More Altered Perceptions

Side 2 of an 80s mixtape recorded 26th November 1999.

Another compilation that's taken me ages to return to, Side 1 making an appearance here in November 2023. Better late than never...!

In 1987, Get It On by T. Rex was re-released with a new remix by Tony Visconti. I don't remember why exactly, as the (rather excellent) Best Of The 20th Century Boy compilation had already been out for a couple of years and there was no jeans ad tie-in as far as I recall. There were two 12" singles with new extended versions: the Dawn Mix on yellow vinyl and the Dusk Mix on blue vinyl; I've got both, there's not a lot of difference between the two.

Propaganda's second single was Duel, a gorgeous slice of Germanic pop. On the flip side was its roughneck relation, Jewel, Claudia Brücken's sweet voice replaced by Susanne Freytag's shouty vocals. Similarly, their album A Secret Wish was mirrored with a remix companion, Wishful Thinking. It's a bit hit-and-mix, but the remix of Duel/Jewel is superb, creating a sublime duet between Susanne and Claudia.

Love Like Blood is arguably Killing Joke's defining song and originally came out in two extended 12" single formats. Not content with that, producer Zeus B. Held had a go at the song, providing the flip side to his other remix of 1986 single Adorations. This one adds a few contemporary remix touches, including some crowd noises for some reason, to firmly root the song in the mid-1980s.

I do have the 12" single of More by Doctor & The Medics, which features a remix by an up-and-coming artist called William Orbit. Unfortunately, I don't have a MP3 rip and couldn't find an alternative on t'internet. So, I've grabbed the intro from the video version and spliced it with a slight edit of the album version and Hey Presto! a DIY extended version to fill the void. Derivative it may be, but I like this song.

Derivative is not a word that could be used to describe Peek-A-Boo by Siouxsie & The Banshees. When I first heard it in 1988, I was thrilled by this change of direction for the band. Unfortunately, the rest of the album is less experimental and more familiar, but the impact of this song hasn't diminished. Peek-A-Boo was released on 7", 12" (two of 'em) and CD single. The eight minute Silver Dollar Mix which appeared on the limited edition 12" single is in fact an edit; the full length version appeared in the USA and runs for another two minutes.

Whilst Siouxsie and co were trying to push themselves in a new direction, by 1988 Iggy Pop had pretty much gone full hair metal. I like the album Instinct but it's dumb rock, even by Iggy's standards, though unapologetically so. I first heard this remix of Cold Metal on the Sounds Blasts! 1 EP, a freebie 7" single with music paper Sounds that also featured The Blue Aeroplanes (yay!), Fishbone (mmmm) and the Dan Reed Network (meh). 

Closing out this compilation is my favourite version of Two Tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, the Carnage remix by Trevor Horn and Stephen Lipson following the standard ZTT format of instrumental first half and vocal second half. However, they also chuck in a few vocal snippets from Nash, Peds and Mark taken from throwaway B-side 'interviews', which add a bit of colour. 

As with my previous post, I've tracked down the videos for each song, or TV performances where these aren't available. The clip for Jewel by Propaganda is a real treat. The others run the range from so so serious (Killing Joke) to stunning (Siouxsie) to silly (Doctor & The Medics) to... well, you've just got to see Iggy Pop's video to wonder how many cans of hairspray the film crew got through for this one.

And then there's Two Tribes, possibly one of the greatest videos ever made. If a band tried to do that today, the pustulous orange turd would probably buy MTV, install himself as CEO and shut it down. That's if the barrel chested bareback rider hadn't already dealt with them permanently.

 
1) Get It On (Dusk Mix) (Tony Visconti 87 Remix): T. Rex (1987)

2) Jewelled (Remix By Robert Kraushaar & Paul Morley): Propaganda (1985)

3) Love Like Blood (The '86 Remix By Zeus B. Held): Killing Joke (1986)

4) More (Full Video Version By Doctor & The Medics & Graham Meek): Doctor & The Medics (1987)

5) Peek-A-Boo (Silver Dollar Mix By Mike Hedges) (Edit): Siouxsie & The Banshees (1988)

6) Cold Metal (Rock Version By Andy Wallace): Iggy Pop (1988)

7) Two Tribes (Carnage) (Remix By Trevor Horn & Stephen Lipson): Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1984)

Side Two (46:06) (KF) (Mega)

Side One here

 

 

 

 

 

 

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)

Decade III: 1984

Side 1 of a cassette compilation, recorded sometime in March 1990, discarded or misplaced somewhere along the way, reimagined and recreated 18th August 2024.

 

The halfway point, and the second of the two cassettes from the Decade series that I lost, broke or smashed with a lump hammer at some point in the last twenty years. One of these scenarios is highly unlikely.

 

I had a vague recollection of some of the songs on the previous mixtape, but I have no memory of the original 1984 tracklisting whatsoever. It probably would have featured Bronski Beat, almost certainly Depeche Mode and would I have left off Tears For Fears with Shout or at a push Mothers Talk? I don't know, but none of them have made the cut this time around.

