This is a tale that has to be told, if only to save my reputation, not that there's much of that left these days - lol.
What happened was that the Snapper label, for whom I'd already written several sleeve notes for Ozric Tentacles reissues and, with the help of Dave at CD Services, had compiled a double CD of live PFM stuff from the 4CD import box set, contacted me to write the sleeve notes for a Magma compilation and wanted to know if I could suggest a title too. Folowing a few conversastions, it ultimately fell to me to compile tracks for the whole album which was to be a double album.
"Great", I thought, "the chance to do a really great Magma compilation". It was then that they dropped the bombshell - apparently the only albums that they could put out were the Charly label trio of "HHai Live", "Udu Wudu" and "Attahk"!!! "But you could fit all three on a double album with room to spare", I announced, "so it's not a compilation of sorts, just a three albums on 2 CD's situation, then?" The label was adamanat it was to be a compilation and what could I do to make it better. So, I gave it some thought, and came up with the idea of altering the running order of the tracks to reflect the tracks as a positively spiritual experience, the album starting relatively sedate and then gradually intensifying as the tracks went on, to give a seriously uplifting Magma experience - remembering that the album was essentially aimed at potential rather than actual fans of the band. It was shaping up rather well, I thought. I got my track selection pretty well spot on, played it back and - boy!!! - did this thing flow well, great dynamics and seriously building. I even left out a couple of short tracks that didn't fit in with the experience I was trying to create.
I then did the sleeve notes which reflected my track selection, came up with the title of "Spiritual" and all was well - a great idea done rather well. I told my good friend and Magma expert, the guy responsible for getting the Seventh label the distribution deal in the UK with Harmonia Mundi for whom he worked, the sadly now deceased Trevor Mainwaring (a wonderful bloke - such a shame!!), and he conveyed what was going on to the Magma camp - who, it turned out, knew nothing about the album at all. It was then that they blocked its release. I was told that Christian didn;t like the idea of somone "tampering" about with the albums, but think now that, even though that may well be the case, the problem was more to do with royalties from the Charly label original agreement and what the band would see from this release. Snapper paid me - the album never came out, even though the Pinnacle reps had sold it in!!!
About a year later, right out of the blue, the album came out. I presumed, although I never found out, that Seventh had sorted something with Snapper so that they got the due royalties. So, it was with great delight that I took the album out of thebox to survey the job - it was then that you could have heard the cry of "oh, f***in' hell - what on earth have they done!!!" from Dundee to Dorset.
Some bright spark at Snapper - maybe even due to pressure from the band, I don't know - had cut up what I'd done with acarving knife. Half the tracks weren't even on the album (well, not half, but a pretty substantial portion), most notably the epic long track "De Futura" to which I'd actually referred in the sleeve notes. The running order was wrong. The sleeve notes now incorrect and, really, a complete dog's dinner of the whole affair. I was gutted. Still, it's a Magma compilation, and I suppose it would do its required task, although I never did find out how many they sold, but seeing this standing on its own ina Magma section in the likes of Virgin and HMV, somehow proved and missed the point entirely at the same time - the shops would willingly stock this because it was Pinnacle and Snapper and because it was cheap, but no way were they going to stock the "official" releases - bizarre!!! Let's hope it did turn some poeple onto Magma as a result - if you were one of those people, I'd love to hear from you.
Anyway, it doesn't end there!! Just a few weeks ago, a label called Atom Music sold in a double CD called ""Uber Kommandoh", even cheaper price than the mid-priced Snapper title. I wondered what this was, and asked the label for a review copy, which they very kindly sent to me. Guess what? Yep, it's the Snapper stuff again. Now I have nothing to do with this album - Atom don't know about my involvement originally, but it's pretty well irrelevant anyway - I did a job, got paid and that was the end of it. But it does make you wonder what on earth is going on when you find this "Uber" thing has more tracks on it than the Snapper album, but still not all three albums - you'd think if they were licensing it out, that the label who gets it would put on all the tracks - bizare!!! Sad part is that, even in this state, it's a way better compilation than the Snapper one, which I presume is deleted now if this one's out, so maybe the one I did will become a rarity - I'd like to bet there are quite a few out there who hope it does - me included!!!!