More Devotional

Side 1 of a Depeche Mode cassette compilation, recorded circa September/October 1998.

 

I posted Side 2 in May this year and I still haven't got around to buying the current Depeche Mode album, Memento Mori, despite really liking the lead single, Ghosts Again. A testament to the amount of other great music that's been released this year but despite being the first gig I ever went to and my obsessive need to buy all of their singles through to, well, around the end of 1998 I was still never what you'd describe as a devotional fan.

I did like their singles and pick of remixers though and I think this mixtape is a pretty good example that when they were good, they were very good.

William Orbit's Random Carpet Mix of Walking In My Shoes pops up on compilations in a full length 8+ minute version, but I prefer the six-and-a-half minute edit that appeared on the original CD single. 

The KLF remix is a relative rarity. They didn't do that many in their time but they were always worth hunting down. As is Dan The Automator's trip hop take on standalone single Only When I Lose Myself, only pipped as my favourite mix of the song by Loo & Placido's mash-up with Dr. Dre from 2006 aka Still Losing Myself.

 

Not quite a mash-up, but Art Maharg drops a cheeky Enya sample into his edit of Sea Of Sin. His and Joseph Watt's (mostly) bootleg Razormaid mixes were often as good as and occasional better than the commercial releases.

I've found the 21st Century remixes a very hit-and-miss affair to be honest, leaning towards the latter. In the right hands, though? Mode magic.

 

1) Walking In My Shoes (Random Carpet Mix By William Orbit) (Single Version) (1993)

2) Everything Counts (Remix By Tim Simenon & Mark Saunders) (1989)

3) It's No Good (Album Version By Tim Simenon) (1997)

4) Personal Jesus (Holier Than Thou Approach) (Remix By François Kevorkian) (1989)

5) Only When I Lose Myself (Dan The Automator Mix By Dan Nakamura) (1998)

6) Policy Of Truth (Trancentral Mix By The KLF aka Bill Drummond & Jimmy Cauty) (1990)

7) Sea Of Sin (Razormaid's Orinoco Flow Edit By Art Maharg) (1990)

8) Rush (Spiritual Guidance Mix By Jack Dangers) (1993)

Side One (46:07) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two, including revived links to previous Depeche Mode selections, can be found here

Devotional

Side 2 of a Depeche Mode mixtape, recorded sometime around September or October 1998.

The triumphant return of the boys from Basildon with this selection focusing on a decade of mixes from 1988 (not 1989 as advertised above) to 1998, bridging live compilation 101 through to their second singles collection, the rather functionally titled The Singles 86>98.

 

Headstar is a good example of Mode's stock-in-trade B-side, an instrumental that could easily have wound up on a US TV drama soundtrack. World In My Eyes is remixed by The Beloved's Jon Marsh, tucked away on a limited edition single back in 1990.  

 

In Your Room wasn't a particular favourite of mine as a single/album track but the remixes were better, including the one here by Jonny Dollar and featuring my first encounter with Geoff Barrow working under the Portishead moniker. 

 

Wrapping up Side 2 - and the compilation - a rare occasion when I used an alternative to the definitive single version of Enjoy The Silence on a mixtape. Poor old Dave Gahan doesn't get a look in until the closing minute or so, but it's a good mix nevertheless. 

 

I haven't yet got around to buying the latest Depeche Mode album, more a reflection on the ton of great albums that have already landed in 2023 so far. 

 

1) Headstar (Single Mix By Tim Simenon & Robin Hancock) (1998)

2) Nothing (Zip-Hop Mix By Justin Strauss & Eric Kupper) (1988)

3) World In My Eyes (Mayhem Mode) (Remix By Jon Marsh) (1990)

4) I Feel You (Babylon Mix By Supereal aka John Crossley) (1993)

5) Barrel Of A Gun (United Mix By Paul Freegard & Marc Waterman ft. Vanessa) (1997) 

6) Home (LFO Meant To Be) (Remix By Mark Bell) (1997)

7) In Your Room (The Jeep Rock Mix By Jonny Dollar & Portishead) (Edit) (1994)

8) Enjoy The Silence (Ricki Tik Tik Mix By Daniel Miller & Phil Legg) (1990)

Side Two (46:22) (KF) (Mega)

 

If that's left you hungry for more Mode, here are the previous selections I posted in August 2021 and May 2022.

