Short Circuited at the Circus

Got a request from a visitor for a Various Artists compilation over on the High Priests of Electronic Dub post. While I was looking through VA stuff, once again realized I had been overlooking this category. I posted a couple, then got side tracked as usual. Here’s another one from the stack. Short Circuit - Live at the Electric Circus from 1978.

This 10" mini-LP was released to mark the closing of the Electric Circus, Collyhurst Street (off Rochdale Road), Manchester, England (since demolished). The Electric Circus punk venue in Manchester was scheduled to close. The reason being that Manchester Council officials deemed the club unsafe unless a major refurbishing was carried out. Due to lack of funds, their time had run out. October 1 & 2, 1977 were its final two nights. It was the weekend that all Manchester youth dreaded. The Circus, being charitable to the very end, donated the receipts from the club's closing nights to benefit cancer research. To capture the excitement of this two day event, the Virgin Sound Mobile recording studio was on hand to catch every moment on tape, for a (super-truncated) recording that would come out the next year under the title Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Circus.

 

The album was originally only available on 10" blue, black, or yellow vinyl. All of the performances on the 10" are soundboard recordings made on October 2, 1977. A printed insert sleeve contains a history of The Electric Circus venue & line-ups of the bands featured on the EP. Some copies included a dark blue promotional poster (folded in six segments) that contained a circuit diagram, band & location details, with the promotional blurb:
     "First 5,000 colour pressed on fashionable blue vinyl. Electric Circus. In handy shoplifting size. 10" for £2.99. Out now on Virgin VCL5003"

This was re-released by Virgin on CD in 1991.

Short Circuit - Live at the Electric Circus 10", Virgin UK VCL5003, 1978.
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Side One –

Stepping Out - The Fall

(You Never See a Nipple in the) Daily Express - John Cooper Clarke

At a Later Date - Joy Division

Persecution Complex - The Drones

Side Two –

Makka Splaff (The Colly Man) - Steel Pulse

I Married a Monster from Outer Space - John Cooper Clarke

Last Orders - The Fall

Time's Up - Buzzcocks

Some copies included a pink vinyl 7" version of John Dowie's "Another Close Shave".

The 7" placement was totally random. It was included with blue, black, or even orange promo copies. Some of these randomly had an orange sticker to say there was an included 7". Some had no sticker but still included the 7". Some had a full promo poster with or without the 7". It was utterly random. The CD re-released did not include the Dowie songs.

John Dowie – Another Close Shave 7" EP, Virgin VEP1004,1977.

Side One –

British Tourist

Naked Noolies in the Moonlight

I Don’t Want to be Your Amputee

Side Two –

Mew Wave

Jim Callaghan

Time Warp

Jonder, bet you never thought you’d find The Fall posted here.

NØ