Yellow Letter Day

Orchestre Rouge - Yellow Laughter [PL 37623 FRA 1982 24-Bit FLAC]

I have posted the CD version of this album elsewhere before, when I longed for an original vinyl to hear how it was supposed to sound. Finally, I have tracked down a rare near mint original vinyl pressing and am sharing this with you today.

Theo Hakola emigrated from his native Spokane, WA to Paris via New York, Central America and Spain. After brief sorties as a waiter, a club DJ and an English teacher, he founded Orchestre Rouge in 1980. The band recorded their debut album Yellow Laughter at Strawberry Studios in Stockport near Manchester with Martin Hannett and Chris Nagle. The album was only released in France and Spain by RCA, so therefore had little reach beyond those markets.

These tracks are complex new wave and post-punk held together by a superbly crisp Hannett production which I think is up there with his best album work. Soon Come Violence was the only single, again released only for the French market.

Some of you will likely have never heard Yellow Laughter, most of you will love this album. Enjoy.

A1 Soon Come Violence
A2 Je Cherche Une Drogue (Qui Ne Fait Pas Mal)
A3 Soft Kiss
A4 Red Orange Blue
A5 Hole In His Thigh
B1 The Consul
B2 Speakerine
B3 Slugs
B4 Crows