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Out This Week / on 23 December 2022

Reissues and releases

By Paul Sinclair

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41

Culture Club and Boy George / Japan CD reissues CD

A last minute Christmas present for Culture Club fans as all four albums (plus two Boy George solo efforts) are reissued exclusively in Japan as ‘paper sleeve’ / vinyl replica / mini-LP CDs with loads of bonus tracks. As if that wasn’t good enough there’s also a Japanese Singles Collection: Greatest Hits Culture Club release which is a CD+DVD package with hits and videos that is a continuation of the ongoing series. Pre-orders from Japan should be on their way, but if you’ve ordered from UK channels, they don’t ship until January.

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41 Comments

41 thoughts on “Out This Week / on 23 December 2022”

  1. A Happy and a very Merry Christmas to all you SDE readers but especially to Paul…thank you for another year of musical magic and debate. Looking forward to what 2023 brings

  2. I know this is turning into the Christmas greetings and Culture Club re-releases thread, so apologies if it annoys anyone, but I just discovered a bit of trivia. All the rest of the re-issues arrived today, and the obi strips seem to be almost faithful reproductions of the original releases (except for the price, I expect), so they include wrong information regarding the re-issues. For example, on Colour By Numbers, the obi says it includes Time (clock of the heart) as a special bonus track for Japan, also included in the track listing at the bottom (6th track on the left hand blue side), when for the re-issues, Time is on Kissing To Be Clever.
    The Kissing To Be Clever obi also is not accurate, since it includes Mystery Boy as the 6th track, making a total of 10 tracks which was probably the original Japanese release, not to mention a completely different translation of the title of Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? The accepted Japanese title these days is “Kimi wa kampeki sa” (you’re perfect), but the obi strip has it as “Tsumetaku shinai de” (don’t be so cold to me)(which is much more faithful to the original English, I guess).
    Wow, welcome to my inner nerd……

    1. My copies of all the reissues arrived yesterday (21.012.22) here in the UK and considering Christmas cards we sent in later November still haven’t arrived all I can say is AMAZING. The Japanese know how to do things perfectly.

      Each and every album is beautifully presented, the artwork and Japanese inserts + Obi are exquisite.

      Thank you for sharing.
      メリークリスマス (sorry if my Google translate is wrong)

    2. Thanks for your reply and for your comment. Have you had the chance to listen to these albums yet? Do you live in Japan? If I am not mistaken there is also a Disk Union promo box for thes Mini LP Sleeves.

  3. My copies of Kissing To Be Clever, Colour By Numbers and Singles Collection arrived today. Honestly I haven’t listened to the albums all the way through in decades – I only ever owned Colour By Numbers on LP as a kid, and not for long (got lost somehow), and borrowed a friend’s Kissing To Be Clever cassette a few times but never owned it personally – so I might not be the best judge, but after listening to Colour I’m pretty happy with how it sounds. The main album and most of the bonus tracks sound full, not too hot, mixed cleanly. (“Mystery Boy,” “Melting Pot (Live)” and “Romance Revisited” might be sounding just a hint less great than the rest, but not terribly so, and “Shirley Temple Moment” is a “tape-rolling-in-the-studio” thing, so I wouldn’t expect stellar quality out of that.) The booklet says that 17 of the 19 tracks (including all ten main album tracks) were “DSD flat transferred from analogue master tapes by Teo Miller at FX Mastering in 2022.” The other two, “Mystery Boy” and “Shirley Temple Moment,” were “transferred from 44.1 kHz/16bit PCM files,” so they must have been digitized elsewhere prior to this reissue. Overall, no complaints.

    1. Listened to the others last night. Kissing To Be Clever sounds just as good. I would have liked to have the extended “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya” on it, but there’s really no room for it (all the CDs I got are packed – Singles Collection is almost 78 minutes long, Kissing is over 78, and Colour is over 81). Singles is a fair bit louder than the albums; I don’t see in the notes anything about the mastering sources in English, but it’s clearly not the same, and is a bit less clean. The DVD plays in my region-locked player in the US, so the “NTSC All” notation is accurate. Very happy with these purchases.

      1. Thanks for your reply and comment. I am glad to hear that the sound quality of these CDs is good. I am thinking about buying “Kissing To Be Clever” and “Colour By Numbers”.

  4. I had posted my comment of the SDE Postbox, but it seems that all the X-mas greetings and wishes for 2023 are appearing here… so here it is: Merry Christmas to you, Paul, and all the readers. My greatest hope for 2023 is a box set of all albums by Jess Roden, the fabulous singer, and a remastered set of the complete works of Danny Wilson & Gary Clarke – at this point i would accept any format … vinyl, CD or blu-ray. Have a great 2023!

  5. Merry Christmas everyone. Thank you, Paul, for everything you put in to making this such an essential website. I can’t imagine life without it. I suspect that we’ll all still be on here, looking for post-Christmas deals. Record collecting never seems to take a break.

  6. Season’s Greetings to everyone from me, too, and thanks so much to Paul for making this not just an informative site, but such a welcoming and friendly one, too.
    Looking forward to what 2023 will bring, have a great one, everyone.

      1. So, here’s my unboxing report (never done it before)
        The contents are, from top left clockwise, the explanation booklet in Japanese with lyrics in English and Japanese, the CD, another slipcase that fits inside the main one (Japan always never does things by halves), and a leaflet explaining the technical points of MQA and UHQ CDs
        Haven’t listened to it yet, and wouldn’t trust my ears to give an accurate report, but if I feel anything, I’ll let you know!

