Tag: 12″

Paul Lekakis – Boom Boom (Let’s Go Back To My Room) (Champion Remix) (UK 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1987

NEW 2023 Transfer
NEW Meticulous Audio Restoration

Originally posted July 13, 2015

A pretty face won’t get you everywhere… but it got you pretty damn far in the ’80s.

And it certainly helped gay musician Paul Lekakis, who went from upstate New York waiter, to model and professional party boy in Milan, to international pop star in 1987 with a little bop called “Boom Boom (Let’s Go Back to My Room.)”

The song will certainly resonate with those who survived its ’80s dance-floor domination… and anyone who’s attended a Pride party in the past five years.

Lekakis, who is HIV-positive, appeared on the cover of Poz magazine. In the article, he recalls major record labels wanting to market him as a teen idol in the 1980s, which did not interest the already out young singer.

“Boom Boom (Let’s Go Back to My Room)” is the debut single by American singer and model Paul Lekakis.

Originally released in 1987 on ZYX Records, then picked up by Polydor Records for a wider release, the song peaked at #43 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. and at #60 on the UK Singles Chart in England. It fared better in other parts of the world, where the song spent five weeks at #1 on the ARIA Charts in Australia, from April 13 through May 11 of 1987. It also topped music charts in Japan and South Africa and peaked at #2 in Canada. The song is noteworthy because it is a well-known 1980s dance club track that nonetheless failed to appear on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart upon its initial release. Subsequent remixes have appeared on that chart, however, as well as some of Lekakis’ other dance recordings. The song was popular in the LGBT community and helped to establish his career, both as a singer and as an actor.

Several remixes were commissioned for the track including the rare UK-only Champion Remix by mixmaster Phil Harding of PWL released on Champion Records a London-based major long-running soul, dance, and house music label.

SIDE A:
Boom Boom (Let’s Go Back To My Room) (A Phil Harding Remix) 6:40

SIDE B:
Boom Boom (Let’s Go Back To My Room) (A Phil Harding Dub Remix) 5:44

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1987 Boom Boom (Let’s Go Back To My Room) U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #43

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Champion – CHAMPX 12-43
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1987
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hi-NRG

CREDITS:

NOTES:
Tracks are listed incorrectly on the back cover.

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus:  Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp:
Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
DAC:
Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning
: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans
: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!


Password: burningtheground

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



Modern Rocketry – Homosexuality (Germany 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1985

TOTALLY OBSCURE 80S!

Modern Rocketry was a hi-NRG disco band featuring Ken Kessie, active from 1983 to 1988. They’re not very well known – in fact, they’re downright obscure – but what little fame they enjoyed was probably due to their 1985 release, best described as the gayest disco song ever. Homosexuality, with its b-side of ‘Thank God For Men’, followed in the well-trodden footsteps of Patrick Cowley’s Menergy and Boystown Gang’s ‘Cruising In The Streets’ with massive gay audience appeal. A hit in gay clubland.

Other notable songs include ‘(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone’ and ‘Deeper N Deeper’, none of which, it has to be said, has quite the show-stopping charm of a song whose main chorus is ‘Homosexuality… Yes sir! Do you wanna get next to me?’. Oh, and the Pet Shop Boys did a live cover of it at a pride event in 1992.

Check out the music video here

SIDE A:
Homosexuality 5:59

SIDE B:
Thank God For Men 5:37

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label:ZYX Records – ZYX 5311, ZYX Records – ZYX REC 5311
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Germany
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hi NRG

CREDITS:

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus:  Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp:
Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
DAC:
Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning
: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans
: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!

Password: burningtheground

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



Kim Wilde – You Keep Me Hangin’ On (US 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1987

NEW 203 Transfer
NEW Meticulous Audio Restoration

Originally posted December 15, 2016

During the week of June 6, 1987, Kim Wilde ruled the dance floor in clubs across America with her chart-topping cover of the Supremes classic “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” which has since become a gay club classic and should be on every Pride playlist.

“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” is a song written and composed by Holland–Dozier–Holland. It was first recorded in 1966 by the American Motown girl group the Supremes.

“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” was covered in an updated version by English singer Kim Wilde in 1986. Wilde’s version was a total re-working of the original, completely transforming the Supremes’ Motown Sound into a hi-NRG song.

