The Psychedelic Furs: Dumb Waiters / Dash

Format: 7" w/flexi attached to sleeve

Country: UK 

Label: CBS

Year: 1981

Price paid: $4 

Purchased at: The Bop Shop, Rochester NY

Here's a weird one, I've never seen anything quite like it.

In the sleeve is your standard 7" vinyl record. The sleeve itself is that thicker cardboard-type you see with British 7" sleeves of this period... except it has a flexi disc GLUED onto the front. And a hole that goes all the way through the sleeve so you can put the whole affair on your turntable and play it. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm guessing it won't play very well due to the uneven weight. A+ for creative packaging though!

Wiki has this to say about the flexi- 'To help promote the band's Talk Talk Talk album, the UK single for "Dumb Waiters" was packaged in an embossed plastic sleeve, playable at 33-1/3 rpm on a turntable, which contains a track with excerpts from the songs "Into You Like a Train", "I Wanna Sleep With You" and "Pretty in Pink". Singer Richard Butler opens the track by saying "This is a Psychedelic Furs commercial. Buy Talk Talk Talk".'

The single reached #59 on the UK charts.

Ian Dury: What a Waste / Wake Up and Make Love with Me

Format: 7" (yellow vinyl)

Label: Stiff (BUY 27)

Country: Belgium 

Year: 1978 

Price paid: $4 

Purchased at: The Bop Shop, Rochester NY

I didn't realize until I got it home that this was on yellow vinyl. Also didn't realize that this is a Belgium pressing- for some reason Belgium got no fewer than four (!) versions of this single, while the UK only got one. It came in black, orange, yellow, and brown/yellow. My copy has a few brown specks in it which at first thought were defects, but they're most probably left over splatter from the brown/yellow version.

'BUY 27' means that this is the 27th single released by Stiff. If you're interested here's a list of their singles, which have always been very well documented:

Stiff: The Discography

The single peaked at #29 in the UK charts and was Stiff's biggest chart topper up until that time. It was Ian's policy not to include previously released singles on LPs, so this single does not appear on any album.

Dury died of metastatic colorectal cancer on 27 March 2000, aged 57.

The Voices: Sacrificial Rites / Enemies in the Grass

Format: 7"

Label: Mercury

Country: UK

Year: 1983

Price paid: $3 

Purchased at: The Bop Shop, Rochester NY

I knew nothing about The Voices before picking this up, thought I'd take a chance at the price.

After poking around the internet for quite some time I was unable to come up with any additional information. And that's awesome, I love stuff so obscure that they fly under the radar.

Their sound is rather mainstream, which isn't surprising since they're on Mercury. Typical power-pop with a little synth thrown in for good measure. The sleeve art mirrors their sound- colorful, fashionable (in a nineteen-eighty-three sorta way), and slightly pedestrian.

Mutant Pop 78/79

Format: LP

Label: PVC/Fast Product 

Country: US 

Year: 1980 

Price paid: $8

Purchased at: The Bop Shop, Rochester NY

As far as I know this is the only album in the series, although the '78/79' implies that they had plans for future releases. Early post-punk UK tunes flung at the US market in hopes that some would stick. Or not.

Track listing:

Mekons 

• Never Been in a Riot
• 32 Weeks
• Where Were You

Scars 

• Adultery
• Horror Show

The Human League 

• Being Boiled
• Circus of Death

2-3

• All Time Low
• Where to Know?

The Flowers 

• After Dark
• Confessions

Gang of Four 

• Love Like Anthrax
• Armalite Rifle
• Damaged Goods

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult: Final Blindness

Format: 7"

Label: Interscope

Country: US

Year: 1993

Price paid: $4 

Purchased at: Needle Drop Records, Rochester NY

When I think of the Thrill Kill Kult I think of Wax Trax Records, as they were that label's biggest success. I also think of the song 'Sex on Wheelz' and the album 'Sexplosion!', as they were they high point of the band's career. However...

This single was released after they had left Wax Trax- and just after the 'Sexplosion!' album- and it shows. The sound lacks the tight focus of tracks like 'Sex on Wheelz', and comes across as a watered-down version of what the Lords of Acid would exploit so well later in the decade. Sonic, danceable, sample-heavy doodles. That being said it's not horrible and has a certain camp energy to it that evokes images of smoke-filled 90's raves.

The single isn't that common, at least I wasn't able to find a ton of copies out there. But as we know rarity doesn't always equal dollar signs. Prices on this one hover around the $10 mark.

Scissor Fits: Soon After Dark EP

Format: 7" 

Label: Torch 

Country: UK 

Year: 1979 

Price paid: $3 

Purchased at: Needle Drop Records, Rochester NY

I bought this one blind on the fact that it's British, made in '79, and there's a track called 'The Government Knows About U.F.O.'s.' If I were pressed I'd give this disc an appraised value of $15-20, but that's kind of a guess; these early UK punk/proto New Wave singles are of course rare, but it comes down to demand too...

I love when they etch little notes into the inner groove. Stiff Records did this a lot. This single says- "Art + realism = shorts" and "The Gothic R&B"

There's actually a wiki page for the Scissor Fits, but it doesn't divulge too much information... other than they were a rather minor band (duh.) One of the members went on to be the A&R man for the seminal indie label Cherry Red.

Found 'The Government Knows About U.F.O.'s.' on Youtube. It's got that lovely garage sound, but punk tracks are supposed to be like thirty seconds long, not five minutes!

 Scissor Fits - 'The Government Knows About UFO's'

Herbie Hancock: Mega-mix

Format: 12"

Label: Columbia

Country: US

Year: 1984

Price paid: $3 

Purchased at: The Record Archive, Rochester NY

The stunning graphics on the sleeve really caught my eye. The inks they used are eye-popping greens and pinks, a similar color palette to that used on the Sex Pistols' 'Never Mind the Bollocks' album. No connection, I'm sure.

I could wax poetic about Herbie and his connection to American New Wave music, but I won't. Suffice it to say that it's a good mix to have... especially for three bucks.

side-by-side of Mega-mix and Bollocks cover art