BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983
REQUEST
“What You Say” is a single by British synth-pop duo Birch And Hallam consisting of David Birch & Nick Hallam. The duo only released two singles without any success. Nick Hallam later went on to form Stereo MCs and scored the hit “Connected” in 1992. David Birch went on to work with Thomas Dolby, Malcolm McLaren and Bruce Woolley And The Camera Club in 1983 playing guitar and contributing vocals.
This is one of those really great lost 12s that I hope many of you will come to like. Open your mind and give this one a listen.
SIDE A:
What You Say (Extended Version) 6:48
SIDE B:
What You Say 3:20
Over Me 3:05
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: A&M Records – AMX 119
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic
Style: New Wave, Synth-pop
CREDITS:
Backing Vocals – Days At Sea
Bass Guitar – Matthew Seligman
Percussion – Geoff Dugmore
Producer – Richard Manwaring
Written-By, Performer – David Birch*, Nick Hallam
Fibd 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
I also sent an email to Cherry Pop and Blanc & Jones with same request but it is difficult to assess if it gets to them personally and thus if they read it.
Hello DJPaulT, I contacted Ben Liebrand on his site and told him about this wonderful track. I mailed him in Dutch so it won’t work to paste my mail here. But a brief summary then.. I gave him a youtube link that I uploaded some years ago to get an impression of the track and I uploaded your FLAC file as a master to his site – masters he chooses and re-remasters for his Grand 12 Inches series. Of course I gave him the link to this site and I told him if he would be interested he should contact… Read more »
Thank you Martijn. Maybe he will be impressed enough to contact me.I have already posted the Alison Moyet 12″ and have both Seona Dancing singles just have not gotten to them yet. Strange Advance I do not have but it’s in my list to buy.
Wow somehow I missed Alison Moyet – I must have been on holiday. I downloaded them now, thanks again!!! Will you also re upload the older uploads that have dead multiupload links? I look forward to future posts, of course. BAD NEWS FROM BEN LIEBRAND – he just emailed me and told me this track was not his style – he did not like the manual drum which to him was out of sync with the drum computer. He is not so much into ‘alternative’, although I think records that are posted here enrich any 12 inch collection where usually… Read more »
Thanks Martijn for doing all you can to get Paul’s name out there and his fantastic work. It’s a shame about Mr. Liebrand, but he has a right to his opinion and I do love his Grand 12-Inches compilations. At least you got DjPaulT’s name out there to him and Paul has worked his magic on many records that do fit into Ben’s chosen musical genres. I so want Paul to, not just get acknowledgement for his hard and stupendous work, but maybe doors will open for him to have a career in the remastering business. I will always hope,… Read more »
Good weekend to you too! Ben Liebrand also told me some reasons, apart from taste, why he has never really been into ‘alternative’ 80s stuff. In his opinion alternative songs often flirt with disco but pretend to have a different style and he likes the ‘real’ thing. Some of the places were he played in the 80s that were more alternative irritated him, since he had the feeling these people actually loved disco but did not want to admit it to themselves, so they only ‘dared’ to dance a little on alternative records of groups that were equally ‘hypocrite’ in… Read more »
Seona Dancing’s “More to Lose [Extended Mix]” is in master tape quality on both “Retro:Active 5” and “so8os 9”. I own both of these releases, and they are not vinyl transfers.
Strange Advance’s “We Run [Extended Single Mix]” appeared on 2003’s “Classic Alternatives” 6-CD box set, released by SPG in Canada. This release has long been out of print, but I managed to snatch a copy upon its original release. I can confirm that it is in master tape quality on this release. It needs to be re-released, regardless.
Thank you for the fantastic post, Paul!
Hello, I know the cd’s you are talking about and I have digital copies of these. The sound seems indeed good to me, but then again I am no sound specialist. I do know there are a lot of 80s compilations out there that use vinyl rips while is it not mentioned on the cd like Ben Liebrand does (in exceptions, he mostly uses cd).
How can you be sure S080s, and Retro Active, and Classic Alternative series really used masters?
