Flexidiscs!

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They were always of the rubbish 'excerpts from the readers digest' type. (the sixties)

Then Music papers got in the act! (the seventies)

Then the eighties got into giving away flexis of their favourite (friends) bands! And don't forget Flexipop!

By the nineties, it was over.

Remember them fondly?

mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 16:56 (nineteen years ago)

don't personally remember them, but downloaded some great mp3s from them thanks to this blog early last year:
http://turquoisedays.blogspot.com/2005/01/flexi-pop.html

marc h. (marc h.), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 18:05 (nineteen years ago)

I have 2:

1. A Manic Steeet Preachers Holy Bible sample from the NME or MM (90s)
2. A Jonny Ball one that came with a kids science kit from the 80s

Robin Goad (rgoad), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 18:08 (nineteen years ago)

I have a Telescopes one split with Loop given away on a fanzine (I can't remember which as I think I was about 8 it when it actually came out).

Sure I must have more somewhere, but can't for the life of me think. I do remember me and my friends having great fun fucking about with them - warping, scratching, bending, flexing. They were never going to have a long shelf-life anyway, and most of the free ones were pants.

emil.y (emil.y), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 18:21 (nineteen years ago)

bought one with a fanzine at a darling buds gig but didn't think much of it. two years later read something about rare pale saints track available only on flexi. turned out to be the same one, hurrah! ('Children Break'). i missed out on the whole kvatch / sha la la pre-sarah thing but have a bunch from then onwards, poohsticks, fat tulips, stuff like that, oh, and sarahs 3, 13 and 70 of course.

koogs (koogs), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 19:10 (nineteen years ago)

flexis were great... they cost next to nothing to make and had an even more DIY feel to them than 7"s..

Like koogs, i have a pile of indie flexis... the indie bands and fanzine scene really made the format their own in the 80s and early 90s.

does anyone even press them anymore?

Jack Battery-Pack (Jack Battery-Pack), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 19:43 (nineteen years ago)

madness fan club xmas specials were always on flexi ..
hidden away but fondly ogled over when i'm diggin' .. and then i have a strange one by a band called Jesus Bangs a Drum or something like that. grr, cant recall - will have to check as it will annoy me until i find it ..

mark e (mark e), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 19:57 (nineteen years ago)

i used to have the soft cell fan club flexis, a couple of foetus ones and i've still got a renegade soundwave one which came with some magazine. i'm after a copy of the howl in the typewriter 'close' flexi. it's great.

frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 20:02 (nineteen years ago)

where did the foetus ones originate from ands what tracks ?

kinda interested in those ..

mark e (mark e), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 20:07 (nineteen years ago)

late 70's National Geographic flexi of Humpback Whale Songs; classic

christoff (christoff), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 20:08 (nineteen years ago)

Cool, here's a list of flexidiscs from Trouser Press magazine. Seems to be missing some of the b-sides, though, like this one with the Wild Stares

todd (todd), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 20:10 (nineteen years ago)

foetus inc. somnabulumdrum i think from reflex magazine - from the usa - there was a great residents flexi as well. the other one was a steroid maximus one - volgarity from i think the magazine was called the catalogue - uk, early 90's i think. can't remember. i ebayed them off last year.

frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 20:27 (nineteen years ago)

Do the discs on the back of Honeycomb cereal count as flexis? They weren't very flexible - more like foldable..

My first flexi was the New Seekers, which came along with a 6 pack of Coke.

Dave will do (dave225.3), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 20:39 (nineteen years ago)

The Bob magazine (now defunct) included a two-artist flexidisc with every issue. One of my favorites was a Paul Westerberg cover of "Make Your Own Kind of Music" which, as far as I know, still isn't available anywhere else (legally).

For it's last issue, though, The Bob faced the inevitable and included a various artists CD instead.

