THE MAN·MACHINE/ Star Peace (Syria, 19??)
Romance Tapes S.A 8030

A new country for me today as I recently received a Syrian cassette! It's unofficial, in as much as it's probably nothing to do with the Western record industry - whether it's technically a "pirate" cassette or not, I can't say, but it certainly is an interesting item!

It's a split tape, with Kraftwerk on one side and the Droids on the other. None of the albums appear in full; each misses the final track, and in the case of the Droids, some confusion has arisen when several songs have shared titles; three titles have a "Part 1" and a "Part 2", but they are listed as one track here, each named "Part 102"! Looks to me like someone had a handwritten track list, with "Part 1 & 2" written in accordance, and when this was typed out, it was misunderstood... 

The cassette is light grey, and the labels - bearing a rather fetching design with a mildly psychedelic "Sound of Asia" flowery thing in yellow as background - have been glued over what I assume was a standard blank cassette. In fact, checking the www, the bit of old label sticking out from underneath matches a Maxel LN C60, so it seems likely it is that. This brand of cassettes were apparently produced in the mid-70's, and although they are still found, the design changed in the 80s, so it's possible that this particular cassette was released pretty soon after the fact? Well, who knows.

The cover - a 2-panel paper insert - is a surprising mix of something vaguely professional and a definitive kitchen table job. The two albums are represented with half a front cover each, cut slightly unevenly along the middle, with that same yellow "Sounds of Asia" background. From the look of the cassette, it'd look like the artist and title was Star Peace and The Man Machine; the only reference to the Kraftwerk band name is the part of the album sleeve that's been used, while Droids get no mention at all. Further afield, the track list on the right panel is presented in good old-fashioned typewriter letters, black against white. The spine assures us that the cassette is "stereo compatible", suggesting most people would be perfectly happy listening in mono, and the logo of Romance Tapes carries both a p.o. box address and the name of the proprietor. I suppose this must mean that the label was somehow acknowledged by the Syrian authorities, perhaps they paid taxes or something? At least, most unofficial releases have been a lot more secretive as to their origins. On the other hand, maybe nobody cared. Still, pretty cool, and whether or not he paid his taxes, I will take this opportunity to thank Mr. Omar Saber for this Syrian contribution to my collection!