Background
Snatch Tapes, a cassette label focussing on DIY experimental and electronic music was started in 1979 by Philip Sanderson. Snatch 1, the first of three compilations included tracks by Storm Bugs, Claire Thomas & Susan Vezey and Karl's Empty Body. Snatch 2 followed in 1980 and featured two tracks by Organum founder David Jackman as well as pieces by Alien Brains, the Lemon kittens, Storm Bugs, and Cultural Amnesia. Linking the tracks were a number of cut up collaged sections including everyone from John Cage to the Scratch Orchestra.Hot on the heels of Snatch 2 came the release of three individual full length Snatch Tapes, namely A Safe Substitute by Storm Bugs, Slow Music by David Jackman and Claire Thomas & Susan Vezey's Reprint. By now there was a small Snatch Tapes display panel in the Rough Trade shop and this attracted the attention of new Cherry Red A& R man Mike Alway. After some protracted negotiations tracks by Claire Thomas & Susan Vezey and David Jackman were included on the Cherry Red LP Perspectives & Distortion. However relations with Cherry Red became somewhat strained when it was revealed that Claire & Susan were not in fact preraphaelite VCS3 operators but figments of Philip Sanderson's imagination.
If Snatch 2 best typifies what has since become known by some as Cassette Culture then Snatch 3 which appeared the following year was an almost professional release, even boasting a printed colour cover. Snatch 3 features tracks by Snatch Tapes favourites Nigel Jacklin, David Jackman, Michael Denton, Steven Ball, Philip Sanderson, Claire Thomas and Orior. Also available in 1981 were the Storm Bugs "Greatest Hits" tape Gift and the Jackman cassette singles Adrift and Ritual.
The cassette movement reached something of a zenith in late 1980 but quickly imploded shortly afterwards, partly under the sheer volume of releases. In 1981 sometime after the release of Snatch 3, Snatch Tapes wet into hibernation, re emerging 20 years later for the release of the Storm Bugs CD Lets Go Outside and get it over.
Lets Go Outside and get it over is a compilation of Storm Bugs Snatch Tapes recordings and Since 2001 much more material from the Snatch archives has been re mastered and restored. Tracks to surface include the Jackman/ Sanderson piece Terrain (A 10 inch on Die Stadt) and Reprint that infamous Claire & Susan tape now correctly attributed to Philip Sanderson and reissued on CD by Anomalous Records. In 2003 Cherry Red re- issued the Perspectives & Distortion LP on CD and the Jackman/ Sanderson track Offshore, originally on the Ritual tape is now on Robot Records CD of Jackman's Up From Zero.In 2004 Fusetron released the Storm Bugs LP Up the Middle Down the Sides. Limited to 300 copies the LP draws on tracks recorded between 1978-82, digging deeper into those ferric oxide archives than the first CD to bring you possibly the first (and last) DIY concept album. All the original Snatch releases have long since sold out, tapes do sometimes appear on ebay but can command rather fearsome prices. Also many of the CD re-issues are also now sold out, however with a little persistance with google copies can be readily found