BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984
“Hot Line to Heaven” is a song co-written and performed by English girl group Bananarama. The song appears on their second, self-titled album and was released as a single in the UK in 1984.
In its album version, “Hot Line to Heaven” is a seven-plus-minutes mid-tempo pop song. It was edited to about three-and-a-half minutes for its single release. After Bananarama recorded the soundtrack song “The Wild Life” (from the film of the same name), the edited version of “Hot Line to Heaven” was pressed onto the Bananarama album in order to make room for the late-addition of “The Wild Life”. This was only a temporary pressing, however, as Bananarama’s track listing was restored several months later, with the full version of “Hot Line to Heaven” intact.
The single did not perform well on the charts and was not released anywhere but in the UK. As was the case with the Bananarama album, the dark lyrical content did not meet with mainstream acceptance and became the group’s lowest charting UK single since their debut “Aie a Mwana”.
The B-Side track “State I’m In” is actually an extended version of the song. The album version only clocks in at 2:47 making this 12″ a true gem.
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Cover: Near Mint
SIDE A:
Hot Line To Heaven 7:09
SIDE B:
State I’m In (Extended Version) 4:38
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: London Records
Catalog#: NANX 8
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single
Country: UK
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Artwork By [Sleeve Design, Collage] – Laurence Stevens
Photography [Back] – Steve Rapport
Photography [Front] – Norman Seef
Producer, Arranged By – Steve Jolley & Tony Swain
Written-By – Woodward* , Dallin* , Fahey* , Steve Jolley & Tony Swain
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 20
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
hey! any chance of reuploading the first few bananarama posts that have expired links? i’d really appreciate it! thanks 🙂
Thanks so much for a great posting. This song is a pure gem and the video is amazing. I have the above requested I Can’t Help It and Scarlett on my blog but not the quality you will find here. http://bananaramaandthatsnotall.blogspot.com/
More Bananaramna please Paul 🙂
Absolutely fantastic single, Bananarama’s are awesome, and still giving us music. Thanks for posting
Paul, thank you for the Nana’s. Love them always…Paul do you have Scarlett & Black’s You Don’t Know (Phil Harding Mix) which was only available on UK 12″ vinyl?
Keep up the good work and Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Great post, Paul! Love the Nanas, and this is definitely a gem of a 12 inch 🙂
Their new 2010 Xmas single, “Baby It’s Christmas”, is a dance floor burner. Check it out if you haven’t already.
Thanks for posting Paul
thanks for the track, and the info–have noticed that some copies of the album don’t feature “the wild life,” never knew why until now. and such a great track, these 3 are totally underrated as songwriters. thanks again!
This is great Paul. More Bananarama stuff please. Do u have I Can’t Help It (Hammond Excursion Mix) ?
Thanxxx !
CLASSIC single! Always loved it. But you forgot to point out one important thing about this one – the version of State I’m In that’s on the B-side is actually and extended version. The album version is only 2:47! And extra bonus for an already excellent single! As always, thanks much for all your hard work!
TimX thank you for pointing this out to me. I have corrected the post