Four Hundred And Seventy Times Six

A six song selection for Saturday, some strange bedfellows, but all committed to the groove.

Fortran 5 were formed from the ashes of I Start Counting, record label Mute perhaps hoping for a smidge of commercial success, given the proliferation of sample-heavy dance music in the popular charts. 

It didn't happen, and Fortran 5 remain an under appreciated gemstone compared to the diamond brightness of Orbital or The Prodigy. Crazy Earth was Fortran 5's debut single, one of many songs inspired by Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, specifically The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. The sample here is from The Gnome. Isn't it good?

The Men was an experiment by The Human League Mk. I, aka Philip Oakey, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, to see if they could have a hit single. The disco-inspired 7" single I Don't Depend On You featured Phil backed by Katie Kissoon and Lisa Strike, wasn't heavily promoted and failed to dent the charts, but remains an ear-pleasing curio. 

In 2011, gkugno from Italy addressed the three-decade lack of a 12" version of I Don't Depend On You by creating an edit from the A-side and instrumental B-side aka Cruel, then posting it on YouTube. I think he did a pretty good job.

The mysterious mind behind MATDMixes has a similar M.O. What is less of a mystery is who their favourite artist is, as the YouTube page is dedicated to re-edits and remixes of music by Marina Diamandis aka Marina & The Diamonds aka Marina. 

I've featured their 2020 extended mix of Living Dead in a Marina-themed Dubhed selection, but it stands just as well in this mixed crowd. I'd recommend checking out the many, many MATDMixes available online.

Circuit, Lap 2 is the sole EP in my collection by Paris-based David Rubato, though he only seems to have released a handful of singles in the late Noughties and these days practices as a music teacher.

Circuit, Lap 2 is a companion piece to 2008 single Circuit, this one containing remixes by DJ Mehdi, Steve Moore, Siriusimo and - featured here - Aeroplane.

Personal Jesus has become one of Depeche Mode's best known songs. Even back in 1989, it marked a change of direction for the Basildon boys, and a precursor to their global smash album Violator.

François Kevorkian was their go-to for remixes at this point in time and as Depeche Mode singles came in two 12" vinyl varieties by default, there were multiple FK versions of this song, including the Holier Than Thou Approach and Telephone Stomp Mix. I've gone for the Pump Mix on the limited edition remix 12", the longest of the three and stretching out that pulsing electronic groove and dropping in a TV evangelist sample here and there. Great stuff.

Betty Boo may be an unexpected choice to close this selection. However - and with apologies to the fabulous Alison Clarkson - this remix by David Morales doesn't feature her voice at all....

Catch Me was a single from second album Grrr! It's Betty Boo in 1992, which couldn't match the chart success of her debut, but was a decent attempt to expand her songwriting and performance. Happily, albums #3 and #4 arrived thirty years later and the world is a brighter place for having Betty Boo back in it.

I will endeavour to keep the happiness going tomorrow....

1) Crazy Earth (Full Greenhouse Effect Mix By Edson Arantes Di Nascimento): Fortran 5 (1990)

2) I Don't Depend On You (Extended Re-Edited Version By gkugno): The Men (2011)

3) Living Dead (Extended Mix By MATDMixes): Marina & The Diamonds (2020)

4) Circuit (Aeroplane Remix By Stephen Fasano & Vito De Luca): David Rubato (2008)

5) Personal Jesus (Pump Mix By François Kevorkian): Depeche Mode (1989)

6) Catch Me (Def Version By David Morales): Betty Boo (1992)

1989: Personal Jesus EP: 5

1990: Crazy Earth EP: 1

1992: Catch Me EP: 6

2008: Circuit, Lap Two EP: 4

2011: I Don't Depend On You EP: 2

2020: Living Dead EP: 3

Four Hundred And Seventy Times Six (46:39) (GD) (M)

L'art De La Discothèque, Volume 2

A 90 minute revision class in the art of the remix, courtesy of François Kevorkian.

