>
<

Tapete

MONOCHROME SET, THE - 1979-1985: Complete Recordings

6LP boxset edition. Includes CD versions of each album; Edition of 700. Emerging at the end of punk era, The Monochrome Sets estrangement from society came from a more arty angle. This boxset is the full account of their frantically productive early period, the perfect document of an under-appreciated chapter of British pop history. Though widely unknown, they are one of the most influential British bands of the last 40 years, with the early Morrisseyand Marr, Blurs Graham Coxon, and Franz Ferdinands Alex Kapranos among their admirers. Though Ganesh Seshadri, aka Bid, never went to college, The Monochrome Set are often seen as an archetypal art school band. In 1979 they released a string of snappy, now highly collectible singles on Rough Trade, followed by early masterpieces Strange Boutique (1980) and Love Zombies (1980). In 1982 they released their third LP Eligible Bachelors on Cherry Red Records. Their major label effort The Lost Weekend (1985) contained their biggest hit Jacobs Ladder". - Tapete.

"... the early Monochrome Set sound betrayed a fondness of Lou Reed and American psychedelia, and though they shared their generations sense of estrangement, they certainly werent part of the punk revolution. . . . [the Hornsey School of Art] was where lead guitarist Tom Hardy, later to be known as Lester Square, studied with a certain Stuart Goddard aka Adam Ant . . . The Monochrome Sets lack of breakthrough success is usually attributed to their inability to churn out the hits, but in hindsight their now highly collectible first four seven inches for the Rough Trade label, united here on one disc with all the singles from the early eighties period, prove that they started out as bona fide masters of pops ultimate format. Released in February 1980, their first album Strange Boutique, featuring the bands percussion-heavy theme song and the Johnny Marr-anticipating Love Goes Down The Drain, caught the Monochrome Set in full flight, quickly followed by the equally taut, funny and adventurously dynamic Love Zombies. 1982 saw them move to Cherry Red Records on their third LP Eligible Bachelors, with the catchy lead single "The Jet Set Junta" promptly banned because of its non-existent connection to the Falklands War. . . . After a financially disastrous American tour, the band were resigned to taking the major label shilling with The Lost Weekend (1985), scoring their biggest airplay hit with Jacobs Ladder..." - Robert Rotifer, Canterbury 2017.
  • Sale
  • Regular price $170.00


After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.

This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).

Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.

Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.

Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
I understand these terms

Sale

Unavailable

Sold Out