Thursday, July 22, 2010

Bootleg of the Week: Switzerland 1986

For the longest time, this is perhaps my favorite 242 bootleg. The songs featured on this disc are from the era when I first discovered Front 242 (Official Version era) and so each has a special fondness to me.

As is expected with most Front 242 bootlegs there are a few typo mistakes, but the overall quality of this disc and package is outstanding. Switzerland 1986 is an Italian bootleg on the "Rarities & Few/Red Line" Label , catalogue number "RFCD 1222" and is from 1992. It contains 11 songs recorded live at the Hot Point Festival, Lausanne Switzerland on November 30, 1986.
The sound quality is excellent! Highlights include live versions of Television Station and Red Team, which I seldom have heard played live. My very favorite track is W.Y.H.W.Y.G. (Listed as "What You Have Is What You Get" on the packaging.) This version features lyrics from that song which don't appear on the Official Version track, except as it actually fades out. For years I searched for these lyrics as I couldn't quite make them all out on this song. They are partially printed on one of the stills from "A Selective Retaliation" (which I will feature soon enough). So if you know the complete lyrics, let me know!

The inside booklet has much Italian so I included a larger scan, and would welcome the translation. The packaging is very professional and the artwork really stands out. The track listing and times are as follows:

    1. Masterhit  4:16
    2. No Shuffle  4:00
    3. Body To Body  3:37
    4. Television Station  4:10
    5. Don't Crash  4:14
    6. Funk Hadafi  4:51
    7. Red Team  4:10
    8. Quite Unusual  4:36
    9. Commando Mix  5:02
    10. What You Have Is What You Get  4:37
    11. U-Men  3:42
This usually retails now for between $25 - $50. 












5 comments:

  1. Nice, I didn't know this one! Is it the same recording from the Hadafi Commando bootleg?

    I love how the Front 242 live sound changed overtime :) It makes collecting their bootlegs fun because they all sound different!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This was my first 242 bootleg... I found it in a local CD store who imported it by mistake in 1992! They have ordered Pet Shop Boys CDs and received this one between PSB cds... :-D
    Lucky one, I saw the CD first and paid around US 10,00 on this one.
    My favourites tracks are the duo WYHIWYG + U-Men.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes. The contents of this disc are identical to "Hadafi Commando".
    I will eventually post that one as well...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Charles: very lucky...and only $10.00! Very lucky ideed!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the info :)

    ReplyDelete