Still Screaming

It feels like no matter ho many copies of 'Screaming For Change' I own, there are still more copies that I am looking for. Even though I was only really interested in the colour vinyl copies on Wishingwell, at some point I realised that the first press sleeve was different, so I decided that I wanted one of those too. The main issue for anyone trying to find a first press copy, however, is that it came with both a poster and a sticker, and finding a copy for sale with both of those things is extrememly difficult. I figure that when this came out most people were young punks who immediately put the poster on the wall or slapped the sticker on a skateboard, and they then got separated from the record and probably ended up in the trash. But as far as I am concerned, knowing that the record is supposed to have a poster and sticker, I was never going to buy a copy without either one, no matter how cheap. So I played the waiting game... for years. And then, a few months ago I came across a copy on eBay with a reasonable buy it now price, and the description said that the poster and sticker were included. I took a moment to clarify with the seller, and then once I was happy, I bought it. The seller turned out to be in Orange County and was the original owner, so that's also a nice touch.

The poster is pretty damn huge. This next photo shows it laid out to the right of the record and cover. I also laid the (white) sticker on top of the poster, so that the right half of this picture is pretty rare.

So that's pretty much that. What I have done for the rest of this post is to lay out the sleeve and insert next to a second press equivalent so you can see the differences. In all photos, the 1st press is on the left and 2nd press on the right.

What's fascinating about the front cover is that the first and second press copies are actually different pictures. Both are hand drawn by Gavin Oglesby, but they are different versions of the same picture. I remember that this first came to light on the internet in the 00s on Double Cross, and if I didn't remember reading about it then I'm not sure that I would have ever noticed. But if you look closely, you can see some subtle differences. Turns out that the first press picture was drawn onto leather and then photographed, but they didn't think it looked quite right, so when it came to do the second press, Gavin drewn it again on illustration board.

I ignored the Southern Lord reissue of this record a few years ago, and I still have no intention of going back on that decision. I'm only interested in Wishingwell editions of this record. And even though this is my 10th copy of this record, there is still one more that I am looking for - the grey vinyl version. I've missed a couple over the years but I'm sure that one will come eventually.

Screaming For A Ninth Change

Back in March I picked up two different coloured represses of Uniform Choice's 'Screaming For Change' LP - one on white, one on blue. About a week after I had ordered them, Jeff who does Start Today records posted a picture of a gold vinyl copy on instagram. Goddamnit, where did that come from? Well, the answer was the same place as the blue and white copies - which was RevHQ. I got my order in quick smart and have now finally received the bloody thing.

So of course, what would any self-respecting collector nerd do once they received their ninth colour vinyl copy of any record? Yep, that's right - lay them on the floor in a square arrangement and snap a photograph. A bit like this:

That's four original pressings and five repressings. I badly need an original grey copy to balance things up. Oh, and a first press with poster would be good too. Someone help urgently.

Good Things

Here's one that has been a long time coming for me. Insted 'Bonds Of Friendship' LP on white vinyl. I can't say that this is my favourite record, or even in the top ten, but it's a record that I have owned for many, many years and throughout all of that time a white vinyl copy has eluded me. Not that it is the rarest record ever, as I know a lot of people who own one, and everyone has seen it before, but this is just one of those records that I was always too late for. I have traded with and bought from lots of people in the past, several of whom were selling their collections, and every time I found someone who had one of these it seemed that they had already got rid of it before I got there. I've also bid on several copies on eBay over the years and always came second. Ideally I wanted one in the shrinkwrap with the 'color vinyl' sticker still intact, but as they say, beggars can't be choosers.

In the end I won this one on eBay. There was one I bid on with the 'color vinyl' sticker that I didn't win, but a week or so later this one appeared and sold for about $100 less. I can certainly live without that sticker for that price.

And just because I can, I decided to take out my red copy for a final photo. I've seen lots of peoples' photos of the white and red together, so this is nothing new, but I was just stoked to be able to take this one myself.

I remember back in the 90s when Kent McClard wrote some piece in 'HeartattaCk' zine about turning 30 and he printed the lyrics to 'Good Things'. It was a pretty depressing read, based around the notion that 30 was old in punk years and the best years were definitely in the past. At the time I thought that 30 seemed a long way away, but I also remember wondering if, like old Kent, I'd still be listening to Insted when I got there. I'd love to be able to travel back and tell my 20 year old self that I'd be picking this thing up on white vinyl for the first time in my late 30s. Ha!