When compiling yesterday's "Volume 1", I'd used half of my shortlist of 24 songs. More by luck than planning, the remaining 12 also clocked in at an hour and a half, so sequencing a "Volume 2" seemed a no-brainer.

This selection has a tighter time period, focusing on 1983 to 2000, but no less a collection of top tunes for that. 

From this century (just), there are 9-minute mixes of Bent and Moloko, featuring the vocal talents of Zoё Johnston and Róisín Murphy respectively. From the 1990s, Soho and Yellow Magic Orchestra. The rest are from the 1980s, points along the spectrum including Cabaret Voltaire, Scritti Politti and That Petrol Emotion. 

Perhaps a surprise for some, but even Lou Reed and King Crimson got in on the extended 12" remix lark back in the day. Not sure how often these vinyl platters were tearing up dancefloors across the globe, but François Kevorkian does a good job with both.

More a production than a remix, Snake Charmer was the opening and title track of a 5-track EP/mini-album by Jah Wobble, The Edge and Holger Czukay in 1983.

Ol' Dave Evans pops up twice here, reuniting with his regular workmates in U2 for an FK remix of Wire the following year. This track originally appeared on the NME Readers' Poll Winners '84, a cover-mounted freebie 7" EP. And being the Celtic Dub Mix, those of you with allergies can rest assured that this version of Wire contains approx. 65% less Bono Vox.

Combined, the two volumes represent a fraction of François Kevorkian's prodigious output since an uncredited 12" remix of Happy Song by Rare Earth in 1975. 

It's inevitable that a Kevorkian remix will crop up on pretty much every 1980s 12" mix selection that I compile from here on, but I will come back to a bespoke FK mixtape or two in the future.

For now, revel in the brilliance.

1) Swollen (Francois K Vocal Mix By François Kevorkian & Eric Kupper): Bent ft. Zoё Johnston (2000)

2) Perfect Way (Way Perfect Mix By François Kevorkian, Alan Meyerson & Josh Abbey) (Full Length): Scritti Politti (1985)

3) Big Decision (Jet Fuel Mix By François Kevorkian): That Petrol Emotion (1987)

4) Snake Charmer (Full Length Version By François Kevorkian): Jah Wobble, The Edge & Holger Czukay (1983)

5) Here To Go (Extended Mix By François Kevorkian): Cabaret Voltaire (1987)

6) Nostalgia (Jeux De Mixage) (Remix By François Kevorkian & Goh Hotoda): Yellow Magic Orchestra (1993)

7) My Red Joystick (Remixed Version By François Kevorkian & Jay Mark): Lou Reed (1984)

8) Don't Look Any Further (Extended Mix By François Kevorkian, Alan Friedman & Alan Gregorie) (Cover of Dennis Edwards): The Kane Gang (1987)

9) The Time Is Now (Francois K Main Vocal Mix By François Kevorkian & Rob Rives): Moloko (2000)

10) Sleepless (Dance Mix By François Kevorkian & John Potoker): King Crimson (1984)

11) Freaky (Francois' Mix By François Kevorkian): Soho (1990)

12) Wire (Celtic Dub Mix By François Kevorkian): U2 (1984)

L'art De La Discothèque, Volume 2 (1:30:18) (GD) (M)

L'art De La Discothèque, Volume 1

A 90 minute master class in the art of the remix, courtesy of François Kevorkian. 

Monsieur K is now his sixth decade (!) as a remixer, producer and DJ and although his work rate is proportionately smaller than in preceding years, if you collected his credited work alone, you would have a pretty large music collection.

It would harder to list the artists that François hasn't worked with, than the other way around and, particularly in the 1980s, it seemed that no 12" single was complete without a Kevorkian remix.

