Teenage Dream. (LP
87,CD, ’89, UK. A separate but matching
pair providing all the ’72 onwards A’s and most of the B’s)
These two titles
from the eighties were released on UK budget label Pickwick, licensed from Marc
on Wax. Originally appearing as LPs
they were re-issued on CD in the late 80’s with some changes.
All the A-sides
from 72-78, three extra ‘Slider’ tracks and ‘To Know You is to Love You’ make a
reasonable deal for the informed Bolan singles fan. Given the attempt at a complete collection of the T.REX label era
singles the absence of all but one album track B-sides and some B-side only
tracks will annoy the more advanced collector.
There is no ‘Xmas Jingle’ before ‘Born to Boogie’, and no ‘Free Angel’,
“Sitting Here’ or ‘Life’s an Elevator’.
The differences
between CD and LP occur mostly on ‘The Very Best of…’ which has extra tracks on
the CD, a changed running order and a very different cover. The LP had a good live photo but the CD was
recovered with a publicity still. The extra
tracks are ‘Jason B. Sad’, ‘Crimson Moon’, ‘Tame my Tiger’ and ‘Metal Guru
Remix’ (merely re-recorded Bill Legend drums), the CD version of ‘Think Zinc’
is another remix but not credited as such.
The LP but not the CD refers to ‘Vol.1’. ‘Teenage Dream’ by comparison only boasts the album version of
the title track not the 7” edit on the LP.
Coming from a time
when it was an uphill struggle to attract interest to the Bolan catalogue,
these discs probably did not enjoy a long life in the shops and may be
difficult to track down twelve or more years on. For those of us who believe the Demon CDs sound different in some
way to the original vinyl there may be interest in these discs being non-Demon
mastered. In the end though, apart from
their rarity, they are nothing special and provide nothing not since done
better.
Not very
informative ‘hack’ notes finish off an unrewarding pair of discs.
Track list: in CD running order.
The
Very Best Of … Teenage Dream
Metal Guru Teenage
Dream
Children of the Revolution Dreamy Lady
20th Century Boy The Slider
Truck On (Tyke) Laser Love
Light of Love Celebrate Summer
New York City The Soul of my Suit
London Boys Satisfaction
Pony
To Know You is to Love You I Love to Boogie
Dandy in the Underworld [7” version] The Groover
Crimson Moon Born to Boogie
Lady Jitterbug
Love
Sunken Rags Solid
Gold Easy Action
Midnight Thunderwing
Jason B. Sad Zip Gun Boogie
Tame My Tiger Mainman
Spaceball Ricochet Telegram Sam
Cadillac
Think Zinc [uncredited remix on CD]
Ride My Wheels
Metal Guru (remix)
Thanks to the Big Paw of Rabbit for his
help in identifying the differences between LP and CD.