Stretch Out In The Sun

I hope you're all doing okay, wherever you are. This week, I've been frequently dipping into my collection of 12" mixes from the 1980s, the random shuffle throwing up lots of familiar tunes, as well as plenty of more obscure songs and/or versions.

I've created a 46-minute selection of eight, none of which have appeared on this blog (at least I'm 99.9% sure of this), spanning 1981 to 1988 and several genres, but all extended to enhance their danceability as Heaven 17 (cruelly omitted here) once said.

Touched By The Hand Of God is one of my favourite New Order songs, with a fun video to match. The remix here is from the soundtrack to Salvation!, a 1987 US film and an early credit for Viggo Mortensen. 

I've never seen Salvation!, but the soundtrack album (issued in 1988) is top notch, with contributions from New Order, Arthur Baker and Cabaret Voltaire. The Arthur Baker remix of Touched By The Hand Of God featured in today's selection is a bonus track on the CD and as far as I'm aware is unique to this release.

Dale is better known as Dale Bozzio, a Boston-born musician, former Playboy Bunny, member of Frank Zappa's recording ensemble and most famously (in the USA at least), co-founder of Missing Persons in 1980.

Fast forward to 1st Janaury 1988 and Dale's debut solo album, Riot In English, was released on Prince's label Paisley Park Records. Simon Simon was the opening song and lead single, remixed here by superstar DJ Shep Pettibone (CV includes the stellar remix of New Order's Bizarre Love Triangle) and Junior Vasquez, also on the ascendant.

By the mid-1980s, any artist was fair game for the extended 12" remix treatment and Bruce Springsteen was no exception. Arthur Baker (him again) was drafted to remix a trio of singles from Born In The U.S.A., the title track, Dancing In The Dark and Cover Me. 

The latter is today's pick and it's probably the best of the three, although if you're not a fan of this kind of thing, then it will not be the one to convert you. 

Bow Wow Wow shone briefly in the early 1980s, more than just another Malcolm McLaren vehicle to incite controversy but it feels often unfairly overshadowed by the latter. I was ten when the Prince Of Darkness single came out. Annabella Lwin was five years older than me at the time. 

Boggles the mind but, to this tiny listener, she had an incredible voice and presence and the songs were a lot of fun even if I didn't understand what they were really about. I've just discovered a performance of Prince Of Darkness on German TV, followed by an awkward though thankfully brief interview with Annabella afterwards.

The Pasadenas, from their name to their image, of 50s-style greased back quiffs, leather jackets and denim, to their sound, a contemporary update of soul, funk, do wop and R'n'B, screamed America. 

In fact, the 5-piece was a British group, originally a dance troupe called Finesse, before taking a punt at pop success in the late 1980s. And it worked: Riding On A Train, which they also wrote, got to #13 in the UK and their debut album peaked at #3.

So why The Pasadenas? It was the birthplace of founders and twin brothers David and Michael Milliner, before their relocation to England.

An early building block in my vinyl record collection was The 12" Album by Howard Jones, with the on-the-nose cover featuring Howard in profile standing next to an image of a 12" wooden ruler. Presumably not an indication of Howard's actual height, though I must ask Mrs. K as she has seen him out and about in his old stomping ground of High Wycombe.

Whilst four of the six songs were extended versions of Howard's singles, Total Conditioning was an album track, then a B-side of the Pearl In The Shell 12". Ironically, the version on The 12" Album is about a minute shorter than said 12" album. I'll leave you to decide whether that's a travesty or a small mercy.

I'm sure that I trot this out every time that I mention Bananarama, but Sarah and Keren used to go to the same secondary school as me. Unfortunately, unlike Annabella Lwin, the age gap was sufficienty great that they were long gone by the time I arrived at the gates, wet behind the ears, crap haircut and sweating in my school blazer and jumper (it was a hot September).

Do Not Disturb sits, in my mind at least, in that transitional period between the early, vaguely indie/DIY feel singles and the full-blown bouncy pop (especially with Stock, Aitken & Waterman) that top and tailed the 1980s. It's fun, but less memorable.

Closing out this collection is a cover of Low Rider, originally by War in 1975, recorded a decade later by Quando Quango. in 1985, they had gained cool points for being on the Factory label, but disbanded following their debut album, Pigs + Battleships. The remix of Low Rider here is by 400 Blows and appeared on volume two of the Funky Alternatives compilation series, which was always worth a punt.

Ten years later, Quando Quango co-founder (and Hacienda DJ) Mike Pickering found global success with M-People.

Stay cool out there today!

