Author: DjPaulT

August 10, 2023

Sinitta – So Macho! (UK 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1985

BTG BARBIE Rewind: Bubblegum Pop Inspired by BARBIE!

“So Macho” is a song by American-British singer Sinitta. The song was released in 1985 as her self-titled début album’s second single.

Sinitta was both Simon Cowell’s and Fanfare Records’ first signing. Cowell had contacted record producer and songwriter George Hargreaves, who in turn provided the song “So Macho”. Armed with a highly infectious pop record, Sinitta looked poised for success; however, Iain Burton changed his mind and called Cowell to advise he was pulling the plug on Fanfare Records. Convinced “So Macho” was destined to be a hit, Cowell persuaded Burton to give him £5,000 to release the record.

The single was first released in late July 1985 and, like Sinitta’s début single “Cruising”, it quickly gained popularity in the gay clubs and on the Hi-NRG dance scene. Although the single failed to chart, it continued to sell throughout the summer, including 15,000 copies on import. The song’s popularity led Cowell to make the decision to delete the single at the end of October 1985 to let demand build up again. As Christmas approached, the song found renewed popularity in straight clubs and discos. The single was re-released as a double A-side with “Cruising” on 17 February 1986.

The record’s sleeve was changed from an image of Sinitta to a cartoon macho man, in an effort to make clear to radio programers that it was a pop record, and not R&B or soul. The re-release was not an immediate success as it remained in the lower reaches of the charts. It was not until four months later that the single started gaining airplay and entered the top 40, upon which it quickly rose to number two in the UK Singles Chart.

The song’s belated video was recorded for £500 in a London flat belonging to one of Cowell’s friends, in the hope of gaining TV exposure. Sinitta supplied her own wardrobe, and there was no budget for hair or makeup.

It was certified gold by the BPI, and has sold 585,000 copies. Iain Burton’s initial £5,000 investment became a profit of £1,000,000 and paved the way for Fanfare’s future.

SIDE A:
So Macho! (Extended Dance Mix) 6:36

SIDE AA:
Cruising (Remix) 7:31
Engineer –Richard Bull
Remix – Tony Atkins

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Fanfare Records – 12 FAN 7
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single, Stereo, White Logo
Country: UK
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hi NRG, Synth-pop

CREDITS:

Hair [Sinitta’s Hair By] – Madeline (10)
Photography By – Leo Lyons (2)
Producer – G. Hargreaves and Mick Parker*
Sleeve [Design] – Snap (11)
Written-By – J.G. Hargreaves

NOTES:
Engineered at Village Recorders, London

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.

August 9, 2023

Debbie Gibson – Super-Mix Club (Japan Mini-LP)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1988

BTG BARBIE Rewind: Bubblegum Pop Inspired by BARBIE!

“Super-Mix Club” is a Japan-only Mini-LP released by American female singer, songwriter, producer and actress Debbie Gibson featuring remixes from her debut album “Out Of The Blue”.

A child prodigy, she started writing songs when she was 5 years old and learned record production at the age of 12. She studied classical piano at New York’s Juliard School of Music and has appeared in several Broadway stage productions, most notably, “Les Miserables” and in the London theatre production of “Grease”.

Gibson released her debut album Out of the Blue in 1987, which spawned several international hits, later being certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. One of those singles, “Foolish Beat”, made Gibson the youngest female artist to write, produce, and perform a Billboard Hot 100 number-one single.

Gibson is the sole songwriter on all of her singles to reach the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. She was recognized by ASCAP as Songwriter of the Year, along with Bruce Springsteen, in 1989.

After years of writing and producing her own material, a demonstration tape of Gibson’s submitted to a radio personality was eventually shared with an executive at Atlantic Records. Based solely on Gibson’s original song, “Only in My Dreams”, she was signed to a development deal and began a promotional tour of club venues throughout the United States.