James, Wednesday, 1 March 2006 20:49 (nineteen years ago)

flexidisc POX:

1. Throwing Muses "Fish" (original version)
2. Nick Cave "Scum"
3. Walkabouts "On The Beach"
4. Kendra Smith's German version of "All Tomorrow's Parties"
5. Virgin Prunes "Jigsawmentallama"
6. Brian Eno "Glint"
7. The Cravats - DCL Laboratory Series #s 1 and 2
8. Swans "New Mind" (acoustic version)
9. The Foetus one mentioned upthread
10. Suicide "23 Minutes Over Brussels"

honorable mention: Feelies "Dancing Barefoot"

I really like flexi discs! Lots of tracks from Reflex and The Bob have never been reissued...

sleeve (sleeve), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 20:49 (nineteen years ago)

"Everybody's Makin' Out But Me" -- Mad Magazine

Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 21:06 (nineteen years ago)

Wasn't "Capital Radio One" originally released on flexi?

Jason Toon (Jason Toon), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 22:51 (nineteen years ago)

6. Brian Eno "Glint"
Tell me more, please.

16 posts and no mention of Joy Division? Well then. Joy Division.

http://www.worldinmotion.net/joydivision/discography/singles/1980/Komakino.jpg

Lotta Continua (Damian), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 22:56 (nineteen years ago)

i've only got:

napalm death/s.o.b. - split flexi 7" (really nice for a flexi)
a v/a thorazine flexi with the boredoms, dixie waste, eyehategod, etc.
some guitar magazine thing with a guy playing microtonal guitar

i do love the concept of the flexidisc.

baby, disco is fuck (yournullfame), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 22:58 (nineteen years ago)

Don't forget the Crass Falklands Flexi!

Niall, Wednesday, 1 March 2006 23:18 (nineteen years ago)

Is it a flexi if it was attached to a cereal box?

http://www.franklarosa.com/vinyl/BigImg/bears.jpg

brianiast (briania), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 23:50 (nineteen years ago)

Alas, Doobee Bear's personal demons were cruelly magnified under the glare of the spotlight.

brianiast (briania), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 23:53 (nineteen years ago)

ah.. I think I still have one given away with Skateboard! (UK) magazine a long, long time ago ("DOCTOR & THE CRIPPENS, NAPALM DEATH, INTENSE DEGREE, SORE THROAT CARCASS, JAILCELL RECIPES and SINK" all on there according to Google).

I'll really have to look for that tomorrow!

last post ever (fandango), Thursday, 2 March 2006 00:09 (nineteen years ago)

When I worked at CMC International, they were setting up the Judas Priest disc and wanted me to research doing a flexidisc as a promotional tool because the head dude at the label got a pitch and liked the cheap cost.

After looking it up and figuring out the best way to distribute x-thousand flexidiscs, I casually mentioned in a meeting that I wondered how effective this would be when a lot of modern-day Priest fans and metalheads do not have turntables.

There was silence.

Apparently the boss thought they were CDs and never once considered the incredibly cheap price he was quoted. He had no idea what a flexidisc was. Once this was explained, he got very upset that nobody (i.e. me) had told him this before and he canned the idea angrily.

And I'm the one who got laid off...

Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Thursday, 2 March 2006 00:11 (nineteen years ago)

Kim Carnes was Honey Bear. I have the LP - it's pretty good. xx-post

Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 2 March 2006 00:11 (nineteen years ago)

I have a flexidisc with an excerpt of a recording of Lester Bangs singing "Sister Ray" from when he briefly lived (stayed?) in Austin.

Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 2 March 2006 00:13 (nineteen years ago)

xpost to Lotta Continua:

Eno's "Glint (East Of Woodbridge)" was an almost 9-minute piece that sounds like an outtake from Ambient 4. It was included in a 1986 issue of Artforum magazine. Don't know if it made it to CD ever.

Mine is, of course, pretty destroyed (makes a great DJ tool as noted above), but here's a 7:08 edit I found:

http://s7.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0CWB16DKO5DY52U9S56RG6B39D

sleeve (sleeve), Thursday, 2 March 2006 00:32 (nineteen years ago)

i have one of tuvan throat singing

nervous (cochere), Thursday, 2 March 2006 00:35 (nineteen years ago)

no you don't. Try it at 45 RPM duh.

