The Wake

Harmony and Singles 40th Anniversary


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3LP/2CD

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Factory Benelux presents a new expanded edition of Harmony, the debut album by influential Scottish group The Wake. Originally released by Factory Records in December 1982, this new expanded edition marks the 40th anniversary of this landmark post punk album. The Wake formed in Glasgow in 1981 after singer/guitarist Caesar left Altered Images, and joined Factory the following year. Harmony was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport with producer Chris Nagle (formerly Martin Hannett’s preferred engineer), by which time the group comprised Caesar (vocals, guitar), Carolyn Allen (keyboards), Steven Allen (drums) and Bobby Gillespie (bass). On release as Fact 60 the original 7 track mini album earned a 5 star review in Sounds magazine, hailed as the missing indiepop link between Factory and Postcard Records.

2CD - Bonus tracks include The Wake’s dub-informed second single, Something Outside, rare debut single On Our Honeymoon, and also their John Peel session from July 1983 – the last recordings to feature Gillespie before his departure for The Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream. Also there is a fascinating collection of 21 lost recordings compiled from live and demo cassettes located in the Rob Gretton tape archive, all taped between 1981 and 1983. The enhanced artwork for this new edition includes images of the band by noted photographer Paul Slattery, taken at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, as well as new liner notes by Caesar. 

3LP - Bonus tracks on LP 2 include The Wake’s dub-informed second single, Something Outside / Host, and also their John Peel session from July 1983 – the last recordings to feature Gillespie before his departure for The Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream

LP 3 offers a desk recorded live set from Ayr Pavilion on 15 April 1983 during a tour with New Order. The concert includes several songs never recorded in the studio, including Recovery and Country of the Blind. The enhanced trifold artwork for this new edition includes images of the band by noted photographer Paul Slattery, taken at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, as well as new liner notes by Caesar.

Tracklist