More Altered Perceptions

Side 2 of an 80s mixtape recorded 26th November 1999.

Another compilation that's taken me ages to return to, Side 1 making an appearance here in November 2023. Better late than never...!

In 1987, Get It On by T. Rex was re-released with a new remix by Tony Visconti. I don't remember why exactly, as the (rather excellent) Best Of The 20th Century Boy compilation had already been out for a couple of years and there was no jeans ad tie-in as far as I recall. There were two 12" singles with new extended versions: the Dawn Mix on yellow vinyl and the Dusk Mix on blue vinyl; I've got both, there's not a lot of difference between the two.

Propaganda's second single was Duel, a gorgeous slice of Germanic pop. On the flip side was its roughneck relation, Jewel, Claudia Brücken's sweet voice replaced by Susanne Freytag's shouty vocals. Similarly, their album A Secret Wish was mirrored with a remix companion, Wishful Thinking. It's a bit hit-and-mix, but the remix of Duel/Jewel is superb, creating a sublime duet between Susanne and Claudia.

Love Like Blood is arguably Killing Joke's defining song and originally came out in two extended 12" single formats. Not content with that, producer Zeus B. Held had a go at the song, providing the flip side to his other remix of 1986 single Adorations. This one adds a few contemporary remix touches, including some crowd noises for some reason, to firmly root the song in the mid-1980s.

I do have the 12" single of More by Doctor & The Medics, which features a remix by an up-and-coming artist called William Orbit. Unfortunately, I don't have a MP3 rip and couldn't find an alternative on t'internet. So, I've grabbed the intro from the video version and spliced it with a slight edit of the album version and Hey Presto! a DIY extended version to fill the void. Derivative it may be, but I like this song.

Derivative is not a word that could be used to describe Peek-A-Boo by Siouxsie & The Banshees. When I first heard it in 1988, I was thrilled by this change of direction for the band. Unfortunately, the rest of the album is less experimental and more familiar, but the impact of this song hasn't diminished. Peek-A-Boo was released on 7", 12" (two of 'em) and CD single. The eight minute Silver Dollar Mix which appeared on the limited edition 12" single is in fact an edit; the full length version appeared in the USA and runs for another two minutes.

Whilst Siouxsie and co were trying to push themselves in a new direction, by 1988 Iggy Pop had pretty much gone full hair metal. I like the album Instinct but it's dumb rock, even by Iggy's standards, though unapologetically so. I first heard this remix of Cold Metal on the Sounds Blasts! 1 EP, a freebie 7" single with music paper Sounds that also featured The Blue Aeroplanes (yay!), Fishbone (mmmm) and the Dan Reed Network (meh). 

Closing out this compilation is my favourite version of Two Tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, the Carnage remix by Trevor Horn and Stephen Lipson following the standard ZTT format of instrumental first half and vocal second half. However, they also chuck in a few vocal snippets from Nash, Peds and Mark taken from throwaway B-side 'interviews', which add a bit of colour. 

As with my previous post, I've tracked down the videos for each song, or TV performances where these aren't available. The clip for Jewel by Propaganda is a real treat. The others run the range from so so serious (Killing Joke) to stunning (Siouxsie) to silly (Doctor & The Medics) to... well, you've just got to see Iggy Pop's video to wonder how many cans of hairspray the film crew got through for this one.

And then there's Two Tribes, possibly one of the greatest videos ever made. If a band tried to do that today, the pustulous orange turd would probably buy MTV, install himself as CEO and shut it down. That's if the barrel chested bareback rider hadn't already dealt with them permanently.

 
1) Get It On (Dusk Mix) (Tony Visconti 87 Remix): T. Rex (1987)

2) Jewelled (Remix By Robert Kraushaar & Paul Morley): Propaganda (1985)

3) Love Like Blood (The '86 Remix By Zeus B. Held): Killing Joke (1986)

4) More (Full Video Version By Doctor & The Medics & Graham Meek): Doctor & The Medics (1987)

5) Peek-A-Boo (Silver Dollar Mix By Mike Hedges) (Edit): Siouxsie & The Banshees (1988)

6) Cold Metal (Rock Version By Andy Wallace): Iggy Pop (1988)

7) Two Tribes (Carnage) (Remix By Trevor Horn & Stephen Lipson): Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1984)

Side Two (46:06) (KF) (Mega)

Side One here

 

 

 

 

 

 

Les Disques Du Crépuscule En Sept Sélections Pour Sept, er, Quid

Legendary label Les Disques Du Crépuscule have been steadily making their back catalogue available for sale via Bandcamp, including several classic albums with bonus tracks at a bargain price of £7.00 for a digital download. Many are also available on shiny disc.

