Today is one of those when I try and give myself the equivalent of bank holiday. It’s a cut’n’paste from wiki:-
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Suicide Alley is the debut single by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. It was self-financed and released in 1988, while they were still an unsigned act.
Only 300 copies were originally pressed. Around 200 came in a picture sleeve. The single has the catalogue number SBS 002. The ‘SBS’ stands for Sound Bank Studio, the studio in Blackwood where the single was recorded. The numbering 002 was meant to add some credibility by implying SBS was an established record label, but there had never been a release with the catalogue number SBS 001.
The sleeve is highly reminiscent of the Clash‘s eponymous debut album and was photographed and designed by future guitarist-lyricist Richey Edwards. Around a third of the copies were released in a plain sleeve, and a handful featured handmade covers with glued-on newspaper cuttings, which were assembled by Edwards.
Musically, the influence of the Clash, the Skids and other late-70s punk rock bands is evident – the title track bears a strong resemblance to the Clash’s 1978 single Tommy Gun.
B-side Tennessee was later re-recorded and featured on the band’s debut album, Generation Terrorists. The title was included on all formats of the later single Little Baby Nothing, partly to curb the demand for the original single, which was changing hands for hundreds of pounds.
A reproduction 7″ single, complete with original B-side Tennessee (I Get Low), is available as part of the Super Deluxe Edition of National Treasures – The Complete Singles.
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mp3 : Manic Street Preachers – Suicide Alley
mp3 : Manic Street Preachers – Tennessee (I Get Low)
I’m not a huge fan of the Manics, but I do find myself toe-tapping along to this one.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 