Rough Trade's limited vinyl singles boxset is an 80s nostalgia-fest

Iconic London record label Rough Trade has released a second box set of singles commemorating its 50 years in the game.

The first was announced more than a year ago, and charted some of the big names from Rough Trade’s earliest years. Rough Trade 45s: Volume 2 takes on the baton, starting with releases from 1980 and continuing throughout the decade.

It’s a real celebration of the era, with reissued 45s from The Smiths, The Fall, Aztec Camera, Jonathan Richman and others.

The star of the package is a tweaked re-release of The Smiths’ The Headmaster Ritual, with direct involvement from Morrissey and Marr — a pair we typically hear bickering about each other, if they acknowledge each other's existence at all.

B-side I Want The One I Can’t Have has been added at the request of Morrissey and Marr, and the release has new artwork too — a photo of old timey actor Billy Halop.

The Headmaster Ritual was only originally released as a single in the Netherlands back in 1985, otherwise featuring as a B-side to single How Soon is Now in the US.

If the collection’s limited 1000-copy release wasn’t enough to make Rough Trade 45s: Volume 2 seem a valid collector’s item, this The Smiths release surely seals the deal.

Here are the other 45s included within the collection:

• The Fall - Totally Wired (1980), B-side: Putta Block
• Scritti Politti - The Sweetest Girl (1981), B-side: Lions After Slumber
• Robert Wyatt - Shipbuilding (1982), B-sides: Memories Of You
• Aztec Camera - Oblivious (1983), B-side: Orchid Girl
• The Go-Betweens - Cattle And Cane (1983), B-sides: Heaven Says
• Jonathan Richman - That Summer Feeling (1984), B-side: This Kind Of Music
• The Smiths - Headmaster Ritual (1985), B-side: I Want The One I Can’t Have
• The Sundays - Can’t Be Sure (1989), B-side: I Kicked A Boy
• Mazzy Star - Five String Serenade (1993), B-side: Blue Flower

This box set costs £110. It’s available to pre-order now, for release on 30th October.

And if you missed the volume 1 release and fancy that too, a double pack can be had for £190.

Among the sleeve notes you’ll find words from Morrissey and Marr — presumably again not slagging each other off for once — alongside Elvis Costello, Jonathan Richman and others. There’s also an interview with known music obsessive comedian Stewart Lee, in conversation with Rough Trade MD Geoff Travis.

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