Too many to mention in one post really, so I've selected seven as a sampler, namely

 

Clinker (+ 4 bonus remixes): Julie Campbell / Stephen Mallinder / Benge (2021)

Sorry For Laughing: Josef K (1981) (this is the shelved version; The Only Fun In Town is also available) 

Rhythm Of Life + New York Remix mini-album: Paul Haig (1983/1984)

Nice Mover (+ 6 bonus remixes): Gina X Performance (1979)

Nue Au Soleil (Complètement: Ludus (2024) (compilation previously released as an 11-track vinyl in 1987 and a 28-track 2CD in 2017; the digital version contains all 18 tracks from CD1 and the 4-song John Peel session from CD2)

Fidelity (+ 2 bonus tracks): The Durutti Column (1996) (The New Fidelity was originally issued on a Portuguese compilation in 1992) 

Moving Soundtracks: Various Artists (1983) (this appears to be the 2008 rejigged reissue, originally 20 tracks, here minus 2 songs by Be Music and Alan Rankine; I picked The Pale Fountains for today's selection)

 

Seminal compilation From Brussels With Love, the debut release on Les Disques Du Crépuscule in 1980 and featured in the headline photo, is also available as a digital download. That'll cost you a tenner but for 28 tracks a bargain. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It Goes Something Like This...

Zeus B. Held aka Bernd Held (see what he did there?) was born in 1950s, started as a musician in the 1970s and gained a reputation as a producer in the latter part of that decade, becoming a renowned remixer during the 1980s. Zeus is still going strong today, dividing time between Germany and England.

Today's selection is very firmly rooted in his 1980s remix work. I first discovered Zeus B. Held via his work with Fashion, producing and remixing their second album, Fabrique, in 1982. From there, Zeus popped up on albums and 12" singles by Alphaville, Dead Or Alive, Simple Minds, John Foxx, Men Without Hats and Spear Of Destiny.

Zeus' 1987 remix of Gary Numan's 1979 single Cars was a hit not once but twice. Whilst it couldn't match the original's #1 peak in the UK, it reached #16 in 1987 and #17 in 1996. The latter was relabeled the Premier Mix on the back of the song featuring in a lager commercial. 

Beggars Banquet, the label that re-released Cars in 1987 were obviously enamoured of Zeus B. Held's prodigious skills at the (re)mixing desk as, in a surprise move, he was also commissioned to produce three remixes of Hit The North by The Fall. Mark E. Smith's views at the time are lost in the mists of time and it likely divided fan opinion, then and now. Personally, I love them. 

Gina X aka Gina Kikoine proved to be a great foil for Zeus B. Held. No G.D.M. is an absolute classic which I've enthused about previously and present again in another version from the remixed and re-released single in 1985. Gina X makes a second appearance, providing guest vocals on Love Shadow by Fashion from 1982.

Whilst Sinful! by Pete Wylie is a deserved classic (and Zeus B. Held co-production), I've gone for the equally majestic Diamond Girl, featuring the fabulous Josie Jones. Sadly, the UK record buying public in 1986 disagreed. #57? Seriously?! Philistines!

From the last gasp of the 1980s, Win was formed by Davy Henderson, time-wise sitting roughly between his other bands The Fire Engines and The Nectarine No. 9. Unashamedly power pop, Win deserved greater commercial success than they had. Transvision Vamp achieved that success, albeit briefly, their first big hit in the UK being I Want Your Love, a #5 smash in June 1988. 

I had intended to pare the selection down to ten songs and one hour. I failed spectacularly. Instead, if you can spare just under ninety minutes, here are fourteen 12" bangers from the 1980s, remixed solely or collaboratively by Zeus B. Held. 

Enjoy!

