Northern Synth Soul Weekender (Sunday)

Day 2 of a non-stop erotic cabaret weekend, celebrating the genius of Dave Ball.
 

It's impossible to talk about Dave Ball without referring to Soft Cell and The Grid, and inevitably they both feature heavily in today's second selection of choice cuts from Dave's career.

Dave's work with Marc Almond and Richard Norris is incredible in it's span, not only in terms of commercial success, but also in it's ambition and longevity. However, it's not the only evidence of what, from the outside looking in, portrays Dave as a person that others wanted to work with and keep working with, time and time again.

I mentioned Psychic TV yesterday and Dave's involvement with Genesis P-Orridge in the late 1980s on the legendary 'acid house' albums Jack The Tab and Tekno Acid Beat.  I featured Joy, the lead single from the latter, on Saturday's selection. I also noted Genesis' appearance on Dave's solo album, In Strict Tempo, and today features Man In The Man, one the two songs they co-wrote.

Gavin Friday also appears on In Strict Tempo, and was another frequent flyer with Dave. Gavin co-wrote and sang on the (almost) title track in 1983; The Grid remixed Gavin's 1996 single You Me And World War Three. In 2009, Dave and Gavin recorded a cover of Ghostrider by Suicide, released on 10* vinyl the following year for Alan Vega's 70th Birthday Limited Edition EP Series. 

In 2019, another long-term friend and collaborator, Anni Hogan, released the album Lost In Blue, produced by Dave. The penultimate song, Angels Of Romance, features - you guessed it - Gavin. Last year, I was delighted that Gavin returned with a new solo album, Ecce Homo, with Dave joining him at the controls. The title track is an essential pick here.

The other significant 'duo' for me is Dave's work with Ingo Vauk, which often seems to be overlooked and understated. Ingo is credited as an engineer on The Grid's debut album Electric Head in 1990, the start of a songwriting and production partnership. 

Although Dave and Ingo never 'formed a band' and released their own music, you may be surprised at how many songs in your collection credit the pair. Kylie Minogue's 1998 single Breathe? They co-wrote and produced it. The 'Double Click' and 'Lost In Space' remixes of Hallo Spaceboy by David Bowie? That's them. Billie Ray Martin's 1999 single Honey? They produced it. In fact, Ingo was in the studio (as engineer) with Dave and Richard in 1993 for Billiie's sublime 4 Ambient Tales EP, which also features here. 

The point that all of the above is labouring is that Dave is repeatedly described as a lovely bloke and this is borne out by the number of people that continued to work with him throughout his career. 

In Marc Almond's 1999 autobiography, Tainted Life (which I really must read again), he recalls that

"When Dave Ball had walked into Leeds Polytechnic in the autumn of 1977, 

the first person he had bumped into was me. 

We couldn't have been more contrasting: 

Dave in a denim jacket, jeans and desert wellies, 

tall and stocky with black curly hair; 

me in gold-lamé trousers, a leopard skin T-shirt 

on a small skinny frame with a blond crop. 

He asked me the way to the art department, 

and I pointed him down the corridor. 

Neither of us then could have imagined the strange adventure 

we be embarking on in less than three years' time, 

nor even that this encounter would have any significance at all."

Richard Norris' 2024 autobiography, Strange Things Are Happening (also sitting on my bookshelf) recounts the making of the Jack The Tab album in 1987:

"On the Sunday, Gen brings along a friend to help with the proceedings - 

Soft Cell keyboard player Dave Ball. 

I'm a little intimidated. 

We've all been bopping about in the studio, mucking about, 

adding vocals and mad effects. 

A deranged nightclub meets laboratory experiment. 

Having Dave here makes things feel a little more professional. 

He's an actual pop star, after all. 

How is he going to fit in with these demented tracks 

featuring wolves howling, falsetto Tiny Tim samples and 

Gen and Paula's bedroom tapes?

Very well, it turns out."

I'd been meaning to get Dave Ball's autobiography, Electronic Boy, for some time. Sadly, it's taken his passing to give me the proverbial boot and order a copy. I'm looking forward to reading Dave's own recollections of this incredible life in music, albeit with a sadness that the last chapter has been written.

