Various: New Gold Dreams UK 3xCD [2013]

Disc 1

1. Public Image Limited – Death Disco 12” Version (June 79)
2. 
Magazine – Permafrost (Apr 79)
3. 
Fingerprintz – Dancing With Myself (Jan 79)
4. 
Essential Logic – Wake Up (May 79)
5. The Men – I Don’t Depend On You (July 79)
6. 
Jah Wobble – Dan McArthur (Disco Dummy) (Aug 79)
7. 
OMD – Electricity (Sept 79)
8. The Human League – Empire State Human (Sept 79)
9. 
Public Image Limited – Careering (Nov 79)
10. 
The Flying Lizards – TV (Jan 80)
11. 
Magazine – A Song From Under The Floorboards (Feb 80)
12. 
Another Pretty Face- Whatever Happened To The West? (Feb 80)
13. 
Martha And The Muffins – Echo Beach (Mar 80)

Disc 2

1. The Ruts – Staring At The Rudeboys (Apr 80)
2. 
Jah Wobble – Betrayal (Apr 80)
3. The Ruts – West One (Shine On Me) (Sept 80)
4. 
The Professionals – 1-2-3 (Sept 80)
5. 
Fingerprintz – Houdini Love (Sept 80)
6. OMD – Enola Gay (Sept 80)
7. Japan – Gentlemen Take Polaroids (Oct 80)
8. 
Public Image Limited – Flowers Of Romance (Mar 81)
9. 
Heaven 17 – (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thing (Mar 81)
10. 
British Electric Foundation – The Decline Of The West (Mar 81)
11. 
Simple Minds – The American (May 81)
12. 
The Human League – Love Action (I Believe In Love) (July 81)
13. Rip Rig And Panic – Go, Go, Go! (This Is It) (Aug 81)

Disc 3

1. Simple Minds – Love Song (Aug 81)
2. 
Japan – Ghosts (Mar 82)
3. 
Culture Club – White Boy (Apr 82)
4. 
Tina Turner/British Electric Foundation – Ball Of Confusion (That’s What The World Is Today) (Apr 82)
5. 
Rip Rig And Panic – You’re My Kind Of Climate (June 82)
6. 
Mick Karn – Sensitive (June 82)
7. 
David Sylvian/Ryuichi Sakamoto – Bamboo Houses (Aug 82)
8. Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me (Sept 82)
9. 
China Crisis – Christian (Jan 83)
10. 
Heaven 17 – Temptation (Apr 83)
11. 
Howard Devoto – Rainy Season (June 83)
12. 
David Sylvian/Ryuichi Sakamoto – Forbidden Colours (June 83)
13. The Flying Pickets – Only You (Nov 83)
14. 
China Crisis – Wishful Thinking (Dec 83)

Yow! This is why the Virgin label was valued so highly by me during the Post-Punk era… it’s because they virtually defined the term! It’s true that from 1979 to around ’83 or so that they dominated my purchasing of music. It was almost to the point where if it was on Virgin, it was good enough for me. This is because Founder Richard Branson had the insight to appoint his cousin, Simon Draper as the Managing Director of Virgin Records. Draper seemed to pick exactly the music I wanted to hear in this period… and it’s all here! Most of it, any way. Virgin are celebrating their 40th anniversary right now and this look at their Post-Punk legacy is a special part of it.

P.I.L. and Magazine were clearly at ground zero for Post-Punk. There were antecedents, but their timing was obviously early. Ultravox immediately come to mind, but Virgin compensated by signing John Foxx for his early solo career. Japan emerged from their glam rock chrysalis in time to reap the benefit of being in the right place at the right time with Virgin Records. Likewise, Simple Minds cut escaped from Arista after two amazing Post-Punk albums fell on deaf ears with that company to thrive in Virgin soil like champions. These volumes are rife with all of these bands except for Foxx, who is a serious omission.

Another downside is that there are two Culture Club cuts that have no place here. The Post-Punk and even New Wave bandwagon was very much upstage by the blue-eyed pop-soul phase which displaced all of these bands on the charts [at least to the extent that they were there to begin with]. Boy George may have emerged from the cloakroom of The Blitz Club, but the music he made with Culture Club has no place here. Especially considering that a band like XTC is shockingly not represented here either!

So demerits for No XTC or Foxx, and having Culture Club instead. What of the rest of it? Well, it is telling that I own 85% of these cuts in my Record Cell! I’m gladdened to see more marginal players like The Flying Lizards and especially Fingerprintz represented here. Bands I am shamefully lacking in, like The Ruts, are proudly represented here. The attention to detail even takes in solo records by ex-members of P.I.L., Magazine and Japan.

Many of my core collection bands are here since Virgin signed most of them: OMD, Simple Minds, Heaven 17/B.E.F., The Human League, Japan, China Crisis, and Magazine. But there is one song here that I have never ever heard of, and I find this wildcard to be a completely fascinating phenomenon! I have never heard of Another Pretty Face but their sleeve for “Whatever Happened To The West” looks pretty amazing! Someone at Virgin must have loved this band, because this was the single 7″ record that Virgin released by them! I won’t be buying this collection since it is so very redundant for me, but that doesn’t mean that anyone reading this without a Record Cell like mine packed full of Virgin Records releases wouldn’t benefit greatly by bringing this into your home, so if you’re game, purchase it here. As for me, I have just added the single by “Another Pretty Face” to my wantlist.

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