Live At The Target – The Definitive Edition – 2022 version

As with our previous Definitive Editions, we have taken the opportunity to completely revisit the album, adding both new artwork and a full second disc of bonus tracks!

The original album, which we recorded and released in 1981 was a real breakthrough for us. It was our first vinyl album (or LP as we used to call them…) and our first nationally available recording. We’re still very proud of it.

Disc One contains the four tracks from the original album, which we decided to leave on their own, while the tracks on the second CD are mostly from other pub gigs we were doing around the same time, with a couple of extremely rare studio recordings included for good measure. In total over 73 mins of extras!

Here are more some details of the bonus tracks on Disc Two…

Entropy and Keep The Aspidistra Flying are from the spring tour immediately following the release of the Live At The Target album and were recorded at the Old Five Bells in Northampton. Encore Une Fois and Freddie Hepburn date from the year before, having been recorded at a memorable gig at the Bridgehouse, Bracknell: one that we hope to issue in its entirety one day as part of our ‘Archive Release’ series. Afghan Single and Für Helene I are the only studio recordings featured on this double CD. Recorded at Woodcray Studio in May 1981, there was a short teaser of this piece on our Play On DVD, but the full recording has never appeared on a TN release until now. Für Helene I was recorded at Arny’s Shack in Bournemouth in the summer of 1980 as part of the sessions that resulted in the Early Material cassette album. It was released as the B-side of our first single The Cunning Man (which featured vocalist, Electra) and has never been released on CD until now. The Cunning Man was performed instrumentally from time to time, so we have included the only recording of this version that we have in our archives, taken from the ‘Midsummer Rock’ gig at Reading University in June 80. Finally, another pair of previously unreleased versions of classic instrumental TN… Afghan Red (the full version) – one of our most popular early tracks – recorded at The Target two months before the live album. And to close the album – as it used to close the live show back in the very earliest days – Für Helene II – recorded at Reading University in November 1979. This was our 8th gig as Twelfth Night and our first gig as a 4-piece. It is also is the oldest recording we’ve ever released on CD – so far…

The CD includes a fantastic 16-page booklet, with some new sleevenotes and lots of previously unseen archive photographs.

As with our other Definitive Editions, we intend that this is the last time that this album will be re-released… and as we have had many requests for Live At The Target over the last 2-3 years, we’re delighted to make it available once again.