Iggy & Ziggy - Sister Midnight Live At The Agora [12", 2LP, Unofficial]

Today it's been exactly two months since DAVID BOWIE passed away.

This particular double live LP SISTER MIDNIGHT LIVE AT THE AGORA captures an IGGY POP show from 1977. March 21st, Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio to be exact. Bowie fans will know this, but other people might not: Bowie was part of Iggy's band for the Idiot Tour, a one-and-half month tour in the UK, USA and Canada during March and April 1977. He didn't do any solo stuff, but just wanted to be a band member, playing keyboards and doing some occasional backing vocals. The other band members were Tony and Hunt Sales, who helped record The Idiot album (and who'd both be with Bowie in Tin Machine just over a decade later - a band in which Bowie also wanted to be just one of the guys), and Ricky Gardiner. Ricky had worked with Bowie on the Low album, as well as The Idiot. 

The recording of this bootleg is pretty good. There are quite a few other versions released of this show over the years. Wild Animal on the French Revenge label is probably the most wellknown. Also on the official RCA album from 1978 TV Eye Live 1977 there are a few songs from this show. Although the tour was to promote The Idiot, there are mostly songs from The Stooges present here. Turn Blue, Sister Midnight and Funtime are therefore almost the only ones on which you clearly hear Bowie's backing vocals. Besides that, he does some fine repetitive keyboards on I Wanna Be Your Dog. I would've loved to see one of the shows on this tour. Quite a package, Iggy and Ziggy on the same stage.

Label: The Vinyl Countdown / Store For Music

Cat.nr.: SFMVC1206

Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:

01. Raw Power

02. 1969

03. Turn Blue

SIDE B:

01. Sister Midnight

02. I Need Somebody

03. Search And Destroy

SIDE C:

01. TV Eye

02. Dirt

03. Funtime

SIDE D:

01. Gimme Danger

02. No Fun

03. I Wanna Be Your Dog

David Bowie - Waiting In The Wind [12", 2LP, Unofficial]

 

 I bought this bootleg some 27 years ago. I was in high school and had just witnessed my first DAVID BOWIE concert ever (and actually even first rock concert and first stadium concert at the same time), a few months earlier. Even though -looking back at it all- the Glass Spider Tour was certainly not Bowie's best period, i was still thrilled that i finally managed to see my musical hero of the previous four years of my life with my own eyes. The tour's kick-off was in Rotterdam where he played two nights in a row and i was at the very first one on May 30th, 1987. I still lived in the area of Apeldoorn at the time in the middle of Holland, and there was this great record store called Plato. The store has closed since a few years, unfortunately. A few months after the concert i finally dared asking the question that i always wanted to, but never got the courage to do so: did they by any chance have bootleg recordings of Bowie shows? Then they showed me this double LP called WAITING IN THE WIND from under the counter. It was on coloured vinyl, which i had never seen before in my life, and it was a recording of a show in Italy that had taken place only two weeks after that historical event in Rotterdam. Recorded at Stadio Flaminio in Rome, June 15th 1987, to be precise. Obviously, i just had to buy it.

The album is on a label called Cinthia Records of which i never heard before, nor after. The sound quality is actually pretty OK. Which was a relief, because it had cost me a fortune; I spent a few months of pocketmoney on it. It's a shame though that some songs of this show are not on the album. Apparently there was a 3x7" singles box called "Demanding Billy Dolls" released by the same label, which had the songs Fashion, All The Madmen, Big Brother, Heroes, Fame and (obviously) Time, from which lyrics the title for the box was taken. I asked the shop if they could get it, but unfortunately they couldn't, and so i never found one. I wondered for a while if it even existed, but i found some traces on eBay so it really does.
So this is my first ever Bowie bootleg (or even first ever bootleg in general) and my first ever coloured vinyl. Bowie had a lot of premieres in many different aspects of the musical side of my life, it seems ;)
I'm still very happy that i never sold this album. I did that with many of my Bowie vinyls back in the early 90's - to my deepest regret now, as you might understand.

Label: Cinthia Records
Cat.nr.: DRJ 490/491
Year of release: 1987

SIDE A:
01. Up The Hill Backwards
02. Glass Spider
03. Up The Hill Backwards (Reprise)
04. Day In, Day Out
05. Bang Bang
06. Absolute Beginners

SIDE B:
01. Loving The Alien
02. China Girl
03. Scary Monsters
04. Never Let Me Down
05. '87 And Cry

SIDE C:
01. Time Will Crawl
02. Beat Of Your Drum
03. Sons Of The Silent Age
04. Dancing With The Big Boys
05. Zeroes

SIDE D:
01. Let's Dance
02. Blue Jean
03. Modern Love

My Bloody Valentine - Peel Session And Rare Tracks [12', LP, Unofficial]

