It's relatively well-documented that, back in 2000, Jack White formed a band called the Upholsters with drummer Brian Muldoon, a family friend with whom he was taking an upholstery apprenticeship at the time. They released a single that year, but since then, there have been rumours of a secretive second single; now White has revealed more about this mythic second single in a post on Third Man Records' website.
This second single comes from 2004, when the Upholsterers reunited briefly for the 25th anniversary of Muldoon's business. They made an extremely limited 7-inch in an edition of just 100; rather than selling any copies, they hid them inside pieces of furniture that Muldoon upholstered. Message board threads dating back years reveal that fans have debated whether this single actually exists, or if it was just a joke.
The new update from Third Man reveals that, strangely, not one but two copies of the single have just been found by two separate individuals after being hidden inside some furniture for a decade. And just in case you were wondering, no, they did not tell customers they were sewing these secretive 7-inches into their furniture.
The label posted an image of the artwork (above), which bears the slogan Your Furniture Was Always Dead… I Was Just Afraid to Tell You. (The slogan for White's own Third Man Upholstery business was "Your furniture's not dead," and his Third Man Records slogan is "Your turntable's not dead.") The art was done by Gordon Newton.
Since only 100 copies of the single were made — and even less have been recovered — it's unlikely that it will ever emerge widely (unless White decides to reissue it). A new release would be cherished by fans, especially since it was made in 2004, which was the year after the White Stripes released Elephant, when they were at the peak of their popularity and creative powers.
Hear the songs from the Upholsterers' first single below. It's unclear what songs are on the second single.
This second single comes from 2004, when the Upholsterers reunited briefly for the 25th anniversary of Muldoon's business. They made an extremely limited 7-inch in an edition of just 100; rather than selling any copies, they hid them inside pieces of furniture that Muldoon upholstered. Message board threads dating back years reveal that fans have debated whether this single actually exists, or if it was just a joke.
The new update from Third Man reveals that, strangely, not one but two copies of the single have just been found by two separate individuals after being hidden inside some furniture for a decade. And just in case you were wondering, no, they did not tell customers they were sewing these secretive 7-inches into their furniture.
The label posted an image of the artwork (above), which bears the slogan Your Furniture Was Always Dead… I Was Just Afraid to Tell You. (The slogan for White's own Third Man Upholstery business was "Your furniture's not dead," and his Third Man Records slogan is "Your turntable's not dead.") The art was done by Gordon Newton.
Since only 100 copies of the single were made — and even less have been recovered — it's unlikely that it will ever emerge widely (unless White decides to reissue it). A new release would be cherished by fans, especially since it was made in 2004, which was the year after the White Stripes released Elephant, when they were at the peak of their popularity and creative powers.
Hear the songs from the Upholsterers' first single below. It's unclear what songs are on the second single.
