Tape Media - Comments by Billy Two

Tape Media - Comments by Billy Two

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
Billy Two 29th Jul 2013		Cassette Single Hump - Simple / Natural High (1996)	Hump were formed from ashes of Schillaci, who in turn were from ashes of Acolytes, so there was quite a bit of burn out going here. A lucky few receivers of this cassette got a business card insert - how quaint it seems to not only have no email address but also home telephone numbers. You could just imagine the head honcho of Sony phoning up to offer them a mega-huge worldwide deal, and one of their Mums answering.
Billy Two 22nd Jul 2013		Cassette Single Shooter - Junk / Chilled (1996)	I don't remember so much about Shooter, apart from the fact that one of their number looked like Mickey out of The Acolytes Of The Sun and that they were mates of [artist=spillage]Spillage[/artist]. This was a time when one word band names ruled the streets of Camden, and Pop was cool as long as it was Brit, and a simple nod from Simon Williams could lead to three or four days fame in the left hand side of the bar at The Good Mixer. I'm tempted to rate the four songs on here without actually listening to them, but just basing the score on their titles, but I won't. Or will I...?
Billy Two 19th Jul 2013		Cassette Single The Bond - Trumpet Call / Too Modern (1986)	After leaving Twelfth Night so as to spend more time on becoming a Reverend, the Reverend Geoff Mann released some stuff under his own name then formed a band of like-minded Christian types who, after a couple of Geoff related name changes finally plumped on becoming The Bond. And here is a tape they did to seal the deal. It originally came with no cover, so I made myself a hand drawn one which I was so proud of at the time that I even took along to Greenbelt Festival and managed to get signed by the whole band...however, I'm a little embarrassed of it now so won't be adding scans. Sorry. The main track is about a Russian called Valyrie Barynov who in the early 80's wrote a Christian rock opera (called The Trumpet Call) and was sentenced to years of hard labour in Siberia by the Soviet authorites for his trouble. One last note (though I could waffle for hours on this one, seriously)...this was the second release on Geoff's own Wobbly Records imprint (named in honour of his uniquely echo laden guitar and Linn drum sound), and I'll state for posterity that WOB 001 is a full cassette album called "Chants Would Be A Fine Thing", and is unquestionably my favourite album of all time, ever.
Billy Two 19th Jul 2013		Cassette Single Pendragon - Excalibur (Live At The Dial Inn Glasgow) / Out In The Night (1983)	Three track demo from the the first proper band I saw at the first proper gig I went to (they were supporting Marillion). I didn't get this at the time - years later in fact - but it still has a special place in my New Wave Of British Prog tape collection (more to follow). And to pre-empt any 45Cat style debate...yes, it does say "Made In Japan" on the tape, but no, that doesn't mean "It Ought To Be Considered A Japanese Release". ;-)
Billy Two 19th Jul 2013		Cassette Single Stay Brave - When Will You Go Home (1986)	Demo from Essex pop quartet Stay Brave, notable for having one Seal Henry as frontman. That's Seal "Killer, with Adamski, and Crazy" Henry. My mate Kev was their sound engineer (see inlay credits), and I saw them play all the London dives of the time - Covent Garden Rock Garden, Fulham Greyhound, Walthamstow Standard, Soho Le Beat Route for gawd sake. Whatever my (or your) feelings may be on the Seal of chart fame and large global sales, in a small pub with nowt but a mic stand and a light bulb to enhance the stage he was a hugely charismatic and obviously talented perfomer. Keyboardist Peter Coyte also went on to gain reasonable success as Shape Navigator, and I've a feeling the other two guys may have "done other stuff" an'all. This track is a poppy little ditty. Likeable, but unremarkable.
Billy Two 19th Jul 2013		Cassette Single The Mexican Embassy - "On Ice" 2-Track Demo	As an ardent fan of Flying Saucer Attack, this is truly one of my most prized possessions, cassette-wise...it's a demo cassingle by Dave Pearce from some time in the mid 80's. How many of these would he have done ? 20 ? Less ? Well, here's one copy fewer that'll be found for sale in the future.
Billy Two 26th Jun 2013		Cassette Single Billy Idol - Billy Idol's Mony Mony Live (1987)	Eddie tat added !
Billy Two 24th Jun 2013		Cassette Single Billy Idol - Billy Idol's Mony Mony Live (1987)	I just picked a still complete edition of this (#1028) in my local charity shop. Bizarrely, the tattoo enclosed is of Iron Maiden's "Eddie" in his "The Trooper" pose !! My scanner isn't working at the moment I'm sorry to say but as soon as it is...
Billy Two 11th Jan 2013		Cassette Single Slade Vs Flush - Merry Xmas Everybody '98 Remix (Flush Edit) / Merry Xmas Everybody (Original Version) (1998)	Done !
Billy Two 10th Jan 2013		Cassette Single Slade Vs Flush - Merry Xmas Everybody '98 Remix (Flush Edit) / Merry Xmas Everybody (Original Version) (1998)	Hi Paul - are those two spine images the same ? BT
Billy Two 28th Dec 2012		Cassette Single Björk - Venus As A Boy (7" Edit) / Venus As A Boy (Mick Hucknall's Edit) (1993)	I fear (as with cdrs on the CD World site) that this may be an unresolvable problem. As soon as the media is copyable by easily obtained means (tape to tapes/cd burners etc) then there's obviously going to be abuse, and sorting out the legitimate handwritten label from the bootleg is going to become difficult. If you've paid £50 for an Oasis cassette "promo" (for example), you're not going to want to admit it's a bootleg knocked up on "Dodgy" Bert's front room Amstrad deck !
Billy Two 28th Dec 2012		Cassette Single Acolytes - The Future Is Here... (1989)	Cheers, OC !
Billy Two 28th Dec 2012		Cassette Single Acolytes - The Future Is Here... (1989)	I've got quite a number of these private demo type affairs, though I'll try and stick to only adding ones that had a reasonable professional attitude behind them (rather than just handwritten C45s with only two tracks on them etc... ps. could I get modded on here please...one entry in and I've already cocked up !!
Billy Two 28th Dec 2012		Cassette Single Acolytes - The Future Is Here... (1989)	Quiet in here, isn't it !
Billy Two 28th Dec 2012		Cassette Single Acolytes - The Future Is Here... (1989)	The "Computer" case used for this is (was) officially called a "Microcase MK. III".