A Record Collector's Guide

The Twilight Singers are an evolution of the musical urges of Greg Dulli. The first Twilight Singers album was actually recorded before the last Afghan Whigs record, and the band that put that album together was very different from the one that was responsible for the majority of the subsequent Twilight Singers albums. Starting with that second release, the band held steady for a while, until Mark Lanegan got involved and it started evolving again to eventually become the Gutter Twins. This page captures Greg Dulli's various Twilight Singers albums from 2000 to now. I have a separate page in place for the Gutter Twins' releases.

Twilight as Played by the Twilight Singers

Columbia CK 63825 CD, released 2000 (U.S./Canada)

Columbia COL 500632 2 CD (Europe)

The demo version of this album had been floating around for years before it was finally unleashed on the marketplace. It was mostly recorded in 1997, prior to the Afghan Whigs album, 1965. It shows. Twilight was basically the goodbye before the rebirth of 1965. There were a couple of new songs recorded in 2000, and most of the existing 1997 songs were enhanced and remixed by Fila Brazillia prior to their release.

This album represented a very different sound from any other Dulli project, mainly due to the prominence of Shawn Smith and Harold Chichester. This project was a rocky one from the start. As Dulli once said in an interview, when you put three lead singers together in a studio, bad things happen. Dulli and Shawn Smith had a particularly bad falling out, and basically did not speak for a decade (well, at least, they had nothing to do with each other publicly until Smith made a guest appearance during a Dulli solo show in late 2007).

Dulli assembled a band for a brief tour to support the album, but ended up hating the tour and really never connecting with the band. That's a shame, because at the end of the day, this album contained a high concentration of truly beautiful songs.

Released exclusively on CD, because that's pretty much what was happening with major labels in 2000.

This page was last updated on February 24, 2020.

Verti-Marte b/w That's Just How That Bird Sings (Fila Brazillia Remixes)

Columbia DIDP 101540 CD, released 2000 (U.S.)

Two-song remix promo CD, released as a giveaway in conjunction with specific independent record stores (associated with the Coalition of Independent Music Stores). If I recall, the consumer had to print off a coupon from the official Twilight Singers Columbia web site and take it to one of a select few stores, listed on that same site. Good versions of both songs. It can be fairly hard to find these days, but is not particularly expensive.

This page was last updated on February 25, 2020.

Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair b/w Domani/Son of the Morning Star

Birdman BMR50 CD, released 2003 (U.S.)

Before Blackberry Belle came out, this (theoretically) limited edition CD came out on Birdman. We were led to believe that this was a very limited pressing, and it was somewhat difficult to track down when it first came out, but it has proven very easy to find over time. The title-track cover was a staple at Twilight shows for the next few years, but I thought the real strength was in the other two tracks - particularly "Domani", which was later included on Amber Headlights. That's Dita Von Teese on the cover.

This page was last updated on February 25, 2020.

Blackberry Belle

One Little Indian OLI401 CD, released 2003 (U.S.)

One Little Indian TPLP401CD CD (UK)

Imperial TECI-24198 CD (Japan)

Labelman LM 040 CD (Belgium)

Plain Recordings plain116 LP, released 2005

In my opinion, this is the strongest of all Twilight Singers albums. I love the first record, but I think this was the one on which it all came together. This is also where Mark Lanegan began to show up on Twilight Singers releases, with a solid appearance on the album's last track, "Number Nine". There were several CD versions that came out. The Japanese one has a bonus track, "Wicked", which came out on the Devil in the Woods 7" and then Amber Headlights.

The vinyl came out much later. It contained a bonus track, the demo of "Run Rabbit Run", a song that had made occasional appearances during The Afghan Whigs' last tour of their original run. All copies were on white vinyl. Fans were not immediately sold on the vinyl version, and its value did not rise at all for a few years. It began to get slightly more scarce and appreciated slightly over a few-year period. Then, out of nowhere, it took off and is now one of the most expensive Dulli-related pieces of vinyl one can buy.

This page was last updated on February 24, 2020.

Teenage Wristband / The Killer Teenage Wristband

One Little Indian 394TP 7CD CD, released 2003

One Little Indian OLI394 CD

CD EP released to promote Blackberry Belle. It contained one unreleased track, "So Tight", which later appeared on Amber Headlights. There was a UK version of the CD titled "Teenage Wristband" and another U.S. one labeled "The Killer Teenage Wristband", which seems to be a bit rarer. Random fact of the day: as a thank you to volunteer members of the Street Team, the label gave away a few copies of this disc signed by Dulli.

This page was last updated on February 25, 2020.

DIW #64

DIW #64, came with DIW Magazine 5.3, released October 2003

Contains The Twilight Singers track "Wicked"

This has been a difficult find since it came out, but, strangely, has never really increased in value. I can't figure this out. You needed a subscription to the magazine to receive it and the 7" with it...and you couldn't just subscribe at the last minute and receive that issue (I tried). Yet...it's not very expensive. Maybe it's because the track on here, "Wicked," was later released on the Amber Headlights album. I waited for years for a price spike that never came. Limited to 777 hand-numbered copies, all on black vinyl.