 

More Than A Party

Moving Violations

 

Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon

A little Friday fun and not to be taken too seriously...

Six Degrees Of Separation is the idea that a person can have six or less connections to any other person in the world. Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon jokingly took the idea further, positing that any actor could be linked to the Hollywood legend in six or fewer steps.

I thought I'd have a go at applying it to my music collection. How hard could it be? Surprisingly easy, it turned out (although purists may disagree). Here goes...

1) Neneh Cherry's debut solo single in 1988 was Buffalo Stance, produced by Tim Simenon aka Bomb The Bass.

2) Bomb The Bass released Bug Powder Dust in 1994 as the lead single for third album Clear, featuring Justin Warfield and a slew of remixes, including one from DJ Muggs.

3) DJ Muggs aka Lawrence Muggerud first came to prominence as a founder member of Cypress Hill. In 1992, he also formed The Soul Assassins collective. That same year, Muggs used the Soul Assassin alias to remix Beastie Boys, aka Ad Rock, MCA and Mike D.

4) Mike D. aka Michael Diamond has provided his unique vocals and raps to many other artists' songs over the years. In 2016, he teamed up with Cat Power to appear on Action, a single by French duo Cassius aka Philippe Zdar Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francard.

5) Hubert Blanc-Francard's father is Dominique Blanc-Francard, who has also enjoyed a long and varied career in music production. In 1983, Dominique mixed Robert Palmer's cover version of You Are In My System and returned to remix it in 1992.

6) Robert Palmer was apparently a fan of The Comsat Angels and facilitated their signing to Island Records in the mid-80s, executive producing sixth album Chasing Shadows and providing vocals on the closing track of today's selection. And the bass player and founding member of The Comsat Angels is of course... Kevin Bacon.

This may be #1 in a series of one but it was fun to do. 

Happy Friday, everyone!

1) Buffalo Stance (Extended Mix By Bomb The Bass aka Tim Simenon): Neneh Cherry (1988)

2) Bug Powder Dust (DJ Muggs Remix): Bomb The Bass ft. Justin Warfield (1994)

3) So What' Cha Want (Soul Assassin Remix Version By DJ Muggs): Beastie Boys (1992)

4) Action (Video Version): Cassius ft. Cat Power & Mike D. (2016)

5) You Are In My System (Addictions Mix By Dominique Blanc-Francard) (Cover of The System): Robert Palmer (1992)

6) You'll Never Know: The Comsat Angels ft. Robert Palmer (1986)

 

Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon (28:20) (KF) (Mega)

The Original Debutante

Sides 1 & 2 of a Björk cassette compilation, recorded 23rd February 1997.

 

Confusingly, I posted another Björk selection called Debutante last September, an all-video recreation of her Debut album. This is the original though, "a selection of mixes and alternate versions" culled from accompanying singles and other sources and put on a C60 cassette.

The Underworld remix of Human Behaviour that appeared on the vinyl and CD single was a 12-minute epic and remains one of the finest reworkings that Darren Emerson and Rick Smith delivered as a partnership. The version here is an eight-and-a-half minute edit that appeared on the Welcome To The Future² compilation. Yes, it's considerably shorter but loses none of it's impact.

 

Mykaell Riley was/is more familiar to me as a member of Steel Pulse but by the early 1990s had further success as the founder of Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra. I prefer the original version of Venus As A Boy, but this is a very radio-friendly mix.

 

There's More To Life Than This appeared as a B-side to Venus As A Boy. The single version is great but serves to highlight how inspired and brilliant the 'toilet' interlude in the original album version was.

