Rage Against the Machine
"The Ghost of Tom Joad" b/w "Vietnow"
scum stats: limited fan club only thingy, purple vinyl, probably thousands of 'em
You wanna know where my faith in the mail-ordered 7-inch emanates from? Look no further than this tasty purple slab here.
At some point around age fourteen, I took ALL the CDs I had (maybe two or three dozen) and scoured the liner notes for any/every mailing address I could find. I then hand-wrote letters to each and every one of those addresses.
The Super Stinky Puffs and Foo Fighters didn't respond. I didn’t hear anything from the address in the “Evil Empire” CD that said “For Rage propaganda and merchandise write…”
Well, I didn’t hear too quickly...
What felt like years later but probably was more like 6-8 months I received an unsolicited package in the mail. And in that package was this single.
I had paid no money. Maybe I was supposed to? I'm not entirely sure. But their fan club put me on a list to receive their vinyl mail outs. I was at the time (and still to this day) utterly dumbfounded at the gesture. Never before has a perfunctory inclusion on a mailing list felt so genuine and heartfelt. Most certainly set me on the path that I'm still following today. Write a letter and get free records? Shit, I wish I could continue that sort of generosity today. Hell, write a letter to me...maybe I just will.
Undoubtedly, this is the first 7-inch I ever received in the mail. And with a b-side that was recorded live at a performance I actually witnessed (Rage at the Palace of Auburn Hills, August 23rd 1997) it's no wonder I'm still enamored with all of this...vinyl, singles, mail order, live recordings. The recording is exact. I prefer this version to the one that was ultimately included on the "Renegades" album and I think this was originally on the "No Boundaries" compilation, a fund raiser for Kosovar refugees. This song was even getting radio play then...I recorded it off the 89x "Top Nine at 9" daily countdown show. I thought I was so slick back in '97. It would be a decade before I ever heard the original by Bruce Springsteen and I've gotta say...totally different but still completely kicks ass.
And listening today...my opinion has not changed or wavered in the least. Much respect due to these guys being so committed to fans and mail and vinyl in an era where they absolutely did not have to. Thank you.
(side note: Sub Pop wrote back with some stickers, guitar picks and a personalized letter answering my specific questions regarding vinyl availability of classic titles. Seems weird that "Bleach", "Screaming Life" and "Superfuzz Big Muff" were all not in print on vinyl back then)