So, where to start with a Dubhed selection? I've picked a dozen remixes, spanning 1982 to 2021, taking in Yazoo and Depeche Mode, Arthur Baker and Arthur Russell (as Dinosaur L), GusGus and Underworld, The Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen, Kraftwerk and Coldplay, Perry Farrell and Jimmy Cliff.

As eclectic as it sounds, what binds the music together is the man at the controls, a master at work, quality running through like writing in a stick of rock.

And yes, "Volume 1"...

1) Jumbo (Rob Rives & François Kevorkian Main Dish): Underworld (1999)

2) Lips Like Sugar (12" Mix By François Kevorkian & Michael Hutchinson): Echo & The Bunnymen (1987)

3) Enjoy The Silence (Bass Line) (Remix By François Kevorkian): Depeche Mode (1990)

4) On A Mission (FK 12" Mix By François Kevorkian): Arthur Baker & Rockers Revenge (2018)

5) Hot Hot Hot!!! (Extended Remix By François Kevorkian & Ron St. Germain): The Cure (1988)

6) Tour De France (Remix By François Kevorkian): Kraftwerk (1983)

7) #5 Go Bang! (Mixed By François Kevorkian): Dinosaur L (1982)

8) Roots Radical (12" Version By François Kevorkian): Jimmy Cliff (1983)

9) Very Important People (François K Vocal Mix By François Kevorkian & Rob Rives) (Full Length): GusGus (1999)

10) Talk (François Kevorkian Remix): Coldplay (2006)

11) The Solutionists (François K Brave Vocal Mix By François Kevorkian): Perry Farrell's Satellite Party (2021)

12) Situation (U.S. 12" Mix By François Kevorkian): Yazoo (1982)

L'art De La Discothèque, Volume 1 (1:30:06) (GD) (M)

Disco Discount

Digging in the vaults for a trio of François Kevorkian remixes, all available on compilations and EPs via Bandcamp for a steal, in my opinion.

 

As with Les Disques Du Crépuscule yesterday, Harmless Records have made a ton of their top notch compilations available digitally for seven quid, including the excellent Disco Discharge series* Originally issued as 2CD sets between 2009 and 2012, there are 18 themed collections to choose from. 

 

My pick, fronted by a live performance from 1983, is François Kevorkian's 12" mix of Keep On by D-Train, which appears on the Disco Boogie collection, along with Average White Band, Sharon Redd, Skyy and Nick Straker Band. Great stuff.

 

* [31st May 2025] It seems that Disco Discharge now has a standalone Bandcamp page, It's currently offering up 16 of the compilations, each split into two parts and either ¢5.00 a pop, a bargain in itself, or as a name your price purchase.

 

Originally issued in France only as a single in 1993, Tout Est Bleu by Âme Strong got a wider release in 1997 with remixes by Attaboy, 16B (Omid Nourizadeh) and François Kevorkian. You can also find the latter on the Airtight In Session: Volume 1 compilation from 2009. 

 

In 2003, Zapology aka Delroy Clarke lent his vocals to Midnight Bustling by 3 Generations Walking, furnished with an epic remix by François Kevorkian. In 2009, New York-based Lion1 Records released the 12-track Believe EP/remix album, containing reworks of the title track, Her Song and four mixes of Midnight Bustling, including vocal and dub rinses by Monsieur K.

More Devotional

Side 1 of a Depeche Mode cassette compilation, recorded circa September/October 1998.

 

I posted Side 2 in May this year and I still haven't got around to buying the current Depeche Mode album, Memento Mori, despite really liking the lead single, Ghosts Again. A testament to the amount of other great music that's been released this year but despite being the first gig I ever went to and my obsessive need to buy all of their singles through to, well, around the end of 1998 I was still never what you'd describe as a devotional fan.

I did like their singles and pick of remixers though and I think this mixtape is a pretty good example that when they were good, they were very good.

William Orbit's Random Carpet Mix of Walking In My Shoes pops up on compilations in a full length 8+ minute version, but I prefer the six-and-a-half minute edit that appeared on the original CD single. 