 

1) Pop Goes The World (Dance Mix): Men Without Hats (1987)

2) What's Love If You Can Kill For Chocolate (12" Mix): Win (1989)

3) Sanity (The Roman Mix): Killing Joke (1986)

4) Ghostdancing (A Special Extended 12" Remix): Simple Minds (1986)

5) Never Take Me Alive (Extended Version): Spear Of Destiny (1987)

6) Big In Japan (Extended Remix): Alphaville (1984)

7) Diamond Girl (The Glorious Extended 7" Mix): Pete Wylie ft. The Fabulous Josie Jones (1986)

8) Cars (Extended 'E' Reg Model): Gary Numan (1987)

9) No G.D.M. (Extended): Gina X (1985)

10) What I Want (Dance Mix): Dead Or Alive (1984)

11) Hit The North (Part 4) (12" Remix): The Fall (1987)

12) Wings And A Wind (Extended Version): John Foxx (1983)

13) Love Shadow (Mutant Mix): Fashion ft. Gina X (1982)

14) I Want Your Love (I Don't Want Your Money Mix): Transvision Vamp (1988)

It Goes Something Like This... (1:29:29) (Box) (Mega)

My Moral Code's On Overload

I may have heard them prior to that, but Killing Joke made an indelible impression on my teen brain with Love Like Blood, Eighties and the Night Time album as a whole.

 

I've stuck with them, albeit fairly loosely, over the years, picking up the occasional album and catching up with their early 1980s material. I've also been a huge fan of their forays into remixes and dub soundscapes, guided by original and returning bassist Youth aka Martin Glover. Throughout, Jaz Coleman's state of the world lyrics and "savagely strident vocals" remain undimmed.

 

The original Killing Joke line-up reformed in full in 2008, have released several albums of new material and are touring in 2023, including an appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 12th March.

Today's selection starts in 1985, with a track from Night Time, and ends in 2014 with a remix from the In Dub 3CD collection. In between you'll find remixes, album tracks and singles and some seriously heavy sounds. Brace yourselves.

1) Europe (Album Version) (1985)

2) Wardance (The RAF Mix By Zeus B. Held) (1986)

3) Seeing Red (Jagz Kooner Remix) (2004)

4) Mass (Campaign Collection Mix By Youth & Paul Wright) (1996)

5) Love Like Blood (Gestalt Mix By Chris Kimsey, Chris Nagle & Killing Joke) (1985)

6) Democracy (United Nations Mix By Black Sun aka Youth & Ott) (1996)

7) Loose Cannon (Album Version) (2003)

8) Exorcism (Vatican Ambient Dub) (Remix By Youth) (2014) 

9) America (Single Version) (1988) 

 

1985: Love Like Blood EP: 5

1985: Night Time: 1

1986: Sanity EP: 2

1988: America EP: 9

1996: Democracy EP: 4, 6

2003: Killing Joke: 7

2004: Seeing Red EP: 3

2014: In Dub: 8

 

Moral Code's On Overload (47:03) (KF) (Mega)

Your Cassette Pet!

Side 2 of a cassette compilation, recorded September 1991. 

 

Essentially, this is a trawl through my brother's collection of albums on tape, cherry picking favourite songs to stick on two sides of a C90. The title is nod to 1980's cassette-only album by Bow Wow Wow, which my brother didn't own and therefore isn't featured here, but I had a copy of a copy which my friend had given me.

It's an eclectic mix albeit firmly in 'alternative' territory, with Flesh For Lulu, Marc Almond (here with The Mambas), Bauhaus and Howard Devoto. I was arguably the bigger Depeche Mode fan as a teen but I bought only the singles, whilst my brother had their first three albums, all on cassette. 

Part of the appeal of cassettes was the 'double play' format, where you'd either get two albums for the price of one or a slew of bonus tracks on Side 2. Quite a few examples here: Fashion's Fabrique contained a whole side of remixes, whist Laibach paired Opus Dei with their cover of The Beatles' Let It Be album. 

 

The The's Soul Mining was perhaps the strangest of the lot. The original album on Side 1, the flip side containing 6 songs purportedly planned for The The's aborted album The Pornography Of Despair. Things get off to a reasonably normal start with the re-recorded version of Perfect. And then Three Orange Kisses From Kazan, a real WTF? moment. Initially, I was both shit-scared and morbidly fascinated by the song, but it's long since become a highlight of The The's back catalogue for me. 

 

Many of the artists have 2 or 3 songs on this compilation. This Mortal Coil is no exception, though the late inclusion of a 1:30 edit of Waves Become Wings was clearly to pad out Side 2's running time. With apologies to Lisa Gerrard, who is just getting into her stride when she's unceremoniously faded out, I've retained the edit for this recreated selection.

 

Last but not least, a brace of cover versions by Laibach (a third from Let It be is on Side 1). In both cases, they take songs - by Queen and Opus - that I didn't particularly care for and create bruising, industrial marching songs that take the clichéd phrase "...and make it their own" to a whole other place. 

