The original ‘Brothers & Sisters’ release was a two-track 7” (‘Brothers & Sisters’ and ‘Easy To Please’) and a three track CD single, with ‘Only Superstition’ as the third song which, while not included on the original 7" vinyl release, appears on this special 25th anniversary edition. The release captured the essence of a young band, defining their sound and finding their fanbase. The three songs cost £450 to record and it roared to number 92 in the charts.
As a curious bonus, the fourth track on the EP is a new addition, ‘The Story of Brothers & Sisters'. This is a spoken word excerpt lifted from the audiobook of ‘Pandamonium! How Not To Run A Record Label’ by Fierce Panda founder Simon Williams. In ‘Knee-Trembler’ (Chapter 17, pages 159-168) he describes in raffishly intimate detail the how's, why's and wherefores of Coldplay’s early days shaking the timbers of the Camden Falcon, the Kentish Town Bull & Gate and Station Studios in Southgate, as well as being championed by Radio One’s Evening Session and getting their first reviews in the NME newspaper on their way to ‘Brothers & Sisters’, their debut release.
The Fierce Panda label is itself celebrating its 30th anniversary, which means they were not even five years old when they first encountered Coldplay at the Camden Falcon in November 1998.
