The Durutti Column: The Return Of The Durutti Column (1979)

Sometimes, the date on the record differs from the date of release. This LP was dropped in 1980, but the date of the record is 1979. I've stuck with the date on the record.

Imagine entitling your first record as The Return Of The Durutti Column. Since the band's name is a reference to the Spanish Civil War, it makes some sense.

This record is truly enthralling, magical, mesmerizing or, as Allmusic says, "a quietly stunning debut, as influential down the road as his labelmates in Joy Division's effort with Unknown Pleasures." [source]

About Vini Reilly, I just read this:

Ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante calls him "the greatest guitarist in the world". Joy Division's late Ian Curtis – about whom Reilly wrote the beautifully mournful The Missing Boy – was a fan, and Reilly's shimmering sound has surely inspired music from the Cocteau Twins to chillout. When Morrissey was looking for a guitarist who could possibly fill the shoes vacated by Johnny Marr, for his first post-Smiths album, Viva Hate, Reilly's angel fingers played on the likes of Suedehead and Every Day Is Like Sunday. [source]

That is some high praise.

Discogs offers some interesting information about this record:

First released in January 1980 in a sandpaper sleeve, inspired by Situationist Guy Debord's book 'Mémoires', which was housed in a sandpaper cover to destroy other books on the shelf. The sandpaper sleeve was assembled by members of Joy Division, A Certain Ratio, and others. While Ian Curtis did the glueing, the other members of Joy Division watched a porn movie in the same room. There were four editions of the sandpaper sleeve (total edition of 3600): FACT 14 sprayed (in black or white) and with 7"; no spray but with 7"; no spray and no 7"; or The Return Of The Durutti Column sprayed in black but without 7". Initial pressings are on dark red translucent vinyl. Some sandpaper copies included a flexi disc with two instrumental tracks by Martin Hannett.

Reissued in July 1980 in a black sleeve, with a painting by Raoul Dufy. The black sleeve editions come in textured and untextured versions. There are two versions of this album.
- The first and third pressings each have five tracks on the B side: the track "In 'D'" is actually a different mix of "Sketch For Winter" (matrices A1/B1 and A3/B3)
- The second pressing (matrix A2/B2) has six tracks on the B side: track B1 is new and uncredited, track B5 ("Beginning") is labeled as track B1 and track B6 is the different mix of "Sketch For Winter", labeled as "In 'D'". This configuration is also found on Italian and Japanese vinyl pressings, as well as on the CD that was part of FACD 224.

The first Japanese edition (JAL-1) has 10 tracks with new / uncredited track as B1 but the inner sleeve lists In 'D' A and In 'D' B. Same audio content as FACD 14 and FACT 14 A2/B2.

Both Japanese CD editions and FACD 14 credit In "D" but have Beginning and In 'D' (= Sketch For Winter (Version)) rolled into 1 track with overall track length of 4:10 (incl. 6 second silence). Same audio content as JAL 1 and FACT 14 A2/B2.

14.000 copies were pressed until 17 July 1981. 

I have a Canadian pressing, which matches the first and third pressings.