I haven’t been to a tDR exhibition for many years. I first went to one in Sheffield around 1992 with a couple of tDR mad friends from University. I can remember nothing of it apart from buying a copy of UFORB from a record shop on the way back. It was the limited edition in a sealed rubber sleeve with art prints. I was strong willed and never opened it, looking upon it as an investment. I already had the album on C.D. It wasn’t much of an investment as I sold it for less than I paid for it with most of my record collection a year later in order to eat. Why am I telling you this? You’ll find out later. This tDR show promised to be a lot different to any previously held. Where as some items from exhibitions, mostly pieces created specifically for them, have been sold off afterwards, this one was basically a ‘first come, first served’ clearout of the tDR archives. With PWEI goodies to be had! I was going to attend this on the opening day with one objective: Consume. The parting of me and my hard earned cash started at 06.10 am on Saturday 6th October.
I didn’t get where I am today by not being frugal and calculated that an ‘Anytime Day Return’ train ticket would be cheaper than driving and parking. The saving could then used sweeping up the countless PWEI rare posters, flyers proof prints and tees that might be on offer. Booking a taxi to the station would also be cheaper than parking all day at the station.
Taxi - £5
Train Tickets - £28.90
Even though I’ve booked the 6.40 am direct to Sheffield, it’s still a two hour journey without changes so I nip into WH Smiths to get something to read.
I go for a music production magazine in order to read up for the PWEI covers project as the December deadline is looming.
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Computer Music Production Manual 2012 Edition - £9.99
After ten minutes of reading about things like ‘Transient Shaping’, ‘Spectral Editing’, ‘Ghost Notes’ and ‘Phase Shifting Layers’ I realise I’m in well over my head and decide instead to take some pictures of the misty morn’.
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Two hours of looking a sheep and trying to understand ‘side chain compression’ flies by and all of a sudden I’ve arrived!
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I didn’t get where I am today by not being prepared so I have some Google maps printed off (No Smartphone for me kidz - old school) to get me to the ‘Month of Sundays’ Gallery. It looks about a half hour walk and the weather is good so here goes…
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…half way there and I’ve gone a bit weak (I should have had my Shreddies) so I stop for a while to admire St Mary’s church and eat a Mars Bar Duo from a nearby garage.
Mars Bar Duo - £1
Once the sugar kicks in I’m off again and passing lots of charity shops…mmm…maybe they have some records? Some Jazz records?
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Hank Crawford Anthology - £3
The Million Airs LP - £1
It’s now 9.45 am and I’m there – look!
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The small Gallery (a converted shop space) doesn’t open until 10 am and, as I can’t see an obvious way of breaking in, I go next door for a sit down and an Appletise.
Appletise - £1.40
I pop back out and someone else is waiting as well. Competition? Will I have to push this chap aside to grab a proof print of the never released Very Metal Noise Pollution Remix 12”? it’s time to find out as a member of staff has flipped the sign on the door over from ‘closed’ to ‘open’.
The tDR exhibition is upstairs only so I have to go up some stairs. It’s pretty small with the walls crammed with framed posters and bagged posters hanging from lines…but no PWEI stuff to be seen apart from amongst the LP sleeves displayed on the wall. These are just standard sleeves and for show only.
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Now I was also hoping for some very early tDR stuff like Age of Chance or Krush stuff. You know, all the great stuff they did for FON. Well the first thing I end up stood in front of is a lovely screen print of the Krush ‘House Arrest’ poster.
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I’m not sure Ian Anderson is familiar with car boot sales but most things are priced 50p - £1 with maybe the lawnmower that was stolen from your shed last week going for £5. The Krush poster is £1000. Tempting, I know. There is also a silver disk of the Krush 45 for only £300!
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It’s not even got any of the tDR artwork on it! Cheeky. If I had a grand to spare I would probably get the poster though. It is really well printed. Not cheap tat. It is a work of art.
I spot a rail of tees in the corner and assume the PWEI stuff will be restricted to this rail. At this point there is only myself and the other eager beaver in attendance. I whizz through the rail until I get to eight or so PWEI tees.
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They are all priced at £40 which is pretty good really as they are all ‘brand new’. tDR must have some killer archiving facilities. They are all XL which is not great for me but I decide to buy one anyway as I’m probably not going to risk wearing one and discard the designs I bought back in the day and threw away…but which one did I get readers? Find out later.
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By this time it’s starting to fill up and I get chatting to a couple of other people looking for PWEI stuff. We start to wonder, if everyone is grabbing stuff, is there more stock to be put out? I ask one of the members of staff. It’s pretty busy now with people collecting stuff from the opening night but we get a quick ‘yes’. As one of the drawers in the centre of the exhibition is opened to get out some flyers (there are lots of club flyers for sale on the wall – only £8 each!) I spot a tiny PWEI flyer or something. I ask if there is price on it but the staff are a bit stressed now. I’m reduced to raking in the draw when they are not looking. In there are two tiny ‘backstage’ or ‘after party’ pass prints from the Cure For Sanity era. Probably at least £8 each…do I need these? Not really.
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I behave myself and start to actually look at the exhibition. It is mostly flyers and back stock of the self released tDR posters. There are not a lot of proof prints from record sleeves or promotional posters. It’s great stuff though and it all comes flooding back.
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You can even sit down and play the Wipeout Game! You can also buy an oversized Wipeout carton used for shop window displays for £250!
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After it’s all calmed down a bit I grab another member of staff and ask about the stuff in the draw. He’s pretty helpful so I push my luck and ask if there is any Age of Chance or PWEI stuff yet to be put out. He disappears and comes back with a couple of really nice pieces that are not priced up and won’t be going out…but might be for sale. He needs to get in touch With Ian and that might well be after the weekend. I’m not going to jinx myself here so find out next week how this goes!
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I need a break from the information overload on the walls. I pay for the tee and go for a walk.
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PWEI Family Live In Heaven Tee - £40.
Jump in my hoopty hoopty hoop, I own that.
I pop back for a second look and take some more pictures. I am out of ‘I need to spend £500+ on some PWEI stuff I don’t need’ mode and really get stuck into looking at the craftsmanship and detail on display. Some of the early prints are un cropped proofs and have handwritten notes in the margins – instructions to the printers about spot plates. This is exciting stuff for a creative failure of a graphic designer like me.
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It’s really busy again. Some guy is buying up framed A3 prints at £300 a go! The walls are getting bare now. Looks like Ian Will be doing his big shop at Waitrose this month.
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Some other chap has obviously asked if they have any Orb stuff as the staff are showing him a copy of the sealed rubber UFORB LP (see I told you you’d find out why I mentioned this LP earlier, and look, I’m telling you now). Again they say they need to get a price for this…just go on the internet mate! It’s a record! You can get a mint, sealed copy for £20 - £25 quid! Looks like it wouldn’t have been a great investment after all.
It’s time to head back home and I manage to get back to Hull for 3pm.
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Realising I’m going home to an empty fridge I do the kind of emergency shop at Tesco that only tired, single men think will last them two days. There seem to be a few items from the healthy eating food wheel missing here.
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Total Tesco Emergency Shop - £14.75
Bus Home - £1.50
Total Spend – £106.54
Number of PWEI items purchased - 1
The Carbooty Affair tDR Exhibition is open Tuesday – Saturday until the 3rd of November at the Month of Sundays Gallery, Sharrowvale Road, Sheffield.
All major Credit & Debit Cards are accepted.
