Erasure start things off with Blue Savannah, which I wasn't that bothered by when it originally came out in 1989, but grew on me over the years. From there, a B-side from Matt Bianco, who unfortunately are more likely to be remembered for their ill-fated live phone-in on kids' TV show Saturday Superstore than any music they recorded.
Terence Trent D'Arby, now known only as Sananda Maitreya, goes all James Brown (that's not a euphemism) on Dance Little Sister, whilst Eartha Kitt purrs her way through Cha Cha Heels with Bronski Beat. Eartha recorded songs in twelve different languages you know, presumably not counting cat.
Bananarama get mostly dubbed out of their own song by PWL's Pete Hammond, with an introductory rhythm track that makes me think I'm going to get The Beloved's Acid Love instead.
A sidestep into the murky world of Siouxsie & The Banshees, with one of their greatest songs, Peek-A-Boo, something of a change of direction for them at the time. The Silver Dollar Mix was edited for the limited edition UK 12" single; this is the full length ten-minute remix which featured in the USA and Canada. Golly Jeepers!
Ryuichi Sakamoto teams up with Iggy Pop for Risky, a song Ryuichi co-wrote with Bill Laswell and remixed for this 12" by Julian Mendelsohn. It's an interesting mix of different artists, to which the UK record-buying masses remained largely indifferent.
Likewise, White Car In Germany by Associates, one of the best songs that Billy MacKenzie and Alan Rankine ever wrote, and that's saying something. I've labelled this one as an album edit as it came from my copy of the USA version of Sulk, which remixed and re-sequenced the original album. It might well be the UK single version too, but I've never heard it to compare and contrast. Either way, a wonderful song and a stunning vocal performance from MacKenzie.
At this point, there seems no other way to go than with The Art Of Noise and one of their finest moments. This is the super extended, ten-minute remix as quite frankly, nothing else will do right now.
I'm finishing this post early on Saturday morning, with the weather outside seemingly unable to decide whether to be overcast or sunny; it's currently the latter. This selection's sequencing and pacing possibly reflects the mercurial nature of what's happening outside. You might not be able to dance to all of this, but I hope it brings a little ray or two of sunshine into your day.
1) Blue Savannah (Out Of The Blue Mix By Shep Pettibone & Goh Hotoda): Erasure (1989)
2) Smooth (Extra Smooth) (Remix By Mark Reilly & Phil Harding): Matt Bianco (1985)
3) Dance Little Sister (Part One & Two) (Remix By Shep Pettibone): Terence Trent D'Arby (1987)
4) Cha Cha Heels (12" Version): Eartha Kitt & Bronski Beat (1989)
5) Ecstasy (Wild Style) (Remix By Pete Hammond): Bananarama (1987)
6) Peek-A-Boo (Silver Dollar Mix By Mike Hedges): Siouxsie & The Banshees (1988)
7) Risky (Extended Mix By Julian Mendelsohn): Ryuichi Sakamoto ft. Iggy Pop (1987)
8) White Car In Germany (Album Version) (Edit): Associates (1982)
9) Moments In Love (Remix): The Art Of Noise ft. Camilla Pilkington (1984)
