there was a huge cock-up, which eastwest have blamed on a 'factory error'. i managed to buy a copy of the mispressed single as it was being cleared from the shelves on tuesday [November 2, 1999]. however, the single was hastily reissued, with a rather cheap looking new black and white cover, the next day. the track listing, unbelievably, was still wrong - blue raincoat is listed as being written by Tori, and twinkle by Leonard Cohen! But the CD is still on sale, and has apparently charted in the UK Top 40 mid week (I'm not sure at what position). eastwest are insisting that this fiasco will not have affected sales of the single, although this seems rather doubtful to me. it was certainly unavailable through most of tuesday afternoon and evening, which can't have helped. and there now seems to be only this *one* disc available.

November 9, 1999 - I continue to get conflicting reports about what the record company is doing about the fiasco with the Glory Of The 80s single in the U.K. There is not even agreement on who that record company is, East/West or Atlantic! The U.K. singles have Atlantic written on them and not East/West, but I am not sure if that means East/West is out of the picture, because some people have contacted various representatives of East/West and gotten comments on the situation. In any case, some sources say both singles are being pulled, others say that only Disc 2 with Baker Baker and Winter are being pulled. (It appears that Disc 2 is the one most people find in error, though I am getting more reports of Disc 1 being in error too.) Some sources say the pulled discs will not be reissued, while others say that only Disc one will be reissued. Here is a report on the situation from Andy Tebbutt + Emma Taylor, who says that neither disc is being pulled from many stores and that no new versions have been issued. As you can see, the situation is really hard to summarize:

Today we went in 8 ( yes 8 ! ) different record shops, in 2 different towns ( just out having a look round etc !! ), and 2 of those shops still had part 2 ( the bliss cover ) - and they still play the wrong tracks... all 8 shops still had loads of part one . Part one has not been reissued, it has the same horrible cover like the australian release - the same cover it's had since day one..., and part 2 has not been reissued - but neither has it been pulled , it seems all shops are just selling what copies they have left, with no plans to get any more once sold out...

November 11, 1999 - Several people have written to tell me they found import copies of the U.K. Glory Of The 80s singles in various U.S. stores. Obviously, some of these have the same problems that the ones in the U.K. do. So if you are going to purchase them, keep this is mind.

November 17, 1999 - Here are some comments and info about the Glory single in the U.K. from Mike Snowden:

I went to the HMV Trocadero and the nearby Tower records. There weren't any CD2s at all, and I managed to get three different CD1s out of 4 bought, though none of them actually contained the wrong tracks.

One Pair was marked "Made in Germany", the other wasn't, and the Atlantic wording was different.

One pair had a two-tone effect, where the track area was visible through the paint job

One pair carried an AT CD number around the hub

One pair had lettering in two different sets colours - a purple and a light blue version. The other was only in the light blue

It seems that there are at least 4 distinguishable parts of the pressing run(s), if you include a flipped-track CD1 with CD2 tracks but exclude the Australian(?) "Everything but the Girl" version.

"Type 1"
On Silvered side: No two tone effect, "AT0077CD1 : Mastered by DocData". "IFPI LEA1" (mirrored)
On Label side: Blue/Light Blue printing. Copyright ends "A Time Warner Company".

"Type 2"
On Silvered side: Two tone effect, Barcoding, "IFPI L012" on silver, various codes on hub. Warner Logo, "756784526-2 09/99"
On Label side: Either Blue/Light Blue or purple/lilac printing. Copyright ends "A Time Warner Company. Made in Germany".

Windows CD player reports all disks as the same one - identical track lengths, etc.

November 18, 1999 - Here is a report from Elizabeth Lee about the single's current status in the U.K.

Writing from London and I just wanted to inform you that there are actually CD2 of the Glory of the 80s single being sold in HMV, with the correct pressing. Which means, the songs being played on the CD are exactly the same as the track listing. I got 3 copies and checked all of them and they all play baker baker (live) and winter (live) The serial number on both the mispressed one and the correctly pressed one are the same too - 75678 45272. Hope the ppl in UK will get this information soon. And oh I got the singles from HMV oxford circus.

November 30, 1999 - Here is a summary of the situation with this single from Nadyne Mielke:

These are, to the -best- of my knowledge, the total list of fuck-ups on Atlantic's part on the 80s single:

1) UK: Both singles have "Famous Blue Raincoat" and "Twinkle", regardless of what the packaging states.

