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Gary Numan – ‘Remember I Was Vapour’ (Live) West German 12″ (Beggars Banquet INT 126.600, 1980)

An odd choice of single perhaps, not the most immediate song to shout ‘single’ release from ‘Telekon’ – but then, neither was ‘This Wreckage’, was it? This 12″ single was only released in the then West Germany and was immediately of appeal to collectors worldwide due to its attractive sleeve design and unique pairing of tracks. Remember, for me anyway, this was the era of interesting import releases that would be listed in the back pages of music papers such as Sounds, NME, etc with excitingly brief descriptions as ‘diff pic bag’ indicating some (variable) picture sleeve design from the familiar UK versions.

Gary Numan - 'Remember I Was Vapour' (Live) West German 12" front cover design
^ Gary Numan – ‘Remember I Was Vapour’ (Live) West German 12″ front cover design

Continue reading “Gary Numan – ‘Remember I Was Vapour’ (Live) West German 12″ (Beggars Banquet INT 126.600, 1980)”

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Bill Nelson – ‘7″ Bill Nelson Singles’ Box Set (Cocteau Records, JEAN 6)

Just when you thought there could be no more Bill Nelson box sets, here is this little curio, ‘7″ Bill Nelson Singles’ (aka ‘Assorted Nelsons’, as it was described on the ‘Acquitted By Mirrors’ fan club merchandise sheet of the time). Released in the latter period of the ‘Acquitted by Mirrors’ fan club period, this box set gathers together a few stray singles and packages them up in a unique box. I would bet that this may well have been a way to bundle together bought-back overstock of earlier Cocteau, Mercury and Portrait records era singles.

Bill Nelson - '7" Bill Nelson Singles' Box Set (Cocteau Records, JEAN 6) box front
^ Bill Nelson – ‘7″ Bill Nelson Singles’ Box Set (Cocteau Records, JEAN 6) box front

Whatever the reason, it was nice to get a couple of them again in minty mint condition, or which were otherwise different in some way. For example, I had the double-pack version of ‘Youth of Nation on Fire’. The box set cost the small sum of £4.75 plus 75p post and packing back in the day.

The singles included in the set are; Continue reading “Bill Nelson – ‘7″ Bill Nelson Singles’ Box Set (Cocteau Records, JEAN 6)”

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Bauhaus – ‘Kick In The Eye’ UK 7″ and 12″ (Beggars Banquet, BEG54 and BEG54(T), 1981)

The first release of this song dating from early 1981 features a mix that has rarely resurfaced on CD re-issues since – on the myriad Bauhaus compilations that have been released over the years, the 1982 ‘Searching For Satori’ EP remix version has been by far the go-to version. The only releases of the original mix to be found on CD appear to be on 1995’s various artists compilation CD ‘Gothic Rock 2 – 80’s Into 90’s’ and 2009’s ‘Omnibus’ boxed set re-issue of ‘Mask’, where it is listed as ‘Kick In The Eye (Original Single Version A Side)’. (I believe this mix may also be on the Canadian ‘The Sky’s Gone Out’ CD too, but have never come by a copy of this to verify – anyone?)

Bauhaus - 'Kick In The Eye' 1981 UK 7" front cover design
^ Bauhaus – ‘Kick In The Eye’ 1981 UK 7″ front cover design

Continue reading “Bauhaus – ‘Kick In The Eye’ UK 7″ and 12″ (Beggars Banquet, BEG54 and BEG54(T), 1981)”

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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

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

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Joy Division – ‘Substance’ cassette (Factory FACT250C, 1988)

‘Substance’ was the second compilation album of Joy Division non-album tracks released on Factory, dating from July 1988. Along with 1981’s ‘Still’, it gathers up many of the tracks that first appeared on the band’s single and EP releases, none of which were featured on either ‘Unknown Pleasures’ or ‘Closer’. (Well, other than a different version of ‘She’s Lost Control’, I suppose.)

^ Joy Division – ‘Substance’ cassette – Factory FACT250C, 1988, front case design.

I have chosen to feature the cassette version, since this hails from my pre-CD buying days and therefore was the only access I had to the full version of the release. You see, the vinyl LP version only came with ten tracks, whereas the cassette version came with those same ten tracks on side 1 and an ‘Appendix’ on side 2 that added an additional seven tracks. (The CD version also came with the full seventeen tracks.) Somewhat annoyingly, rather than present everything in chronological order, the ‘Appendix’ device ensures that things get mixed up. Continue reading “Joy Division – ‘Substance’ cassette (Factory FACT250C, 1988)”