[Experimental Day] -- Psychic TV were not just an experimental post-punk band working out of England in the 1980s. They were also the "musical arm of upstart occult organization Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth (TOPY)" [Pitchfork, July 2017]. And shortly before Christmas day in December 1984, forty years ago this week, they released their latest offering: Pagan Day. It was a limited edition picture disc, with only 999 copies available, all of which were at the Rough Trade record shop in London [ibid].
This record kind of captures that feeling of taking song ideas from a notebook and working them out in a sort of live, improv recording. That isn't to say that the record feels or sounds unfinished, but it does sound stripped down with less studio fabrication or gimmicks. As befits a band like Psychic TV – and this material – there were no singles released, no music videos recorded.
The embedded YouTube playlist here has the full 11 tracks of the original release as well as a bonus track ("Farewell") included on later reissues. That bonus track is inexplicably positioned close to the middle at track #7, which mirrors the 2017 reissue by The Sacred Bones Record Society (and available on Bandcamp). The 1994 Cleopatra Records re-release, however, correctly positions "Farewell" near the end of the album, along with two additional bonus tracks – "Unclean (Gen's Mix)" and "Pirates."
Flashback: Pagan Day (December 23, 1984)
And that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
I'll see you in seven!
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