BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983

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“They Don’t Know” is a popular song, written and composed by singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl, the daughter of singer-songwriter Ewan MacColl. Ms. MacColl recorded it in 1979.

In 1983, Tracey Ullman, before she became better known in the United States as a comedy actress, included a version on her debut album, You Broke My Heart In Seventeen Places. This song was the album’s most successful single, charting in the top ten of various national charts. MacColl performed backing vocals on Ullman’s version and reprised her original “bay-ay-be-ee” in the middle of the song, which went to #2 in the U.K., #8 in the U.S., and became the theme song for the final three seasons of Ullman’s later television series Tracey Takes On.

It is sometimes erroneously reported that Ullman’s version of “They Don’t Know” simply uses the backing track from MacColl’s original single. In fact the two versions are noticeably different: Ullman’s version, which was produced by Peter Collins, is in a different key (C, as opposed to the original’s B), and it features a very slightly faster tempo, a somewhat different arrangement and a guitar solo that differs from the one played on MacColl’s version, which was produced by Liam Sternberg. The confusion may stem from the fact that Ullman did use a previously-existing MacColl backing track when recording her own version of MacColl’s “Terry” in 1984. (Both versions of “Terry” were co-produced by MacColl.)

The video for “They Don’t Know” featured a cameo from Paul McCartney; at the time Ullman was filming a minor role in McCartney’s film Give My Regards To Broad Street, which he had written directly for the screen.

The “Extended Version” of “They Don’t Know” is exclusive to this special 10″ pressing and does not appear on any other Tracey Ullman single.

SIDE A:
They Don’t Know (Extended Version) 5:03
Producer – Peter Collins
Written-By – K. MacColl*

SIDE B:
The B-Side 4:35
Written-By – K. Fuller*, T. Ullman*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Cover: Near Mint

CHARTS:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Stiff Records
Catalog#: S BUY 180
Format: Vinyl, 10″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

NOTES:
“Special 10″ Pressing”
“They Don’t Know” was originally recorded by Kirsty MacColl in 1979
“Extended Version” is exclusive to this release.

Find the 10″ on DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super 20
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 16bit 44kHz using Adobe batch processing
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi PNG format, resized to JPEG format for posting.

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 1982

REQUEST

“Breakaway” (spelled “Break-a-Way” on the original 45 RPM label, and spelled “Breakaway” on most subsequent releases and compilations) is a song written by Jackie DeShannon and Sharon Sheeley. It was originally recorded by Irma Thomas in 1964 and released as the B-Side of her biggest hit, the US #17 hit single “Wish Someone Would Care”.

The original version of “Breakaway” was never a hit — it did not make the Billboard Hot 100, nor the Bubbling Under charts, and the extensive chart archive at ARSA  does not record a single instance of any radio station anywhere in North America placing the track on its playlist. Nevertheless, “Breakaway” is today generally considered a better-remembered song than the A-Side of Thomas’ record , a situation that may be partly due to Tracey Ullman’s hit 1980s cover. It has become a staple in Thomas’ live performances and appears on several recent Irma Thomas and “New Orleans music” compilations.

“Breakaway” was Tracey Ullman’s 1983 debut single in the UK, and reached #4 in the UK charts. The track then appeared on Ullman’s album You Broke My Heart In 17 Places, which was released in 1984.

In North America, “Breakaway” was actually Ullman’s second single, being released after her hit “They Don’t Know”. It charted at a modest #70 in the US in 1984, although the video for Ullman’s version received significant play on the then-fledgling MTV and Canada’s MuchMusic. The “Well Extended And Remixed Version” was remixed by Phil Harding an English audio engineer, producer and remixer, best known for his extended collaboration with keyboardist and programmer Ian Curnow. The highlight of the duo’s career is their 1980s work for the highly successful record label PWL, and its creative core at the time: Stock Aitken Waterman productions.

SIDE A:
Breakaway (Well Extended And Remixed Version) 5:04
Remix – Phil Harding
Written-By – Jackie De Shannon*, Sharon Sheeley*

SIDE B:
Dancing In The Dark 2:54
Written-By – Collins*, Chapman*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Cover: Near Mint

CHARTS:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Stiff Records
Catalog#: SBUY 168
Format: Vinyl, 10″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1982
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Mastered By – Arun*
Producer – Peter Collins

NOTES:
Produced for Loose End Productions
Made In England

Find the 10″ on DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super 20
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 16bit 44kHz using Adobe batch processing
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi PNG format, resized to JPEG format for posting.

PW: burningtheground

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