American. Tattoo seems to have had a fairly fleeting existence, even in the USA; in Britain it appears to have managed only two releases: an LP and a single, 'Out Of The Blue' (FB-0884; 5/77), by the Gap Band. The soundtrack to 'The Omen', which was on Tattoo in the States, came out on RCA over here: RCA was responsible for the pressing and distribution of Tattoo records. The Gap Band single had roughly the same catalogue number as its American counterpart, except that the American 'TB' prefix was replaced by 'FB' and an initial '1' in the number was dropped - TB-10884 became FB-0884. This system of 'adapted numbering' was used for American product on several other RCA-family labels - Grunt, Windsong, Soul Train and Solar (q.v. all) - and occasionally on RCA itself. As far as Britain is concerned, by 1978 Tattoo had been reduced to the status of a logo on the Warner Bros label (3). Thanks to Nicholas Hough for the scan of the demo.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.