75 Albums in 75 Days – X-Ray Spex: GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS, by Tom Kipp

Having completed my “50 Albums in 50 Days” expansion of Mr. Chris Estey‘s August 24th directive “to post 25 albums in 25 days that have had a major CREATIVE impact on you”, I’ve decided to add a THIRD [slash] final batch of 25, in order to fill some remaining “gaps”—at least as I perceive such matters—in this, ahem, “map of my musical sensibility”!

I also want to nominate 25 MORE friends whom I’d love to see post their own sets of “25 albums that have had a major CREATIVE impact on me”! (Though of course NO ONE should feel the least bit obligated to do so.)

As before, I’ll be posting “just album covers without any explanation”, though I AM planning to craft and post a summary essay once this madness reaches its Ballardian “terminus”!

By the by, please feel free to follow the eventual links (in the comments) to EAST PORTLAND BLOG, where my indefatigable EPB editor, Ricky, has been re-posting these daily album selections—in an expansive layout where you can view ALL the variant album covers and aural media formats AT ONCE—plus a link to one song I’ve chosen to spotlight from each recording!

If you’ve missed any albums along the way, wish to revisit a particular selection, or would simply enjoy listening to the songs, you’ll find it MUCH easier to scroll back through these posts on EAST PORTLAND BLOG than to attempt such an endeavor via Facebook!

To simplify matters further, here’s a direct link to the “Tom Kipp” section of EPB, which presently contains/archives over 200 of my posts (on a wide variety of subjects!), going back to June 25th, 2010:

https://www.eastportlandblog.com/category/tom-kipp/

Today I nominate: Deborah Scherer

Day 57:

X-Ray Spex: GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS (EMI International Records, UK, LP, 1978)
X-Ray Spex: GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS (EMI International Records, UK, cassette tape, 1978)
X-Ray Spex: GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS (EMI Records, Japan, LP, 1978)
X-Ray Spex: GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS (EMI Records, Portugal, LP, 1978)
X-Ray Spex: GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS (Caroline Blue Plate, US, re-sequenced compact disc reissue w/ 4 bonus cuts, 1991)
X-Ray Spex: GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS (Virgin Records/Art-I-Ficial Products/Caroline Records, UK/Europe/US, re-sequenced cassette tape reissue w/ 4 bonus cuts, 1991)
X-Ray Spex: GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS (Earmark Records, Italy, LP reissue—picture disc, 2001)
X-Ray Spex: GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS (Silverline Records, US, re-sequenced multichannel DVD-Audio reissue w/ 5.1 Surround Sound—deletes 3 songs from original LP & adds 3 singles tracks, 2002)
X-Ray Spex: GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS EXPANDED (Castle Music, US, definitive compact disc reissue w/ 11 bonus cuts, including both Peel Sessions, 2005)
X-Ray Spex: GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS: DELUXE EDITION (Sanctuary Records, 2 x compact disc reissue w/ 29 bonus cuts (including 14 early demos), 2009)

Purchased: 24 November 1981 in Providence, RI (LP).

Tom Kipp

By the by, it’s so deeply unfortunate that the original X-Ray Spex held together for just one LP (though their ca. 1995 reunion record ain’t bad), and that Poly herself managed just the one fine-but-radically-different solo album (in 1980), at least until the great one she released the day before she died of cancer in 2011 (GENERATION INDIGO, cf. David Bowie).

Day 57:

X-Ray Spex: “Plastic Bag” (1978)