I do generally feel that if someone is looking for a product that is perfectly flat and without surface noises, buy a CD. The only reason I'm even bothering with vinyl is because the market is there... for now. I've gone from being excited when receiving a new, or repressed, LP to holding my breath wondering what will bug me about this one. After posting pics on Facebook of the Boingo LP's I received last week, I then had to post about the issue and suggesting buyers to 'stay tuned..." I now have to make sure to listen to at least one copy of each color variation in full (with headphones) before posting about its arrival. It's an unnecessary waste of time due the fast food nature in which vinyl seems to be manufactured these days. On the plus side of the day, I hit a record by sending in my artwork for the two upcoming CD's to Universal and received approval in about an hour. In the past, it can take several weeks to have the artwork reviewed, so this was nice. Now, I just need my master transfers so I can get the audio completed and then submitted into production.
I had inquired to Scott about Slow Children a while back as well! I was shocked to see that it was actually happening. I have since received them, and they sound fantastic. For ages, I've had a list of loved albums that have never been released on CD. The top three, in order, were 1. Slow Children (both albums) 2. Shriekback - Jam Science 3. Wide Boy Awake Scott, thank you for striking #1 off the list.
My top CD wants? Since mathmandan started it! Glad you asked: Berlin - Information Black - WEA singles/EP Jacqui Brookes - Sob Stories Joe "King" Carrasco + The Crowns - Joe "King" Carrasco + The Crowns Joe "King" Carrasco + The Crowns - Party Weekend Joe "King" Carrasco + The Crowns - Synapse Gap [Mundo Total] Comateens - Pictures On A String Comateens - Deal With it Dubset - Flesh Made Word Fingerprintz - The Very Dab Fingerprintz - Distinguishing Marks Fingerprintz - Beat Noir Fontana Mix - The Noise Spiral Peter Godwin - Correspondence Hambi + The Dance - Heartache Pearl Harbour - Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost Too The Headboys - The Headboys Trevor Herion - Beauty Life Philip Jap - Philip Jap Kraftwerk - Kraftwerk Kraftwerk - Kraftwerk II Kraftwerk - Ralf + Florian Annabel Lamb - Once Bitten UK edition [from master tapes!] Karen Lawrence + The Pinz - Girl's Night Out [from master tapes!] Jona Lewie - Gatecrasher Maurice + The Clichés - C'est La Vie Malcolm McLaren - Swamp Thing Metro - New Love Metro - Future Imperfect [from master tapes!] Modern Man - Concrete Scheme The Mothmen - One Black Dot The Nits - The Nits Positive Noise - Heart Of Darkness Positive Noise - Change of Heart Positive Noise - Distant Fires The Suburbs - The Suburbs [A+M LP] Romanelli - Connecting Flight Sapho - Sapho Sapho - Le Paris Stupide Scribble - Scribble Siam - Farewell, Siam + singles Spoons - Bridges Over Borders Torch Song - Wish Thing Torch Song - Ecstasy The Tourists - The Tourists The Tourists - Reality Effect [UK edition] The Vels - Velocity The Vels - House Of Miracles David Werner - Whizz kid David Werner - Imagination Quota David Werner - David Werner The Zones - Under The Influence
I just sent one of my as yet to be announced CD's into production. Just waiting on the remaining master tape transfer so I can get back to work on the other. A few comments on your list: Fingerprintz - As much as I'd like to do all the albums with all the outtakes and alternate versions I found, the current paltry sales of the Best Of CD has kept me from it. I am down to 200 copies of the original 1000 but sales have been at a trickle, even in distribution, for a while, so these are still on the back-burner. Torch Song - Oh, I think you already know this has been a 5 year ordeal for me with Universal repeatedly having me reconfigure and re-request the albums because of contract restrictions. In other words, I cannot do expanded CD's or even a 2-on-1 CD without full band approval. And while vocalist Laurie Mayer was onboard, William Orbit was non-responsive and as such the only option is to request the albums without bonus tracks on individual CD's. Those requests are still languishing but in the form of Wish Thing and Exhibit A, as there is no master listed for Ecstasy. I suspect Orbit has it. Peter Godwin - I have considered it. While I do own the album, I don't love it and it sounds even more dated than a lot of music from that period. Plus, the amount of people who list owning the album on Discogs is pretty low, and Discogs has been a good indication of sales potential. This would be a vanity project, most likely. Berlin - Information: I was in touch with the band a while back and they think the owner of the album is Jo Julian but no one knows how to contact him. Dave Diamond said there is (was, at least) a master tape that had Terri doing all the vocals before she left the band and Virginia replaced the vocal track. That would be the holy grail of Berlin fans, I'm sure, but all of it seems unattainable. I can't really say anything else from your list has been on my radar, though some of the titles have come up as suggestions in the past. I usually head over to Discogs and see very low amounts of people who own the albums, so then I pretty much disregard at that point.