I cannot know for sure that the aforementioned tracks really used original masters. I am going by the liner notes of the “Retro:Active” series, which states that “any audio imperfections are due to original source masters”. I would hope that the compilers would be honest. Based on how the tracks sound, I have no reason not to believe that they are telling the truth. Many vinyl transfers show the imperfections of vinyl — that is, hiss, popping, rumbling, and noise. If they are vinyl transfers and are so well done that any of these imperfections cannot be heard, then great!… Read more »
I just thought when I had sent the post that the info might have been in the booklets that I do not have. I agree with you when it comes to quality and I do not mind vinyltransfer as long as it is done well. However for audiophiles and/or DJs vinyl is often heard in the beginning ( needle on the record). I have so superstereoset nor a big house though to be able to really hear that while playing it loud. Interesting though how Blanc and Jones got these so different source tapes. I know Ben Liebrand gets them… Read more »
LOVE!!! 🙂 Thank you!
You’re welcome Cory 🙂
Gratitude is in order once again Paul for introducing a fantastic lost classic!! This is sooooooooo good!! Love the drums and those muscular vocals. I also love how you do all that you can to make the requests of others come to fruition. You work so hard. That’s why I love making donations to you because I get to see where the money goes. Not just for the site itself, but for the procurement of these requests and tremendous classics. THIS RECORD SHOULD HAVE BEEN MASSIVE!! Wouldn’t it be something that a forward thinking radio jock could start playing it… Read more »
I totally agree Jeff. I downloaded tens of thousands of songs from some “80sforever” guy on the piratebay and this was one of those lost treasures I would otherwise never have found. But alas his upload was a bad quality. Since then I found out it was released nowhere else, not even on editions like “Rare & Remixed” or “Classic Alternatives”, so (with the help of the internet) I contacted Nick Hallam if he would not be interested to talk to guys like Blanc & Jones or Ben Liebrand who are releasing great (often lost or hard to find) 12… Read more »
That would be great as long as they credit DjPaulT for his excellent work in remastering. Heck maybe they could hire him to do some of their work. Cherry Red has put out some rather shotty material over the years. Would be nice to see DjPaulT get some recognition he really deserves it. I have ripped vinyl my self it is a very tedious process. Good on you Paul.
Hey Martijn, I have to tell you, I was really moved by your post. Not just your reply to me, but to Paul, expressing your profound sense of gratitude for this single. Actually, when I heard the record, I thought about what you said and really appreciated the information you provided. Hey, this may be the springboard to get our beloved DjPaulT some recognition. I certainly hope that even the band members might take a listen and see the potential for further records that may have lost masters. I say all the time to my wife and anyone that will… Read more »
Thank you Jeff, it is indeed nice to know and hear that people exist with kindred spirits. All the credits go to DJPaul for his diligent work on remastering, and of course to all these fantastic artists of the 80s!
I contacted Ben Liebrand, see reaction below!
Thanks!
It’s great – I’ve been listening to lots of lost 80s stuff that I missed the first time around, and this (and Pray For Me) were in that batch. Great to hear it in pristine vinyl, thanks Paul!
Thank you Bob glad that you like it. It’s always fun to discover lost treasure 🙂
Never heard about this duo before. Just listened to it. It sounds really great, especially the 12″ mix. Thank you so much Paul for posting these unknown und much underrated performers. You give us the chance to discover these hidden treasures.
I agree Daniel I love all of those jungle drums 🙂
WOW I asked (probably so many times it got annoying) and you delivered! You made not only my day or week but my month! So you DID manage to get a clean copy!
As I mailed you, Birch and Hallam cannot even locate a master themselves, since it was back in 83 they recorded it and tapes are probably lost. They did not intend to remaster vinyl themselves on releases like So80s of Blanc and Jones and the likes, so your upload preserves one of the super rare great unknown tracks of the 80s!
Thanks again!!!
Sorry it took so long Martijn finding a near mint copy was very difficult. I am just happy that I was finally able to unearth this rare 12″. Enjoy! 🙂
I have listened to it, very good sound!
Paul, this is new to me, but I am really anticipating loving it. I really liked the Stereo MCs so I am really intrigued. Thanks in advance for (hopefully)a new favorite.
Jeff
You’re welcome Jeff I do think you will love it. When I first heard it I though why wasn’t this a hit.