Remembering History

Okay, so I had a twilight zone moment this week.

There was a British band called The Twenty-Fifth Of May (255) that was...no kidding, British white Communist gangsta rap. Which isn't a thing. Except that in the early nineties it was.

I was a broke college student at the time, but still ended up with one of their EPs in my collection.

Yesterday, I had reason to look something up and realized something odd.

The two discographies I could find from immediate searches...did not have the EP I was holding in my hands.

They only had the band's one album, a couple of singles, and a couple of short live recordings. The bio on one site implied, although did not state, that the band split somewhere at the end of 1992 start of 1993.

The EP I have was recorded in late 1993.

So. What? Did I have a CD from an alternate reality?

No.

Here's what happened.

255 had a meteoric rise and signed with Arista. For two glorious summers, they were a thing. I heard them live at the Reading Music Fest in August 1992. They were, in fact, good.

Then Arista dropped them, because really...British white Communist gangsta rap was never going to be a thing. Arista dropped them at the end of 1992.

People were sourcing off of Arista's catalogue.

Their final EP, Apathy in the U.K., was produced by an independent label, Copasetic Records. Thus it got left off those lists. (I did find it, eventually, on a site intended for record collectors).

This is only 25 or so years ago...and the historical record is already wrong.

Remember this when you're studying history. The record can, internet or no internet, become wrong within less than a human lifespan.

Use your primary sources. Ask people. Whether it's about an obscure footnote to British musical history...or events that shake the world.

The historical record can be, and often is, wrong.