Warner Brothers Records: Trademark Of Quality (1993)

So I was recently contacted by a reader of this blog and we struck up a nice conversation. This individual, an extremely generous fellow named Nathan, explained to me that he had purchased the 93 edition of the Trademark Of Quality compilation off of ebay and would send me a copy. Well, to my surprise he didn't just send me a copy, he sent me THE copy! He mailed me the original disc! I am so thrilled by this and words simply cannot express my gratitude! So, I want to start this post by thanking Nathan a few more million times over for his generosity! You have no idea how happy this has made me! And Nathan, watch your mail for those Prince DVDs! Some good stuff coming your way!

I also want to thank everyone who reads the blog regularly! I started this page with no purpose in mind other than to share the wealth and I'm blessed to have such fine readers visiting me regularly! I'm going to keep this page going as long as I can, which should be quite a while. Also, please feel free to ask about requests and such. I can't guarantee I'll always have something to post but, if I have it, more often than not it will show up here shortly after being requested.

In the near future I'm going to be posting some more Miles Davis seventies sessions, that additional Neil Young album and some interviews. I'm waiting for word back from some people I've contacted, one of which will hopefully answer some more questions about the Jungle Brothers' Crazy Wisdom Masters. Another will be discussing their excellent label which focuses on electronic music in the vein of Warp Records and their more abstract leanings. I'm also going to be speaking with Sean Carlin of Dink soon. For those unfamiliar with the almighty Dink, they were a band from Kent, Ohio that had a hit with the song Green Mind in the early nineties. They were associated with Dave "Rave" Ogilvie of Skinny Puppy fame and the Cleveland industrial scene. Great band that unfortunately got screwed by their label, and Sean is a ridiculously nice guy who will share some stories with us.

Back to today's post, this is what Nathan sent me, the 1993 Trademark Of Quality promo CD which features the only official release of any tracks from the unreleased Crazy Wisdom Masters album. This disc is filled with goodies and while some of them sound a little dated, I'm sure you'll agree that the good stuff outweighs the bad! enjoy!


Trademark Of Quality 1993
NOTE: By now I'm sure you know what to do, but just to be safe, make sure you download both parts otherwise you won't get the complete album.
Part One
Part Two

01 Intro
02 Boredoms - My Mum Is Car
This features a short intro from EYE
03 Biohazard - Five Blocks To The Subway
Mr. Tara Patrick's old band. No disrespect Evan, but I can't be the first guy who mentioned your wife. Regardless, you rock!
04 Wayne Coyne - Intro To Waterbugs
Long spoken introduction by Mr. Flaming Lips himself. He messes with the tape at specific points.
05 The Flaming Lips - Waterbugs In The Policeman's Ear
Pretty song from the fearless freaks.
06 Uncle Tupelo with Joe Ely - Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way
Shortly before the Wilco and Son Volt feuds began...
07 Kristin Hersh - Your Ghost (Demo)
08 Suddenly, Tammy! - Funky
09 The Muffs - You Lied
10 Green Day - 409 In My Coffeemaker
Don't get me wrong, I like old Green Day, I just can't stand the new, politicized Green Day. They're still a decent band, as evidenced by their Foxboro Hot Tubs side-project, but what happened to stuff like this?
11 Gallon Drunk - All Mouth, No Trousers
Features a little dialogue prior to the song.
12 American Music Club - In My Role As The Most Hated Singer In The Local Underground Music Scene
With a song title that long, I'll have to take your word for it Mr. Eitzel.
13 Bluescreen - Batperson
Who the hell are these guys? This is some weird shit! I want more!
14 Jungle Brothers - Troopin' On The Down Lo
This actually sounds a little different from the version I heard on the actual album. The performance is the same, but the mastering job may differ.
15 Justin Warfield - Dip Dip Divin' (New Version)
I wish I knew who did this remix. It sounds like Biohazard with Justin on vocals. It doesn't beat the original version but it's still damn tight! One Inch Punch coming soon!
16 Daniel Lanois - Rain Weather
Short dialogue intro in a foreign language. Could someone decipher this please?
17 Not Drowning, Waving - Ascending (Me and You)
18 Geggy Tah - Who's In A Hurry
Man, these guys were so great! They kind of disappeared when Luaka Bop left WEA Distribution. Their first two albums are excellent. Future post? For now, this excellent track!
19 Adam Schmitt - I Know You're All Mine
I hope no one is mad at me for saying this, but this guy sounds like such a pussy. I'll have to see if his album came out, not because I want to hear it but I want to know if anyone listened to more of his whiny-ass shit.
20 Kerosene - More Than You
21 Unrest - So So Sick
Mark Robinson for the win!
22 Mudhoney - Please Don't Forget About Us
This was probably written just as fast as it sounds like it was recorded. Great tune with tongue firmly in cheek!
23 Outro
24 UNLISTED BONUS TRACK!!! Julee Cruise & David Lynch - Pinky's Bubble Egg
This kinda got released eventually as part of a "play" that Lynch did with Nicholas Cage and Laura Dern sorta reprising their roles from Wild At Heart. Badalamenti is of course responsible for the music. Ms. Cruise provides a funny intro and Mr. Lynch adds an expectedly bizarre explanation of the piece's origin at the end.