1) Touched By The Hand Of God (Remix Version By Arthur Baker): New Order (1988)

2) Simon Simon (Extended Remix By Shep Pettibone & Junior Vasquez): Dale (1988)

3) Cover Me (Undercover Mix By Arthur Baker): Bruce Springsteen (1984)

4) Prince Of Darkness (12" Version By Bow Wow Wow & Brian Tench): Bow Wow Wow (1981)

5) Riding On A Train (Album Version By Pete Wingfield): The Pasadenas (1988)

6) Total Conditioning (12" Version By Rupert Hine & Stephen W. Tayler): Howard Jones (1984)

7) Do Not Disturb (12" Version By Steve Jolley & Tony Swain): Bananarama (1985)

8) Low Rider (400 Blows Remix By Andrew Beer & Robert Taylor) (Cover of War): Quando Quango ft. Beverly McDonald (1985)

1981: Prince Of Darkness EP: 4

1984: Cover Me EP: 3

1984: The 12" Album: 6

1985: Do Not Disturb EP: 7

1987: Funky Alternatives Vol 2: 8

1988: Salvation! OST: 1

1988: Simon Simon EP: 2

1988: To Whom It May Concern: 5

Stretch Out In The Sun (46:36) (GD) (M)

Saturday's Not Alright For Fighting, Elton

How about some love, peace and harmony instead?

 

1) Love, Peace And Harmony (Remixed By Kurt Munkacsi & Ivan Ivan): Bow Wow Wow (1983)

2) Sweet Harmony (Album Version): The Beloved (1992)

3) Our Love Is God: The Impossibles (1991)

4) Harmony (Cover of Elton John): Jesse Malin (2008)

5) Peace In Our Time (Cover of The Imposter): Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine (1993)

6) Harmony 5 (Accordion): Spiritualized (2008)

7) One Love (Remix By Adrian Sherwood) (7" Version): The Stone Roses (1992)

8) Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Remixed By Flowered Up) (Cover of Neil Young): Saint Etienne ft. Moira Lambert (1990)

9) We Come In Peace: Bobby Conn & The Glass Gypsies (2004)

10) Peace And Love: Flesh For Lulu (1984)

11) Harmony 1 (Mellotron): Spiritualized (2008)

12) Peace (SixToes Remix): Depeche Mode (2009)

13) Peace And Love: Sylvia Tella (1986)

 

1983: Love, Peace And Harmony EP: 1

1984: Flesh For Lulu: 10 

1986: Will You Still Want Me: 13

1990: It's On/Only Love Can Break Your Heart (The Catalogue magazine promo flexi 7"): 8

1991: The Drum EP: 3 

1992: Waterfall EP: 7

1993: Conscience: 2 

1993: Peace Together: 5 

2004: The Homeland: 9

2008: On Your Sleeve: 4

2008: Songs In A&E: 6, 11

2009: Peace EP: 12

Saturday's Not Alright For Fighting, Elton (46:11) (KF) (Mega)

The Tape Would Understand

Things started with The Clash, inevitably jumping to Manic Street Preachers and leading to whole bunch of 'radio' songs. But not including Radio Song by R.E.M. Although there is another 'radio' song by R.E.M. My brain hurts.

 

Put another way: 12 songs. 48 minutes. Enjoy. 

1) Hitsville U.K: The Clash ft. Ellen Foley (1980)

2) Radio G String: Bow Wow Wow (1980)

3) Radio Waves (Album Version): O.M.D. (1983)

4) Take Back The Radio (Flying Mojito Bros Refrito): Katy J Pearson (2021)

5) Radio #1 (Señor Coconut's "Rumbamambochacha" Remix By Uwe Schmidt): AIR ft. Sergio Lagos (2001)

6) On My Radio: The Selecter (1979)

7) Sports Radio (RLC Dub Mix): Elite Beat (2020)

8) Factory Radio: Black Box Recorder (1998)

9) Love Songs On The Radio: Mojave 3 (1995)

10) Radio Free Europe (Original Hib-Tone Single Version): R.E.M. (1981)

11) Motown Junk (Single Version): Manic Street Preachers (1991)

12) Put The Radio On: Lana Del Rey (2010)

 

The Tape Would Understand (48:15)

Junk Garage

Side 2 of a mixtape recorded by my friend Stuart, circa August 1991.

There was an excellent post from JC (could it be anything else?) at The Vinyl Villain on Thursday, titled State Of The Blogging Nation, which provoked a great response from readers and fellow bloggers alike. Whether we read and comment, or write and post, it's the passion for music and the tangible sense of community that keeps bringing us back. I regularly read dozens of music blogs, some of which are updated daily, others weekly, others considerably less so. I try to comment as much as possible, but it's increasingly hard to keep up, especially since committing last year to posting on Dubhed every day for as long as I can keep being inspired.

