THE 7″ LUCKY DIP (44): The Monochrome Set – The Monochrome Set

After a self-financed and self-released release in 1978, The Monochrome Set signed to Rough Trade Records for whom there would be three singles in 1979 before the band made the switch to Dindisc in 1980.

All three of the Rough Trade singles are still wonderful to listen to, with my favourite being Eine Symphonie des Grauens which I raved about back in June 2018.

The farewell to the label, released on 5 October 1979, was an eponymous effort:-

mp3: The Monochrome Set – The Monochrome Set

While it has a new wave(ish) feel to it, it isn’t atypical of what else was being recorded and issued throughout that year, and it’s just different enough to be memorable.

The b-side isn’t quite as immediate, maybe because it has a jazz/bossanova feel to it:-

mp3: The Monochrome Set – Mr Bizarro

I can’t claim to have even been aware of this 7″ back in 1979, far less purchased it at the time, as I was a bit of a latecomer to the band, hearing them primarily via university friends circa 82/83 after their inclusion on the Pillows and Prayers compilation that had come out on Cherry Red Records.

But I did pick it up in July 2011 on Discogs…..I checked the ‘Purchase History’ and it was one of seventeen singles (thirteen on 7″, one on 10″ and three on 12″) for which I paid the grand sum of £32.25 plus P&P (£3 or thereabouts??) back in the days before the asking prices of most vinyl got silly.

I’ve just had a quick look at what it would cost to do so today and with it requiring multiple purchasers from different sellers, P&P would be substantially higher. I’ve used only UK sellers and the vinyl is graded similar to what it was back in 2011.

The cost??  £102.77

The Monochrome Set single alone has an asking price of £7.50 (up from £3.50), but the real kicker is the 10″ of Where’s Me Jumper? by Sultans of Ping F.C.  I paid £2…the asking price for the sole copy on Discogs is £59.99.

JC