DIW Magazine 5.3

This page was last updated on February 24, 2020.

Feathers b/w Number Nine

One Little Indian 391TP7 7", released 2004 (UK)

UK 7" released to promote Blackberry Belle. Same versions as on the album. This has always been easy to find, but the price has inched upward slightly. Black vinyl.

This page was last updated on February 25, 2020.

Papillon (Radio Edit) b/w Wicked

One Little Indian TS1PROMO CD, released 2004 (UK)

2-track promo cd containing a slightly different version of Papillon. Not hard to find.

This page was last updated on February 25, 2020.

Shock & Oar

Fierce Panda NING157 2x7" / CD, released 2004

Contains The Twilight Singers track "Feathers"

Double 7" on black vinyl, containing the same version of "Feathers" that was on Blackberry Belle. Surprisingly easy to find and inexpensive.

This page was last updated on February 24, 2020.

She Loves You

One Little Indian OLI426 CD, released 2004 (U.S.)

One Little Indian TPLP426CD CD (UK/Europe)

One Little Indian TPLP426CD CD (Australia)

Birdman BMR 071 LP, released 2005 (U.S.)

She Loves You was an EP full of covers. There ware definitely hits and misses on this record. As you can see, the vinyl was released a bit later than the CD. It was only on black vinyl and contained a bonus track, a very brief cover of the Beatles' "Her Majesty", and came in an uncensored sleeve (see Hoohah Version above). This was been the piece of Twilight Singers vinyl that gained value first. It became harder to find, people noticed, and spent accordingly. The price leveled off and was pretty stable in 2016...and then it wasn't by 2017. It has been consistently out of control ever since.

This page was last updated on February 24, 2020.

Too Tough To Die b/w Hard Time Killing Floor

One Little Indian 438TLP7CD CD, released 2004 (UK)

UK cd to promote the She Loves You album. The same versions of the two songs appear on the album. Easy find.

This page was last updated on February 25, 2020.

Amber Headlights

Infernal IRS-501 CD, released 2005 (U.S.)

While this was TECHNICALLY not a Twilight Singers release...well, it was. This album was originally supposed to have been Blackberry Belle. Dulli scrapped it after Ted Demme died and started over. There were some very good songs on this disc. Word on the street is there were many others from those sessions that have still never seen the light of day. Amber Headlights was only released on CD. It is getting harder to find, and the price is starting to rise accordingly.

This page was last updated on February 25, 2020.

Powder Burns

One Little Indian OLI444 CD, released 2006 (U.S.)

One Little Indian TPLP444 2xLP / TPLP444CD CD (UK)

Rubber RUB221 CD (Australia)

One Little Indian TPLP444DMM LP (200g DMM), released 2008/2017

Dulli's emergence from a battle against cocaine addiction yielded the Powder Burns album. This one was great, but was also an exercise in milking every dollar from the consumer. It was originally released on CD and as a double LP. The vinyl was supposedly fairly limited, but there has never been a shortage of them on the market. Now...the fun/evil marketing moves came in several ways. First, the online release of the album coincided with multiple bonus tracks. One ("They Ride") you could only get if you bought the entire album through iTunes. Another ("Andiamo") was available through eMusic. The last one (an alternate version of "Candy Cane Crawl") was a bonus from Rhapsody, I believe. The killer was that all of those tracks were essential. So good.

On top of all of that, they sold 500 copies of the CD that were signed by Dulli and hand-numbered in silver marker (see image above). They sold these for $25 apiece. At least that edition was not a profit grab - the proceeds from all of the signed copies went to benefit Doctos Without Borders. So, that was noble. Anyway, I complain, but I have always been a believer that there's nothing wrong with it if the consumer is willing. Bonus tracks in three different places was a little much, though.

But wait - there's more! Now how much would you pay? In the fall of 2008, One Little Indian re-pressed Powder Burns as a 200 gram Direct Metal Master. It was really expensive for a new record. Fortunately, the retail market backed down from the initial price and it can now be had for less than retail. It was limited to 500 numbered copies. They re-pressed it again in 2017.

TPLP444 Side A

TPLP444DMM

This page was last updated on February 24, 2020.

I'm Ready (Radio Edit) b/w I'm Ready (Lo Fidelity Allstars Remix)

One Little Indian 745TP7 7" / 745TP7CD, released 2006 (UK)

UK 7" with two alternate versions of "I'm Ready," released to promote the Powder Burns album. It also exists as a CD. Both formats are easy to procure. The 7" is on black vinyl.

This page was last updated on February 25, 2020.

A Stitch in Time

One Little Indian OLI768 CD / Digital EP, released 2006 (U.S.)

One Little Indian TPLP768CD CD (UK)

Rubber RUB228 CD, released 2007 (Australia)

Initially, this was released exclusively as a download, but, soon thereafter, was put out as a CD as well. Five tracks. Mark Lanegan plays an increasingly large role. This sounds more like the first Gutter Twins release than other Twilight Singers material to this point. Easy to find.

This page was last updated on February 24, 2020.