WareHouse

Happy 69th birthday to Martyn Ware, born 19th May 1956.

Founder member of both The Human League, The British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.) and Heaven 17, Martyn has also had a hugely successful career as a production, working with the likes of Tina Turner, Erasure and Terence Trent D'Arby.

Today's selection pulls together some extended examples of Martyn's production prowess, which pretty much speak for themselves. 

Have a good one, Martyn!

1) Those First Impressions (Extended Version): Associates (1984)

2) Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry (Parts One And Two) (Uninterrupted Single Version): Heaven 17 (1983)

3) Medley: Rock 'n' Roll / Nightclubbing: The Human League (1980)

4) Wishing Well (Three Coins In The Fountain Mix): Terence Trent D'Arby (1987)

5) I Don't Depend On You (Extended Re-Edited Version By gkugno): The Men (1979/2011)

6) Brilliant Creatures (Album Version): Marc Almond (1996)

7) Party Fears Two (Album Version): B.E.F. ft. Glenn Gregory (2013)

1980: Holiday '80 EP: 3

1983: Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry EP: 2

1984: Those First Impressions EP: 1

1987: Wishing Well EP: 4

1996: Fantastic Star: 6

2011: I Don't Depend On You EP: 5

2013: Music Of Quality And Distinction Volume 3: Dark: 7

WareHouse (47:00) (GD) (M)

Your Love Will Bring Me Home

Back to the 80s disco for some Saturday fun, with an eclectic mix spanning pop, pap, alternative and ambient in 65 minutes.

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)

 

Your Love Will Bring Me Home (1:04:52)

Dub Revelutions

I woke up this morning to the extremely sad news that Lee 'Scratch' Perry died yesterday (29th). The BBC obituary doesn't even begin to do justice to the man's influence, as artist, producer, remixer, collaborator, eccentric and innovator, but how do you attempt to encapsulate a life and career that profoundly changed music and continues to inspire and influence right now? 

I have a deep love of reggae and dub so Perry's work features heavily in my music collection and whilst his output and quality control was less consistent in the 1990s and 2000s, his collaborations with Adrian Sherwood and The Orb in the last decade marked a creative high. I had never managed to see Lee 'Scratch' Perry in concert and planned to see him in Gloucester in November.

I don't have any standalone Lee 'Scratch' Perry mixtapes that I could post here today, so I've hastily cobbled together a tribute selection in the last hour and a half. Some obvious choices are omitted: nothing by Bob Marley & The Wailers or The Clash and no Police & Thieves (although Bad Weed uses the same riddim). I've included some of Perry's more unexpected remixes: Sign Your Name was a #2 hit in the UK in January 1988 and I wonder what TTD's mainstream fans made of the 'Scratch' remix 12", peppered with animal sounds and dub effects. NYC band Gang Gang Dance was also an unusual choice, but Perry toasts over the top and makes it his own. The selection spans his early singles in the late 1960s through to his 2019 album Rainford and last year's appearance on Denise Sherwood's debut solo album. It's only a flavour of the man's genius but given the haste in compiling the selection, I think it hangs together pretty well.

Farewell then to Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Alien Starman and Dub Revolutionary.

 

1) Cloak & Dagger: Lee 'Scratch' Perry & The Upsetters ft. Tommy McCook (1973)

2) Rockhead: Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2008)

3) Bad Weed (Discomix By Lee 'Scratch' Perry): Junior Murvin (1977)

4) Return Of Django: The Upsetters (1969)

5) Chase The Devil (Adrian Sherwood Dub): Dubblestandart ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Coshiva & Emch (2014) 

6) Sign Your Name (Lee 'Scratch' Perry Remix): Terence Trent D'Arby (1988)

7) Doctor On The Go: Lee Perry & The Upsetters (1975)

8) Last Train To Doomsville: Dub Syndicate ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry (1988)

9) MindKilla (Lee 'Scratch' Perry Remix): Gang Gang Dance (2011)

10) I Am The Upsetter: Lee King Perry (1968)

11) Run Evil Spirit (Album Version By Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Adrian Sherwood): Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2019)

12) Ball Of Fire: The Orb ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2012)

13) Music Shall Live (Album Version By Adrian Sherwood & Vital Elements): Denise Sherwood ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2020) 

14) Dr. Lee, PhD (Album Version By Beastie Boys & Mario Caldato Jr.): Beastie Boys ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Money Mark (1998)

15) Allergic To Lies (Album Version By Adrian Sherwood & Lee 'Scratch' Perry): Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Dub Syndicate (1987)

16) Dub Revelutions: Lee Perry & The Upsetters (1975) 

 

Dub Revelutions (A Tribute To Lee 'Scratch' Perry) (1:15:08)