The Damage Done (single)
The Damage Done was The Sisters' first single, recorded "...to hear ourselves on the radio."
They swear that John Peel played it a couple of times, which was recently confirmed through the research
of the wonderful people at John Peel Wiki.
Read everything about THE MAKING OF ... the first single... on The Sisters' very own webpage.
Some further interesting details on the broadcast of The Sisters' first single can also be found in the lovely
I Was A Teenage Sisters of Mercy Fan blog under Sisters Mysteries V – did Peel play Damage Done?.
See also this thread @The Heartland Forums and John Peel Shows 1980-85.
The tracks of the Damage Done single were re-issued in 1992
on the 2LP-compilation of early Sisters singles Some Girls Wander By Mistake
Release Notes
- Label: Merciful Release
- Format: 7" single
- Catalogue#: MR7
- Released: 11/80 (UK)
Remarks
- This was an edition of 1,000 copies. Half of the copies have, however, the labels reversed.
- The singles come with a small information insert.
- Produced at Ric Rac Sound Studio, mastered at Porky's Mastering, lacquer cut by Porky
- Published by Copyright Control
- Pressed at Portland Recording Studios Ltd., London.
- The Damage Done acetate and at least one white-label test pressing, both with Portland Studios invoice, do still exist.
- The tracks of this very first single appear on a countless number of Studio Bootlegs.
- The single itself has been faked on several occasions!
The most famous - and also first and insofar quite searched for - fake copy is the Japanese one.
- Some obvious remakes, which do not attempt to fool customers as they have the release year 2009 printed
on the back cover, were produced by bootleggers as well, see The Damage Done (Australian re-release)
and/or The Damage Done (2009). Even less mistakable are the 1987 Primary releases...
- A The Damage Done Russian flexi does of course exist as well.
Real and fake versions
There appear to be more fakes of The Damage Done in circulation than genuine copies.
As the real ones can reach prices far above £300, it is important to know the difference.
The Heartland Image Gallery has scans of both the real and fake sleeves, along with
pointers on how to tell the difference, see: Damage Done genuine and fake sleeve scans,
see also detailed informations on this issue in F is for Fake
Bizarrely enough, some collectors seem to take the stance that the fake is nearly as rare as the genuine one,
and thus in recent times even the fake has become semi-collectible.
A clear feature to distinguish original from fake copies are the typical Porky run-outs:
Matrix / Run-outs The Damage Done original 7" single
- Side A: MR-7-PICTURE-1 / EG / A PORKY PRIME CUT / FOR SPIGGY
- Side B: MR-7-WORDS-1 / EG / ANUDDER PORKY PRIME CUT / FOR TRIXIE
Track List
| Side A | Duration | Side B | Duration |
| A1 The Damage Done | 3:04 | B1 Watch | 3:12 |
| B2 Home Of The Hit-Men | 0:34 |
Notes
- Home Of The Hit-Men is only listed on the label of side b, not on the cover.
- The Damage Done was allegedly sung and written by Andrew, Watch and Home Of The Hit-Men by Gary.
Band/Recording Personnel
- Gary Marx - Guitars, Vocals
- Andrew Eldritch - Vocals, Drums
Additional Pictures
- Please click into files for larger views -
