BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986
“Rage Hard” is the fifth single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was released in August 1986.
Having topped the charts around the world with Welcome to the Pleasuredome and its accompanying singles, Frankie Goes to Hollywood took off to Amsterdam to record the follow-up album, Liverpool. Taking on a rockier edge, “Rage Hard” was the first single culled from the disc.
The single’s title came from the Dylan Thomas poem “Do not go gentle into that good night”.
Of note, “Rage Hard” was a testament to the changing musical landscape in Britain at the time. It was not only the first Frankie single to be featured on CD single, it was also the first single to not feature a cassette release – new rules limited the number items that could count toward the official charts, following the earlier ZTT excesses.
“Rage Hard” eventually hit Number 4 in the UK singles charts and Number 1 in Germany (for two weeks), #5 in Switzerland, #7 in the Netherlands, #12 in Austria, #19 in Sweden and #32 in France.
This rare US 12″ promo contains remixes by Freddie Bastone. The two remixes on the b-side are promo only and are exclusive to this single.
SIDE A:
Rage Hard (Vocal Remix) 7:00
SIDE B:
Rage Hard (Remix Edit / Vocal) 4:03
Rage Hard (Remix Dub / Instrumental) 5:05
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
CHARTS:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Rage Hard | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | #42 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Island Records – DMD 987
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Promo, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Executive-producer – Trevor Horn
Producer – Stephen Lipson
Remix – Freddy Bastone
Written-By – B. Nash*, H. Johnson*, M. O’Toole*, P. Gill*
NOTES:
Promotional Copy
Not For Sale
Remixed from the Island LP 90546 “Liverpool”
Side B: These mixes are exclusive to this rare promo 12″
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
Thanks Paul. I hadn’t heard these mixes before.
Little late to the party on this, but serious thanks for posting this.
I *USED* to have this 12-inch single, but sold it with a bunch of other vinyl back in the late-90’s when money was tight…. probably only got a $1.00 bill for it
>:(
Now I can listen to it again, my thanks to you!
I have a deeply embarrassing photo of my 15 year old self on a school trip to France. Bright yellow chinos, HUGE hair and my pride and joy. A Frankie Goes To Hollywood “Fist” T-Shirt. Full colour on white.
Still love Frankie but if truth be told I’m a Trevor Horn fan. Any thing else by the production maestro you may have lurking in the vaults Paul would be amazing.
In the meantime thanks for posting this lost gem!
Nice post man 🙂
Thanks Tony 🙂
RELAX
WOW I’m a huge Frankie fan and this is very much appreciated, thank you very much, hope theres more FGTH on the way, thanks for all the hard work you put into this site
You’re welcome Clive I will try to post more in the future 🙂
To further extend the inspiration of the poem, the song is an incantation against death and lethargy, and is supposed to encourage a lot of creative idealism in the listener and also to rage against recession (the last still very relevant in these current lousy economic times).
Sadly, this sophomore album didn’t quite match the brilliance or success of the first. But at least they improved on the album title to “Liverpool”. The original title was supposedly “Cathy Curse And The Livid Dick”!!!
Thanks for the Bastone Mixes, Paul!
You’re wlcome Ric. Thank goodness they didn’t go with the original album title.
There’s probably 10 remixes for this single. Paul do you have all of them ?
Hi Omar no this is the only one i ever bought but I hope to get more someday.
Great rarity, Paul! I’m still partial to the Young Person’s Guide To The 12″ remix, but I still give this on 5 stars.
Thank you Christian I’m glad you are enjoying it. There are so many mixes to this song it’s hard to keep track of them 🙂
The “Young Person Guide Into The 12inch Mix is only a edit. Theright Version is called “Slam Bam” containes at Rage Hard +
http://www.discogs.com/Frankie-Goes-To-Hollywood-Rage-Hard-/release/116493
Yup, we are talking about the same thing. I have both the full 12 minute version and the 10 minute edit.
Such a rarity! Huge thanks for posting it!
🙂
You’re welcome David Lynch 🙂
This is very special. Thank you! :)))
You’re welcome Publicimage 🙂
Ooh what a treat Paul!
Can I share with you possibly my greatest thrift store find of all time. I found this one Thursday in my local shop last year, £2.50 (about $4) and it fits me *PERFECTLY*. I really thought I was dreaming, and still can’t believe my luck.
http://i50.tinypic.com/15mh9ts.jpg
I’ll put it on in a min and dance round the kitchen to your twelve inch.
Thanks!
You’re welcome Jermajesty. Very cool shirt thanks for sharing 🙂
Jealous of the shirt.
Nice post! Curious to discover the B-side.
A small correction: FGTH took off to Hilversum and not Amsterdam (somewhat 35 km south east). The lads recorded their second album at the famous Wisseloord Studios.
Thanks for the info Stefano. I guess you can’t always trust Wikipedia 🙂