Double Dub '85

When posting the first Dub '85 selection in January, following on from Dub '83 in September 2023, I said that I would eventually get around to Dub '84. 

Today is not that day, however, as I revisit 1985 for another dozen dubs of popular hits (well, some of them were popular, anyway).

By the mid-80s, 12" remixes and dubs had become the norm to the extent that even James Brown and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts were getting in on the act. And, believe it or not, this is the first time that Red Hot Chili Peppers have appeared on this blog. 

Others like Pet Shop Boys, Big Audio Dynamite, Bangles and Talking Heads are much more familiar round these parts. I've included Swing Out Sister but you've been spared Simply Red on this occasion.

 

Oh, and I've managed to string out this week's ad-hoc German theme for one more day, by including Gina X and Zeus B. Held.

I dug (or should that be dubbed?) myself into a hole with the previous couple of Dub posts, by providing a slipshod facsimile of a rather wonderful Saturday morning quiz. Rol's solicitor is sending the heavies round Sunday lunchtime. Oh well, here we go....

1) It will be no surprise that Zeus B. Held, Shep Pettibone, Belouis Some and Gina X are pseudonyms. But which artist's real name is Neville?

2) What is the connection between Swing Out Sister and A Certain Ratio?

3) Which video variously features a pair of flippers, a shuttlecock, a party hat and a bird perched on a doughnut?

4) Which of today's line-up performed at Live Aid?

5) In 1985, which producer/remixer appeared in the pages of The Scum newspaper, photo depicting them smashing their TV with a hammer in protest at Doctor Who being 'rested' by Michael Grade?

Answers will be posted in the Comments below on Sunday morning.

1) Living In America (Dubstramental) (Remix By Dan Hartman): James Brown

2) Hit That Perfect Beat (Instant Dub) (Remix By Ian Levine): Bronski Beat

3) Walking Down Your Street (Dub Version By Steve Beltran): Bangles

4) Hollywood (Africa) (Dub Mix By Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero) (Cover of 'Africa' by The Meters): Red Hot Chili Peppers 

5) No G.D.M. (Dub Version By Zeus B. Held): Gina X

6) A Party (Dub) (Remix By Paul 'Groucho' Smykle) (Edit): Big Audio Dynamite

7) And She Was (Dub) (Remix By Eric 'ET' Thorngren & David Byrne): Talking Heads

8) The Broken Years (Dub) (Remix By Gary Langan): Hipsway

9) West End Dub (Remix By Shep Pettibone): Pet Shop Boys

10) Imagination (Dub Mix By Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero): Belouis Some

11) Blue Mood (Dubbed Up Mix By Paul Staveley O'Duffy): Swing Out Sister

12) Bombs Away (Dub Version By Mark Berry & Mark Richardson) (Cover of 'Cherry Bomb' by The Runaways): Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

Double Dub '85 (1:11:22) (KF) (Mega)

If that's not enough 80s dub for you, I've reposted Dub '85 and Dub '83.

Decadance I: 1991

Side 2 of a made up mixtape, focusing on the Nineties. Today we arrive in 1991. 

Guitars are beginning to creep back into the mix, but today's selection is still very much about getting on to the dancefloor, whether of the club or indie variety.

Looking at the best-selling UK singles of 1991, there was clearly a collective madness permeating society as far as record buying was concerned. How else do you explain Bryan Adams spending four effing months at #1? Or The Simpsons also hitting the top spot and having the 5th best seller of the year? Is there any rational explanation for the existence of Color Me Badd?!!

I spent a large part of 1991 in Australia, whose singles charts were arguably just as bad, though I was at least spared The Stonk by comedians Hale & Pace. 

Continuing with the info on each single's peak (UK) chart placing and date throws up some interesting observations. As with yesterday's selection, 1991's dozen songs include eight UK Top 40 hits and four that, well, weren't.

Just the one #1 this time and that a cheeky piggy back on a re-release of Should I Stay Or Should I Go by The Clash thanks to a jeans TV advert. Mick Jones had regrouped and relaunched Big Audio Dynamite II the previous year and included a reworked and renamed song from their debut album. Change Of Atmosphere became Rush and it gave Mick another hit single...though it made little if no difference to the chart fortunes of follow up album The Globe.