Gibson spent much of 1986 and the beginning of 1987 building her songwriting catalog, while continuing to play club dates. During her promotional tour, Gibson continued attending classes at Calhoun High School in Merrick, New York, where she later graduated as an honor student. Diane Gibson, Debbie’s mother and manager, accompanied her daughter on many of these track dates. “We played dance clubs, straight clubs, and gay clubs,” Diane has said.

The single “Only in My Dreams” was released in December 1986 and landed in the Billboard Hot 100 chart beginning in May 1987, peaking at number four that September. Atlantic Records and Gibson worked to complete her first album as a result of the good showing by the single.

Following the success of “Only In My Dreams”, “Shake Your Love” was released as the follow-up single and reached the Billboard top five. The “Shake Your Love” video was choreographed by Paula Abdul and was the first time MTV had visited Gibson on a video shoot.

In 1987, while performing at nightclubs throughout the United States, Gibson recorded her debut album, Out of the Blue. Along with producer Fred Zarr, Gibson wrote, recorded, and produced it in four weeks. Four singles from the album reached the top five of the Hot 100 chart: “Only in My Dreams”, “Shake Your Love”, “Out of the Blue”, and the number-one hit “Foolish Beat”, followed by “Staying Together”, which performed more modestly, reaching number 22. “Foolish Beat” set a record, making Gibson at 16 the youngest artist to write, produce, and perform a Billboard number-one single, as cited in the 1988 Guinness Book of World Records. She remains the youngest female artist to have done so. Out of the Blue became a hit album, and she had success in the UK and southeast Asia, filling stadiums with her Out of the Blue tour. By the end of 1988, Out of the Blue had gone triple platinum.

SIDE A:
Shake Your Love (Club Mix) 5:54
Out Of The Blue (Drumapaella) 4:05
Only In My Dreams (Club Mix) 6:32

SIDE B:
Foolish Beat (Extended Mix) 6:44
Out Of The Blue (Club Mix) 5:52
Shake Your Love (Bassa Pella) 3:33

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
OBI Strip: Near Mint
Insert: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Atlantic – P-6269
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Mini-Album
Country: Japan
Released: Jun 25, 1988
Genre: Electronic
Style: Freestyle, Synth-pop

CREDITS:

Executive-Producer – Doug Broadhead*
Producer – Gibson*, Zarr*
Written-By – D. Gibson*

NOTES:
Includes insert with lyrics in English and Japanese.

Buy the Mini-LP at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

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.

August 8, 2023

Olivia Newton-John – Gimme Some Lovin’ (Disconet Edit) (US 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1979

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the passing of superstar, and icon Olivia Newton-John. Most of you that have been following me know that I am a massive ONJ fan so I wanted to do something special today.

In July of 1979, Disconet Remix Service released issue Volume 2 Number 11 which included a remix edit of one of the buried treasures from Olivia’s 1978 LP “Totally Hot” a cover version of Spencer Davis Group’s biggest U.S. hit, “Gimme Some Lovin’. Olivia did not release the song as a single however this would mark the first time Olivia appeared on any remix service. This edit along with many other early Disconet edits has been lost until now. The song was included as part of Olivia’s 1980 TV Special Hollywood Nights watch the video here.

The track was remixed and edited by American DJ and remixer Bobby “DJ” Guttadaro. A former professional pharmacist, “The man who’s got ears” – as he was called in the music industry – started DJing at Fire Island’s “The Ice Palace” in 1971 and, later, at Manhattan’s “Le Jardin” and “Infinity”, soon becoming one of the most renowned names in the ’70s disco scene.

Bobby DJ is unanimously regarded as an out-and-out pioneer in beat-mixing and disco remixing: No wonder he was a member of the original team of remixers of legendary subscription label Disconet Program Service, along with such other famed DJs as Savarese and Kevin Guilmet.

He was the first DJ to be presented with a Gold Disc – for his work on Love Unlimited Orchestra’s “Love’s Theme” – and, in 1976, he was also awarded – with Tom Savarese – the Billboard Magazine’s “National Disco DJ of the Year” prize.

