October 7, 2015
Jimme O’Neill fronted surely the most overlooked group on Virgin Records?
Among the 30 releases that arrived in the mail on Monday, was a record that was pretty significant to me. The Fingerprintz “Shadowed” 12″ single. I bought what was the new Fingerprintz album, “Beat Noir” when it was released in America in 1981, and really enjoyed it a lot. I’d been first exposed to Fingerprintz on Virgin’s “Cash Cows” compilation a year earlier with the ebullient power pop [non]hit “Yes Eyes” and was ready for their new funk direction. I cashed in the Stiff Records US pressing of “Beat Noir” in the Great Vinyl Purge since I fully expected the band’s three albums to eventually get a CD release. Over three decades earlier, that is clearly not the case!
It’s not as if I haven’t been doing my duty. I have emailed Cherry Red beseeching them to work that Fingerprintz action to a chorus of yawns. So in the end, it will have to come down to me. In the last 20 years I have obtained copies of all three Fingerprintz albums, and I could surely remaster CDs from them, but what fun is that? No, that’s not how we roll at REVO. Surely every potential bonus track should be appended to the albums, yes? How would that play out?
Fingerprintz: The Very Dab [1979]
- Close Circuit Connection
- Fingerprince
- Wet Job
- Punchy Judy
- Temperamental
- 2 A T
- Hey Mr. Smith
- Tough Luck
- Invisible Seams
- On The Hop
- Beam Me Up Scotty
The debut album got a release on Virgin Atlantic, and that’s the US pressing that I have of that album. There were three singles released in 1979 and only one of them was from the LP!
Virgin | UK | 12″ | 1979 | VS 235-12
Fingerprintz: Dancing With Myself UK green vinyl 12″ [1979]
- Dancing With Myself
- Sync Unit
- Sean’s New Shoes
Virgin thought that green vinyl would make an impression for the debut single – with an extra track on the 12″ version. Here are three songs that need to be on any CD I make. One imagines that Billy Idol and Tony James must have heard this single. Their attempt with the same title came the next year.
Virgin | UK | 7″ | 1979 | VS 252
Fingerprintz: Who’s Your Friend? UK blue vinyl 7″ [1979]
- Who’s Your Friend?
- Do You Want To Know A Secret?
- Nervz
- Night Nurse
Their next single was a full-fledged EP of four non-LP tunes! Remember, at this time, Jimme O’Neill was a busy lad churning out hits for many others like Lene Lovich [“Say When”], Rachel Sweet [“Spellbound”] and even Manfred Mann’s Earth Band! Obviously, his pen overfloweth [though track two is a Beatles cover]. What else do we need?
Virgin | UK | 7″ | 1979 | VS 278
Fingerprintz: Tough Luck UK 7″ [1979]
- Tough Luck
- Detonator
It was only their third single that deigned to pull an album cut as the A-side. There’s one more non-LP B-side, “Detonator,” though it remains to be seen until I actually get the single to see if the A-side is an alternate take, which was so common during the 70s. Remember kids: play those records and some times you will be rewarded with a previously unheard take on an A-side that’s pulled from an album! Altogether that’s at least eight bonus tracks for “The Very Dab.”
Fingerprintz: Distinguishing Marks US LP [1980]
- Yes Eyes
- Houdini Love
- Criminal Mind
- Bullet Proof Heart
- Remorse Code
- Amnesia
- Ringing Tone
- Radiation
- Jabs
- Hide And Seek
Ten more songs on this Peter Saville-designed pop platter. Keep in mind I’ve not heard “The Very Dab” at all in the dozen or more years I’ve owned the LP! At least I’m familiar with the chiming power pop perfection of “Yes Eyes” from “Cash Cows.” The production here was by Nick Garvey of The Motors and it hits close to the mark of their mid period as well. What do we still need to buy?
Virgin | UK | 7″ | 1980 | VS 358
Fingerprintz: Bulletproof Heart UK 7″ [1980]
- Bulletproof Heart
- Hide + Seek
Hmmmm. After the luxurious complement of non-LP material for their debut album, their sophomore effort has the ignominy of two tracks pulled from the LP! But…could it be that any of these tracks are a different take than the LP versions? Right now, it’s impossible to tell. That’s why it is always best to buy every release by groups that you intend to remaster. There’s nothing worse than finding out that the A/B side of a single you thought you didn’t need was a different production years later! Can any readers shed some light here?
Virgin | UK | 7″ | 1980 | VS 375
Fingerprintz: Houdini Love UK 7″ [1980]
- Houdini Love
- All About You
At least this time, we know that the record must be bought for “All About You.” That much is definite.
Virgin | UK | 7″ | 1981 | VS 432
Fingerprintz: Bohemian Dance UK 7″ [1981]
- Bohemian Dance
- Coffee and Screams
Then, outta nowhere comes this obscure [just added to the Discogs database recently] non-LP single between albums two and three! Since bonus tracks for “Distinguishing Marks” are so thin on the ground, I’m inclined to add these tracks [once I find/buy them] to disc two in the Fingerprintz series. That will yield at least three bonus tracks if none of the other two A-sides are different from the LP cuts.
