Ed The Ball

Love Corporation : The Times : Edward Ball 

 

To round off this trilogy of tributes to The Times and the wonderful world of Ed Ball, I've sequenced a new mix pulling together rare remixes, extended versions and the more electronic-oriented sounds of Love Corporation. I've avoided some of the more obvious mixes, such as Palatial by Danny Rampling and the main mix of Give Me Some Love by Andrew Weatherall, because I think (hope) they are readily available elsewhere. In typically contrary fashion, I've also bookended the mix with the closing and opening tracks from Love Corporation's final album of new material, Intelligentsia, from 1994 and featuring the voice of the unique and much-missed Denise Johnson.

 

Put your headphones on and enjoy a little over an hour of Ed music...

 

1) Translucence: Love Corporation ft. Denise Johnson (from Intelligentsia, 1994) 

2) Your Mama Don't Dance And Your Daddy Don't Acid House (Ultra Living Mix): Love Corporation (from Dance Stance, 1997) 

3) Baby Girl (Album Version): The Times ft. Tippa Irie (from Alternative Commercial Crossover, 1993)

4) Septieme Ciel (Triple J Astral Projection Mix): The Times (Australian promo 12" single, 1990)*

5) A Beautiful Village Called England (Album Version): The Times ft. Angel Dust aka Cindy Lovecore (from Pure, 1991)

6) Lundi Bleu (Album Version): The Times (from Pure, 1991)

7) Palatial II (Remixed By Doug Martin): Love Corporation (12" single B-side, 1990)**

8) Give Me Some Love (Remix By Love Corporation & Andrew Weatherall): Love Corporation (12" single B-side, 1991)***

9) Translucent: Love Corporation ft. Denise Johnson (from Intelligentsia, 1994)

 

Ed The Ball (Love Corporation : The Times : Edward Ball) (1:02:37)

* This mix also appears on the The Times compilation Pink Ball, Brown Ball, Ed Ball from 1991, retitled I've Got All This And Heaven Too (Astral Projection Mix).

** On the Palatial 12" single sleeve, this version is credited to Doug Martin, on the label both mixes are attributed to Danny Rampling - I think it's the former. Palatial II also appeared on the 1990 Creation Records compilation, Do You Believe In Love?

*** This is the same as Give Me Some Love (Mix II), which appears on the promo 12" single.

Et Deux Créa Les Temps

Inspired by yesterday's response to The Times, I dove deep into the recesses of the attic and rediscovered a box of CD singles containing the 'missing' B-sides I needed to complete the mixtape.

Therefore, much sooner than planned, here is Side Two of a 1998 mixtape, this time dedicated to Brian and Swiss Adam. 

Brian, you may particularly enjoy track 5...

1) Pour Kylie (from Et Dieu Créa La Femme, 1990)

2) "...now what went wrong?" (from Alternative Commercial Crossover, 1993)

3) Soultight (ft. Jan Stevens) (from Finnegans Break EP, 1993)

4) A Girl Called Mersey (Album Version) (from Pure, 1991)

5) Baby Girl (Remix By Marius De Vries & Steve Sidelnyk) (ft. Tippa Irie) (from Baby Girl EP, 1993)

6) Heaven Sent Me An Angel (from Beat Torture, 1988)

7) Mash It Up (from Baby Girl EP, 1993)

8) Snow (Album Version) (from E For Edward, 1989)

9) Confiance (Album Version) (from Et Dieu Créa La Femme, 1990)

10) The Colour Of My Love (ft. Jan Stevens) (from Baby Girl EP, 1993)*

11) Sorry, I've Written A Melody (from Alternative Commercial Crossover, 1993) 

Side Two (44:57)

* This song was later re-recorded and released in 1997 as a single called Love Is Blue, and also featured on Edward Ball's album Catholic Guilt the previous year.

Et Dieu Créa Les Temps

Sometimes I've planned these posts in advance. Sometimes I'm writing on the fly, inspired by music I've listened to in the past 24 hours. Sometimes it's a serendipitous moment, where two parallel events converge in a happy and beneficial way. This falls into the latter category.

 

If you've followed previous posts, you'll have picked up that I've unearthed a box of mixtapes and CDs that I've compiled at various times since the late 1980s, either for myself, friends and family or both. I've recreated random sides as playlists and posted them here on a regular basis. Last Friday, I blew the dust off a few more and added them to my Apple Music playlist. On Saturday, I posted the first of these, Too Punk To Funk. Another on the list was The Times, effectively an ever-changing band with Edward (Ed) Ball at the core, who has recorded under a variety of aliases and across a broad range of genres.

Yesterday, at the excellent Linear Tracking Lives, Brian featured The Times, specifically their initial Whaam!/Artpop! phase in the first half of the 1980s. Brian mentioned that he was unfamiliar with The Times' second phase, specifically Ed Ball's time on the Creation label from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. And it just so happens that The Times playlist I'd recreated on Saturday focuses exclusively on the Creation period 1988-1993. Suddenly this post had more or less written itself...

So, here is Side One of a 1998 mixtape, rescued from the loft, and dedicated to Brian.

 

1) Manchester (12" Version) (from Manchester EP, 1989) 

2) Septième Ciel ('Fast' Version) (from Pink Ball, Brown Ball, Ed Ball, 1991)*

3) French Film Bleurred (from E For Edward, 1989)

4) All I Want Is You To Care (from Alternative Commercial Crossover, 1993)

5) Chagrin D'Amour (from Et Dieu Créa La Femme, 1990)

6) Lundi Bleu (Radio Edit) (from Lundi Bleu EP, 1992)

7) The Obligatory Grunge Song (from Alternative Commercial Crossover, 1993)

8) No Love On Haight St. (from E For Edward, 1989)

9) How To Start Your Own Country (from Beat Torture, 1988)

10) Acid Angel Of Ecstasy (from E For Edward, 1989)

Side One (46:04)

 

*  I'm not sure if this is a mastering error, but this is very slightly faster than the album version on Et Dieu Créa La Femme.

 

Although partly represented here by a single edit of the cover of New Order's Blue Monday, Ed Ball's 1991 acid opus Pure is otherwise not featured above, but does appear on Side Two of the mixtape. That may take a while longer to pop up on Dubhed as it includes a couple of CD single B-sides which are currently residing in a box somewhere deeper in the loft. However, I have a mixtape for Love Corporation, another Ed Ball-related project, which may appear sooner. It will also give me an excuse to post more Andrew Weatherall, as it's been far too long since he last made an appearance on this blog...

 

There are three further Creation-era albums by The Times, which also aren't featured on the mixtape - The Times At The Astradome Lunaville, Sad But True and Pirate Playlist 66 - for the simple reason that I didn't own them at the time and/or they were released after the mixtape was compiled.