 

There are a trio of songs from 1986, recorded by Björk when she was a member of The Elgar Sisters with Guðlaugur Óttarsson. On the original cassette, I cut the third song, Glóra, to 40 seconds to fit it onto the 30 minute running time. I've restored the full version, still under 2 minutes and essentially a lovely flute solo from Björk.

 

Back in 1997, I didn't have an alternative version of Björk's cover of Like Someone In Love so I had to stick with the album version. For this selection, I've swapped it for the MTV Unplugged version from 1994, her band for this performance comprising Talvin Singh, Leila Arab, Guy Sigsworth, Dan Lipman, Ike Leo and Tansay Omar.

 

Big Time Sensuality got a whole new lease of life when Fluke got their hands on the song and their remixes of the song are my favourites of the lot. Björk evidently agreed as it was an extended version of The Fluke Minimix that was used for the memorable video, Björk dancing around on the back of a flatbed truck driving through New York.

 

Side 2 kicks off with Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns transforming One Day into a thing of even greater beauty. I can remember being stunned when I first this mix on a freebie NME cassette and being delighted when I was finally able to get it on CD a year later on "The Best Mixes..." EP.

 

Play Dead doesn't feature on my original CD of Debut but was tacked on to the end, following the success of the single and the soundtrack to Danny Cannon's film The Young Americans. Whilst I don't think it fits with the album, it's a great single. Then again, with David Arnold, Jah Wobble and Tim Simenon involved, the odds were in it's favour.

 

I'm guessing that I Remember You was in consideration for inclusion on Debut before Björk ultimately went for Like Someone In Love. It's covered in a similar style and sits comfortably with the other B-sides on the Venus As A Boy single.

 

The Black Dog, at the time a trio of Ken Downie, Andy Turner and Ed Handley, were producing some incredible music for Warp Records and their remixes were no less exciting. Their recreation of Come To Me is much more unsettling than the original but is one of my favourite Björk remixes ever.

 

Fluke return for a remix of Violently Happy, at the time not a personal album highlight and as a single, feeling like the record label were squeezing every last drop out of Debut's success. However, Fluke delivered the goods again and I grew to love the song in all it's variations.

 

Closing the selection, as with the original album, with The Anchor Song. Black Dog again, with a looped sample that evokes (for me, at least) a ship's engine, providing an additional element to the song. Wonderful.

 

I'm pretty sure I recorded a similar alternative version of Björk's follow-up, Post, but I can't find it in my cassette collection so I may start from scratch with a new selection in the future. 

Side One

1) Human Behaviour (The Underworld Mix) (Edit) (1993)

2) Venus As A Boy (Mykaell Riley Mix) (1993)

3) There's More To Life Than This (Non Toilet) (Single Version By Nellee Hooper & Jim Abbiss) (1993)

4) Sídasta Ég: The Elgar Sisters (1986)

5) Stígðu Mig: The Elgar Sisters (1986)

6) Glóra: The Elgar Sisters (1986)

7) Like Someone In Love (MTV Unplugged) (Cover of Dinah Shore) (1994)

8) Big Time Sensuality (The Fluke Minimix) (1993)

Side Two

1) One Day (Endorphin Mix By The Sabres Of Paradise) (1993)

2) Play Dead (Tim Simenon 12" Remix): Björk & David Arnold ft. Jah Wobble (1993)

3) I Remember You (Cover of Jimmy Dorsey) (1993)

4) Come To Me (Black Dog Productions) (1993)

5) Violently Happy (Fluke (Well Tempered)) (1994)

6) The Anchor Song (Black Dog Mix) (1993)

1993: Big Time Sensuality EP: A4, A6, A8, B4

1993: Björk Cut By The Sabres Of Paradise (promo 10" single): B1

1993: Play Dead EP: B2

1993: Venus As A Boy EP: A2, A3, A5, B3, B6

1993: Welcome To The Future²: A1

1994: The Best Mixes From The Album 'Debut' For All The People Who Don't Buy White Labels: B1, B4, B6

1994: Violently Happy EP: B5

2001: MTV Unplugged & Live (DVD): A7

Side One (31:20) (GD) (M)

Side Two (30:10) (GD) (M)

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)

Moving Violations

Celebrating Andy 'Fletch' Fletcher of Depeche Mode, 8th July 1961 to 26th May 2022.

