Kraftwerk cassettes

ELECTRIC CAFE (Deutsche Version) (1986, Germany) EMI 264 24 0654 4 Kind of a placeholder today, but also - one searches in vain for a reason why I would mention variants of releases, and then don't post them? I have two different versions of the German-language edition of Electric Café, and I posted the other one back in 2022. So let's look at the other version today!   This is the version with a credit to "EMI Services Benelux B.V., Uden" on the backflap, which I mentioned in passing when posting about another variant of the Deutsche Version before. Not much that sets the two versions apart, the copyright notice on the back cover, and another similar notice is on the inside of the spine on this version. Oh, and the label design is completely different.  

RADIOACTIVITY (France, 1991) EMI France 2045524 - PM 467 Haven't had a cassette single in here in ages! There never were that many, so by now, we've featured most of the few that ever came out. But recently I came across this, the French edition of Radioactivity from 1991, so let's have a look!  This French cassette replicates the tracks from the UK cassette - or, simply, the 7" single. The Francois Kevorkian 7" edit, followed by the William Orbit 7" edit, replicating on both sides of the cassette. This was written just a few days after William Orbit sadly passed, so RIP William, thanks for all the great music.  So like the other 1991 cassette singles, this too comes in a fairly narrow card slipcase. Surprisingly, the colour scheme is very different to the UK cassette, the yellow is both darker and warmer, and the actual symbol is more purple or pink than orange! The design is also a little bit different compared to the UK counterpart, in that the "beams...

RADIO-ACTIVITY (Canada, 1982?) Capitol, 4XT-11457 A Canadian issue of Radio-Activity today, which, although long after the fact of the first release of the album, is earlier than the previous Canadian entry on this blog. Cassettes were rife with sound improvement schemes in the eighties; they must have had a bit of a bad reputation amongst consumers. Welcome back, "Super Dynamic Range"! For the low-down on the "Super Dynamic Range" thingy, check this cassette of The Man-Machine which I posted a while ago. Whether it worked or not, I suppose it's a matter of taste, and 44 years of tape deteriation later it's kinda hard to tell to be honest. Still, we must appreciate the effort!  These SDR cassettes were presented more or less as a series, so as on other releases, The album cover is presented against a black background, with yellow lettering and that big "Super Dynamic Range" legend across the lower front. The cover is a simple 1-panel affair, wit...

TRANS EUROPA EXPRESS (Germany, 1977) EMI ELECTROLA 1C 264-82 306 German cassette today, it's Trans Europa Express! You may recall the mid-80s reissue posted here earlier, this is - I think it's the first; at least a 70s edition.  The 1977 edition had a 2-panel J-card, to make room for a panel of other releases on EMI. I suppose Kraftwerk were a little difficult to market at the time, before electronic music was a thing? So here, EMI Records hope that if you like this album, then you're probably into schlager... Of the six releases, five are compilations of hits (well, one live album), and titles like "Abendland", "Super Oldies", "Alle Meine Jahreseiten" exclude us from the "Hits for Kids" section. Rock'n'roll this is not! Maybe the marketing genius in charge took a look at the front cover, and decided that four white men in suits would probably make music for the elderly... The front has the EMI Electrola logo on the top and...

THE MAN·MACHINE (Portugal, 19?) Unofficial - Black, 058 A quick one today: YET another unofficial copy of "The Man·Machine", this time from Portugal!  I don't really have a lot of information about this one, but "Black" is a Portuguese cassette pirate label, that ran from at least 1978-1981, maybe before, maybe after. They jumbled up the track list, omitting "Metropolis", and dividing the rest into two 15-minute programmes.    The cover has blue background, a strangely cropped picture of the LP cover (including "AFTWERK" in the top left corner!). The cassette is black, with white paper labels.  

THE MIX (India, 1994) EMI STSC 890217/ EM 1408 Finally, I got an Indian edition of The Mix. I've been searching for one for years, and finally I decided to splash out on one! As I've said before, there are not as many different editions of The Mix as of the albums from Autobahn to Electric Cafe. It's sort of logical; by the late 90s, cassettes were a niche product in Western Europe, and there was little point in reissues and Nice Price editions. Most countries would just put this out once, then refer customers to the CD shelf if they wanted to make a purchase. India has a different policy with reissues than most places. I have few Indian editions, of several albums, and they are often dated on the spine, and have the recommended retail price printed there too. For instance, I know of copies of The Man-Machine dated both 10/88 and 11/88, so there could be quite a lot of very slightly different variants out there yet to be documented. Today's cassette is marked with ...