2) UK: Both singles have "Baker Baker" and "Winter", again regardless of what the packaging states.

3) Australia: The 80s single (only one released down there) actually has the most recent release from the band Everything but the Girl.

There have been some questions as to whether or not (2) actually exists -- as someone put it to me, there appeared to be a number of rumormongers out there but no substantiation of it. [Note from Mikewhy: Several readers have emailed me and said that #2 does indeed exist!]. I ordered the 80s singles from CDNow, and got one of them today. The liner and the printing on the disc say that it's the one with FBR, but sure enough, I'm listening to BB right now.

I find it amusing that the note inside from CDNow says that the other 80s single is backordered. I wonder if CDNow returned the other one to Atlantic, thinking that only it was incorrect?

There is -no- difference between (1) and (2). The CDs are identical, the liner notes are identical, the catalogue numbers are identical. There is absolutely no way to know which 80s single you got without opening it up and listening to it.

Likewise, there is nothing external to (3) to tell you whether or not you're getting the correct one.

It does not appear that Atlantic has re-released this disc yet, and no-one seems to know when they will (or even if!). [Note from Mikewhy: Some people claim that both or just one disc was re-released, and there are reports now in the U.K. that some people are getting both singles correctly now in SOME stores.]

These singles will likely not increase in value. (1) is all over the place. (2) is harder to come by, although if you can get it from CDNow it should be in wider circulation in the very near future. The songs on (2) are available on the US Oceans single anyway, so there's no reason for most folks to be terribly interested in it. (3) is, IMHO, the only one with any shot at increasing in value; and even then, I can't see it going up in value that much.

Regardless, the only people to whom all of this will be of any interest are the true completist freaks *cough*me*cough* who must have everything with Tori's name on it. Given how widespread these issues are, I'm sure all of us freaks have multiple copies of each fuck-up by now. ;)

November 30, 1999 - Here is a post in reaction to Nadyne's comments above from torture garden:

On the Australian release, please note... /nad wrote:

"3) Australia: The 80s single (only one released down there) actually has the most recent release from the band Everything but the Girl. "

Only a limited number of cd singles like this were released in Australia, and it seems to be regionally specific - it appears that these are not a random selection littered across the country, but were released, it seems, in 'faulty' batches.

However, the single that was released with the correct music on the disc was still choc full of typos - tori is credit for writing famous blue raincoat (listed on the cd as 'blue raincoat') while leonard cohen is credited with 'Twinkle'...

"Likewise, there is nothing external to (3) to tell you whether or not you're getting the correct one".

chances are, you are getting GOT80's with twinkle and famous blue raincoat. The EBTG was *not* an error on all of these singles, only a few.

"(3) is, IMHO, the only one with any shot at increasing in value; and even then, I can't see it going up in value that much."

I can, considering it was only a few batches that were released with this error. Most Australian GOT80's singles - ignoring the typos - are as the packet states. If you have fluked one of these EBTG ones, hang onto it, as i suspect as it comes out how relatively rare they are in relation to the 'normal' Australian GOT80's single, the value may indeed increase (assuming that the people who have gotten one of these actually realize what it is!).

November 30, 1999 - Here is more info from Tim Brooks:

Just to advise that the report that the second CD is available in the London stores is correct. I have (at last) managed to find a copy in both HMV and Virgin that actually plays correct B sides.

The guy i spoke to in Virgin knew all about it and said they pulled all the copies of the shelf on the 2nd day after a number were returned on the release date. They apparantly received a new batch the following week.

How Atlantic/EW ? can claim this had no effect on chart placing is incomprehensible. The whole point of releasing 2 different parts to a CD single is to give an additional boost to initial chart placing for what is now a ridiculously fasy moving chart here in the UK. The loss of sales for the 2nd CD therefore had a major impact on the low initial chart placing - and perhaps resulted in the non showing of the recorded TOTP appearance would have been aired resulting in more awareness/sales.

After the failure to release a second single from SFTCH one fears they are unlikely to release anything more from the latest as well!!!

December 18, 1999 - Here is more info from Mike Snowden:

Here's an update on what I've found - it includes info you have already posted to be comprehensive as possible.

Disk 1

"Type 1"
On Silvered side: No two tone effect, "AT0077CD1 : Mastered by DocData". "IFPI LEA1" (mirrored). The The inner track area is about 67mm across, but this is quite hard to see.
On Label side: Blue/Light Blue printing. Copyright ends "A Time Warner Company".

