Same record, different sleeves - a selection of punk and new wave vinyl records released in multiple sleeves.

 As many record collectors will perhaps painfully know, if a record has been released with several different picture sleeves, even if the record is no different there is almost a compulsion to collect them all. This post features a handful of my favourite such releases, mainly punk, new wave and post-punk singles and albums from the 1970s and 1980s.

Let's start with one of the punk pioneer groups, The Damned. On reforming in 1979 they came back with a vengeance releasing Love Song as the first single taken from their Machine Gun Etiquette album. The record was packaged in four different sleeves, one showing each of the band members. From left to right they are Algy Ward, Captain Sensible, Dave Vanian, Rat Scabies. And if this wasn't enough for the collectors, it was also released on red vinyl, making a combination of 8 different versions to collect. And if anyone wants to get really serious about this, Love Sing was reissued on Big Beat records in 1982, again with the 4 different sleeves, but this time on both blue vinyl and black vinyl, giving the collector a further 8 pieces to collect. Most versions are readily available on Ebay, selling for between £10 and £15.

The Damned - Love Song, Chiswick records, c.1979

Another band of the same era, Generation X, also released a single, King Rocker, with 4 different covers, again one for each band member. From left to right these are Tony James, Billy Idol, Mark Laff, and Bob Andrews. As with The Damned's Love Song these also came on coloured vinyl as well as the conventional black vinyl, so again 8 for the collectors to track down. Plenty of these on Ebay too, with the coloured vinyl versions regularly going for £20 - £40.

Generation X - Kind Rocker, Chrysalis records, c.1979

Staying with the punk genre, another band who released a sleeve for each of their 4 band members was The Lurkers on their I Don't Need To Tell Her single from 1978, released on Beggar's Banquet, BEG 9. From left to right they are Howard Wall, Pete Stride, Nigel Moore and Manic Esso. A few of these are available on Ebay at the time of writing at various prices.

The Lurkers - I Don't Need To Tell Her, Beggar's Banquet records, c.1978

No band members pictures on this release from The Psychedelic Furs, but 1979's We Love You 7" single was released with 3 different coloured sleeves. Their debut, self-titled album was also released with different coloured sleeves, pink, green and orange.

The Psychedelic Furs - We Love You, CBS records, c.1979

Manchester's finest, Buzzcocks, released their 1979, Steve Diggle penned single, Harmony In My Head, in 2 different coloured sleeves.

Buzzcocks - Harmony In My Head, United Artists, c.1979

The Clash released their 1978 (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais single with 4 different coloured die-cut sleeves. It also came in a die-cut, black CBS sleeve. Plenty of the latter on Ebay at reasonable prices, but the versions with the coloured sleeves command a fairly high prices these days.

The Clash - (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais, CBS records, c.1978

Dr Feelgood released their 1979 single, Milk and Alcohol on black, white and brown vinyl, and with a variety of different coloured sleeves with 8 combinations in all.

Dr Feelgood - Milk and Alcohol, United Artists, c.1978

Martha and the Muffins, best known for Echo Beach but did release an impressive run of other material too, released their 1980 single, Saigon, with 3 different coloured sleeves.

Martha and the Muffins - Saigon, Dindisc records, c.1980

The first album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark was originally released in 4 different die-cut sleeves before it was finally reissued with a printed sleeve.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Dindisc records, c.1980

There are probably many I have missed, but these are the first handful which sprang to mind.

Other worthy contenders for this list are:

New Order - Procession / Everything's Gone Green, released in 9 different sleeves.

The Tubes - Prime Time, released in 6 different coloured vinyl, all with the same sleeve.

Dr Feelgood - As Long As The Price Is Right, 3 different sleeves, 3 different coloured vinyl.

Ian Dury - Do It Yourself LP, 12 different wallpaper design sleeves.

Tenpole Tudor - Swords of a Thousand Men, 2 different sleeves

The Rumour - Emotional Traffic, 3 different coloured vinyl, all with the same sleeve (I can't help thinking Stiff records missed a trick here but not having the cut out in the traffic light which exposes the vinyl match the colour of the record. All sleeves have the space where the red light would have been cut out, regardless of the colour of the vinyl inside).

A trawl through the music and art work of XTC's single releases (part 3)

 And so for the third and final installment of my trawl through the music and artwork of XTC's vinyl single releases. If you've not seen the previous posts then check out part 1 and part 2.

This post sees us in 1986, where XTC released a new album, Skylarking, but just one single, Grass, written about a park in Swindon as opposed to cannabis, was taken from the album. Grass was written by Colin Moulding, with the b-side track, Dear God, written by Andy Partridge, which would go on to become a single in its own right in later years, although again not without controversy over the lyrics. The 12" version contains the additional track, Extrovert. The single only managed to get to number 100 in the UK charts.