The selection opens with Intastella, a band I loved but for whom commercial success seemed elusive. Century, despite a 12" remix from Adamski, peaked at #70 and proved to be the second highest charting single of their career in the UK. A shame, as they had some cracking tunes, including this one.

Today's MAW (Mandatory Andrew Weatherall, not to be confused with Masters At Work, although he's equally deserving of the label) is a monumental remix of 101 by Finitribe. Even the 3:20 single edit is a masterclass, to the extent that this was the album version selected for An Unexpected Groovy Treat the following year. 

Released in July 1991, as far as I can tell 101 managed to scrape to #171 by the end of August and that was it's peak. As I said above,  clearly a collective madness permeating society as far as record buying was concerned.

Apart from the aforementioned Big Audio Dynamite II stowaway, the only other song from 1991's Top 20 best sellers is Sunshine On A Rainy Day by Zoë. Quite an achievement given that the original 1990 version failed to make the same impression. All I will say is that returning to the UK and seeing the leather trousered, barefoot Zoë throwing all manner of shapes on Top Of The Pops made a lasting impression on me.

An unexpected delight whilst I was on the other side of the world was hearing Bristol-born boy done good Gary Clail cracking the Top 10 with Human Nature. I was already a fan of his work with Adrian Sherwood and On-U Sound System, but the additional boost of an in-vogue remix by Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne made all the difference. Hearing Gary's Bristolian burr ("put their hands in their pockets") alongside the dulcet tones of the legendary Alan Pillay still makes me smile.

Poor If? though, they really did try. They had some great tunes, seemingly tapped into the zeitgeist with their lyrical subjects and had impeccable taste in remixers, including Leftfield and Justin Robertson. Sadly, people just didn't buy any of their records. They had three goes with Saturday's Angels between 1991 and 1992, the 2nd being the best, with a peak of #83. This radio-friendly remix by The Grid aka Dave Ball and Richard Norris didn't in fact feature on any of the three attempts, instead tucked away as a B-side on another undeservedly flop single from 1991, Open Up Your Head.

Unfinished Sympathy was Massive Attack's first big hit...except it wasn't. Following a frankly bizarre edict regarding band names that might be triggering due to the ongoing Gulf War, the BBC banned a load of songs during this period.

The list apparently included Atomic (Blondie), In The Army Now (Status Quo), I'm On Fire (Bruce Springsteen), State Of Independence (Donna Summer), Walk Like An Egyptian (Bangles) and When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going (Billy Ocean).

The record label dodged this potential issue by renaming Massive Attack as Massive for this one single, but it seemed to work, although I sure that there were some music lovers out there devastated this this wasn't in fact a belated follow up by Massivo ft. Tracy.

Intastella weren't the only young upstarts, however. Saint Etienne, Flowered Up and The Mock Turtles were all establishing themselves, though arguably I should have made some room here for James or Manic Street Preachers. 

 

However, there was another band who showed some early promise, by the name of Blur. I wonder what became of them?

Be here next Saturday for some 1992 action. I'll be as surprised as you to find out what makes the final twelve.

1) Century (7" Version By Chris Nagle & Mike 'Spike' Drake): Intastella
2) 101 (Sonic Shuffle Edit By Andrew Weatherall & Hugo Nicolson): Finitribe
3) Nothing Can Stop Us (Album Version): Saint Etienne
4) Sunshine On A Rainy Day (7" Radio Mix 1991 By Youth & Mark 'Spike' Stent): Zoë
5) Do What You Feel (Dum Dum Vocal Edit By Dave Lee): Joey Negro ft. Debbie French

6) Human Nature (On The Mix Edit By Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osborne): Gary Clail / On-U Sound System ft. Alan Pillay

7) Saturday's Angels (Elevator Heaven Mix By The Grid): If?

