Just been having another listen to these interviews ripped from the vinyl and comparing them with the CDs that were issued at a later date.
I knew that there was some repetition, but due to the fact that the CDs appeared to re-edit the interviews, it was fairly difficult to assess what was unique to the vinyl.
So, after listening to everything once, here is what I found out.
(PS I don't really expect others to be particularly interested in my musings here; I think I'm mainly doing it to record my findings for later referral).
(PPS Thanks again to negative1 for ripping these in the first place).
OK, first things first, there are two interviews covered by these release:
Interview 1 - Peter Hook, Late 1983.
The interviewer makes some reference to reviewing records for the NME, so he could easily be a journalist for that publication.
I'm pretty sure that this interview took place in late 1983 (probably November / December). This is because Hooky refers to Stockholm Monsters recording an LP next January. The only studio LP that band recorded (Alma Mater) was released in August 1984, so the January Hooky is referring to is likely 1984 also, which would signify the interview took place in 1983. Also, the interviewer refers to Love Will Tear Us Apart being 're-released', although Hooky disputes that it was re-released in the interview. Either way, this song re-entered the charts in November 1983, which ties up with my estimated date.
Interview 2 - Stephen Morris & Gillian Gilbert, April / May 1985.
Rob Gretton is also present during the interview, as he speaks once or twice to Steve.
I've seen people mention that this was recorded during the band's Australia tour in May 1985 (starting 25/05/85), but I think this is incorrect. I think mainly people think it was then as the interviewer sounds Australian (or a Kiwi) and Steve makes reference to 'being hosed down with disinfectant' when landing in Australia. I'm pretty sure he's referring to a previous time they visited the country. I think they're just talking about Australia in general, due to their imminent tour and the fact that the interviewer is an Aussie.
Instead, I think the interview occurs in Britain, in either April or early May 1985.
My reasoning for the date is that Gillian says that 'Low Life' will be out in Britain 'very soon' (which was released on 13/05/85).
My reasoning for the location is based on Steve saying that the 'Play At Home' TV programme was recorded 'in this very studio'. I can't see that they recorded 'Play At Home' in Australia. The North of England seems far more likely (Cargo or Strawberry, perhaps).
It's possible that the interview took place in wherever ‘The Perfect Kiss’ video was filmed, as Steve indicates that they’re ‘trying to finish’ that video off at the time of the interview and a ‘live’ version of the song is heard part way through the interview.
OK, now on to releases:
https://www.discogs.com/...Interview/release/505356This 7” single features part 1 of the Hooky interview.
As far as I can tell this ‘part’ is exclusive to this record and has not been re-released on CD.
NB the same interview presumably plays on both sides of the record (perhaps negative1 can confirm this).
https://www.discogs.com/...iewed-1984/release/90824This 12” single features part 2 of the Hooky interview.
According to Discogs, this was released in 1984. This seems unlikely, based on the fact that ‘part 1’ wasn’t released until 1987, and ‘part 2’ follows on directly from ‘part 1’. I can’t see that the bootleggers would release the second half of an interview 3 years before the first.
Additionally, this ‘part 2’ release was also released in a very slightly different format, also in 1987 (see below).
This interview is spread out over two sides of the record.
https://www.discogs.com/...re-Disc/release/10918578This is almost identical to the 12” referred to above. It is assumed that this also contains ‘part 2’ of the Hooky interview, spread out over two sides of the record.
https://www.discogs.com/...ure-Disc/release/1315025This 12” contains the complete Steve & Gillian interview, spread across two sides of the record.
This is where things get confusing:
https://www.discogs.com/...c-Series/release/1239630This ‘Conversation Disc’ CD contains:
Part 2 of the Hooky interview (re-ordered).
A slightly edited version of the Steve & Gillian interview (re-ordered).
These interviews appear to have been ripped from the two previous 12”s. However, what’s weird about this is that both interviews appear to have ripped first from side B, then side A. So, each interview is a bit disjointed, with the middle and end of the interview playing before the beginning of the interview.
To make matters more complicated, both interviews have been edited sightly at the end or start of each side of the vinyl. This has probably been done purposely to try to make things make sense after the error. If they’d just played the sides in order, no edits would’ve been necessary.
https://www.discogs.com/...rview-CD/release/1002510This ‘Newspeak’ CD appears to be a direct rip of the ‘Conversation Series’ CD, i.e. containing the ‘re-ordered’ Hooky interview (part 2) and the ‘re-ordered’ Steve & Gillian interview.
However, it looks like either an error occurred, or there was a deliberate intention to cut the amount of interview featured on the disc. The Hooky interview is exactly the same as the previous CD, but the Steve & Gillian interview is cut to only 45 seconds in length (i.e. the first 45 seconds of the original side B of the 12” / the first 45 seconds of the previous CD).
https://www.discogs.com/...Interview/release/886370This is just a straight rip of the original 12” featuring the Steve & Gillian interview. This is complete and there are no issues with it.
What a mess they made of all this then, eh?
So, really, if you want the complete unedited versions of both interviews, you need the 7” and both 12”s (or negative1’s rips).
Anyway, I’m exhausted now. I don’t expect anyone got this far with my musings, but at least I’ve documented this for when I inevitably query this again.
