Still Praying To The Skies...!

Side 2 of a mixtape, originally recorded 20th July 1992.

 

When I previously posted Side 1 in July last year, it was with no commentary or fanfare. It was a couple of months into challenging myself to post every day, maybe I was tired, maybe I was late for work and didn't have the time to wax lyrical. Either way, I did a disservice as I really, really love this mixtape.

It's a snapshot in time: after a year travelling, I was a year into my second attempt at A-Levels and college, having dropped out six months into my previous attempt; I was also back home living with my parents "out in the sticks" (boo! hiss!) but I was in love with a beautiful woman (back off, Dr. Hook!). More importantly, I had my own set of wheels. Whilst I could barely afford to keep the car on the road, any money left over from my part-time job went on music and recreation.

I'd hear very little of the "club music" selected here when I was out and about, but it was the sound track to my excursions to and from college and occasional nights out in Bristol and Bath, when taxi fares were prohibitive and city centre bedsit flops were limited. I think I had less success in converting my girlfriend and other college compadres - The Levellers, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Ozric Tentacles, Nirvana were more popular choices - but there was little denying the get-up-and-dance joy of, say, Opus III.

This isn't the first appearance of the 12" Mix of It's A Fine Day, written by Edward Barton and originally performed as a straight a cappella by Jane Lancaster in 1983. Opus III gave the song a trance overhaul, but it's Kirsty Hawkshaw's vocals that define this song. 

 

Side 1 contained several heavy hitters, starting off with In Yer Face by 808 State and taking in the mighty Hypnotone Mix of Cascades by Sheer Taft and Andrew Weatherall's unbeatable mix of Don't Fight It, Feel It by Primal Scream. The rest of the side saw several 1970s and 1980s artists rejuvenated by the exploding electronica and dance scene - Cabaret Voltaire, The Cure and Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy as System 7. Even the fey indie popsters were declaring there had always been a dance element to their music, in this case, Frazier Chorus to surprisingly good effect.

Side 2 similarly starts with 808 State, this time with indie darling Björk, and the start of what was the end of one partnership (with The Sugarcubes) and the beginning of another (with Graham Massey and other like-minded dance producers). There's less of Björk on this mix, but it's brilliant all the same.

 

Rainbow was the first Sly & Lovechild I heard, courtesy of a great remix by Mark Moore. It was a few years before I was able to track down the debut 12" and Andrew Weatherall remix, but Rainbow was an equally great single. A shame that chart success eluded the duo.

 

The Deee-Lite remix was taken from my girlfriend's copy of the Groove Is In The Heart 12" single, which was already popping and crackling like a breakfast cereal a year on. Likewise, my brother had the original Deconstruction 12" of Temple Head, which introduced me to an enduring love of Transglobal Underground and consequently, Nation Records.

 

I'd heard of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, but I don't think I was particularly aware of Faith Healer at the time I bought this. My motivation was probably that Recoil was the solo project of Alan Wilder, formerly of Depeche Mode. Here, he's joined by Nitzer Ebb's Douglas McCarthy on vocals, with a ton of remixes on the 12" and CD singles. This one by Moby in his Barracuda guise, is the standout.

 

The selection closes with Treaty by Australian collective Yothu Yindi. I was in Australia when this song exploded. Aside from the fact that it was the first song by a predominantly Aboriginal band to chart in Australia and features significant portions sung in Gumatj, it was a perfectly timed song, protesting the lack of progress on the treaty between Aboriginal peoples and the Australian federal government, promised to be in place by 1990. Treaty initially didn't make the desired impact, but the subsequent remix by Filthy Lucre took it to the clubs and the singles chart. The song also had a global impact and the UK release sported remixes by William Orbit and K-Klass. The Filthy Lucre remixes remain the essential purchases. 

 

The inclusion of The Jesus & Mary Chain's Jim Reid as the mixtape cover star is slightly harder to explain. I can only assume that this was the only available clipping from my copies of NME or Melody Maker of someone looking up to, and thereby potentially praying to the skies. Sometimes, I was just that literal.

1) Ooops (Mellow Birds Remix): 808 State ft. Björk (1991)

2) Rainbow (Green Mix By Phil Nicholas & Doug Martin): Sly & Lovechild (1991)

3) What Is Love? (Holographic Goatee Mix By Satoshi Tomiie): Deee-Lite (1990)

4) Faith Healer (Barracuda Mix By Moby) (Cover of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band): Recoil ft. Douglas McCarthy (1992)

5) Temple Head (Zenana Mix By Aki Nawaz & Paul Tipler): Transglobal Underground (1991)

6) It's A Fine Day (12" Mix) (Cover of Jane): Opus III (1991)

7) Open Up Your Head (Vocalfield Mix By Leftfield): If? (1991)

8) Treaty (Filthy Lucre Remix By Gavin Campbell, Paul Main & Robert Goodge): Yothu Yindi (1991)

Side Two (46:18)

Side One here