Skyclad, 1988
This supposedly sanctioned release pretty much blew - it's mostly demos, poorly recorded live tracks and TV interviews in which the boys, tut tut, misbehaved. I'm usually no fan of live audio tracks -- and there's none here, no matter how historical - that change my mind and the I've seen the Bill Grundy interview, big whoop. More offensively, it even included a supposed Sex Pistols cut ("Revolution in The Classroom") labelled as an "ultrarare mystery track" that was actually recorded by Dave Goodman's band (he is the "curator" of this collection and self-described Sex Pistols "sound man and producer"). Suckers!
But I found it in the budget bin (where it may still be) and it had some demos that I had not previously possessed so, what the hey.
One oddness - given that this was 1988 and a punk record - Ronald Reagan appears on the cover although he was virtually unheard of in England during the time of the Pistols. Oh, that must be that semiotic punk cognitive dissonance.
Songs:
- "Submission" - is a four track recording from July '76 with some awfully odd sound effects which were later replaced by guitar in their one album. It's one of my favorite of their cuts, so it's a treat to hear a different version.
- "Pretty Vacant" also from the July '76 rehearsal studio four track and it sounds a bit more raw than the LP version.
Links:
- All the non-Sex Pistols recordings that scam artists and hucksters have foisted on the perhaps not so unsuspecting public are detailed here
- I don' believe this is in print but there are still new copies out there at some online stores - buy We Have Cum For Your Children
7 comments:
One of the tracks on this is "Here We Go Again" which is actually by Paul Cook & Steve Jones who went on to form 'The Professionals'. They did some other songs when in the pistols like "Silly Thing" "Black Leather" "Lonely Boy" and methinks "Friggin in the Riggin" They're all sung by Steve. There's a cd of the album "I Didn't See It Coming" that has 8 or so bonus tracks. Hope this helps in someway.
Brian
Thanks for all the great work you're doing!
Yes, thanks for mentioning, Brian. "Here We Go Again" was an interesting track on this record - very un-sex pistols-like (is it a song about girls or is it about frustration with Lydon or McClaren?!) ... ultimately, though, nothing against Steve Jones who I think is a great chap, I didn't much care for the track.
As much as I`m kind of embarrassed to admit it, but my favourite Sex Pistols track (ever since I learned to play more than 2 chords) has been their butchering of the Modern Lovers` Roadrunner.
It give me the giggles.
Hey Jim,
Love the site! Noticed you commented on a Prairie Wind review.
See review on Thrasher's Wheat companion site @
http://www.thrasherswheat.org/2005/09/prairie-wind-gentle-breeze-deceptively.html
Keep on Rockin!
Thrasher
ha. I remember this peice of shit. the Submission cut is great though.
I bought this when I was in high school and the address of the record label was in my hometown, Middlesex, NJ. I was really perplexed as to how I never heard of this punk label that released Sex Pistols CDs as it was a sorta small town. I went to the address and it was a tiny house at the end of a dead end, seemingly abandoned with weeds and high grass.
what was the label? Skyclad, I think? they released Mice on drugs? exploding white mice? something like that.
Re: "Oddness" of having Reagan on the cover of a Sex Pistols LP. I'm assuming that Skyclad, being an American label was targeting a mostly American audience, and in 1988 (near the end of Reagan's 2nd term) he was well established as the favorite iconic image/punching bag for any punk rocker worth their weight in lefty rhetoric. THAT's the semiotic intent.
Related also to the cover and perhaps even more trivially, I had a copy of Kick Out the Jams (MC5) out and it was standing on the top of a stack next to this record. From across the room, they looked very similar at least.
Oh, regarding Reagan, he was the subject of rocker vitriol going all the way back to Woodstock/Altamount with that Drug Store Truck Driving Man song but around '76-'79, he was pretty much a non-entity - certainly in England at least. I'm sure you are correct that Skyclad wanted a "punky" cover and what better way to do that in 1988 than use Reagan's image (someone could put together a website with all known Reagan images on punk albums and it would be pretty substantial).
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