Please Sir, I Want Some More

Following Blancmange's shock exit from the first round of the Imaginary Compilation Album World Cup earlier this week at The Vinyl Villain, I feel it is my moral duty to present another selection by way of compensation.

This is a companion piece of sorts to Just Desserts, the CD-R compilation I put together in July 2005 and featured in a Blancmange post earlier this year. Today's selection follows a similar path of presenting 12" singles, remixes and edits. Many of the same songs pop up, albeit in different versions. 

 

Lose Your Love was the penultimate single from “phase 1” of Blancmange. I bought the 7" double pack single at the time as it included the Joseph Watt (Razormaid) remixes of That's Love That It Is - featured here - and Game Above My Head. I bought a secondhand copy of the 12" single a few years later, with an extended version which runs to over ten minutes. The version opening this selection is a shorter remix from the Canadian promo 12" single.

 

Likewise, the Instrumental/Dub Version of Blind Vision appeared on the USA promo 12" single; on my copy, this was swapped out for the full length version of Waves.

 

The literally titled Side Two is the B-side of the preceding single What's Your Problem? and is an extended, re-recorded version of Believe You Me album track 22339.  

I've included one non-1980s version, a re-edit of Waves from 2010 by Berlin-based Gloyn, which takes a bit of getting used to but is a nice way to bring things to a close.

 

Blancmange reformed in 2011, although Stephen Luscombe left shortly after for health reasons. Neil Arthur has continued to regularly release albums since. Blancmange's (by my count) 14th post-reformation album, Private View, will be released on London Records on 30th September, almost exactly 40 years to the day since their debut, Happy Families. 

 

I'm seeing Blancmange live in concert for the first time the following week in Stroud, along with regular blogosphere commenter and nearly neighbour Mike, which I'm really looking forward to. Expect a "phase 2" Blancmange selection before then.

1) Lose Your Love (This Club Mix By John Luongo & Victor Flores) (1985)

2) Feel Me (Dub Version By Mike Howlett) (1982)

3) Vishnu (Full Length Version By John Luongo) (1983)

4) Blind Vision (Instrumental/Dub Version By John Luongo) (1983)

5) What's Your Problem? (Razormaid Mix By Joseph Watt) (1986)

6) Side Two (Extended Version By Neil Arthur & John Williams) (1985)

7) That's Love, That It Is (U.S. Extended Remix Version By Joseph Watt) (1983)

8) Don't Tell Me (U.S. Dance Remix By Mark Kamins) (1984)

9) I Can See It (Single Remix By Greg Walsh) (1986)

10) Living On The Ceiling (Album Remix By Dennis Weinreich) (1982)

11) Waves (Extended Edit By Gloyn) (2010)

Please Sir, I Want Some More (1:10:30) (KF) (Mega)

Just Desserts

CD-R compiled 21st July 2005, collecting Blancmange "singles, remixes and side servings", and one of the earliest examples of my newly acquired capacity to rip my vinyl collection. Blancmange aka Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe emerged in 1979 and enjoyed a flush of commercial success between 1982 and 1984, before calling it a day in 1986. 

 

The duo reconvened twenty years later as a live act and a new album, Blanc Burn, was released in 2011. As a consequence of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, Stephen Luscombe left Blancmange shortly after and Neil Arthur continued as the sole remaining member. Arthur's musical output since has been prodigious, more than tripling the original duo's number of album releases, in addition to side projects with producer Ben Edwards aka Benge as Fader and son Joe Arthur aka Kincaid. 

 

During Blancmange's hiatus, Stephen Luscombe released an album in 1989 as West India Company, which featured an updated version of 1983 B-side Vishnu; there was also a 12" single featuring remixes by The Orb and Andrew Weatherall. Neil Arthur released a solo album in 1994, with single remixes by The Grid. Both of these will undoubtedly pop up in future posts.

This pre-revival collection focuses squarely on the extent of my Blancmange vinyl collection at the time. I've had to swap out the version of Game Above My Head. The original CD-R featured the (in my view) superior U.S. remix by Joseph Watt, but my vinyl rip is so crackly that I've replaced it with the extended mix that reappeared on the deluxe CD reissue of 2nd album Mange Tout. Some of the other tracks remain as vinyl rips - and it shows - but it maintains the integrity of the original track listing. 

A memory from 1982 is my 15-year old brother coming back from the hairdressers with a perm. My parents unsurprisingly went apeshit, but he eventually persuaded them it was a tribute to footballer Kevin Keegan. Personally, I was convinced he'd asked for a "Neil Arthur".

1) Feel Me (7" Version By Mike Howlett) (1982)

2) God's Kitchen (12" Version By Mike Howlett) (1982)

3) Blind Vision (Long Version By John Luongo) (1983)

4) Game Above My Head (Extended Remix By Blancmange & John Williams) (1983)

5) Vishnu (Instrumental Version By John Luongo) (1983)

6) Living On The Ceiling (Re-Mixed By Dennis Weinreich) (1982)

7) That's Love, That It Is (New Dance Mix Version By John Luongo) (1983)

8) I Can See It (Extended) (Remix By Greg Walsh) (1986)

9) I've Seen The Word (7" Version By Mike Howlett) (1982)

10) The Day Before You Came (Extended Mix By Chris Porter) (Cover of ABBA) (1984)

11) Don't Tell Me (12" Mix By Peter Collins) (1984)

12) What's Your Problem? (Extended Version By Stewart Levine) (1985)

13) Waves (12" Mix By Dennis Weinreich & John Williams) (1983)

Just Desserts (1:18:37) (KF) (Mega)