V04-T15 Seven Deadly Finns

.....In the previous post I said something along the lines that I never met a pun I didn't like.

Eno - Seven Deadly Finns - album cover">

Volume 4: "THE LITTLE BROWN ONES ARE THORAZINE, GEORGE", track 15

• 03:11 "SEVEN DEADLY FINNS" (Brian Eno)
• performed by Brian Eno
• original source: A-side 7" Island WIP 6178 (UK) 03/74
• and my source: 3CD BRIAN ENO II: VOCAL Virgin ENOBX 2 (72438 39114 2 4) (UK) 11/93

.....[NOTE: Virgin is one of many labels that gives individual product codes to each disc in its multi-disc sets. The code above that follows the 3CD box catalog number identifies the set. The song is from the first disc, 72438 39115 2 3.]

.....From my notes in 1994: "Of course, the song is a joke about Finnish sailors so promiscuous that they'd contracted countless venereal diseases and become 'deadly'. Today the song wouldn't be a joke-- promiscuity is no longer necessary. Thus, this little non-album track has become a quaint reminder of a (relatively) more innocent past in spite of itself."

....."For a recording that's made the rounds as often as this one, it's damned difficult to come by. Released as a single in England on Island (not a conglomerate, but they carried Roxy Music, Bob Marley, Traffic and other big sellers in England), but not in the US." In 1982, "JEM distributors issued an E'G artists compilation, including Eno, King Crimson and various ambient or art rock performers. 'SEVEN DEADLY FINNS' was used, but... it was a radio-promo only album to acquaint out-of-it radio programmers in the US with material that JEM was reissuing (in some cases the albums were US debuts). I was lucky enough to find a used copy and and enjoyed it for a few years. It was not, however the source for this compilation." Later, "in 1984, it was reissued on an EP of rarities. Unfortunately the EP was only available in a boxed set with ten albums entitled WORKING BACKWARDS 1983-1973." That was also not the source I used. "That would be the fourth configuration, but the first on CD. The minute I saw it (marked down on sale!) I had to have it: ENO II: VOCAL, a three-CD import box. Much of the material I already had, on inferior sounding JEM CD's mostly. I had been reading about the box (and its counterpart, a three-CD box of instrumental and ambient music) for months, annoying salespeople with questions about it (do you have an arrival date? what will it cost?) for weeks until it showed up. The actual item turned out to be uninspired programming in a disarmingly beautiful package. The package you'd have to see (and feel) for yourself. To illustrate what I mean about the programming: the entire second CD is drawn from two albums already available on disc; the songs appear in their original track order, remastered but not remixed, with only a few songs missing, among them one of my personal favorites. My question is this: why reproduce so much of any album and fall short of reproducing the entire album for the sake of two or three songs? Keep in mind that these albums, good as they are, were drawn from to the neglect of some sources and the omission of others. That would be acceptable in a budget compilation, but not in a career retrospective. I could do a better job. And I'm going to (maybe in 1995). So in the meantime, enjoy this deadly seven-incher."

.....I never made that Eno retrospective. In 1995 I moved and then moved again a year later. It was a situation that split large chunks of my collection. At any given time it was in at least three different cities. For an artist like Eno, who does so much in collaboration, a serious career retrospective would include a ton of material released by other artists and I never had it all in one place at one time. For more on him, check out the enoweb link on the right, which didn't exist back then.

.....You may also have noticed that the second paragraph of quoted material is fragmented. That's largely due to an error in the original that I didn't want to perpetuate. The reference to the "radio-only promo" is more complicated. What I have is LP FIRST EDITION Editions E'G EGED 15 (US) 1982, and I have a promo-only copy. A similar album was released commercially in England. It had the same title and jacket art but three songs were different and it didn't include "SEVEN DEADLY FINNS". There are further details on that version on the blog Version Crazy. I think the page is:

http://www.versioncrazy.com/2008/01/31/compilation-lp-first-edition-eg-records-1982/

.....I was led to believe that the US edition followed WORKING BACKWARDS 1983-1973 but I can't remember why. The editing I did above amounts to changing the order of the quotes and the corresponding syntax. Otherwise it's my thoughts at the time. I hope to post again Friday.