Yumpin’ Yimminy! We’ve made our own CD since the one stab at a Komplete Klark Kent CD was briefly released into the wilds 28 years ago and it’s hovered near three figures ever since. I have all of the 7″ singles in their UK/US versions [except “Rich In A Ditch!”]. I have four different pressings of the 1980 mini-album:
- US green vinyl 10″ in 12″ sleeve with I.R.S. “rainbow” label w/BEST HYPE STICKER EVER
- UK 10″green vinyl 10″ in 10″ die-cut sleeve
- US black 10″ in 12″ sleeve with I.R.S. [spy] silver label
- JPN “Klerk Kant” CD from 1986
Earlier this year I was chagrined that there was a Stewart Copeland book with a CD of his demo tunes for a hefty $350.00 and the reissue of the Klark Kent mini-album on a 12″ green vinyl disc wasn’t exactly the attention I was hoping for this fecund segment of the illustrious Stewart Copeland career to have gotten. At the time, there were reader comments also lamenting the fact that there wasn’t a CD forthcoming of this stuff. That has all changed!
Klark Kent: Klark Kent – US – 2xD [2023]
Disc 1 – 1980 Mini-Album/Bonus Tracks
- It’s Gonna Rain
- Don’t Care
- Away From Home
- Rich In A Ditch
- Grandelinquent
- Guerilla
- My Old School
- Excesses
- Theme For The Kinetic Ritual
- Thrills
- Office Girls
- Too Kool To Kalypso
- Stay Ready
- Strange Things Happen
- Love Lessons
- Yo Ho Ho
- Someone Else
- Office Talk
Disc 2 -Demos
- Away From Home
- Rich In A Ditch
- Grandelinquent
- Guerilla
- My Old School
- Excesses
- Theme For Kinetic Ritual
- Don’t Care
- Thrills
- Office Girls
- Too Kool To Kalypso
- Strange Things Happen
This new BMG collection has the original mini-album. The non-LP A/B sides as well as tracks that had filtered out over the intervening years. What it’s also got is new material for our ears. “Thrills,” “Office Girls,” “Too Kool To Kalypso,” and “Office Talk” were on the early 7″ singles. “Stay ready,” Strange Things Happen,” and “Love Lessons” had appeared on the 1995 “Kollected Works” compilation as seen below.
“Someone Else” and “It’s Gonna Rain” are fresh offerings from the Kinetic Kid. And then there’s a whole CD of a dozen demos on the second disc. It’s a smorgasbord of tasty delights to delight the palates of Klark Kent fans eager to get the fun, upbeat, and snotty tunes of Copeland which I have long preferred to the Police’s more somber output.
Best of all, the collection is available in a 2x CD or LP edition. At popular prices. Rough Trade US has the CDs for $26.99 or the LPs at $34.99. The latter especially comparing nicely to the too-rich-for-my-blood “Kollected Works” silvery disc. In 1995, I was saving for a marriage and a down payment for a house, so I missed that disc. Now we can assuage that angst for a fraction of the going rate. Mr. D.J. hit that button!
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Post-Punk Monk 
This is most excellent news, and better than I’d hoped! “Rich in a Ditch” is tied with “Away From Home” as my favourite KK track, courtesy of your earlier Kompilation. Definitely to be ordered and cherished. All KKiller, no filler!
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chasinvictoria – Right??! It’s miraculous that it’s also on CD format.
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Wow! Never thought this would happen!
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Great news – I was so excited to find the 10″ at a local shop (for five bucks, no less!) but quickly realized most of my favorite songs from the Kollected Works CD aren’t on it!
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critterjams – Which 10” as they are legion. There was also a 12” black reissue in the US from the early 80s that my friend, the RAHB bought at the time.
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It’s the green one you put a picture of above. I’ve since come to realize there are several out there…
when I was a kid I was obsessed with The Police. I remember checking out that 4xCD comprehensive boxset from the library which included a few blurbs about Klark Kent – I remember really wanting to hear it, but for some reason I’d assumed it was something fairly rare and valuable now. little did I know the local shop probably had a copy under one of their many racks of discount vinyl.
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Great news! I was buying these as they came out, one by one :-) I’m now going to watch the Klark Kent TOTP (Top Of The Pops) performance of Don’t Care on that there YouTube thingy!
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McRonson – I prefer the Vimeo whatchamaycallit, but I hear you!
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Yes! YES!!! This is the news I needed!
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Now we just need Bill Tush to deliver on those DVDs he’s been promising for 3 decades…. :-p
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the RAHB! – Well, I tried my best! New AI video-scaling paradigms might see them on Blu-Ray! Another obsolete format that I’ve just finally managed to invest in!
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Super stoked about this – love, love, love this music – it is HILARIOUS and such an epitome of the times then – I mean who else can weave in Yasser Arafat into lyrics???? Will be buying for sure.
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Deserat – So true! Klark Kent was almost all of the chops of The Police in the form of the band’s founder, and geared towards rambunctious fun instead of cheek-sucking misery.
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