The Single File 1978-1983 is a box set released on 23 January 1984, containing all of Kate Bush’s 7″ singles from Wuthering Heights (1978) to There Goes A Tenner (1983), plus the 7″ for Ne T’enfuis Pas, which until then had not been released in the UK. The set also included a lyric booklet with four photographs.
Track listing
The box set included the following 7″ singles:
- Wuthering Heights / Kite
- The Man With The Child In His Eyes / Moving
- Hammer Horror / Coffee Homeground
- Wow / Fullhouse
- On Stage EP
- Breathing / The Empty Bullring
- Babooshka / Ran Tan Waltz
- Army Dreamers / Delius (Song Of Summer), Passing Through Air
- December Will Be Magic Again / Warm And Soothing
- Sat In Your Lap / Lord Of The Reedy River
- The Dreaming / Dreamtime
- There Goes A Tenner / Ne T’enfuis Pas
- Ne T’enfuis Pas / Un Baiser d’Enfant
Formats
In the USA, The Single File 1978-1983 was released as a limited numbered edition, whereas in the UK and Europe there was an unnumbered and, so it would seem, unlimited edition.
Differences between original singles vs. singles in the box set
Initial assumptions that the box set would contain the original pressings of the singles were quickly put to bed when the box set materialised. However, many box sets were split up, with singles being sold individually. Here´s how you can tell if a single is an original pressing or a repressing from the box set:
Wuthering Heights
On the back of the original sleeve the EMI logo is round; the box set version has a square EMI logo.
On the disc the inscription ‘Remember the whales’ is missing from the A-side.
The Man With The Child In His Eyes
The sleeve of the box set version has the original edges printed on the folded over edges.
On the disc the inscription ‘The Child Hides in the Light’ is missing from the A-side.
Hammer Horror
On the back of the sleeve of the box set version the folded over edges have square corners (they are round on the originals).
On the disc the inscription ‘We’re all playing a hunch’ is missing from the A-side.
Wow
On the back of the original sleeve the EMI logo is round; the box set version has a square EMI logo.
On the label of the original single the name Kate Bush is written on two lines, whereas on the box set version the name is written on one line.
Kate Bush Live On Stage
The original gatefold sleeve is sealed at the left hand side. In the box set it is open.
The label of the box set version is brown coloured, whereas the original is a pinky-white colour.
Breathing
The original sleeve was made from grey card with the picture having a gloss finish. The box set version is made of white paper with the picture having a matt finish.
On the disc the inscription ‘Happy Anniversary to the P’s’ is missing from the B-side.
Babooshka
The cut of the box set version sleeve is different: the bottom edges of the folded over parts on the back side are almost flush with the bottom of the sleeve – on the original these edges are cut up at an angle.
At the record centre there is a rim in the plastic which runs trhough the words ‘publishing Ltd’, which is not present on the original.
Army Dreamers
Almost identical, but the bottom of the record label has nothing printed under Kate Bush – on the original it has ‘For Credits See Cover’ printed there.
December Will Be Magic Again
On the back of the sleeve of the box set version the catalogue number EMI 5121 is printed in white, whereas on the original sleeve it is printed in gold.
On the disc the inscription ‘Merry Christmas’ is missing from the A-side.
Sat In Your Lap
The picture of Kate is blurred on the box set version of the sleeve.
On the disc the inscription ‘Well done JB 1st Dan’ is missing from the A-side and ‘Thankyou Donovan’ is missing from the B-side.
The Dreaming
The record opening on the back of the sleeve of the box set version is shallower than on the original version.
On the disc the inscription ‘For Rolf’ is missing from the A-side.
There Goes A Tenner
This seems to be the only original single in the box set.
Ne T’en Fuis Pas
This is a British version of a single that was previously only released in France. The disc has a small hole (as opposed to the French version which has a bigger hole) in the middle.
References
- ‘The Complete Steve French Guide to the differences between the Boxed Set Singles and all those ones we’ve painfully Collected Together Over the past Six Years’. Homeground 14, August 1984
