Cowboy Killers - Sweet

As I mentioned just now, I did briefly own two copies of Dub War's split with Cowboy Killers. A year after I'd bought my copy, another appeared on eBay. For a record that must have had a very small print run indeed, I was very surprised to see it again so soon. The difference with this auction was that they were throwing in a copy of Sweet by Cowboy Killers on 7" too. So amazed to see the record again, I put a bid in and decided to give the other copy to my friend Hugh. He was a Dub War fan too, and had been amused when I played him Cowboy Killers' cover of Deeply Dippy, so figured he'd enjoy it. I decided I'd keep the 7" myself. I had no plans on seeking out any of their other records, but I figured it would complement my Dub War split nicely.

This one-sided 7" is a promo from their album that was due to come out in February 1998 on T.J.'s Records. I've spent many a night in T.J.'s and had no idea they ever put out any records until I came to write about this 7". The sleeve is a pain white 7" with a folded piece of a4 paper inside it, so that the logo shows through the hole. Also inside is a small Christmas card that looks like, and probably was, drawn by a child. The b-side is etched with what I think says "I no I tall person Elvis 77". I suspect this was actually done by hand because it's barely legible, goes across the entire record and is different to what this one on Discogs claims to have. The song is nice enough, and strangely catchy. Again, think Dead Kennedys.

So not a Dub War record, but too closely related to not be included in Dub War week.


Format: 7", folded a4 insert, Christmas card
Tracks: 1
Cost: £2.50 second hand
Bought: eBay
When: 08/07/04
Colour: Black
Etching: Side B: "I no I tall person Elvis 77"
mp3s: no

Cowboy Killers + Dub War - Split

Today we have what is possibly the highlight of the Dub War collection, even though only half of it is Dub War, and both songs are on other records. This record is a one-sided, white label 12" split with another Welsh band from the 90's, Cowboy Killers. I basically know nothing about Cowboy Killers, except that when I moved to Cardiff, people still knew of them, provided you asked the right people.

I found this on eBay a few months after picking up a copy of Dub Warning. The bidding was mildly furious (all considering) but it ended on a perfectly reasonable £7.50 (including postage). The guy was also selling another Dub War record which I also got for £7.50. Some good eBaying indeed. It's worth mentioning that Dub War were the very reason I became addicted to eBay for a while. I'd been after a copy of their remix album Step Ta Dis and someone suggested looking on eBay. I did, and found a copy surprisingly easily. That success led me to seeking out loads of records on eBay and, for 5 or so years, I eBayed excessively (a time that ended by getting a job and not being at home to receive 12" packages in the post). 

Anyway, I'd never seen nor even heard of this record when that auction came up. The sleeve was a large factor in drawing me in; as you can see, the Dub War side is a hand-stamped logo and the Cowboy Killers side is written in glitter. Of course at that point I had no idea how annoying a glitter record sleeve would be, and this record has lived inside two layers of plastic sleeve since I received it - I don't want loose glitter all over my other records. I like to think that somewhere in Newport in the mid-90's Dub War and Cowboy Killers sat down in a room and hand-made their own records. They were The Arteries of their scene, but 15 years earlier. It might not have gone down that way, but I like the idea. The track-listing is also stamped on each side.

Cowboy Killers offer an original, Anorak Man, and a dubious cover of Right Said Fred's Deeply Dippy. That song came out in 1992, so I'm wondering if it was as strange a cover then as it is now. Imagine Dead Kennedys covering Deeply Dippy, and you have a pretty good description of both songs. Dub War offer the same recording of Dub War as on Dub Warning, as well as a version of Mental that sits somewhere between the earlier incarnation, Original Murder on Dub Warning, and the final version that would appear on Pain. The quality isn't as good as either, but it's nice hearing a bit of both choruses being used at the same time. A great find either way.

As it happens, this wasn't the only copy of this record I'd own either, but more on that in the next post...

Format: one-sided 12", hand-stamped/glittered sleeve

Tracks: 4

Cost: £7.50 second hand

Bought: eBay

When: 12/07/03

Colour: Black

Etching: Side A: "Simon - the exchange"

mp3s: no