U.K. SUBS - C.I.D 7" Single - City Records NiK5 - 1978

Orange vinyl edition

Run Out Text
A-Side: A Porky Prime Cut
B-Side: This Side Up The Side Below

Sleeve has some creasing, light ring wear and marks
Not a great copy - see pictures
Vinyl has some light marks, small jump on 'B.1.C' and marks to lables

Please see the other copies I have for sale, postage will be discounted for multiple items

Thanks for looking!

UK, 1978, NIK 5 "Take a tip and hear what I say"

 

 

Above: C.I.D. UK release, 1978, front & back cover.
Click to enlarge.

Cat. No: NIK 5
Label: City Records
Recorded: 11th July 1978
Released: 22nd September 1978

A-Side: C.I.D (Harper, Anderson)
Run-out groove: See main text below

B-Side: Live in a car (Harper)
            B.1.C (Harper, Garratt)
Run-out groove: See main text below

Line Up

Vocals: Charlie Harper
Guitar: Nick Garratt
Bass: Paul Slack
Drums: Peter Davies

 

Recorded July 11th 1978, in Cambridge (on the recommendation of John Peel) and produced by the band. The cover shots were taken at Battersea Arts Centre.

Pressed on eight different coloured vinyls.

Red, Olive Green and Orange (2,500 of each)
Plus Yellow (Unknown amount, see text below vinyl pictures)
These four colours have the following written in the run-out grooves:
A-Side: "FOR STRONGER PAIN RELIEF" NIK 5 A2
B-Side: "KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN" NIK 5 B2

Clear, Orange, Dark Green, Black and Blue, 2,500 of each
These colours have different writing in the run-out grooves:
A-Side: " NIK + 5 + A"
B-Side: "THIS SIDE UP THE SIDE BELOW NIK + 5 + A"

 

The two different sets of writing in the run-out grooves indicates the record was re-cut part way through the run of pressings, though the colours each plate was used on doesn't match up with the order they were released in, according to the press adverts.  It's not known exactly why this was done but the following is a response from Mike Kemp to an email to Spaceward Studios in January 2009:

"We almost always cut with George Peckham, who had a small cutting room at the back of a studio opposite BBC BH (was the studio ITC or the like - 3 letters anyway I think?). He later became so popular that his cutting room became its own business in the same location. Don't know why it was recut - maybe for a bigger production run? Or maybe the factory damaged the masters? George always put any requested comment on the runouts, it is likely that if not asked for anything special he would usually put "Porky Prime Cut". Sounds like the second cut did not have anyone requesting the specials."

Re-released on Pinnacle Records in 1979 to cash in on the success of & then re-recorded with both b-sides for the debut album  All three tracks appeared as b-sides on the 20th anniversary singles:  (Live in a car), (C.I.D) & (B.1.C). A limited editon was released in 2008.
A newer version of C.I.D appears on

Despite topping the indie and for many weeks C.I.D never made it into the main charts.

Probably the best known Subs standard written by Charlie Harper and early guitarist Richard Anderson, C.I.D has been the opening number for hundreds of live performances including , ,  & .

 

The C.I.D coloured vinyl collection:

Click on images to enlarge

 A-Side, Red Vinyl.        B-Side, Red Vinyl.
 A-Side, Olive Vinyl.      B-Side, Olive Vinyl.
 A-Side, Orange Vinyl. .  B-Side, Orange Vinyl.
 A-Side, Clear Vinyl.        B-Side, Clear Vinyl.
 A-Side, Green Vinyl.      B-Side, Green Vinyl.
 A-Side, Blue Vinyl.        B-Side, Blue Vinyl.
 A-Side, Black Vinyl.       B-Side, Black Vinyl.

 

Several reports of yellow vinyl versions have been received by T&M (see images below).

It is not known how these came to be pressed. Contemporary press adverts, like the ones featured in this article, list 'Yellow' as one of the available colours though it has always been assumed that this refers to what is generally considered to be the 'Orange' pressing, and that colour is not mentioned in any of the adverts. Conversely Red is not mentioned either and the adverts from December 1978 only mention Black and 'Another Blue'. This could be a reference to the song that became 'Blues' on 'Another Kind of Blues' and was recorded under the title of 'Another Kind of Blues' for John Peel in September 1978. It may be that what we consider to be dark green is the other blue?

Also, Nicky Garratt's early years history of the band on the New Red Archives website mentions a Yellow pressing following on from the initial four colours, 2,500 of each, but was quickly repressed on Lime Green, then again on Black. This contradicts the Another Blue theory and again fails to mention an Orange pressing.

Nicky's C.I.D collection can be seen on the bonus features for the Punk Can Take It DVD. There is an Orange but no Yellow.

The yellow versions are a solid colour and carry the following run-out text:
A-Side: "FOR STRONGER PAIN RELIEF" NIK 5 A2
B-Side: "KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN" NIK 5 B2

Several Subs fans have told us that they bought their yellow versions at the time of release and they haven't changed colour, unlike copies of Brand New Age that can develop a brown discolouration over time, so aging is not the reason. One owner was told at the time it was rare and another collector paid £15 for a Yellow copy in the early 80s, so it appears that this was known to be rare not long after original release.

The Yellow C.I.D has clearly been known of by a small number of collectors and fans for some time but only came to T&Ms attention in early 2014. It did not feature on the discography from the uksubs.com website that we used as the basis for the T&M discography when we strated building the site in 2008. A picture of a full set finally appeared on Facebook in late 2014.

A few explanations are possible: Firstly, there was a mistake mixing the vinyl colour at the pressing plant and the first run of another colour, possibly the orange, came out the wrong colour. It is not known if the plant mixed the colours or bought the raw material already coloured.

The second and more probable is that the wrong colour was picked at the beginning of a run and changed once the mistake was noticed. Yellow copies were then either just left in or some were missed and made it into shops.

It's also possible that a short run of Yellow was done to see if there was enough demand before a decision to press another 10,000 was taken. This would make sense financially though it may still have been a mistake.

All this is speculation and educated guessing but considering the number reported only just makes it into double figures it's probably not far from the truth. All the other known colours were pressed in batches of 2,500 and all regularly turn up on auction websites.

If anyone 'knows' differently then we'd love to hear from you.

Discogs yellow vinyl images

Above: A full set?

Above: The elusive yellow CID

Above: Green vinyl copy with b-side label on the a-side.

 

Above: C.I.D advert, unknown origin, from the

Above: Mailorder price list for C.I.D on black vinly, 2nd December 1978.
Unknown origin, from the

 

 

Above: Instore promo poster (Sold on ebay for over £100 in 2008).

Above: Music press ad, 11th November 1978, Sounds, page 34.

Above: Music press ad, 28th October 1978, unknown origin.
From the

Above: Early press advert with different layout, unknown origin.

 

Below: Music press news of the single release, unknown origin or date.

 

Below: Music press review, unknown origin or date.

 

Below: NME review, 14th November 1978.
From the

Below: Music press cutting, unknown origin, from the

 

Below: C.I.Ds progress through the Alternative Chart
Unknown origin, from the