The KLF remix is a relative rarity. They didn't do that many in their time but they were always worth hunting down. As is Dan The Automator's trip hop take on standalone single Only When I Lose Myself, only pipped as my favourite mix of the song by Loo & Placido's mash-up with Dr. Dre from 2006 aka Still Losing Myself.

 

Not quite a mash-up, but Art Maharg drops a cheeky Enya sample into his edit of Sea Of Sin. His and Joseph Watt's (mostly) bootleg Razormaid mixes were often as good as and occasional better than the commercial releases.

I've found the 21st Century remixes a very hit-and-miss affair to be honest, leaning towards the latter. In the right hands, though? Mode magic.

 

1) Walking In My Shoes (Random Carpet Mix By William Orbit) (Single Version) (1993)

2) Everything Counts (Remix By Tim Simenon & Mark Saunders) (1989)

3) It's No Good (Album Version By Tim Simenon) (1997)

4) Personal Jesus (Holier Than Thou Approach) (Remix By François Kevorkian) (1989)

5) Only When I Lose Myself (Dan The Automator Mix By Dan Nakamura) (1998)

6) Policy Of Truth (Trancentral Mix By The KLF aka Bill Drummond & Jimmy Cauty) (1990)

7) Sea Of Sin (Razormaid's Orinoco Flow Edit By Art Maharg) (1990)

8) Rush (Spiritual Guidance Mix By Jack Dangers) (1993)

Side One (46:07) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two, including revived links to previous Depeche Mode selections, can be found here

I Only Knew The Cat And Dog In My Life

The title of today's selection is a line from the opening song by Suzi Lane, not a phrase that you'd necessarily expect to find in a disco tune, but there you have it.

Here's just over an hour of glitter ball grooves to set up the weekend. A few familiar names: Giorgio Moroder, Carly Simon, François Kevorkian, Shirley Bassey, Tom Moulton, Meco (who discofied the Star Wars theme tune) and Tony Bongiovi (Meco's co-conspirator on one of the greatest Christmas albums of all time and second cousin to this poodle-permed rocker).

 

A couple of other artists are lying low: Carly co-wrote Tranquillo (Melt My Heart) with producer Arif Mardin and then-husband James Taylor; Ain't Nothing Gonna Keep Me From You by Teri DeSario was written by and features backing vocals from Barry Gibb.

 

The common theme with all of these songs is that, with the exception of Fly, Robin, Fly by Silver Convention (#28 between 29th November and 12th December 1975), none of them troubled the UK singles chart. In fairness, several of them weren't even released as singles in the UK. Don't let that put you off. Bin your inhibitions, hit the dancefloor (or kitchen floor, if you're at home) and party!

 

1) Harmony (Long Version By Giorgio Moroder): Suzi Lane (1979)

2) Fly, Robin, Fly (12" Promo Version): Silver Convention (1975)

3) In The Forest (Extended 12" Version): Baby'O (1979)

4) Tranquillo (Melt My Heart) (Disco Mix By Arif Mardin): Carly Simon (1978)

5) Free Man (A Tom Moulton Mix) (Unreleased Acetate 12" Version): South Shore Commission (1976)

6) A-Freak-A (Disco Version By François Kevorkian): Lemon (1978)

7) This Is My Life (Disco Remix By Meco Monardo & Tony Bongiovi): Shirley Bassey (1979)

8) Fantasy (12" Version): Bruni Pagan (1979)

9) Ain't Nothing Gonna Keep Me From You (12" Version): Teri DeSario (1978)

I Only Knew The Cat And Dog In My Life (1:02:12) (Box) (Mega)

Moving Violations

Celebrating Andy 'Fletch' Fletcher of Depeche Mode, 8th July 1961 to 26th May 2022.

