Released
45 years ago today, it's that harbinger of mutant disco and Public
Image Ltd's second single, Death Disco, which was released on June 29th,
1979. It was a glimpse into the striking new direction the band were
heading for their soon to be unleashed Metal Box album. The single
fused the otherworldly sound of dub with a furious disco 4x4 rhythm,
underpinned by Jah Wobble's sonorous bass and over-arched with Keith
Levene's Tchaikovsky cribbed furious guitar scraping. Weaving about
within the maelstrom was John Lydon wailing away, exercising the demons
of having recently witnessed his mother's demise from cancer.
The
single was released in two forms, a 7" backed with No Birds Do Sing on
the B-side, and a 12" extended "1/2 mix" of the title track on the
A-side, and an instrumental revamp of Fodderstompf from their debut LP,
titled "Mega Mix" on the flip. This B-side is the only recording to
ever emerge from a planned re-recorded version of their debut album that
US label Warner Bros had demanded after refusing to release the
original version due to its uneven production values. The re-recorded
"First Issue" never materialized, however, and the LP remained
unreleased in the US for decades, with only this alternate version of
Fodderstompf ever surfacing.
Drums
were played by David Humphrey, who was the first to replace original
drummer, Jim Walker, after his early 1979 departure. Humphrey was gone
by the time No Birds was recorded, which features former 101er, Richard
Dudanski, on the kit. He lasted through some of the Metal Box sessions
and one live gig before departing, eventually being replaced by Martin
Atkins.
The sleeve design for
the single was taken from an original drawing by John Lydon. The 12"
mixes remained unique to that release for many years until they were
finally reissued in a couple of CD box sets, Plastic Box (1999) and The
Public Image Is Rotten (Songs From The Heart) (2018). There is also a
super-extended "1/2 Mix" variant on John Lydon's The Best Of British
£1♫'s DVD (2005).