 

Side 1 may take a while to come, as it features a track from Bristol-band Renegade Flight, who I saw live several times in the late 1980s and picked up a couple of their DIY cassettes from their merch stall. I think I've still got them - and a tape deck - somewhere in a box in the attic, so hopefully I can find and convert to MP3 format in the next 12 months. Just don't hold your breath!

 

1) The Sun And The Rainfall (Album Version): Depeche Mode (1982)

2) Rainy Season (Album Version): Howard Devoto (1983)

3) Subterraneans (Album Version): Flesh For Lulu (1984)

4) Something In Your Picture (Alternative Playback) (Half Frame) (Remix By Zeus B. Held): Fashion (1982)

5) Shame (Album Version): Depeche Mode (1983)

6) Geburt Einer Nation (Album Version) (Cover of 'One Vision' by Queen): Laibach (1987)

7) Who Killed Mr. Moonlight?: Bauhaus (1983)

8) Three Orange Kisses From Kazan: The The (1982)

9) Caroline Says II (Cover of Lou Reed): Marc & The Mambas (1982)

10) Waves Become Wings (Edit): This Mortal Coil ft. Lisa Gerrard (1984)

11) Opus Dei (Album Version) (Cover of 'Live Is Life' by Opus): Laibach (1987)

1982: A Broken Frame: 1

1982: Something In Your Picture EP / Fabrique (Special Edition Double Play Cassette): 4

1982: Untitled: 9

1983: Burning From The Inside: 7

1983: Construction Time Again: 5

1983: Jerky Versions Of The Dream: 2

1983: Uncertain Smile EP / Soul Mining (Special Edition Double Play Cassette): 8

1984: Flesh For Lulu: 3

1984: It'll End In Tears: 10

1987: Geburt Einer Nation EP / Opus Dei: 6, 11

Side Two (45:55) (KF) (Mega)

After A Fashion

Dressed To Kill by Fashion popped up on my random music shuffle. My brother had their 1982 album Fabrique on "double play" cassette, with the album on Side A and a slew of remixes on Side B, all produced by German legend Zeus B. Held (Bernd Held to his friends). I was fascinated by the music and the images of the band on the tiny cassette sleeve.

When I started buying music in earnest, secondhand copies of the Fabrique-era 12" singles were added to my collection: Move On, Streetplayer - Mechanik, Something In Your Picture and the mighty Love Shadow, featuring Gina X.

 

I've found a live clip of Dressed To Kill, performed at Alabama Halle, Munich in 1982. The on-stage line-up appears to be missing bassist Martin Recchi, but it's a compelling performance, ironically underpinned by a none-more-80s bassline, and Dee Harris giving a strong vocal up front. The audience seem less enthused, which seems a bit unfair.

A passing mention here, as this warrants a separate post, but this was the third of five iterations of the band, from the band's birth in 1978 as post-punk Fàshiön Music through to Fashion's pop/funk rebirth in 1981 to their demise in 1984. There was a brief reformation in 2009, this sixth iteration of Fashion essentially a solo vehicle for original singer and multi-instrumentalist Luke Sky. 

 

Not long after the 1982 show and ahead of a planned world tour, Dee Harris left the band. I was aware from buying Fashion's 12" singles that Alan Darby replaced Harris as lead singer. I didn't know about the fourth iteration of the band until researching this piece. 

 

Troy Tate was previously in The Teardrop Explodes but I had no idea that he'd also auditioned and been recruited to Fashion as lead vocalist (with Alan Darby on guitar). Less than 3 weeks after Dee Harris quit the band, the new line-up performed on BBC2's The Old Grey Whistle Test and a performance of Move On is available on Troy's YouTube page. I prefer Harris' original vocals to Tate's performance, if I'm honest, but Darby's guitar solo is a thing to behold.

 

This incarnation of the band didn't record or release any material and, in the wake of Troy Tate's departure, Alan Darby stepped up as lead singer and songwriter. From there, my interest waned rapidly, but Fashion's story is a fascinating tale of musical differences and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory (if commercial success is victory).

 

Fabrique was re-released as boutique, ultra deluxe edition in 2021 in a limited run of 1000. If you want the low down on this, I point you to the ever-excellent Post Punk Monk, who dissected the box set and contents in an epic 11-part series of posts on it's release, starting here.

