Rough Trade 45s: Volume 2

Rough Trade Records to release Volume 2 of seven-inch singles boxset on 30 October

Nine disc set includes repressings of handpicked 1980s and 1990s releases from The Fall, Scritti Politti, Robert Wyatt, Aztec Camera, The Go-Betweens, Jonathan Richman, The Sundays & Mazzy Star

Additionally The Smiths’ The Headmaster Ritual becomes a Rough Trade single especially for this release at Morrissey & Marr’s request, with unique b-side plus new artwork from Morrissey

Sleeve notes feature new interviews with Rough Trade co-MDs Jeannette Lee & Geoff Travis, plus contributions from Elvis Costello, Harriet Wheeler, Anton Corbijn, Stewart Lee and more.

Rough Trade Records will release a second volume of their acclaimed boxset series tracing some of the key seven-inch singles in the independent label’s history on 30 October.

Following the first set which came out last year and focused on the indie’s first few years of existence, Volume 2 will feature nine seven-inch singles from the 1980s to the early 1990s, marking the period when Rough Trade came of age as a label.

Handpicked by Rough Trade’s co-MDs, Jeannette Lee and Geoff Travis, the tracks represent a mix of key releases and personal favourites.

Starting with The Fall’s 1980 Totally Wired, Scritti Politti's The Sweetest Girl, Robert Wyatt's Shipbuilding, Aztec Camera’s Oblivious, The Go Betweens' Cattle & Cane, Jonathan Richman's That Summer Feeling and The Sundays' Can’t Be Sure have all been repressed on seven-inch, including b-sides, as they were released by the label at the time.

Mazzy Star’s cover of Love’s Five String Serenade, which appeared on Rough Trade’s single’s club in 1993, appears as the original release, but its b-side has been switched at Lee and Travis’ request for David Roback and Hope Sandoval’s version of Slap Happy’s Blue Flower to create a unique “covers release”.

In addition to these original releases, Volume 2 also boasts a ninth, ‘new’ single which has been created at the request of members of The Smiths, and will only be available in this edition. Although it was released in Netherlands, The Headmaster Ritual had never been an official Rough Trade single until now.

At Morrissey and Marr’s request the track from Meat Is Murder is backed by I Want The One I Can’t Have as its b-side, while Morrissey has overseen the creation of brand new artwork for the seven-inch. In keeping with his use of found art for The Smiths’ singles, he sourced an image of the American actor Billy Halop from 1939 especially for this single.

Both band members have contributed to the sleeve notes that accompany Volume 2, which also includes contributions from Elvis Costello, Stewart Lee, Roddy Frame, Green Gartside, Jonathan Richman, The Sundays’ Harriet Wheeler, David Gavurin and The Go-Betweens’ Lindy Morrison and Robert Forster. Plus, there is a brand new, extensive interview with Travis and Lee, who discuss the label during the 80s and 90s, the music and their collaborations with the artists featured.

The sleeve notes also contain memorabilia and imagery from the Rough Trade archive, along with contributions from Anton Corbijn, Laura Levine, Paul Slattery, David Corio and more, who photographed the artists at the time.

Like its predecessor Volume 1 – which included singes from Augustus Pablo, Young Marble Giants, Cabaret Voltaire, The Raincoats and more – this second Rough Trade seven-inch boxset will be strictly limited to 1000 copies worldwide.

9x7" - Indies Exclusive Boxset

7" - RT056 - 1980 -
The Fall - "Totally Wired"
B-Side: "Putta Block"

7" - RT091 - 1981 -
Scritti Politti - "The Sweetest Girl"
B-side: "Lions After Slumber"

7" RT115 - 1982 -
Robert Wyatt - "Shipbuilding"
B-Side "Memories of You"

7" - RT122 - 1983 -
Aztec Camera - "Oblivious"
B-Side "Orchid Girl"

7" - RT124 - 1983 -
The Go Betweens - "Cattle and Cane"
B-Side: "Heaven Says"

7" - RT152 - 1984 -
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - "That Summer Feeling"
B-Side: "This Kind of Music"

7" - RT0507S - 2026 -
The Smiths - "The Headmaster Ritual"
B-Side "I Want the One I Can't Have"
(Originally released in the Netherlands 1985 with B-side Oscillate Wildly - new B-side for this release selected by the band)

7" - RT218 - 1989 -
The Sundays - "Can't Be Sure"
B-Side: "I Kicked a Boy"

7" - 45rev19x – 1983 -
Mazzy Star "Blue Flower"
B-Side: Mazzy Star  Five String Serenade
(the single was originally released with B-side Under My Car, but has been changed at Rough Trade’s request for this edition)