It was only a few months ago that I was writing about discovering that I had not sold off my Modern Eon “Fiction Tales” as I had mistakenly believed for years, and that prompted a notion of buying 7″ singles and making a DLX RM CD project of mine out of it. At the time, commenter schwenko cited an upcoming Cherry Red CD reissue slated for December, 2022 at reason to stall my plans and as it turned out, he was 100% correct.

The Cherry Red dynamo keeps generating sparks, and on December 16, 2022 we will have “Fiction Tales” on CD for the first time as a commercial release. Of course, the devil is in the details. I had posited a possible 2xCD set with the dozen album fracks on disc one and ten single-only A/B sides on the second disc. What does the real thing shape up like?

Modern Eon: Fiction Tales – UK – 2xCD [2022]

Disc 1 – Album

1. Second Still
2. The Grass Still Grows
3. Playwrite
4. Watching The Dancers
5. Real Hymn
6. Waiting For The Cavalry
7. High Noon
8. Child’s Play
9. Choreography
10. Euthenics
11. In A Strange Way
12. Mechanic

Disc 2 – Bonus Tracks

1. Second Still (1979 Version)
2. Choreography (1979 Version)
3. Euthenics (1980 Version)
4. Waiting For The Cavalry (1980 Version)
5. Cardinal Signs
6. Visionary
7. Mechanic (Single Version)
8. Splash!
9. After The Party
10. After The Party (Dub)
11. After The Party (Dub) (2021 Mix)
12. Garland Leaves

The second disc is salted with previously unreleased material in red italics, but I see there were a couple B-sides that are missing in action. The following songs that I was speccing out for the ill-starred personal REVO CD included the following tracks not here:

• Special Control [1979 “Pieces” EP]
• The Look A Smack [1979 “Pieces” EP]

One may also note that there were two Peel Sessions from the band with eight tracks not here. It was schwenko who alerted me to this material, which I didn’t account for in the earlier post. And the bootleg CD-R I linked to above also contained the track

• Benched Down/70s Sixties

I do have to say that the price point for missing three cuts [the Liverpool compilation track would have been murder to license even if it were possible…and I doubt that it is] and two Peel Sessions sort of makes up for the lack. This is another of Cherry Red’s modestly priced 2xCD sets that top out at £12.99/$14.89 and with the Pound Sterling taking a pummeling courtesy of the inept stewardship of the Tories, now is the time for US citizens to buy. So in the words of another Liverpudlian, “DJ hit that button!”

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