2000 copies of The Flaming Lips’ second cassette demo tape have been released as blue 7″ records. Pressed by Stan Getz at A&R Records in Dallas, every copy has been autographed by Wayne Coyne. This extremely rare 1983 cassette has been remastered by Kliph Scurlock for the new vinyl release. “It captures the group in a transition from its primitive shambolic drug-damaged punk-pop to the primitive shambolic drug-damaged hallucinogenic cosmic brother death rock heard on the 1st EP,” in the words of the press release. A subset of about 20 of these were already issued last month in a plexiglass box with the band’s “Fuck You Frogs” (more on that and an overview of the band’s 30th anniversary releases is here). Prior to that none of the songs from this tape – recorded September 14, 1983 – have been heard by the public in any version at any point in the band’s 30 year history.
The credits from the back sleeve (above) show the tracklist along with a picture of the actual cassette (click on the image for a larger view).
Apparently all four songs were on one side of the tape and “The Future Is Gone” and “Underground Pharmacist” had different working titles (the song names listed on Michael Ivins 1″ mixdown were used for the vinyl release). Wayne’s brother Mark Coyne sings lead, with additional vocals by Wayne and Michael. Wayne also plays all the guitar parts, Michael is the bassist and the drum throne is presided over by Richard English (shown with a young, hairy Wayne above right). Wayne’s nephew Dennis Coyne (then a baby, now frontman of Stardeath and White Dwarfs) rides a toy pink elephant on the cover, and on the back of the sleeve is pictured in front of an American flag in the arms of his alien-face-painted father Ken Coyne (Wayne’s brother; a.k.a. the suicidal Santa in Christmas On Mars):
Hear the entire remastered demo tape below, followed by a list of twitter updates from stores stocking the blue vinyl (photos and details of the Lips 30th anniversary releases are here):
Blue 7″ Side A – “The Flaming Lips Theme Song 1983” and “The Future Is Gone”
Blue 7″ Side B – “Underground Pharmacist” and “Real Fast Words”
This is a partial list (Pennsylvania’s Young One’s Records also stocked them for example). All of the stores Wayne Coyne visited over the past week on his “Record Store Tour” received them as well (Grimey’s, Love Garden etc; a complete list here). Call your local shop to see if they have the 7″ available (and if you know of a retailer not listed here, leave a comment below to help fellow fans find them – and avoid the temptation to pay outrageous ebay prices). You can also ask the above stores to sell a copy mail order (though some might refuse, others such as Harvest Records will comply).
The Future Heart 
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