8) Unfinished Sympathy (Nellee Hooper 7" Mix): Massive Attack ft. Shara Nelson

9) Take It (Album Version): Flowered Up

10) Rush (Edit): Big Audio Dynamite II

11) Can You Dig It? (Extended Mix By Martin Coogan, Pete Smith & Karl Madert): The Mock Turtles

12) There's No Other Way (Album Version By Stephen Street): Blur

20th Jan 1991: Saturday's Angels EP (#83): 7

3rd Mar 1991: Should I Stay Or Should I Go EP (#1): 10

10th Mar 1991: Unfinished Sympathy EP (#13): 8

14th Apr 1991: Can You Dig It? EP (#18): 11

21st Apr 1991: Human Nature EP (#10): 6

12th May 1991: Foxbase Alpha (#54): 3

12th May 1991: A Life With Brian (#34): 9

12th May 1991: There's No Other Way (#8): 12

25th Aug 1991: 101 EP (#171): 2

8th Sep 1991: Sunshine On A Rainy Day EP (#4): 4

17th Nov 1991: Century EP (#70): 1

17th Nov 1991: Do What You Feel EP (#36): 5

Side Two (47:18) (KF) (Mega) 

Party Down, Rock The House, Burn The Cat...Beware Of Sudden Impact!

It's Friday, time for some rabble rousing!

 

1,315 posts in and I'm still finding plenty of music - and artists - that I've not featured on this blog before. 

 

All songs today come from 1980 or 1985 (and a couple in between), are presented in remixed or extended form and make their debut appearance in a Dubhed selection*.  

 

It's also the first time that The Lotus Eaters and Electric Guitars have featured here, full stop.

Some production heavyweights at the controls: John Leckie, Paul 'Groucho' Smykle, Dave Bascombe, Martin Rushent, Rusty Egan and Bob Sargeant. 

The lyrics are lifted from Sudden Impact! Now, whilst Mick Jones and the lads may be B.A.D., do not take them literally. By all means party down and rock the house, but please don't burn the cat!

 

1) Bankrobber / Robber Dub (12" Version): The Clash (1980)

2) Cruiser's Creek (12" Version): The Fall (1985)

3) Sudden Impact! (12-Inch Mix): Big Audio Dynamite (1985)

4) Ed's Funky Diner (The Keinholz Caper): It's Immaterial ft. The Christians (1985)

5) German Girl (Glasgow Mix): The Lotus Eaters (1984)

6) Language Problems (Extended Version): Electric Guitars (1982)

7) Come Back (White Label Remix): Spear Of Destiny (1985)

8) Psychedelic Rockers (Dubweiser): The Beat (1980)

1980: Black Market Clash: 1

1980: Too Nice To Talk To EP: 8

1982: Language Problems EP: 6

1985: Come Back EP: 7

1985: Cruiser's Creek EP: 2

1985: Ed's Funky Diner EP: 4

2010: This Is Big Audio Dynamite (Legacy Edition): 3

2011: The 12" Collection: 5

Party Down, Rock The House (47:33) (KF) (Mega)

* although Bankrobber / Robber Dub by The Clash appeared here with a variety of versions in August 2023.

Decade IV: 1986

Side 1 of a cassette compilation, recorded 8th April 1990.

 

Okay, so we're back with the OG Decade tapes that I compiled in 1990, a new decade and the end of my teens ahead, ten years of life-shaping music behind me.

Time to address the elephant in the room. You may have noticed from the track listing below and in the previous fortnight that the selection leans heavily on alternative, guitar-based music, and very little in the way of club or pop music. 

Yes, I will admit that as well as receiving my first proper Valentine's card and the same person agreeing to be my first proper girlfriend, I was beginning to tap into my inner Goth. I think I bought my first pair of winkle picker boots with shiny buckles around age 15. And the shirts. Oh, the shirts. My local Boots was also doing quite well out of my regular custom for hair gel and hairspray. Yep, I was quite the catch. I don't know what she was thinking.

Anyway, for all that, the parallel story of my teens was also my propensity for a pop song. My nascent record collection happily included the likes of Heaven 17, Bronski Beat, Erasure, Giorgio Moroder with Phil Oakey, Pet Shop Boys, Cameo, Madonna, Propaganda and so on. 