Dave will do (dave225.3), Thursday, 2 March 2006 00:37 (nineteen years ago)

fuck

nervous (cochere), Thursday, 2 March 2006 00:52 (nineteen years ago)

Roffle.

Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Thursday, 2 March 2006 00:57 (nineteen years ago)

Blackstar "Redefinition"

I forget what magazine it came from. Option maybe?

Austin Still (Austin, Still), Thursday, 2 March 2006 01:00 (nineteen years ago)

Brian, your story is great, btw.

sleeve (sleeve), Thursday, 2 March 2006 01:02 (nineteen years ago)

(my story wasnt a lie by the way)

nervous (cochere), Thursday, 2 March 2006 01:06 (nineteen years ago)

my favorite flexi was the melvins "youthanasia" I bought it for $1 on the eggnog tour. the song was credited to bruce pavitt, which was a nice joke.

Uncle Tom (Uncle Tom), Thursday, 2 March 2006 03:19 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, I remember them fondly. If they weren't such bad sound quality flimsy things, that is.

I still have:

1) A Reflex magazine flexi disc with a Charlatans track "Between 10th & 11th" that was (is?) unavailable elsewhere even on their album of the same name. Fabulous tune, too.

2) The Creation Records flexi disc that came with the Catalogue magazine. It contains My Bloody Valentine "Sugar" and Pacific "December, With The Day" (which I was crazy about)

3) A light blue flexi (not see through) that has two Slowdive tracks "Beach Song" and "Take Me Down". I don't remember it being very thrilling musically, despite their usual high quality. I can't remember where I got it from.

Bimble The Nimble (Bimble...), Thursday, 2 March 2006 04:21 (nineteen years ago)

Also does anyone remember a flexi that was like 10" size that was part of the promotional thing for a package tour of the U.S. in the 80's of Echo & The Bunnymen, Gene Loves Jezebel...and one other band? That thing was ridiculous. I mean sooo easily bent. Jeez. If you're going to make one, make it 7" size.

Bimble The Nimble (Bimble...), Thursday, 2 March 2006 04:24 (nineteen years ago)

Cor, th' Alf Burger King Discs that came with the $2.99 dolls, then? I think I got "Help Me Rhonda" -- one of the cornerstones of my Rock and Roll experience.

Okeigh, Thursday, 2 March 2006 04:33 (nineteen years ago)

just remembered i have a sabbat (uk)/vendetta flexi that was shoved into my vinyl copy of kreator's terrible certainty. go second-string noise records bands.

baby, disco is fuck (yournullfame), Thursday, 2 March 2006 05:12 (nineteen years ago)

..and who can forget the interview flexi that came with the Human League's 'Dignity of Labour" 12"

Jack Battery-Pack (Jack Battery-Pack), Thursday, 2 March 2006 06:42 (nineteen years ago)

I think that Eno record came with Art Forum? It was clear, I've got it somewhere around here....

Joseph B. Cowart (flamingrev), Thursday, 2 March 2006 07:06 (nineteen years ago)

Okay, found it. It is from Artforum. Here's the info:

Brian Eno
Glint (East Of Woodbridge) 8:36
by b. eno opal ltd. 1986

Joseph B. Cowart (flamingrev), Thursday, 2 March 2006 07:10 (nineteen years ago)

i'm sure the wife has a llive that petrol emotion flexi too.

frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Thursday, 2 March 2006 07:52 (nineteen years ago)

xpost:

No, the Capital Radio Clash one was not a flexi.

mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 2 March 2006 08:08 (nineteen years ago)

oh yes ! i have the that petrol emotion flexi as well .. completely forgot re that one ..

mark e (mark e), Thursday, 2 March 2006 08:27 (nineteen years ago)

Last night, I was sorting out some singles, and a Flexipop flexi of Bucks Fizz popped out, doing a medley of "Pinball Wizard", "Hot Stuff", Do you think I'm Sexy", "Knock on Wood" and "Rocking all over the world".

