Violent Femmes have announced a new 40th anniversary reissue of their 1983 self-titled debut featuring more than a dozen demos, B-sides, and live performances. They’ve also shared the single “Gone Daddy Gone/I Just Want to Make Love to You (Live),” recorded in January 1983 at Folk City in New York City. Previously unavailable in digital formats, the recording includes a verse from Willie Dixon’s 1954 song “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” originally recorded by Muddy Waters). Check out the single and the full track list for the digital edition below.

2xCD and digital formats of Violent Femmes (Deluxe Edition) are due out December 1 via Craft, while a limited edition (5,000 copies) vinyl box set arrives February 9, 2024. The vinyl set comprises three 180-gram LPs—the newly remastered original album, the demos, and live material—and a “replica” 7-inch single of “Ugly”/“Gimme the Car.” The original album and single discs are cut from the original analog tapes. Both the CD and LP versions come with a booklet with new liner notes by Rolling Stone editor David Fricke and with interviews with Violent Femmes members Gordon Gano, Brian Ritchie, and Victor DeLorenzo.  

In a statement, Ritchie said of the reissue: 

“I am frequently stopped on the street by people who tell me, ‘Your album changed my life,’ or some variant. I don’t have to ask, ‘Which album?’ because it is implied that they’re talking about the first one. The uncanny thing is that these people range from early teens to septuagenarians, and they all have the same testimony. Sometimes music is more than just a pleasing sound that entertains. It takes on greater meaning. Multiple generations have found the songs to be relevant in their life situations. Some people say they had sex for the first time listening to it (which I find appalling but whatever) and someone even said, ‘I was conceived to your music.’ Wow.”

https://pitchfork.com/news/violent-femmes-to-reissue-self-titled-debut-album-for-40th-anniversary