Record Store Day 2013: Public Image Ltd.

Light In The Attic will reissue a reproduction of the first Public Image Ltd. single, "Public Image" b/w "The Cowboy Song," for Record Store Day 2013. The 7" single will feature an "exact reproduction" of the fold-out newspaper packaging of the original U.K. single. This marks the first time the single has been issued in the U.S. The pressing will be limited to 2,200 hand-numbered copies.

If John Lydon were dead he would no doubt be rolling over in his grave at the sentimental, fetishistic nature of this gesture, but since he's alive and well, he'd just as soon have your money.

Record Store Day 2012: Public Image Ltd. "One Drop"

Another potentially interesting Record Store Day 2012 release: One Drop EP by Public Image Ltd, their first new material in 20 years. John Lydon describes the track as "a reflection of where I grew up in Finsbury Park, Lon-don. The area that shaped me, and influenced me culturally and musically, a place I will forever feel connected to." 

Metal Box

Finally got it. This thing even looks cool in iTunes.

Happy Birthday To Me

I've wanted a to own a copy of Public Image Ltd.'s post-punk masterpiece, Metal Box, for the last quarter of a century or more, ever since I bought and was captivated by the music on the inferior U.S. double disc 33 rpm version entitled Second Edition. So as a birthday present to myself I finally bit the bullet and bid on a pristine copy on eBay from a reputable seller. Unfortunately, the album must be shipped from the U.K., so it will be a few weeks before I finally have the 3 X 45 rpm metal encased LPs in my grubby hands.

Despite my years of record shopping, I do not think I have ever seen Metal Box in a record store. Maybe I saw it on the wall at Orpheus Records in Georgetown at some outrageous price once. I'm looking forward to finally hearing this album the way it was meant to be heard.

Public Image Ltd. "album"

I've updated Public Image Ltd.'s 1986 album artwork especially for your iPod or other portable player. This seems appropriate since the collection of songs known as "album" on LP, "cassette" on cassette, or "compact disc" on CD is currently available as an mp3 download, but appears to be out-of-print on CD. Rhino recently reissued album on LP and did quite a nice job of it to my ears. Elektra's vinyl tended to be quite noisy toward the end of the LP era, so it is good to finally have a really nice sounding copy of this on LP.

I think this is the only album I own that features Steve Vai on guitar, and I still find it really weird that Lydon played with Ginger Baker, considering that in 1981 NME published an "April fool" announcement that Baker had joined PiL. Despite the strange (one could argue inappropriate) cast of musicians producer Bill Laswell chose to surround Lydon, album holds up. No, it's not as adventurous as Metal Box or Flowers Of Romance, but it is a strong set of songs and nice time capsule of the sound of "alternative rock" circa 1986.

Of course it's well known that John Lydon nicked the concept of a "generic" album from Flipper, whose 1982 debut was called Generic Flipper (or possibly Album or Album Generic Flipper).


Anyway, while Flipper obviously did it first, it should be pointed out that from a design and conceptual standpoint, Lydon did it better. And Flipper did get some measure of revenge by titling a later release Public Flipper Ltd.