Dave's music endures, however, and today's selection once again provides the merest hint of how and why this is so.

I said yesterday that I would often buy a record solely because Dave's name was on it somewhere and there are a couple of examples here. I was never a huge fan of Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine at the time (although I've since revised my opinion), yet seeing the words "Remixed by The Grid" on a promo 12" of 1994 single Glam Rock Cops was enough to make me buy, buy. buy. Three great remixes, titles inspired by The Sweeney and Kojak, I've picked the main extended version to open today's proceedings.

Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson is a phenomenally talented violin player and in 1990s had a similar impact in popularising the instrument - and classical music in general - as Nigel Kennedy had in the previous decade. Dave and Ingo did a couple of remixes for a USA-only 12" single in 1995; the version of Classical Gas featured here arrived in the UK in 1997 as a bonus track on the CD single of I Feel Love. 

The aforementioned Breathe by Kylie Minogue was featured on her album Impossible Princess, before Lady Di's death caused the record to be pulled and reissued as a self-titled album. The single featured remixes by Todd Terry and Sash! though neither come close to the original production by Dave Ball and Ingo Vauk. I'll commit myself to saying it's my favourite Kylie single ever.

Vicious Pink Phenomena (later just Vicious Pink) aka Josie Warden and Brian Moss, started out as backing vocalists for Soft Cell. Dave Ball produced their debut single in 1982 and reappeared (albeit uncredited) on their unexpected 2024 album called, er, Unexpected.

Billie Ray Martin is rarely far away from my playlist, having initially come to my attention with Electribe 101 then via a continuing solo career. The latter launched with a cover of Persuasion by Throbbing Gristle then followed up with the 4 Ambient Tales EP, produced by Dave Ball and Richard Norris as The Grid. It's a beautiful, beautiful quartet of songs and essential listening. 

Hifi Sean is very popular around these parts and his (currently three) albums with David McAlmont are magical, to say the least. In 2016, Sean released his first 'solo' album, Ft., which as the title suggests features collaborations with David, Fred Schneider, Maggie DuMonde and Yoko Ono. On Ultratheque, Sean pairs with Dave Ball and delivers a club classic that nods to the past whilst embracing the future. Great stuff.

Soft Cell and The Grid inevitably remain present throughout the selection. The Grid's follow up to Floatation, also featuring Sacha Souter, is A Beat Called Love. It got to #64 in the UK charts in September 1990. Criminal. It should have been a number one.

The remix of Loving You, Hating Me added here appeared on a promo 12" single in 1983 and is about a minute longer and very different from the version that appeared on the official 12" single and subsequent compilations. 

Last Chance appeared on Soft Cell's 2002 'comeback' Cruelty Without Beauty, which again deserved better than it got at the time. I was thrilled that Dave and Marc were back together and, unlike so many reunions, they remained true to Soft Cell's identity and mission statement without trying to recreate the past.

And there you have it. I struggled a lot with shortlisting a selection of Dave's music, because every single second of it was up for inclusion. I'm happy with the two 12-song selections that I've presented this weekend, in the hope that you'll be inspired by songs you know - and those you don't - to play even more, now and for years to come.

The electronic boy done good.

Thanks Dave, for the light, the shade, the darkness, the joy, the dancing and so many utterly fantastic tunes.

1) Glam Rock Cops (Regan & Carter Mix By The Grid): Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine (1994)

2) A Beat Called Love (Album Version): The Grid ft. Sacha Souter (1990)

3) Loving You, Hating Me (Special Mix By Soft Cell & Mike Thorne): Soft Cell (1983)

4) Breathe (Radio Edit By Dave Ball & Ingo Vauk): Kylie Minogue (1998)

5) Classical Gas (Stradosphere Mix By Dave Ball & Ingo Vauk): Vanessa-Mae (1995)

6) Ghostrider (Cover of Suicide): Gavin Friday & Dave Ball (2009)

7) Man In The Man: Dave Ball ft. Genesis P-Orridge (1983)

