Heartbreakers L.A.M.F. - The Found '77 Masters Record Store Day 2021 Edition

Record Store Day 2021 Drop 2 release. An archaeological discovery! A newly-found copy of the original 1977 Track Records master tape, without 'mud'!

This classic punk album, recorded in London by the New York band featuring two New York Dolls, was always controversial - and not just for the acronym. Upon its release on Track Records in 1977, it was widely condemned for having a 'muddy mix' - later found to be a mastering fault. When Track went bust the following year, manager Leee Black Childers burgled the office and liberated the tapes - he found everything except the master.

Subsequent releases were remixed from the multi-tracks or compiled from outtake mixes - the 'lost '77 mixes' in 1994 being well-received and the version most known ever since. A lift from the vinyl didn't achieve much clarity. Meanwhile, fans found the '77 cassette version didn't have the infamous 'mud', nor did certain European vinyl matrixes.

In 2020 a chance meeting led to Daniel Secunda's archives. He was an old-school music biz pioneer who understood punk, was a Track Records director, and the Heartbreakers’ L.A.M.F. co-producer. In amongst his many tape boxes were two with no artist name, marked 'Copy Master 12.7.77'. They turned out to be a crystal-clear L.A.M.F., just as the band and producers intended it.

Sadly, in August 2020 the Heartbreakers co-lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Walter Lure passed away. He was the last of the Heartbreakers’ L.A.M.F. line-up: Johnny Thunders died in 1991, Jerry Nolan in 1992, and Billy Rath in 2014. Walter's autobiography is published in paperback in May 2021.

For RSD Drops 2021, a limited edition release on purple vinyl with new notes by Simon Wright, plus a poster featuring a Roberta Bayley cover outtake picture.