Unfortunately, Bobby DJ passed away in New York in 1989 (reportedly of AIDS-related illness).

Please keep in mind that this edit was done with vinyl recordings and then re-recorded and transferred to vinyl for the Disconet release. I have done my best to meticulously clean and restore this track. I also made a custom front cover sleeve for this release. I hope you enjoy it.

SIDE A:
Gimme Some Lovin’ (Disconet Edit) 4:22

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label:Disconet Program Service – MWDN 211
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: Jul 1979
Genre: Electronic
Style: Disco

CREDITS:
DJ Mix – Dolly DJ Guttadaro*
Producer –John Farrar

NOTES:
Taken from Disconet Volume 2 Number 11

Includes Disconet Dj News Letter describing each side of the two record set.

Dolly DJ Guttadaro is an intentional “joke” misspelling for Bobby DJ Guttadaro, The newsletter jokingly reports “Dolly” to be Bobby’s lost twin sister.

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

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.

August 4, 2023

Toni Basil – Mickey (US 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1982

BTG BARBIE Rewind: Bubblegum Pop Inspired by BARBIE!

AN 80s AUDITORY ICON

NEW 2023 Transfer!
NEW Meticulous Audio Restoration!

Originally posted November 15, 2011

“Mickey” (originally titled as “Kitty”) is a song recorded by American singer and choreographer Toni Basil for her debut studio album, Word of Mouth (1981). It was first recorded by the pop group Racey. Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn wrote the song, while production was helmed by Greg Mathieson and Trevor Veitch. Basil’s version is new wave, featuring guitar, synthesizers and cheerleading chants. It garnered a mixed response from music critics, with some critics praising the radio-friendly nature of the song, while others described some of the lyrics as obscene.

The song was originally performed by British pop group Racey, with the title “Kitty”, and was included on their debut studio album Smash and Grab in 1979. The original Racey song did not include the “Oh Mickey, you’re so fine” chant, which Basil added.

For years, it was rumored that the name was changed to Mickey because Basil developed a crush on the Monkees’ drummer and lead vocalist Micky Dolenz, after meeting him on the set of their movie, Head, for which she was the choreographer. However, that claim has been denied by Basil, who has said that she “didn’t really know Micky at all”. In January 2020, Basil released a re-recording of the song as “Hey Mickey” to digital and streaming platforms.

On August 31, 2017, Basil filed a multi-claim lawsuit against Razor & Tie Direct, Forever 21, Disney, Viacom, VH1, and South Park. Basil alleged that the defendants had commercially used the song “Mickey” without a license and damaged her right of publicity, claiming excess of $25,000 in damages. Basil also filed a lawsuit against AMC on May 12, 2020, for the unauthorized use of “Mickey” in a trailer for Preacher. On August 27, 2020, a California state of appeals court affirmed dismissal of Basil’s case.

The music video was directed, produced and choreographed by Basil herself. The cheerleaders featured in the video were members of a championship squad from Carson High School in Carson, California. The cheerleading uniform Basil wore in the music video was the one she actually wore in high school. According to Basil, “They didn’t put anything in the budget, I did everything myself. And this is the actual cheer sweater from Las Vegas High.”

“Mickey” was Basil’s only U.S. Billboard Top 40 single.

SIDE A:
Mickey (Special Club Mix) 5:57

SIDE B:
Mickey (Spanish Version) 5:13

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Excellent

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1982	Mickey	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#1
1982	Mickey	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play	#3

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Chrysalis – CDS-2666
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1982
Genre: Rock
Style: New Wave, Pop Rock

CREDITS:

Photography By – Sherry Rayn Barnett
Producer – Greg Mathieson, Trevor Veitch
Written-By – Chapman*, Chinn*

NOTES:
Special version from the LP “WORD OF MOUTH”

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

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.