The reason why you're seeing little of that here is that, when I had the idea in 1990 of recording a themed series of mixtapes covering the 1980s, I already had the overarching title, Decade. I also had the thought that there would be a second, parallel series of more club/pop-oriented songs, acknowledging my love of the 12" single and called Decadance (sic). I never got around to recording any of the latter series, but maybe an idea to revisit here one day...

I will also add that whilst I enjoyed a bit of gnarly guitar, I despised Bon Jovi with a passion. No surprise that at school, I was in the minority, as the bobbins hair metallers were especially popular with my female friends. Thankfully, my girlfriend was an exception, in many ways but crucially in her indifference to the hirsute charms of Jon and the lads.

Scene set, here’s the mixtape.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood open up, though a band very much on the downward slide by 1986. I bought the single but more out of a weakening sense of loyalty and I didn't even bother with the accompanying album, Liverpool, at the time. And I echoed the howls of protest when an interview with comic writing legend Alan Moore on Channel 4's The Tube was abruptly cut short to segue to the video of Warriors (Of The Wasteland). It wasn't Frankie's fault of course, but they bore the brunt of my disgruntlement.

John Lydon had made a triumphant return with Public Image Ltd. and the single Rise, ahead of an album that depending on the format you bought was titled 'Album', 'Cassette' or 'Compact Disc' or 'untitled', if you want to be contrary. Co-produced with Bill Laswell, it's big on percussion, like the musical equivalent of a left hook from Mike Tyson (who became the youngest heavyweight champion in history in November 1986, fact fans). I love 'Album' for lots of reasons, and follow up single Home is one of them.

The Godfathers are next in line, matching Tyson's left hook with a piledriver to the head. I bought I Want Everything on 12" and played it loud. My mum understandably hated it. Tick.

I'm not sure my parents were fans of Gene Loves Jezebel but for all their backcombing, lipstick and chiffon, Sweetest Thing was a brilliant pop song. This is one brotherly reunion that isn't likely to happen until hell freezes over, though there's much to love in their early 80s albums. Sweetest Thing only got to #75 in the UK yet Discover reached #32, the only UK Top 40 album in their career.

A perhaps surprising return for Wall Of Voodoo, after their first appearance in 1983. Mexican Radio had a least been a minor hit (#64). Far Side Of Crazy failed to make even that much of an impression, despite the added appeal of 12" B-side Dance You F***ers (the label's censorship, not mine!). I didn't buy this first time around though I acquired Far Side Of Crazy when it was itself included as a B-side to follow single, a cover of The Beach Boys' Do It Again, which fared equally poorly with record buyers in general. Andy Prieboy was now lead singer and it's worth mentioning that former frontman Stan Ridgway had a #4 hit with Camouflage in July 1986. That must have stung a little.

Also on the comeback trail was Iggy Pop, aided and abetted yet again by David Bowie, with a phenomenally successful album, Blah Blah Blah, to boot. Cry For Love was the opening salvo and whilst Iggy enjoyed greater success with the follow up cover of Real Wild Child, I prefer this.

 

I mentioned earlier that Bronski Beat didn't make it into this series, though Jimmy Somerville's next project does. I thought The Communards was a brilliant next step and the musical partnership with Richard Coles produced some fabulous music, politically charged pop, beautifully arranged and sung, with incisive, insightful lyrics. Disenchanted is perhaps the prime example of this. It could be taken as an update or reflection on Smalltown Boy, though it's many other things too. And that wonderful descending piano chord at the bridge. A shame that The Communards are generally remembered for their 80s revival of disco classics. All hits and all good, but they were so, so much more than that.

Depeche Mode began the second phase of their career in 1986, following the mega-selling Singles 81-85 compilation. Many of my classmates referred to them as 'Depress Mode', though my friend Ady and I were increasingly committed to this new direction. 1986 would bring the Black Celebration album and my first ever live gig, seeing Dave and the lads at the Colston Hall in Bristol. I loved lead single Stripped and I bought the 5-track 12" single without having heard a note of the song. I didn't need to. Still hits the spot, four decades on.

My first proper girlfriend and I shared a love of Talk Talk. The Colour Of Spring and it's attendant singles came out as our young romance was blossoming and so the music inevitably became very special for us both. To be truthful, Give It Up was 'our song' - sadly prescient, given that our relationship lasted mere months - yet I have had an enduring love for Living In Another World as it's arguably the least Talk Talk-like song that they ever recorded. And I love it for that.

