Pet Shop Boys: Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money) (1985)

There are three tracks in this 12" single:

Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money) (Double Your Money Mix) (Extended Version) 

In The Night 

Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money) (Short Version)

When this came out, I was not a fan. I kind of hated this band. 

Perth County Conspiracy [Perth County Conspiracy (does not exist)]: Rumour (1973)

From Discogs, who took it from Wikipedia: 

"Perth County Conspiracy, also known as 'Perth County Conspiracy (does not exist)' was a Canadian folk music group established in 1969 and active during the 1970s comprised of roughly 30 members who lived on a commune near Stratford, Ontario. The core musical members (originally Cedric Smith, Terry Jones, Richard Keelan, Michael Butler, and Michael McConkey but members would come and go over time) would continue performing and touring during planting and harvesting seasons. Their music is characterised by its message-oriented lyrics and unconventional arrangements."

I found this record on the side of the road a few years ago. It was in a record-sized milk crate along with two or three unremarkable records. It's kind of a strange package, with inserts, rather than a full jacket, but I have seen other photos showing a real jacket. Mine has a smallish insert. as seen in the photo above, along with a sheet listing toys for sale with prices, with this address:

G.M.T. Toys, c/o James Cairns, R.R. #3 Embro, Ontario, Canada

A beaver will run you $3, while a northern dump truck is $10. The rocking horse with felt on the head is $33.00. "All toys shown here are constructed of white pine and hardwood dowels."

The other insert in my copy has an essay with thanks given to Milton Acorn, Michael Ondaatje, and Woody Guthrie, I assume because they share some of the songwriting credits. Now that's an odd but interesting collection of people. I have books by Milton and Michael on my shelves. 

It also encourages people to send inquiries to Box 173 Stratford, Ontario.

This is a very strange record, The RarestRecords Youtube channel (video link below) says this about the record.

Here is a real gem for collectors of `Acid Folk` a privately pressed LP by Canadian Folk band `The Perth County Conspiracy Does Not Exist` released after they left Columbia and decided to go it alone pressing up their own records (not sure how many were pressed but they came with a hand printed picture taped on the front and various hand made inserts so logic would say not many). The music is very reminiscent of the Incredible String Band and is interspersed with little sketches (very 1960`s hippie) sounds great to my ears. Hard to value as copies have sold for all sorts of strange prices recently (£40 - £140).

The value is weird. When I found this LP, there were copies for sale on Discogs for $300+. Prices now range from about $20 to $265, but it seems you would need to spend $50 plus shipping to get a copy in good shape. An original pressing of the band's first record will cost you big time. 

Sandro Perri: Tiny Mirrors (2007)

 

This is Sandro's first solo LP, and I like it. It's a mellow outing, but cool. 

Pere Ubu: The Long Goodbye (2019)

Discogs says this, which I did not know when I bought the record: "Limited to 1,000 copies. First 100 copies contain signed postcard." My copy does not have a signed postcard. Allmusic says this:

"From beginning to end, The Long Goodbye is pure Pere Ubu: surprising, unexpectedly tender, and above all, thought-provoking. Even by their standards, this is a wild and challenging album -- coming full circle rarely sounds this exhilarating." [source]

Pere Ubu: 20 Years In A Montana Missile Silo (2017)

Can I just say awesome and leave it at that? Honestly, apart from a few tunes here and there, I generalyl love everything the band has done. 

Pere Ubu: Cloudland (1989)

This record contains a genuine and honest-to-god hit song! And, there was a Canadian pressing, which I have. From Allmusic:

In a press handout that accompanied the original release of Pere Ubu's Cloudland, David Thomas quipped "We'd never been asked to write a pop record before. I guess it never occurred to anyone." Given the sonic Dadaism of much of Pere Ubu's work, what's most startling is not that it took so long for someone to suggest they make a pop record but that they were able to comply so successfully. [source]

That's kind of hilarious. 

Pere Ubu: The Tenement Year (1988)

This release did get a Canadian pressing!

Wikipedia:

The Tenement Year is the sixth studio album by American rock band Pere Ubu, and their first album after reuniting following their 1982 break-up. 'Classic lineup' members Tony Maimoneand Allen Ravenstine, along with fellow Cleveland scenester Jim Jones and Henry Cow percussionist Chris Cutler found themselves playing with David Thomas for his 1987 album Blame the Messenger, and, discovering they sounded much like Pere Ubu, began incorporating a few Ubu numbers while touring for that album. Eventually, an official reunion was pursued, original drummer Scott Krauss was contacted, and thus the new lineup was completed and the old mantle assumed. The Tenement Year found the group veering in a loose, freewheeling, and decidedly more pop-oriented direction than in the past, though the pop leanings would become even more pronounced on subsequent albums.

What can I say? I love it. 

Pere Ubu: The Art of Walking (1980)

This LP received no domestic release in Canada either, so I have a US pressing from 1980. How Allmusic could have awarded this record only 3 stars is beyond me. From Wikipedia:

Mayo Thompson of The Red Krayola joined as guitarist for this album and slanted the proceedings further towards deconstruction and abstraction, and away from the primal rock that former guitarist Tom Herman had facilitated.

I like it.

Pere Ubu: New Picnic Time (1979)

The LP was not released in Canada in any format, and it wasn't released in the USA until 1999 (on CD). I think Dub Housing must have freaked the record company out, so there wasn't another domestic release in Canada until The Tenement Years in 1988. On the downside, there's Jehovah's Kingdom Comes, David's calling to the Jehovah's. What? At least it wasn't Scientology, but they are both phoney, like all religions. That track is fantastic, but the message is bullshit. 

All of the tracks are great. By the way, my copy is from The Netherlands.

Pere Ubu: Dub Housing (1978)

"Released in 1978 by Chrysalis Records, the album is now regarded as one of their best, described by Trouser Press as "simply one of the most important post-punk recordings."[source] 

Wikipedia:

To define their music, Pere Ubu coined the term avant-garage to reflect interest in both experimental avant-garde music (especially musique concrète) and raw, direct blues-influenced garage rock. Thomas has stated the term is "a joke invented to have something to give journalists when they yelp for a neat sound bite or pigeonhole".[10] Their music has been called art-punk and post-punk.[11][12] Their songs imagined 1950s and 1960s garage rock and surf music archetypes as seen in a distorting funhouse mirror, emphasising the music's angst, loneliness and lyrical paranoia. Sometimes sounding like a demented nursery rhyme sing-along, this already bizarre blend was overlaid with Ravenstine's ominous EML synthesizer effects and tape looped sounds of mundane conversation, ringing telephones or steam whistles. Their propulsive rhythmic pulse was similar to Krautrock, but Thomas's yelping, howling, desperate singing was and still is peculiar when compared to most other rock and roll singers.

I admit that I missed the origins of Pere Ubu. I am too young, and it took me a while to find them, but I am glad I did. They rank highly in my list of favourite acts.