Dream Widow – s/t

Studio 666 might have been a cheesy movie, intentionally so, but it spawned an amazing metal project from Dave Grohl. But even then everything is not as it seems.

If you watch the movie, it’s implied that that all the members of Foo Fighters play on the Dream Widow album. But that is not the case, as its 99% Grohl on the album. The lyrics, vocals and the bulk of the instrumentation. Grohl is joined by only one other Foo Fighters member, Rahmi Jaffi, who only appears on one song, ironically the lone song featured in the movie that appears on the album; the 10 minute opus “Lacrimus dei Ebrius.”

I won’t review the movie, or offer major spoilers. But essentially Foo Fighters need a place to record their new album (in reality would be Medicine At Midnight), and the fictional band in the film that used the house prior to Foo Fighters is the name sake of Grohl’s metal offering. So Dream Widow is a semi-fictional band. Because all the members of Foo Fighters appear in the movie, and play their respective instruments during it, it leads you to believe that either they all feature on the album or Dream Widow is an alter-ego or side project of Foo Fighters. Which isn’t unheard of considering the Dee Gees album the band did, and the cover band, Chevy Metal, of the late Taylor Hawkins. But it’s just Grohl and Rami Jaffee on a few tracks. They are joined by Jim Rota and Oliver Roman.

Dream Widow is a blend of Metallica, Slayer and to a much lesser extent System Of A Down. Grohl uses a lot of effects and filters to make his voice fit the metal thematic of the album, though his true voice does shine through on some of the songs. Insturmentally, the album rips. Because it’s a blend of heavy metal, death metal and thrash metal, and is not overbearing from any of those genres, the album has a much wider appeal in my opinion. I don’t hate metal, but there is only so much my ears can take. The more diverse, or the over used buzz word eclectic, your music interests, the more you realize how its all a nexus. So you should never pigeon hole yourself to only hardcore, or punk, or emo, or metal, or grunge; because if you like one or more of those genres, you should be able to appreciate all of them. Dream Widow blends a lot of elements together very well.

For Black Friday Record Store Day (RSD) 2022, the record was released. Limited to a whopping 12,000 copies, it was still one of the more sought after releases. But fortunately, it has not been terribly hard to find and has yet to fetch crazy amounts on the secondary market as of posting this. Personally, I struck out at the first, and my preferred record store, when they posted their leftovers online the day after RSD. The store will remain nameless, but instead of simply refreshing the page(s) I had open to all the records I wanted to buy (they were also running a 15% off sale store wide on non-RSD releases) as is typically the case, I had to actually manually reload their web site by opening it in a new window/tab/page in order for the RSD releases to be live and the discount be automatically applied to everything else. Why I’ll never know.

In the end it cost me a bit more to buy the Dream Widow record somewhere else, but I was relieved to score a copy. Especially after seeing the ridiculous prices most Foo Fighters related RSD releases have sold for post RSD. Retail price on this record was around $25, and prices on the secondary market have pretty much floated around there, which takes into account the  small, understandable markups to overcome selling fees on secondary market places.

All copies were pressed as a single LP on black vinyl. It comes in a nice, sturdy single pocket jacket, with the record itself coming in a full color printed dust sleeve done on glossy paper. No download card/code is included with this release, which is sadly not surprising. Not including download cards/codes has not just been a norm for major label releases (which Dream Widow is – RCA Records), it’s become the norm for all vinyl releases of late.