After committing the crime of not including either E=MC² or Medicine Show in my 1985 mixtape - all the more unforgivable, as This Is Big Audio Dynamite was one of my favourite albums of that year - here they are at last. C'mon Every Beatbox was released to announce the arrival of second album, No. 10, Upping Street. It's a cracking single, from it's familiar riff on Eddie Cochran's C'mon Everybody, to Sam Sever's deft editing and scratching, to Mick Jones and Don Letts' superb trade offs. The 12" version is even better, even if my vinyl rip is sounding to my ragged ears like it might be running a tad too fast....

My second crime is the paucity of Julian Cope in this series. Apart from his appearance with The Teardrop Explodes in 1981, this side marks the first sample from Julian's solo career. Though what an example! World Shut Your Mouth had been demo'd but never finished before the Teardrops, er, imploded. It then provided the title of Julian's first album in 1984 though omitting the song itself.

World Shut Your Mouth finally saw the light of day at summer's end in 1986, the song beefed up by US producer Ed Stasium, famed for his work with Ramones, and with a remix 12" by fellow Americans Trouble Funk. This was a different Cope for sure: sexy, pouting, leather clad; though the climbing frame mike stand was a sure sign that he was still bonkers as ever. The Saint Julian album also proved to be a huge success (#11 in the UK) and for a brief moment, the world did shut its mouth and pay attention. 

Another hugely underrated and underappreciated act is It's Immaterial. Driving Away From Home had been a surprise Top 20 hit in April 1986 and the record label reasonably thought that Ed's Funky Diner, a flop single in 1985 yet an equally brilliant and quirky song, deserved another shot. 

 

As before, Ed's Funky Diner was given the full format treatment: 7", 7" double pack with an extra single, 12", limited edition remix 12". It did better than before, though by better I mean a peak of #65. Their debut album got a few places higher and that was the end of the band as a chart-troubling entity. Thankfully, despite a series of unfortunate events in the intervening decades, It's Immaterial are actively recording and releasing music in the 21st century and the world is a better place for it.

 

1) Warriors (Of The Wasteland) (Single Version): Frankie Goes To Hollywood

2) Home (Single Version): Public Image Ltd.

3) I Want Everything (Single Version): The Godfathers

4) Sweetest Thing (Album Version): Gene Loves Jezebel

5) Far Side Of Crazy (Remix): Wall Of Voodoo

6) Cry For Love (7 Inch Edit): Iggy Pop

7) Disenchanted (Album Version): The Communards

8) Stripped (Single Version): Depeche Mode

9) Living In Another World (Single Version): Talk Talk

10) C'mon Every Beatbox (Extended Vocal Version): Big Audio Dynamite

11) World Shut Your Mouth (Album Version): Julian Cope

12) Ed's Funky Diner (Album Version): It's Immaterial

 

Side One (46:19) (KF) (Mega)

Wednesday's Child

Happy birthday to Don Letts, born 10th January 1956.

 

It's never a good idea to do a complete U-turn on your intended blog post at the last minute, especially when it involves creating a new mix from scratch. Even more so when your computer/internet collection is on a go slow, presenting you with the spinning wheel of death on screen whilst you jab pointlessly at the keyboard, in tbe vain hope that it might speed things along.

 

So, the original idea was to post some videos by artists who were born on a Wednesday, of which there are quite a few, even when you avoid out the complete wrong turns offered up by your not-so-friendly browser.

 

However, when I realised it was Don's birthday today, there was no way that I wasn't going to focus attention on him instead. And no, Don wasn't born on a Wednesday - it was a Tuesday, if you really need to know - who really cares? He's worth it!

So, when my effing and jeffing at the screen subsides and the files upload, here's just under an hour of music featuring Don Letts, topped and tailed of course by Big Audio Dynamite, a couple each from Basement 5 and Screaming Target, a few rarities and a new(ish) David Holmes remix of the title track from Don's first solo album, Outta Sync, released last year.

