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Special Forces Running Order

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 8:51 am
by wind_up_toy
Apologies if this has been covered before (can't see anything in the album details on this site), but does anyone know the background on why the running order of the tracks on this album vary?

For example, original vinyl copies have this:

1. Who Do You Think We Are;
2. Seven And Seven Is;
3. Skeletons In The Closet;
4. You're A Movie;
5. You Want It, You Got It;
6. Vicious Rumours;
7. Prettiest Cop On The Block;
8. Generation Landslide '81 (Live);
9. You Look Good In Rags;
10. Don't Talk Old To Me; and
11. Look At You Over There, Ripping The Sawdust From My Teddybear (not actually included).

Whereas other CD and vinyl copies have this order:

1. Who Do You Think We Are;
2. Seven And Seven Is;
3. Prettiest Cop On The Block;
4. Don't Talk Old To Me;
5. Generation Landslide '81 (Live);
6. Skeletons In The Closet;
7. You Want It, You Got It;
8. You Look Good In Rags;
9. You're A Movie; and
10. Vicious Rumours.

Most sources seem to use the latter as the 'official order' so interested to know why that is the case too!

Re: Special Forces Running Order

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 9:58 am
by Si
From what I can see no copy had the listing you list first. They all have the second listing. Look at the label images here.
https://www.sickthingsuk.co.uk/01-disco ... forces.php
All seem to have Prettiest Cop as track three.

However the back covers listed the songs in the wrong order and included Teddy Bear. Teddy Bear was to be on the album up until relatively late in the production process, after the covers had been designed 9and possibly printed). I would presume when it was removed from the album the track listing was changed to compensate, but no one updated the back cover listing until it was reissued years later.

Re: Special Forces Running Order

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 10:59 am
by wind_up_toy
Thanks Si, that's great and you're quite right that the actual musical content is always the same (i.e. the 2nd list I provided). It's very interesting to think that the late removal of the final track resulted in the rest of the album having a notably different flow. Who knows what the thought process was!

Pretty amateurish that the sleeve wasn't amended to reflect the change, but then there are plenty of other examples of this type of thing out there!

Re: Special Forces Running Order

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 1:18 pm
by Dannorama
The reason this happens is most often logistics. The art department is given orders, and album covers get made before the producer nails down the actual sequence of songs.

Re: Special Forces Running Order

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 9:49 pm
by Daggers & Contracts
Also, They may have not numbered or listed particular tracks as Side 1 or 2 on the Vinyl release for that very same reason. As far as AC's record of releases goes that was a pretty quick turnaround after "Flush The Fashion".
It may have been "Fast Tracked" to coincide w/the Tour. :8):

Re: Special Forces Running Order

Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2020 9:43 am
by wind_up_toy
Thanks for the comments everyone, most useful and gratefully appreciated!

Re: Special Forces Running Order

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2020 8:12 pm
by VinceLeeRose
If the track list with Teddy Bear was the original order, I wonder if Vicious Rumors had the Who Do You Think We Are Reprise tagged at the end of it, or if that was added later. Is it on the acetate? I know there’s some Different mixes on there

Re: Special Forces Running Order

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2020 9:57 pm
by Si
VinceLeeRose wrote:
Wed Jul 15, 2020 8:12 pm
I wonder if Vicious Rumors had the Who Do You Think We Are Reprise tagged at the end of it, or if that was added later. Is it on the acetate?
No. It just fades out on the Acetate.