Teenage Time Killers – Greatest Hits Vol. 1

Teenage Time Killers is yet another band Dave Grohl has been a member of. But Grohl aside, the band is a massive super group featuring multiple lead vocalists and musicians, with a lineup that differs song to song. Teenage Time Killers includes the likes of Matt Skiba, Lee Ving (Fear), Corey Taylor, Jello Biafra, Randy Blythe (Lamb Of God), Neil Fallon (Clutch), Reed Mullin, Nick Oliveri (Kyuss/Queens OfTthe Stone Age), Pete Stahl (Scream), Pat Smear (Germs/Nirvana/Foo Fighters), Aaron Beam (Red Fang), Brian Baker (Minor Threat/Bad Religion), Clifford Dinsmore (BL’AST!), Greg Anderson (Goatsnake/Sunn O))), Jason Browning (Righteous Fool/HR), Jim Rota (Fireball Ministry), Jonny Webber (The Ghost Of Saturday Night), Karl Agell (Corrosion Of Conformity/King Hitter), London May (Samhain/Danzig Legacy/Tiger Army/Son Of Sam), Mike “IX” Williams (Eyehategod), Mike Dean (Corrosion Of Conformity), Mike Schaefer (Blatant Disarray), Pat “Adam Bomb” Hoed (Brujeria/Nip Drivers), Phil Rind (Sacred Reich), Tairrie B. Murphy (My Ruin), Tommy Victor (Prong/Danzig), Tony Foresta (Municipal Waste/Iron Reagan), Trenton Rogers (Chaotic Justice), Vic Bondi (Articles Of Faith), Woody Weatherman (Corrosion Of Conformity).

With that mouthful out of the way, here is some more background about the record, which in a surprising move was released by indie label Rise Records instead of one of the many major labels that could’ve easily laid claim to the album. Greatest Hits Vol. 1 was pressed as a double LP and was released back in 2015. Just to show how long ago that was, it was back when Rise Records included CD copies of the album with their vinyl releases (which this record includes). Rise went with a minuscule amount of variants by the standards some labels set today; four in total.

Before we dive into the pressing info for this record I need to lay out some parameters. Admittedly, I was not aware of this super group’s nor album’s existence prior to 2022. For whatever reason(s) it just never come to my attention. And I honestly forget how I stumbled upon the band and the album. But it was via one of two ways; either it came up in a broad search on a distro’s web site, or it was on Discogs looking through releases a certain musician was featured/credited. So as a result of all that, I am not up to speed with all the finer details about certain variants. Reaching out to Rise directly yielded no luck. And the hype sticker used on all the variants is the same, as in it does not mention what the color a particular copy is on.

First up lets dive into the rarest variant, which is limited to 300 copies on yellow/green/black splatter. This was a bundle exclusive variant. I’m no sure how many different bundles there were, nor what they cost. But the bundles included some or all of the following items: t-Shirt
hoodie, sticker, back patch (13”x17”), poster (11”x17”) and a pin pack including three different pins/designs (two were band based and one was label based). There may have been some other items I am not mentioned, but those are the items I know 100% were included in a bundle. And just for the sake of discussion, Rise is still selling the t-shirt ($25), hoodie ($30), pin set ($3), poster ($2) and back patch ($8) from the bundle, separately.  I’m not sure of this variant was exclusive to the label’s web store, the band’s web store (if they even had a web site let alone web store), or both.

Of the remaining three variants, only one has had pressing info officially released. It’s on half black/half grey limited to 1500 copies. My best guess is that this is a mass retail variant, or at least the one you stood/stand the greatest chance of getting wherever you bought/buy this from if you’re not buying a specific variant. I bought this from Target of all places (online of course); but they have most of their media orders fulfilled by one of the largest distros of media items in the country. So in practice, I paid my money to Target, but my order was shipped by a different, outside company. Which explains why and how a big box store like Target would be selling (not carrying) such an obscure record.

The last two variants, as I already mentioned, have not had pressing info released. One of them I have not even seen photos of, but since it’s white vinyl you don’t need much of an imagination to know how it looks. The other variant, which apparently is an indie record store exclusive, was pressed on “doublemint” green vinyl. “Doublemint” is simply mint green. Why labels insist on giving variants fancy names is beyond me. “Doublemint” is a brand name, not a color. Just to be sure, I looked it up, and there is no Pantone for “doublemint” or “double mint”. The closest matches are all different hues of green that have mint in the name, like mint julep, mint or hint of mint.

