Sony’s compact digital audio disc, 4.75-inches in diameter, is loaded into a laser disc cd player during a demonstration for the press in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 31, 1982. The system, developed by Sony with the Dutch Philips, uses a laser beam to read the music on the compact disc, on which information is stored digitally. No conventional stylus is used. The manufacturer claims superior sound reproduction. It will appear on the Japanese market in October at about $700, an in the U.S. and Europe market a year later. In the foreground is a remote control unit for the player. (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara)
We now [hopefully] finish out the alphabet of still-desired CD titles. RED = I have already made a CD of this. GREEN = awaiting remastering in my Media Empire Room. BLUE = I still need to buy this on LP to make a CD of it. And now to the list…
The Tourists – The Tourists [REVO 008]
I still find it hard to believe that the only Tourists album to never be released on CD was their first one, as produced by Conny Plank! True, it was the second one that was the biggest success, but given that Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox made the leap from The Tourists to Eurythmics; you’d think that there would be some interest.
The Tourists – Reality Effect [UK edition REVO 009]
Of course it was the second Tourists album that caught my ear. “Reality Effect” was a tremendous revisit of the 60s with a sparkling coat of New Wave paint. Alas, the original Logo Records UK edition of the album has never made the leap. There was a US small-label CD reissue of the US Epic Records edition of the album, which was resequenced and the two less than stellar cuts swapped out for much better tunes from the first album [as US labels are wont to do]. I never bought it, since I was holding out for the UK version, and now the US 2007 CD is a $50 CD! I should have bit, since the US edition is actually a perfect object, and how I came to be such a fan in the first place.
The Vels – Velocity
The Vels were a synthpop band that I had not thought much about back in their heyday since I was too busy obsessing over the UK variety of this particular strain. But This Monk is all about New Wave archaeology, and when I came across the band’s more scarce second album in Mr. Kane’s discard bins, I jumped at the chance. Thereby activating interest in album one. Two 12″ singles exist to provide the necessary bonus tracks.
The Vels – House Of Miracles
The Vels second album has only a single 12″ [“The Girl Most Likely To”] from it to make bonus tracks for my mooted REVO DLX RM. I should buy it soon since my friends at Beautiful World Syndicate have copies of the 12″ and the first album, for sale…cheap!
David Werner – Whizz Kid
I was happy to see that when I met my wife, she already had copies of all three David Werner albums in her collection! I had only ever heard “What’s Right” from his awesome third album in scant plays on my local FM-ROCK station in 1979 [back when I was still in that environment]. I never see the first two for sale anywhere. I think I once read that 90% of the pressings were cutouts within six months, but Werner was a rare US-based glam rocker.
David Werner – Imagination Quota
Thank goodness my wife has a copy of this. Since the first one was such a huge flop, RCA barely released this one into the wilds.
David Werner
Werner is definitely rockin’ that New Wave action, judging by the cover, but the song that hipped me to this record in ’79 was the best, latest-in-the-day glam rock classic these ears have ever heard. 70s words like “tough” and “muscular” were coined just to describe this sound!
David Werner – Live
I bought this live, FM-Promo album by Werner a few years back to add bonus tracks to album three, once I make the DLX RM of my dreams. It sports half a side of live tracks and studio chatter.
The Zones – Under Influence
The Zones were what was left of Scot poppers Slik after Midge Ure split for The Rich Kids. They had a vibrant New Wave/pop sound judging from the single “Mourning Star” which is on a favorite Rhino D.I.Y. Series edition [“UK Pop vol. 1”]. Once you think you have everything, you have to dig a little deeper.
That concludes my list of still m.i.a. albums on CD, and the progress made in 35 years has been substantial. Most of these titles have not spent 35 years on my CD want list. Instead, they are a largely result of research and connecting the dots. The A-list material on this list would probably be the following:
- Kraftwerk
- Torch Song
- The Tourists
- Metro/Peter Godwin
Those acts would have been on the list from day one. That they are not on CD probably has more to do with the stubbornness of Ralf Hütter and William Orbit than anything else. Why BMG hasn’t exploited the first Tourists album is something of a mystery to me. The lack of people beating down Peter Godwin’s door stymies me. The rest of this material is largely down to the search for kicks in this ever more illuminated world. A world where obscure alternatives just keep getting harder to hide among the fewer and fewer dark corners of the internet.
– 30 –
- D’oh! I forgot this one:
Peter Godwin – Correspondence [REVO 066]
This one thankfully exists as a homegrown disc, but I would not look askance at a glass mastered version!
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Post-Punk Monk 
Great series, Monk. Can’t believe the first Tourists album never made the jump, but I do like Reality Effect best (and have that OOP US disc you mention). One thing I was thinking of…as the Mari Wilson master you surely know the answer to this, but did Showpeople ever have a “proper” CD issue? I know all the songs have made it to one of the many compilations out there, but what about just a straight version of the album (at least the US version I love so much) with original artwork? I’ve certainly never seen nor heard of there being one.
I also have a bunch of EPs that haven’t ever been seen on CD, but will hold off till you share yours with us.
