TRANS-EUROPE EXPRESS (France, 1977)
Capitol 2 C 266 - 82306


Back to one of the best countries to collect Kraftwerk from - France. I've posted a later edition of this before, but here's the original 1977 edition!

There's a lot of different editions for many of the albums from France, and some fascinating content as well: Showroom Dummies was translated to French, entitled Les Mannequins, and this version was prominently featured in France, on all editions on LP and cassette. (There are also mid-80s, "Fame" reissues of TEE, with different sleeve design. I'm sure I'll post those on this blog at some point.)

If we compare the two early editions of TEE from France, the cat.no is very slightly different, the prefix 2 C was substituted for 2 S on the second edition. On this edition, there's no Capitol logo on the front, and there are other minor differences that set them apart; notably the spine and backflap of the J-card are blue on the first edition, while the second has a bright orange-y red spine and backflap. Inside the J-card, and on the cassette itself, only minor differences; the cat.no again, and the printers' receive a credit only on the second edition.

My cassette has a light grey shell with black or dark grey on-body print. And it's housed in a blue shell, incidentally the second ed also had a blue shell. You'd think they might splash out on a different shell, to match the colour of the spine and backflap, but nope. Oh well, the unique cover design (a stylised train, comparable to the TEE 7" single sleeve) and rare French vocals must be enough to recommend this release!
 


 




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