 

1) Much Worse (Extended Mix By Paul 'Groucho' Smykle): Big Audio Dynamite (1988)

2) Paranoiaclaustrophobia Dub: Basement 5 (1980)

3) Sumimasen Suite Pt.1: Yasushi Ide ft. Emily Capell & Rebel Dread aka Don Letts (2022)

4) Knowledge 'n' Numbers (Depth Charge Mix By J. Saul Kane): Screaming Target (1991)

5) Beat Down Babylon (Don Letts / Dan Donovan Dub Cartel Remix): Strawberry Blondes (2010)

6) Haile Unlikely By The Electric Dread: Don Letts, Stratetime Keith, Steel Leg, Jah Wobble (1978)

7) Outta Sync (David Holmes Remix): Don Letts (2023)

8) Immigration: Basement 5 (1980)

9) Who Killed King Tubby (Screaming Dub Mix By Paul 'Groucho' Smykle): Screaming Target (1991)

10) BAD (12" Version By Mick Jones): Big Audio Dynamite (1985)

Wednesday's Child (58:03) (KF) (Mega)

A Heart Of Fool's Gold

Back with a selection of 1980s alternative/indie 12" versions to enliven your weekend.

Earlier this year, I included Peter Hook's original mix of Elephant Stone by The Stone Roses in the last of my Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon posts. Here's the more familiar 12" mix by John Leckie. Can it really be 35 years old?! I never got into The Stone Roses in a big way at the time, though with the benefit of hindsight it's hard to deny that their debut album and singles like Elephant Stone were pretty amazing.

And this is where my timeline memory gets very confused. As The Stone Roses were paving the way to the future, All About Eve were just about to make it big, presaged by the single Our Summer. Hard to imagine now that the two bands were contemporaneous. This 12" version was produced by their mates from The Mission, Wayne Hussey and Simon Hinkler, who were also enjoying a bit of commercial success - and Smash Hits interviews - themselves. 

 

Cat-House by Danielle Dax was a staple of the alternative clubs I frequented in the late 80s/early 90s. I didn't own the 12" single but I did have CD88: The Vinyl, one of the quality and reasonably priced Indie Top 20 series that were great for penniless students like me at the time. The album included Our Summer and Cat-House, albeit in their single versions. Extended mixes of the latter popped up on a US-only 12" in 1989.

Earlier this week, SWC at the ever-excellent No Badger Required wrote about the race to be the first person to be 'into a band' when growing up. Big Audio Dynamite were 'my' band when I was at secondary school. A few kids had The Clash scrawled on their school bags or jackets but, let's be honest, we were all a bit late for that and had only heard of them by nicking borrowing our older sibling's records. Nobody had heard of Big Audio Dynamite, though, so buying those early 12" singles and the debut album was a moment. It helped that they were bloody brilliant, not least Medicine Show with it's Sergio Morricone samples and dub-inflected extended version.

A.C. Marias was essentially a duo of Angela Conway and Wire's Bruce Gilbert. I first heard a song (Give Me) on a Mute compilation and bought the single One Of Our Girls Has Gone Missing on 3" CD with a lengthy cover version of Vicious by Lou Reed as the B-side. There was no extended version of One Of Our Girls Has Gone Missing on either the 12" or CD single but the album version is about a minute and a half longer, so that's good enough for me.

Love And Rockets were born from the ashes of Bauhaus in 1985 and arguably found greater commercial success in the USA than the UK. I liked their earlier singles, including Yin And Yang (The Flowerpot Man) featured here, which has a rockabilly vibe yet can still be traced back to their earlier goth/post-punk roots. 

I resisted The Blue Nile for too long. The constant music press gushing in the late 1980s, telling me that I must like The Blue Nile because they ploughed a similar furrow of organic musical exploration and experimentation as one of my favourite bands, Talk Talk, actually made me less not more inclined to check them out. I learned the error of my ways years later and whilst they've never quite hit the spot that Mark Hollis and co. achieved, I shouldn't have let the journos put me off all those years ago!

