Originally posted on The Vinyl Factory

With Vini Reilly currently recovering from a stroke, new Durutti Column material is some way off.

But with one of knottiest discographies around, there’s plenty from the catalogue to investigate, and now two curious early albums from the Factory Records unit are getting a vinyl reissue.

Amigos Em Portugal came about when Fundação Atlântica label owner Miguel met Reilly in Manchester and invited him to record a single in Portugal. Reilly ended up recording an entire album’s worth of material during that trip, released as an album on the newly founded label in 1983. Many of the instrumental compositions would later appear on Without Mercy in denser, loftier incarnations.

The second reissue is Live At The Venue, which catches the band’s London 1983 gig performing music from Return Of… and LC as well as tracks later to appear on Another Setting and Without Mercy.

The story goes that the band were approached after the gig by a bootlegger interested releasing the desk mix he had ‘acquired’ without the band’s knowledge. Intrigued, they met him at a Mayfair hotel (his choice), where he arrived in his cream Rolls Royce with a bundle of cash, and they sealed the deal on a napkin.

Complete with new packaging designed by Trevor Johnson, the remastered Amigos Em Portugal and Live At The Venue are due on March 18 via the Durutti label.