BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983
“Waves” is a song by English synthpop duo Blancmange, released in 1983 as the fourth and final single from their debut studio album Happy Families. It was written by Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe, and produced by Mike Howlett. “Waves” reached No. 19 in the UK and remained on the charts for nine weeks.
SIDE A:
Waves 4:06
Arranged By [Strings] – Linton Naiff*
Backing Vocals – Madeline Bell, Stevie Lange
Producer – Mike Howlett
Remix – Dennis Weinreich, John Owen Williams*
Business Steps 4:26
Producer – Stephen Luscombe
SIDE B:
Game Above My Head (Extended Mix) 7:17
Bass – Bobby Collins
Producer – John Owen Williams*, Neil Arthur, Stephen Luscombe
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: London Records – BLANX 4
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: Feb 1983
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
CREDITS:
Design [Sleeve Design] – Blancmange, Keith Breeden
Photography By – Helen Turner (3)
Photography By [Portraits] – Peter Ashworth
Written-By – Arthur*, Luscombe*
NOTES:
“Game Above My Head” is an extended mix but this is not indicated on the release.
Track A2: Excerpt from the score “Pick Up”
Commissioned by Micha Bergese for the Mantis Dance Company, as part of “Dance Umbrella 1982″
Find the 12” at DISCOGS
VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Mullard 12AX7 Preamp Vacuum Tube Pins
Soundcard: Novation Audiohub 2×4 Audio Interface
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2, ocenaudio
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
Username: btg
Password: burningtheground
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Fabulous!
Brilliant stuff! A terrific run of posts Paul!
Love this track. For everyone else here who loves this track, if you haven’t already, you really need to give a listen to the 2013 re-recording on Happy Families Too…
Thanks Paul. Don’t Tell Me is my fav Blancmange single. Looking forward to you posting that one some day!
🙂 What Daniel said!
Paul, the notes to that release state that ‘Business Steps’ is just unlisted – so no different to the UK 12″ A-Side.
Thank you Paul. “Waves” is my favourite single by Blancmange. So sad that this song hasn’t got an extended mix. It would have been great.
You’re welcome, Daniel. There was an extended dance remix released only in Australasia according to Discogs. It’s hard to find though.
https://www.discogs.com/Blancmange-Waves-Extended-Remix-Version/release/1552518
I was very excited about your reply but then I read the notes on Discogs about this special release from Australasia.
It says that “A-side plays ‘Business Steps’ after ‘Waves’. Both tracks are not divided visually on the record. So 12″ plays no exclusive full length dance version of ‘Waves’.”
So I think that we will finally find nothing new on this release.
Waves is a great one. There’s a lovely cover of it by Mesh too. They kept true to the feel of Blancmange’s original.
Well done again Paul, thank you so much! Another great and very hard to find Blancmange-Remix, the b-side “Game above my head” in it’s Extended Version (one of the most beautiful Blancmange-songs anyway). It only appeared one time on a CD, 28 years ago on the canadian edition of the Singles Album “Second Helpings”, which unlike all other editions sported some bonus tracks, and which of course is nowadays rare in itself. If you look for later releases, like the expanded Albums from 2008 or the “Blanc-Tapes” Box set of last year, this particular Remix was missing on both (unlike… Read more »
You’re very welcome Holger. Thank you for all of your insight. I was looking on Discogs and did see that an extended dance remix of Waves was issued in Australasia.
https://www.discogs.com/Blancmange-Waves-Extended-Remix-Version/release/1552518
D you know about this release?
Nope, never saw that one, and like others already said, it should be identical with the normal version. Often enough these informations on labels or backcovers were wrong, and in this case, it’s not only wrong but simply misleading. At least the artwork is different, so it might have had a special value for collectors. Btw., Waves also appeared on the b-side of the US 12″ of Blind Vision. In case you would plan to post Blind Vision anytime in the future (which would be appreciated), I’d recommend to look for the US-Promo (Island records), which had an instrumental dub… Read more »
Well, i was going to post most of that information.
but you beat me to it.
good job.
thanks paul, always loved blancmange.
but waves is too mellow for me.
game above my head is one of their best songs ever.
later
-1
Hi Paul
Thanks for this version of ‘Waves’: it is different from the album version – actually an earlier version of the song, with more strings and less synths. This was the single after ‘Living On The Ceiling’ here in the UK. First Blancmange 12″ I bought, the day it was released. Thank you.
You’re welcome Conrad 🙂
Wow. This is one of my favorites from them! Not as notable to some as “Don’t Tell Me” or “Living On The Ceiling”, but special to me. Thanks Paul!
You’re welcome Goodguy 🙂
One thing about you Paul (well, there are a lot of things) is that you really seize upon releases that resonate with your readers. Case in point, you know how much we love Blancmange. For me, you’ve definitely expanded there discography for me. I knew of certain releases, starting with their beloved classic, “Blind Vision” and moved on from there. Still, your site has introduced me to other singles in their catalog. I’m thrilled because of the care and effort you bestow on each release. You have set such a HUGE BENCHMARK for the way vinyl rips should be done.… Read more »
Thank you so much, Jeff. I really do hope that you enjoy this release 🙂
Wow! Thanks Paul. Please keep the new wave coming.
You’re welcome Omar 🙂