BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1987

“A Hazy Shade of Winter” is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel,originally released on October 22, 1966.

In 1987, The Bangles recorded a cover version of the song for the Less Than Zero soundtrack; that version peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Their cover, simply titled “Hazy Shade of Winter,” was a harder-edged rock song that removed most of the bridge section. The record, like the rest of the soundtrack album, was produced by Rick Rubin. After a fruitful but disappointing experience with the producer of their Different Light album, David Kahne, where they were given little input in the production of the songs, the group decided to take more control for the recording of this song, and they were given an additional producer credit. Michael Steele later commented that “we sounded the most on this record the way we actually sound live”, and that “If we hadn’t been so messed up as a band, it could have been a turning point for us.”

Lead vocals were performed jointly by all four members of the group, with a short solo led by Susanna Hoffs towards the end of the song. This was a rare occurrence in the Bangles songs, as they mostly had just one member singing lead on their songs. Due to pressure from their record label, The Bangles removed the verse from the original song that contained the line “drinking my vodka and lime.” According to liner notes on the Soundtrack album, Steve Bartek from the band Oingo Boingo played guitar on the track.

When released as a single in November 1987, “Hazy Shade of Winter” became a huge hit, surpassing the popularity of the original version, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, only behind “Could’ve Been” by Tiffany, and also #11 in the UK. It was also a hit around Europe.

The music video for the song featured the band singing in a studio surrounded by television screens on the walls, similar to a scene of the Less Than Zero film. Scenes of the film also appear throughout the video.

“Hazy Shade of Winter” was not included on any of the band’s studio albums, but was later included on the band’s first official Greatest Hits in 1990, and on many of the band’s subsequent compilations. The accompanying Greatest Hits video compilation did not feature the “Hazy Shade of Winter” video, due to complications with the licensing of the movie rights of the Less Than Zero scenes that appear on the video clip.

The Bangles version was commonly used as bumper music for late night radio talk show Coast to Coast AM hosted by Art Bell in the mid to late 1990s.

SIDE A:
Hazy Shade Of Winter (Purple Haze Mix) 5:01
Remix – Keith Cohen, Steve Beltran

Hazy Shade Of Winter (7″ Dub Mix) 2:15
Remix – Keith Cohen, Steve Beltran

SIDE B:
Hazy Shade Of Winter (7″ Version) 2:46
Remix, Producer [Additional] – Bangles, Bill Drescher, David White

Hazy Shade Of Winter (Shady Haze Version) 2:46
Remix, Producer [Additional] – Bangles, Bill Drescher, David White

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Def Jam Recordings ‎– 44 07540
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Single
Country: US
Released: 1987
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Rock & Roll

CREDITS:
Photography [Bangles] – Sheila Rock
Producer – Rick Rubin
Written-By – P. Simon*

NOTES:
Taken from the soundtrack to “Less Than Zero”.
Track B2 (“Shady Haze” version) is same as B1 version, except backwards.
Mastered at Precision.

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