The Damned in 1976 were 

Dave Vanian - vocals  
Brian James - guitar  
Captain Sensible - bass
Rat Scabies - drums 

New Rose (Brian James) b/w Help (Lennon/McCartney) 7" 45 

Stiff Records, BUY 6, made in the UK, released 22/10/1976

New Rose turned 30 last year! This classic single was their first release! 



There were many versions of this record released over the years. 
Often I see copies on eBay that say they are "original 1976 pressings" & they aren't! 
I'll try to clear up misconceptions about this. Here's a rough guide to what's out there...

1976 PRESSING

The only pressings from 1976 are on black vinyl. (Colour vinyl came later)
They have a press out centre and a raised & serrated non-slip rim around the label. 
On the A-side the credit reads "Street Music Co."



Soon the label was changed.
The majority of the 1976 copies say "Rock Music Co. Ltd. / Street Music Co." 
Notice on the sleeve what is called the "Delga flap," more on that later.



If you have a 1976 press with a solid centre I would consider it to be very rare. In comparison, the original 1977 Neat Neat Neat 7" was available with solid (common) and press out centres (uncommon). A friend of mine found a 1977 copy of their Problem Child 7" with a solid centre (very uncommon). Do YOU have more info?

A bit of confusion about Stiff's reissues: they say 1976 on the label even if it was made after 1976. This record was pressed again for the Stiff Box Set (Buy 1-10) in 1978 and again in 1981 for the Damned Four Pack, a reissue of their first four Stiff singles in a plastic fold out cover. When the band got very popular in the mid 80's Stiff reissued the single on black vinyl, 
red vinyl, white vinyl, white with bonus 7", promo 7" (no pic sleeve, unique labels, backed with Neat Neat Neat!) and finally a 12" EP!


PICTURE SLEEVES

Which is which?
What's the best way to tell the difference? 
And what about the different ways the picture sleeves are cut at the opening? 
Well the original 1976 sleeves are all cut long and straight. 



The rest are rounded at the top.

1978 Box Set copy:



1981 4 Pack copy:



1986 Ten Year Anniversary copy:



So with these reissues, in order of cuts at the opening you'd have... 
long curve, short curve and... medium curve? 
Notice "Delga" on the box set PS. While Delga is an indication of an early pressing, you can see now it's not an indication of a first pressing. 

There's a few ways to distinguish the different solid centre black vinyl New Roses. 

There's 3 clues etched into the wax, in the matrix of the records... 

1978 Box set copies (2 different pressings of the Stiff box set by the way) have LYN numbers. 
There is a raised but NOT serrated lip around the label. 

Box set labels 1


Box set labels 2


1981 Four Pack copies have BILBO TA1PE. 
They have a raised/serrated edge around the label, like 1976 copies. 
Same labels as box set 2 above.

The 1986 issue has TIM TOM plus an indentation in the middle of the labels, 
similar to the red vinyl New Rose. Like this:



And it was a nice touch to make a 12" EP of New Rose even though a few people selling them seem to think it was made in 1976 or 1977! 1st issue (different cover) was made in 1985. It has the number BUYIT 238. A year later in '86 it was reissued with original artwork on black and white vinyl as BUYIT 6.  

The Damned 's original lineup for this single was...

Dave Vanian - vocals  
Rat Scabies - drums
Brian James - guitar  
Captain Sensible - bass



I've talked about the UK issues of New Rose on Stiff Records. 

Part One 

Now it's time to cover imports... 

1977 saw the release of the record in a few countries, all are considered desirable for their unique artwork and labels.

FRENCH NEW ROSE

New Rose b/w Help 7"

Skydog Records, DAM 001, made in France, released 1977

Copies are pressed with the labels on the wrong sides. The picture sleeve shows 
The Damned in the same clothes as the UK version but Captain must have 
got bored posing with the bass or something. This record is always on
eBay and in my opinion should not be hard to obtain or too expensive. 

***This record had a recent fan club reissue, these have the matrix etching "ROSE"
Versions with French sleeve: yellow, snot green, puke green, dark green, & black vinyl.
These have black labels, originals have red labels. 3 more limited edition, blank white labels: 
modified Dutch sleeve (50 copies yellow vinyl), modified German sleeve (50 copies yellow 
vinyl), the "Japanese" sleeve (really a modified Japanese Neat Neat Neat sleeve! 100 copies 
green and yellow vinyl, but I am not sure if that means 50 of each?)... 

DUTCH NEW ROSE

New Rose b/w Stab Yor Back & Singalonga Scabies 7"

Stiff Records, 17704 AT, made in Holland, released 1977

This is an awesome picture sleeve, what is called the kitchen sleeve. 
It's quite a delicate thin paper PS,  The B-side is borrowed from Neat Neat Neat.
These are rarer than the French but not as rare as the German. 
(£40-60 depending on condition seems to be the average on popsike)

***This record had a recent fan club reissue, these have the matrix etching "NEW ROSE"
Pressed on black, red, green, yellow, yellow/red "flame" and finally green/clear/black swirled 
vinyl. The labels aren't as clear as an original and the picture sleeves are thicker. 

GERMAN NEW ROSE

New Rose b/w Stab Yor Back & Singalonga Scabies 7"

Stiff Records, 17791 AT, made in Germany, released 1977

I love this one, the live picture sleeve German New Rose! You can see in the image a few copies have an "ORIGINAL PUNK ROCK" sticker on the front! 
(Mine doesn't have the sticker but I won't complain) Like the Dutch issue this
was born with a very thin paper PS. On eBay, in ex or nm shape with picture 
sleeve, this sells for £200 and more. People buying one be careful because...

***This record had a recent "fan club" reissue, these have the matrix etching "NEW ROSE"
Pressed on black, red, green, yellow, purple and last but not least dark yellow "mustard" vinyl. 
The labels aren't as clear as an original and the picture sleeve is thicker. Like the Dutch pressing, 
originals have thin, delicate sleeves. My advice is this...

Please, do some research before you try to obtain expensive original pressings.
It would be a shame if a seller who didn't know any better sold you what he thought was an original & it turned out to be a reissue, but it would be even worse to be ripped off, and things like this can happen, you can never be too careful. Ask questions or request additional pictures or scans from sellers.

FRENCH REISSUE

New Rose b/w Help 7"

Mankin / Virgin, 104.773, made in France, released in 1982

Wild artwork on the French reissue, the sleeve folds out into a poster. 
For whatever reason, Help is the A side. This is a weird one all right! Good news is that it's not too hard to find & shouldn't be terribly expensive either.

SPANISH REISSUE

In 2001 the Spanish record label Munster reissued New Rose (catalog no. 7149) with a gatefold sleeve featuring the French Skydog artwork! This nicely done reissue was also pressed as a picture disc, plus there's a very limited number on pink vinyl.
Once again the labels have Help as the A-side.

ITALIAN REISSUE

The date was 29/04/2004 when Italian record label Earmark issued the Stiff Singles 
box set. The first 4 Damned singles - New Rose, Neat Neat Neat, Problem Child, 
Don't Cry Wolf, plus the legendary 1st anniversary 1977 single Stretcher Case Baby!

The catalog number of the box is 40032 and the number assigned to New Rose is 40032-1.

Stay Damned!