BESERKER – Neotrope Records

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BESERKER [V3]

The third edition of “BESERKER” by Christopher Simmons was released on commercial CD in 2000 on the Neotrope Records label. The track list was slightly different, removing the track “Sherocks!” (originally Side A, track 3) due to the female orgasmic sample from the Ensoniq Mirage being a little ‘cheeky.” Also, the post-BLUETOY track, “Densitelemetry” was added as last track on the CD.

When first released in the mid-1980s, several people questioned the spelling (“Beserker” vs “Berserker”). This was intentional, to have an original name in the wild.

Released as a full commercial shrink-wrapped compact disc, with ISRC codes, UPC/EAN barcode, and distributed by CDbaby to Amazon and other streaming services, this version also had a soft remaster in order to provide some limiting and gain to bring all the track levels more in line for a CD release. The tracks are a little “hot” for modern streaming mastering, but are intended to be an improved version of the original cassette releases.

Neotrope® Records SKU: 80153-00101-2-1 / EAN: 801530010121 / Made in Canada.

TRACK LIST
1 Beserker (Dark Village) … 05:07
2 Dream Myself … 02:27
3 Vast Indemnity … 05:32
4 Banzai Romance … 05:01
5 Princess of the Moon … 05:26
6 This is a Blank … 03:47
7 Might Have Been … 04:54
8 Carrera Obselisk … 02:10
9 Two Keys for Wednesday … 04:01
10 Apostrophe … 01:56
11 Demon’s Mark (Part 1 + 2) … 06:30
12 Demon’s Mark (Part 3) … 01:39
13 Twilight Park … 03:24
14 Densitelemtry (Theme from Viewpoints on Video Cable TV Series) … 04:27

BESERKER [V2]

The second edition of “BESERKER” by Christopher Simmons (dropping use of “BLUETOY” moniker) was released by Bang Big Recordings on cassette with a 4-color offset printed gloss cardstock J-card, and offset printed labels for each side of the cassette. Only the packaging changed, as well as retiring use of both “Bluetoy” as artist name, and “S.U. Productions” as label name.

TRACK LIST AND TIMES IDENTICAL TO ORIGINAL RELEASE.
As with original release, and with all Bluetoy/Simmons cassette releases, all tapes were duplicated 1:1 at normal speed and not using high-speed duplication methods.

ANECDOTAL: Since the the new label name was transitional, the J-cards actually say release is from Bang Big Recordings (BBR), Distributed by S.U. Productions, Redondo Beach, CA. This was due to the pre-existing DBA on file with L.A. County clerk for “S.U. Productions” (and S.U. Graphics), and not yet filed for BBR. In fact, a DBA was never filed for BBR, as that brand was abandoned in 1987 as Simmons’ main company name changed to Mindset legally (DBA, bank account, etc.). Mindset became Neotrope® in 1997 as transitional brand name change, fully migrated to new brand by 2000.

BESERKER [V1]

The original, or first, version of “BESERKER” by BLUETOY (Christopher Simmons) was released by S.U. Productions on cassette with an offset printed black ink on goldenrod paper J-card, and offset printed labels for each side of the cassette.

As was the norm for folks releasing indie cassettes properly back in the day, all tapes were duplicated 1:1 at normal speed and not using high-speed duplication methods which were believed to affect the quality of the “pressings.”

The following text is taken from the original J-card insert for cassette jewel case.

All music composed, programmed & performed by Christopher Laird Simmons from Sept. 1985 to March 1986. Special thanks to my good friend Rick Kleffel for the generous use of much of his equipment for the production of this collection of musical experiments.

Christopher Simmons (aka BLUETOY) used the following equipment in various configurations to create the music for this recording: Linn9000 with sampling, Ensoniq Mirage, Roland MKS-30, DX-21, Prophet 600, 360 Systems MidiBass, Sequential Six-Trak, Korg EX-800, Boss DE-200, Boss Flanger, and Peavey 8-Channel Mixer. Recorded direct to two-track cassette with Dolby ‘C’.

Original S.U. Productions SKUs: #SUP8507B normal bias; #SUP8507C chrome cassette.

TRACK LIST
(Track name followed by length in minutes:seconds)

SIDE A
Vast Indemnity … 5:25
Banzai Romance … 4:54
Sherocks! … 5:54
Twilight Park … 3:21
Princess of the Moon … 6:00
This is a Blank … 3:44

SIDE B
Might Have Been … 4:48
Carrera Obselisk … 2:05
Beserker (Dark Village) … 5:05
Dream Myself … 2:22
Two Keys for Wednesday … 4:05
Apostrophe … 1 :53
Demon’s Mark (Parts 1·3) … 8:17