XTC - Grass, Virgin records, c.1986

Moving on to 1987 now, the next single release by XTC was the Colin Moulding penned track, The Meeting Place, again taken from the latest album, Skylarking. The track tells the tale of a man meeting his wife outside a factory, in this case the Swindon railway works, whose hooter features as the track starts. The b-side is The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul, written by Andy Partridge. Initial copies of the 7" single came on clear vinyl in a printed plastic sleeve. It was also released with a conventional picture sleeve.

The 12" version has both the 7" tracks on the a-side, with 4 XTC home demos on the b-side: Terrorism, Let's Make a Den, Find The Fox, and The Troubles. Although many of the earlier XTC singles turn up 'in the wild' from time to time, this one never seems to, in any of its formats. Ebay currently has a few copies with the prices reflecting the seeming rarity of the release.

XTC - The Meeting Place, Virgin records, c.1987

XTC's next single was Dear God, which had already been released as the b-side of Grass. Lyrically contentious, questioning the existence of God and the existence of evil, Partridge again attracted hate mail. The record only made it into the very lower reaches of the UK chart, and although not included on early pressings of Skylarking it does feature on later re-pressings. The b-side is Big Day, written by Colin Moulding. The 12" release features an extra track, Another Satellite, written by Andy Partridge.

Although this post is only about vinyl, I will make an exception briefly to mention the CD version of Dear God, which includes all 6 songs from the Homo Safari series, which as far as I'm aware have never been released on a single vinyl compilation, only as b-sides to their various singles. 

XTC - Dear God, Virgin records, c.1987

1988 was a fallow year for XTC, with no releases at all. In 1989 XTC released another studio album Oranges and Lemons, from which a further 3 singles were taken. First to be released was Mayor of Simpleton, written by Andy Partridge with Colin Moulding's One Of The Millions on the b-side. There were 2 different 12" versions of this release. A conventional one, featuring a cover version of Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) song, Ella Guru, taken from his 1969 Trout Mask Replica album. The other version of the 12" was a limited edition release containing 3 previous singles: Dear God, Senses Working Overtime, and Making Plans For Nigel. The single reached number 46 in the UK charts.

XTC - Mayor of Simpleton, Virgin records, c.1989

The next single to be release from the Oranges and Lemons album was King For a Day, written by Colin Moulding, with the Andy Partridge penned, Happy Families on the b-side. A 12" version was released which featured a 12" mix of King For a Day, as well as the 7" version and Happy Families.

XTC - King For a Day, Virgin records, c.1989

The final XTC single to be released in 1989 was The Loving, again taken from the Oranges and Lemons album. The Loving was written by Andy Partridge, with Colin Moulding's Cynical Days on the b-side. The original version of this release had white paper labels but later versions have silver injection labels. The 12" version has an extra track, The World Is Full of Angry Young Men, written by Colin Moulding. The release failed to make any impact on the UK charts.

XTC - The Loving, Virgin records, c.1989

There now followed a 3 year hiatus before we were treated to another XTC release. 1992 saw the release of their album Nonsuch. This was the time when CDs were much more prevalent than vinyl, and original vinyl pressings of this and their subsequent albums go for quite a hefty sum on Ebay. The first single to be taken from Nonsuch was Disappointed, an Andy Partridge composition about people who have been turned down romantically and have come together to join "the disappointed". On the b-side was Colin Moulding's The Smartest Monkeys. It was also released as a 10" single, with Humble Daisy, written by Andy Partridge, as an additional track. The single reached number 33 in the UK charts but was the last time XTC troubled the UK Top 40.

XTC - The Disappointed, Virgin records, c.1992

The second single to be released from Nonsuch was The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead, telling the story of a man who helps the poor but is then killed off by the government. The b-side is Wardance, written by Colin Moulding, Ebay has plenty of this release for sale on CD, but not so many copies on vinyl, and it would seem, according to the discogs pricing history, that it's relatively hard to find.

XTC - The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead, Virgin records, c.1992

The third and final single to be released from Nonsuch was the Andy Partridge penned, Wrapped In Grey, however it was quickly withdrawn by Virgin with only a few thousand copies having been pressed. As such it's quite a collector's item. The CD version goes for £100's on discogs, but no one is selling the 7". Following this release XTC effectively went on strike following a dispute with Virgin records. The b-side features 2 versions of the track Bungalow, written by Colin Moulding.

XTC - Wrapped in Grey, Virgin records, c.1992

And so we come to the end of XTC's vinyl single releases. They did not release another single until 1999's Easter Theatre, but that along with subsequent singles were only released on CD, so I've not included them here.

Once again, thanks very much for reading. I hope you've enjoyed it. If you missed them then part 1 and part 2 are also available to read.

Here are links to a few books about XTC which may be of interest:

 

Complicated Game, Inside the Songs of XTC, by Andy Partridge

The XTC Bumper Book of Fun for Boys and Girls

XTC - Chalkhills and Children, the Definitive Biography