8) My Private Tokyo (Remix By Dave Ball): Vicious Pink Phenomena (1982)

9) Planet Of The Blue (Single Version By The Grid): Billie Ray Martin (1993)

10) Ultratheque (Album Version): Hifi Sean ft. Dave Ball (2016)

11) Ecce Homo (Album Version By Dave Ball & Michael Heffernan): Gavin Friday (2024)

12) Last Chance (Album Version By Dave Ball & Ingo Vauk): Soft Cell (2002)

1982: My Private Tokyo EP: 8

1983: In Strict Tempo: 7

1983: Loving You, Hating Me EP: 3

1990: Electric Head: 2

1993: 4 Ambient Tales EP: 9

1994: Glam Rock Cops EP: 1

1995: Classical Gas EP: 5

1998: Breathe EP: 4

2002: Cruelty Without Beauty: 12

2010: Ghostrider EP: 6

2016: Ft.: 10

2024: Ecce Homo: 11

Northern Synth Soul Weekender (Sunday) (1:02:08) (GD) (M)

Watt's The Frequency's Zenith?

Today's selection is an hour-long tribute to bartender, auto mechanic and master of the 12" edit, Joseph Watt.

My first experience of Joseph's work was in 1985, buying either the 7" double pack of What's Your Problem? by Blancmange or the import 12" of Master And Servant by Depeche Mode, both of which contained examples of his handiwork.

I soon discovered his vast body of work with Art Maharg as Razormaid, though much of it was out of my reach until the early 2000s, when it became available online via various music blogs.

Since then, I've amassed over a hundred different Joseph Watt edits and remixes, spanning 1983 to 1993 and covering a wide range of genres, but favouring the alternative and electronic pop music of my teens.

In pulling together this selection and post, I discovered a fascinating article-cum-interview with Joseph from 2014 on the Red Bull Music Academy website of all places. It's well worth a read, especially if you have an interest in Razormaid and the US subscription-only remix services that proliferated in the 1980s, but also as an inspirational tale of serendipitous and seismic career changes.

"Where did you come from? 

Are you like some big hotshot DJ from Miami or Paris?’"

They said I was like this enigma. 

I’d just say, 

"What do you mean?

I just came over from my apartment on 17th Street"

I've selected and sequenced nine personal favourites from Joseph's catalogue, some commercially released, some included on the numerous Razormaid 12" singles and compilations from the 1980s and 1990s.

The aforementioned remix of Depeche Mode is present, Blancmange too, though instead of That's Love That It Is from the What's Your Problem? 7", I've gone for Game Above My Head, a stunning extended remix that appeared on the follow up 7" double pack, Lose Your Love.

I offer apologies to anyone led by the post title into thinking there might be some R.E.M. here as well. Not so, but the rest of the mixtape, from Sparks to Erasure, Bronski Beat to Vicious Pink, O.M.D. to Talking Heads and ending with Electronic, is pretty heavyweight compensation. 

1) Burning Down The House (Razormaid Mix): Talking Heads (1987)

2) Music That You Can Dance To (Razormaid! Edit): Sparks (1990)

3) Smalltown Boy (Razormaid Mix): Bronski Beat (1984)

4) Game Above My Head (U.S. Extended Remix Version): Blancmange (1983)

5) Tesla Girls (Razormaid Mix): O.M.D. (1992)

6) Master And Servant (US Black & Blue Version) (Edited By Joseph Watt): Depeche Mode (1984)

7) Cccan't You See... ('89 Mix By Razormaid aka Art Maharg & Joseph Watt): Vicious Pink (1989)

8) Sometimes (Extended Mix By Rico Conning) (Edited By Joseph Watt): Erasure (1987)

9) Getting Away With It (Digital Mix): Electronic (1992)

1983: That's Love, That It Is EP (USA 12" single): 4

1984: Master And Servant EP (USA 12" single): 6

1987: Sometimes EP (USA 12" single): 8

1988: Class X One: 1

1989: Razormaid's 4th Anniversary Issue: The Atrocity Exhibition: 7

1990: Prehistoric Razormaid!: 2

1992: The Best Of... This Is Only A Test!: 3, 9

1992: Razormaid! 7th Anniversary Box Set: 5

Watt's The Frequency's Zenith? (1:02:43) (GD) (M)

Further listening:

Bevans Above! (Bert Bevans, November 2021)

L'art De La Discothèque, Volume 1 & Volume 2 (François Kevorkian, May-June 2025)

WareHouse (Martyn Ware, May 2025)

Muzik For Hair Gel

Day 2 of the Eighties 12" Weekender with a new selection, based on an old idea.