Last week i was at the Utrecht record fair and obviously i came home with some good stuff again. That place really is heaven for vinyl collectors. MY BLOODY VALENTINE recorded a Peel Session on September 25th 1988 and it was broadcasted, but never officially released on CD or vinyl. This is actually the first time i come across a MBV bootleg with these tracks. The others songs on this compilation are "rare tracks" that were included not too long ago on the "EP's 1988-1991" 2CD, plus the excellent cover versions of Wire's "Map Ref 41°N 93°W" and Louis Armstrong's "We Have All The Time In The World", from the soundtrack of the James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The first was originally on a Wire tribute CD called "Whore", and the second on the "Peace Together" charity compilation album.
Bootlegs are usually full of typo's and omissions, and PEEL SESSION AND RARE TRACKS is no exception to the rule. On the back of the cover where the tracklisting is, they simply forgot song #4 of the Peel Session ("Feed Me With Your Kiss"), and they spelled "Angel" as "Angle". But all in all, it's a decent compilation of songs that are otherwise unavailable on vinyl. It wasn't too expensive either, so a welcome addition to my MBV collection.

Label: none
Cat.nr.: none
Year of release: ?

SIDE A:
01. I Can See It (But I Can't Feel It)
02. Lose My Breath
03. When You Wake (You're Still In A Dream)
04. Feed Me With Your Kiss
05. Sugar
06. How Do You Do It

SIDE B:
01. Angel
02. Map Reference 41 N 93 W                                                                               
03. Instrumental No2
04. Instrumental No1
05. We Have All The Time In The World

Slowdive - Hide Yer Eyes [12", LP, Unofficial]

This is a peculiar release, that i ran into a few weeks ago. HIDE YER EYES is a collection of SLOWDIVE songs that apparently were recorded between the Just For Today and Souvlaki albums, and were supposed to be released as an album called I Saw The Sun. Or maybe they were just leftover demos, i don't know. All songs, except for Dagger, never made it to any of their albums at least.
Various things can be found online about these songs. The only thing i do know however, is that if there are still master tapes around of these, a little remastering could do a miracle and you'd have a lovely high-quality Slowdive album from their best period. The quality of these tracks however is pretty bad. Likely taken straight from mp3's that float around on the internet (originating from dubbed copies of tapes, i can only imagine) and only just decent enough to be able to dream how these would sound if properly remastered. Surely not the reason why they call this genre dreampop. Another funny detail: when you look up the supposed address for the record label as stated on the cover on Google Maps, it's an Aral gas station near Leipzig, Germany.
But anyway for big Slowdive fans like myself, this LP is a welcome addition to my collection.


Label: Alti Philosophi
Cat.nr.: -
Year of release: ?

SIDE A:
01. Summer Day
02. Bleed
03. Sleep
04. Silver Screen
05. Dagger

SIDE B:
01. Joy
02. Hide Yer Eyes
03. Ending
04. Richard
05. I Saw The Sun

My Bloody Valentine - This Is Your Bloody Valentine [12", LP, Unofficial]

Originally released in 1985 on a label called Tycoon Records, this is MY BLOODY VALENTINE's first record. It was reissued on Dossier Records in 1990, but after that many times bootlegged. This is a counterfeit version of that Dossier release, and to be honest i only bought it to have a physical copy of these songs. The music can't be compared to MBV's later work. This is post-punk goth rock pur sang, and not exactly my cup of tea. The songs are pretty incoherent as well. Oh and they had a singer back then, by the way: some guy called Dave Conway. Last but not least, Colm's last name Ó Cíosóig is spelled as Cusack on the sleeve. Weirdness.

Label: Dossier Records [fake]
Cat.nr.: EFA 15751-O6
Year of release: 1990 [original version; this one = unknown]

SIDE A:
01. Forever And Again
02. Homelovin' Guy
03. Don't Cramp My Style
04. Tiger In My Tank

SIDE B:
01. The Love Gang
02. Inferno
03. The Last Supper

My Bloody Valentine - Before Loveless [12", 2LP, Unofficial]

Another strange MY BLOODY VALENTINE bootleg. Spread over two LP's, you'll find the Ecstasy And Wine compilation (on red vinyl) and the Feed Me With Your Kiss and You Made Me Realise EP's (on black vinyl). It has the Feed Me With Your Kiss artwork as front cover and the pic on the back is from the back of Ecstasy And Wine. How original.
However I still don't have original copies of those two last ones on vinyl, so i didn't have to think too long before i decided to buy this. Bought it online from a US mailorder company. And the quality is not bad actually.

SIDE A:
01. Strawberry Wine
02. Never Say Goodbye
03. Can I Touch You
04. She Loves You No Less
05. The Things I Miss

SIDE B:
01. I Don't Need You
02. (You're) Safe In Your Sleep (From This Girl)
03. Clair
04. You've Got Nothing
05. (Please) Lose Yourself In Me

SIDE C:
01. Feed Me With Your Kiss
02. I Believe
03. Emptiness Inside
04. I Need No Trust

SIDE D:
01. You Made Me Realise
02. Slow
03. Thorn
04. Cigarette In My Bed
05. Drive It All Over Me

My Bloody Valentine - Glider [12", Unofficial]

A strange bootleg/counterfeit version of the GLIDER EP by MY BLOODY VALENTINE. Not only does it contain the four tracks of that EP, which are for the occasion not spread over two sides but are all four appearing on side A; but it also contains the four tracks of the Tremolo EP on side B.
The artwork though is purely taken from Glider - so on the back you'll clearly notice that this is not the original EP. However it doesn't mention the name "Tremolo", or the fact that it contains "bonus tracks" or so:



All in all, a pretty weird release. The sound is a bit thin as well, but hey; what'd you expect of a bootleg? A nice addition to my MBV collection of course. I believe i bought this one in the same shop in Stockholm as my Slowdive "Blue Day" counterfeit.

