BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1981
“White Car In Germany” was a single by Scottish post-punk/new wave band The Associates. The single was released on December 5, 1981 from the bands second album Fourth Drawer Down. The swirling electronics, cold atmosphere and treated percussion were intended to sound as un-American as possible. The lyric “Aberdeen’s an old place – Düsseldorf’s a cold place – Cold as spies can be” accurately captured post-war tensions under the spectre of the bomb. “White Car In Germany” failed to have any chart success in the UK.
SIDE A:
White Car In Germany (12″ Version) 5:26
SIDE B:
The Associate 4:59
Composed By [Uncredited] – Michael Dempsey
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Situation Two – Sit11t
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: UK & Ireland
Released: 05 Dec 1981
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Post-Punk, New Wave
CREDITS:
Composed By – Rankine*, Mackenzie*
Photography By [Uncredited] – Antoine Giacomoni
Producer – Associates*, Hedges*
NOTES:
The labels says “MADE IN FRANCE”
Find the 12″ on DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Thank you for sharing this one. I just discovered these guys and can’t believe I never hears of them before.
i love it…keep it up…thankyou for doing these things
Any chance you can do some 12” singles transfers of the group Imagination?
They had some wonderful instrumental versions b-sides still unavailable elsewhere.
Imagination are one of the greatest band’s of the 80s. They just did what the hell they liked – those costumes, those TOTPs perfomances. Just perfect.
LOVING this series of Associates singles, Paul. THANK YOU! Billy MacKenzie is one of my faves. I highly recommend his biography, “The Glamour Chase” (if you haven’t already read it).
You’re welcome Kurt I will check that book out 🙂
I don’t know this one but it sounds great. Christ why did these get almost no attention when they were going?!?!
It’s interesting though how many people especially in the US are aware pf this band even though they never had any US chart success. I think these records are masterpieces 🙂
Wow! Thanks Paul, great series.
You’re welcome Joey 🙂
Funny … this single used to sound so odd to me but now I hear just how well it fits into the Associates sound and their catalogue. Thank you as always for sharing such unique treasures in such good quality.
You’re welcome VanceMan 🙂
Can we just keep The Associates running for another week or three? Loving all of these. Cheers.
Thanks Dana I wish that we could maybe an Associates series part two. There are still a few singles I don’t have that I am trying to locate 🙂
I’d forgotten this ! Great to hear it again. Thanks Paul 🙂
You’re welcome Jay65 🙂
Thanks for this Paul.
A little bit of trivia: for the b side, The Associate, Billy and Alan taped cups and saucers to their heads, and smashed them with sticks, to get the screams “just right.”
The 12″ version of White Car is the same as the LP version.
Cheers
Conrad
😀 😀 That’s awesome.
See also Julian Cope’s autobiography for similar ridiculous studio antics, eg. insisting on singing the whole album whilst naked and under a giant turtle’s shell.
For another B-Side of the period, Blue Soap, Billy got into a full bath, pulled out the plug and (with the track Kitchen Person playing in the background) extemporised until the bath drained completely.
And Fourth Drawer Down, the LP, was named after the place where Billy kept his………mood enhancers 🙂
That’s awesome I love how artists back then were so creative 🙂
Tensions build..it can only end with .. the morning after .. and a Breakfast Alone 😉
..or shan’t it?
Thanks Paul. I have the 7″ of this on the Associates “Singles” 2 set cd.
You’re welcome Omar 🙂
Hey Paul!! I hope you had a very, very nice holiday doing whatever you love most. It’s great to have you back bringing us very special 12-inches. Looking forward to this one the way I’ve enjoyed so much of The Associates discography you’ve generously shared with us. From the description, this record sounds intriguing. And I do love the cover image too. All their records have fine art direction.
Thanks again for the preservation of lost old and new favorites!
Jeff
Thank you Jeff. I had a nice little break. I did some rwesting and of course some record shopping 🙂 I love the artwork on this one too. Hope you like this record 🙂
thanks DjPaulT….the style of German is very good … always with a good beat and a good low…
You’re welcome Cristiano 🙂
Don’t think I know or recall this one. I’ll check out this synth-punk single.
Hope you like it Stefano 🙂