 

Without this blog becoming a musical obituary, I couldn't let more sad news this week pass with no comment or tribute. Last August, I wrote about seeing Depeche Mode live in concert at the age of 15, the first gig I'd ever been to. 

I'm going to let the music pretty much speak for itself today. This selection features both sides of a mixtape that I compiled 20th October 1990. By no means the first Depeche Mode compilation cassette I did, this one features a slew of remixes by François Kevorkian, Flood, Daniel Miller, The Beatmasters, Phil Harding, Tim Simenon, The Beloved, as well as relatively rarer (at the time) US mixes by Joseph Watt, Bert Bevans and Robert Margouleff.

 

A number of these are vinyl rips, so apologies for the variable audio quality.

 

Thanks, Fletch, you did good.

 

Side One

1) Route 66 (Remixed By The Beatmasters) (Cover of Nat King Cole & The King Cole Trio) (1987)

2) Sea Of Sin (Sensoria) (Remix By François Kevorkian & Alan Friedman) (1990)

3) A Question Of Lust (Remix By Flood) (1986)

4) World In My Eyes (Mode To Joy) (Remix By The Beloved) (1990)

5) Fly On The Windscreen (Death Mix By Gareth Jones) (1985)

6) Enjoy The Silence (The Quad: Final Edit By Tim Simenon) (1990)

7) The Things You Said (Album Version) (1987)

8) Nothing (Album Version) (1987)

9) A Question Of Time (Remix By Phil Harding) (1986)

 

Side Two

1) Behind The Wheel (Beatmasters Mix) (1987)

2) But Not Tonight (U.S. Extended Mix By Robert Margouleff) (1986)

3) Pleasure, Little Treasure (Glitter Mix By Depeche Mode & Dave Bascombe) (1987)

4) Get The Balance Right! (Combination Mix By Daniel Miller & Depeche Mode) (Cold End) (1983)

5) Flexible (Pre-Deportation Mix By Bert Bevans) (1985)

6) (Set Me Free) Remotivate Me (12" Mix) (Edited By Joseph Watt) (1984)

7) Dangerous (Sensual Mix By Flood) (1989)

 

Side One (46:02) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two (45:38) (KF) (Mega)

Teenage Remix

Side 2 of a C90 cassette, "mixed & mashed with abandon" 24th April 2000.

 

Back to the old school (disco) today and a bunch of 12" singles that I can guarantee didn't trouble the turntables at Pucklechurch Community Centre or Chasers Nightclub in Kingswood back in the day.  

 

The selection starts off with Sir William of Idol, an example where the 12" mix was much more exciting than the original version. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Billy's best album was the Vital Idol 12" remix compilation. Vital Idol was an essential purchase and frequently on loan to various school friends at the time.

I loved Communards and this was a prized purchase from Plastic Wax Records, when it was on West Street, Old Market in Bristol. The best remix of an already brilliant song. I wonder what happened to Jimmy Somerville and Richard Coles?

Kissing The Pink first came to my attention with the weird pop of The Last Film. By the mid-'80s, they'd gone none-more-pop with this 12" by 'Mixmaster' Phil Harding being one of their highlights. This was originally titled the 'Garage' mix but on my later copy of the Stand Up 12" single, it had been re-titled the 'Engagedmix'.

 

In the late '80s, I guess Thomas Dolby was still trying to lose the 'science geek' label that had stuck since the days of She Blinded Me With Science and Windpower. Aliens Ate My Buick was a great pop album and Airhead was a wonderfully subversive and scathing song about superficiality. François Kevorkian delivered a mighty 10-minute mix on the US 12" single. This edited version also appeared on 1999's 12x12 remix collection; I haven't checked, but I'm pretty sure that the version on my UK 12" single is slightly shorter again. But hey, never mind the length, feel the quality.