 

The first time I heard the 12" version of Soul Mining by The The was when I bought the 12" double pack of Infected in 1986. Labelled as a "previously unreleased" version, it also popped up on the cassette format of the Infected single, the CD single re-release of Sweet Bird Of Truth (1987) and on the limited edition 2nd CD single of The Beat(en) Generation (1989). The B-side of the Uncertain Smile 12" single in 1983 contains Soul Mining (Definitive Version) which to these amateur ears sounds identical to the "unreleased" version. Either way, it's a great version, as all The The's 12" singles were throughout the 1980s. No surprise then that the song provides the title for this selection and an apt closure.

Happy weekend everyone, wherever you find yourself and whatever you may be doing.

More nonsense here tomorrow, more or less same time.

 

1) Elephant Stone (12" Version By John Leckie): The Stone Roses (1988)

2) Our Summer (Extended Mix By Simon Hinkler & Wayne Hussey): All About Eve (1987)

3) Cat-House (Overnight Mix By Danielle Dax & Renny Hill): Danielle Dax (1989)

4) Medicine Show (12-Inch Remix By Paul 'Groucho' Smykle): Big Audio Dynamite (1985)

5) One Of Our Girls Has Gone Missing (Album Version By Bruce Gilbert, Gareth Jones, John Fryer & Paul Kendall): A.C. Marias (1989)

6) Yin And Yang (The Flowerpot Man) (Remix By John A. Rivers): Love And Rockets (1986)

7) Tinseltown In The Rain (Album Version By Paul Buchanan & Robert Bell): The Blue Nile (1983)

8) Soul Mining (Definitive Version By Matt Johnson & Paul Hardiman): The The (1983) 

 

1983: A Walk Across The Rooftops: 7

1983: Uncertain Smile EP: 8

1985: Medicine Show EP: 4 

1986: Yin And Yang (The Flowerpot Man) EP: 6

1987: Our Summer EP: 2

1988: Elephant Stone EP: 1 

1989: Cat-House EP: 3

1989: One Of Our Girls (Has Gone Missing): 5

 

A Heart Of Fool's Gold (45:16) (KF) (Mega)

Bevans Above!

Another 12"/80s selection for the weekend, the common thread being that all of the songs have been remixed by legendary DJ Bert Bevans. This one is dedicated to Echorich, whose comment on a previous post inspired this and who is currently moving home... fingers crossed it's going as well as expected and best wishes in your new place!

The remix of Space by It's Immaterial is my favourite version of the song, and arguably the same goes for the Pete Wylie, Paul Weller and Depeche Mode selections. Even those that aren't the definitive versions (for me) - Big Audio Dynamite and Vicious Pink - are still pretty good. As for the rest, these are pretty much the only versions of the songs that I know.

Today's selection comes with a health warning as tracks 4 & 5 feature former members of The Beatles and Queen. The latter also apparently featured in the 1986 film Biggles and the video is notable only for featuring Peter Cushing's last on-screen appearance. It's Immaterial's Space video is much, much better.

You can also find a clutch of uplifting Bert Bevans DJ sets on his Soundcloud page. Highly recommended.

1) Roses (Extended U.S. Remix): Haywoode (1986)

2) Money-Go-Round (Dance Mix): The Style Council (1983)

3) Diamond Girl Oh! Diamond Girl (Super Solitaire Sublime Mix): Pete Wylie ft. The Fabulous Josie Jones (1986)

4) Press (Bevans & Forward Dub Mix): Paul McCartney (1986)

5) No Turning Back (The Joy-Stick Mix): The Immortals (1986)

6) Soul Deep (Club Mix): The Council Collective (1984)

7) Flexible (Pre-Deportation Mix): Depeche Mode (1985)

8) Cccan't You See... (Exxxx-tended Re-mixxx): Vicious Pink (1985)

9) Sinful! (The Wickedest Mix In Town): Pete Wylie ft. The Oedipus Wrecks (1986)

10) E=MC² (70mm Wide Screen Mix): Big Audio Dynamite (1985)

11) Dominoes (The Dance Mix): Robbie Nevil (1986)

12) Space, He Called From The Kitchen.... (12" Remix): It's Immaterial (1986) 

 

Bevans Above! (1:19:49)