The tracks flipped version is basically the same as this one, but the inner track area is about 70mm across, and there is only a single dot after the CD1 "AT0077CD1 ." The width difference is marginal, but visible, especially if you have two side-by-side. It may be easier to measure out from the inner ring on the silvering, as there is about 1.5mm difference, and it is easier to measure. The single dot is the give-away - it is central, so it is definitely a different letter.


"Type 2"
On Silvered side: Two tone effect, Barcoding, "IFPI L012" on silver, various codes on hub. Warner Logo, "756784526-2 09/99" The inner area track is about 75mm across

On Label side: Either Blue/Light Blue or purple/lilac printing. Copyright ends "A Time Warner Company. Made in Germany". Windows CD player reports all disks as the same one - identical track lengths, etc.

Disk 2

These are easier to tell apart, as the codes are different.

The correct disk has the code "S AT 0077 CD 2 02" "DISCTRONICS" and "IFPI L205" on the silver side.

The tracks flipped version has the code "S AT 0077 CD 2 01", "DISCTRONICS" , and the "IFPI 8714" is embossed and not mirrored in the silvering.

The Australian & European "Glory Of The 80's" Single

October 15, 1999 - The Australian and European versions of the single will consist of just one CD and will contain the same tracks as the UK Disc 1.

The Australian single was released on on October 11, 1999 (It may have actually been released on October 4, 1999, but most places were not able to get it in stock until October 11!) and is the same as the European version. Below you can see scans of the Australian single from Toriphiles Steven J. Lawrence and Astred. Click on any one to see larger.

Click For Larger Image

(116K) 707 x 521

(65K) 591 x 598

The credits are incorrect on both the Australian and European releases. They credit Famous Blue Raincoat to Tori and Twinkle to Leonard Cohen!

Several people who ordered the Australian import from Amazon.com, and apparently a small number of Toriphiles in Australia, report that when they played their copy of the single, instead of hearing Glory Of The 80s, they heard the latest album from Everything But The Girl! This problem appears to be rather minor in scope and limited to certain regions of Australia and only some of the people who ordered it online. It was not as prevalent as the U.K. problems detailed above.

The European version is also out, at least in some places. Here is a report from TJ.Ren, who bought the single in Singapore in late September 1999:

Just picked up Glory of the 80s @ Sebawang Music - a local CD chain. I don't believe the international stores in Singapore - HMV & Tower - carry it yet. It was selling for S$9.90 (US$6.20) [Note from Mikewhy: I think this is an import from Germany]

I'm unable to scan the cover but it's in black&white. Tori is leaning forward, wearing a body-hugging long-sleeved blouse & what appears to be really tight black leather pants. In the upper right corner is a reflection of her in a mirror held up by a male hand with a signet ring on the ring finger. The title "glory of the 80s" is in torquois blue" followed by "tori amos" in a paler shade.

Track listing:

1. glory of the 80s 4:01
2. blue raincoat live 5:24 ("famous" IS left out)
3. twinkle live 2:48

Here's a transcript of her intro to "blue raincoat". Give & take a few words here & there. "The guys go off now & we do a couple of songs. I haven't done this one on the whole tour so... em, it could be a disaster. So, y'know, if I forget the words just scream them out. [screams] ...ok... [starts playing] I know how you feel lads. I need bigger hands. It's tough [???]." By far, the most heartfelt of the live tracks I've heard on the singles. Absolutely gorgeous piano flourishes weaving the song together. Definitely ranks with Jennifer Warnes' as one of the definitive renditions of the song.

"twinkle" - Very tender, fragile even. Filled with warmtth. Shame it ended too soon.

Toriphile Stuart KOE also purchased this single in Sinagpore, but thinks it is a German import. It is hard to tell because many imports are made in Germany but that does not mean they are local German releases. In any case, the single Stuart bought had the set list above and he said it came with a monotone bluish cover.

The "Glory Of The 80's" Video

November 7, 1999 - Jen placed photos from the Glory Of The 80s video on her web site Purplesque, and gave me permission to post them on the Dent. You can find them on my Glory Of The 80s Video Page, which also contains full details about the video!

You can find Glory Of The 80s wallpaper (featuring photos from the video) and other designs at the From The RaysinGyrl Hotel web site. (Check out the TidBits section.)

There is also a web site called The Tori Amos Videography Pages which is a great resource for getting details on and viewing many of Tori's videos! Surf on over and check it out. They include the new Glory Of The 80s video and made this screen shot, which I include below.