Yesterday I took delivery of this:
http://www.discogs.com/Teardrop-ExplodesFeaturing-Julian-Cope-Kilimanjaro/release/1761843
It's a US Kilimanjaro CD, released on Skyclad Records with the catalogue number LUCKY 7CD in or around 1989.
It's billed as The Teardrop Explodes featuring Julian Cope, and here's the track list:
1 Ha Ha I'm Drowning 2:56
2 Treason 3:09
3 Suffocate 3:46
4 Reward 2:56
5 When I Dream 5:01
6 Went Crazy 2:42
7 Brave Boys Keep Their Promises 2:33
8 Sleeping Gas 3:51
9 Books 2:40
10 Thief Of Bagdad 3:13
11 Poppies In The Field 5:04
The interesting detail which induced me to buy my copy from eBay was the track timing on Reward: 2:56 instead of the regular 2:44 suggested that this US CD release featured the mix of the song from the US vinyl album, which is different throughout but immediately distinguishes itself from the familiar mix on account of the bass/drum intro which explains those extra seconds.
So I played it last night, and yes! It was that version. And the rest of the album uses the original vinyl mixes from the UK "band sleeve" LP. I had a glass of beer.
The keen-eyed Teardrops fan will have spotted the drawback already. Yes, the original US vinyl LP boasted an exclusive mix of Reward and the then-unreleased Suffocate, but at a terrible price: the omission of both Second Head and Bouncing Babies.
So I've been doing a bit of comparative listening, between those two songs as recorded from my UK vinyl copy and the UK CD releases prior to the new Deluxe Edition. So far, I think I'm correct in saying that neither is different, i.e. neither track was remixed or re-recorded for the second "zebra sleeve" vinyl edition, which is the mix/version that all UK CDs have replicated.
So what the enterprising "band sleeve" fan needs is a copy of the above US CD and a copy of the 1989 UK Kilimanjaro CD (Fontana 836 897-2) which should be roughly the same in terms of mastering volume. Then you can compile your own "band sleeve" mix at last. I will be trying this out at the weekend, if time allows.
