UB40 - Rare releases.rtf

UB40 - Rare releases

Following are some highlights on special and rare releases. Some of these releases are promotional only and not for sale in shops, other releases are unofficial (bootleg) releases. I usually find these kind of releases at record-fairs. Please take notice that some of these releases can be hard to find and are quite unique. I sadly can't help you find them.

Acetates
Very rare and unique are acetate test pressings of which usually one is made, straight from the master tapes. The manufactering of acetates is a whole different process as making a regular vinyl release. The acetate is chemically attached to a metal or aluminum carrier, and the recording is engraved into the plate (not pressed as with vinyl records). Sound quality is a lot better than vinyl, more dynamics and lower bass, but acetates are sensitive to damage. Acetates are made to test if the recording sound fine on record, to test track order, fade-in and fade-out times and such. Usually the band approves their release after listening to the acetate or first vinyl white label test pressings. Nowadays the record companies use CD-recordables to test all that.

I have a few acetates in my collection, the one pictured above is the double sided 12" acetate to 12 DEP 3. "Folitician" on the b-side starts with Jim drumming a bit longer intro to the song which was later omitted from the official vinyl 12".

Rat In The Kitchen - Russian release
"Rat In The Kitchen" is the only official Russian release by UB40, available on the Melodia label. UB40 signed a contract with Melodia while touring the CCCP late 1986. Melodia re-released the album after one year with a different colored label.

Krugozor magazines
These are two Russian Flexi Disc magazines entitled "Krugozor" with UB40 medley mixes on them. The 1982 version has "Folitician / Present Arms" on it, and the 1987 magazine has a mix of "Watchdogs/The Elevator / Sing Our Own Song" on it. Flexi Discs are thin plastic singles. Both magazines have blue colored discs (33 RPM) and feature info on UB40 in Russian with an exclusive band photography.

Polish postcards
These are Polish picture postcards with a clear top layer in which they engraved the music so you can actually play these on your record player! I have three of these cards, "C'est La Vie", "Promises & Lies" and "Reggae Music" out of a series of approximately 15.

Mighty Reel
NME music magazine of late 1982 contained a free cassette album "Mighty Reel" featuring an exclusive dubmix of "Forget The Cost" only available on this release. The mix has an additional 4 minutes added to the album version, a mix done by Mikey Dread from the same sessions where he mixed "Sufferin'" and "Mek-Ya-Rok".