album shelved. I look forward to what new insights the accompanying text in the super deluxe box set may bring to this backstory, along with the chance to hear a whole new mix of the album, courtesy of Stephen W Tayler.
^ Bill Nelson ‘Youth Of Nation On Fire’ UK 7” doublepack single front cover design