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Taffy – There finally was a “Showpeople” CD in Japan in 2010, a year after I made my “Showpeople: Footlights Edition” box a year earlier. https://www.discogs.com/Mari-Wilson-With-Wilsations-Showpeople/release/3145835
Allegedly, it is the UK album but as usual, “Cry Me A River” and “Ecstacy” are not the original album versions, so yeah! I should have included this title! And your US London pressing has never made the transition either. Though the many, many compilations have almost all of the material on shiny disc. Don’t get me started over how a single album period for an artist can have so many compilations!! That way madness lies [too late for me]!
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Have thoroughly enjoyed this excellent series of posts, replete with retro images and witty captions. Alas, my musical tastes must not be as esoteric as I’d like to think – there are no albums that I’m desperate to see released on CD. However, I will echo your vote for Peter Godwin’s debut LP – can’t believe that’s never been digitized. And I’m somewhat surprised that “A Factory Sample” double 7″ has never been available on CD. And like others here, I could list loads of singles and EPs that I would love to see issued on a silver disc.
Now, of the albums that ARE available on CD, which would you like to have better mastered? And expanded into deluxe editions?
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Shelf – What needs a good remastering? That’s a whole different ball of wax, there. I’d have to reflect on that a while. This thread was about unfinished business of the most pressing kind. The lists I made 30 years ago have seen all the titles but for a handful that still evade my collection. I suppose that many of these titles might in fact be available digitally, but I did not verify. I’ve known for years that “Don’t Follow Me, I’m Lost Too” was in iTunes but no action on that front.
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While I know that some of you don’t hold them in as high regard as I do, I would love to see proper deluxe editions done for Wang Chung and Sting. Including their essential “Huang Chung” debut, Wang Chung have numerous b-sides, extended mixes, and live rarities that should be properly collected with remastered deluxe editions. Same goes for Sting, at least up through his “Brand New Day” or “Sacred Love” LP.
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Got nothing against Wang Chung – they merit dlx reissues as much as anyone. And actually, it’s a little surprising that Sting’s back catalog hasn’t been given the deluxe treatment. I’m not a big fan, but everything up to “Ten Summoner’s Tales” is pretty decent. On that note, is “Message In A Box” still in print?
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Shelf – It appears that “Message In A Box” is still in print. I was surprised that when the digipak RM CDs debuted afterward, that they did not sport bonus tracks. I guess they’re keeping the rarities in the Box. It is an inexpensive way to get so much, but I have to admit; having the albums broken up over two discs is not optimal. The only Wang Chung I’d re-buy is a 2xCD “Points On A Curve.” They don’t resonate strongly with me, though I’d hardly push them out of an airlock.
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Well, I guess not everybody will be Wang Chung-ing tonight ;-)
While there’s something to be said for a quality remaster of a classic album – pure and simple with nothing added – I think expectations have been raised for bonus material in our super deluxe edition reissue era. I’m not advocating for new versions of The Police albums with bonus material, but as you pointed out – that box could have been much better organized.
Not to get too far off subject, but 4AD has started reissuing material on Pure Audio Blu-Ray. Not that I’m looking to replace my CDs anytime soon (err, ever), but the Blu-Ray format seems ideally suited for expanded reissues. Unfortunately, the two titles released thus far (Love And Rockets and The Pixies) are strictly the original albums, with no bonus tracks. Maybe that This Mortal Coil Blu-Ray box set will finally see the light of day.
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One CD release I’ve always wanted was for Wide Boy Awake. They only released an EP and some singles, but I love those tracks and to have them finally compiled onto CD would be amazing. I doubt it will ever happen.
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mathmandan – Too right on Wide Boy Awake. You never know, though. That Mood CD that Cherry Red released a few years back was even more obscure to my thinking. Have you pelted Cherry Red for a Wide Boy Awake release? The best I can say is I have “Chicken Outlaw” on “Just Can’t Get Enough v. 7.”
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Great series!
There’s the two unreleased Haircut 100 discs post “Pelican West” that have never seen the light of day on CD. Also missing is the brilliant second LP from Pauline Murray “Storm Clouds” and the final LP from The Passions “Sanctuary”. Gang Of Four’s brilliant live album “At The Palace” – never issued on CD either for some reason. Finally there’s The Cure “Lost Wishes” – a cassette only release that maddeningly didn’t get added to the 4-CD “Join The Dots (B-Sides & Rarities) box set.
Finally there’s the holy grail (albeit never formally released) – David Bowie’s “Toys” which is quite brilliant.
Surprised Fiat Lux didn’t make your list – none of their output has ever been released on CD despite being rumoured to be forthcoming.
The most frustrating is when an album is reissued then goes out of print just as quickly – hello Comsat Angels “Land” & “7 Day Weekend” – both have been announced by Edsel only to never materialize.
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Rob C – Seeing as I’m not a H100 guy, that makes perfect sense that I missed those two. I do like The Passions, though, and my noisy LP of “Michael + Miranda” needs replacing with a delightful CD eventually. I am annoyed that my all-time favorite single by them [or possibly anybody], “Africa Mine,” is a bonus track on exactly zero of their two recent DLX RMs! I am holding out that Cherry Red will eventually re-issue “Sanctuary” and it had better be there or it’s Simon LeBon time!
As for Fiat Lux, they never had an album, and thus were excluded from this thread. But if it came to bands with comps of singles/EPs, then that opens a whole other can of worms!
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