Label: Creation Records [fake]
Cat.nr.: CRE 073
Year of release: ? (original release of the EP was in 1990)

SIDE A:
01. Soon
02. Glider
03. Don't Ask Why
04. Off Your Face

SIDE B:
01. To Here Knows When
02. Swallow
03. Honey Power
04. Moon Song

Slowdive - Souvlaki [12", LP, Unofficial]

This album i've been looking for on vinyl for quite a while. Not so much specifically this bootleg version, but the SOUVLAKI album at itself. So when i found this one in an online webstore in the States i just had to buy it. That was a few months before Music On Vinyl would release their (official) reissue.

It's pretty obvious that this is a bootleg release. First of all, it has more tracks than the original release has: 15 tracks in total, spread over 4 sides (instead of 10 spread over 2 sides):

The bonus tracks are sourced from B-sides from singles.

Also the insert is rather ugly compared to the one in the Music On Vinyl edition. I have no idea if the original on Creation had an insert by the way, but i assume Music On Vinyl copied their version straight from the original.


But the stupidest thing is that they reproduced the correspondence address for SLOWDIVE while that band does not exist anymore for many years:


Also, just like the Blue Day bootleg, this version has Japanese text written on the back. Probably to make it look extra interesting.

Ah well, it's a funny release to have, to spice up the collection a bit. But the sound quality is way inferior to the Music On Vinyl release.


Label: Creation Records [fake]
Cat.nr.: CRELP 139PRDJ
Year of release: 2009

SIDE A:
01. Alison
02. Machine Gun
03. 40 Days
04. Sing

SIDE B:
01. Here She Comes
02. Souvlaki Space Station
03. When The Sun Hits
04. Altogether

SIDE C:
01. Melon Yellow
02. Dagger
03. Some Velvet Morning
04. Country Rain

SIDE D:
01. So Tired
02. Moussaka Chaos
03. Good Day Sunshine

Kevin Shields / The Jesus & Mary Chain - Lost In Translation [7", Unofficial]

As you can see on these pics i have 2 different vinyl colors of this 7": transparent yellow and opaque yellow.
There's no label mentioned. And although therefore very likely unofficial releases, still pretty collectable. The single features 2 songs by KEVIN SHIELDS and THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN from the LOST IN TRANSLATION movie.

Label: -
Cat.nr.: LITEP 450612
Year of release: 2007

SIDE A:
01. KEVIN SHIELDS - City Girl

SIDE B:
01: THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN - Just Like Honey

Slowdive - Blue Day [12", LP, Unofficial]

The first thing i wondered when i ran into this thing, at a hidden second-hand record store in Stockholm, was how the quality would be. Because it was obvious that this peculiar SLOWDIVE release was not quite the original release from 1992 - even though the guy in the shop first was trying to convince me it most likely was. Yeah, right. Not only was it sealed and brand new looking; on the back you'll see it hasn't got 7 but 13 tracks, spread over 2 discs. The original BLUE DAY, which costs a fortune these days, is just 1 disc.
"Oh, then you're probably right", he said when i confronted him with that. So when i told him i saw his store was swamped with bootlegs (pointed out a Pantera, Joy Division, Desert Sessions and a My Bloody Valentine on first rows to him - i assume his supplier for that stuff had just come by earlier) he was suddenly very friendly and it was easy to get something off the price.

But back on topic: well, the quality is not that bad. It's not the same of course as the superb recent reissues of Just For A Day and Souvlaki on Music On Vinyl because for this bootleg no master tapes were used, but at least it's value for money if you're a shoegaze vinyl hunter like myself.
The 2 discs come in clear blue and light baby-blue.

The 7 tracks from the rare original are featured, and besides that there's Avalyn 2 from their very first s/t EP, Golden Hair and Albatross from the Holding Our Breath EP, and some tracks from their Just For A Day full length. A bit of a weird mish-mash.
To make it (sort of) look official, the manufacturer has printed Japanese text at the back, so people would think it's some rare Japanese import.

Label: Creation Records [fake]
Cat.nr.: COCY 9968
Year of release: 2010 [not 1992, as it states]

SIDE A:
01. Slowdive
02. Avalyn 1
03. Avalyn 2

SIDE B:
01. Morningrise
02. She Calls
03. Losing Today

SIDE C:
01. Shine
02. Albatross
03. Golden Hair
04. Waves

SIDE D:
01. Spanish Air
02. Celia's Dream
03. Catch The Breeze