Kraftwerk cassettes

    RALF & FLORIAN (1975, USA) Vertigo VCR4-2006   When Kraftwerk suddenly had an international hit record, the demand presented itself for more product. With the band committed to touring duties, the choice stood between waiting for new music, or re-releasing some of their previous records. I've previously touched on the mass / mess of compilations of early tracks that followed in Autobahn's wake, but I haven't featured any of their first three albums on the blog before, so here's an American 1975 edition of Ralf & Florian. Arguably the best of the early albums, and the most natural pre-decessor to Autobahn, Ralf & Florian was recorded in the summer of 1973 at a number of different studios, with Conny Plank as enigineer; after he was credited with co-production of the two first albums, one wonders what happened to his role on this one. Indeed, many people seem to think that he had more of a procution role even on Autobahn. Not for me to decide, but sometime

  RADIO-ACTIVITY (1975, UK) Capitol, TC-E-ST 11457 0C 244 o 82087 Lovely. Q: What could be more typically '70s than adding a large ochre-y brown stripe across a cassette cover that does not need any brown colour at all? A: Leaving it in the sun and having it fade out completely on the spine. This is the UK first edition of Radio-Activity, presented in a colour that would go with the buyer's shoes, clothes, sofa, wallpaper, car and I suppose, the view from his living room window. It feels like a missed opportunity that the cassette didn't have complimentarly orange labels... Gosh, the mid-70's were garish, weren't they? Where was I...  The cassette comes in a two-panel J-card on good sturdy card stock, with colour print on the front or outside. Under the brown stripe is a facsimile of the LP design, track info and some credits. The J-card's inside has some legal information, and surprisingly mentions twice that this stereo cassette will play in mono on mono casse

  AUTOBAHN (1977, Canada) Mercury MCR4-1-1154 Dear old Autobahn. Issued at a time when Kraftwerk was not yet an international success, and when bands could see their albums from a year or three back, issued on new formats in new territories. Autobahn was originally released on Philips in Canada, on LP and 8-track cartridge. It must have sold more than the label had expected, as there are several variants of the original 1974 LP edition, and it was reissued on Mercury a couple of years later. Mercury must have felt that the time was right to try a cassette version as well, but it was not a particularly flashy affair: it came in a 1-panel J-card with print on just one side, and the tracklist was not put on the cassette labels. For some reason, the LP facsimile on the front has been slightly cropped on the bottom and right sides, to the point that the Mercury logo from the original LP cover is cut off after the "M"!  Even so, I must say I find the item pretty stylish, nice clean

  Computer World (1981, Philippines)  EMI TC.EMC-3370 Computer World hasn't been featured in a while, I reckon, and here's one from a country I haven't featured yet, either - a double win! As said before, in the 80s, cover design got more standardised, and the graphics for international releases aren't that different if you compare to some of their '70s output. The Philippines edition is slightly amended in a way that makes it stand out in comparison with other versions, although we're hardly talking shocking differences here...   Most European countries used a yellow background colour for the front of the J-card, including the spine and backflap, whereas the USA and Canada issued their cassettes with black background (around the facsimile LP sleeve). The Philippines edition is issued under licence from the UK, and even shares the catalogue number with the UK release, and perhaps that is why they use the same yellow colour as the UK edition. On the other hand, t

    RADIO-ACTIVITY (1975, Australia) Capitol, TC-SP-11457 I've briefly featured Australia before, with the cassette single for Tour De France , but there are of course a wide range of releases from that great country, so - have another! Most Australian cassette releases are quite... tidy, I suppose, rarely straying far from the international norm - and Radio-Activity is no exception. The front has a facsimile of the LP cover against a white background, and band name and title in larger letters underneath the picture. I've only ever seen this one edition of Radio-Activity on cassette from Australia, too, no mid-80s reissue or cassette shell variants (that I've come across, yet!).   The J-card is 2-panel, and although it does have print on both sides, the inside is not related to this particular release. Instead, we are treated to a few hints and tips - do's and dont's - on how to care for your cassette. Similar information has been printed on cassette releases from