 

The selection starts off with two of the defining songs of the year for me, by Prince and Frankie Goes To Hollywood. My appreciation of the Purple One really kicked off a few years later, but I was in with the Liverpool lads as soon as they appeared on The Tube and Top Of The Pops. Neither song has lost its edge or impact, forty years later.

Eighties by Killing Joke, as well as being an apt choice for this series, was the one that hooked me in to the band. Most likely I would have heard them on the radio previously, but it was probably Love Like Blood and the Night Time album the following year that sealed the deal. Kurt Cobain was similarly inspired.

1984 was also the year that the ZTT aka Zang Tumb Tuum label exploded, on the back of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's success with Relax and Trevor Horn's huge production. It was also the home to The Art Of Noise and the bonkers Close (To The Edit), in the days when this kind of craziness could also be a #1 single in the UK. I've got multiple versions of this song, reflecting ZTT's saturation of the market with vinyl, cassette, VHS and Beta, endless 12" remixes and probably a kitchen sink format for one of their releases. On the downside, every single length version of Close (To The Edit) in my collection is prone to vinyl crackles or tape hiss and dropout, so please excuse the slight dip in sound quality.

At the other end of the spectrum, Eurythmics were becoming increasingly more slick with each album. Previous album Touch seems to have been the jumping off point for many, though I liked it and was positively disposed towards follow up single Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four). Released to promote the film adaptation of George Orwell's 1984 (one film that couldn't afford to have a delayed release), Eurythmics also provided the largely instrumental soundtrack album. Not much to recommend it, to be honest. I skipped this album and was disappointed with the 1985 follow up, Be Yourself Tonight. 

I've inadvertently created a mini Six Degrees Of Separation here. Elvis Costello got Green Gartside in to provide backing vocals on I Wanna Be Loved. Green had also appeared on Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams album; Elvis would do the same on Be Yourself Tonight. And the thankfully prophetic Nelson Mandela by The Special AKA was produced by... Elvis Costello.

 

The thread ends there as I couldn't find any link to Strawberry Switchblade, though suggestions on a postcard are welcome. Since Yesterday is a low-fi pop classic that made me briefly want to buy a polka dot shirt. I didn't, though my fashion crimes in this decade were many and there are photos to prove it. Fiction Factory were another one-hit wonder from this year, and whilst I have no recollection of their wardrobe choices, what a song, eh?

Billy Idol came as close as he ever did to a ballad with Eyes Without A Face (UK #18 in August 1984, pop fans), though Steve Stevens succumbs about two thirds of the way in, releasing an almighty riff. None of that guitar nonsense for Heaven 17 though, who (Fair)light the way with Sunset Now, backed by female vocal trio Afrodiziak. Member Caron Wheeler would find her moment in the spotlight a few years later, first with Soul II Soul, then as a solo artist.

I'm pretty sure that I didn't include Come Back by The Mighty Wah! on the original compilation in 1990, which may have been one of the triggers for losing/destroying it years later. In 2024, Pete Wylie and Josie Jones get to close the show as only they can. A fantastic song that manages to soar even higher than The Story Of The Blues.

I'm hoping that you'll all, ahem, ‘Come Back' tomorrow for 1985, though if you're expecting Madonna, Tina Turner, Nik Kershaw and Dire Straits, you're going to be bitterly disappointed...

 

1) When Doves Cry (Edit): Prince

2) Two Tribes (For The Victims Of Ravishment) (Album Version): Frankie Goes To Hollywood

3) Eighties (Album Version): Killing Joke

4) Close (To The Edit) (Video Version 2): The Art Of Noise

5) Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four) (Single Mix): Eurythmics

6) I Wanna Be Loved (Radio Version): Elvis Costello & The Attractions ft. Green Gartside

7) Nelson Mandela (Extended Version): The Special AKA ft. Stan Campbell

8) Since Yesterday (Album Version): Strawberry Switchblade

9) (Feels Like) Heaven (Album Version): Fiction Factory

10) Eyes Without A Face (Single Version): Billy Idol

11) Sunset Now (Album Version): Heaven 17 ft. Afrodiziak

12) Come Back (The Story Of The Reds) (Album Version): The Mighty Wah! ft. Josie Jones

Side One (46:25) (KF) (Mega)

A Little Music For A Groovy Attitude

It's Fluke Friday, with both sides of a mixtape that I recorded on 7th May 1997, featuring remixes of their own tracks and songs by other artists. 

I've previously shared my love for everything that came out of Jon Fugler, Mike Bryant and Mike Tournier's musical brains. They just tapped into something that, for me, absolutely captured the sheer euphoria of the early 1990s, the excitement of entering the last decade of the 20th century and being young, free and (intermittently) single in my twenties.