All copies come housed in a gatefold jacket and included, as mentioned above, a physical CD copy of the album that comes simply packaged in a plain white sleeve with a poly line view area. Prices on this record are all over the board, due in large part because of how long ago it came out. The only variant Rise is selling directly is the half black/half grey. They are charging $30 before shipping and taxes (should they apply). I’m not sure if that price was lower from them when the record was first released. I say that because a handful of labels have sneakily raised the prices on catalog releases this year in a likely attempt to capitalize on inflation and rising prices on new records. Which is a really lame move. It’s one thing to raise prices on new items, or even re-pressings that come in. To arbitrarily raise prices on similar items you’ve had in stock for years (that clearly haven’t sold at a lower price all this time) just because the cost went up for new production, is definitely a great way to ingratiate yourself to fans/consumers. Just to be clear here, not accusing Rise of that (because I don’t have proof).

I went on a bit of a tangent there. In regards to price, yes, if you buy this new from Rise it will cost you $30 before shipping and taxes (should they apply). But prices on the secondary market are ridiculously low. Personally I bought a brand new copy of this record for $13 shipped. But you can easily find a still sealed copy of the half black/half grey variant from reputable indie record stores for under $15. Lots of copies of that variant have sold for around $10. The splatter variant, the rarest one, has sold for a high of $70, but hit a low of $8. Problem with that variant is sellers including some or all of the bundle items with it, which has them setting a higher price tag. The white variant, for whatever reason, hit a high of a little over $30, with a low of around $15. The “doublemint” green has an even more confusing price range of just under $3 up to just under $23.

Bottom line here is that this is not only a ridiculously easy release to find regardless of variant, it can also be an insanely cheap one to pick up. I’ve rarely seen brand new, still sealed, full length albums; double LPs no less, trade for this low after retailing for this much. There will always be outliers and anomalies when it comes to figuring out price points on the secondary markets. But there is zero reason you can’t buy a brand new copy of this record for close to $10. And that says A LOT in 2022 going into 2023.

Bl’ast – For Those Who’ve Graced The Fire! 7″

During Dave Grohl’s illustrious career he’s taken part in countless projects. One of the more interesting ones, and as a result lesser known undertakings was being a studio musician for Bl’ast!. Yes, the 80’s hardcore band. He’s even pictured on the promo photo used on the back of the jacket, which is an unusual thing for what amounts to a studio musician. Even if he is arguably today’s biggest rock star.

Bl’ast reunited in 2015 with original members Clifford Dinsmore and Mike Neider joined by Nick Oliveri and Joey Castillo. Due to other obligations, Oliveri and Castillo could not join the band in the studio to record their return EP, For Those Who’ve Graced The Fire!. So Grohl played drums for this two song EP. It’s the only Bl’ast! Material Grohl has played on. But he did go on to produce the band’s re-worked sophomore album that was re-released under a new title; Blood!.

For Those Who’ve Graced The Fire! was released by Rise Records as a 7” limited to 1,000 total copies spread across two variants; half red/half white limited to 100 copies and translucent red limited to 900 copies. The half and half split is done horizontally across the middle of the record.

All copies come in a traditional jacket instead of a sleeve of any kind. A download card/code is not included with physical copies. I ordered directly from Rise’s web store, albeit in 2023, and was not provided a download via any means. I’m not completely sure on retail price because I bought a copy almost ten years after it was released, so obviously this 7” did not sell well. I bought a copy during Rise’s warehouse clearance sale, where most of their LPs were slashed all the way down to $7 before shipping. Sadly, this 7” was only marked down one whole dollar to $5 before shipping.

Despite that, prices on the secondary market shot all the way up to $25 for a copy on translucent red. Why is anyone’s guess. It was no secret you could easily buy a copy of it for retail price (whatever it was, but it definitely wasn’t $25). Even if you figure the median price for the translucent red, $15; that is still absurd for a readily available record for retail price. Things get even more idiotic on buyers’ parts when you consider the highest a copy of the half red/half white variant, which let me remind everyone was limited to 100 copies, has sold for a high of $23.

