I Owe You Cupcakes

Gameface is one of those bands that I have always liked, and over time I amassed more and more of their records, to the point where I decided to start actively collecting them. I've done quite well over the years, and got lucky, and reached a point where I had picked up quite a few of their test pressings. It then started to niggle me that there were a couple of important ones that I was missing. So imagine how stoked I was to grab two of them within a few weeks of each other. Yup... prety stoked.

First up is the 'Cupcakes' 7". This one was released by Dr. Strange Records back in 1997. The test press has plain white labeks and simply comes in a white paper sleeve.

I was super happy to get this one. I had previously emailed the label to ask if they had any left, as I had test pressings of the other Gameface releases on Dr. Strange, both of which I bought on eBay somewhere around 2007. Anyway, here's a pic of it next to the regular cover just because that's what I do.

In addition to the 'Cupcakes' test press, I also managed to find a test press of the 'IOU1' 7" that came out on Revelation in 2019. This one is a little more visually interesting as it comes in a special sleeve.

The cartoon figure at the bottom iof the sleeve is Tom Petty, and he's there because the B-side contains a Tom Petty cover, 'Two Gunslingers'. The back of the sleeve is the same as back of the regular sleeve:

In addition to the test press, I also grabbed a yellow vinyl copy of the 'IOU1' 7" as I didn't previously have one. I did have the yellow vinyl copy in a limited sleeve, but I figured I also needed one in the regular cover as they are obviously 'different'.

So there I was thinking I had a complete Gameface collection, and then I realised that there were some releases that I had forgotten about. I think the biggest omission is a test press of the 'Four To Get Ready' LP, which I need to complete the set of full lengths. But there are also a couple of 7"s that came out on Equal Vision and a couple of 7"s put out by a UK label (Speedowax). So basically I'm nowhere near a complete collection. Back to the drawing board I guess...