RARE 7": 8 COPIES - Claude Coleman/Matt Sweeney, Skunk, Ween, Guitar Moves

$

50

 . 
THIS IS CURRENTLY SET AT AN INSANE RATE! THIS IS SO RARE. BUY THESE. YOU KEEP LOOKING. SO JUST BUY THEM. 
PLEASE. I'M HOPING TO SELL A LOT OF AUCTIONS QUICKLY TO RAISE NECESSARY FUNDS. I SEE THERE'S A WATCHER. HOW CHEAP DO YOU THINK I'M GOING TO MAKE 8 COPIES OF THE FIRST RECORD I EVER MADE, OF WHICH THERE WERE ONLY EVER 300 COPIES? I ONLY HAVE 9 IN MY POSSESSION AND THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND. PLEASE BUY THESE!!!!

IF I WAS PATIENT, I COULD SELL THESE FOR $35 A PIECE. YOU WILL MAKE A HUGE PROFIT. OR JUST KEEP ALL 8 FOR THE LESS THAN THE GOING RATE FOR 1 1/4 COPIES. 
ONCE THIS AUCTION CLOSES IT WILL NOT BE REPEATED, AND THIS RECORD IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND. GO AHEAD AND TRY TO FIND IT. 
IT'S REALLY ONLY WORTH IT TO ME TO SELL IN BULK. BUT IF YOU NAB THIS DEAL YOU'LL OWN NEARLY 3% OF ALL THE COPIES OF THIS RECORD THAT EVER HAVE BEEN AND EVER WILL BE IN EXISTENCE. 

This is the first record ever to feature Matt Sweeney and Claude Coleman (who went by Matt in those days). It's a 300 pressed, independently released single from the band Mighty Joe Young, who changed their name to Skunk prior to releasing their first album on Twin/Tone Records. 
Two of the strongest tracks from that debut longplayer (remembering they were just kids), 'Last American Virgin,' can be heard here in their original versions. Both vastly superior to those on the album. 
I saw that one of these went for $15 on Discogs last year. THAT IS NOT THE GOING RATE AND THAT BUYER GOT VERY LUCKY.

300 pressed. Many of which have been lost or damaged in the past 30 years, many more of which went missing -- presumably thrown out accidentally -- years ago, and a great number of which are in the hands of friends, family, and fans who will never be parting with their copies.  
You will have a hell of a time finding a copy of this.
Ween completists be made aware (while he didn't do the mix, Andrew Weiss did oversee the recording, so there's also that) but this is the first record EVER on which Claude played.

Mickey and Aaron were fans and friends. Twin/Tone Records wanted to sign us based on our demo alone, but felt they really should see us live first. Rather than book a gig at a club, we had a party in the basement of my parents' house in Jersey, the Friday of Thanksgiving weekend, 1988. 

All of our friends from New York City -- where most of our non-Skunk friends lived, pretty much -- came out to Jersey for it. We MJY/Skunk fellows believed our genius friends from New Hope, PA deserved every bit the break that we were getting, we had Ween play the party as well, as our openers. 

This was just as they were transitioning from the noise (barring the brilliant "Opus" of course) of 'Axis: Bold as Boognish' into the timeless genius of 'God, Ween, Satan: The Oneness.' They played to a room of about 75 New York hipsters, most of whom were already in their 20s and jaded, 3 people from Twin/Tone Records, and four members of Mighty Joe Young (eventually Skunk) who were already enormous fans. 

After 45 minutes every single person in my mobbed basement had tears streaming down their faces, and cramps in their sides, from laughter. And they'd been treated to some damned good music as well. No small feat, as this was still the days when Mickey and Aaron played to a pre-recorded backing tape, and our primitive makeshift monitors didn't make that tape particularly audible to them. 

Still, both Mighty Joe Young/Skunk and Ween were offered deals from Twin/Tone that night, as we'd hoped would be the case. 
Are there Matt Sweeney completists? If there are, then this is perhaps the most essential record you could procure. At 18-years of age, his brilliant and distinctive soloing style, if unrefined, is already evident. Also, one of his earlier compositions, "(There'll Be Other Girls) Hoss," is this record's A-side, in a version in many ways vastly superior to the album version. From the moment people started to hear this song, it pretty much remained our most widely well-liked and requested number. 
This rarity has no picture sleeve, but a nifty A-side label photo featuring the trademarked Ankh'd up visage of the short-term lead guitarist of a band on whom we were all fixated way back then, when in our teens. Our fixation on the band was not ironic, on the Ankh? Well, yes, abundant Gen X irony.  

This is the first ever recorded anything released by Matt Sweeney -- host of YouTube's popular series 'Guitar Moves,' lead singer and guitarist for cult indie titans Chavez, former member of Zwan, and session player and producer extraordinaire having played on or produced (or both) records by artists as mind-bogglingly diverse as Adele, Neil Diamond (with whose brother-in-law I'm also old friends, I never thought I'd be one-degree of separation from old Neil, TWICE), Current 93, Baby Dee, Dixie Chicks, Tinariwen, Turbonegro, Guided By Voices, Johnny Cash, Andrew W.K., and that only scratches the surface. He's a bona fide giant, who will one day attain legend status among those in the know.
Claude Coleman -- as is taken for granted that you already know if you're reading this at all -- will be best known for his 25-plus years of manning the drum stool for the almighty Ween, meaning he's already attained legend status to thousands and thousands of obsessive fans the world over. But he too has backed up a diverse array of artists such as Eagles of Death Metal and Chocolate Genius. He's also kept his own solo endeavor, Amandla, afloat, making records and touring throughout his tenure with Ween. 
The lineup on this single also includes Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock, who was a major creative force in the band in its early incarnation, but who went on to pursue his love and excess aptitude for visual arts and photography. He is a professor at Fordham University, and a globally recognized artist of note. 
And finally there's me, Matt Quigley, who played bass. This is why I'm in possession of these singles. Each in nearly mint condition. 
The Wikipedia page for Skunk can be visited here.
If you want this but think you can do better, best of luck finding anyone else selling one. But this lot may seem a bit pricey, but my own personal experience as a vendor, not an ex-member of the band, can ASSURE you that this is an incredible deal.