“Damn Dog” 12-inch single

Posted on 19th September 2021 in "Times Square"

"Damn Dog" 12-inch single-sided single, Belgium, 1980, RSO 2812 062. Front cover with record label visible.  Text:  LIMITED EDITION  NOT FOR SALE  RSO 2812 062  FROM THE MOVIE TIMES   SQUARE   RSO  NOT FOR SALE - PROMOTIONAL COPY  (P) 1980  45 RPM  SABAM  2812 062 A  STEREO  The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack  «T!MES SQUARE.. DAMN DOG (B. Mernit/J. Brackman) ROBIN JOHNSON Producer Bill Oakes  (P) 1980 RSO Records, Inc.  ALL RIGHTS OF THE MANUFACTURER AND OF THE OWNER OF THE RECORDED WORK RESERVED UNAUTHORISED PUBLIC PERFORMANCE BROADCASTING AND COPYING OF THIS RECORD PROHIBITED   "DAMN DOG" Robin Johnson  Motion Picture distributed by  Excelsior Films Belgium  From the Original Soundtrack on RSO Records & Tapes  Distributed by  Polygram Records nv/sa  Polydor Division
You too might have had perhaps Robin’s only solo release, if you were a DJ… in 1981… in Belgium.

Back cover of the "Damn Dog" 12-inch single-sided single, Belgium, 1980, RSO 2812 062  Text:  PROMOTIONAL COPY  RSO 2812 062  TIMES SQUARE  A Special D.J. release  PRINTED IN BELGIUM BY DRUCO HALLEThe mind boggles at the series of meetings that must have occurred to result in the decision that this was a good idea. A 12-inch single of “Damn Dog”… but not a remix or extended version… and on the other side, absolutely nothing. In order to promote the movie Times Square and Robin Johnson, a sleeve with no pictures at all. The only single release of a song written and performed just for film, released exclusively to the Belgian market. It seems like overkill while simultaneously being half-assed.


Belgium did get its own version of the European poster, and at least one promotional magazine article. I guess this is just one more inexplicable piece of evidence of the high hopes RSO had for Times Square worldwide, when the decades since have shown that they had no real clue what they were trying to sell, or to whom.

 

 

Robin Johnson, “Damn Dog,” single-sided 12-inch 45-rpm phonograph record (AAT ID: 300028643), Belgium, 1981; 12 in. x 12 in.; RSO 2812 062 (P) 1980 RSO Records, Inc. (work)
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Times Square ©1980 StudioCanal/Canal+

 

I Wanna Be Sedated

Posted on 8th October 2017 in "Times Square"

I made another exception to my vow not to collect any more soundtrack-related items, because this one has a picture of Robin on it.

It’s the UK version of the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” single as released by RSO as a Times Square soundtrack tie-in. I might have bought it anyway, just for the fantastic illustration on the front of the picture sleeve. Luckily for me, the back of the sleeve reproduces the soundtrack album cover, so it’s a legitimate Robin Johnson collectible as well as a Ramones collectible.

 

 

The cover reproduced seems to be, however, a variant I don’t have anywhere else, where Nicky’s lapel button, which usually bears a picture of Johnny LaGuardia, is blank red, but not the featureless red of the Canadian version. This one has a light reflection painted along its upper rim, like the one that appears on the versions with Johnny on it, except no Johnny. It’s like an intermediate version that hasn’t been finished. I still don’t understand why there are so many different variant covers, all centered around what if anything is pinned to Nicky’s lapel.

“I Wanna Be Sedated” had been taken from 1978’s Road to Ruin. The b-side of the single, “The Return of Jackie and Judy,” was taken from the Ramones’ current album at the time, End of the Century, and wouldn’t have been entirely out of place itself in the movie’s soundtrack.

 

 

I’ve previously made mention of the Spanish release of this single, of which I have a photo but not the actual item.

 

 

Ramones “I Wanna Be Sedated” b/w “The Return of Jackie and Judy”, 45 rpm record (AAT ID: 300265800) with picture sleeve (AAT ID: 300266823), England, 1980. RSO 70 (2090 512) ℗1978 Sire Records Inc. ℗1980 Sire Records Inc. © 1980 RSO Records Ltd (work)
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