Warsaw Pakt

Needletime Warsaw Pakt

Warsaw Pakt was a short-lived punk group which were active in the years of 1977-78, though some of it's members had heritages linking them to the 1960s underground. This was apparent in their sound, which was a sophisticated punk thrash with plenty of energy but also more structure than some contemporaries. The album "Needle Time" was recorded for Island in November 1977 and was indeed recorded, mastered, produced, packaged and distributed within a 24-hour timeslot, from 10 p.m. on Sat 26 November to 7 p.m. on Sunday 27 November - the band were trying to make a point about the way technology, etc. Had opened up the potential for music to be truly immediate. The album sold 5000 copies in it's first week. Unfortunately, it's first week was also it's last: at the end of the week Island Records decided (for reasons not made clear to the band) that they would press no further copies, and shelved the master tapes. The Pakt soldiered on for a few months more, and even managed to release a set of outtakes from previous recording sessions (called "See You In Court") but, faced with such record company capriciousness, it was inevitable that they would fold.