Digging out archive Dubhed selections to include with yesterday's post, I'd planned to include Muzik For Hairspray, a mixtape I'd compiled circa 2000 and posted here in May 2021.

I was barely six months into the blog, Muzik For Hairspray was my 29th post and I had no expectation at the time that five years and over 1,500 posts later, I may want to re-post the selection...so I deleted it.

In recreating the original mixtape (again), I was inspired to create a companion set, inspiringly titled Muzik For Hair Gel.

The idea was simple enough: use exactly the same artists and sequence of the Muzik For Hairspray mixtape*, just different songs, and ideally ones that I hadn't used on a previous 12"/80s compilation. And it was that last bit that took the most time!

That said, I'm pretty happy with the end result. After the controversy of 1979's Pop Musik on the previous comp, today's song by M (aka Robin Scott) was genuinely released in the 1980s...just. 

Official Secrets was only released on 7" in the UK and many other countries, though the Spanish put the full length album version on theirs, and Mexico went one step further by putting it on a promo 12". Tick!

I've used the dub remix of Love Calling by Sir William of Idol in a previous Best of Billy selection, so I stuck with the album version. As with Mexico, it was Australia to the rescue this time, releasing this version on a promo 12" single. Double tick!

This is the fourth appearance on this blog of Boom! There She Was (Sonic Property Mix) by Scritti Politti. However, whilst the previous three selections all featured an edit included on the UK 12", this time it's the unexpurgated 9-minute version direct from the U.S.A. 

Divine makes a welcome reappearance, again teaming up with Bobby Orlando for Love Reaction. But what 1983 12" single could possibly have inspired their own dancefloor smash?

* With one exception.

Having recorded this selection first, I then revisited Muzik For Hairspray, only to discover too late that I've accidentally missed off the last song on Side 1 when I originally posted the tracklist. So, apologies to Belouis Some for missing out on Muzik For Hair Gel. Them's the showbiz breaks, I guess!

This weekend's selections are dedicated to Mike, his mates and anyone else making their way to the Milton Keynes Bowl for today's Forever Now festival, featuring several of today's artists and some unbelievably great headliners to boot. Have a fab day!

And a very happy birthday to Green Gartside, who is 70 today!

Side One

1) Official Secrets (Album Version By Robin Scott): M ft. Brigit Vinchon (1980)

2) Love Calling (Album Version By Keith Forsey): Billy Idol (1982)

3) Cccan't You See... (8:15 To Nowhere Mix By Tony Mansfield): Vicious Pink (1984)

4) Love Reaction (12" Version By Bobby Orlando): Divine (1983)

5) Junk (Remixed By Harvey Goldberg): Bronski Beat (1984)

6) Dissidents (The Search For Truth Part II) (Remix By François Kevorkian & Dominick Maita): Thomas Dolby (1984)

7) Where The Heart Is (12" Version By Mike Thorne & Harvey Goldberg): Soft Cell (1982)

Side Two

1) Boom! There She Was (Sonic Property Mix By Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero) (Full Length): Scritti Politti ft. Roger Troutman (1988)

2) Channel Z (Rock Mix By Don Was & Michael Hutchinson): The B-52's (1989)

3) On Your Own (New York Mix By Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero): Pete Shelley (1986)

4) Let's All Make A Bomb (New Version By B.E.F. & Greg Walsh): Heaven 17 (1983)

5) Shock (The Shep Pettibone Mix): The Psychedelic Furs (1987)

6) It's Called A Heart (Extended) (Remix By Depeche Mode & Daniel Miller): Depeche Mode (1985)

7) Without You (12" Mix By Tim Friese-Greene): Talk Talk (1984)

Side One (45:52) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two (46:19) (KF) (Mega)

You can find Muzik For Hairspray here

And, for your further 12/80s listening pleasure:

Flying In The Face Of Fashion (2022)

Just Walk Don't Talk (2022)

Fun To Think (2023)

No Games (2024)

Party Down, Rock The House (2024)

#SynthPopSeptember

Another of my occasional engagements with Musk's Mad World, the theme this time being thirty days of synth pop throughout September.

