George Harrison-Ohnothimagain (1987, Unofficial)

 

Artist: George Harrison

Title: Ohnothimagain

Label: Loka Productions S.A.

Format: 2XLP

Cat #: WX 122

Year of Release: 1987

Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 1987 unofficial

Listed Condition: VG+/G+ minor water damage on sleeve, in shrinkwrap

Sell Date: 3/3/21

Sell Price: $34.99

Discogs Last Sold: 7/6/30 $31.50 VG+/VG

Low: $19.99

Median: $29.88

High:  $50.00

Current low price: $45.00

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 1

Have/Want: 77/25

Where Sold:  Southsea, Portsmouth, UK

Time it took to sell: 5 years

Where and When Bought: Worcester, That's Entertainments new 1987/8

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: C+

Sad To See It Go: No

In the wild west of Discogs a title like this is usually taken off the sales list.  Sometimes legit releases get taken off and boots are left on.  Perhaps Loka Productions S. A., the owner of the Dark Horse trademark this label is credited to,  put this out the way Dylan put out a handful of pressings in small record stores to retain copyright.  Perhaps pigs will someday spout bacon wings and fly.  I think the pig flying might have greater odds, but anything is possible.  This album has a history of Discogs sales where other Beatle/related boots are generally banned from the site, so who knows.  Ebay and Facebook marketplace are where people unload their vinyl boots from the 70's and 80's generally if you wanna talk about the wild west.

So let us pretend Ohnothimagain is a god honest legitimate release from L'Angelo Mysterioso for the purposes of this blog and let some hired hand deal with blocking the release from the marketplace if it isn't.  As a listen, start to finish,  Ohnothimagain is a pretty dull affair with some cool exceptions.  Nobody went through the effort to upload it on youtube, but as usual you can often stream the tracks if you make the effort.  

The release is split into 4 themed sides.  The first is Handmade Music, soundtrack songs from Harrison's film company.  The side opens with a wretched duet with Vickie Brown, the title track from "Shanghai Surprise." A couple original mixes follow of "Someplace Else" and "Breath Away From Heaven" also were on Shanghai Surprise and were re-recorded for Cloud Nine.  Then comes the first of three versions of "I Don't Want To Do It" remix from Porky's Revenge.  I actually bought the Porky's Revenge soundtrack, and was fine to not have three other versions of it, much less hear those versions of it in a single listen, but there you go.   The most memorable music on this side is "Time Bandits" and "Dream Away."  I was so excited to see Time Bandits in the movie theatre when it came out, but I found myself an extremely bored 11 year old.  I wanted Terry Gilliam Python funny, not fantasy.  Sometimes medieval fantasies can't translate to the material world and I had to be forced to watch Brazil a few years after that came out. 

Side 2 is the Demos and Such side.  What better way to kick off the side with a demo of "I Don't Want To Do It."  The best demo track is Dylan's "Abandoned Love."  The Dylan version was a Desire outtake that came out on the Biograph box.  The Dark Horse demo era is covered by versions of "Sue Me, Sue You Blues," "The Pirate Song," "I Don't Care Anymore" and "Dark Horse." The side closes with the original mix of "I Don't Want To Do It."  It reminds me that I never actually SAW Porky's Revenge, just bought the soundtrack for the George track.  The original Porky's was enough for me and I had already skipped Porky's II: The Next Day.  Maybe now at 50 I have matured to the point where all 3 Porky's films watched back-to-back-to-back will take on a deeper meaning.  If you ain't humming "I Don't Want To Do It" after listening to sides one and two, you ain't listening.  

Side 3 covers the Somewhere In England outtakes, creatively titled Elsewhere In England.  Before Lennon's murder Somewhere In England was rejected for not having a single or anything resembling a hit.  "All Those Years Ago" changed all that and a massive hit ensued.  Death sells.  Rejected songs and mixes include "Flying Hour," the original mix of "Lay His Head," "Sat Singing," "Tears of the World," and the original mix of "Save The World" with all sorts of apocalyptic sound effects. 

Side 4 entitled Rockabilly Roots is from Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session recorded live in 1985.

Nice release for having, not so much for repeated listening.