It feels like an age since I've posted an 80s 12" mixtape inspired selection on a Friday. I haven't checked, it's probably been a couple of weeks but what the heck, repetition celebrates and devalues!
I've kept my sights firmly on 1982 and 1983 for today's deadly eight, so expect some of the emerging 'big' sounds, stuttering edits and extended breaks that the 12" format was playing with at the time.
The only two I owned at the time were the cassette version of the Talking Heads album Speaking In Tongues, which featured exclusive extended versions of several tracks including Slippery People, and the 12" of Our Lips Are Sealed by Fun Boy Three, the 'Special Remix Version' incorporating a spoken word second half that at the time was quite a surprise but which I quickly grew to love.
I also owned Seven Singles Deep, the mini-LP collection of extended A-sides by The Icicle Works, although the version of Birds Fly is a remix that featured on the 12" single in the USA. The version of Paper House by Associates featured on the re-release of The Affectionate Punch, which was remixed and repackaged in the wake of Party Fears Two and the album Sulk. Elvis Costello & The Attractions and The Beat were very belated acquisitions in the 21st century and worth the price of admission alone, in my opinion.
China was a B-side on the very first 12" single release of Dance Hall Days in 1982 back when Wang Chung were called Huang Chung. Sadly, Wang Chuang were cruelly denied a place in SWC's current Rock's Greatest W series over at the frankly essential No Badger Required. Should I have the privilege of participating in a future Rock's Greatest H, I am poised to nominate...
Rounding off today's selection is The Last Film by the wonderful Kissing The Pink, whose hugely enjoyable Anthology 5CD box set was propelled through the letter box at Casa K a couple of weeks ago. They were bonkers to say the least and the three 1980s albums included are markedly different in style and sound but all the better for it. To many, The Last Film is their 'one hit wonder', a reminder of a time when quite out there pop could also be a hit.
1) Let Them All Talk (Extended 12" Remix By Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley): Elvis Costello & The Attractions ft. The TKO Horns (1983)
2) China (American Extended Remix By Roger Bechirian): Huang Chung (1982)
3) Whisper To A Scream (Birds Fly) (Extended Club Remix By Steve Thompson): The Icicle Works (1983)
4) Paper House (Remix By Associates & Mark Arthurworrey): Associates (1982)
5) Slippery People (Cassette Mix By Talking Heads & Alex Sadkin): Talking Heads (1983)
6) Save It For Later (Extended Remix By Bob Sargent): The Beat (1982)
7) Our Lips Are Sealed (Special Remix Version By Fun Boy Three & Jeremy Green): Fun Boy Three (1983)
8) The Last Film (Hymn Version - Extended By Kissing The Pink, David King & Neil Richmond): Kissing The Pink (1983)
Oh my, there's a couple up there that I haven't though about, far less listened to in decades!! And yes, I am looking at you 'The Last Film'. An excellent song - and as far as I can recall, the only hit the band ever enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteThanks, JC. Ah yes, Kissing The Pink. I think they enjoyed a bit more success in the US, though they had to abbreviate their name to KTP. Whilst the phrase is firmly rooted in the game of snooker for those of us in the UK, it was appropriated Stateside for a whole different purpose!
DeleteI think Kissing The Pink would be a difficult one to capture in a Dubhed selection (or ICA, for that matter) because their three albums were so unlike each other, but I will revisit them here at some point in the future.