To be perfectly honest, I was not aware of Grohl’s hand in this recording until well after the EP was released. And even when I became aware, I didn’t feel a strong urge to buy a copy of the 7”.  Quite frankly the only reason I did was because of the aforementioned sale Rise was running, where I bought another compulsion for $7. This Bl’ast! 7” helped cut down on shipping costs, and convinced me to splurge a bit on it, because this 7” was something I would never buy on it’s own where there would be a $5 shipping fee. I simply didn’t feel the need to add this to my Dave Grohl collection until now.

Foo Fighters – Medicine At Midnight

After much anticipation, Foo Fighters released their latest album, Medicine At Midnight in early 2021, their 10^th album. They kept the same producer, Greg Kurstin, from their previous album Concrete And Gold. I wasn’t a big fan of that album, but Kurstin worked more magic on Medicine At Midnight to make it a far better album.

The benchmark will likely always be Wasting Light at this point. Everything about that album was fantastic. Before that it was The Colour And The Shape. Medicine At Midnight misses both those marks. Foo Fighters’ past two efforts have shown a heavier shift into so called arena rock, or dad rock. That will immediately turn off many fans who view the music as cheesy and forced. But taking Medicine At Midnight for what it is; not a home run but also not a bogey (hey, look at that! References from two different sports on a blog that started out focusing on music AND sports), it’s an enjoyable album, albeit a short one.

If there is one main complaint about this album is that it’s short. This album was teased for a while, with it coming on the heels of rumors of a looming break up. The pandemic likely took its toll on the overall production timeline. But waiting four years for a nine track album with a run time of 37 minutes leaves me unsatisfied. The choral backing vocals featured in a couple songs are a minor complaint as I’m just not a fan them. And some of the lyrics irk me; especially the mispronunciation of ‘guillotine’ in “Cloudspotter” in order to make it fit into the melody.

There were a handful of variants for this album. Many based on the color of the record, as one would expect; but a cover variant was also added into the mix. Department store Target of all places secured an exclusive variant, which also happens to be the cover variant. Also included in the Target exclusive are an exclusive photo insert, an exclusive insert and printed dust sleeve variants. Which is something I’ve never seen done before. The effort to go to the extra length to print up two different dust sleeves and inserts is a bit extreme and unnecessary in my opinion.

The target exclusive alternate cover is embossed, and the artwork is 100% different. It’s not a different spin or interpretation on the standard cover art, and it’s not simply printed in a different color like many alternate covers are. The record comes on standard weight black vinyl. There is a large vertical rectangle hype sticker on the cover signifying it’s a Target exclusive.

All the other variants come with the same cover, which features the standard cover art. There are four in total; purple smoke, blue, orange and black. The purple smoke (which later turned out to be a swirl according to the hype sticker on the variant) is a band exclusive, the blue is an indie record store exclusive and the orange is somewhat of an overseas/international exclusive. Orange is being sold in Europe and Japan, with there being two separate pressing between the two regions. The Japanese pressing is being exclusively sold by Tower Records in Japan.

The Japanese pressing comes with an exclusive obi-strip, which is not unusual for Japanese releases due to not only the language difference, but the different alphabet. The blue turned out being more of a translucent turquoise. You may be thinking to yourself; isn’t Tower Records long out of business. And you will be partially correct. The company ceased operations everywhere except Japan, where they still maintain brick & mortar stores. But with that said in late 2020 the company announced they would restart business as a strictly online retailer in the states.

I just touched on the hype stickers. All the variants have on except for the black. All the variants with the standard cover art have a circle shaped sticker. The blue variant’s sticker is yellow in color, notes the color of the record and that it’s an indie record store exclusive. The purple smoke/swirl and orange (Euro pressing) have a black circle sticker, with each respective variant’s sticker saying it’s a limited edition and notes the color. The Japanese orange pressing does not have a hype sticker, it has the aforementioned obi-strip.

None of the variants have had pressing info released, which is not surprising considering this is a major label release. None of them come with a download card/code either, which is a rip off. Retail price on this is around $20 depending on the variant. The band is charging more for their exclusive colored variant; $22 before shipping, while only charging $21 for the same album on black vinyl. As of posting this the only variant sold out in the band exclusive on purple smoke.

