"Is the future going to be a nightmare?"
- Above: Brand New Age UK LP release, 1980, front and back covers.
Click to enlarge.
Cat. No: GEMLP 106 (PL 43206)
Label: GEM Records
Recorded: January 1980
Released: 11th April 1980
Side One:
You Can't Take It Anymore (Harper, Garratt, Slack, Davies) 1.59
Brand New Age (Harper, Garratt) 1.32
Public Servant (Harper, Garratt) 2.15
Warhead (Harper, Slack) 3.20
Barbie's Dead (Harper, Slack) 2.19
Organised Crime (Harper, Garratt) 2.06
Rat Race (Harper, Garratt) 1.58
Run-out groove: A BILBO EADBANGER! W A1 D TA1PE GEM LP 106 - A - 1
Side Two:
Emotional Blackmail (Harper, Garratt) 2.44
Kicks (Harper, Garratt) 1.51
Teenage (Harper) 2.31
Dirty Girls (Harper, Garratt) 1.48
500cc (Harper, Garratt, Slack) 2.15
Bomb Factory (Harper, Garratt) 2.11
Emotional Blackmail II (Harper, Garratt) 1.08
Run-out groove: BILBOS KICKS --- TA1PE GEM LP - 106 - B - 1 W A1 A
Line Up
Vocals: Charlie Harper
Guitar: Nicky Garratt
Bass: Paul Slack
Drums: Pete Davies
The band's second LP for GEM, recorded at Underhill Studio in January 1980 and produced by Charlie & Nicky (credited as 'Nick').
Charlie's vocals have a rougher edge to them, this was due to him having a bad throat at the time and it wasn't possible to re-schedule the recording session. This would also be the last studio album featuring the Slack/Davies rhythm section.
Two singles were lifted from the album; the classic Warhead plus Teenage, both backed with non-album tracks, it also featured a re-recording of Kicks from the She's Not There EP. Emotional Blackmail parts one and two appear as one track on the Super Music PA compilation Backstage Pass.
Pressed on clear and then black vinyl, it featured a printed insert with pictures of the band performing live as well as individual shots (anybody know who that is Charlie's kissing?), plus the lyrics to the track Brand New Age.
Outdoing Another Kind of Blues, it hit the UK album charts on the 19th of April going to number 18 and staying in the chart for nine weeks. (Source: Guinness Book of British Hits Albums, sixth edition)
Quite a few copies have appeared on ebay described as caramel or clear brown vinyl, these are not rare mis-pressings, but an effect of age on the vinyl. Original clear vinyl copies in the T&M collections are also starting to go brown around the edges.
Click on all the below images to enlarge
Clear vinyl Side 1 Clear vinyl Side 2
Black vinyl Side 1 Black vinyl Side 2
Test Pressing A Test Pressing B
- Above: Test Pressing fold out sleeve.
The sleeve has a matt finish and doesn't have the tabs to form a cover. The printing isn't to the proper finished quality, note the different shade of red around the track listing. There are also some extra letters and numbers underneath the catalogue number, presumably these are references for the printers (See enlarged picture below.)
- Below: Brand New Age promo sheet from the John Peel archive - click to enlarge
- Below: Most copies of the clear vinyl Brand New Age LP become discoloured after so many years. See the picture below for an extreme example. Please be aware that copies for sale on e-bay being sold as 'mis-pressings' are just aged copies, usually with a brown rim.
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Below left: 'Brand New Age' LP engineer Laurie Dipple and Charlie (working on lyrics) at Underhill Studios January 1980.
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Below right: Engineer Laurie Dipple at the board recording 'Brand New Age'.
Underhill Studios January 1980.
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Below: From Sounds' 5-star review, unknown date
- Above: Trade press advert, Music Week, 12th April 1980
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