  8. Merry Christmas and a safe and wonderful New Year to everyone.
    Paul, thank you again for for all your hard work in providing such an excellent and informative site.

    Whilst I know there will be a box set or two under the tree, my best Xmas present this year will be that my daughter will arrive from the UK on the 23rd. Haven’t seen her for 3 years and we haven’t spent a Xmas together for 9 years. Can’t wait.
    She’ll be spending “Christmas In The Sand” this year in sunny Perth.

    1. As you know Roel, my son Harry came the other way and is not impressed with the cold and damp. He can’t wait to get back (had to leave to get his Residential Visa sorted).

      Have a wonderful “Christmas in the Sand” with your daughter.

      Whilst here, all the very best to Paul and all the SDE community.

  9. Personally I’m happy for the break as I have 5 box sets already ordered for first quarter next year (these animal men /smash, ocean colour scene, auteurs, mull historical society and dinosaur Jr). Also loads of new albums coming out I have pre-ordered. Sure hope I get some Christmas cash.

  10. Merry Christmas everyone.
    Next year is the year. It’s going to happen. there will be SDE’s of Laughing Stock & Spirit Of Eden (Talk Talk) and a massive Mansun/Divine Comedy style The Boo Radleys box set.

    If I wish hard enough for them surely they will happen right?

    1. Now now don’t get your hopes up re: Talk Talk, the most criminally underserved band regarding re-issues and, alas, I can’t see that about to change

  11. I know the Japan Singles Collection can be a bit odd for selection because of the parameters of what they put on the releases, but I really wish they had been able to include the alternate versions of “Your Kisses are Charity” with Dolly Parton and “Runaway Train” with Gladys Knight. They were both-single only versions, and while the Dolly one did get a limited physical release, the Gladys Knight was streaming only. Missed opportunity, but hopefully they’ll be on a reissue project at some point. Maybe something is planned for the two reunion albums at some point.

    Happiest of holidays to everyone, whatever you may celebrate. The years seem to keep going by faster and faster. Looking forward to the new SDEs that will be hitting in 2023, and will continue to check here daily to get the news of what’s next. Thank you for another great year, Paul! Can’t wait to see what the next has in store.

  12. Happy Christmas everyone and may there be loads more Bowie releases in the new year
    Reissue of this year for me must be the Blondie box set,well worth the wait.

    1. Totally agree Fred…. Blondie took the box set to the next level for me this year. It’ll take a lot but I wonder if anything will come close in 2023… I’m hoping so!! Wishing all you lovely SDE readers a very Merry Christmas and I hope 2023 is a happy one for you all.

  15. Wishing everyone who contributes and comments to SDE, a fantastic Xmas and happy new year. Hope Santa brings us all the boxsets we desire. My wish is Ultravox Rage in Eden, I secretly know I have it, I know where it is hidden, sorry Mrs Rock. Thanks for the hard work you put into this great site Paul, keep it up in 2023.

  16. Not surprised this piece is so small, as right around Xmastime, there are practically nil new releases/reissues…anyhoo, happy holidays to you Paul & the SDE community & hope everyone gets what they want…me I just received some Amazon gift cards, so I ordered the 8CD Blondie & smaller reissues of the little-mentioned Re-Flex “Vibrate Generate” from Cherry Red & SDE (not exactly in literal sense) of Bryan Adams’ catchy as hell latest “So Happy It Hurts”…just received the Neil Young Harvest 50 & on its way are the 4CD Cheap Trick Whisky 77, Mighty Lemon Drops set & Now Yearbook 80-84…making my 2022 lists as we speak, not done yet…

  17. I was given the site info on the way to a Paul Weller gig in York a few years ago. It’s just fantastic, and gives us readers great details on new music. I am on it every day . Keep up the great work Paul.

  18. Wow, this must be the shortest “out this week” list ever ;)

    I wish you all a merry Christmas and a great 2023, really looking forward to the next year with all of you!

    Cheers
    motte

  20. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. Paul, Thank you again for the joy you and your site bring into our lives.

    Where until recently it was an informative site, it has become a source for new good with your SDE releases which we otherwise wouldn’t have had. Can’t wait for the Orbital and GH releases and look forward to many many more to come.

    Have a healthy, happy and musical 2023

  21. Happy holidays to everyone in the SuperDeluxeEdition extended family! I hope you enjoy friends and family and food and music into the New Year!

    My 2023 SDE wishlist: Smashing Pumpkins – “MACHINA”… Ultravox – “Quartet”… Prince – ANYTHING from “Dirty Mind” to “Batman” (minus the three existing SDEs, of course)… Tears For Fears – “Elemental” would be awesome, but “Everybody Loves A Happy Ending” would ensure Curt’s participation… Matthew Sweet – “Blue Sky On Mars” or “In Reverse”… and more classic 80s albums!

  23. Have a great Christmas one and all. Thank you for all of the daily entertainment. Paul. Keep Going. This site is priceless.

    The Mrs. has just bought me the vinyl SDE of Against The Odds, so I am a pig in clover. Hope everyone else’s presents bring you the music you want.

    1. Yeah I just bought duff mckagan’s loaded “sick” special edition cd with bonus dvd…..£3 bargain! ….happy Christmas to me! See you all in my dreams and here on the sde website!

      Peace and love peace and love

  25. Wow, that’s the slimmest Out This Week ever, but not surprising with how close to Christmas it is. Merry Christmas to you and your family Paul, thanks for keeping us entertained and informed for another year. Best wishes to anyone reading this, great to have a place full of other music nuts like myself. I look forward to reading everyone’s picks for 2022 soon.

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