No surprise that the likes of Visage, Depeche Mode, Chvrches, Duran Duran, AIR, New Order, LCD Soundsystem, Blancmange, O.M.D., Goldfrapp, Bronski Beat, Hot Chip, Pet Shop Boys and The Human League were generally well represented by their best-known songs.

 

It was a lot of fun and an opportunity to offer up some lesser tweeted songs by many of the above plus Fad Gadget, Les Rythmes Digitales, Ladytron, Alan Vega, Telex, Boytronic and La Roux, several of whom have featured in posts this month.

My 30 synth pop choices in full were

1) Lady Shave (Single Version): Fad Gadget (1981)

2) Sleep On The Left Side (Les Rythmes Digitales' Living By Numbers Mix): Cornershop (1998)

3) The Black Hit Of Space (Album Version): The Human League (1980)

4) The Sun And The Rainfall (Album Version) (Cover of Depeche Mode): Marsheaux (2015)

5) Cccan't You See... (Single Version): Vicious Pink (1984)

6) Almost (Album Version): O.M.D. (1980)

7) Leave In Silence (Single Version): Depeche Mode (1982)

8) (Hey You) What's That Sound? (Album Version): Les Rythmes Digitales (1999)

9) Clean Your House (The Emperor Machine Extended Remix): Blancmange (2020)

10) Pale Green Ghosts (Album Version): John Grant (2013)

11) Synthesize (Single Version): Autumn (1981)

12) Real Thoughts In Real Time (Vince Clarke Extended Version): Hifi Sean & David McAlmont (2023)

13) Frozen Faces (Single Mix): Propaganda (1985)

14) Let's All Make A Bomb (New Version): Heaven 17 (1983)

15) Gun (Album Version): Chvrches (2013)

16) Saturn Drive (Extended / Album Version): Alan Vega (1983)

17) Seventeen (Darren Emerson Radio Edit): Ladytron (2003)

18) Stand Up (Get Down) (7" Version): Kissing The Pink (1988)

19) You (Extended Version): Boytronic (1983)

20) The Walk (Album Version): Eurythmics (1982)

21) Mixed Bizness (Nu Wave Dreamix By Les Rythmes Digitales): Beck (2000)

22) Moskow Diskow (French 12" Version): Telex (1979)

23) Glam (Album Version): Icehouse (1982)

24) Let Me Down Gently (Prins Thomas Diskomiks): La Roux (2014)

25) Disenchanted (Album Version): The Communards (1986)

26) Mister Imperator (Album Version): Telefís (2022)

27) Lies (Bigger & Better) (12" Version): Thompson Twins (1983)

28) Jackson's Last Stand (Radio Edit): Où Est Le Swimming Pool (2009)

29) When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way' (Album Version): Sparks (1994)

30) Pleasure Boys (Special Dance Mix): Visage (1982)

As my final contribution is being tweeted today, here's a random 10-song selection from the 30, spanning four decades and neatly squeezing onto an imaginary C90 cassette side. Click on the song title links for more YT goodies. Enjoy!