Don't Quit

In June last year I picked up via a trade a second colour repress variant of the Uniform Choice 'Screaming For Change' LP. At the end of the post I wrote:

It was only about three years ago that I didn't own a single copy of this LP other than a second press on black. Now, including the recent reissues, I somehow have six colour copies

Well, thanks to some more reissues, the six has now risen to eight. I'm not sure why there are more copies of this thing now available, or who is pressing them (I mean, Wishingwell Records doesn't really exist anymore, right?) but someone out there has clearly decided that the world needs more coloured vinyl copies of 'Screaming For Change'. And if they're making 'em, I'm buying 'em.

This time around there were three new colours of vinyl... although at the moment I have only received two of these. One is on white and one is on blue.

Not sure why, but both copies have completely different stickers on the front. Suff like this fascinates me. I mean, I can understand wanting to know which ones are which colours, but I'd expect that both have the non-specific 'color vinyl' sticker, and then they each have additional stickers on to denote whether they are white or blue copies. But to label them as 'white' and 'color vinyl' seems a bit dumb to me.

These appeared out of nowhere and seemed to sell out quite quickly, and then a gold vinyl copy appeared. I have one on order so in theory my eight colour copies will at some point become nine.

Sun Return

When people collect and talk about Wishingwell Records releases, the main ones that come to mind are Uniform Choice, Youth Of Today and Insted. However, another great release on the label is an LP that was never actually released. The band Freewill recorded an LP called 'Sun Return' which got as far as test press stage, and then for some reason it never went any further. Everyone's favourite German label Lost & Found released it on CD, but if you want a vinyl copy then you're going to have to track down a test press, which is something I finally got around to recently. It comes in a plain white sleeve with a promo sheet taped on the front.

This is one of those records that I never thought that I would ever own. This doesn't pop up very often, and when it does it goes for a decent wedge. However, I don't actually think it's that rare. I would guess that this is one of those tests that doubled up as promo copies. I would guess there to be probably 50 of these out there. It's just a guess though.

So for whatever reason, after recording the LP the band changed their name to Stone Telling and re-recorded the songs and released the LP on Network Sound Records. I actually prefer the Stone Telling version, although I'm definitely in the minority. Most prefer the Freewill version. Anyway, last year I picked up a Stone Telling LP test press, which I think is probably rarer as I've never seen another, so I thought I'd photograph the two together.

If you've never heard either version of this record then you really need to fix that situation ASAP. This is a great melodic hardcore record. The promo sheet on the front says that this sounds like Dag Nasty, and it absolutely does. If you like the first two Dag Nasty LPs (and let'd be hoenst, who the hell doesn't?) then you need these songs in your life.

That's now 46 tests for anyone keeping count.

Screaming For Trades

After having not done a trade for ages, I've done two within a month! This one started months ago, back in January. Someone posted a pic of a Uniform Choice LP on the Rev Collectors Board asking for pressing info. Somehow I then ended up in a discussion to obtain it, which in the end I did, along with a couple of other bits.

When the Uniform Choice 'Screaming For Change' reissue came out in late 2011, on green vinyl, it wasn't long before a couple of pictures surfaced of a weird, different colour variant. Most were on clear green, but a couple of people seemed to end up with a solid, dirty yellowish brown type colour. Nobody really knew whether it was an intended colour, a mispress or transition, but it didn't really matter to me. I needed it either way. And now, finally, I have one.

It was only about three years ago that I didn't own a single copy of this LP other than a second press on black. Now, including the recent reissues, I somehow have six colour copies. Still need a grey copy and a first press black with poster though.

So I also picked up an orange vinyl copy of the Internal Affairs LP. I really rate this LP. I don't think it got the attention it deserved when it came out though. This copy is my fourth copy of this LP, and I think I have a complete collection of this one. I couldn't be bothered to get them out to take a photo though. Sorry kids!

So the above two records were what I traded for, but when I opened the package I found an extra item thrown in. I could tell there was something else from the weight of the package. It turned out to be the 'At Both Ends' zine final issue which comes with a double 7".

What's interesting is that one of the bands on the 7"s is Bane. Now, you may or may not know that I collect Bane records, and until this package turned up I didn't own a single copy of this thing. When it came out I wrote to the label asking if I could buy a test press, and the dude told me he would sell me one if I bought a copy of each vinyl colour... and there were seriously about 25 different colours. Needless to say no. Even I have my limits. So that kinda put me off even buying one copy, and I never got around to it. So I was very grateful to be sent this copy.

