I (heart) Fred Dellar - Best cover mounted music on a magazine.

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Though my repeated banging on about cover mounted CDs was more to do with commerce than aesthetics (no CD = no future), there have been several astonishly great selections of music that has turned up fixed to publications. This months Musik has a great Mute back catalogue remix CD (Throbbing Gristle! Fad Gadget!!!) for instance -

Just a quick look in the tape box finds loads more great freebies(Pocket Jukebox with 'Come on Train' on it!!! Department of Enjoyment!!!) The freebie section in the 7" vinyl boxes turn up Steinksi's 'Motorcade', and the tons of terrific flexis like the four track Ron Johnson one from The Catalog...

I seem to have a load of terrible CDs though - probably more to do with me buying more magazines like Mojo, Uncut, Vox and Q than I did in my youth and some of them seem very poorly put together (its not hard to put together a decent compilation for goodness sakes). But there are some nice ones too though Wire Tapper for instance, a Domino one that I cant remember where it came from.

Anyway here are my five fave freebies.

Underground Magazine 'Red Tape'
Cassette of fantastic selection of late 80s indie. The Shamen 'Shitting on Britain' for instance. Every track was gem though. Nice magazine too, whatever happened to it?

Select - 'Motherbanger' (Chris Morris Spoof)
Flexidisc... "Well my mother is a whore let me tell you more"... Genius. Nice magazine too, whatever happenned to it?

Melody Maker - Romo tape
Cassette from early 90s - I liked it anyway. Nice magazine too...erm. Just noticed Dickon isn't keen on cover mounted music. Its a curious coincidence that I have (and like!) cover mounted music made by both Dickon and Mr True. (Think it came with Pure Popcorn fanzine???)

NME - C81
Tape from 1981 (though you had to save vouchers and send off for it) - Josef K, Fire Engines, Pere Ubu, YMG... amazing. You folded the center pages on the NME for four weeks in a row to make a mini booklet to go with it. ACE!

ID - Your attention Please: The Scars
Flexidisc from early 80s from ID magazine blistering live version in sharp contrast to the lame album version.

Anyone think of any more?

― Alexander Blair, Monday, 1 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

One of the last issues of Select had a top cover mounted CD. It had a grainy picture of Isobel Campbell on the cover which came in very handy. The opening and closing tracks were by Blink 182 and Wasis (i.e. NO GOOD) but the rest was very pleasant.

The NME did a nice CD earlier in the summer called "Here Comes the summer" which had some enjoyable summery sounds on it. And a track by Shitnot.

― The Dirty Vicar, Monday, 1 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Ah yes, that MM Romo tape.

Before it came out, I remember having an argument with Simon Price at some Camden party (naturally) about why all such cover-mounted tapes and CDs are a Bad Thing and that my band shouldn't be on one. But I gave in ultimately because, Mr Price successfully argued, it was one sure way of getting Orlando's music directly to The Kids, bypassing all the anti-Romo feeling that was extant in most corners of the UK music industry (radio, press, agents, pluggers, record shops, our own record labels) except for a few sexy crusaders at MM. Most Orlando and Fosca songs concern aspects of wry pariahship, and whatever you think of me or my music, you can't say I'm not qualified to write about being a pariah...

Anyway, even now I still get people telling me they kept that tape, and liked our song on it. They would have bought our records but they could never find them.... Heigh-ho.

So: an exception to the rule!

― Dickon, Monday, 1 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The artists on C-81 were : Scritti Politti, The Beat, Pere Ubu, Wah! Heat, Orange Juice, Cabaret Voltaire, D.A.F., Furious Pig, the Specials, the Buzzcocks, Essential Logic, Robert Wyatt, the Raincoats, Josef K, Blue Orchids, Virgin Prunes, Aztec Camera, Red Crayola, Linx, John Cooper Clarke, James Blood Ulmer, Ian Dury, The Gist and Subway Sect.

But not the Fire Engines, Alexander! The YMG track was really the The Gist, which IIRC was one of the Moxham brothers on his own.

There was a really good UK pop-psyche CD for Mojo subscribers last year, featuring stuff like The Action, Timebox, Fleur De Lys, Billy Nicholls etc.

― Dr. C, Tuesday, 2 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Flexi that came with The Bob - early 90's: Chris Mars: "Gymnasium Blues" Based on a true story: "Hi, uh, we have a gig on campus tonight and we're looking for the Gymnasium." "The what?" "The Gymnasium" "Come again?" "The Gymnasium" "Wasn't he .. Gomer Pyle?" "The Gymnasium" "I don't understand.." "THE FUCKING GYM! DAMN!"

.. Oddly enough, NEVER released!

― Dave225, Tuesday, 2 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Dr C, I think C81 also has The Teardrop Explodes doing Treason in french and maybe a U2 song as well, I'll have to check it out.

I quite miss Select as the cover cd's/tapes were usually pretty darn good. I love the remix of Orbital's Style which samples someone like Dollar, if anything better than the 'proper' version on The middle of nowhere.

― Billy Dods, Tuesday, 2 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

NME's follow-up tape to C81 was a thing caled 'Jive Wire'(again, a 'collect the vouchers' scam) . Contents included rare or exclusive stuff by Suicide, Kraftwerk, Subway Sect, Scritti, The Beat, Gil Scott Heron, David Gamson etc (er, and also Thompson Twins, Leisure Process, Pigbag, Carmel etc). Plus cut out, collect & keep NME booklet!! It all souded pretty gear in 1982 but I'm a bit frightened looking at it now.... And don't forget Flexipop! Or MasterBag!

― harvey williams, Tuesday, 2 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Billy - no it definitely didn't have Teardrops and U2 on it. Bet ya!

― Dr. C, Wednesday, 3 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Dr C, I bow to your superior knowledge, after rummaging through a box of tapes in the loft the one I'm thinking of is Dancing Master which also came out in '81.

Also on that tape are Linx, Elvis C, Grace Jones, The Jam, Grandmaster Flash, Moz's mates The Polecats and The B-52's among others.

I must have dozens of freebie tapes like that, one I forgot about was the Chemical Brothers dust up. The disc on today's NME is pretty good, even if you have to skip Starsailor.

― Billy Dods, Wednesday, 3 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Aside from The Wire Tappers, the only ones that I repeatedly play are my two Lime Lizard tapes:

'Billy Joel' by Blood Sausage (as covered by me, in a different song, on stage, many times, actually in front of Dale what writ it, innit), 'Solo' by Jacob's Mouse (still one of my favourite tracks of all time), Pond, Velocity Girl, Pram, Moonshake...

― emil.y, Wednesday, 3 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

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