Was It That Obvious?

Rounding off my 3-day celebration of Australia, what better way to get the weekend started than with Kylie?!

 

If Dubhed was a prize-giving blog, then Charity Chic would have cleaned up yesterday with his astute prediction. Unfortunately, it's not but hopefully the crushing disappointment will be offset by the prospect of nearly 90 minutes of Ms. Minogue.

This being Friday, I've often tended to feature selections of 12" mixes and slightly more 'up' music so in Australian terms, it was always likely to be Kylie over Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, wasn't it? Although they did collaborate back in 1995, including a memorable appearance on Top Of The Pops, when the pop princess reinvented herself as Indie Kylie.

Today's selection however focuses solely on Disco Kylie, spanning three decades and showing no sign of slowing down now we're midway through the 2020s. 

Although her music career exploded from the Stock, Aitken & Waterman hit factory, Kylie moved on in the early 1990s and has followed her own course ever since, working with some dynamic producers and remixers along the way.

 

I've never particularly considered myself a Kylie fan, I've bought a few singles here and there mainly for the remixes but never any of her albums. I thought the 'country' songs a few years ago were a misstep, but that's the beauty of Kylie. If you don't like what's she doing right now, there will either be club-friendly remixes to compensate, or another change around the corner with her next album.

 

This is one musical pleasure I don't feel guilty about in the slightest. And even if my primary reason for buying a single or compilation was to get that remix by DNA, The Chemical Brothers or Tom Middleton, so what?

Today's selection reflects some early favourites: Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi is cheesy perhaps but I love it; What Do I Have To Do? and Shocked were the big hits whilst I was in Australia; The Chemical Brothers remix of Slow is twice as good as the original. And I would have bought the Soulwax remix compilation anyway - they're brilliant - but their scuzzy, fuzzy overhaul of Can't Get You Out Of My Head was worth the price alone.

In a half-arsed attempt to dodge the sniffer bots and a DMCA takedown notice, I've avoided any reference to Ms. Minogue in the post title and have named the selection SmileyKylie in the hope that it similarly avoids unwanted attention on KrakenFiles or Mega. As usual, the download links will be up for roughly a month, so get in there now!

 

1) Too Much Of A Good Thing (12" Mix By Phil Harding & Ian Curnow) (1992)

2) Into The Blue (Yasutaka Nakata (CAPSULE) Remix) (2014)

3) Finer Feelings (Brothers In Rhythm 12" Mix By Dave Seaman, Steve Anderson & Alan Bremner) (1992)

4) Red Blooded Woman (Whitey Mix By Nathan White) (2005)

5) Confide In Me (Justin Warfield Mix) (1994)

6) It's No Secret (Alternative Extended Version By Dave Ford) (1988)

7) What Do I Have To Do? (Extended Album Mix II By Phil Harding & Ian Curnow) (1991)

8) Falling (Farley & Heller Alternative Mix By Terry Farley & Pete Heller) (1994)

9) Slow (Chemical Brothers Remix By Ed Simons & Tom Rowlands) (2003)

10) Shocked (DNA Mix By Neal Slateford & Nick Batt) (12" Version ft. Jazzi P)  (2001)

11) Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi (The Revolutionary Mix By Phil Harding) (1989)

12) Chocolate (Tom Middleton Cosmos Mix) (2004)

13) Dancing (Initial Talk Remix) (2018)

14) Can't Get You Out Of My Head (Soulwax Kyluss Remix By David Dewaele & Stephen Dewaele) (2001)

 

1989: Hand On Your Heart EP: 6 

1989: Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi EP: 11

1991: Shocked EP: 10

1992: Celebration EP: 1

1992: Finer Feelings EP: 3

2003: Kylie Minogue (Special Edition) (2x CD): 5 

2003: Slow (promo 12"): 9

2004: Chocolate EP: 12

2005: Red Blooded Woman EP: 4 

2007: Most Of The Remixes We've Made For Other People Over The Years...: 14

2010: What Do I Have to Do? (The Original Synth Mixes) EP: 7

2014: Kiss Me Once (Japan only bonus track): 2 

2016: Confide In Me: 8

2018: Dancing EP: 13

SmileyKylie (1:28:22) (KF) (Mega)