Fingerprintz: Beat Noir UK LP [1981]
- The Beat Escape
- The Chase
- Catwalk
- Changing
- Get Civilised
- Shadowed
- Touch Sense
- Echohead
- Going Going Gone
- Famous Last Words
I had bought the Stiff American LP of this in 1981, and I re-bought a copy years ago but eventually I got the preferred UK edition with two tracks [“Echohead,” “Famous Last Words”] excised from the US copy! Here’s what need to join it on CD.
Virgin | UK | 12″ | 1981 VS 420-12
Fingerprintz: Shadowed UK 12″ [1981]
- Shadowed
- Madame X
- Tickled To Death
This is the only Fingerprintz single currently sitting in the Record Cell. One down, eight to go.
Virgin | UK | 7″ | 1981 | VS 452
Fingerprintz: The Beat Escape UK 7″ [1981]
- The Beat Escape
- Disorient Express
Their last single has a 7″ with a different B-side than 12″ version so both must be purchased.
Virgin | UK | 12″ | 1981 | VS 452-12
Fingerprintz: The Beat Escape UK 12″ [1981]
- The Beat Escape [ext. ver.]
- Catwalk [ext. ver.]
The 12″ of the über-dynamic dancefloor bomb “The Beat Escape” comes with extended A/B sides for maximum joy, so I’m very eager to hear this, the only remixed Fingerprintz single. Given that it’s taken me over a dozen years to buy the albums and one 12″ single, I hope that I can find a cache of Fingerprintz singles from a single vendor one day since I’d hate to pay the postage for all of these records separately! And soon. I’m not getting any younger.
– 30 –
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Post-Punk Monk 
Great post! I have the three albums and the Dancing With Myself 12 inch. When I see some of the stuff that gets reissued, I can’t believe there’s not enough interest in Fingerprintz for a reissue label to step in and get this stuff out on CD. Then again, they probably didn’t do themselves any favors by recording three albums so different from each other. Hope it happens one day though!
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Peter – Welcome to the comments! Apart from the Rubellan compilation (which I have and love) there’s a huge void out there for Fingerprintz. And having The Silencers helped the cause of Fingerprintz about as much as Eurythmics helped The Tourists albums get issued on CD. All we have there are two compilations, the compromised US version of “Reality Effect,” and the hyper rare (though I have it) JPN CD of “Luminous Basement.”
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Yes, I forgot to mention that I have both of the Fingerprintz compilation CDs which are nice to have, but I really would prefer the original albums with bonus tracks. Thanks again for bringing awareness of this great band!
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Monk, You surprize me. Fingerprintz kicked absolute butt. They were touring w/ Bill Nelson’s Red Noise, and they were fantastic. Why weren’t they massive? “Who’s Your Friend?” and “Dancing With Myself” still resonate, and are on my playlist. Good on ya to throw the spotlight on them.
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meederr – When I originally posted this I was still “collecting” Fingerprintz. now I have every track but don’t have the time to make CDs in the last two years… or even post to the blog. Hence this repeated post.
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Great post, as always! My enduring memory of Fingerprintz is the amazing Distinguishing Marks LP cover design with postcard perforations for each song. So creative and clever. Thankfully my copy remains pristine and intact after all these (44!) years. I loved Nick Garvey’s production, which coalesced a really strong sheen around all the tracks, especially Bullet Proof Heart, which remains one of my all time favorite songs.
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drskridlow – The original “Bulletproof Heart” beats all comers! Including Jim Kerr and The Silencers. A great, atypical, Peter Saville cover design.
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I have been waiting for years for a remastered “everything box” from this band, since they made the exact right amount of good and great stuff for such a collection. Till then, I’ll have to see if my copy of the Rubellan comp is still within reach …
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chasinvictoria – Right??! Three albums and another 20 rarities for a primo 4xCD clamshell from Cherry Red for £24.99 and Rubellan Remastering… sign me up!
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hi ppm! thanks for the Fingerprintz reminder…..listening to them again is so refreshing..! why does music from 1981 still sound timeless.? … xr o b
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rObPReusS – In 1981 I was playing the hell out of “Beat Noir” as a college freshman! Fingerprintz sound refreshing because they never had time to get stale with only three very different albums. That’s another cool thing. Remember when bands were allowed to develop to find their audience? Before lawyers in charge of labels became enshrined? Even mobsters were better at running labels than lawyers!
But back to my point, (don’t get me started on lawyers…) remember how groups like Spandau Ballet could have three radically different albums in the space of two years? Or Simple Minds? I think that sense of adventure contributes to the timelessness you cite. Of course once Spandau got that number one hit that was it for them. They spent the rest of their days flailing at trying to crank out another “True,” to my chagrin.
Also, I might guess music from 1981 sounds so good because pop music was peaking for me in 1981… maybe you too? ‘79-80 was a bit artier. But in 1981 the balances between art and commerce were exactly to my liking. That might be it for you too.
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The brief Fingerprintz bio at Discogs is poorly worded. “Scottish New Wave band founded in 1978, with a first single issued in January 1979. The debut album issued in September of the same year saw them without their original singer [Step Lang] and main songwriter Jimme O’Neill taking over lead vocals.”
“Dancing With Myself” is that January 1979 single (with five members pictured on the sleeve), followed by “Tough Luck” in August 1979. Step Lang is credited with “occasional vocals” and “dancing” on the debut LP track “2.A.T.” — and then he’s gone, like the fifth Beatle of Fingerprintz.
And who is A.T.? We know that “2HB” referred to Humphrey Bogart, but …
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