This is a delightfully odd sampler from the delightfully odd mid-80s record label Zang Tumb Tuum. Yes, they of Frankie Goes To Hollywood. So you’d expect to find Relax here, right? Nope, we get a non-album track called Disneyland, and then a Bruce Springsteen cover.
We have a couple of “spoken word” interludes, which is Paul Morley telling jokes, like why the first Art of Noise album has a spanner on the cover: “Because a spanner is intrinsically more interesting than the lead singer of Tears for Fears.” And that’s not even the punchline.
It’s also got Anne Pigalle, Andrew Poppy, Propaganda and, er, Instinct, and it just flows so well… I’ve listened to probably a hundred times over the years.
Here’s the entire thing, or broken into separate tracks:
This blog post is part of the Record Label Samplers series.
Now you had me flipping through my own samplers and compilations. I’ve dozens of them and I never listen to them. I don’t like listening to samplers nor to compilations. With a few exceptions. This one for example: https://www.discogs.com/fr/release/35126-Various-Staedtizism.
Also, regarding obscure Belgian productions, you may want to consider: https://www.discogs.com/fr/release/70179-Various-K-RAA-K%C2%B3-Labelsampler (Whose design was possibly more interesting thant the music itself – who knows, it was in 2001 (what?)) (Should rip it some day?)
And the design of this one! https://www.discogs.com/fr/release/171552-Various-Open-Up-And-Say_
Did I ever listen to it?
Most label samplers are “listen once and then forget” (or perhaps after buying some of the artists involved), which is why I thought it would be interesting to highlight some label samplers that are indeed enjoyable to listen to…
There’s a Tigerbeat6 post coming up, but not featuring that sampler.
I like Staedtizism a lot (and also the second volume), but they aren’t really record label samplers.
The non-sampling samplers may be the most interesting ones: you began your series with one of them.
There is also that strange feeling about labels which disappeared while no one was watching, as most of the artists they promoted…
https://www.discogs.com/fr/master/439691-Various-Asphodelic