* Or, to give the Soulwax compilation it's full title,

Most Of The Remixes We've Made For Other People Over The Years Except For The One For Einstürzende Neubauten Because We Lost It And A Few We Didn't Think Sounded Good Enough Or Just Didn't Fit In Length-Wise, But Including Some That Are Hard To Find Because Either People Forgot About Them Or Simply Because They Haven't Been Released Yet, A Few We Really Love, One We Think Is Just OK, Some We Did For Free, Some We Did For Money, Some For Ourselves Without Permission And Some For Friends As Swaps But Never On Time And Always At Our Studio In Ghent.

Bono On The Fourth Of July

Today's selection is a U2 mixtape, recorded 24th August 1997. Thanks to those of you who didn't click and close as soon as you saw the post title and opening sentence. 

Judging by the date, this compilation tape was most likely recorded in a slightly different form for my friend Stuart as a) his birthday was a few days prior to this and b) he is a lifelong fan of U2. It's a testament to how good a friend Stuart is, that he let me borrow his collection of U2 7" singles to take into school for a class presentation. We weren't even at the same school, let alone in the same class, yet he trusted me enough not to let him down. The look on his face when I told him I'd sold the lot to "Frankie" Stein for five quid and a mega bag of Wotsits was priceless...I'm joking, of course. Or am I?

Given that I wasn't particularly a U2 fan and knew much more about other music artists that I did like, made my choice of class presentation a little odd, to say the least. Maybe class 5M wasn't ready to be enlightened about Julian Cope, had little interest in The Sisters Of Mercy and would have raised an eyebrow at Prefab Sprout. This wasn't the oddest thing I did at school, but the reaction of the class to my 10 minute talk on Bono and chums is thankfully lost in the mists of time.

Whilst I was largely indifferent to the appeals of a U2 album, I'll admit that I did enjoy a U2 remix and as the late 1980s turned into the early 1990s, there were plenty to choose from. If nothing else, the band (or their team) got some decent DJs and producers in to increase the BPM and reduce the BS: Paul Oakenfold, Steve Osborne, Terry Farley, Pete Heller, Tim Simenon, David Morales, Trevor Jackson, Dave Dorrell, Stereo MC's, Apollo 440, DJ Muggs, Rollo, Rob Dougan, even Massive Attack.

In 1995, U2's fanzine Propaganda provided members with a special CD release called Melon, compiling nine of the band's best remixes. Melon was heavily bootlegged and I came across a copy in Revolver Records off Clifton Triangle in Bristol. Revolver was a brilliant record shop but an intimidating experience. I fully expected a disdainful stare when I took my clutch of purchases to owner Roger at the counter, the Melon bootleg tucked away between some more worthy purchases. I didn't; perhaps on this occasion he was just relieved to finally be shot of the thing.

This particular CD was a great quality bootleg, but soon a veritable feast of similarly-themed bootlegs began to appear: Kiwi, Orange, Mango, Banana, Grapes, Papaya, More Melon; with diminishing returns in terms of artwork and sound quality. I picked up the first three secondhand from Replay Records to round up some of the rare, promo-only mixes that I was interested in, but skipped the rest. Naming the mixtape Fruit Salad was a nod to the source material of the original compilation.

 

In 2002, U2 released The Best Of 1990-2000, a (not very) limited edition with a bonus disc of B-Sides that included some of the remixes from the bootlegs, albeit in truncated, early fade edits that are best avoided. The remix of Desire is the version from the UK 12" single, but there is a promo 12" out there featuring the full length Hollywood Remix, stretching to over nine minutes. You have been warned.

The original Fruit Salad mixtape closed out Side 2 with a snippet of the Momo's Reprise remix of Lemon by David Morales for no other reason than the tape was running a bit short. I've left it off of today's recreation. Little consolation if you hate Bono and friends' music with a passion (or Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne, for that matter, as there's a fair bit of them too). However, if you specifically dislike Larry Mullen Jr's drumming, you're in for a real treat. 

 

Normal service will resume tomorrow.

 

Side One

1) Zooropa (911 Mix By John M. Pillin Jr.) (1993)

2) Lemon (The Perfecto Mix By Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osborne) (1993)

3) Until The End Of The World (Short Life Mix By Ultra Hot Razor Crew) (1996)

4) Night And Day (Steel String Remix By Youth) (Cover of Fred Astaire) (1990)

5) Stay (Faraway So Close!) (Underdog Mix By Trevor Jackson) (1995)

6) Mysterious Ways (The Perfecto Mix By Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osborne) (1991)

7) God Part II (The Hard Metal Dance Club Mix By Louis Silas Jr. & David Bianco) (UK 12” Edit) (1988)

Side Two

1) Even Better Than The Real Thing (The Perfecto Mix By Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osborne) (1992)

2) In The Name Of The Father (Unidare Mix By Tim Simenon): Bono & Gavin Friday (1994)

3) Lady With The Spinning Head (Extended Dance Mix By Alan Moulder) (1992)

4) Desire (Hollywood Remix By Louis Silas Jr. & Taavi Mote) (UK 12" Edit) (1988)

5) Salomé (Zooromancer Remix By Terry Farley & Pete Heller) (Full Length) (1992)

6) Can't Help Falling In Love (Mystery Train Dub Edit By Dave Dorrell) (Cover of Elvis Presley) (1992)

7) Numb (Gimme Some More Dignity Mix By Rollo & Rob Dougan) (Full Length) (1995)

Kiwi: A4, A7, B3, B4

Mango: B2

Melon: A2, A5, A6, B1, B5, B7

Orange: A1, A3, B6

Side One (46:03)

Side Two (45:35)

These Are Dangerous Times For Love

I'm not a particular fan of Culture Club, but I love Boy George. As an artist, he's arguably got better with each passing decade and I've an especial love for his brief diversion as Jesus Loves You. The sole album, The Martyr Mantras, remains much loved at Casa Khayem, and creatively it remains a high water mark. Here are the JLY highlights, condensed into (just over) an hour of loved up lyrics and blissed out beats. Damn, was it really three decades ago?!

 

1) Too Much Love (L.P. Mix By Mark Brydon) (1990)

2) Generations Of Love (Love Dub Mix By Terry Farley & Pete Heller) (ft. MC Kinky) (1990)

3) Sweet Toxic Love (Hootenanny Mix) (1992)

4) Am I Losing Control (Dizzy Tequila Mix By Hans 'Hands On' Grøttheim) (1992)

5) Bow Down Mister (Floating In The Ganges - Grid Mix By Dave Ball & Richard Norris) (1991)

6) Love Hurts (Yes It Doz U Blighter Mix By Bruce Forest) (1991)

7) One On One (Massive Attack Mix) (1990)

8) Love's Gonna Let U Down (Popcorn Mix By Mark Brydon) (1990)

9) After The Love (Prophets Of Doom Mix) (1991)

10) Siempre Te Amare (Mark Brydon Remix) (1990)

11) I Specialize In Loneliness (Album Version By Boy George & John Themis) (1990)

 

These Are Dangerous Times For Love (1:03:51)
 

Shout To The Top

This came out earlier this month, but it was put on my radar by the ever brilliant The Vinyl Villian music blog. JC's post highlights Hifi Sean, perhaps better known by people of a certain age and musical persuastion as Sean Dickson, lead singer with The Soup Dragons. This time around, he's completely rebuilt and remixed a cover version of The Style Council 80s classic, originally released by Fire Island in 1998 and featuring disco diva Loleatta Holloway (also infamous for the belting sample that drove 1989's Ride On Time by Black Box).

 

When you've got Paul Weller, Pete Heller & Terry Farley (Boy's Own), Loleatta Holloway and Hifi Sean in the mix, you really can't go wrong. There are three Hifi Sean mixes, all on YouTube and all worth a listen to brighten up your day.

 

I'd highly recommend checking out Hifi Sean's other music too, especially his 2016 album Ft., which is truly brilliant. Big thanks to JC @ The Vinyl Villian for opening my ears.

 

Hifi Sean on Bandcamp

Fire Island / Farley & Heller on Bandcamp