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saints and sinners: information

  • Brian Hogg sent the Abusers' first demo tape to Stiff Records and Chiswick Records in April 1977. Only Chiswick followed them up. Boss Ted Carroll loved their name.

  • Ted Carroll played the demo tape so much he managed to lose it. The band sent another.

  • Saints And Sinners and Dead Vandals were lifted directly from the demo tape.

  • The single was pre-sold on the name alone.

  • Chiswick planned to release the single in August, but it didn’t appear until November. By that time, the Abusers were recording and gigging under the name of Simple Minds.

  • Jim Kerr and the band’s manager (presumably Scott McArthur) tried to persuade Carroll to change the name on the single to Simple Minds. Carroll was reluctant to do so, lying that the labels had already been printed.

  • Simple Minds #1 celebrated the single's release by splitting up.

  • As punk sold extremely well, Chiswick pressed up 15,000 copies. It didn't chart.

  • Mint copies can still be tracked down.



saints and sinners: quick reference
7" Saints And Sinners Chiswick NS 22
A1. Saints And Sinners(1:50)
B1. Dead Vandals(4:00)





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