Godflesh -'Tiny Tears' 12inch?

Question: Another Godflesh related question...

I\'ve heard that before Godflesh signed to Earache, they were thinking of releasing an EP entitled \"Tiny Tears\" but Earache wanted Godflesh to record a full length first and somehow Justin pushed for the EP to be released first on Earache but it never happened. Then later, the EP was never released at all but only featured as bonus tracks for the Streetcleaner album. Is there a specific reason why Tiny Tears was never released before Streetcleaner or is it just because you guys wanted them to release a full length first? Personally, I love the Tiny Tears EP and felt it would\'ve been worthy of an official release and not be just mere bonus tracks. From: DavidaLoca@gmail.com

Answer: Godflesh first recorded output was for the famous local central Birmingham indie record store- Swordfish- the shop is still there selling great Indie music and local talent, in Temple Street in the centre of the city.In about 1988, after Justin quit Napalm Death,seemingly out of nowhere, the debut 6-song mini album GODFLESH was released on vinyl on Swordfish records, clear 12" vinyl i think.Its crushing heaviness and originality immediately impressed the hell out of me and it became a favourite of mine for the year.Hence Earache approached Godflesh about signing the band..meanwhile, Godflesh had also quickly recorded a new 4-track 12" called TINY TEARS - which was again destined to be released on Swordfish, but the tapes had'nt yet been delivered.
Swordfish as a label was fine for releasing 12" slabs of vinyl out of the shop in brum, but it did not have a global distribution network as Earache had set up, and did not consider Cd's.In short, it had limited capabilities as it was only a record store, not a fuly fledged label.
After signing the band, I convinced Godflesh to shelve the Tiny Tears recording as 12inchers dont sell- full albums is what major retailers want, and on the then new format of CD.So Godflesh duly recorded their Earache debut full-length "Streetcleaner", and the Tiny Tears recordings instead became the 4 song bonus material for the CD only, to help it sell better, as the new format of CD was still quite new and expensive at that time.So you are exactly right- its never had a release on its own. Plus The track ID's were messed up in CD mastering so its not immediately obvious which track is Tiny Tears.Actually Tiny Tears is one of my fave Godflesh tracks ever.
Earache later negotiated with Swordfish to buy out the rights to the S/T aswell..