Crass-Stations of the Crass (1979)

Artist: Crass

Title: Stations Of The Crass

Label: Crass Records

Format: 2LP

Cat #: 521984

Year of Release: 1979

Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 1979 or 1983 not 100%

Listed Condition: VG+/VG

Sell Date: 12/13/20

Sell Price: $39.99

Discogs Last Sold: 3/9/20 VG+G+ $33.78

Low: $6.76 G/G

Median: $32.14

High: $50.00 NM/NM  8/19/18

Current low price: $19.99 VG/No Cover, VG+/VG+ $54.88

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 12

Have/Want: 260/288

Where Sold: Greenfield, MA

Time it took to sell: 5 years

Where and When Bought: Worcester MA Al-Bums used around $8 mid 80's

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B+

Sad To See It Go: No

The reigning kings and queens of anarchy hold up well.  I always considered Crass a better singles band.  Sometimes bands are better defined by their singles anthologies.  The Who's Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy is one.  The Crass retrospective Best Before 1984 is another.

As for Stations of the Crass, I always thought it was a bit overstuffed for singular consumption, particularly the live side.  17 songs on the live side 4.  I’m not much of a stoner, but I had the misfortune of smoking some unexpectedly awful trip weed and tried to distract my discomfort by listening to the live side that happened to be already on the turntable around 1988 or so.  As Dagwood and Mr. Dithers were fighting it out in front of me, whether eyes were open or closed, I had to take the record off.  It just sounded too flat.  My unwanted hallucination faded into sleep with the thought that Stations Of The Crass would have to be listened to under sober, contemplative conditions.

40 years on, the original sound of Crass shines through. I didn't get around to playing the vinyl this go round, trying to get the $40 order shipped out to have a chance to get through the postal system before Xmas.  We shall see if that was successful.  Looks like our state run post is universally fucked at this time.

I streamed the vinyl version first, now I'm streaming a next generation cd version for the hell of it.  A dense record like this requires a bit of time and devotion I never fully gave it.  I guess there is a new expanded, revised version that just came out, which might've motivated this to move after sitting all these years as the sole US copy online dropping from around $75 to $40 over 5 years or so.  

The highlights?  The live "Shaved Women" was faster and more intense then the one in my head.  "Big Man, Big M.A.N." is worthy studio and side 4 live reprise.  The studio finale "I Ain't Thick, It's Just A Trick" is the most anthemic and non-sexual as anything else in their oeuvre.  History books and bibles and Farah Fawcett posters all in the fire!  The 3 studio sides are uniformly excellent in communist fashion, tracks rarely distinguishing their ranting selves between each other unless a different gender takes the helm.  The ladies, Eve Libertine and Joy Le Vivre were sorely needed to break things up in a presentation like this.  This doesn't mean Crass' dominant Ignorant isn't one of the most distinctive vocalist of the punk era.  Crass are singularly minded in approach somewhere between the Pistols and Throbbing Gristle, while saying something completely different than either of those icons. 

Since the most important topic regarding Crass is their general place in the market whilst selling their records for profit, I'll regale you with a long winded commerce story as seen through the eyes of a profiteer.   I had a panic attack with the realization that I have no idea if this is the 1979 edition or the 1983 repress, after seeing the listing had 4 different covers after the record went out.  Sometimes I swear these listings get bifurcated over time on Discogs as further details are entered and the record listings I put up have years gone by.  I got Stations of the Crass used sometime in the mid-80's in Worcester and always assumed it was an original.  I wasn't really thinking Crass was like DisChord where they would revise their 'Pay No More..." covers during the repress, yet keep the Matrix number the same (which is how I generally list titles with the catalog number to avoid this kind of hassle).  I saw an old message asking about this issue last August that I somehow missed, and now I'm wondering if I'm going to get a grumpy bargain hunter.  I say bargain hunter because this is going for $20 without the cover at all and $50 in mint condition, everything else is going for much higher euros.  

We shall see if the karma of violating the order to "Pay No More Than 3 Pounds" vs 4 Pounds to the paid equivalent of nearly 30 pounds plus shipping will come back to haunt me.  I had this fear before be proven wrong.  Usually complaints get me by surprise for an $8 record.  The things I worry about end up being a non-issue.

Such are the worries in a dysfunctional society.