In the gallery below you can see the difference between the inserts and dust sleeves included with the Target exclusive and all the other variants. The standard cover art variant will be featured first, with the Target exclusive variant following. One unnecessary touch with all the jackets with the standard cover art is that the inside of them is colored purple instead of the usual white.

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Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders – Get The Money

When people think of Foo Fighters and the creative force behind them, they mainly think of Dave Grohl. While it’s true he’s the main driving force, people forget that the likes of Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett, Nate Mendell and Pat Smear have all had solo and/or side projects over the years. Chris Shiflett has been the most active recently. Releasing four solo/side project albums since 2010, most recently in 2019. Taylor Hawkins revived the Coattail Riders in 2019, releasing that group’s first album, ironically, since 2010.

Get The Money is a veritable who’s who in rock music. Featuring contributions from Grohl, Duff McKagan, Joe Walsh, Chrissie Hynde, Jon Davison, Roger Taylor, Perry Farrell and Nancy Wilson. Country Superstar Leann Rimes also lends her talents to one track. The 10 song album is hard hitting, in a good way. It’s musical influences are widespread and noticeable on the tracks those guest stars are featured on. Will this album be on year end lists or be considered one of the stand out albums in rock music? No. But it’s a solid entry into Hawkins’ career.

Making this album more worthwhile is that it’s not expensive. In an age where we typically see $25 single LPs, this record only cost $16 before shipping directly from Hawkins’ web store. If you shop around, because this release is distributed to a minor extent, you can find this for under $15 shipped. I bought this for $12 shipped from FYE during one of their holiday sales in 2019.

Pressing info has not been released. And I’d hedge my bets it never will be. It’s a major label release, put out by RCA; Foo Fighters’ label. Hawkins’ own label, Shanabelle Records, has a stake in the release, but RCA is the main factor at play here. All copies were pressed on black vinyl, and come in a single pocket jacket with an insert. No download card/code is included with the record, which is lame. The insert has the lyrics printed on one side, with the reverse side not having anything of substance.

Foo Fighters – Live In Toronto: 1996

Some bands drive a bootleg culture, and the Foo Fighters are no strangers to it. But not many boots have been released on vinyl to date. There are only two distinct bootleg releases pressed on vinyl, and I own both of them now. Some may consider there to be three boots, but in reality two of them are from the same concert, one is just pressed as a single LP and the other as a double LP.

Live In Toronto: 1996 is the title of this version of the bootleg, with the double LP version going by the title of Down In Toronto. Both versions were recorded during the band’s show at the  Concert Hall in Toronto, Canada on April 3, 1996. The cover art is different between the two versions, along with the track listing. The single LP version (featured here) has 16 tracks, with the double LP version having 20. If you take out the intro found on the double LP but not the single LP, it cuts the difference down to three missing tracks. Here are the songs not found on the single LP; “Satan’s In The Manger,” “Podunk” and “How I Miss You.” My best guess as to why these songs were cut is due to time constraints. “Satan’s In The Manger,” is a cover of The Frogs, so if a song was going to be cut, it’s better it’s a cover than an actual Foo Fighters track.

Pressing info for either version has not been released. The single LP version, released by DOL, was only pressed on 180 gram black vinyl and comes in a single pocket jacket. The double LP version, released by the Parachute Recording Company, was only pressed on standard weight clear vinyl, and comes in a gatefold jacket.

Dave Grohl – Play

When Dave Grohl announced he composed a 22 plus minute instrumental track I was intrigued to say the least. For someone I feel can do no wrong (at least for the most part) when it comes to music, I felt he might be setting himself up for disaster. A composition that long could gone one of two ways; brilliant or horribly wrong. Fortunately it was not the later, as Grohl knocked it out of the park.

For someone who is not thrilled when it comes to instrumentalist rock music, whether it be entire bands/ensembles or just one track on an album, Grohl’s “Play” is broken down into several movements, which helps break up the monotony of a song running 22 plus minutes in length. What makes the track even more impressive is that Grohl plays all the instruments himself, and did everything in one take. There is no splicing together or other fancy editing to take the best parts of certain takes. If he made a mistake or felt he could do better, he started over from the beginning on that instrument. And “Play” comprises seven instruments. Many of which are far outside his wheelhouse.

