An incarnation of Propaganda recently reactivated and performed ‘A Secret Wish’ in full at a couple of sold out shows at ‘The Garage’ in London, under the monicker of xPropaganda. I never thought I would get a chance to hear this album performed live, so it was quite the event, one that simply had to be attended if at all possible. Many highlights, inevitably, ‘Dr Mabuse’ chief amongst them. What better way to celebrate the re-emergence than to take a look back at the ‘singlette’ edition (as ZTT were wont to call their cassettes) of their debut single…
The inlay card for the cassette noted “Three of Dr Mabuse’s nine lives appear on this cassette. Learn about his black crimes in Dr Mabuse. Hear about his strange lover – the woman with the orchid in Femme Fatale. Then marvel at his unlikely return in The Ninth Life” and went on to list the tracks as follows;
- Dr. Mabuse
- Femme Fatale (The Woman With The Orchid)
- The Ninth Life
However, that is not what appeared on the cassette. No, that would be far too straightforward for a ZTT release, wouldn’t it?!
In fact, the correct tracklisting is as follows;
- Das Testament Des Mabuse
- Dr. Mabuse (A Paranoid Fantasy)
The truly splendid, 10 minute long work that is’ Das Testament Des Mabuse’ made good use of the extended cassette duration, with the more familiar 7″ inch mix ‘Dr. Mabuse (A Paranoid Fantasy)’ alongside. No place then for the woman with the orchid, sadly. The tracklist repeats the same programme both sides of the singlette.
Why the tracklisting was incorrect, I don’t know.
The outside of the inlay also states “An ‘incident’ cassette that contains sections from number two of zang tumb tuum’s noble action series. As an ‘incident’, and despite its catalogue number, this cassette becomes number 12 in ZTT’s wondering incidental series.”, in familiar ZTT style. The cassette shell is a fairly standard moulded design, nowhere near as elegant as the later ‘Complete Machinery’ singlette would come housed in.