Hopefully I'll get involved in some more trades in future. Trading is fun!

Purples & Pinks

Doug recently wrote something on Vinyl Noize that is absolutely true:

Uniform Choice collectors are a special breed where if they ever made the move to acquire any color of the Screaming For Change album, they will NEVER settle for just one. Nope, they need them all.

Going back just three years, I owned zero copies of 'Screaming For Change' on colour vinyl. And here I am about to show you pictures of my fourth copy (excluding the reissue). This one appeared on ebay UK a few weeks ago and I did something that I never usually do. I made the seller a private offer. I guess it was partly the excitement of seeing these things for sale in the UK for a change. Well, fortunately for me the seller accepted and a few days later a package turned up.

This is without doubt one of the pinkest copies of this that I have ever seen. It's not easy to take a photo of and get the colour to come out as it is in real life, but I had a go.

I also pulled out my purple copy (which is a very light, more commonly seen purple) to show the exactly how pink this is.

This is one of my all time favourite straight edge hardcore records. It's pretty much perfect. So it's always cool to pick up a new version. And despite now having five copies (including the recent reissue), there are still more I need. It seems unlikely, but if anyone has a lead on a grey marble copy, or a black vinyl with poster first press, please let me know. Or, come to that, one of the 'dirty green' reissues. Get at me.

So as usual, there seemed little point buying just one record, so I also picked up something else that I had been on my want list for a while - a purple vinyl copy of the Vision 'In The Blink Of An Eye' LP. This one is quite a dark purple with some swirls and is also difficult to photograph. This first photo is a less accurate depiction of the colour, but it was the only photo I got showing the record cover so it'll have to do.

This second photo is a much closer representation of how this looks in real life. Dark purple with swirls. Very interesting.

In the reverse of the UC LP situation, I already had a pink copy. So I pulled it out to do a similar comparison photo.

And just like the UC LP, there is still scope to fill this collection out further. I kinda want a 'pure' purple copy of this one now. Probably sounds stupid, but that's record collecting for you.

Blue Are One

Hot on the heels of the Underdog 7" that I picked up a couple of months ago, I now find myself crossing yet another longtime blue vinyl 7" want off the list. This time, it's the Unity 'You Are One' 7". Wishingwell Records number one, no less.

So I guess that right now would probably be a good time to admit that I've never really understood which side of the sleeve is supposed to be the front cover. In my opinion, the side pictured above featuring the photo of the dude sitting under the tree is the front cover. This is based mainly on the logic that it features the name of the record, which as we all know is usually located on the front.

So, if I'm saying that the photo above is the front, then by process of elimination, the next photo must be the back:

The reason that I think that this side is the back is because it contains the song titles in the bottom right corner. I mean, whoever heard of putting the song titles on the front? That would be stupid.

Seems pretty straight forward, right? The front's the front and the back's the back. Well, maybe. But the confusion for me comes from the fact that about 99% of pictures I see of this record show the cartoon, x-d up dude side of the cover. So? Well, to me that just suggests that 99% of people think that side is the front. If they thought the other side was the front then they'd take a picture of the other side. Also, when Indecision Records re-released this back in 1999, they used the cartoon dude side as the front cover, although the got rid of the text box containing the song titles because, as we know, putting the song titles on the front would be stupid.

Anyway, I'd be interested to hear which side you think is the front, if for no other reason than to confirm I am right.

Moving on, I was conscious that the photos above make the blue vinyl look a little darker than it actually is, so I plonked it next to the window so as to show that it really is quite a light blue.

Next we move on to the issue of the insert. And again, there's a mystery to solve. As you may know, this 7" usually comes with one of two inserts. Apart from my black vinyl copy, that is, which comes without either! But in some bizarre twist of fate, this copy comes with two inserts - one of each version.

On the right, the one with the Unity written in a weird font at the top. It features pics of the band on the other side. And at the bottom, the one which has the lyrics condensed into 60% of the paper on one side, and a pic of the band on top of a building on the reverse.

Once again, I have no idea what the deal is. The 'Die Hard' insert seems to more commonly be paired up with the later pressing of the 7" (the one on black vinyl with red labels). But checking popsike, it seems pretty much all versions of the 7" can come with any version of the insert. In theory, the 'Die Hard' insert is for a later pressing and should never come with the first press blue vinyl record. But there are two that do. So god knows.

