Author: DjPaulT

March 13, 2014

Wham! – Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) (Netherlands 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982

Re-Rip Newly Remastered!

Originally I posted this one on May 24, 2011. But for those who may have missed it or if you are a new reader just discovering BTG. I decided to give this one a new rip with my newer Ortofon Super 30 stylus. This 12″ is also being posted in 24 bit flac for the very first time! The original 12″ that I posted in 2011 was the UK pressing at 45 RPM and did not have a picture sleeve. Since then I obtained the Netherlands pressing which is mastered at 33 ⅓ RPM and includes the original picture sleeve.

This is Wham!’s debut single in with its initial white cover featuring drawings of the bands heads. It features different mixes than the re-release and some lyrics of the “Social Mix” are quite different to other versions/mixes of the song.

“Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)”‘ is a 1982 song by British pop duo Wham! on Innervision Records. It was written by Wham! members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.

The song, which had been tentatively released in June 1982 when Wham! were unknowns and failed to make any impact, was re-issued in January 1983 after the duo had achieved their breakthrough with “Young Guns (Go For It!)”.

Although rap was still an underground and almost exclusively American phenomenon in the early 1980s, as the title implies, George rapped a number of verses about the joys of living every day to the fullest, which meant that being gainfully employed was not an option, and ‘having fun with the boys down the (welfare) line’. The chorus asked the question “Do you enjoy what you do?”, which brought about the bracketed section of the title. The video depicted George and Andrew Ridgeley in their leather jackets, combining their moody image with a bright, effervescent choreography.

Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) – the full version of which was almost seven minutes long – reached #8 in the UK singles chart, the second of four hits from Wham!’s debut album Fantastic. The duo would go on to enjoy four UK #1 hits before splitting at their height in 1986. On the flip side of their farewell single The Edge of Heaven was an updated version of the song, entitled Wham! Rap ’86.

The song was explicitly political and slightly revolutionary. It flew in the face of the conventional British Left-wing who were talking about the ‘Right to work’ at the time.

SIDE A:
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) (Unsocial Mix) 6:33

SIDE B:
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) (Social Mix) 6:42

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Cover: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1982	Wham Rap!	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	Did Not Chart
1982	Wham Rap!	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	Did Not Chart

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Epic ‎– EPCA 12-2442, Inner Vision ‎– A 12.2442
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: Netherlands
Released: 1982
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop, Pop
Style: Pop Rap, Synth-pop
Credits:Design – XL Design
Producer – Bob Carter
Ridgeley*, Panos (2)

NOTES:
Rear cover lists tracks as:
A. Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do) Special US 12″ Remix
B. Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do)

Label lists Side A as the “Social Mix” but plays the “Unsocial Mix” and vice versa.

Printed in Holland.

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Speed Control: Pro-Ject Speed Box S
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 Removeal: ClickRepair (DeClick Level 3)
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

March 12, 2014

Regina – Track You Down (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1990

“Track You Down” is a 1990 single by American dance music singer Regina Richards better known by her stage name Regina. She is best known for her hit “Baby Love,” which reached Number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986. Released only in the US on 12″ vinyl “Track You Down” is Regina’s last single to date. Written by Regina, “Track You Down” failed to have any chart success.

Both track on this 12″ were intended to be on Regina’s second album “Best Kept Secret” but the the album was never released.

SIDE A:
Track You Down (Radio Edit) 3:52
Track You Down (Extended Mix) 4:27

SIDE B:
I Need Your Love (Radio Edit) 3:39

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint (generic)

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Centurion Records (3) ‎– CR-1001
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Misprint
Country: US
Released: 1990
Genre: Electronic
Style: Freestyle
Credits: Engineer – Marcelo Gandola
Executive Producer – Douglas Breitbart
Mixed By – Marcelo Gandola, Tony Coluccio
Producer – Jeff Mann, Marco Olivo
Programmed By, Arranged By – Tony Coluccio
Written-By – Regina Richards*

NOTES:
From the fortcoming album “BEST KEPT SECRET”
Track A2 is incorrectly printed as 6:07 it is actually a 4:27 mix. Side B duration is actually 3:39.

