BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984
“Beat Box” is a song by the British group Art of Noise. Originally appearing as the second track on the 12″ EP Into Battle with the Art of Noise, it was released as the group’s first single in December 1983.
“Beat Box” is an instrumental, experimental piece that implements sounds and noises (such as car key ignitions, falling drain water, and calliope music — most notably on the chorus) to ride the rhythm of the beat (a sample of drums played by Alan White).
As a single, the song reached the lower regions of the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at no. 92. It was more popular with dance music and (particularly) hip hop audiences, and in February 1984 the song reached no. 1 on the American dance chart, where it remained for two weeks. “Beat Box” was a hit on the Black Singles chart, where it reached no. 10. The US 7″ single spent 5 weeks on the Billboard Bubbling Under chart, starting 7 April 1984 and spending two weeks at no. 101, the chart’s top position.
After the original “Beat Box” grew popular, The Art Of Noise decided to expand on the tune by adding on more instruments and sounds, giving the song a completely different outlook and practically drowning out the hip hop element that now only remained in the drum beat itself. Two remix cuts resulted from this session and were initially released on 12″ single in 1984 and referred to as “Diversion One” and “Diversion Two”.
SIDE A:
Beat Box (Diversion One) 8:32
SIDE B:
Beat Box (Diversion Two) 6:04
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Beat Box | U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 | #101 |
| 1984 | Beat Box | U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles | #10 |
| 1984 | Beat Box | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #1 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: ZTT – ZTIS 108
Series: Incidental Series – 9
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 26 Mar 1984
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hip-Hop, Synth-pop
CREDITS:
Design [Sleeve] – XLZTT
Producer – Art Of Noise*
Written-By – Dudley*, Langan*, Jeczalik*, Morley*, Horn*
NOTES:
Made up in the capital – February 1984
Art of Noise belong to Zang Tuum Tumb Records at the ZTT Building, 8-10 Basing St. London W11
Diversions one and two become number nine in ZTT’s patient incidental series.
A version of Beatbox is available on ‘Into Battle’ ZTIS 100
“to the death for life”
Find the 12″ on DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: 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)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
hi jason im going to try to download this but the link is not availabe,i dont know if maybe can be a old post,could you ost a new link’ please i need this my dear friend
please paul
hi paul im going to try to download this but the link is not availabe,i dont know if maybe can be a old post,could you ost a new link’ please i need this my dear friend
Thank you very much Paul
Thanks for posting Paul!! So Diversion Two is basically the same as Close (To The Edit) or some derivation thereof ?
Yes. I once did a side-by-side comparison, playing a few seconds of one, pausing it and playing the same section of the next. “Close (to the Edit)” is almost the same, but has 20 seconds chopped out of the middle (so it really is an edit). The reverb is also different in a few places—nothing you’d ever notice if you weren’t doing the side-by-side comparison.
“Beat Box” changed my life at age 12, when they were playing the original 4:47 version on the local “soul” music station. My mind was officially blown and a collecting obsession started. This wasn’t just “synthesizer music” or “breakdance music”, it was a brilliant construction of seemingly random sounds arranged into some semblance of order and musicality, very much like the way disjointed memories and thoughts coalesce into one’s dreams (or waking life, at times). I spent years trying to find more music of this type before realizing that the reason it was so interesting was in fact because it… Read more »
Thanks for the rip, been a AON fan from the beginning. The 7″ Shep Pettibone radio remix of Beat Box is the track that turned the radio in the US upside down for a brief and wonderful moment back in ’83. So good, us yanks didn’t need to know who Paul Morley was to revel in it. Strangely, it’s never been included on any of their countless compilations and reissues. Would be amazing if you could work your magic and upload that promo single one day.
I see some real novelists commenting here, my English isn’t nowhere near as good, so I keep it simple. 1st time I heard AON stuff, it was like, WTF!!!!! WTF is this?????? Whoah! This is so cool! Who, where, why? Ah, who cares? I just want more of this madness! And we got it.
You have made my heart sing in a way it hasn’t sang in so long! I went on a mission to collect every variant of Beat Box/Close To The Edit a year or two ago only to find that Diversion 2, the first version of Edit, was never released digitally. I’ve had an okay vinyl rip of it that I’d EQ’d that sounded nice, but this blows it away! Thanks so much for sharing!
Art of Noise is always welcome.
Thanks as always for the rip, Paul.. 🙂
Amazing TRACK!!!!
Advanced for its time!!!!
I couldn’t wait to rush on home to hear this Paul! I’ve also enjoyed a lot of the comments too, especially Jermajesty’s! I was obsessed with them when they first came on the scene. “Beat Box” got played all the time on 92KTU, especially during the radio mega-mixes that the Latin Rascals put together. The song was so unlike anything I had ever heard at the time. The booming drums, the car engine, etc. were all so very unique and weird sounding. But the groove and beats were so funky. I could see why the hip hop community embraced this… Read more »
Here’s one for you…
Art of Noise or THE Art of Noise
(Aaah… to be in England in the summertime… oh, hang on… I am!)
Cheers Archiefax!
Man, to say I was completely obsessed with the Art of Noise is an understatement. For me they were the perfect group, so full of mystery and off-kilter creativity. They blew my young mind. Just the sleeves and Paul Morely’s weird texts were enough! When Casio released their budget sampling keyboard me and my mate would spend days trying to recreate Art of Noise tracks in our bedrooms! 😀 I loved that they were so *weird*, and had little chance of mainstream success, but that didn’t matter to them. Looking back I’ve just realised they were the first ‘alternative’ band… Read more »
I do not have that compilation Jermajesty but I will check it out. You have great taste. Thank you for sharing your memories with us 🙂
I agree with Jermajesty… I know CDs aren’t the done thing around here, but “What Have You Done With My Body, God?” is a fantastic collection of rarities in a beautiful book-bound presentation well deserving of such a ground-breaking act.
It was “Close to the Edit” on 7″ that drew me in first… swiftly followed by the “Close Up” 12″. It will always be the definitive Art of Noise track for me!
Jermajesty, your comment here said so much. I love when a person can so eloquently put a lot of my own thoughts into words. This was a fantastic musical entity who really inspired a lot of musicians.
Jeff
FANTASTIC PAUL…. VERY THANKS…
you’re welcome Cristiano 🙂
Thanks Paul. Let loose your Art Of Noise collection. Give us everything you have!. Paranoimia and Dragnet are my personal faves.
You’re welcome Omar 🙂
What a fantastic 12″ record! Looking forward to hearing it! Thank you 🙂
You’re welcome Woz 🙂
Oh, and I just saw that the drum sample was recorded by Alan White. Does that mean the genesis of this song was during Yes’ 90125 recording sessions? Very cool.
Think Jermajesty mentioned that question below Reed.
Diversion 2 is one of my favorite remixes of all time. 2 enthusiastic thumbs up for this post, Paul.
It is a great mix. You’re welcome Reed 🙂
No one had heard anything like this before. I first caught it on the Hip-Hop/R & B station in my town and I had to hear more. I played the first AON LP to death. I still love it today. It’s so confusing trying to track down and decipher all the subtle differences between the multitudinous ZTT releases, but oh man, is it fun! Thanks to you Paul.
P.S. Do you have the second version of this twelve?
Sorry Mothloop this is the only version I have 🙂
Nice how you often post rather ‘alternative’ 12 inches like this group. I do have diversion one on cd, and the Razormaid version but not Diversion 2. Thanks!
You’re welcome Martijn 🙂