I'll buy the Torch Songs CDs day one, whatever format they're in. Re: Peter Godwin, FWIW his 1998 Oglio CD comp sold really well, and it's become pretty rare and in-demand. 'Images of Heaven' has entered the 80s-retro-lunch-hour canon, so maybe a CD with that on it would move 1000 copies? Though I'm not familiar with Correspondence and I always got the sense that the Oglio had all the Godwin I needed (and I don't imagine that's available for licence?)
I like your Fingerprints comp. Really cool. Turned me on to a band I never heard of. Kinda gets weak as it gets to the end. Like lots of bands. Really great job. Cool band. Thanks. I wish you would do the last two Divinyls records. But you gotta follow your heart. I know they are too rock for you. Maybe a live Divinyls? They had one official live one. Or any show you could find. I downloaded a few from Wolfgang’s Vault years ago. They were awesome live. She was possessed. Real rockin n raw. Probably outside of your taste.
Most of my list is very niche, I know. But I can't believe that no one has exploited the hell out of The Tourists, the pre-Eurythmics Annie/Dave band [who I actually preferred to Eurythmics]. There's a decent UK best of with about 2/3 of it all. US Epic, who produced the defensively titled "Should Have Been Greatest Hits" LP in the mid-80s [and even a 90s CD] and American Beat, who licensed the US version of "Reality Effect." I did immediately buy the "Luminous Basement" JPN CD of their third and final album in 1997. Good thing too, as it's a holy grail item selling hundred of dollars with a few copies currently listed for up to four figures. Ouch.
Yeah, I'd be in for a well done complete Tourists set, that combined the three LPs, the only-for-US-comp tracks on the US Reality Effect, etc. What's out there is decidedly unimpressive sounding.
Nice to see people naming the Black WEA material and Shriekback's Jam Science....two of my toppermost wants on CD. EG.
My cd holy grail is Nina Hagen - Angstlos. Or even better, a two-fer with Angstlos and In Ekstase. But an impossibilty, I'm sure. And from other posts: Shriekback - Jam Science Malcolm McLaren - Swamp Thing Joe "King" Carrasco + The Crowns Torch Song The Tourists
One thing people have to remember is who currently holds the rights and how challenging is it to get a license. Bands like Dead or Alive or The Tourists appear to be held by Sony, and as mentioned upthread, Sony in the USA now requires all associated band members to sign off on a reissue before they even start it through the clearance process. In other words, unless it's a willing single artist, Sony is pretty much off limits. And then of course the previously mentioned Warner licensing limitations. It really comes down to Universal owned artists only, and even that guarantees nothing by the amount of denials I have received. And I believe I mentioned in previous threads that I've had nothing but even worse experiences attempting to license from indie labels. It really is a 'take what you can get' jungle out there, along with competition. I was recently planning on sending in two vinyl reissue requests for two different bands and literally just stumbled on the fact that other labels are doing them and they should be out in the next days to a month, so that would have been a waste of time.
I also love the Passions 'Sanctuary' album which I had never heard before taking the plunge from RR; I also managed to get their '30,000 Feet Over China' album on CD when it came out on Cherry Red several years back. From Rubellan Remasters I also have Danielle Dax, The Trees, Fingerprintz (really underrated), Berlin 'Pleasure Victim' & 'Love Life'; plus 'Visage', 'The Anvil' and 'Beat Boy (Cassette Remix Edition)'. Every one of these CDs is perfect and beautifully put together by Scott, and all come highly recommended.