C'est La Vie, Ma Cherie

One of my favourite songs of all time, No G.D.M. was first released in 1979 by Gina X Performance, a duo of Gina X (aka Gina Kikoine aka Claudia De Held) and Zeus B. Held (aka Bernd Held). The single was re-released in 1982, by now credited simply to Gina X. I have a (very crackly) 12" single of the further re-release in 1985, including an additional dub (but actually vocal heavy) version by Zeus B. Held, which I picked up secondhand in the late 1980s/early 1990s. My brother had a copy of the same 12" so I'm not sure if I first heard the song in his bedsit on Jamaica Street in Stokes Croft in the heart of Bristol, or one of the many indie/goth/alternative clubs that we frequented in the city centre.

 

I can't find the original promo video on YouTube but have stumbled across a rather entertaining fan-made homage by foxinaboxvideo, posted in 2009. The video includes snippets from the Gina X at the start, with scenes from The Naked Civil Servant interspersed throughout. The latter is a 1975 made-for-TV film dramatising the early years of Quentin Crisp, the inspiration for No G.D.M.

 

Unsurprisingly, No G.D.M. has been a significant influence on electronica/dance acts that have followed, several of whom have been unable to resist remixing the song. First up is Headman aka Robi Insinna, whose remix appeared on a 12" released by International Deejay Gigolo Records in Germany back in 2003, along with remixes by Psychonauts and Cat O'Nine Tales. The version featured here is Robi Insinna's rework from 2016.

 

Next up is Red Axes, their remix featuring on the Relish EP V 12" single, released by Robi Insinna's label Relish Recordings in 2014.

Last but not least, here's the Supa Edit of No G.D.M. by French producer Joakim Bouaziz, released on a Tigersushi 12" in 2002, which isn't far removed from my crackly 12" single from 1985.

There's only one official cover version of No G.D.M. that I'm aware of, by - no surprise - Erasure and featuring on the flip of their Blue Savannah 12" single in 1990. It goes without saying that it's not a patch on the original, so I'm not posting it here. 

In 2020, the city of Cologne awarded Gina Kikoine and Zeus B. Held the Holger Czukay Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award, the jury stating that

 

"Gina X Performance were way ahead of their time with their elegantly distanced electronic pop and extroverted performances. Even before pop icons like Grace Jones or the Eurythmics became famous for their chilled sound, Gina Kikoine and Zeus B. Held carried their androgynous coolness out into the world from Cologne.

The new wave pop made in Cologne celebrated chart successes in Austria, Canada, UK and Israel.

The sound of Gina X Performance has proven to be timelessly contemporary, as evidenced by the rediscovery of her music by star DJs such as Andrew Weatherall and DJ Hell.

The lyrics and above all the legendary performances of Gina X Performance, in which music, fashion, theatre and performance art merged, make the group pioneers of queer art in which questions of gender and identity are renegotiated."

 

I couldn't have put it better myself.

Modern Dance

Saturday's memories of cheap 'n' cheerful compilations reminded me of another K-Tel album that was an attempt to capture the New Romantic and electronic pop sounds that were capturing the imagination of the record buying public. Released in December 1981, Modern Dance is still a great listen, forty years on. As well as Top 10 hits from The Human League, Visage, O.M.D. and Landscape, the inclusion of Japan, Fashion and Heaven 17 is also bang on. The only misfire is the inclusion of The News, who seem to have released three singles, none of which came anywhere close to troubling the UK charts. The song feels like it belongs on a 1970s compilation and is strangely out of time. The rip on this collection also sounds like it's running too fast, but that might be my memory playing tricks.

 

In typical fashion (excuse the pun), the original album has 9 tracks squeezed on each side of vinyl, with early fades, edits and tight sequencing. For this post, I've slightly re-imagined Modern Dance as a double vinyl set, splitting the original Side Two in half and including some full length and extended versions, to allow the songs to breathe.

 

Side Three (22:24)

1) Fade To Grey (Dance Mix): Visage (1981)

2) Einstein A Go-Go (12" Mix): Landscape (1981)

3) Move On (Audio Extra) (Remix By Zeus B. Held): Fashion (1981)

4) Visions Of China (Album Version): Japan (1981)

 

Side Four (23:23)

5) A World Without Love (Single Version): The News (1981)

6) Love Song (Album Version): Simple Minds (1981)

7) Play To Win (B.E.F. Disco Mix): Heaven 17 (1981)

8) Enola Gay (Album Version): O.M.D. (1980)

9) Open Your Heart (Album Version): The Human League (1981)

Side Three (22:24)

Side Four (23:23)

 

The original TV commercial for the album is available on You Tube, with a voiceover from (I think) Radio 1 DJ Peter Powell.