I was one of the poor unfortunates who heard Dollar's execrable version of Oh L'Amour before I heard the original by Erasure. What kind of mad world (™ Tears For Fears) do we live in where the asinine David Van Day & Thereze Bazar got to #7 in the UK singles chart in 1987, whilst the original by Andy Bell & Vince Bell managed a measly #85 the previous year? At least the latter enjoyed a second run in 2003, achieving the more respectable #13. David Van Day was running a burger van at the start of the 21st century, so I guess there was some justice, at least.

Another purchase from Plastic Wax (or Replay, I'm not sure), I retrospectively amassed China Crisis' singles on 12" in the mid- to late-'80s, which were by then bargain secondhand purchases. I loved the first album but was less familiar with the second or the title track and lead single. I can see why, as it only made it to #48 in 1983; follow up Wishful Thinking became their biggest hit, reaching #9 the following year. In a startling display of economy, the song neither retains it's full title or has a decent remix label on the 12" single, perfunctorily listed as Fire And Steel (Mix). The song's lots more fun.

 

And to close, Tom Lord-Alge pulverises O.M.D.'s delicate La Femme Accident with some typically huge '80s synthetic drums and stretched out vocals... and yet, I loved it. I purchased this as a lavish gatefold double pack 12" single, which included Enola Gay and a rather crap live version of Locomotion. I bought the accompanying album Crush on the back of So In Love. I wasn't a fan of follow-up Secret and I didn't think La Femme Accident was an obvious choice of single. Apparently, looking at the diminishing chart peaks, the UK-singles buying public agreed. Still, this version is about as 1980s as it gets.

Having just read that Chasers is due to reopen in 2022, any chance any of these will make a belated appearance? What do you think?

 

1) Catch My Fall (Remix Fix By Billy Idol & Steve Stevens): Billy Idol (1985)

2) Disenchanted (Total Dance Remix By Mike Thorne): The Communards (1986)

3) Certain Things Are Likely (Engagedmix By Phil Harding): Kissing The Pink (1986)

4) Airhead (Extended Version: Francois' Mix By François Kevorkian & Goh Hotoda): Thomas Dolby (1988)

5) Oh L'Amour (PWL Funky Sisters Say 'Ooh La La' Mix By Pete Waterman & Phil Harding): Erasure (1986)

6) Working With Fire And Steel (Fire And Steel (Mix) By Mike Howlett): China Crisis (1983)

7) La Femme Accident (12" Mix By Tom Lord-Alge): O.M.D. (1985)

 

Side Two (46:35) (GD) (M)

In A Discotheque At Dawn Is When It Came To Me

Nothing clever or fancy about today's selection: 7 randomly selected 12" mixes, sequenced in alphabetical order by artist. Some unexpected and welcome treats, though: a welcome return to this blog for Act aka Claudia Brücken & Thomas Leer; Bryan Ferry goes clubbing*; an early remix by Justin Robertson; François K taking on The Cure; and disco and dub classics from Grace Jones and Gregory Isaacs. To close, a track from modern dub colossi Youth and Gaudi, remixed by Cambridge DJ/producer Kuba, which has introduced me to a couple of new genres, psychill and broken beat. Every day an education. And a reason to keep moving.

1) Chance (Throbbin' Mix By Stephen Lipson): Act (1988)

2) You Can Dance (John Monkman Remix): Bryan Ferry (2010)

3) Redhills Road (Most Excellent Mix By Justin Robertson): Candy Flip (1991)

4) Hey You!!! (Extended Remix By François Kevorkian & Alan Gregorie): The Cure (1988)

5) La Vie En Rose (A Tom Moulton Mix): Grace Jones (1977)

6) Cool Down The Pace (10" Mix By Godwin Logie & Paul 'Groucho' Smykle): Gregory Isaacs (1982)

7) Empress Of The Tarot (Kuba Remix By Laurence Harvey): Youth & Gaudi (2020) 

 

* This is very good, but the original version by DJ Hell is the best.

In A Discotheque At Dawn Is When It Came To Me (44:12)