The Can - Bootleg LP Box Set

This is probably one of the most unique bootlegs and one of my personal favourites for the simple fact that it's very well done. This one started surfacing around 1990, and it comes in durable plastic film canister measuring 12.5" in length with a 1" width. The front cover has a brassy/gold coloured sticker featuring a drawing of Kate, and the back of the canister has a simple sticker with the "limited edition" number on it. Mine finally fell off after all these years, but it really doesn't matter as there's another one on the inside of the canister. This box set is limited to 500 copies and mine is number #055.

The canister comes with several different things. The first thing is this t-shirt with Kate's image on it - it's the same image found on the canister cover. The interesting thing is that they split the t-shirts up into five different colours, so there are 100 red shirts, 100 blue shirts, 100 yellow shirts, 100 white shirts and 100 grey shirts. If I recall correctly, there really wasn't any way of knowing which colour shirt you got until you opened the thing up.

It also comes with a four page press review and sticker. The sticker is attached to the first page, which is single-sided and basically just lists the tracks on the LP included in this set. The other three pages are multi-coloured and double-sided. They consist of photocopies of magazine articles, lyrics to the songs on the LP, some of Kate's poetry from school and other random things. If some of my scans look smeared or smudged to the point where you can't actually read some of the text on the photocopies, it can't be helped. The problem lies with the photocopies themselves.

Lastly, there's an LP included. It's basically a collection of rare tracks featuring Kate. At the time most of these were considered rare tracks because they either weren’t easily accessible, or you literally had to buy every album from every artist in order to get them all. These days an LP like this is totally redundant because you can easily find all of these songs on sites like You Tube.

The labels on the LP have been copied from the Breathing single, and it may interest you to know that the record does have surprisingly excellent sound quality. It's probably one of the few bootlegs out there that does.

The Can is one bootleg set that rarely ever shows up these days.

Never Forever - Box Set

This box set seemed to follow quickly after the release of A Lioness At Heart. I also bought this one brand new back in 1992, which was another unofficial UK produced box set that was released through UFO Books. But unlike the Lioness Box, this one had a limited edition number of 1,500 copies and came with a certificate thing.

The box for this set has the same dimensions as the Lioness Box, 12" x 12" with a 1" depth. There is one difference between the boxes. The NFE box has a built-in hinge on the left-hand side so the cover swings open, whereas the Lioness box doesn't have this so the cover comes off completely. The other difference between the boxes is that the NFE one lists all the contents on the front of the box, whereas on the Lioness box only some of the contents are listed. The title of the box set can also be found on either side of the cover. The back of the box is completely blank, so I never bothered with that. The full contents of this box set include:

Item 1: Never For Ever CD. I stupidly opened my copy at the time. Since I never opened the Lionheart one in the other box set, I decided to open this one just to see if it differed in any way. Needless to say I wasn't smart enough to look on the back first to see that it wasn't.

What's really interesting is that they used a U.S. copy of the CD in this box set and not a standard UK copy, which is what you would expect. Why this was done is beyond me, but I can guess. The actual reissue of the CD might be a clue. This was reissued by EMI Manhattan, which was a sub-label of Capital Records at the time. If I remember correctly, EMI Manhattan was formed around the mid '80s and folded around 1992. It's quite possible that the people responsible for this box set got a bulk number of these CDs for a discount, which was more cost effective than buying domestically at the time. Of course this is just a guess, but it would all fit.

Item 2: T-Shirt. Like with the Lioness Box, this one also comes with a T-Shirt. Again, I have never worn this in all the years that I've had it. This one simply has the album title and Kate's name printed onto the left breast area using the same font. Personally, I think it would have been nicer if they had done a little more with both of the shirts.

Item 3: Postcard of Kate which was exclusive to this set only and was never sold separately.

Item 4: Certificate of Authentication. I absolutely love unofficial stuff with their special limited edition numbers and special certificates because it means nothing. Unless something is an official release, these things mean nothing.

