Sold Date: February 11, 2020
Start Date: February 4, 2020
Final Price: £13.23 (GBP)
Bid Count: 5
Seller Feedback: 2090
Buyer Feedback: 73

Desperate Bicycles

The Medium Was Tedium b/w Don’t Back The Front

(both tracks are on both sides of the record)

Refill Records, RR2. 1977.

In 1977 a bunch of blokes in East London, who weren’t really musicians at all, decided to form a band solely for the purpose of demonstrating that anyone could book studio space, record a couple of tracks and put out a record. In doing so, they both demonstrated and helped invent, the diy spirit of punk. If you read the sleeve notes in the images above, you will get the general idea.

The Medium Was Tedium, was the band’s second single. Only 500 copies of the band’s first single, Smokescreen b/w Handlebars (RR1), released earlier in 1977, were pressed. Those all sold, so the band released a thousand copies of The Medium Was Tedium. All of those sold also, so the band used the profits to press 2,500 more copies of each. Neither single has ever been re-issued or repressed, so we know that only 3000 of the first and 3500 copies of the second were ever released. Those, of course, are very low numbers as far as record releases go. Plenty of the original pressings will no longer exist for one reason or another, so that is why original examples of both are now hard to find.

Rather eccentrically, both the songs on this single are pressed on each side – in other words, both sides are identical. The same was true of the previous release. Apparently it was technically easier (and presumably therefore cheaper) to have the record pressed in this way. The Medium was Tedium is an exhortation to go out and make a record of your own. It contains the line that sums up the Desperate Bicycles key philosophy; "it was easy, it was cheap - go and do it!" The second track is an anti-fascist song urging resistance to  the far right political party, National Front.

This copy of The Medium Was Tedium is from my personal record collection. I bought it new in 1977. It is in decent condition. The playing surfaces to both sides do have a fair sprinkling of surface marks but these are only of the very faint kind made by taking the record in and out of the sleeve. It plays very well with just a little light crackling between the tracks. Note that the side of the record with the white label does have a couple of small pressing faults. On my turntable, the record sticks in two places. This is easily rectified however, by simply increasing the tracking weight a touch. It may be therefore that it doesn’t stick at all on your turntable – I do tend to keep the tracking weight quite light normally. I think pressing faults may be quite common on this record as it was – as we have seen – made on a budget. I recall a friend of mine also bought the single at the same time as me and his stuck in a couple of places too.

The labels to the record are in nice, clean condition. The sleeve is complete and intact. It has some rubbing to the surface and a little creasing.

 Note that I am selling another punky socialist agitprop single on eBay at the moment. If you would like to view it, click on See Other Items above.

UK Postage and packing:  £2.50

International postage and packing:  Click on the “Postage and Payments” tab above to see prices to overseas destinations.

All postage prices quoted (UK and international) are maximum charges.  If postage and packing costs less than these estimates, I will refund the difference after posting (subject to the difference being £1.00 or more. Unless otherwise indicated, the postage prices I give in the listing are for a tracked and signed-for service, as required by eBay. If however, winning buyers would prefer cheaper options, I am always happy to help with that if I can. Please contact me for a quote.

I hope this description has given you enough to go on but should you require any further information, or more images, please do e-mail.  Please also look carefully at the hi-res photos – they are part of the description.  Thanks for your interest in this auction and good luck if you decide to bid.

Please note:  I will not respond to requests to close the auction early regardless of the value of the offer made.  Ending early is contrary to both the principle and spirit of an auction. It is also unfair to other eBayers who may be watching the auction intending to bid at a later time.

labour party socialist history punk rock anarchy anarchism anarchist music  militant tendency political music protest song  Dan Wigley Nicky Stephens Roger Stephens Mel Oxer Paul LeClerc David Papworth Dan Driscoll Jeff Titley