blues fix

The Cramps - blues fix 10" - 2014 Big Beat Records BLUE 1

Yet another Stockholm buy. That city is so beautiful and full of record stores. Definitely worth a trip. Next time maybe not in the fall when the weather is not too good. With some more sun it might be up there with Antwerp, Hamburg, London and Vienna.

But whatevers. This tenner is one of two records I picked up at what looked like a chainstore for all things music related. Vinyl, CDs, books, mugs, jigsaw puzzles of legendary album covers and I think even T-Shirts. Naturally I didn't expect too much from this one but of course checked it out anyway and boy was I in for a surprise. Both records I picked up I had no idea even existed. While it was pretty obvious that one was a new Leonard Cohen full length I had no idea what that Cramps record was. Even the guy from the store asked me if I knew anything about that release. He was just as clueless as I was at the time.

Now I know that what I scored is a new Re-Issue of a one time only CD single pressing (or is 'burned' the correct term here??) originally released in 1992 to accompany the 'Look mom no head' album. I didn't know about this one at all because I usually disregard CD releases. It's great they finally made this available on vinyl. All four songs are covers and if I remember correctly those songs have not been officially released anywhere else except for the first one which can also be found on the above mentioned record. 'It's mighty crazy' is a great mid tempo hit. Glad I found this.

not too much and not too soon

New York Dolls - too much, too soon LP - 1974 Mercury ‎– SRM-1-1001

Another one from Stockholm although bought at a different store. The same one I bought this Velvet Underground LP at. We strolled by this store that had all kinds of 'vintage' things for sale and on the street they had 2 boxes of records for about a euro each. So I started flipping through those not expecting anything when I came across this Donna Fargo LP and those by Jim Reeves. When I went inside to pay for those I saw they had more records right inside and in the basement. I felt bad for my wife because I actually didn't want to check out any more record stores at that point but once I was in there I couldn't resist.
So I came across this awesome album. I have to admit that at first I wasn't really into the New York Dolls because they first Dolls record I bought was the 'Lipstick Killers - The Mercer Street Sessions 1972' which was recorded prior to their first LP at a different studio and are probably demo recordings. With a lot of punk bands their earlier or demo recordings are rougher and thus sound way better to me but not those. It was definitely the worst possible introduction to this band. In 2'13 I picked up a sealed bootleg copy of their s/t LP for $10 in New York. I figured I'd give them another chance and when better to do than while being in NY. Back home I couldn't believe how great it was. Ever since I like them as much as their contemporaries MC5, Stooges, The Velvet Underground, The Heartbreakers, etc.

This copy definitely didn't look like a recent Re-Issue or a bootleg and the price didn't hurt too but what exactly it is I had no idea. And actually still don't. It's none of those pressings listed on discogs. I checked each one of those but there are differences to each one of those. It's pretty close to the original US pressing but the labels are a bit darker and the matrix etching is slightly different.
I'm pretty sure it's a legit release and not a bootleg. Who would boot a record down to the matrix and then get the etching wrong? It's probably a pretty small run repress from god knows what year. Not too recent though. It's nice to have a copy of this that not too many people know even exists.

after the lights go out

CH3 - after the lights go out LP - 1983 No Future Records PUNK 7

Early 80s Westcoast hardcore-punk is one of my favorite genres and this is a true highlight of it. Their 2nd full length and not even slightly worse than the first. To be honest I totally forgot about this pressing. I have the original Posh Boy release for some years already and was satisfied with it at first but when I saw this copy in front of me at a record shop in Stockholm on our holidays I couldn't resist. They are one of my all time favorite melodic hardcore-punk bands. How could I have lived without this record after I had held it in my own hands? Well, there was one scenario that would have made me leave this and everything else at the shop behind in order to pick up just one 7". That store put out photocopies of the covers of those singles that are a little more expensive and one of those was of a Minor Threat - in my eyes. Of course you cannot tell anything about the pressing just by a xerox of the cover so I asked to see it because if it would have been a first press it would have been the steal of my life so far at the price they asked. Unfortunately though they couldn't find it and didn't even seem to be to bothered about it. Can you imagine? Other records they also couldn't find were Wipers - romeo and Wide Awake - cthc 2nd press. What a let down. But I did get some great stuff there anyway so it's all good. Still I cannot forget about that Minor Threat.

Anyway. This euro pressing on No Future from the UK was the last out of the two only pressings I know of that I needed. There were Re-Issues on Get Back Records in 2003 and '05 but who needs that crap if you have the real deal. Or maybe at all. This record is not that expensive.

Cruisin' 1962

V/A - cruisin' 1967 LP - 1970 Increase Records INCM 2007

'Do you remember Rock'n'Roll Radio' did the Ramones ask. Well, with a record out of the Cruisin' series how could you forget about it. There were 15 LPs released covering the years from 1955 up to 1969. All of those have a live radio show cut into the grooves. Including commercials, jingles and the DJ talking. I love it.