Warner Brothers Records: Trademark Of Quality (1992)

The problem with major labels is that everyone remembers the bad things about them and never the good things. That said, these days the good things are rather scarce, but there was a time when the major label was quite the asset and a career could be jump-started, deservedly or not, by hard work and promotion on the labels' part. I've bashed Warner Brothers in the past for issues surrounding the non-releases of albums by the Jungle Brothers and Juliana Hatfield, but for every sad story like those there is an incredible story for artists like Cibo Matto, Soul Coughing and others. I don't know if it comes down to being in the right place at the right time or having the right friends, but it's a shame when something goes right for an artist but it completely fails for an equally deserving one.

I've always wondered how much of the failures goes back to their promotional pushes. I remember lots of great samplers that would get sent to record stores in the nineties. Sometimes they wouldn't get played, but you'd find them really cheap in the used bin and there would be a song or two you knew and liked as well as a bunch of stuff you'd never heard of. I heard a lot of great stuff that I never would have heard otherwise because of those samplers, and practically no one gets that kind of treatment anymore. A lot of labels get the impression that people find out about everything online, but despite how easy it is to download an MP3, if you don't know to look for it how are you gonna get it? That's why it was great to get free samplers in your bag with a purchase or find a bunch sitting by the door for you to grab while leaving. I really miss stuff like that.

In regards to samplers, Elektra, a Warners subsidiary, always had great ones, and Atlantic had some good ones too, but Warners as a whole did some really classy releases from time to time. In particular, I found out about their Trademark Of Quality series when researching the Jungle Brothers' Crazy Wisdom Masters, as the 1993 compilation featured the only official release of the otherwise unavailable Troopin' On The Down Low. Now I knew where to look for that track, but I also found a ton of other awesome stuff which was unavailable elsewhere too. On top of that, for a few years Warners would issue a new Trademark comp every year and give them away at music industry events like the CMJ showcases. Most of the tracks contained therein have never been reissued making the releases very collectable. A very kind reader of this site is sending me a copy of the 1993 comp which I'll post after receiving in a few weeks, but here is the 1992 edition which holds just as many oddities for all to examine.

One more thing before I go the link..., how is it the Flaming Lips can have a continued career with Warners? I'm sure their record sales are okay, but they can't be THAT GOOD. Are they just a heluva lot more realistic about their business plans than a lot of other bands? I'd love to hear the inside story as to how Zaireeka got approved, although I heard that it was by figuring out the numbers completely in regards to sales. Still, that had to be quite the hard sell. Okay, enjoy the album!

Warner Brothers Records: Trademark Of Quality (1992)
NOTE: You must download both parts to get the complete album.
Part One
Part Two

01 The Carl Stalling Project - Intro
02 Mudhoney - Fix Me
03 Babes In Toyland - Bruise Violet (Alternate Version)
04 Poster Children - Isis
05 The Muffs - Lucky Guy
06 Jane's Addiction + Body Count - Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey
07 The Flaming Lips - Jets Part 2 (My Two Days As An Ambulance Driver)
08 Gallon Drunk - Ruby
09 American Music Club - Love Connection N.Y.C.
10 Daniel Lanois - Collection Of Marie Claire
11 Bomb - Nineteen
12 David Lynch - The Pink Room
13 R.E.M. - Half a World Away (Live)
14 John Wesley Harding - Your New Clothes
15 Brian Eno - Tutti Forgetti
16 Scorpio Rising - The Strangest Things Turn You On
17 Sister Double Happiness - Tough
18 Medicine - The Power
19 The Wolfgang Press - Birmingham (Howard Grey Remix)
20 The Carl Stalling Project - Outro