 

Without this blog becoming a musical obituary, I couldn't let more sad news this week pass with no comment or tribute. Last August, I wrote about seeing Depeche Mode live in concert at the age of 15, the first gig I'd ever been to. 

I'm going to let the music pretty much speak for itself today. This selection features both sides of a mixtape that I compiled 20th October 1990. By no means the first Depeche Mode compilation cassette I did, this one features a slew of remixes by François Kevorkian, Flood, Daniel Miller, The Beatmasters, Phil Harding, Tim Simenon, The Beloved, as well as relatively rarer (at the time) US mixes by Joseph Watt, Bert Bevans and Robert Margouleff.

 

A number of these are vinyl rips, so apologies for the variable audio quality.

 

Thanks, Fletch, you did good.

 

Side One

1) Route 66 (Remixed By The Beatmasters) (Cover of Nat King Cole & The King Cole Trio) (1987)

2) Sea Of Sin (Sensoria) (Remix By François Kevorkian & Alan Friedman) (1990)

3) A Question Of Lust (Remix By Flood) (1986)

4) World In My Eyes (Mode To Joy) (Remix By The Beloved) (1990)

5) Fly On The Windscreen (Death Mix By Gareth Jones) (1985)

6) Enjoy The Silence (The Quad: Final Edit By Tim Simenon) (1990)

7) The Things You Said (Album Version) (1987)

8) Nothing (Album Version) (1987)

9) A Question Of Time (Remix By Phil Harding) (1986)

 

Side Two

1) Behind The Wheel (Beatmasters Mix) (1987)

2) But Not Tonight (U.S. Extended Mix By Robert Margouleff) (1986)

3) Pleasure, Little Treasure (Glitter Mix By Depeche Mode & Dave Bascombe) (1987)

4) Get The Balance Right! (Combination Mix By Daniel Miller & Depeche Mode) (Cold End) (1983)

5) Flexible (Pre-Deportation Mix By Bert Bevans) (1985)

6) (Set Me Free) Remotivate Me (12" Mix) (Edited By Joseph Watt) (1984)

7) Dangerous (Sensual Mix By Flood) (1989)

 

Side One (46:02) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two (45:38) (KF) (Mega)

Hearsay & Heresy

Mixtape recorded 30th July 1997, featuring Gavin Friday on Side 1 and Björk on Side 2. 

 

I think the only Gavin Friday album I owned at this point was Shag Tobacco, so this selection is mostly drawn from CD singles, including the Man Of Misfortune EP, which included the two previous singles from Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves as B-sides.

 

Since then, I've collected the remaining albums, Adam 'n' Eve and Catholic, the latter unbelievably over a decade old now. I think Gavin Friday's solo material is hugely underrated and even the songs dispensed with as B-sides stand tall, as I think this selection attests. 

 
1) Rex Mortuus Est (1992)

2) Angel (Album Version By Tim Simenon) (1995)

3) Falling Off The Edge Of The World (Album Version By Hal Willner, Flood & Dave Bascombe): Gavin Friday ft. Maria McKee (1992)

4) Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves (Album Version): Gavin Friday & The Man Seezer (1989)

5) A Thousand Years (1995)

6) Wake Up Screaming (1992)

7) You Take Away The Sun (Album Version): Gavin Friday & The Man Seezer (1989)

8) Sibyl Vane's Suicide (1992)

9) I Want To Live (Single Mix By Dave Bascombe): Gavin Friday ft. Maria McKee (1992)

10) Caruso (Album Version By Tim Simenon) (1995)

11) Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1991)

 

1989: Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves: 4, 7

1992: Falling Off The Edge Of The World EP: 3, 6, 8

1992: I Want To Live EP: 9, 11

1992: King Of Trash EP: 1

1995: Angel EP: 5

1995: Shag Tobacco: 2, 10

 

Hearsay & Heresy (46:15) (KF) (Mega)