One of the reasons why I respect Dave Grohl so much is that he can play multiple instruments; he’s not a one trick pony. He’s not afraid to try something new, or different. Or something outside of his comfort zone. He’s unabashed. The fact he took on such an ambitious endeavor, and did it the way he did, is insanely impressive. The drummer who needed a click track in the studio to playing something completely unfamiliar like shakers and vibes is rather impressive. The fact that “Play” was given the creed “Celebrating the rewards and challenges of dedicating one’s life to playing and mastering a musical instrumental” is only icing on the cake.

The only physical release for “Play” is vinyl. And what a unique package it comes in. Instead of a traditional jacket with a pocket that opens on the right sided, or even the top side (which is unusual in and of itself), the jacket for play opens from the front. Yes, you read correctly, the front of the jacket opens up in order to gain access to the record itself. The front is cut diagonally from top right to bottom left, and folds open accordingly to reveal a middle panel the record is housed in. Much like a triple panel gatefold jacket.

All copies were pressed on black vinyl with an etching on the b-side. An insert is also included, which is a input layout from the studio session. No download card/code is included with the vinyl version of “Play,” which sadly is something this is becoming more common these days. This record is being advertised as “limited” but no pressing info has been officially released. Which is not surprising for a major label release. Retail price on this record is around $20. If you shop around and/or are patient, you can buy this for under $15, which is what I did.

The Backbeat Band – Backbeat Soundtrack (2nd Press)

In 1994 a European movie was made about the early days of the Beatles. The movie is titled Backbeat and centers around the band’s time in Hamburg, Germany, focusing on the relationship between Stuart Sutcliffe (Beatles original bassist), his girlfriend, and John Lennon. The film spawned a soundtrack performed by a super group of sorts. The band was dubbed The Backbeat Band and featured Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters) on drums, Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum), Gregg Dulli (Afghan Whigs) on vocals, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) on guitar and Mike Mills (R.E.M.) on bass. Henry Rollins even does vocals on one song. The soundtrack is comprised of covers of Beatles songs and covers of covers the Beatles performed in their early days.

The soundtrack has gone through two pressings. The first pressing was released in 1994 and the second pressing, which is featured here, was released in 2016. The retail release of both pressings are visually identical. Same cover art, same printed dust sleeve, same center labels, etc. However, there is a promo pressing from the first pressing that differs greatly from the mass retail release. This promo version, the only U.S. release of the soundtrack from the first pressing from 1994, was pressed on green vinyl and comes in a plain white poly sleeve. I’m not sure if it’s a picture disc sleeve or not though, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it is. This promo version is the only variant of any pressing to be released on color vinyl.

One important note about the second pressing of this soundtrack is that many online listings, both distros and second hand places like ebay, are using an artwork image that is wrong. This wrong album art, which is featured below for posterity, features a white background. The artwork for the second pressing is identical to the first pressing, and what is used on all versions of the soundtrack (CD, tape, etc.).

Because this soundtrack was OOP for over 20 years, it was somewhat in demand. However, prices of it did not go out of control. Prices topped at $28 for it. But with that said the U.S. promo copies went for far more, topping at $50. When the 2016 re-press came out, retail price on it was $25. A debatable move by the label (Virgin) because not many people will pay $25 for a single LP release with little to no extra details like a gatefold jacket or heavyweight vinyl. The re-press was being marketed as “limited edition” with no pressing info given to say exactly how “limited” it was.

I expected there to be thousands upon thousands of copies pressed. Surprisingly, this soundtrack is becoming hard to find. So that “limited edition” hype line may actually be true. I held out on buying this expecting it to go on sale way after release date because distros can’t move their stock. As of writing this I was wrong. Nobody is lowering their price on this, everyone is selling this for close to $25. But that is not to say I didn’t get a deal on this record. I bought this online from indie record store Amoeba Record during one of their monthly 15% off sales. They often list items they took in trade as being used despite many of them still being factory sealed. It’s likely because due to legal reasons they can’t sell someone they’re selling second hand as “new.” Whatever the reason, they were selling a “used” copy for $20. and with 15% off and free shipping I spent $17 on this.

