Pickwick cassettes with jumbled tracks

[drakula63]

Ridiculous that Fender Bender still somehow fails to turn up on CD releases of Change of Address. Those Pickwick CDs actually seem pretty good.

How is that ridiculous? Fender Bender is a contemporary track but it wasn't part of the original Change of Address LP.

I think the PP meant that it was disappointing that Fender Bender wasn't issued as a bonus track on one of the albums (others were) in order to make that expensive box set a "Complete Polydor" set.

Yeah, come on Ian, wake up man and get with the program. It's customary now for CDs to have bonus tracks, often single b-sides, and yet I have TWO releases of Change of Address in which this isn't the case. So, yeah, it is indeed ridiculous that Fender Bender still somehow manages to be missed off CD re-releases of Change of Address.

[Iain Purdon]

Ridicule freely, Chris, it’s your right.
I wonder why EMI has not offered Fender Bender as a bonus track, though. Error? Oversight? Commercial decision?

[JimN]

Ridicule freely, Chris, it’s your right.
I wonder why EMI has not offered Fender Bender as a bonus track, though. Error? Oversight? Commercial decision?

Fender Bender has nothing to do with EMI (a/k/a Warner Music).

It would be a Polygram label (or perhaps a different company managing to license the track from RollOver Records).

I haven't bought "Boxing..." and see no reason to do so since I have all the original Polydor albums on CD, as well as all the compilations which contain the "missing" B-sides, but I can understand the sense of short-change that buyers get from having the set a track or two short of being a complete Polydor collection.

[Iain Purdon]

Fender Bender has nothing to do with EMI (a/k/a Warner Music)

Thanks Jim, I can always rely on you to put my carelessness straight!

To me, Fender Bender is already available, and I have two copies of it, so the only thing the record companies must have in mind is money. Give the track away? Or monetise it again? Would Welch-Bennett-Marvin have any residual say?

[iefje]

I haven't bought "Boxing..." and see no reason to do so since I have all the original Polydor albums on CD, as well as all the compilations which contain the "missing" B-sides, but I can understand the sense of short-change that buyers get from having the set a track or two short of being a complete Polydor collection.

The box set does have some 'exclusives'. So far, it's the only CD release of the 7" remix version of "Dancing In The Dark" and the only release which contains "Spot The Ball" with some additional studio banter. Also, Hank and Bruce's spoken references to a 'free album' are present on this CD issue of "'Live' At Abbey Road".

[drakula63]

I've got the Polydor CD release of CoA from the early 90s, this has no bonus tracks on at all. I've also got the much more recent 'Boxing the Shadows' set and again, no bonus tracks on Change of Address at all, though several of the other albums in this set have single b-sides and other bonus tracks. I'll admit to being surprised and disappointed. The 2012 Talking Elephant CD also had no bonus tracks, although their release of Life in the Jungle had two. It's really odd, as Fender Bender is a great track and more than worthy of being included. I tend not to like inconsistencies - if one album has bonus tracks then they all should, unless there are literally none available. I don't think this is too much to ask.

[iefje]

I've got the Polydor CD release of CoA from the early 90s, this has no bonus tracks on at all. I've also got the much more recent 'Boxing the Shadows' set and again, no bonus tracks on Change of Address at all, though several of the other albums in this set have single b-sides and other bonus tracks. I'll admit to being surprised and disappointed. The 2012 Talking Elephant CD also had no bonus tracks, although their release of Life in the Jungle had two. It's really odd, as Fender Bender is a great track and more than worthy of being included. I tend not to like inconsistencies - if one album has bonus tracks then they all should, unless there are literally none available. I don't think this is too much to ask.

My guess is that it has got something to do with marketing. "Boxing The Shadows 1980-1990" will give you almost all Polydor tracks, except for "Fender Bender" and the 1983 version of "Shadoogie" one has to track down a copy of the 3 CD box "The Shadows Complete" or the "Shadstrax" CD.

[Iain Purdon]

Nail on head, Ivo. There is a retail war between collectors who want everything in one neat package and record companies who want to milk each track for whatever they can get for it. This has been going on for many years and applies to all recording artistes. The usual devices are to leave something out of the collection - leaving a residual buying opportunity for the omitted track later - or put something into an established listing as a bonus - thereby selling the original batch again.

Is it too much to ask them to cease and desist? We can ask freely but as long as there’s money to be made the answer will be no, and they will continue laughing all the way to the bank.

The war will probably be lost in the end* because so many people have abandoned commercial records in favour of electronic collections which can be personalised. For example, my car listening to “The Sound of the Shadows” omits the vocal tracks, which I don’t want to hear. If for some bizarre reason I wanted to add Dancing in the Dark as a bonus, I could.

*That said, the record companies’ latest fightback has been with vinyl! Suddenly there’s money in it.

[drakula63]

I can understand why compilations and collections can't include everything, but when a specific album is released on CD (such as Change of Address) it's a bit cheeky not to include any relevant bonus tracks, such as single edits or single b-sides. I'm sure they lose sales this way. When I heard that CoA was coming out again on CD in 2012 I was fully expecting Fender Bender to be on it. When this was not the case, I didn't bother to buy it. I already had the Polydor CD, which was identical. So they lost a sale. Obviously my non-purchase was felt and noted, as when they released Life in the Jungle, it had the non-album b-sides as extras. And I bought that!

Somewhere I am sure I have the 7" edit of Equinox pt 5 and Fender Bender on CD, but I can't remember where and a quick glance through the CDs hasn't revealed them. Maybe I was mistaken. Hopefully if the Complete Shadows 1980-1990 ever comes out, it will indeed contain everything (of value). Until then, just have to make do with a bit here and a bit there and a fist-full of CDs...

[iefje]

Somewhere I am sure I have the 7" edit of Equinox pt 5 and Fender Bender on CD, but I can't remember where and a quick glance through the CDs hasn't revealed them. Maybe I was mistaken. Hopefully if the Complete Shadows 1980-1990 ever comes out, it will indeed contain everything (of value). Until then, just have to make do with a bit here and a bit there and a fist-full of CDs...

The edited single version of "Equinoxe (Part V)" can be found on the 1998 UK CD "Guardian Angel...Plus" and the 2001 Norwegian CD "Kon-Tiki - De Beste 1960-1980". "Fender Bender" has been issued on the 1989 UK CD "The Shadows Collection" (also part of the 1990 3 CD box "A Special Collection"), the 1992 UK 3 CD box "The Shadows Complete" and the 1998 UK CD "Shadstrax".