SP36 The Fluid

 

Roadmouth

Sub Pop SP36 LP, released 1989 (U.S.)
Glitterhouse GR0055 LP / GRCD 55, released 1989 (Germany)

Glue/Roadmouth

Sub Pop SP64b CD / SP64a Cassette, released 1990 (U.S.)
Sony SRCS 6574 CD, released 1992 (Japan)

Released concurrently on Sub Pop and Glitterhouse in 1989. The sleeve was the same for both except for the coloring. The Glitterhouse one had an olive green tint, while the Sub Pop one was more pink. As with all others, the Glitterhouse version was on black vinyl. The Sub Pop version...not so much. A member of the band told me that the first pressing was of equal numbers of pink marble and red marble copies, and believed it was a total press run of 1,000. The grey marble and black copies were later pressings.

I knew that other colors might exist, but imagine my surprise when one of the original Sub Pop discographers wrote to me a few years ago to tell me of two others - a clear red and a clear green copy. Supposedly, these were pressed in quantities of about 50 each. I had seen a clear red one advertised for years, but assumed that it was the red marble one and moved on with my life. As soon as I got that message, I bought that copy...sure enough, clear red. Who knew? The difference is a little hard to tell in the pictures, but I promise...one is clear red and the other is solid red marble. I have never been able to verify the clear green one, so for the time being, it remains in the rumors section. I actually don't think that one exists. It would have appeared by now.

For reasons I do not understand, the red marble version has consistently sold for more than the pink marble version in recent years, despite (theoretically) equal quantities. My guess is that people are more drawn to the red marble one because of the clear red version, but who knows. The clear red one has been going for more then either of those, but that makes sense.

The only CD version of the full Roadmouth album was on Glitterhouse. It contained a version of "Saccharine Rejection" (probably the best version, for what it's worth) that was otherwise only available on the Motor City Madness compilation. Most of the album was later released on a single CD with the Glue EP by Sub Pop. Two songs were left off the combined CD: "Big Brother" and "Leave It". "Big Brother" is a cover of "Hey Big Brother" by Rare Earth - not sure if there was a rights issue for the CD release or something, or if it was just coincidental that this particular track was left off of the CD.

Version Value ($) Scarcity Price Trending
GR0055 Black 5-8 1 Stable
SP36 Pink Marble 15-20 5 Stable
SP36 Red Marble 30-40 5 Stable
SP36 Clear Red 40-60 9 Volatile
SP36 Grey Marble 10-15 4 Stable
SP36 Black 10-15 2 Stable
Glitterhouse
Pink Marble
Red Marble
Clear Red
Grey Marble
Black
Rumors Clear green version

This page was last updated on March 3, 2022.

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Scarcity Score Definition
10 Near impossible: Fewer than 50 copies or publicly sold every few years
8-9 Very rare: 50-199 copies or publicly sold 1-2 times per year
6-7 Rare: 200-499 copies or publicly sold a few times a year
4-5 Medium: 500-999 copies or publicly sold ~10 times a year
1-3 Common: 1000+ copies, readily available, or publicly sold 20+ times a year

Estimated values are based on recent auction results or online sales.