It was released as the second single from Wilde’s fifth studio album, Another Step (although “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” was the LP’s first worldwide single, as the first single had been released only in selected countries). The song reached number two in Wilde’s native United Kingdom and number one in Australia. It also became Wilde’s second and last top-40 entry in the United States following “Kids in America” (1981), as well as her most successful song in that country to date, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in June 1987. It later ranked as the 34th best-selling song of 1987 on Billboard’s Hot 100 year-end chart that year. “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for UK sales in excess of 250,000 copies.

SIDE A:
You Keep Me Hangin’ On (Extended Mix) 9:02
Remix – Ian Levine

SIDE B:
Loving You 4:52
Written-By – Kim Wilde, Ricki Wilde*

You Keep Me Hangin’ On (7″ Edit) 4:11

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1987 You Keep Me Hangin’ On U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #1
1987 You Keep Me Hangin’ On U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary #30
1987 You Keep Me Hangin’ On U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play #6

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: MCA Records ‎– MCA-23717
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1987
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hi NRG, Synth-pop

CREDITS:

NOTES:
Original version available on the MCA album “ANOTHER STEP”.

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus:  Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp:
Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
DAC:
Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning
: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans
: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!


Password: burningtheground

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



Corey Hart – Never Surrender (Canada 12″ Promo)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1985

This song has always been special to me growing up in a conservative state and coming out to my parents at age sixteen who did not take the news well I found myself on my own trying to find my way in a sometimes cruel world. “Never Surrender” and its lyrics “Just a little more time is all we’re asking for ‘Cause just a little more time could open closing doors” spoke to me as a gay teen coming to terms with my sexuality. “Never Surrender” is an anthem of empowerment and hope.

Corey Hart has since become an LGBTQ+ ally performing at various Pride events.

“Never Surrender” is a song by Canadian singer Corey Hart. It was released in June 1985 as the first single from his second studio album, Boy in the Box. The song was number one for four weeks in Canada and was Hart’s highest charting single in the United States, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100 (topping the sales-only chart for one week) in August 1985.

The song won a Juno Award in 1985 for the “Single of the Year”, and was certified Platinum in Canada for sales of over 100,000 copies in 1985.

In 2019, Hart released an updated version of the song on his EP Dreaming Time Again, performed as a slow piano ballad with a new “angels lead you home” coda. He released the new version as a single in 2020, highlighting its message of hope and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the lyrical content, Hart said, “My mother influenced me with this ethic of never quitting on yourself or your dreams no matter how challenging or daunting. I also greatly admired Sir Winston Churchill, reading many biographies of his life. He used this expression ‘Never Surrender’ during the dark days of the Nazi attacks on Great Britain as a motivating inspiration for his countrymen.”

AllMusic has since called “Never Surrender”: “a soaring power ballad of empowerment, giving this album (Boy in the Box) a greater musical and emotional range than his (Hart’s) debut.”[4] Regarding the song becoming another US hit single Hart said “I really think it’s difficult breaking into America regardless of where you’re from. I don’t think it’s any more difficult for a Canadian act than for a band from Oklahoma”.

The music video features a storyline of Hart leaving his home after an argument with his father and hitchhiking his way to a major city where he finds himself alone and ends with a ‘live’ performance with his band. Portions of the video were filmed on Yonge Street, Spadina Avenue, and Queen Street West in downtown Toronto, including the now-defunct Crest Grill. The video’s director, Rob Quartly, had worked with Hart on three previous music videos and Quartly was again nominated for a Juno Award for his work on this video.

SIDE A:
Never Surrender (Album Version) 4:53

SIDE B:
Never Surrender (Edited Version) 4:25

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1985 Never Surrender U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #3
1985 Never Surrender U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks #8
1985 Never Surrender U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary #8

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Aquarius Records (3) – SPRO 601
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Single, Promo, Stereo
Country: Canada
Released: June 8, 1985
Genre: Pop
Style: Synthpop

CREDITS:

NOTES:
From the LP “BOY IN THE BOX”

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus:  Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp:
Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
DAC:
Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning
: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans
: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!


Password: burningtheground

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