Allow me to date myself (…which I ..uh, did for years, frankly.)
Back in ’85 when I came to Washington the drinking age was a Wild West 18. This was long before many of the clubs we think of as DC staples. Before The Black Cat, or Velvet Lounge, or any of the bars on U Street and way before anything but a hold up was going down on H Street.
There was the 9:30 in its original spot on F Street, NW, DC Space nearby, and Poseurs in Georgetown on M Street right before the Key Bridge. And if you were like me and loathe to embrace much of the ridiculousness found on college campuses (AU for me) you might just find yourself working at the college radio station with more kindred spirits. Then DJing ‘college nights’ at the aforementioned Poseurs, which then morphs into a steady DJ gig at Poseurs.
And you’d never get paid for these Poseurs sets either, just free drinks. So needless to say, sets would start out real strong and descend into chaos as the night progressed. I did love me some Bartles & Jaymes.
And if you, like me, have the mold and mildew on you and can recall the mold and mildew of Poseurs in all of its punky new wave goth glory, many of the records you owned, the records I was playing, have fared less well over the years. I cannot tell you how many copies of this or that Cure or Souixsie record I’ve repurchased and repurchased over the years. Some literally became coasters on more memorable evenings.
Which, by the way of a sweet, sweet segway, gives me great pleasure to introduce TVD readers to Vinyl 180 who are outdoing themselves in refreshing those ‘well loved’ LPs in your record collection.
Allow me to quote the informative press release: “The Vinyl 180 label produces new vinyl editions of classic 80’s post-punk albums, remastered from original analogue tapes and pressed onto 180g heavyweight vinyl to capture the warmth and depth of sound that currently only vinyl can offer… just as they were meant to be heard. All releases are packaged in deluxe gatefold sleeves on heavyweight cardboard stock…
In 2009, Vinyl 180 has been working with 4AD and Beggars Banquet labels, producing new super high quality versions of albums from Cocteau Twins, The Cult and Dead Can Dance. Upcoming exclusive releases for Vinyl 180 feature titles from Bauhaus and Dead Can Dance’s Lisa Gerrard.
There’s a new addition to the Bauhaus catalogue, This Is For When, a live document of the band’s concert at Hammersmith Palais – 9th November 1981. This is a brand new release and is available initially as a limited edition of 2,000 copies pressed onto two 180g vinyl LPs and housed in two heavyweight card sleeves wrapped in a printed transparent PVC wallet. Remastered and remixed from the original analogue tapes, this unique pressing features the whole live show, capturing the band at their incendiary best…”
And because we like you all so very much, Vinyl 180 has given TVD a beautiful, pristine copy of Dead Can Dance’s self titled debut to give away. It comes in an expanded form which also includes the follow up EP ‘Garden of the Arcane Delights’ in a 2-LP, 180 gram edition that dutifully and lovingly reproduces the original packaging on heavyweight stock.
We’d love to put it into the hands of anyone who can recall Poseurs or a venue of similar stature…but I’m realistic. Tell us tales from the garden of your youthful delights in the comments section to this post and the one that reeks most of clove cigarettes and incense will take home the Dead Can Dance reissue.
We’ll close this one out a week from today (1/14) by noon. Get at us before then — with contact info!