 

Foo Fighters – Saint Cecilia EP

Foo Fighters released new material in the form of an EP in November 2015. The Saint Cecilia EP was released for free digitally, with a later physical release on vinyl planned. The only physical release for this EP was vinyl, which came out in February 2016. There is a U.S. and European pressing, but I don’t know of any discernible difference between them. The EP features five brand new songs. It sounds like a mix between Sonic Highways and Wasting Light; minus the corny themes and imagery found in Sonic Highways and a bit of the rawness and agression of Wasting Light.

Saint Cecilia was pressed as a 12″, thankfully, as it kept the cost down. It could easily fit on a 10″, but that would have driven up the price by at least $5. Or dare I say something more extravagant like a double 7″. This is a very affordable release, retail price is around $10. And it’s that cheap for a reason. I’ve never seen such a cheap release. The jacket is insanely thin and flimsy, the worst in that department in my collection. The paper dust sleeve is also very thin, about the same thickness as toilet seat covers you find in public bathrooms. No download code is included, but since the band gave the EP away for free it’s not a complaint, just on fact I’m reporting. There is no insert either, just the record crammed into a cheap jacket. They cut costs so much I’m surprised they sprang for shrink-wrapping.

The Backbeat Band – Money 7″ (U.S. Pressing)

In 1994 a European movie was made about the early days of the Beatles. The movie is titled Backbeat and centers around the band’s time in Hamburg, Germany, focusing on the relationship between Stuart Sutcliffe (Beatles original bassist), his girlfriend, and John Lennon. The film spawned a soundtrack performed by a super group of sorts. The band was dubbed The Backbeat Band and featured Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters) on drums, Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum) and Gregg Dulli (Afghan Whigs) on vocals, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) on guitar and Mike Mills (R.E.M.) on bass. Henry Rollins even does vocals on one song. The soundtrack is comprised of covers of Beatles songs and of covers of covers the Beatles performed in their early days.

The soundtrack as a whole was pressed on vinyl, but a handful of singles were also released. There is a 10″ single, three different pressings of a 7″ single and 12″ single for the song “Money.” There is also a 7″ single for the song “Please Mr. Postman.”

There are two different U.S. pressings of the “Money” 7″, a standard and a jukebox, and a UK pressing. Each pressing has different artwork and a different track listing. I own the standard U.S. pressing (featured here), which was released by Dry Hump Recordings. A mail order flyer is included with the U.S. pressing, and it indicates that the single originally cost $3. Without ever knowing that, ironically that happens to be how much I spent on the single. Prices are not over the moon for either version of the 7″, but the U.S. version does seem to go for more. The U.S. version goes for $4 on the low end up to $10 on the high end. The UK version goes for less than a dollar on the low end up to $5 on the high end.

The standard U.S. single has “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” on the b-side, while the jukebox pressing has two track on the a-side; “Money” and “Dizzy Miss Lizzy,” with the b-side featuring” He’s Wearing My Bathrobe.” The UK pressing, released by Virgin Records, has “He’s Wearing My Bathrobe” on the b-side. You can see the artwork for the U.S. pressing below, but the artwork for the UK pressing features either a still image from the movie or a press photo promoting the film. All pressings are on black vinyl though.

The 10″ version of the “Money” single was also a UK release and has the same artwork as the UK 7″, only it’s cropped slightly tighter than the 7″. The track listing for the 10″ features both b-sides found on the U.S. and UK 7″s, with the UK b-side appearing first. The 10″ doesn’t sell for much on the second hand market; $1 on the low end up to $14 on the high end. Condition varies greatly though, and you’ll pay more for a copy in better condition. This single isn’t a case of insane prices because it’s super rare. Price is driven purely by condition.

The 12″ version of the “Money” single is exactly the same as the 10″ version, save for the obvious format difference. Prices range from $6 on the low end up to $13 on the high end. Again, condition is everything.