REISSUES
AND BEYONDFROM IGGY POP AND BOWIE TO
NEW ORDER, IAN DURY, SAINT ETIENNE,
SPARKS, AND MORE: AS EVER, CLASSIC POP
RECOGNISES FEW BOUNDARIES IN OUR
EVER-ECLECTIC SUMMARY OF THE MOST
INTERESTING RECENT VINYL RELEASES...
PAUL LESTERIAN DURY − THE VINYL COLLECTION
This 2014 boxset, from Edsel Records, is currently being made available at a bargain price of under 50 nicker, to employ the
parlance of the cockney reject himself. That’s not too shabby for an eight-LP vinyl box from one of the most strikingly unusual
characters to emerge at the height of punk and new wave. It covers Dury’s entire career, starting with 1977’s wonderful debut New Boots
And Panties!! (No.2 in the NME critics’ end of year albums poll, one place ahead of Elvis Costello’s My Aim Is True and just one behind
Bowie’s ‘Heroes’, doncha know), through Do It Yourself (1979), Laughter (1980), Lord Upminster (1981), 4,000 Weeks’ Holiday (1984),
Apples (1989), The Bus Driver’s Prayer & Other Stories (1992), and Mr. Love Pants (1998) – the latter was released two years before
Dury’s death. All of the releases are on heavyweight 180g vinyl.100IGGY POP – THE IDIOT/LUST FOR LIFE/
TV EYE LIVE 1977
1977 was a great time for punk, but also for the previous generation who all made
bold statements that year. David Bowie had a busy 12 months, issuing two major
albums in Low and ‘Heroes’, and he also found time to collaborate with Iggy Pop on his fi rst
two solo albums, The Idiot and Lust For Life. Both are here reissued – and apparently
“remastered for the fi rst time from the original analog tapes” – on vinyl for their 40th
anniversary. This is alongside 1978’s TV Eye Live 1977, recorded during four different shows on
his 1977 US tour. On the live album, Iggy lets rip on Stooges eruptions I Wanna Be Your Dog,
I Got A Right and T.V. Eye and it includes searing renditions of tracks from The Idiot and Lust For
Life. Too hot to handle? Luckily, they also come in a limited-edition Iggy tote bag.SPARKS − NO 1
IN HEAVEN
On their eighth album, now in
celestial blue vinyl, Ron and Russell
Mael took a turn for the electronic, teaming
up with Donna Summer’s producer Giorgio
Moroder at Musicland Studios, West Germany,
based on a love of his 1977 landmark of
throbbing spacetronica, I Feel Love. Suddenly
Sparks – big stars of the late-glam era on the
back of monstrously quirky hits like This
Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us –
enjoyed a second lease of commercial life
following disappointingly lukewarm reactions
to Big Beat (1976) and Introducing Sparks
(1977). Of the four singles from 1979’s No.1
In Heaven, none reached the titular pole
position but The Number One Song In Heaven
did become their fi rst hit since 1975’s Looks,
Looks, Looks, reaching No.14 in the UK,
while follow-up Beat The Clock fared even
better, peaking inside the Top 10.CP30.LLV.indd.indd 100 07/06/2017 17:46