| t y p e |
Single |
| l a b e l |
Sub Pop |
| c a t a l o g # |
SP23 |
| f o r m a t |
7" / Folded Sleeve |
| l e n g t h |
|
| m a d e i n |
United States |
| r e l e a s e d i n |
United States |
| d a t e |
1988.11.01 |
|
|
|
q u a n t i t y
| |
· 1000 w/ hand-numbered sleeves.
· 100-200 w/ unnumbered sleeves.
· Unknown amount of test pressings.
|
|
|
a v a i l a b i l i t y
|
t r a c k l i s t
| |
Side A
- Love Buzz (w/ cartoon intro)
|
|
Side B
- Big Cheese
|
|
c r e d i t s
| |
Love Buzz
b/w
Big Cheese
Kurdt Kobain: vocals, guitar
Chris Novoselic: bass
Chad Channing: drums
Recorded at Reciprocal Studios,
Seattle. Produced by Jack En-
dino & Nirvana.
Photographs by Alice Wheeler
Inner Label Design by Susanne Sasic.
Jacket Design by Lisa Orth.
Love Buzz written by Robby Van Leeuwen.
____/1000
|
n o t e s
| |
Both songs were later released on Bleach, though "Love Buzz" (originally performed by Shocking Blue) was remixed. The cartoon intro is a brief clip taken from one of Cobain's early sound collages, "Montage of Heck."
This was Nirvana's first single, as well as the first item issued to members of the Sub Pop Singles Club. All copies are pressed on black vinyl (45 rpm), though sleeves may vary:
-
Numbered Sleeves
1000 copies were hand-numbered with a red marker. (Examples of the numbering can be found in the Owners' List section.) Matrix etchings (see below) and sleeve quality are key features of this item if you are concerned about fakes.
Unnumbered Sleeves
A Sub Pop invoice indicates that 1200 sleeves were made. Considering that 1000 were used for the hand-numbered single, that leaves 200 extras, apparently with a red slash instead of numbers. The extras were given out to those closely involved, as stated by Charles Peterson:
-
"I will have to look at my Love Buzz single. I might have two and I'm pretty sure that one of them is unnumbered. I was the shipping boy/photographer at Sub Pop at the time and if I recall there was about 100 unnumbered overruns which went mostly to staff and friends. I think Jon and Bruce have most of those squirreled away."
No matter how many records were made and what sleeve they came in (numbered or unnumbered), the vinyl should be exactly the same, including the matrix etchings. This is corroborated by those that have an unnumbered version. I mention this because there are counterfeit copies with unnumbered sleeves. Those don't have the red marker slash, but it would be very easy to reproduce this feature.
In addition to the Sub Pop crowd getting unnumbered copies, quite a few were shipped overseas. Some were given out as promos, others were sold retail. (It's been said that Australia may have received the most exported copies.)
There are also a few copies of the test pressing and numerous counterfeits.
|
m a t r i x n o t e s
| |
If your single does not have the codes below, you've got a problem. (See also Real or Fake? and F Is For Fake.) All codes are hand-etched, except for Kdisc which is done by machine.
|
s i d e a m a t r i x c o d e
| |
SP-23-A Why Don't You Trade Those Guitars For Shovels? L-31540 Kdisc
|
s i d e b m a t r i x c o d e
s o u r c e s
|
|
|
|
|