 

1) Pale Green Ghosts (Album Version): John Grant (2013)

2) Cccan't You See... (Single Version): Vicious Pink (1984)

3) Stand Up (Get Down) (7" Version): Kissing The Pink (1988)

4) Glam (Album Version): Icehouse (1982)

5) Frozen Faces (Single Mix): Propaganda (1985)

6) When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way' (Album Version): Sparks (1994)

7) Real Thoughts In Real Time (Vince Clarke Extended Version): Hifi Sean & David McAlmont (2023)

8) Synthesize (Single Version): Autumn (1981)

9) Mister Imperator (Album Version): Telefís (2022)

10) Clean Your House (The Emperor Machine Extended Remix): Blancmange (2020)

 

1981: Synthesize EP: 8

1982: Primitive Man: 4

1984: Cccan't You See... EP: 2

1985: p: Machinery EP / A Secret Wish (CD bonus track): 5

1988: Stand Up EP: 3 

1994: Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins: 6

2013: Pale Green Ghosts: 1

2020: Clean Your House EP: 10

2022: a hAon: 9

2023: Real Thoughts In Real Time EP: 7

 

#SynthPop September (46:02) (KF) (Mega)

What Power Do You Bring Here?

Side 2 of a cassette compilation recorded circa March-April 1991. 

 

The mixtape was a gift from my brother, posted to me whilst I was roughly halfway through a year working and travelling in Australia. My brother was at university in Bournemouth and this is a guide to what he was listening to... and what I was missing, half a world away. 

 

Looking at the track listing across both sides, two favourite albums at the time appear to have been the compilations New Beat, Made In Belgium (1989) and The Third Mind (1990). This selection kicks off with the opening track of the former by The Brotherhood Of Sleep, who don't seem to have released anything other than New Beat, A Musical Phenomenon. I've swapped the compilation edit for the full length 12" version here as the original cassette ran well short of the 45 minute space allowed.

 

Next up is one-hit wonder Guru Josh with Infinity, with a horribly synthetic sax sound. My brother had the album and one other track/single made it onto another mixtape, but I can honestly say I never listened to the album in full and feel even less inclined to do so now.

 

This compilation was the first time I'd properly (and repeatedly) listened to Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Saint Etienne, though I'm sure I would have heard it before I left the UK. This is the single/album version of the Neil Young classic. At this point, I'd definitely not heard the phenomenal Andrew Weatherall remix and whilst that swiftly became the definitive version for me, there's no denying that Saint Etienne's original version is pretty spectacular.

 

This segues neatly into Bryan 'Chuck' New's remix of Pictures Of You by The Cure, undoubtedly the best thing he's ever done. The original limited edition 12" single calls this the "Strange Remix", a nod to how different it was to the album or standard 12" versions. By the time of the Mixed Up compilation, which is where my brother got it, it was renamed the "Extended Dub Remix", which is an on-the-nose title if nothing else. What a wonderful six minutes and forty-five seconds, though.

 

Wonderful is not a word I'd use to describe Lords Of Acid. Their biog on Discogs describes them as a "sex-obsessed Belgian-American post-industrial/techno band" and they're the third of three artists lifted from the New Beat, Made In Belgium compilation. Kicking off with LInda Blair's "Darling, come here..." sample from The Exorcist and with front person Nikkie Van Lierop's repeated refrain of "Sit on your face / I want to sit on your face", you may be glad I stuck with the edit and didn't swap it out for the 12" version. 

 

The KLF follow up with the album version of Last Train To Trancentral, preceded by Church Of The KLF. By my brother's own admission, he had run out of steam at the point and tacked on two long songs to finish off the compilation. For all that, I love this version of Last Train and it feels somewhat incomplete without Church Of The KLF as the lead-in.

 

Closing the cassette was an at-the-time relatively new song by Orbital, released in January 1991 on the III EP, but which has since become a signature classic. This tape was my first exposure to the song Belfast and it was like nothing I'd ever heard and a huge contrast to Chime, the only other song of theirs that I knew of at the time. It still sends a shiver down my spine and, despite the hurried approach to finishing the compilation, I think my brother was spot on in his choice of song to wrap things up.

 

I played the tape a lot whilst I was travelling as it provided a connection to life back home but also a hint of the future. I returned to it less frequently as the years passed but it provides a snapshot of another time and place, with lots of happy memories. 

