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band's original drummer Justin Stavely was unable to make the session so Pete found himself playing on the single as well as producing and funding it. And having the then finest drummer in the whole world on the single certainly did no harm: listen to the US version of God Forbid if you need any further convincing. The Revolutionary Spirit / God Forbid 12" single came out on the legendary Liverpool label Zoo Records (catalogue number CAGE 009). It came in a plain dark blue sleeve with a line drawing of a swan on it - early copies also had the Lament of Icarus painting but this was removed from later pressings. Pete was credited as producer under the name 'Louis Vincent'. None of the other members' names appeared except the inner trinity's surnames as writers on the label. Bass player on the single was one Rolo McGinty, later of the Woodentops, though you'd never know it as the bass is almost totally inaudible. Oh and due to an, ahem, oversight by Mr de Freitas, the 'A' side was in mono. I can't think of another single with a mono 'A' and a stereo 'B' side. And that is just as it should have been, of course.
When the Bunnymen toured America for the first time Pete took the master tapes along and remixed them with Talking Heads' engineer. An acetate was pressed up and one night the band members sat down, listened to both versions through just once each, all chorused "we like the first one" and that was that - I mean why would they need to listen to it a second time? Bang on. The mono version has a rush that is perhaps rather lost in the stereo version - fine though that is. This 'US version' was so legendary that I must admit that for a long time I thought it was probably apocryphal. But just as we were finalising the track list for this album Paul found an acetate in his record collection and brought it down to my place. So one night I gingerly put it on and... Well, I must say I felt like Howard Carter entering the tomb of Tutankhamen, the first man to set foot (in my case ear) there for 4000 years (OK, 20). There was the familiar intro - though it seemed shorter - then there was Paul singing "Lost in the Delta of Venus"‚ Pete's drums kicked in and yes, it was definitely different! By the chorus it had became very obvious that this version was in stereo, with acoustic guitars panned hard left and right... It's difficult to be objective about
