As mentioned when I posted Side 2 in July last year, this is possibly the closest I got to a "Now That's What I Call Dance Music" hits compilation, with all of the songs (bar two songs) enjoying success in the UK singles chart.
Insomnia by Faithless has troubled the charts multiple times: #27 in December 1995, it's highest placing of #3 in October 1996 and a return at #17 in September 2005. Further remixes and reissues, including a trademark rework by Avicii in 2015, have been less successful commercially speaking, but nothing detracts from the sheer majesty of the song. The album version is essentially a re-edit of the Moody Mix. To get around the cross-fade from the previous track and to align the running time with Side 2's duration, I've spliced the introduction from the single version of the Moody Mix, so you get a slightly extended take on the original mixtape opener.
Tori Amos had dabbled with remixes before - I've previously enthused about the epic remix of 1994 single God by The Joy - but it was another radical remix that finally got her to the UK #1 spot in January 1997, this time courtesy of Armand Van Helden. The garage overhaul of Professional Widow actually appeared first as a double A-side with the more characteristic Hey Jupiter, managing a first week peak of #20 in August 1996, before drifting down the charts. However, the growing popularity of the Van Helden remix was enough to convince label EastWest to re-release it in its own right, with additional (good, but not as good) remixes by Mr. Roy. History was made.
Likewise, Common People was the song that broke Pulp, perhaps in more ways than one. Smashing into the singles chart in June 1995, it spent the first 2 weeks at #2 and 10 weeks in the Top 40. Follow up double A-single, Mis-shapes/Sorted For E's & Wizz, achieved a similar first 2 weeks at #2 in October 1995, no doubt bolstered by the controversy surrounding the latter track and "drug wrap instructions" sleeve. By "controversy", I mean the Daily Mirror getting into a ill-informed media frenzy, but that's for another post. This follow up single also included a couple of remixes of Common People for good measure, including the Motiv8 Club Mix featured here. An odd one, in that it didn't seem particularly loved by my indie- or club-centred friends, who preferred the original version if at all. It sounds dated now, but I still like it.
Like Going South by The Wolfgang Press on Side 2, Lazarus by The Boo Radleys really should have been their breakthrough hit. Creation obviously believed so too, as they tried twice, first in 1992 and again in June 1994 with a slew of remixes from the likes of Saint Etienne, Secret Knowledge and Augustus Pablo. The record-buying public disagreed: it entered the UK chart at #54 and 3 weeks later dropped out of the Top 100 altogether, never to return. Lazarus is frequently my favourite Boo Radleys song and a key part of the stunning Giant Steps album. I saw them live in Derby around this time and they just couldn't do the song justice. I like all of the remixes, even the Augustus Pablo take. Martin Carr allegedly thought Pablo was taking the piss (& the money) by simply laying some reverb and echo over the original 12" version, but nevertheless it works. Even better is the remix by Ultramarine. I was big fan of theirs and this version did not disappoint.
Ultramarine also provided an excellent remix of Missing by Everything But The Girl, albeit on the initial "flop" single release in August 1994, which scraped in at #69. Just over a year later, it was a completely different story, as Todd Terry's remix took off and the re-released single got to #3, spending a phenomenal 14 weeks in the Top 10. Great though it is, I prefer the original remixes, especially this one by Ben Watt.
Adored And Explored was the lead single from Marc Almond's 1996 album Fantastic Star. Not one of his better albums, though I've come to appreciate it more in recent years. I tended to buy the singles less for the lead track and more for the generous helpings of B-sides, session versions and remixes. Adored And Explored (#25 in May 1995) remains a Marc Almond highlight, however, and I enjoyed the remixes by Messiah, Beatmasters and X-Press 2. Andy Meecham, fresh from Bizarre Inc and a bright future with Chicken Lips and as The Emperor Machine ahead of him, delivers a brace of excellent remixes. This is my favourite of the two, with a beautiful clash of guitars and beats and an irreverent approach to Marc Almond's vocals, chopping them up and slowing them down. This song also supplies the mixtape's title.
Today's photo is another snapshot of my nostalgic wander around Bristol on Tuesday. I used to go to Lakota a lot back in the day, though I pretty sure that I would never have heard any of the songs on this mixtape played there. The club itself had been under threat many times over the years and there was national coverage in April 2020 of plans to close the club and convert it and the surrounding space into offices and flats. As at March 2022, the threatened demolition and further gentrification doesn't appear to have happened, but Lakota itself looks very much dead and gone. As ever, revisiting the past elicits mixed emotions.
1) Insomnia (Moody Mix By Rollo & Sister Bliss) (Album Version w/ Extended Intro): Faithless (1995)
2) Professional Widow (Armand's Star Trunk Funkin' Mix By Armand Van Helden): Tori Amos (1996)
3) Common People (Motiv8 Club Mix By Steve Rodway): Pulp (1995)
4) Lazarus (Ultramarine Mix): The Boo Radleys (1994)
5) Missing (Little Joey Remix By Ben Watt): Everything But The Girl (1994)
6) Adored And Explored (Andy Meecham's Slow Fat Dub): Marc Almond (1995)
Side Two here
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