The quartet of Fluke singles spanning 1993 to 1994 - Slid, Electric Guitar, Groovy Feeling and Bubble - were stunning and should have been massive hits, blasting out of radios everywhere. Their remixes were also a guaranteed 'must buy', even if I didn't know or particularly like the artist. The ones featured here - Björk, New Order, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Pop Will Eat Itself, Yello and Talk Talk - are top notch, but were pretty much the (high) standard for all of their remixes. They even found time to moonlight as Lucky Monkeys, with another stonking Fluke remix to boot. 

A few sleevenotes: 

G.Feel.8.The Popsicle appeared on the Virgin Records compilation Signed Sealed Delivered 2 in 1994. It's actually a(nother) remix of Groovy Feeling, but different enough that it justifies the song featuring twice on one side (well, I think so anyway!). 

 

A remix of Jig appears on the expanded edition of The Techno Rose Of Blighty that was packaged with second album Six Wheels On My Wagon in 1993. I've gone for the John Peel session version here, originally transmitted 25 November 1990.

Squirt was radically remixed and released as a single to promote the Risotto album in 1997. The version here is from the previous album Oto (1995), a more downtempo, darker version which I think is my favourite of the bunch.

I've plenty more Fluke gems in the vault and I've re-posted a previous mixtape below. However, I think this is about as good an overview of Fluke's imperial phase as I could hope. It's definitely going to have me bouncing and jumping to and from work today. Yep, I'll be that guy.

 

Side One

1) Big Time Sensuality (The Fluke Moulimix): Björk (1993)

2) Groovy Feeling (Lolly Gobble Choc Bomb): Fluke (1993)

3) Bubble (Speechbubble): Fluke (1993)

4) Bjango (Fluke Remix 'Six To The Floor'): Lucky Monkeys (1996)

5) Spooky (Magimix By Fluke): New Order (1993)

6) G.Feel.8.The Popsicle: Fluke (1994)

7) Two Tribes (Fluke's Moulimix): Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1994)

Side Two

1) Electric Guitar (Vibrochamp): Fluke (1993)

2) RSVP (Supper Mix By Fluke): Pop Will Eat Itself (1994)

3) Philly (Jamateur Mix: Fluke (1990)

4) Jig (John Peel Session): Fluke (1990)

5) Tosh (Mosh) (Single Version): Fluke (1995)

6) How How (Dee Doo Dee Mix By Fluke): Yello (1994)

7) Squirt (Oto Album Version): Fluke (1995)

8) Life's What You Make It (The Fluke Remix): Talk Talk (1990)

Side One (45:21) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two (45:24) (KF) (Mega)

 

Fluke (Singles) Side One and Side Two

You Never Really Saw...

I unearthed this CD-R, which I compiled and burned on 1st June 2005, featuring "alternative 1980s twelve inch mixes". 

This got me reminiscing about going to alternative clubs in Bristol, such as Badlands and The Whip. The latter I've discovered has had it's own Facebook page for years...I'm always late to the party! 

In all honesty, I think the majority of these songs would never had made it near the turntable of most of the clubs I went to at the time. Attempting to play The Icicle Works or U2 would likely have resulted in a Snakebite shower, but Is This The Life, How Soon Is Now?, Uncertain Smile and She Sells Sanctuary were regularly played, along with Fetish by Vicious Pink and Nag Nag Nag by Cabaret Voltaire. 

I'm not sure if it was always there, but I remember Badlands being in a small room above a huge club called Busbys (maybe Ritzys by that time), so there was always the fun of 'mingling' with the mainstream crowd on the way in and out. The Whip was even more fun in that respect as it was in The Studio, in a small room off the main club area, and you had to run the gauntlet of pissed up lager louts dancing to Stock, Aitken & Waterman to get to and from the bogs. 

A limbering up session at The Bunch Of Goths on Denmark Street usually got you ready for the long night (& morning) ahead, followed by an 'all back to mine' at someone's place in Stokes Croft or a 'keep going til the dawn' refresher at the wonderful Jamaican Good Food in St. Pauls. Great times.

1) The Love Parade (12" Version): The Undertones (1983)

2) Is This The Life (12" Version): Cardiacs (1988)

3) Summertime (Extended Version): Fun Boy Three (1982)

4) Hollow Horse (Long Version: The Icicle Works (1984)

5) She Sells Sanctuary (Long Version): The Cult (1985)

6) Finest Worksong (Lengthy Club Mix): R.E.M. (1987)

7) Two Tribes (Carnage): Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1984)

8) How Soon Is Now? (12" Version): The Smiths (1984)

9) Driving Away From Home (I Mean After All It's Only 'Dead Man's Curve'): It's Immaterial (1986)

10) Two Hearts Beat As One (Club Version): U2 (1983)

11) Skin Deep (Extended Version): The Stranglers (1984)

12) Uncertain Smile (Extended Version): The The (1982)

 

You Never Really Saw... (1:18:33) (KF) (Mega)