Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - The Found '77 Masters LP

On release in 1977, Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers' 'L.A.M.F.' had a mastering fault, widely condemned as a 'muddy mix'.  Track Records went bust and the master was lost - so subsequent releases were compiled from outtake or re-mixes.  Forty-four years later, the master has been found in an attic - and 'L.A.M.F.' can at last be heard as the band and producers intended!

FOUND IN AN ATTIC - a punk rock archaeological discovery: a copy master of the original 1977 Track Records tape, without 'mud'!  This classic punk album, recorded in London by the New York band featuring two New York Dolls, was always controversial - and not just for the acronym.  Upon release the mix was universally condemned in the music press - later found to be a mastering fault. 

When Track went bust the following year, manager Leee Black Childers burgled the Track Records' Carnaby Street 3rd floor office and liberated the tapes that belonged to him and the band.  He found everything - except for the master-tape.

Subsequent releases were remixed from the multi-tracks ('Revisted', 1984) or compiled from outtake mixes - the 'lost '77 mixes' (1994) being the version most known.  A lift from the vinyl for a 'definitive' box set didn't achieve full clarity.  Meanwhile, fans found the 1977 cassette version didn't have the infamous 'mud', nor did certain European vinyl matrixes.

Unexpectedly, in 2020 a chance meeting led Jungle to Daniel Secunda's archives.  Danny was an old-school music biz pioneer who became a Track Records director - and the Heartbreakers 'L.A.M.F.' co-producer.  In amongst his archives stored in his attic were numerous tape boxes, including two with no artist name, marked: 'Copy Master 12.7.77'.  They turned out to be a crystal-clear 'L.A.M.F.', just as the band and producers intended it. – Jungle