RATE IT! Re-issue Mania

It seems that every band and their brother are re-releasing their back catalogues as re-mastered extravaganzas with bonus never ever released tracks, old videos and TV appearances...the mind boggles.


In my own little musical corner of the universe I've picked up such re-releases by Saint Etienne and Duran Duran...and am currently eyeing up the first album of The Charlatans which is also being re-jigged for mass consumption. 


Often such releases are a waste of hard earned cash. If you love a band like I do, chances are you pretty much own everything that they've ever put out. Sometimes in more than one format but it has to be said at least in the cases of my aforementioned faves - Saint Etienne and Duran, the re-releases *are* worth shelling out for. 


The re-dos for Duran Duran's first album (pictured above), and their third, 'Seven and the Ragged Tiger' just arrived in my mailbox yesterday --and the 'Tiger Bay' set for Saint Etienne followed this morning. I haven't had much time to play around with 'Tiger Bay' as of yet, but the St. Etienne previously issued deluxe editions for 'Continental', 'Foxbase Alpha,' and 'Sound of Water' were all stellar and valuable additions to my music library. Now with the Duran sets, both clad in boxes with all sorts of goodies inside -- pictures, mini posters and the like..ooh, I feel like a Smash Hits reader all over again -- are really something special.

For such a visual band that paved the way for music videos, it's a big relief that they're all here included on an extra disc. Yep, this album's hits  'Girls on Film', 'Planet Earth' & 'Careless Memories', songs that we all know & love are included, but they have company! A whole section of never released clips from UK TV appearances -  from the early days of Duran - are along for the ride too. They. Are. Priceless.  Worth the purchase price alone!! Best of the lot, the extended video version for 'Planet Earth' - shot very low budget in the Rum Runner nightclub in Birmingham, England with their new romantic fan base posing & dancing about in amazing get-ups. So so cool! And the eye makeup on Simon Le Bon is a thing of beauty! 


Ah, it's such a shame that you can't tele-port yourself back into a by-gone time period and participate. Looks like so much fun with all that makeup and foppery!