I absolutely love Sanctuary. I'm happy some people have taken the risk and found it worthwhile. The Passions should have had much more success and a very long career. I was just pondering my list of denials in recent years, so here's a collection of things I can recall that I've tried and was denied for. Before some people just assume it's record company negligence, of the few I know the reason behind the denials, they are legitimate reasons not necessarily in the hands of the label. Some are contract restrictions, some are rights issues, some are artists (who have greater control over their catalogs) denying. Although, most other denial reasons are unknown to me: Missing Persons - The Singles Collection (Custom vinyl compilation) The Creatures - Boomerang (Expanded CD) Simple Minds - Celebration (Colored LP) Wall of Voodoo - Dark Continent/Call Of The West (2 on 1 CD with bonus track) The Waitresses - Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? (Colored LP) Men Without Hats - Rhythm Of Youth (Colored LP) Men Without Hats - Pop Goes The World (Expanded CD) Berlin - Count Three And Pray (Expanded CD) The Motels - Little Robbers and Shock (Expanded CD's) Xmal Deutschland - Viva (Expanded CD) Kirsty MacColl - Desperate Character / Real (Unreleased 1983 album) (Double expanded CD set) The Boomtown Rats - Japan compilation LP from 1985 (Colored LP) Martha And The Muffins - Metro Music (Expanded CD) Go Go's - Talk Show (Colored LP) The Fixx - Reach The Beach, Phantoms, Walkabout (Expanded CD's) The Church - Of Skins And Heart, The Blurred Crusade, Seance, The EP Collection (Expanded CD's)
In other news, I've got new test pressings now on the way to me for the recently rejected Oingo Boingo 'Good For Your Soul' LP repress. I'm told the whole process should take about 2 months to complete and get the new stock in my hands (sigh...) The repress of 'Nothing To Fear' still hasn't shipped yet (it's been over a week) and it's getting irritating. My hope was to have it by the end of this week with it on sale for the weekend, though it's not looking good at the moment. The smaller (500 copies split into 2x250 color variations) repress of the Divinyls 'Essential' LP is also now completed but with shipping timeframes up in the air I cannot say when that will be in stock. For the person above who inquired about further Divinyls, I have no further release plans at this time. As far as live albums, I just don't care for live albums in my old age. I think the Divinyls catalog has been mined pretty well, at least the Chrysalis years. And with the likelihood of Temperamental not even going into a second pressing, I think my work is done there.
And now, the big NEW RELEASE NEWS: Pre-orders opening in later June, official release date in July for the CD reissues of the two Virgin albums by That Petrol Emotion: End Of The Millennium Psychosis Blue (1988) & Chemicrazy (1990). Both have been dynamically remastered from original master tapes and expanded to 20 tracks each, which includes a selection of B sides, non-album singles, live tracks and remixes. Full track listings will be revealed soon. That Petrol Emotion formed in the mid-80's by core members of the recently disbanded The Undertones, this new band being more edgy and political. After a series of hook-filled singles, and their debut album Manic Pop Thrill, gained popularity on the indie charts, the band was eventually signed to major label Polydor for their second album, Babble, in 1987. By the end of 1987, the band had moved to Virgin for their next two albums before returning to their indie roots for their final album, Fireproof, in 1993. End Of The Millennium Psychosis Blues was the band's third album but first for Virgin Records. Released in 1988, the two singles that came from the album couldn't have been more different. The first single, Cellophane, was a celtic folk song with an accordian, while the second single, Groove Check, was a very modern dance track. The album as a whole is an eclectic variety of styles and experimentation that showed no boundaries to their musical endeavors. For their fourth album, Chemicrazy, producer Scott Litt (R.E.M.) gave the band a more straight-forward Alternative Rock sound. Two singles, Hey Venus and Sensitize, got heavy rotation on MTV's 120 Minutes and showed the band capable of catchy pop songs. Additional singles, Abandon and Tingle, were given radically different remixes for their 12" single releases that foreshadowed the upcoming House Music sound of the dance clubs.
Thanks for the update, Scott, and congrats on the new releases. I must admit that That Petrol Emotion escaped my attention at the time, but as far as CDs go, I'm happy to order anything you put out.
Interesting. The TPE guess was on the money, then. I have "Chemicrazy" and enjoyed it, but I suspect that the RR treatment could take that one up several notches from the bonus materials, which I'm completely unfamiliar with. Much like "Pleasure Victim," which went from a B- to an A- disc after Scott was done with it.
Wow! That Petrol Emotion reissues are definite purchases for me. Can't wait! Only wish you were doing the first two as well.
I gave my bil a copy of the first OB disc and he (number one fan) played it on his 50 turntable as we played pool in the garage. He insisted the garage door be closed. He was right. It sounded like it should. The record is very clean. He was in heaven.
