F is for fake - "The Damage Done"

[BritneyJean]

Because I haven't seen this article typed up anywhere, I decided to do it meself. And if it is already typed up, I will cry my bitter tears, 'coz my poor fingers have been working overtime. The article is from the very boring "Record Collector", May 1997.

F IS FOR FAKE
“The Damage Done� and a cross on the church: Joelle Folliot and John Reed warn of the perils of investing in this goth monster.
The Sisters Of Mercy: “The Damage Done� (Merciful Release MR 7, 11/80)
Doom-laden lyrics, bellowing vocals and effects-drenched guitars to an audience of crimped hair, black jeans and purple crushed velvet – the goth cult was nothing if not extreme. The demi-gods of goth rock were the Sisters Of Mercy, a swirling mass of sinister beings scarcely visible beneath outlandish, spiky haircuts and tons of dry ice. They sang of reptile houses, temples of love and anacondas. And in Andrew Eldritch, they possessed goth’s guiding light, a diminutive figure worshipped by thousands of pale-faced youths for the best parts of the 1980s.
Now the Sisters Are Back. Twenty-somethings dusted off their pointed black boots and dug out the white face powder to attend a goth get-together at Birmingham NEC – only the event was cancelled after a dispute with the promoters. Bad karma, man, but diehards can catch the band across Europe this summer.
Those disappointed fans who’d like to redivert their funds into the Sisters’ elusive debut should beware. To find a kosha copy requires a roving, eyelined opticular organ as sharp as Pete Murphy’s cheekbones – and even then, you’ll probably be the worse off for 150 smackers. The cheeky counterfeits, in contrast, shouldn’t cost much more than a bottle of nail varnish…
“The five original Sisters Of Mercy arose in the autumn of ’79, breaking up over the following Easter… The surviving nucleus, Sister A and Gary Marx, produced this single as an obscure epitaph.� That was how the Leeds-based band explained their first single on an accompanying insert (but more of that later).
“The Damage Done� was recorded in September 1980 at Portland Studios in London; an invoice for two stereo masters and just one acetate is dated September 19th. The single was then issued in November on the Merciful Release label. The catalogue number – MR 7 – was always something of a mystery. Why not MR 1, for example? Well, a Leeds punk band the Impossibles had already issued a single, “Books Books Books�, as Merciful Release MR 1 early in 1980. A coincidence, perhaps? – it’s unclear whether the two bands were in any way connected.
The 1,000-only 7� contained three songs: “The Damage Done� was written by Eldritch (or Andrew Taylor, as his mother knew him); and Mark Pairman (alias Gary Marx) donated “Watch� and the 18-second finale, “Home Of The Hitmen�. Some copies printed the labels on the wrong side – and no, it doesn’t affect the value. According to RC writer Paul Denman, “they created a wall of sound comprising thrash-distortion guitars, morose vocals and he (in)famous disco backbeat of the drum machine ‘Doktor Avalanche’.� Wow!
Eldritch has since dismissed the single as forgettable and his embarassment isn’t totally unfounded – but then it was their first single. In its favour, the song’s gloomy, atmospheric, post-punk feel laid the foundations for the Sisters’ brand of gothic psychodrama.
The visual aspects of the single were definitely more striking. The memorable ‘head and star’ logo seen on borth one of the labels and the back cover borrowed a head schematic from a medical book used to describe anatomical dissection. The front cover photo was just as cheer: a Victorian graveyard scene supposedly taken from a short film depicting a funeral procession.
The few remaining copies of “The Damage Done� were then circulated – probably in 1982 after the success of “Alice� – via the York-based Red Rhino distribution. These came with an insert explaining the re-release, although the real reason may have been to shift the old stock. To this day, some collectors question the authenticity of this later edition – or rather, the extra sheet. By that time, the Sisters were climbing their cobwebbed ladder to rock superstardom, Top 40 hits and sold-out stadiums, in the process creating a legend of the post-punk era.
With thanks to Robin Colman, John Esplen and Mark Woodley.

The original
Check the messages in the run-off groooves:
A-side – “A Porky Prime Cut MR7-PICTURE-1 For Spiggy�.
B-side – “A Nudder Porky Prime Cut For Trixie MR-7-Words-�.
The cross on top of the church should be visible at the very top of the photo on the front cover. The curved thumb cut on the back is neraly 4� long.
Some labels are on the correct sides. And some aren’t.

The counterfeit
At first glance, this roguish replica could be palmed off as the real thing. But…
The run-off groove text is different:
A-side – PAE-03B 2
B-side – PAE-03A (9B erased)
Although the cover is a worthy (if slightly darker) reproduction, the top of the churchyard photo is cut off, omitting the cross on top of the church. It has a smaller 2¼� curved thumb cut on the back.
The labels are identical to originals, except that all the labels are on the wrong side.

[Izzy HaveMercy]

I know this is cruel, but....

http://www.myheartland.co.uk/gallery/ca ... p?cat_id=8


IZ.

[James Blast]

I didn't have the heart, you're a bastard Iz!

[Izzy HaveMercy]

I didn't have the heart, you're a bastard Iz!

That is a compliment. And the reason why I am rich and famous and you are not...

Rrrrite......

IZ.

[markfiend]

It's always handy to have the information at hand though, eh?

Too many "hand"s?

[James Blast]

That is a compliment. And the reason why I am rich and famous and you are not...

[BritneyJean]

I realise that my services are more urgently needed in Busted fandom than in SoM fandom. After all, Smash Hits provides an endless stream of important information that must be distributed to all Busted devotees! And indeed it is more fun to scour the pretty pages of Smash Hits, they are full of colour, whereas perusing smelly old NMEs in the hope of finding something remotely SoM-related is one of the most displeasing time-wasting activities…… EVER!

[James Blast]

BritneyJean was a clue, wasn't it?

[Mrs RicheyJames]

LOL

[Izzy HaveMercy]

smelly old NMEs!

Oooh!

>LOOK

you are in a dank bureau. you see a rusty cupboard, a desk with computer and a dodgy Belgian male.

>OPEN DODGY MALE

you cannot open the dodgy male. you would not want that in the first place. believe me.

>OPEN CUPBOARD

the cupboard is locked

>KICK CUPBOARD

the cupboard opens with a groaning sound.
the stench of smelly old NMEs is overwhelming.
your head starts to spin as the smell brings back aeons of gothdom to your mind.
reality is no longer an option.
you feel very giddy and fall down with a pleased sigh.
you hit the corner of the bureau.
you start bleeding profusely.
you do not care.

YOU ARE DEAD.
YOU COMPLETED 80 % OF THIS ADVENTURE.

(R)ESTART or (G)ET A LIFE?


IZ (first working day after a month's holiday).

[Chairman Bux]

you feel very giddy and fall down with a pleased sigh.

Not a reaction one usually gets from reading the NME, old or otherwise.

[Izzy HaveMercy]

you feel very giddy and fall down with a pleased sigh.

Not a reaction one usually gets from reading the NME, old or otherwise.

Falling down an not being able to read another NME is rather pleasing, surr

IZ.

[paint it black]

smelly old NMEs!

>OPEN DODGY MALE

didn't george michael once try that

sorry, bored and easily amused