Please (Re-)Release Me: The Raincoats Get Taken Off The Shelves

noah | January 16, 2007 2:41 am
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Welcome to another edition of “Please Release Me,” in which your Idolators request–nay beg–that an out-of-print, delayed or held-up-in-customs album be issued Stateside:

Artist: The Raincoats Hometown: London, UK Album: The Raincoats (1979)/Odyshape (1981)/Moving (1984)/Looking In The Shadows (1996) What is it?: The British post-punk foursome The Raincoats put out a string of loopy, gorgeous records in the late ’70s and early ’80s; Greil Marcus praised the band for “[trashing] every female stereotype in rock and roll” in Rolling Stone, and their gender-bending cover of The Kinks’ “Lola” helped support that claim. Kurt Cobain’s liner notes for the Nirvana B-sides compilation Incesticide began with a story about him trying to track down the band’s first record, and his evangelism helped lead to first three Raincoats records being reissued in 1993. The Raincoats later regrouped, hitting the road with the likes of Liz Phair; they released Looking in 1996. Where is it?: In the early 2000s, the Raincoats’ first three albums were available through Geffen’s low-price line, but they–and Looking–eventually fell out of print in the US. They’re still available through Rough Trade in the UK–the label’s even packaged all four as a bundle–but they haven’t been re-reissued in the U.S., resulting in copies of the Raincoats’ self-titled CD fetching $50 on Amazon.

The Raincoats – No Side To Fall In [MP3, link expired] The Raincoats – Lola [MP3, link expired] The Raincoats – Don’t Be Mean [MP3, link expired] The Raincoats [MySpace]

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