What a world it was.

mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 2 March 2006 09:11 (nineteen years ago)

i have 42 flexis. nearly half of them have some sort of sarah records connection.

electric sound of jim (and why not) (electricsound), Thursday, 2 March 2006 09:27 (nineteen years ago)

I've seen Bucks Fizz perform that medley LIVE. Jay did Hot Stuff, and Bobby did Rocking All Over The World.

mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Thursday, 2 March 2006 09:29 (nineteen years ago)

I think the last one I got was "Three is the magic number" off a Frosties cereal packet.

mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 2 March 2006 09:35 (nineteen years ago)

sleeve - thank you thank you for that YSI. :)

Lotta Continua (Damian), Thursday, 2 March 2006 11:23 (nineteen years ago)

The 'sugar' one from MBV is excellent (given away with 'The catalogue' magazine, I seem to recall). Most of them were crap tho'. Woosh! fanzine used to include a plethora of sub Sarah swirly/jangly stuff. I've heard that its cheaper to produce a run of cd singles than flexis, which I guess is the main reason for their demise.

Esmeralda's Kite!

flowersdie (flowersdie), Thursday, 2 March 2006 11:30 (nineteen years ago)

did five star relaese a crunchie tour flexi ?

retrokid, Thursday, 2 March 2006 11:34 (nineteen years ago)

I reckon I must have about a hundred flexis.

Nearly all of them are surplus copies of "Chaos In USSR" / "Live In A Dream" by Sub-@ctive.

This is not a good thing.

"No, the Capital Radio Clash one was not a flexi."

Iirc there was a proper vinyl version ("Listen" & "Capital Radio One" b/w an interview with the band by Tony Parsons) and a flexi (which didn't include the interview).

One of these you could only get if you sent off a voucher which came with one of the first 1,000(?) copies of the first album; and one of them you had to collect vouchers which came with Melody Maker(?).

Or something.

I believe it was the subsequent reissue of this item - albeit in a different form - which led any number of aggrieved hardcore Clash fans to accuse the band of having sold out, subsequently making solemn little ceremonial funeral pyres of copies of the original single outside various subsequent Clash gigs, in paroxysms of self-righteous indignation.

Of course there were also at least two different bootleg single versions kicking about, one of which was the same as the original and (again, iirc) one which had something completely different on the 'B' side....

Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 2 March 2006 11:52 (nineteen years ago)

The hard vinyl was the NME 'freebie'.

I very much doubt the "Melody Maker" flexi version exists at all.

I have a version on "Neat" records, plays at 33rpm.

Oh, and it took nothing for Clash fans to accuse them of selling out. Happened every day. Even if it was joe popping out for a cup of tea, he was repressing the ceylon farmers or summat.

mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 2 March 2006 12:00 (nineteen years ago)

I understand that there are no flexi manufacturing machines left in the UK. I believe that the last ever UK flexi was something Pam Berry-related but I can't remember what.

I used to like it when fanzine writers would get all ambitious and start producing flexis faster than they could write their fanzines. So one of the "Are You Scared To Get Happy"s came with two ShaLaLa flexis. And I recall a fanzine called "Shy Like You" which came with three (sadly not great: The Hangmans Beautiful Daughters, The Senseless Things and someone else, if I remember rightly).

I know that the plan for Sha La La was to put out lots of flexidiscs ("we're planning to FLOOD the summer with flexis", someone said in 1987). They made it to 8. It was an interesting idea: the flexis got really cheap (13p each?) when you ordered more than 2500, so if several fanzines around the country clubbed together they could provide giveaway music without grossly inflating the prices of their publications. I never quite understood how any given fanzine made it into the club, or on what basis the songs / groups were chosen. I think in the end personalities kind of got in the way and it was easier for people to go off and do their own thing than to try to deal with a loose collective spread around the country.