My 4th one out of the series. 1955, 1957, 1959 and now 1962. It should have been the 1961 version to keep with the flow but what the heck. It seems '62 was a good year too. I even got me a first press. Increase Records Re-issued all of their original releases a few years later in revised editions with slightly different tracklists. Which means I'll probably end up with 30 of those LPs at some point.
This baby is 44 years old.

high voltage

AC/DC - high voltage LP - 1976 Atlantic ATL 50 257 (36142) (WE 341)

Actually I would love to own at least one of those early AC/DC albums as an original first Albert Productions pressing which is why I hadn't picked up this LP long ago already. But then I figured that I wasn't going to spend what it costs anyway so when this copy was offered to me I took it.

At least I got a french first pressing which is nothing to sneeze at too I'd say. Almost 40 years old and still looking, and sounding, great. Nice!

Master of puppets

Today I'll post the rest of the records I took of my friend's hand

Metallica - master of puppets LP - 1986 Music For Nations MFN 60

One of the great early Metallica albums and I'm glad I finally got a copy for a really good price. Even though I think it's the weakest one. Not counting the 'black album' and everything thereafter of course. Many of you might not agree with me but the first Metallica record I heard was '...and justice for all' so naturally I love that one. Then I got 'ride the lightning'. Killer. To this day it's my favorite. And if I remember it right 'kill em all' comes in third but I might revise that once I finally have my own vinyl copy. It's been a while since I threw out all those dubbed tapes I never listened to anyway so I don't have that album anywhere to listen to. I don't do last.fm, spotify or any other online crap.

What I got is a beautiful UK pressing from year of its original release. There were many pressings made that year in the UK. One on a different label. Picture vinyl. Color vinyl. I'm glad I got good old black on MFN. The same label my 'ride the lightning' is on although that one is a Re-Issue double LP released in 1987 that my parents bought for me a year later. My '...and justice for all' is a 1988 original on Vertigo/ Phonogram and was pressed in the Netherlands.

Unter Toten Hosen

And another old and dear one

Die Toten Hosen - unter falscher flagge LP - 1984 Totenkopf TOT 21, Virgin 206 845

This band was so good in their early days. I have fond memories of the tapes friends recorded for me back in the late eighties when I was still in school with no money. It's a shame what they turned into these days... and not just recently. Really embarrassing.
That aside this is still a great record.

The cover of this second press, released the same year as the first press, is censored because they used a rip off HMV logo on the flag of the ship they are depicted on. But for some reason they didn't have to censor they printed innersleeve which shows exactly the same image only way bigger. Strange how those major label politics work.
I'm not too concerned with owning a first press which is why I grabbed it from the same dude who sold me the Die Ärzte LP which you may remember from my previous post. I took three more records of his hands but more about that later...

Debile Ärzte

Today I'll take you back to my punk rock roots. I can't imagine anyone in Germany into Punk not having listened to this band at some point. Well, maybe the younger generation because lately they don't really release good records anymore.

Die Ärzte - debil LP - 1984 CBS 26 237

Maybe for nostalgic reasons but maybe because this stuff is really good. But who cares? No matter what I really love this record. When I was young I didn't have the money to buy their records and then for a year or two I didn't mind much. Recently though I decided I have to have their early albums on vinyl. So here we go with their debut full length.
Die Ärzte are the biggest german band that was ever considered punk and to me still is. They never sold out or changed their attitude. Now I'm aware that some people would be well advised to change their attitude but not them. From what I know their heart and soul were always in the right place.

Good thing a friend of mine is thinning his collection and let go of this for cheap. It's an original 1984 pressing. Apparently there were two different ones made that year with different matrix numbers but pretty much identical otherwise. So who knows which one came first. At this point probably no one. I didn't even care about what pressing it is which is why I'm definitely perfectly happy with this copy.

The 411 you didn't see coming

411 - The Side You Cannot See: Complete Discography 1990-1992 - 2014 Workshed WSR-11

There have been a few discography releases the last few years that I never thought would happen. Ressurection is the earliest that comes to mind, then Headfirst and now this one.
The original 411 records don't demand a lot of dough which is probably due to not many people caring about that band. So why do a discography release? Because there ARE people who DO care.
I have two copies of the 7" and a version of the LP which is already most of what they recorded. The 4 compilations they contributed to I don't have and will probably never pick up which is why this release was necessary. It's great to have everything in one place now.

As far as I know there was only this one version pressed. It is out of 500 and was distributed by Revelation who don't seem to have copies anymore. Maybe that means there will be another pressing at some point but I doubt that.

25 years glow in the dark, start today

Gorilla Biscuits - start today LP - 2014 Revelation Records REV012A

Yes. I'm fed up with all the pointless repressings Revelation churns out every other week. But this finally is one that makes sense. For its silver anniversary a special Re-Issue of this crucial classic is something I can most definitely get behind. Especially because it's executed perfectly.

I haven't seen any numbers yet but this limited edition glow in the dark vinyl is still and only available from REV directly. Except for discogs of course. Don't give your money to those jerks. Go straight to the source and pay less.
The black vinyl version of this pressing (which I'm still not sure if I should pick it up) looks almost exactly like the first press. Except for the printed GB logos inside the cover of the 25th anniversary edition and its black on white text as opposed to the white on black text of the original. Maybe the matrix is different too but I didn't check that.
A great addition to my collection. Most of all because my wife won't give me her purple vinyl copy. Now I finally have my own color vinyl pressing.