(More) Bad Attitude

Side 2 of a mixtape, originally recorded 13th February 2002, featuring Big Audio Dynamite. Although the cassette sleeve is sub-titled "1985-1989", the truth is that I dipped out after V. Thirteen and missed third album Tighten Up Vol. '88 and it's accompanying singles altogether. The same was true of follow up album Megatop Phoenix, though I did buy the 12" of Contact, which I loved, and the Australian 12" of James Brown whilst in - you guessed it - Australia. I'm not sure why I seem to have temporarily fallen out of love with Big Audio Dynamite as, in retrospect, the 1988-89 songs are great. It was probably down to a limited budget for buying new music, considering I spent two years working and saving to travel, so any spare money was going on gigs, substances, clothes, running a car and my then-new obsession with Pixies. 

Betraying my limited B.A.D. vinyl - I only had the first album and an assortment of singles, with No. 10, Upping St. on a badly dubbed cassette, so unusable for my own mixtape - the original featured Medicine Show twice, album version on Side 1, 12" version on Side 2. For this update, I've swapped out the latter with Albert Einstein Meets The Human Beatbox, which originally appeared on the Medicine Show limited double pack 12" single and uses the E=MC² backing track. This also freed up space to include the 12" mix of Contact, which was inexplicably missing from the original track listing. Never mind the sequencing, feel the quality.

 

1) A Party (Dub) (Remix By Paul 'Groucho' Smykle) (Full Length) (1985)

2) James Brown (Remix Edit By Mick Jones & Bill Price) (1989)

3) C'mon Every Beatbox (Beatbox's At Dawn) (Remix By Sam Sever) (1986)

4) Hollywood Boulevard (Dub Mix By Sam Sever) (1986)

5) Contact (12" Mix By Judge Jules & Roy The Roach) (1989)

6) Albert Einstein Meets The Human Beatbox (ft. Sipho & Clement) (1986)

7) Sony (Album Version By Mick Jones) (1985)

8) BAD (12" Version By Mick Jones) (1985)

 

Side Two (46:47)

Find Side One here
 

Bad Attitude

Side 1 of a mixtape, originally recorded 13th February 2002. I was too young for The Clash to be 'my' band at school, but Big Audio Dynamite were a different proposition. This Is Big Audio Dynamite is an incredible album and the 12" mixes were equally thrilling, chock-full with samples, beats and incisive lyrics. The original BAD line up - Mick Jones, Don Letts, Leo Williams, Dan Donovan and Greg Roberts - was unbeatable, but there was an added thrill when Joe Strummer reunited with Mick Jones to co-write and co-produce second album No. 10, Upping St. I never tire of listening to these records.

 

1) This Is Big Audio Dynamite (12" Mix By Mick Jones & Paul 'Groucho' Smykle) (1985)

2) Stone Thames (Album Version By Mick Jones) (1985)

3) V. Thirteen (Extended Remix By Mick Jones & Alan Moulder) (1986) 

4) Medicine Show (Album Version By Mick Jones) (1985)

5) The Bottom Line (12" Version By Mick Jones) (1985)

6) Sudden Impact! (Album Version By Mick Jones) (1985)

7) E=MC² (Extended Remix By Mick Jones & Paul 'Groucho' Smykle) (1985)

Side One (45:53)

 

Fever (Still) Needs A Cure

Side 1 of a 1996 mixtape, rescued from the loft. 

 

1) The Storm (12" Edit By Cliff Bridgen & Hugo Nicholson): World Of Twist (1990)

2) Infected (12" Mix): The The (1986)

3) They're Here (Cenobite Mix): EMF (1992)

4) Oolaa (Meat Beat Manifesto Mutation): Orbital (1992)

5) Lightning Man (The Industry vs The Ebb Mix By Daniel Miller): NItzer Ebb (1990)

6) Hollywood Boulevard (Club Mix By Sam Sever): BIg Audio Dynamite (1986)

7) Make It Mine (V2.2 Evil Ed) (Remix By "Evil" Eddie Richards): The Shamen ft. Rhyme & Reason (1990)

8) Don't Lose Your Dreams (The Cabaret Voltaire Freak Mix): Pete Wylie & Wah! The Mongrel... (1991)

 

Side One (46:00)  

Find Side Two here