Like so much in the '80s UK indie world, the fashion for flexis felt like an act of wilful contrariety (the NME was already giving away vinyl singles; CDs were beginning to be made with boasts of indestructibility; flexis by comparison felt fragile and anachronistic) but also cheap, quick and fun. And good, sometimes. This felt like punk rock ethics in action and that was important, to them (us).

I have a Readers Digest flexi featuring Brendan Behan talking, but that's another story, or two.

Tim (Tim), Thursday, 2 March 2006 12:03 (nineteen years ago)

"The hard vinyl was the NME 'freebie'."

As Tony Parsons was on their staff at the time, that would certainly make sense!

"I very much doubt the "Melody Maker" flexi version exists at all."

Maybe they promised one but didn't deliver - hence that week's reason for accusing them of selling out?

"Oh, and it took nothing for Clash fans to accuse them of selling out. Happened every day. Even if it was joe popping out for a cup of tea, he was repressing the ceylon farmers or summat."

OTM

All a far cry from allowing "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" to be used to advertise jeans that are made in the sweatshops of Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Macao, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.

Ooops, little bit of politics there, my name is....

Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 2 March 2006 12:27 (nineteen years ago)

How many spins from a flexi-disc before the needle wears the groove to a smooth, formless rut? Not many, I bet. That rubber's pretty soft, right?

Austin Still (Austin, Still), Thursday, 2 March 2006 12:59 (nineteen years ago)

I believe that the last ever UK flexi was something P4m B3rry-related but I can't remember what.

Helen Love "Il Fait Beau"/Belm0nd0 "Metr0liner" on Wurlitzer Jukebox? (PB isn't terribly fond of that Belm0nd0 track and, er, would probably be very embarrassed that we were discussing it on the t'internet. So we're not going to tell her, are we?)

Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Thursday, 2 March 2006 13:19 (nineteen years ago)

i used to havr the the the dumb as deaths head flexi from i think it was the melody maker.

frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Thursday, 2 March 2006 13:24 (nineteen years ago)

Mike: I won't if you won't, but I've already failed to googleproof.

Austin: I've never had a flexi wear out in that way, and I must have played some of mine many tens of times. Much more dangerous for the life of your disc is the potential for creasage on the way from the sleeve to the record player and back again. Also sitting in the record box can be hazardous if you're not careful.

"Sad Kaleidoscope" by the Razorcuts (Sha La La 002, I think) changed my life, a bit.

Tim (Tim), Thursday, 2 March 2006 13:24 (nineteen years ago)

My most treasured flexi is "My Face" by John Foxx, from Smash Hits in 1980. Not available again till the Modern Art compilation in 2001.

aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Thursday, 2 March 2006 13:29 (nineteen years ago)

My most treasured flexi is Joy Division: Komakino/Incubation, which I picked up for free in the Newcastle Virgin Megastore, in late 1980.

Next would be Adam & The Ants covering "YMCA" as "A.N.T.S.", and the Smash Hits all-star Christmas disc from 1982.

mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Thursday, 2 March 2006 13:58 (nineteen years ago)

smash hits did a fair few flexis as did melody maker - i keep seeing the blancmange one on ebay. there's a australisn flexi with severed heads on it - art network i think it's called. mr ellard was kind enoough to mpfree it a while back.

frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Thursday, 2 March 2006 13:59 (nineteen years ago)

By an astonishing coincidence I'm currently listing some flexis on ebay! I've kept Roky Erikson "Don't Shake Me Lucifer" though, as it's actually improved by the shitty flexi quality.

How does everyone play them? I've always placed the flexi on top of a vinyl record for increased stability, but I'm not convinced that it really makes any difference.

