Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
PROMO 5
Rocky Sharpe & the Replays - "special four track review record" 10", 1979.
Chiswick PROMO 5
Tracks: Devil Or Angel, Tonight, Fools Fall In Love, Since I Don't Have You.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Stukas - Klean Living Kids
Catalogue number: NS 21
Release date: 14 Oct. 1977
Personnel: John Mckie: drums
Paul Brown: vocals
Raggy Lewis: rhythm guitar
Mick Smithers: lead guitar
Kevin Allen: bass
Produced by Ted Carroll
Another one-off deal, the Stukas were a great pop band from Muswell Hill, a skinny tie affair before it had a name.
This record also marked the debut of Ted Carroll as producer, too bad it ended right here as well with the legend "An Asleep At The Desk Production". The Stukas were managed by Jazz Summers, who later worked with Wham, sadly he seemed to be unable to lift the band to similar heights, 'cause after two more 45s for Sonet the band fizzled out. Tho' not before supporting New York's legendary Dictators at the Roundhouse and even a short tour of the Netherlands that falls somewhat outside their time with Chiswick, but when will I ever get another chance to show off this ticket for their show at the Pakhuis in Heerenveen?
And before I forget; Chiswick promoted the disc with a large number of bright red stickers (below).
Radiators From Space hit Germany...
Nova 6.12112. 1977, Germany.
In the UK this was released on the same day as the Radio Stars' Dirty Pictures so you'd figure that any licensing deals to another country would end up on the same label there. Not so... while Pictures ended up on German CBS , the Radiators classic debut was released on the obscure Nova label. And nope, I have no idea either....
Monday, January 15, 2007
Radio Stars bio
Another recent "find" was a Dutch pressing of the Radio Stars' Holiday Album that came with a copy of their 1978 tour programme and this short bio (in Dutch) that is so dry and uninteresting that any intended promotional value must have been less than minimal... Fact fans will be interested to learn that the title on the sleeve of this disc is printed in red, rather than the more familiar blue on the UK issue...
Rarities (8)
Chiswick CHIS 110A-1U, one-sided testpressing 1979.
It's kinda ironic that one of my least favorite bands from the entire Chiswick roster was also the most prolific, leaving me with a stack of Rocky 45s from all over the world that will probably never see any action on the ol' hi-fi. But bein' the label obsessive I couldn't pass on this when it turned up on eBay recently. Luckily Mr. Sharpe & Co. never really got big among record collectors so these things still come cheap.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
101'ers - Keys To Your Heart (French pressing)
101'ers - Keys To Your Heart/5 Star Rock 'n' Roll Petrol
Chiswick 640.122, 1977 France.
The French part of the Chiswick discography is still somewhat of a mystery to me. It seems like Barclay picked up the rights in early 1977, but I have no idea how many discs were actually released. Over the years I've only seen Johnny Moped's No One, this 101'ers 45 that is highly desirable among Clash fans c/o it's unique picture sleeve, while the booklet in The Chiswick Records Story mentiones several others as well. By 1979 Pathé Marconi started importing and distributing Ace releases in France, and copies of these discs can be recognized by the various stickers with French price-codes and/or "Import Angleterre"...
640.118 Rocky Sharpe & the Razors - Drip Drop/What's Your Name
640.121 Johnny Moped - No One/Incendiary Device
640.122 101'ers - Keys To Your Heart/5 Star Rock 'n' Roll Petrol
640.130 Radiators From Space - Television Screen/Love Detective
740.002 Count Bishops - Speedball EP