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

March 11, 2014

Falco – Rock Me Amadeus (US 7″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1985

“Rock Me Amadeus” is a 1985 song by Austrian pop musician Falco from his album Falco 3. It topped the singles charts on both sides of the Atlantic. It was Falco’s only number one hit in both the United States and the United Kingdom, despite his popularity in Germany, his native Austria, and much of Europe. The song was written by Falco and Dutch music producers Bolland & Bolland.

The song is about the classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Mozart was a child prodigy who performed his first musical tour at the age of five. His last three years were his most successful and he had an extremely excessive lifestyle. The basic concept is the suggestion that Mozart was the rock’n’roll rebel of his day. Some of the lyrics in “Rock Me Amadeus” reflect this. Here’s an English translation:

He was the first punk ever to set foot on this earth.
He was a genius from the day of his birth.
He could play the piano like a ring and a bell
And everybody screamed: Come on, rock me Amadeus
With a bottle of wine in one hand and a woman in the other
His mind was on rock and roll and having fun
Because he lived so fast he had to die so young
But he made his mark in history
Still everybody says: Rock me Amadeus

SIDE A:
Rock Me Amadeus (The American Edit) 3:10
Edited By – Boris Granaich*, Christer Modig

SIDE B:
Rock Me Amadeus (Canadian Version) 4:02

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint (company sleeve)

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1986	Rock Me Amadeus	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#1
1986	Rock Me Amadeus	U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles	#6
1986	Rock Me Amadeus	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	#4

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: A&M Records ‎– AM-2821
Format: Vinyl, 7″, Single, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Electro, Synth-pop
Credits: Directed By – Falco
Producer, Arranged By – Rob And Ferdi Bolland*
Written-By – R. & F. Bolland*, Falco

NOTES:
Issued in a die-cut A&M company sleeve.
Original version appears on the A&M album “FALCO 3”

Find The 7″ On DISCOGS

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

March 10, 2014

Kraftwerk – Tour De France (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983

“Tour De France” is a song by Kraftwerk. It was first issued in June 1983, peaking at number 22 in the UK singles chart. It is notable for the use of sampled voices and mechanical sounds associated with cycling that were used to supplement a simple electro-percussion pattern – an approach Kraftwerk have used on earlier tracks such as “Metal on Metal” (from Trans-Europe Express) and “Numbers” (from Computer World). The music is credited to Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider and Karl Bartos; the lyrics are credited to Ralf Hütter and Maxime Schmitt, a French label associate of the band. The melody appears to quote a fragment of the opening section of Paul Hindemith’s “Sonata for Flute and Piano” (“Heiter Bewegt”).

For Kraftwerk, Tour De France was a departure from the technological tone of the two previous albums, The Man-Machine and Computer World. Instead, the song is a joie de vivre celebration of cycling, marking the group’s increasing interest in the sport. Of the current line-up, Ralf Hütter and Fritz Hilpert have been known to take part in cycling events.

The track was originally recorded with the intention of being included on the subsequently abandoned Techno Pop album. The single was originally released on seven and twelve inch vinyl, and as a cassette-single. It has the most complicated set of variants of any Kraftwerk song, having been variously edited and remixed to the point that there is no completely definitive version.

The sleeve design depicted the band on road bikes in a paceline, superimposed across an angled representation of the French national flag. The design was adapted from an image that had appeared on a 1953 Hungarian postage stamp, one of a sport-themed set commemorating the opening the Népstadion (People’s Stadium) in Budapest.

The piece was also included in the 1984 film Breakin’, also known as Breakdance internationally. Although the song did appear briefly in the film, Kraftwerk did not let the song appear on the movie soundtrack; instead, a cover version of the song was released by a group called “10 Speed”.

SIDE A:
Tour De France (French Version) 6:45

SIDE B:
Tour De France (Remix) 6:47
Engineer – Larry Alexander
Mixed By – François Kevorkian, Kraftwerk
Remix – François Kevorkian

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1983	Tour De France	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play	#4

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Warner Bros. Records ‎– 0-20146, Warner Bros. Records ‎– 20146-0 A
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic
Style: Electro, Synth-pop
Credits: Lyrics By – Schmitt*, Hutter*
Music By – Schneider*, Bartos*, Hutter*
Producer – Kraftwerk

NOTES:
Made in U.S.A.

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi