Decade III: 1985

Side 2 of a misplaced mixtape, compiled circa March 1990, wrecked or abandoned some years later, resurrected and repurposed 18th August 2024.

 

In stark contrast, the hits don't keep coming in this selection, the number of singles that failed to chart in the UK (4) outnumbering those reaching the Top 20 (2). 

 

I could have easily filled the 45 minutes with bonafide hits from a-ha, China Crisis, Fine Young Cannibals, Kate Bush, Level 42, Pet Shop Boys, Simple Minds, Thompson Twins and The Waterboys without finding myself in the dire straits of having to include, er, Dire Straits. However, I think this recreation is a pretty fair representation of where this nascent goth was in 1985.

To acknowledge the elephant in the room, I've fallen foul of the record label info again and included Godstar, Psychic TV's tribute to Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, as a release in 1985. The Official Chart Company insists that the single didn't begin to trouble the charts until the end of March 1986, peaking at a dizzying #67 in its fifth week. 

 

In my defence, I can't confirm the single's official release date but promos were circulating in late 1985 and the record sleeve states that Godstar "is the theme song from the forthcoming feature film of the same name about the Life and Times of Brian Jones which begins shooting on February 28th 1986". So, it's staying put in 1985 as far as I'm concerned!

Continuing the ropey Six Degrees Of Separation theme that I failed to extend beyond three songs yesterday, there is a further connection between sides 1 and 2 of this cassette. Godstar is co-credited to The Angels Of Light, including Rose McDowall, who featured yesterday with Strawberry Switchblade. 

There's a further connection between Since Yesterday by Strawberry Switchblade and track 2, You've Got The Power by Win, in that both were David Motion. You can't make this stuff up, you know.

Fire In The Twilight by Wang Chung didn't trouble the Top 100 here, but is forever etched in my mind for its inclusion in John Hughes' film The Breakfast Club, sound tracking the scene where the tearaway teens are racing to get back to their desks ahead of scumbag teacher Vernon. It's an unfeasibly enormous school, based on this scene.

Bring On The Dancing Horses was the first 12" single that I bought by Echo & The Bunnymen, along with their Songs To Learn & Sing greatest hits compilation. Late to the party I may have been, but both have been enduring favourites. 

How Soon Is Now? was the first 12" single I owned by The Smiths, but I've gone for my second purchase, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, rescued from the ex-chart bargain bin at my local WH Smiths (in the days when there were enough WH Smiths to have a local one). 

The Dream Academy couldn't even quite match Psychic TV's peak, The Love Parade entering the charts at #96 on this day in 1985 and reaching a disappointing #68 a couple of weeks later. A far cry from their previous high of #15 with Life in A Northern Town. They tried again later in the year with a cover of The Smiths' Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want. The record buying public clearly misinterpreted this request as "another flop single", as it limped to #83. Still, at least the inclusion of the instrumental version in another John Hughes movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, guaranteed immortality.

By 1985, Frank Tovey had shed his Fad Gadget persona and was arguably aiming for a slightly more commercial sound, ably demonstrated by the single Luxury. Personally, I liked the new direction. It wasn't a hit, of course, and Tovey ploughed a different, darker, folkier furrow with subsequent albums.

No G.D.M. (Dedicated To Quentin Crisp) by Gina X was first released in 1979, again in 1982 and then re-mixed and re-released by original producer and collaborator Zeus B. Held in 1985. It didn't trouble the UK charts on any of these occasions, which understates its impact and brilliance. I guess Radio 1 playlists - and our sensitive ears - remained unprepared for a song about lesbians, transvestites and "red haired queers". Philistines!

What I Wouldn't Give by Pink Industry is one of the greatest singles of the 1980s. Seriously. I read a review of it in Smash Hits, of all places, where Chris Heath described it as "A very strange record, but a good one" which says it all really, though he had a word count to deliver so does go on a bit more. What I Wouldn't Give contains the brilliant verse,

 

There's my Smiths tapes you never wanted to hear

Throw them away, Morrissey in the bin

If that would bring you back again

A similar fate befell Mozzer's collection in households across the UK years later, when he devolved into a complete prick.

Some loud guitars from either end of the spectrum, first off with The Jesus & Mary Chain, followed by The Cult. I bought the latter, along with The Smiths, O.M.D. and, er, Animal Nightlife with a bunch of other 12" singles whilst holidaying with the family in a caravan in (I think) Bournemouth in the summer of 1985. 

It was a while longer before I owned a record by The Jesus & Mary Chain (not counting their appearance on The Hit Red Hot EP), though my love for their continuing recordings has outlasted that of The Cult by some distance. 

ZTT scored a coup by signing Grace Jones. Slave To The Rhythm was originally written and intended as a follow up to Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Relax and their demo finally saw the light of day a few years ago. It's good though I don't think anyone will argue that gifting it to Grace was the right move. For this selection, I've re-edited sections from the 7" and 12" 'Blooded' remix, including Ian McShane's introduction, to create a - for me, at least - more satisfying composite version. Heeeeere's Grace!

Normal service resumes next weekend, as I revisit the Decade cassette that I recorded in 1990, covering 1986 and 1987. Expect the unexpected. Well, a little.

 

1) Godstar (7" Version): Psychic TV ft. The Angels Of Light

2) You've Got The Power (7" Version): Win

3) Fire In The Twilight (Specially Remixed Version): Wang Chung

4) Bring On The Dancing Horses (Single Version): Echo & The Bunnymen

5) The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (Album Version): The Smiths

6) The Love Parade (7"): The Dream Academy

7) Luxury (Album Version): Frank Tovey

8) No G.D.M. (7 Inch): Gina X

9) What I Wouldn't Give (Album Version): Pink Industry

10) Never Understand (Album Version): The Jesus & Mary Chain

11) She Sells Sanctuary (Album Version): The Cult

12) Slave To The Rhythm (Cold Blooded Edit By Khayem): Grace Jones

3rd March 1985: Psychocandy (#47): 10

20th April 1985: Fire In The Twilight EP (# n/a): 3

?? May 1985: No G.D.M. EP (# n/a): 8

?? June 1985: You've Got The Power EP (#95): 2 *

?? July 1985: New Beginnings (# n/a): 9

28th July 1985: Love (#15): 11

?? August 1985: Snakes & Ladders (# n/a): 7

8th September 1985: The Love Parade EP (#68): 6

6th October 1985: The Queen Is Dead (#23): 5

20th October 1985: Slave To The Rhythm EP (#20): 12

27th October 1985: Bring On The Dancing Horses EP (#21): 4

20th April 1986: Godstar EP (#67): 1 **

 

Side Two (45:35) (GD) (M)

* You've Got The Power was originally released in June 1985 then twice more, the third time proving lucky - kind of - when it got to #95 the week of 16th March 1986.

** According to Discogs, and my personal copy of the 12" single, Godstar was released in 1985. The sleeve info also notes that Godstar is the theme to a Brian Jones biopic "which begins shooting on February 28th 1986". I've no recollection why the single didn't enter the charts until late March 1986 and the film never saw the light of day, if indeed filming ever began...

A Different Donald

Celebrating Donald Sutherland, 17th July 1935 to 20th June 2024.

A brilliant actor, Martin over at New Amusements nailed it with a succinct and spot-on summation of his star turn in the 1978 remake of Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers, also a personal favourite. 

Donald brought an intensity to every role that he played, sometimes seemingly effortlessly, always enhanced by those piercing blue eyes. In ...Bodysnatchers, you could absolutely believe that Donald's character had gone for days without sleep and was running on empty...and that final scene. Stayed with me for a long time!

It was also a joy to see Donald appear in the video for Cloudbusting along with Kate Bush. Frankly, whatever he was in was better for his presence. Much is made of Will Smith's against-type role in 1993's Six Degrees Of Separation, but it stands or falls on the dynamic with the couple that his character encounters. It works because Donald and Stockard Channing were cast in the roles. Worth watching if you can track it down.

 

Which clumsily dovetails into the theme of today's selection. Unlike son Kiefer, Donald didn't release any albums or play gigs at the Cheese & Grain in Frome, However, he has appeared in many, many films, and there are plenty of songs in my collection that share titles. I've got form with this, having created previous selections based on the work of Faye Dunaway, Elizabeth Taylor and Juliette Binoche (possibly others, but I forget).

Unfortunately, no songs titled Six Degrees Of Separation (I do have a 12" by a band of that name, which I'll spare you) but I did run a few posts last year based on the fun variation Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon. 

 

So, an obvious starter for today's selection were The Comsat Angels, whose members include (the other) Kevin Bacon. Conveniently, they also recorded a song for 1982 album Fiction with the same name as one of Donald's most famous films. Don't Look Now, but I think I've got away with that tenuous connection!

It's an eclectic sequence of songs and artists, taking in Roxy Music, The Kingfishers, Black Uhuru, late period Ultravox and Scanner aka Robin Rimbaud collaborating with Anni Hogan and Thomas Lang. I've taken some liberties with spelling and the inclusion or omission of the definite article here and there. I've also crowbarred in a reference to Donald's starring role in 1971 film Klute, where the titular drum & bass artist appears in the song name. It also allows me to sneak Mogwai in through the back door. Just imagine if Donald had accepted a role in Gremlins, it would have been even better...!

I felt compelled to include Cloudbusting but at the eleventh hour swapped Kate Bush for a cover version that Neil Halstead (Slowdive, Mojave 3) recorded for a US compilation in 2010. I like it.

It seemed appropriate somehow to pick a fellow Canadian to close the selection, and Neil Young happily stepped up to the mark. Ordinary People was Robert Redford's directorial debut in 1980 and Donald is astonishing as you might expect. Timothy Hutton won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Donald was never nominated for an Academy Award, though he received an honorary Oscar in 2017.  

Not one to do things by halves, Neil Young's take on Ordinary People is an 18-minute chug-a-thon epic, with all the bells and whistles that you may expect, but doesn't feel a second too long. I don't know what Donald thought of Neil's music but I've just discovered that they did meet at least once, when they were both inducted into Canada's Walk Of Fame in 2000, along with Joni Mitchell, Michael J. Fox, Martin Short and William Shatner. Now, that must have been some dinner table conversation...!

Ninety minutes of music then that I hope will also get you looking up some more of Donald's films - Kelly's Heroes! - and rediscovering what singular, otherworldly talent Donald Sutherland is.

And the post title? Well, another take is that when I read the sad news, I wished that the Grim Reaper had come calling for a different Donald instead...

Rest easy, Mr. Sutherland, you did good.

1) Don't Look Now: The Comsat Angels (1982)

2) Casanova: Roxy Music (1974)

3) Instinct: Iggy Pop (1988)

4) Setting Sun (Edit): The Aliens (2007)

5) The Eye Of The Needle: The Kingfishers (2023)

6) Alone: Scanner & Anni Hogan ft. Thomas Lang (2016)

7) Fools Gold (7" Version By John Leckie): The Stone Roses (1989)

8) Heaven Help Us (Try) (Manyanamegamix): Zeke Manyika ft. Sylvia & The Sapphires (1984)

9) Ask The Dust: The Porch Song Anthology (2006)

10) Kelly's Heroes (Album Version): Black Grape (1995)

11) The Great Train Robbery (Dance Mix By Arthur Baker): Black Uhuru (1986) 

12) Cloudbusting (Cover of Kate Bush): Neil Halstead (2010)

13) Thee Eagle Has Landed: Genesis P-Orridge & Psychic TV (1994)

14) Summer (Klute's Weird Winter Remix By Tom Withers): Mogwai (1998)

15) Time To Kill (Album Version): Ultravox (1986)

16) Ordinary People: Neil Young (2007)

1974: Country Life: 2

1982: Fiction: 1

1984: Heaven Help Us (Try) EP: 8 

1986: The Great Train Robbery EP: 11

1986: U-Vox: 15

1988: Instinct: 3

1989: Fools Gold EP: 7 

1994: Ultradrug: 13

1995: It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah: 10 

1998: Kicking A Dead Pig: Mogwai Songs Remixed: 14

2006: Spell Of The Trembling Earth: 9

2007: Chrome Dreams II: 16

2007: Setting Sun EP: 4

2010: Sing Me To Sleep, Indie Lullabies: 12

2016: Scanni: 6

2023: Reflections In A Silver Sound: 5

A Different Donald (1:30:03) (KF) (Mega)

What Power Do You Bring Back Here?

Side 1 of a cassette compilation recorded as a gift from my brother, sometime around March-April 1991. 

 

Some New Beat and some not-so-new beat, generally speaking. As mentioned when I posted Side 2 last year, two key albums for this mixtape are the compilations New Beat, Made In Belgium (1989) and The Third Mind (1990). I might go so far as to say that my brother was either getting bored or tired towards the end of this side and opted to lift the latter's closing two songs on Side 1 to complete his own Side 1 of this compilation. I don't have a copy of The Third Mind and haven't been able to source the Son Of Sam track St. Augustine Said online, so I've instead plumped for a previous 12" aside, which I think sits reasonably well with the music on either side.

The selection kicks off with Psychic TV with the (kind of title track) from their acid house album Towards The Infinite Beat (released with a remix companion titled Beyond The Infinite Beat). From there a brace of classic Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne remixes, followed by Paris Angels' finest moment (from the original 1990 12", not the subsequent major label remix and re-release).

 

I guess you could describe English Boy On The Loveranch as a 'supergroup in reverse', comprising Dave Ball, Jamie Fry and Nick Sanderson. Dave of course had found fame and notoriety with Soft Cell and would again with The Grid. Jamie and Nick later co-founded World Of Twist and Earl Brutus. English Boy On The Loveranch only released a couple of singles in 1987 and 1988, but they're both worth tracking down.

A couple of New Beat contributions from 101 and Moments Of Ecstasy, featuring Jos Borremans, Maurice Engelen, Nikkie Van Lierop and Oliver Adams, who also variously recorded as Praga Khan, Lords Of Acid, etc. I was bit unkind about the latter last time, but there's no denying New Beat's allure.

I know next to nothing about Faction but according to Discogs they appear to be the same Faction that backed Nico on her 1985 album Camera Obscura. A nice way to come down from the relentless beats that have preceded it. 

I've no idea how my brother crammed all of this onto one side of a C90, but this is more or less as he originally intended.

 

1) Infinite Beat: Psychic TV (1990)

2) Pro>Gen (Land Of Oz) (Remix By Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osborne) (Album Edit): The Shamen (1990)

3) Human Nature (On The Mix By Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osborne) (12" Version): Gary Clail / On-U Sound System ft. Alan Pillay (1991)

4) All On You (Perfume) (12" Version): Paris Angels (1990)

5) Rock To The Beat (Original Mix) (Cover of Reese aka Kevin Saunderson): 101 (1989)

6) Sex Vigilante (Deadly Weapons Mix By Flood): English Boy On The Loveranch (1988)

7) You And Me (Edit By Maurice Engelen): Moments Of Ecstasy (1989)

8) One Thousand Beats Per Minute (Deejay's Edit): Son Of Sam (1987)

9) Noa Noa: Faction (1990)

Side One (47:58) (KF) (Mega) 

Side Two here

Definitely His Final & Most Fabulous Creation

Side 2 of a mixtape compiled for me by my brother, circa 1995.

For a mid-90s compilation, like Side 1 before it, this selection focuses quite heavily on the tail end of the 80s, with the rest made up of tracks that were already a couple of years old. All essential tracks though, in this blogger's humble opinion.

M|A|R|R|S start things off with what is still one of the finest four minutes of chop and edit sampladelic music ever. Incredible at the time, incredible now to believe that this is 36 years old. Still sounding fresh after all these years.

Ché aka Alex Johnson was completely new to me when I first heard this cassette but will have been included as a club classic from the days before I started going clubbing with my brother and also because I was really getting into Adrian Sherwood, who produced and remixed this song. I've managed to track down other versions of this song since but this remains the definitive version for me.

I loved System 7 from the first time I borrowed my brother's handful of 12" singles and the Ultraworld Colony Mix of Mia is simply spectacular. The Orb's Alex Paterson was 'mix consultant' on this and it shows, lots of trademark Orbient sounds complementing Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy's sonic palette. Producer Nigel Butler also gets a co-writing credit on this one.

For a brief period in the 1980s, Psychic TV went about as pop as they could and ever would, exploring the 1960s in a way that no Levis advert-endorsed reissue or cover version was at the time. None of it really troubled the charts but it was spectacular, including Godstar, their homage to Brian Jones, and a surprisingly faithful cover of The Beach Boys' Good Vibrations which makes every second of it's 7-minute 12" version count. 

The Chrono Psionic Interface is a much-loved song by A Man Called Adam, even more so with Andrew Weatherall at the controls. The Godiva Mix is the one that seems to pop up on t'internet the most though I also love the more conventional, radio friendly mix included here, not least because it features Sally Rodgers' vocals in full.

I might be in a minority here but I think that, as Jesus Loves You, Boy George produced some of the finest music of his career and it still holds up really well. Massive Attack's bass-heavy, sample-laden remix of One On One is just brilliant, up there with their rework of Neneh Cherry's Manchild.

The selection - and the compilation - ends with Fluke, who I adored...and still do. They didn't seem to attract the same level of credit and respect that, say, Orbital and Underworld got, The Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim later, and certainly not the stellar commercial success that any of these achieved, which always seemed hugely unjust to me. So many classic singles and remixes throughout the 1990s, though it doesn't get much better than their Make Mine A 99 remix of Groovy Feeling. Thirty years later, still a masterclass in making huge, euphoric dance music.

Damn, is it really on Tuesday? Suddenly feels like a Friday. Oh well, only one thing for it... (presses 'repeat')

1) Pump Up The Volume (7" Version): M|A|R|R|S (1987)

2) Be My (Powerstation) (Bloodsucker Mix By Adrian Sherwood, Ché & Fats Comet): Ché (1986)

3) Mia (Ultraworld Colony Mix By Steve Hillage, Nigel Butler & Alex Paterson): System 7 (1991)

4) Good Vibrations (Kundalini Mix By Phil Harding) (Cover of The Beach Boys): Psychic TV (1986)

5) The Chrono Psionic Interface (Spaced Out Mix By Andrew Weatherall): A Man Called Adam (1991)

6) One On One (Massive Attack Mix): Jesus Loves You (1990)

7) Groovy Feeling (Make Mine A 99): Fluke (1993)

 

Side Two (45:57) (Box) (Mega)

Side One here

Just Walk Don't Talk

A companion of sorts to the Floorshow compilation I posted last summer, it's back to the alternative 1980s for a lucky 13 of 12" and extended versions.

I've stuck with most of the artists from Floorshow, but with different song selections, the majority of which haven't appeared on this blog previously. Again, whilst many of these songs didn't make it onto the decks at the alternative pubs and clubs I bothered as a pan-stick caked and hairpsrayed teen, they would get played to death at home, to my parents' frequent dismay.

I've managed to hold onto some of the original vinyl 12" singles: The Sisters Of Mercy, The Damned (transparent yellow vinyl 10"), Siouxsie & The Banshees, Psychic TV. Others have been replaced with shiny disc. A couple - The March Violets and the Razormaid mix of Vicious Pink - have been 21st century discoveries thanks to the power of the blogosphere. 

 

And yes, that misspelling of Ressurection Joe still bugs me, four decades on.

 

I think I'd need more than pan-stick and hairspray to look halfway decent this days, but the music takes me right back, even if there is a soundtrack of creaking bones and groans running in parallel...!

 

1) Stranger (Album Version By Clan Of Xymox, Ivo & John Fryer): Clan Of Xymox (1985)

2) This Corrosion (12" Version By Jim Steinman): The Sisters Of Mercy (1987)

3) Peppermint Pig (12" Version By Alan Rankine & John Fryer): Cocteau Twins (1983)

4) 506 (Full Length Version): The Leather Nun (1985)

5) Anything (And Yet Another Mix By Lance Phillips): The Damned (1986)

6) Sister Europe (Album Version By Steve Lillywhite): The Psychedelic Furs (1980)

7) Song From The Edge Of The World (Columbus Mix By Mike Thorne): Siouxsie & The Banshees (1987)

8) Walk Into The Sun (Extended): The March Violets (1984)

9) Modesty Plays (Long Version): Sparks (1983)

10) Take Me Now (Razormaid Mix By Joseph Watt): Vicious Pink (1986)

11) Swamp Thing (Full Length Album Version): The Chameleons (1986)

12) Roman P. (Fireball Mix By Mark Freegard): Psychic TV (1986)

13) Ressurection Joe (Long Version By Chris Kimsey): The Cult (1984)

Just Walk Don't Talk (1:20:16) (KF) (Mega)

In My Dreams I Wrote The Best Song I've Ever Written

Another random, eclectic selection for your listening pleasure.  

 

Fujiya & Miyagi start proceedings with a bold attempt at a New Order classic from Power Corruption & Lies, swiftly followed by a track from the sole EP from The Badgers, one of many (I've lost count now) bands that I've discovered thanks to the ever-wonderful music blog The Vinyl Villain. We then jump from Norfolk to the Netherlands, and 90s indie pop to 80s electro disco, with the Modern Danceable Music Company, who thankfully also used the acronym M.D.M.C. Ben Liebrand on the mix here, luckily a few years before he incorporated the break from Think (About It) by Lyn Collins in every bloody remix he produced.

 

Fast forward to a contemporary favourite - and the source of today's post title - the wonderful Courtney Barnett, remixed by the equally wonderful 10:40 aka Jesse Fahnestock. As the mix title suggests, most of the vocals have been excised but this is definitely a case of less is more, with a lovely dreamy vibe leading into Psychic TV's foray into vocal house music with 1990's Towards Thee Infinite Beat and remix companion Beyond Thee Infinite Beat.

 

A sharp swerve Psychic TV to Micah Blue Smaldone, who was brought to my attention earlier this month by The Swede, firstly via an excellent Imaginary Compilation Album at The Vinyl Villain then a follow up post on his own blog, Unthought Of, Though, Somehow. The Swede perfectly describes Micah Blue Smaldone as "an old-timey acoustic folk-blues troubadour [...] delivering a series of lyrically dense, folk-noir songs" and Time, the track featured here, was the stirring closer to his ICA. 

A trio of legends follow: John Cale collaborating with Bob Neuwirth and David Byrne almost remixed out of existence by Jack Dangers, the latter dovetailing into an early instrumental of The News About William, preceding the vocal version that appeared on Calexico's 2008 album Carried To Dust.

 

Bringing the selection to a close is Irish singer/songwriter Gemma Hayes who I first heard via her cover of Bob Dylan's Lay Lady Lay in 2004, which I featured with multiple other versions of the song in January this year. Iona features on Gemma's (to date) last album, 2014's Bones + Longing but Gemma's been back on the live circuit this month and is promising new music later in 2022.

 

1) Your Silent Face (Cover of New Order): Fujiya & Miyagi (2011)

2) Ragged Jack: The Badgers (1992)

3) How About It (12" Version By Ben Liebrand & Sander Bos): M.D.M.C. ft. Karin Klare & Margie Davies (1983)

4) History Eraser (10:40's Redacted Dub) (Remix By Jesse Fahnestock): Courtney Barnett (2021)

5) Horror House (Album Version): Psychic TV (1990)

6) Time: Micah Blue Smaldone ft. Colleen Kinsella (2013)

7) Who's In Charge?: John Cale & Bob Neuwirth (1994)

8) Ava (Nu Wage Mix By Jack Dangers): David Byrne (1991)

9) The News About William (Instrumental Version): Calexico (2007)

10) Iona: Gemma Hayes (2014) 

1983: How About It EP: 3

1990: Towards Thee Infinite Beat: 5

1992: Picnic EP: 2

1994: Last Day On Earth: 7

2002: Pro.File 1: Meat Beat Manifesto/Jack Dangers Remix Collection: 8

2007: Tool Box: 9

2011: Power Corruption & Lies Covered (Mojo magazine promo CD): 1

2013: The Ring Of The Rise: 6 

2014: Bones + Longing: 10

2021: Left Behind Blues EP: 4

 

In My Dreams (45:25)

It's The Why, It's The Where And The When We're United

The long overdue return of an Andrew Weatherall remix selection to this blog, with a half-dozen lengthy reworkings, firmly rooted in the 1990s.

First up, the original version of Smokebelch II, which spawned - and continues to inspire - numerous versions and remixes. Still sounding beautiful and epic, three decades on. 

Andrew Weatherall's relationship with Primal Scream was such that it was an expectation  that he would in some way, shape or form be involved with each new release, whether as producer and/or remixer. I remember the thrill of getting the promo 12" of Stuka, the two mixes a highlight of the Vanishing Point era.

United was originally recorded by Throbbing Gristle in 1978, although I don't think I heard it until the 1990s, via a UK re-release of the 1981 US compilation, Throbbing Gristle's Greatest Hits: Entertainment Through Pain. In 1994, I came across an untitled remix credited to PT001 on The Sabres Of Paradise compilation, Septic Cuts. In 1995, Psychic TV released Sirens, containing 4 Weatherall remixes of the song, re-titled Re-United. Today's post title is lifted from the original Throbbing Gristle song, although ironically that line is cut from the two-part vocal remix included in this selection.

Gone saw Andrew Weatherall repaying a favour to David Holmes, who had remixed Smokebelch II to stunning effect a couple of years previously. Although credited as featuring Sarah Cracknell from Saint Etienne, you'll be hard pressed to find any trace of her in this beat-heavy minimalist mix.

It took me a long time to get hold of the Two Lone Swordsmen remix of Come Together but it was worth the time and effort. A dizzying, discordant trip way south of Spiritualized's original for nearly sixteen minutes, it's easily one of the best things that Andrew Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood produced in their time together.

 

As if that wasn't epic enough, the remix of Jam J that The Sabres Of Paradise originally delivered to James ran to thirty three and and a half minutes. The mix was released split into two sides of a vinyl 12" or in it's full, unedited glory as a single CD. I got the latter. The labeling of the mix described four distinct phases and you get the third phase here, the majestic Sabresonic Tremelo Dub, with off-kilter, shuffling rhythms, washes of squalling guitar and melancholic synth lines that, together, really hit the spot.

 

I've not attempted any ham-fisted mixing, beat matching or re-editing here; you get six sequenced songs in a CD-R friendly track list to listen to. Andrew Weatherall would have undoubtedly have spun this selection off into a completely new shape, but I think they're all pretty wonderful in their own right too.

 

1) Smokebelch II (Entry) (Remix By Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): The Sabres Of Paradise (1993)

2) Stuka (Two Lone Swordsmen Mix #1) (Remix By Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood): Primal Scream (1997)

3) Re-United (Mix 4 By Andrew Weatherall): Psychic TV (1994)

4) Gone (First Night Without Charge) (Remix By Two Lone Swordsmen): David Holmes ft. Sarah Cracknell (1995)

5) Come Together (The Two Lone Swordsmen Mix): Spiritualized (1998)

6) Jam J (Phase 3: Sabresonic Tremelo Dub): James vs. The Sabres Of Paradise (1994)

 

It's The Why, It's The Where And The When We're United (1:09:31)

Floorshow

Mix CD-R, originally compiled November 2004 by Atom Boy for my wife & I, and "kind of dedicated to the mighty Phil Sainsbury and the various clubs where he DJ'd" in Bristol in the 1980s/1990s. By his own admission, some liberties were taken with the tracklisting: the Ofra Haza version of Temple Of Love over the original, for example. I've taken a few more liberties by re-inserting the 12" mix of Psychic TV, which wouldn't fit on the original CD-R, time-wise. I've also replaced the 7" version of Cccan't You See... with the 12" French mix, which (for me) is the definitive version and wasn't originally included as Atom Boy's vinyl was "unlistenable". As a consequence, I've split the compilation into two sides, which would comfortably fit onto a C90 cassette and is more fitting with the period of the music. Image is by Atom Boy, taken from the front cover of the CD-R. Draw the curtains, get some dry ice and low lighting on, down a pint of Snake Bite and forget it's Sunday morning...

Side One

1) A Day (Re-Mixed By Ivo & John Fryer): Clan Of Xymox (1985)

2) Singing Rule Britannia (While The Walls Close In): The Chameleons (1985)

3) The Shadow Of Love (The Ten Inches Of Hell Mix): The Damned (1985)

4) Israel (Single Version): Siouxsie & The Banshees (1980)

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

6) Live For Today (Extended Version By Todd Rundgren): Lords Of The New Church (1983)

7) Temple Of Love (Touched By The Hand Of Ofra Haza): The Sisters Of Mercy ft. Ofra Haza (1992)

8) Lorelei: Cocteau Twins (1984)

Side Two

1) I Can Smell Your Thoughts (Remix): The Leather Nun (1987)

2) Turn To The Sky (The Spiral Tribe Edition): The March Violets (1995)

3) Heartbeat (Album Version): The Psychedelic Furs (1984)

4) Native Love (Step By Step) (Remixed By Rudy Turner): Divine (1982)

5) Good Vibrations (Kundalini Mix By Phil Harding): Psychic TV (1986)

6) Cccan't You See... (French Extended Mix): Vicious Pink (1984)

7) The Number One Song In Heaven (Long Version By Giorgio Moroder): Sparks (1979)

8) A Day (Re-Mixed By Ivo Watts-Russell & John Fryer) (Reprise): Clan Of Xymox (1985)

 

Side One (44:04)

Side Two (44:16)