A guaranteed daily visit is Charity Chic Music as I read with awe about Stevie's latest find for mere pennies in his never' ending search for charity shop gems. Friday's post featured Pere Ubu's 1990 album Worlds In Collision and one of the two songs he showcased was I Hear They Smoke The Barbecue. This was almost certainly the second Pere Ubu song I ever heard (after Waiting For Mary) and came courtesy of another trusty tape from my friend Stuart. We'd been apart for a year whilst I was working and travelling Australia, so this was a kind of "welcome home" mixtape, summing up what he had been listening to recently.

 

Renegade Soundwave are hugely underappreciated, in my opinion. Actually, I've just realised that this is their first appearance on this blog, so clearly by me too! Soundclash and RSW In Dub were incredible sonic slabs that demanded repeat listening and whilst it was a few years before their respective follow ups, they maintained a singular sound before their premature end. Murder Music is a great example and a perfect opener to Side 2.

 

Tracks 2 & 3 were lifted directly as the opening two songs on The Island Tape, a Select magazine freebie cassette, but Julian Cope's magnum opus Peggy Suicide was an immediate purchase on my return whilst - bizarrely, in retropect - it was a couple of years later with Bone Machine that I finally bought a Tom Waits album. I borrowed and taped Stuart's copy of Out Of Time but, of course, R.E.M. achieved global domination with this, so I was already familiar with most of the songs from constant radio and MTV rotation.

 

I was largely ignorant of Bob Dylan at this time (dismissive even, given his association with The Travelling Wilburys), so it was a bold move to an 11-minute epic on, but it paid off. Desolation Row remains one of my favourite Dylan songs. Despite being 3 decades older than most of the other songs, fits perfectly , sandwiched between one of This Mortal Coil's (& Kim Deal's) and R.E.M.'s finest moments.

 

We saw The Fat Lady Sings supporting The Psychedelic Furs in 1990 and in Stuart's opinion, they were the highlight of the night. He's followed them and subsequently singer/songwriter Nick Kelly's solo exploits ever since.

 

I've tweaked the playlist slightly, for practical reasons: I don't have the original album version of Aeroplane Blues, only the "LA Mix" from the Volume CD/magazine series. It sounds like a rougher, earlier mix to these untrained ears, but my box of Volume is buried in the attic somewhere so I can't check the detail.

 

I've also swapped the album version of Hang On St. Christopher from The Island Tape for the USA-only 12" version as (a) you may be less familiar with this one and (b) it bolsters the running time, which was running a bit short on the original tape.

Junk Garage (American pronunciation of the latter) is a phrase taken from R.E.M.'s Country Feedback. 

 

Junk Collage (do you see what I did there?) by me, ripped from various magazines and adverts. I can easily spot Buddy Holly and Christian Slater in there. I think the main picture was a toilet wall backdrop to a photo of a music artist, but I've forgotten who.

Some of the typeface has worn away, but you get a sneak preview of what will eventually pop up when I post Side 1. The reason I didn't go with that one today is that the tape opens with an expletive-ridden intro, but one which segues perfectly into a Neil Young & Crazy Horse track. I'm debating whether it stays, goes or is edited in some way before posting. Watch this space...it might be a while.

 

1) Murder Music (Album Version): Renegade Soundwave (1989)

2) Hang On St. Christopher (Extended Remixed Version By Tchad Blake): Tom Waits (1987)

3) Double Vegetation (Album Version): Julian Cope (1991)

4) You And Your Sister (Cover of Chris Bell): This Mortal Coil ft. Kim Deal & Tanya Donelly (1991)

5) Desolation Row: Bob Dylan (1965)

6) Country Feedback (Album Version): R.E.M. (1991)

7) Aeroplane Blues (LA Mix): The Blue Aeroplanes (1991)

8) Sexy Eiffel Towers: Bow Wow Wow (1980)

9) I Hear They Smoke The Barbecue: Pere Ubu (1990)

10) Twist (Album Version): The Fat Lady Sings (1991)

11) Safesurfer (Reprise): Julian Cope (1991)

 

1965: Highway 61 Revisited: 5 

1980: Your Cassette Pet: 8

1987: Hang On St. Christopher (USA 12"): 2

1989: Soundclash: 1

1990: Worlds In Collision: 9

1991: Blood: 4 

1991: Out Of Time: 6

1991: Peggy Suicide: 3, 11

1991: Twist: 10

1991: Volume Two: 7

 

Side Two (45:59) (Box) (Mega)