Halloween In Arkham
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One of the earliest 12" vinyl Sisters bootlegs.
Remarkably, Halloween In Arkham, which features the song No Time To Cry, was released before the official single, published on March 8th, 1985.
The version available here is, however, the one of the John Peel Session 1984, the first time the song was performed live.
Release Notes
- Label: Arche Noire Records
- Catalogue#: ANR 024
- Format: 12" vinyl LP
- Released: 1985
Remarks
- Released in two editions
- The first edition is limited to 500 hand-numbered copies.
- The second edition is limited to 300 copies.
- Vinyls have plain white labels and 523-A and 523-B, respectively, etched into the run-outs.
- The cover of the first edition has a copper/gold-like coloured print, while the second edition comes with a pasted b/w copy instead.
- The picture on the front is a low resolution copy of the art work "Dreams in the Witch House" by Harry O. Morris Jr., a contemporary American artist.
- It is part of a serial of 15 grafics titled "Halloween in Arkham" created in 1979, which seems to be the origen of the name of the present album.
- The artwork itself got its title from a short story of the same name by H. P. Lovecraft, published first in 1933, whereas the city of Arkham
- is an integral part of Lovecraft's fictional universe.
- On the cover back No Time To Cry is marked as "UNRELEASED".
Sources
- Tracks A1 - B1 recorded live at Brixton Ace, London 19.2.1983
- The back cover wrongly notes: SIDE ONE - Brixton Ace, London 17.03.1983
- Tracks B2 - B5 recorded at the John Peel Session 11.7.1984
Track List
Side One
| A1 Alice |
| A2 Valentine |
| A3 Anaconda |
| A4 Body Electric |
| A5 1969 |
Side Two
| B1 Sister Ray |
| B2 Poison Door |
| B3 No Time To Cry |
| B4 Walk Away |
| B5 Emma |
| This page is Work in Progress and going to be extended as soon as ever possible |
Evaluation and Significance in Sisters Bootlegs History
The above information provides some evidence with regard to the release date and the significance of this album.
- 1. As far as we know, three 12" bootlegs were released in 1984 - Live At Brixton Ace, Psychedelic Sessions 1984
and The Lights Shine Clear Through The Sodium Haze (with its derivatives Mercyful Release and A Merciful Release).
These three were the Sisters bootlegs that started everything.
- Then, in 1985, many more new bootlegs followed with some important ones among them.
Cryptic Flowers, Halloween's Day and Knocking On Heavens Door feature live versions of the then "unreleased" No Time To Cry,
and The Dancer's Reward has the same 1984 John Peel Session track on Side B it as is available here.
The albums Armageddon Outtakes, Disguised In Black, Stonehenge and Tune In ... Turn Off ... Burn Out ... contain recordings from concerts performed 1985.
These gigs took place after the release of No Time To Cry and the bootlegs do not all feature the song.
Nowadays the order of release of these eight albums is difficult to figure out. Relatively likely, though, they were all released later than the present one.
- Still, this doesn't give us a clue for the exact release dates of the other 1985-bootlegs Live In The Troyan Horse and Possession, though the name of the latter album
suggests that it surfaced late in 1985 as the song Possession, from which the bootleg title is obviously derived, was released in March 1985 on the First And Last And Always LP
and first performed live during the Tune In - Turn On - Burn Out tour starting on March 9th 1985. Considering these facts and the presence of No Time To Cry on the album,
it seems plausible that Halloween in Arkham was among the first six 12" bootlegs ever released for The Sisters Of Mercy.
- 2. Halloween in Arkham also marked the first time that a proper Sisters song was made available prior to the official release.
All the 1984-bootlegs that had been offered so far contained alternative versions only like the Psychedelic Sessions 1984 album, or live recordings like Live At Brixton Ace
and The Lights Shine Clear Through The Sodium Haze, the latter featuring a combination with two earlier studio recordings).
- Having all these features together on one Sisters bootleg and with even an unpublished Sisters composition on top, that was something totally new, and, of course,
the bootleg became immediately sought-after. Insofar, Halloween in Arkham was right from the start an essential and significant collectors' item.
- Its significance is also reflected in the fact that over many years Halloween in Arkham was "blindly" taken as the source of information on the setlist of a concert
that didn't even take place, just because the back cover gives the wrong date for the performance. See the Gigography page for further details.
- Beyond that, the bootleg recorded at The Sisters of Mercy's 10th Stage Anniversary Gig given for Reptile House members on 16 February 1991 at Leeds University
is titled "The Return To Arkham". Perhaps, this name was chosen to render homage to the present album.
For recent price developments see sistersbootlegs/HalloweenArkham or popsike/Halloween In Arkham.
Additional Pictures
- Please click into files for larger views -
