… but I have finally, finally managed to get the Auf Weidersehen Pet soundtrack on LP. Now, settle down, my friends, as I shall tell you a tale of wonderment, surprise, mystery and intrigue. And I’m not even drunk… yet.
It all started back in 1983, possibly 1984. Too young to remember. An hour-long television show named “Auf Wiedersehen Pet” made its way onto our television screens. In 1986, a second series was aired. In 1988, both series were repeated, albeit in half-hour chunks. At this point, I was old enough to recognise and enjoy its distinctive theme tunes, and I would often sit next to the TV with a cassette recorder, recording the theme tunes.
In the summer of 1988, just before I headed off on my holibobs to Sandy Bay, one of my friends, a lad called Darren, announced that he had the full soundtrack. Yes, it had actually been released on LP, around the time the second series had aired, and that if I gave Darren a cassette, he’d record it for me.
A few days later, (if I remember correctly, it was a Friday, the night before we went away) I was presented with a freshly recorded tape, laden with 18 minutes and 29 seconds of music. Hurrah!
That tape went everywhere with me. Every time we went on holiday, so did this tape, and I’d play it in the car, whenever we went anywhere, much to the annoyance of my parents who must have been sick to death of hearing it.
My love for the soundtrack never really went away, and as each repetition of Auf Weidersehen Pet came on TV, I would once again dig out the tape and play it. Obviously, at some point, I went through and picked up vinyl copies of the singles, though the condition of them wasn’t terribly good.
In roughly 2003, I found that the soundtrack had been released on CD, through a company named “Prestige”. To my slight disappointment, when I played it, the tracks weren’t totally original… “That’s Livin’ Alright” had every second vocal line re-recorded, “Breaking Away”, “Get It Right”, and “The Seven Again”, all faded out early, “Tonight’s The Night” was cut to shreds, knocking an entire verse out of the song, and a minute off its overall running time. The only track to survive intact was “Back With The Boys Again”.
So, it was clear that the only way to get what I wanted, was to find a copy of the 1986 LP. Unsurprisingly, this version has not been issued on CD. Ebay was the site of choice, when it comes to finding it, though it seemed to go for silly money.
Since then, that Auf Weidersehen tape has never really “gone missing”. Although I haven’t played a tape in years, it’s always seemed to have been “about”, if you know what I mean.
Chris came over the other night, and we were discussing when we were kids, and some of the old recordings I had of me as a kid. Though, 22 years on, they’re incredibly embarrassing, I still played them, and let him have a listen to what I sounded like when I was 8. Naturally, this tape was one of the ones I’d played, as the B side consists entirely of me shouting stuff into the tape recorder, you know, as kids do.
This got me itching to hear the soundtrack as it was meant to be played. I flipped the tape over, and played a few seconds. All of those memories of past summers and childish laughter came rushing back. Over the years, the tape has degraded, and although it still plays, the sound quality was hardly up to scratch. It may also have had something to do with the hi-fi I was playing it on. Either way, I wanted to listen to it properly.
Off to the afore-metioned auction site, where I picked up the following…
Yes, a gleaming copy of the LP. I didn’t know what to expect when I got it. I actually dreamt that I received it, and it was in appaling condition. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case, and it is in perfect condition. Needless to say, I have recorded it, and it’ll soon be part of my MP3 collection to treasure for another 20 years.
