A small but historical selections of period badges, of a Post-Punk flavour this time round. None of your recent eBay purchases here, I can vouch that all of these designs pictured date back to 1981/82, which is when I picked them up and swiftly fastened them to lapel or pocket flap to sport around town. They would have almost certainly been from 1-UP records in Aberdeen, when they were still to be found on Rosemount Viaduct.
1982 into 1983 was when I first really got the Bauhaus bug. Summer of 1983 into Autumn of that year in particular it reached fever-pitch, with having been able to see Bauhaus live and with the release of the band’s final album and various solo project releases from Tones On Tail and David J. This would continue for some time as I delved back into the band’s previous releases and other solo project releases.
Amongst them was the release in focus here. It sounded intriguing, from what little I knew about it. René Halkett, original member of The Bauhaus (or Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar’ to be more formal) makes contact with bass player of Bauhaus and a friendship emerges that leads to a collaborative single. Bauhaus were regular pilloried in the music press for their assumed pretentiousness and… oh my… this surely came with a capital P in their eyes!
^ René Halkett and David Jay – ‘Nothing’ / ‘Armour’ 7″ front cover
The one and only time I have seen Echo and the Bunnymen play live was on one of the the Scottish dates of their short ‘Ley Lines’ tour of Summer 1983. The band were in fine form at this time, and for me 1983 was a great year of exciting gig going, this gig one of a few memorable occasions that summer. Naturally, mementoes were required so these badges and a t-shirt were purchased from the merch stall. The print quality of the button badges is not the sharpest – it’s not the photos – the enamel badge is a beauty though and it’s still in decent nick despite having seen active service on my safari (the Jobson influence, natch) / combat jacket lapels a fair bit!
^ Button badge goodness – Echo and the Bunnymen Summer 1983 UK tour badges
A further selection of Ultravox badges – this time from 2009’s ‘Return To Eden’ tour merchandise offer. I was able to make a couple of shows on this tour and one from the following year’s ‘Return To Eden II’ tour and across these there was no shortage of goodies on offer from the merch stall to choose from. This time out a selection of the badges and a key ring… I’m not ruling out the mugs and programmes in future posts! Some of these look a bit fizzy – its not the photos, the print quality on the actual badges just isn’t all that sharp to begin with.
^ Ultravox 2009 ‘Return To Eden’ key ring merchandise item
A second instalment of some Ultravox button badges, following on from Part One – more of a mixed bag here from various eras spanning both the John Foxx and Midge Ure ’70s/’80s line-ups. The ‘Ha!-Ha!-Ha!’ is much larger than the rest, which are all much more of the standard button badge sizing. The ‘Three Into One’ design is derived from the illustration on the cover (and used more wholesale on the press adverts of the time) – I had another one of these in bright green, if I recall. Enjoy!
