what we do is secret Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Germs “What We Do Is Secret”

sfilzen — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 19:51:23 +0000

Germs “What We Do Is Secret” 1981/2018. Slash Records. I have the original from ‘81 but because I will literally buy anything Germs-related, I just picked up this Record Store Day Black Friday reissue on blue vinyl. As I wrote about a few years ago, What We Do Is Secret was my vinyl holy grail in the 80′s. Pre-internet ease, I would scour every record store I came across for this out-of-print EP until one day in ‘93 while visiting San Diego, there it was on the wall of Off the Record (cue the halo of light and chorus of angels).

Slash Records released What We Do Is Secret soon after Darby Crash’s suicide in 1980. All the songs were available on other releases but the EP had a couple of different versions and live tracks. The version of “Round and Round” was recorded in ‘77 for What Records. The “Lexicon Devil” version on What We Do Is Secret is the slow version and my absolute favorite. That track, along with “Circle One” and “No God” were recorded in ‘78 for Slash Records and were produced by Geza X. “Caught in My Eye” comes from the GI sessions on Slash with Joan Jett producing. “The Other Newest One” and “My Tunnel” are live, recorded in late ‘80, just days before Crash’s death, at the Starwood in Hollywood and Crash is rude, obnoxious, a complete mess and completely awesome.

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The Germs “What We Do Is Secret”

sfilzen — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 20:38:47 +0000

The Germs “What We Do Is Secret” 1981. Slash Records, 45 rpm. My own personal vinyl holy grail. During the mid-80’s and early 90’s, before the internet, eBay, etc., I would look for this record at every single record store in every city I went to. Then finally in ‘93, on a post-college graduation visit to my aunt in San Diego, there it was. Displayed on the wall behind the register at (I think) Off The Record in the university district.

Slash Records released “What We Do Is Secret, a compilation EP, after Darby Crash’s death in 1980. Its slower version of “Lexicon Devil” is my favorite, originally on the “Lexicon Devil” 7” EP from 1978 (out of print). You can listen to the version here. A faster version of the song appears on “G.I.”

I’m not sure this album is actually rare, but to my 1980’s-early 90’s mind it was and I hungered to find it. Having that desire when shopping for vinyl is an experience that I guess no longer really exists. In my opinion the ease of finding records now takes most of the fun out of the hunt. Nothing can compare to that rush of finding your own ultimate vinyl treasure in some hole-in-the-wall used record store in a city you’re visiting.

Track listing for “What We Do Is Secret”:

Side 1

Round and Round

Lexicon Devil

Circle One

Caught In My Eye

Side 2

No God

The Other Newest One (live)

My Tunnel (live)

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