Screaming for a Repress

There are a lot of represses & reissues these days. But here's one that everyone should own (especially if they don't already own the record) - a new colour vinyl pressing of the classic Uniform Choice 'Screaming For Change' LP on Wishingwell Records.

When I first heard about this one being on green vinyl I thought it was a stupid colour choice, seeing as the record was originally pressed on clear green way back when. And we all know that one of the golden rules of pressing records is that you don't press the same colour twice. Fortunately though, this recent pressing is pretty easy to tell apart from the original clear green pressing.

Here is the repress (on the left) next to the original (on the right). As you can see, the repress is on a lighter green vinyl, but also the colours on the front cover of the repress are slightly lighter than the cover of the original, which is most noticeable if you look at the words 'screaming for change':

The next difference would probably not be obvious unless you had both records laying next to each other. But the dead wax area at the end of the songs is much smaller in size on the repress compared to the original, as these pictures show:

Also, not that you can see it here (as I couldn't capture it in a photo) but the matrix itself is different. The original has a little message in the matrix, whereas the repress contains only the catalogue number.

Finally, the most obvious difference is the insert. Here's a pic showing the original on the right and the repress on the left:

Yes, that's right, there is no insert with the repress! I guess it was too expensive to make more inserts. Could there be any other reason?

Also, in case you are not aware, there is another variant of this repress out there, which is some weird ugly green colour (see HERE). If anyone has one and wants to part with it please get in touch as I'd quite like one.

Finally - I picked up an extra copy of this thing. If someone in the UK wants it then get in touch.

Screaming For Purple

I haven't bought many records for two months. Not really sure why. But all of a sudden it seems there are LOADS of records out there. New releases, newish releases, and people offering me stuff. And stuff on eBay that I can't resist having a go at... like this Uniform Choice LP:

I wish there was pressing info available for this record. I have seen different shades of this record, from a light lilac colour like this one, to a more deep purple verging on maroon. There is also a grey. But the more I look at variations, the more I wonder whether they are actually different pressings or whether (like the recent Youth Of Today 12" reissue on 'purple') it was all one pressing on the 'recycled' vinyl that usually ranges from grey to purple even though it's all one pressing and one 'colour'. I don't think that is the case with this LP, because I've not seen that 'colour' used on records that came out pre-late 90s, but it would be a convenient explanation for the colour variations. If only somebody actually knew!

YOT BDTW Blue

A couple of years ago it dawned on me that I would NEVER own this thing. I've wanted one of these for pretty much ever, but just never been prepared to pay the required price. And quite literally every time I started to prepare myself to spend the kind of money necessary to get one, the price would rise. It just felt like the price would continue to climb for the rest of eternity and the amount of money I had laying about would never be enough.

However, thanks to a friend who was crazy enough to have two copies of this, and understanding enough to let me pay in two installments, I've finally crossed off one of my biggest and most long standing wants from my list.

The first time I was offered one was from some dude who used to run the Art Monk Construction record label. This was circa 1996, in the early days of email. I can't remember where he got my email address from, but the dude emailed me and said that he wanted to sell his blue YOT BDTW and he was looking for $90. I said no instantly. The thought of someone paying $90 for anything back then was too much to take. To put it in perspective, a year prior I had paid circa $30 for a Chain Of Strength 7" test press. So saying no was an easy decision. Obviously though, with hindsight, I have regretted that decision many times over in the years since. Several years later (circa 2004) I remember seeing one sell on eBay for like $400, and my mind was blown. How could anyone spend that much money on a record? I'd never known anything like it. Crazy. A couple of years the price had gone over the $500 mark. And then a couple of years after that the market price seemed to be $750. Then, wouldn't you know it, they started selling for over $800 on the bay. It seemed like it would never end. I started to imagine myself in twenty years wishing I had paid $1,000 for one because, at this rate, the price in 2030 would be ten grand.

Fortunately, in early 2011 all of the planets fell into alignment and my time came. But I wonder what the me of 1996 would have said if I could go back & tell him that saying no to Eric Astor's apparently stupid $90 offer would cost fifteen years of waiting? Ha!

Anyway, this is without doubt one of the best looking & distinctive colours of vinyl I have ever seen. OK, it's clear blue which is itself not a rarely seen colour, but it's a distinct shade. It changes in the light and can range from a deep to a very pale blue. Beautiful.