Naked Raygun’s first (and best) full length, and what I feel is probably the best punk rock album from a Chicago band, came in a lot of different flavors over the decade or so that it was in print. In fact, it can get so confusing at times it might give you a headache. Take two aspirin and note the variations.
Originally this record came out in 1985 and was on black vinyl, contained an insert, and there was no barcode on the back of the sleeve and it said “Made in England” on the back as that is where Homestead/Dutch East was getting their records manufactured at the time. The insert came in two variations and I’m pretty sure they were made at the same time. It could either be forwards…
or backwards, which meant you had to hold it up in a mirror to sing along!
It was then changed at some point to having a printed inner sleeve instead of a separate insert.
Not long after that, it was reissued, this time with a barcode on the back, and the font on the spine had changed and added a -1 at the end of the HMS catalog number. This also used the printed inner sleeve as the insert.
There was also a limited red vinyl edition that I never see around. There is likely 400 or 500 of them made. It has the barcode on the back but has a reverse printed insert like early pressings did.
After that the record was out of print for nearly a decade except on a poorly mastered CD. Right before Touch and Go/Quarterstick was about to reissue the entire NR catalog on CD, Dutch east, probably in an effort to use up remaining sleeves, pressed 400 copies of the LP on green vinyl. These had black and white labels, the same sleeves as the later pressings (barcodes), and contained no insert. They didn’t last long in stores with there being so few made and that was the last of the vinyl for this record, probably forever.
Finally, the original test pressing looks like this.
So there you have it, every variation of Throb Throb I’ve ever seen. Happy hunting my fellow completists!
Goddamn, you ain’t lying. This is such a great record. They could always bring out a good 500+ people to see them in St. Louis and always put on a great show. Jeff’s clean white shirts, shiny black shoes, and clean cut hair were always refreshing to see in a scene where anticonformity had become just the opposite. And they cranked those Hiwatts really loud.
Thanks for the post–sigh, Naked Raygun, the best thing that ever came out of Chicago. Those huge shows at the Riviera were just about heart-stopping.
Holy shit you have the test pressing. I hate you. No, I don’t, but invite me over to look at it sometime.
I got that green reissue in about 2000 or something. It was the first cool Raygun record I bought.
I still think Jettison is the best Raygun record and best Chicago punk record and best album ever of any band. But, that’s just me.
Question for MXV or any gurus out there – who exactly were “LSR Records” that had a copyright on the back?
And yes indeed, Throb Throb is IMHO the best and most important record in the history of Chicago Punk.