1) New Beat, A Musical Phenomenon (12" Version): The Brotherhood Of Sleep (1989)

2) Infinity (1990's: Time For The Guru) (7"): Guru Josh (1990)

3) Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Album Version) (Cover of Neil Young): Saint Etienne ft. Moira Lambert (1990)

4) Pictures Of You (Strange Remix aka Extended Dub Remix): The Cure (1990)

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

6) I Sit On Acid (Edit): Lords Of Acid (1988)

7) Church Of The KLF / Last Train To Trancentral (Album Version): The KLF (1991)

8) Belfast (Album Version): Orbital (1991)

 

Side Two (46:20) (KF) (Mega)

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)

Bevans Above!

Another 12"/80s selection for the weekend, the common thread being that all of the songs have been remixed by legendary DJ Bert Bevans. This one is dedicated to Echorich, whose comment on a previous post inspired this and who is currently moving home... fingers crossed it's going as well as expected and best wishes in your new place!

The remix of Space by It's Immaterial is my favourite version of the song, and arguably the same goes for the Pete Wylie, Paul Weller and Depeche Mode selections. Even those that aren't the definitive versions (for me) - Big Audio Dynamite and Vicious Pink - are still pretty good. As for the rest, these are pretty much the only versions of the songs that I know.

Today's selection comes with a health warning as tracks 4 & 5 feature former members of The Beatles and Queen. The latter also apparently featured in the 1986 film Biggles and the video is notable only for featuring Peter Cushing's last on-screen appearance. It's Immaterial's Space video is much, much better.

You can also find a clutch of uplifting Bert Bevans DJ sets on his Soundcloud page. Highly recommended.

1) Roses (Extended U.S. Remix): Haywoode (1986)

2) Money-Go-Round (Dance Mix): The Style Council (1983)

3) Diamond Girl Oh! Diamond Girl (Super Solitaire Sublime Mix): Pete Wylie ft. The Fabulous Josie Jones (1986)

4) Press (Bevans & Forward Dub Mix): Paul McCartney (1986)

5) No Turning Back (The Joy-Stick Mix): The Immortals (1986)

6) Soul Deep (Club Mix): The Council Collective (1984)

7) Flexible (Pre-Deportation Mix): Depeche Mode (1985)

8) Cccan't You See... (Exxxx-tended Re-mixxx): Vicious Pink (1985)

9) Sinful! (The Wickedest Mix In Town): Pete Wylie ft. The Oedipus Wrecks (1986)

10) E=MC² (70mm Wide Screen Mix): Big Audio Dynamite (1985)

11) Dominoes (The Dance Mix): Robbie Nevil (1986)

12) Space, He Called From The Kitchen.... (12" Remix): It's Immaterial (1986) 

 

Bevans Above! (1:19:49) (GD) (M)

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)
 

Muzik For Hairspray

From my mixtape archives, circa 2000, "a collection of 80s 12" classics"... apart from Pop Muzik, which got to No. 2 in the UK in 1979. 

 

Side One

1) Pop Muzik (Full Length Disco Mix): M (1979)

2) Hot In The City (Exterminator Mix): Billy Idol (1982)

3) Fetish (Extended Version): Vicious Pink (1984)

4) Alphabet Rap (Full Length Album Version): Divine (1982)

5) I Feel Love / Johnnie Remember Me / Love To Love You Baby (Cake Mix): Bronski Beat ft. Marc Almond (1984)

6) She Blinded Me With Science (Extended Version): Thomas Dolby ft. Dr. Magnus Pike (1982)

7) What! (Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing Remix): Soft Cell (1982)

8) Imagination (Dance Mix By Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero): Belouis Some (1985)

 

Side Two

1) Absolute (Version): Scritti Politti (1984)

2) Summer Of Love (Summer Party Mix): The B-52’s (1986)

3) Homosapien (Elongated Dancepartydubmix): Pete Shelley (1981)

4) Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry (Extended Dance Version): Heaven 17 (1983)

5) Heartbeat (Mendlesohn Mix (Long Version): The Psychedelic Furs (1984)

6) New Life (Remix): Depeche Mode (1981)

7) Life's What You Make It (Extended Version): Talk Talk (1986)

 

Side One (45:43) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two (45:56) (KF) (Mega)