Matt #2 (Matt #2), Thursday, 2 March 2006 14:03 (nineteen years ago)

one pence placed on it ontop of an old 7" usually did the trick, then taped and locked away.

frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Thursday, 2 March 2006 14:09 (nineteen years ago)

I have a flexi of Flaming Lips doing Life on Mars? - but it had a staple through it when it was shipped - and a crease - so I never could play it. Maybe I should try to iron it... (or just download it: http://homepage.mac.com/thereisnospoon94/.Music/Cover%20Project/08%20Life%20On%20Mars%20%28David%20Bowie%20Cover%29.mp3)

Dave will do (dave225.3), Thursday, 2 March 2006 14:19 (nineteen years ago)

Looks like Evatone stopped making them in 2000 (nice little history of them too):
http://eva-tone.com/news/index.asp?Action=Read&NewsID=26

patita (patita), Thursday, 2 March 2006 16:22 (nineteen years ago)

have a red colored flexi of shonen knife, "antonio baka guy." came from a flipside magazine, apparently. it rocks.

andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Thursday, 2 March 2006 16:31 (nineteen years ago)

Damn, that sucks about Eva-Tone.

I have so, so many flexis ... They Might Be Giants' debut single was a flexi (1985); I loved Reflex magazine and have most of their flexis, incl. the Residents and Foetus ones mentioned above. I also have a few The Bob flexis (including some acoustic Iggy Pop) and some cheesy ones that came with Keyboard Magazine. And Laurie Anderson's demo of "Let X=X" was first issued on an Artforum flexi.

Makes me pine for the good old days of underground magazines like Reflex, Option, B-Side, and even some of the defunct British ones like Select. *sigh*

Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Thursday, 2 March 2006 16:58 (nineteen years ago)

Select only did the one flexi, but it wasChris Morris doing a take-off of The Pixies.

mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 2 March 2006 17:05 (nineteen years ago)

"Select only did the one flexi, but it was Chris Morris doing a take-off of The Pixies."

I think the title was "Motherbanger." That record is *hilarious*, and Morris reproduced the Pixies' style so accurately, it's uncanny.

James, Thursday, 2 March 2006 17:11 (nineteen years ago)

"My mother gummed my weapon...."

mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 2 March 2006 17:16 (nineteen years ago)

Eno's "Glint (East Of Woodbridge)" was an almost 9-minute piece that sounds like an outtake from Ambient 4

Big big xpost - on listening to it, it actually turns out that this track appears on The Shutov Assembly under a different name. Thanks for your trouble, all the same :).

As for "Motherbanger", is that track available anywhere else?

Lotta Continua (Damian), Thursday, 2 March 2006 18:41 (nineteen years ago)

That's interesting about the Eno track, I didn't know that. How long is the Shutov version?

sleeve (sleeve), Thursday, 2 March 2006 20:43 (nineteen years ago)

xpost - YSI for 'motherbanger':

http://s26.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1J7BXT5Y64XGF1PFJ26E9VPD2Y

Can anyone verify that Zappa released Dancing Fool as a commercial flexi (in the early 80s I think)?

I used to have Twilight Alehouse by Geneis, which I think was a fan club flexi. Of course I sold it for about £20 years ago - wonder how much it is worth now?

Guilty Boksen (Bro_Danielson), Thursday, 2 March 2006 21:55 (nineteen years ago)

How long is the Shutov version?
It's 8 minutes and 36 seconds long. On the album it's listed as "Lanzarote".

And thanks are due for "Motherbanger" :).

Lotta Continua (Damian), Thursday, 2 March 2006 23:47 (nineteen years ago)

The actual flexi has some other stuff, including a prank phone call to Piers Morgan by Morris-as-Paul-Guinness-and-Bono.

dumb as deaths head flexi from i think it was the melody maker

Yeah, it was MM (otherwise unreleased The The track from the Pr0nography Of Despair album, anyone who cares).

kit brash (kit brash), Friday, 3 March 2006 00:11 (nineteen years ago)

three years pass...

Does anyone know where to get one of these made nowadays? I have heard tell that a place once again exists...

thx!

Saxby D. Elder, Sunday, 5 April 2009 14:40 (sixteen years ago)


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