Item 5: Never Forever book. This is another large format softcover book featuring loads of photographs. Most of them come from that tacky Amsterdam shoot with photographer Claude Vanheye. I know Kate wasn't a fan of the end result and got more selective about her photographers after that. There are some good photos in the book despite that, but I do feel overall this book could have been so much more. It's exclusive to this box set only and was never available separately. Unfortunately, this is another book I can't scan in as I would destroy the spine in the process. However, I did take photos of each page a while back, which you can check out in my blog page right HERE.

Item 6: Poster. This is a nice poster and it measures the same size as the one from the Lioness Box, nearly 17" x 24". Unfortunately, this one is noticeably wonky - so apologies for my less than perfect scans. I was trying to be careful and not damage it.

This box set was the second, and last one produced and distributed by UFO Books. Why they stopped making them is anyone's guess. They seemed to disappear as quickly as they first appeared, so it's unknown if there were any further plans to make any others. I always thought it was a shame no more were made as I would have liked to have seen one done for The Dreaming or Hounds of Love.

Kate Bush On Compact Disc - Unofficial Release

This is probably the most disappointing Kate Bush item that I've ever bought. Little did I know at the time that this was an unofficial release, especially as I found it in the early '90s at a well known record store. It was the packaging that caught my eye and prompted me to buy it at the time - but what an absolute letdown.

The only nice thing about this one is the cover. Inside is a large inlay cardboard tray the size of the box, and smack in the middle is a single CD. It comes in a slim jewel case, but without a CD cover. The bigger disappointment is the CD itself, which is an interview from the Hounds of Love era that runs just over 7 minutes long. In fact, it's an edited down and unofficial copy of the Canadian Hounds of Love promo interview, which can also be found on several of the 7" vinyl pictures discs.

This is one of those items that I recommend avoiding like the plague. It's not worth looking for or buying - especially for the kind of money it can sell for these days.

A Lioness At Heart - Box Set

This is one post that's long overdue for a proper update, so here it is.

This is an unofficial UK produced box set that was released by UFO Books in 1992. When I bought this new in 1992, there was a sticker on the packaging that said this box set was limited edition of 1,000 copies. However, unlike the Never For Ever box set that followed, this box set was never issued with any kind of limited edition number or certificate - which basically means all copies of this particular box set are unnumbered.

Everything is nicely packaged inside of this fantastic looking box that measures just over 12" x 12" with about a 1" depth to the box. The title of the box set can also be found on two sides of the lid. The back of the box is completely blank, so I never bothered to scan that in. The cover on this box set comes off completely, whereas on Never For Ever there is a built-in hinge to the cover on one side.
Inside the box you get several things. I scanned everything that I could, so I apologize if any of my scans are a bit wonky.

Item 1: Lionheart CD. Mine is still sealed to this day. It's just a Fame reissue, so I didn't see the point of opening it up.

Item 2: T-Shirt. To this day I have never worn this shirt and I try not to unfold it at all if possible, so it didn't scan so well. But honestly there isn't much to see anyway. It's just a plain white shirt with a facsimile of Kate's autograph near the left breast area.

Item 3: Postcard featuring the cover art and exclusive to this box set only.

Item 4: A Lioness At Heart book. This is a fantastic large format softcover book featuring loads of photographs by Gered Mankowitz. The book is also exclusive to this set only, and worth getting just for the book alone. Unfortunately, I can't scan the pages in as I would destroy the spine on the book making the attempt. However, I did take photos of each page a while back, which you can check out in my blog page right HERE.

Item 5: Poster. This is the third time I've ever unfolded it in all the years I've had it, and it's also going to be the last time that I do. So if this came out a bit wonky apologies. The poster measures nearly 17" x 24" so it's a fair sized poster.

As the original owner, I can tell you that this box set is complete. So if you do go looking for this one, be sure you're getting one that still has everything inside of it because not everything is listed on the front of the box and things do tend to go missing from second-hand copies. All copies of the box set also came with the t-shirt as it was originally listed on the sticker that was on the shrink wrap packaging... just so you know.