Hi, everyone,

“Indie Top 20” was a series of compilation CDs/LPs/cassettes which came out from (roughly) 1986 to 1996. In the early days it was all jangly pop, and bands like Felt, the Wedding Present and a hundred-and-one Smiths rip-offs. By the time Volume 8 was issued, in mid-1989, it was getting a little more groovy, with the appearance of the KLF, the Shamen, A Guy Called Gerald, the Stone Roses, the Inspiral Carpets and James – all on the cusp of national and international success. The compilations kept going (a few in the early nineties had KLF on them) until around 1996 (Indie Top 20 Volume 24 was the last one, I think) and by that time the bands featured – Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Elastica – were pretty much the same as appeared on normal chart compilations anyway.

“Indie Top 20 Volume 12” contains “Last Train to Trancentral”, not “Indie Top 20 Volume 6”. Going by the rest of the tracks on there (things like “Big City” by Spacemen 3, the greatest Kraftwerk tribute ever) I would think it came out in 1990/1991. I remember having heard this CD years ago, and “LTTT” in particular. My memory is hazy, but at the risk of disappointing everyone, I remember it just being the ordinary “Pure Trance” version (i.e., KLF8R Remix 2). If it had been anything different, I would have bought it at the time. Still … it IS half a minute longer … Intriguing …

John