Black Snake Diamond Role
Hitchcock's first solo album was made while the Soft Boys were still in some sense together (they were playing isolated
‘farewell’ gigs until mid-1982). Indeed, former Soft Boys help out on the disc. Preliminary titles for the album include The
Perfumed Corpse and Zinc Pear (test pressings
are known under the latter name). The ultimate choice of title referenced an Underwater Moonlight-vintage Soft Boys
cut (switching ‘rock’ for the ambiguous ‘röle’ - rock and röle).
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1981 vinyl album
Armageddon, ARM 4
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Notes: two different pressings exist, with different Armageddon label designs.
1985 vinyl album
Aftermath, AFT 1
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Notes: straight re-issue on the Aftermath label. Labels list "Acid Bird" as "Acid Bath"!
1987 CD album
Aftermath, AFTCD 1
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Notes: first release on CD. Track listing adds the former B-side, "Dancing on God's Thumb".
1995 CD album
Sequel, RSA CD 819
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Notes: CD re-issue. Track listing adds four more selections (tracks 12-15). "I Watch the Cars" and "It Was the Night" are previously unissued versions; the other extras are from earlier singles. The opening track is different to the earlier copies, being taken from the original Zinc Pear version of the album.
2007 CD album
Yep Roc
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Notes: third CD edition. "The Man Who Invented Himself" is the same version as on the previous release, the original album mix seemingly lost for good. Of the extra tracks, "Dancing on God's Thumb" is gone, but the rest remain, with the addition of tracks 11, 12, 15 and 16 - all brought in from the by-now defunct collection, Invisible Hitchcock.
2007 vinyl album
Yep Roc
Notes: vinyl equivalent of the 2007 CD. Only available in the box set, I Wanna Go Backwards. Track listing reverts to the original 1981 LP (but retaining the forced switch of "The Man Who Invented Himself"). The extra tracks were moved over to a separate disc: While Thatcher Mauled Britain.
Yep Roc
- The Man Who Invented Himself (version 1)
- Brenda's Iron Sledge (version 1)
- Do Policemen Sing? (version 1)
- The Lizard (version 1)
- Meat (version 1)
- Acid Bird (version 1)
- I Watch the Cars (version 2)
- Out of the Picture (version 1)
- City of Shame (version 1)
- Love (version 1)
Notes: vinyl equivalent of the 2007 CD. Only available in the box set, I Wanna Go Backwards. Track listing reverts to the original 1981 LP (but retaining the forced switch of "The Man Who Invented Himself"). The extra tracks were moved over to a separate disc: While Thatcher Mauled Britain.