BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983

“Nightmares” was the 7th single released by synth-pop band A Flock Of Seagulls. The single was taken from the the bands second album “Listen.” “Nightmares” peaked at #53 on the UK singles chart on April 16, 1983 and #62 on the US Billboard Dance Chart.

The two B-sides reveal the often-overlooked experimental side of A Flock of Seagulls. Slightly edited versions of “The Last Flight of Yuri Gagarin” and “Rosenmontag” appeared on the original cassette and CD pressings of “Listen.” Both tracks are extended for this 12″ and have never appeared on CD. However the 2010 remastered CD version of “Listen” does contain the 12″ version of “Nightmares”.

Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin was a Russian cosmonaut and the first man in space. He orbited the earth in April 1961, a humilating blow to the U.S. spaceflight team which at the time was in heated competition with its communist counterparts. His “last flight” took place on March 27, 1968, when the UTI MiG-15 (an experimental jet he was piloting) crashed. He was 34 years old. The Apollo 15 astronauts put a plaque on the moon naming all of the men who’d died in the space race. Gagarin was honored among them.

“Rosenmontag” (German for “Rose Monday”) is a festival which takes place in Cologne, Germany in the days leading up to Lent. Rosenmontag is the Monday prior to Ash Wednesday. It is likely that the band learned about this Catholic holiday while in Germany during the recording of “Listen.” Coincidentally, it is also the title of a 1930 film directed by Hans Steinhoff.

SIDE A:
Nightmares 5:02
Producer – Mike Howlett

The Last Flight Of Yuri Gagarin 7:03
Producer – Mike Howlett, Mike Score

SIDE B:
Rosenmontag 8:01
Producer – Conny Plank, Dave Hutchins, Mike Howlett

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

CHARTS:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Jive
Catalog#: JIVE T 33
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: Apr 1983
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Bass, Vocals – Frank Maudsley
Composed By [All Material], Performer – A Flock Of Seagulls
Design [Sleeve] – Pete Watson (2)
Drums – Ali Score
Lead Guitar, Vocals – Paul Reynolds
Lead Vocals, Keyboards – Mike Score
Management – Checkmount Ltd.
Mastered By – BilBo (3)
Photography – Eric Watson
Written-By – A. Score*, F. Maudsley*, M. Score*, P. Reynolds*

NOTES:
Recorded at Conny Plank’s Studio, Neunkirchen, W.Germany.
Mixed at Union Studios, Munich

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

PW: burningtheground

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1985

A Side Label

“Who’s That Girl (She’s Got It) was the first single released from A Flock Of Seagulls fourth studio album “Dream Come True”. The single peaked at #66 on the UK singles chart in 1985.

DISCOGS LINK

RELEASE/PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Label: Jive
Catalog#: JIVE T 106
Format: Vinyl, 12″
Country: UK
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits:  Mixed By – Nigel Green
Producer – Mike Score

NOTES
Recorded at Battery Studios, London.

SIDE A
(A) Who’s That Girl (She’s Got It) (Extended Version) 6:52

SIDE B
(B1) Who’s That Girl (She’s Got It) (7″ Version) 3:36
(B2) Who’s That Girl (She’s Got It) (Instrumental Version) 4:19

B Side Label

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

PW: burningtheground

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986

Side A Label

Left with three members with the departure of Paul Reynolds, the band waited and toured. Brothers Mike and Ali Score wanted to base the band out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With past success in the USA, both brothers thought leaving the UK and a new life in America was a perfect solution. With the popularity of the first two albums and the name “A Flock of Seagulls” still having some equity, they had 4 straight sell-out shows in Philadelphia. Mike, Ali and Frank Maudsley all applied for and were conditionally awarded green cards based on celebrity status under the O-1 work visa. The conditional approval was granted to all three, who settled in Philadelphia.

Frank became disillusioned with living in a strange city; he loved A Flock of Seagulls but had no family. Missing the UK, he returned to England. Mike and Ali stayed in Philadelphia and satisfied the terms of the visa. With Frank in Britain and the brothers in the USA it would appear the band was split into two camps. In fact it was Frank Maudsley who kept the band communicating. Unfortunately the brothers had a falling out that resulted in Mike remaining as the sole remaining original member of the touring band and Ali going to Boston. Ali played in a hard rock band and then worked for a computer company in Cambridge once the work visa turned into a permanent resident.

Frank was the go-between for the brothers and, during the recording of Dream Come True, some have indicated that Ali played on only 3 songs, Frank on 4 and Mike did all 9. One of the songs that all three did play on was entitled “Cosmos (Effect of the Sun)” and was dropped from the album. This dropping of the song brought the track listing down to 9 songs for the album. A large row ensued where Frank and Ali wanted to drop “Love on Your Knees” and include Cosmos. It was with this argument that two videos, “Who’s That Girl” and “Heartbeat Like a Drum,” were filmed in quick succession. These two videos were the last time the three remaining members were together in a recording or music capacity until 2004.

“Heartbeat Like A Drum” was the second single released from the album “Dream Come True” and included the dropped album track “The Effects Of The Sun” as the b-side. “Heartbeat Like A Drum” failed to chart in the US or UK.

This Canadian 12″ contains the same mix on A1 and B1 and oddly the mixes are not named.

**Please note there may be a bit of vinyl noise on B2 as a purist I left this noise as to not further damage the recording with extra processing.

DISCOGS LINK

RELEASE/PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Label: Jive
Catalog#: 12CDN-264
Format: Vinyl, 12″
Country: Canada
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits:  Written-By – A Flock Of Seagulls , Mike Score

NOTES
Side A = AOR Side / Side B = Club Side
Tracks A1 and B1 are the same mix as shown by track times no mix names are given.

An Original Sound Recording Made By ZOMBA Productions Ltd. Publisher: Zomba Enterprises Inc. (ASCAP)

A.O.R. SIDE
(A1) Heartbeat Like A Drum 6:55
(A2) Heartbeat Like A Drum 3:59

CLUB SIDE
(B1) Heartbeat Like A Drum 6:55
(B2) The Effects Of The Sun 12:29

Side B Label

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

PW: burningtheground

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE
1984

A Side Label

“The More You Live, The More You Love” is the name of a 1984 single by the new wave/rock band A Flock of Seagulls. It is taken from their third album, The Story of a Young Heart. The single was the first out of three singles taken from the album.

The single was able to chart in both the band’s native United Kingdom and in the United States, as well as in Germany, New Zealand and the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart; and was the most successful in the Netherlands where it reached the Top 20 for three weeks.

The B-side track “Lost Control (Totally)” is a different mix than what was issued as as a bonus track on the 2008 remastered CD issue of “The Story of a Young Heart” making this 12″ sought after and rare.

DISCOGS LINK

RELEASE/PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Label: Jive
Catalog#: JIVE T 62
Format: Vinyl, 12″
Country: UK
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Composed By, Performer – Ali Score , Frank Maudsley , Mike Score , Paul Reynolds
Engineer – Steve Lipson* (tracks: A, B2)
Mixed By – Chris Porter (tracks: B2)
Producer – Steve Lovell
Written-By – A. Score* , F. Maudsley* , M. Score* , P. Reynolds*

NOTES
Recorded At Ridge Farm.

SIDE A
A The More You Live, The More You Love (Full Moon Mix) 6:10
SIDE B
B1 Lost Control (Totally) 6:40
B2 The More You Live, The More You Love (7″ Re-Mix) 4:08
Remix – Chris Porter

B Side Label

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

PW: burningtheground

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.