“Bad Part Of Town” + 3
by The Seeds
2013 7-inch x2 (gatefold)
Label: Sundazed [S2-264]
In 2013 for Record Store Day, Sundazed Records released a very nice package of The Seeds’ four known MGM songs from 1970. The great-sounding repressings came in a deluxe little 7-inch gatefold double-vinyl set with extensive illuminating liner notes and rare photos of 1970-era Seeds on the inside.
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- Front cover.
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- Back cover.
Both of the MGM singles, "Bad Part Of Town" b/w "Wish Me Up", and "Love In A Summer Basket" b/w "Did He Die", come on black-vinyl singles with yellow labels that reproduce the look of MGM’s concurrent promo labels. (The first single was in fact released with a stock label but Sundazed chose to use the promo version for both, perhaps in the spirit of consistency. It would have been even cooler for them to mock up a stock label for the second single instead; an opportunity wasted.)
Inner essay and pictures (folded out).
In fact, the labels are so similar to the originals that you have to look hard to see that this is the 2013 Sundazed version. Peer closely at the left side of the label for the word “Sundazed”.
Copies of the original promo singles are not too hard to find but generally cost in the many tens of dollars each, more if they’re in great shape. The Sundazed gatefold double-single of Sky Saxon’s final Seeds gasp – four uniformly excellent songs – is a beautiful way to get all of them in one attractive and definitive set.
The liner notes shed light on the many lineup changes and the general history of Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper, and the new Seeds members around this time, an era that has long been the subject of speculation and mystery. The photos of the band – cheerful Daryl, grumpy-as-ever Sky, and the bleary-looking new guys – are especially nice to see.
Even if you have copies of the original MGM singles, this Sundazed double-45 set is recommended for Seeds fans.
