BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1985
“Born in the U.S.A.” is a 1984 song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen. Taken from the album of the same name, it is one of his best-known singles. Rolling Stone ranked the song 275th on their list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”. In 2001, the RIAA’s Songs of the Century placed the song 59th (out of 365). Lyrically, the song deals with the effects of the Vietnam War on Americans, although it is often misinterpreted as a patriotic or nationalistic anthem.
“Born in the U.S.A.” peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts in late 1984. It was the third of a record-tying seven Top 10 hit singles to be released from the Born in the U.S.A. album. In addition it made the top 10 of Billboard’s Rock Tracks chart, indicating solid play on album-oriented rock stations. The song was also a hit in the UK, reaching #5 on the UK Singles Chart.
On January 10, 1985, Arthur Baker’s 12-inch “Freedom Mix” of “Born in the U.S.A.” was released. It was a fairly radical remixing, even more so than those Baker had done for the album’s previous singles “Dancing in the Dark” and “Cover Me”. The mix removed any (possibly misleading) anthemic elements and pushed the song’s mournfulness to the front. Synthesizer, glockenspiel, and drums were chopped up and isolated against Springsteen vocal fragments saying “Oh my God, no,” and “U.S.A.—U.S.—U.S.—U.S.A.”
This remix was the least commercially successful of Baker’s efforts, however, as unlike the prior two it failed to appear on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.
SIDE A:
Born In The U.S.A. (The Freedom Mix) 7:20
SIDE B:
Born In The U.S.A. (Dub) 7:36
Born In The U.S.A. (Radio) 6:10
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
CHARTS:
Year | Single | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|---|
1984-85 | Born In The U.S.A. | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #9 |
1984-85 | Born In The U.S.A. | U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | #8 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Columbia – 44-05147
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 RPM
Country: US
Released: 10 Jan 1985
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Pop Rock, Synth-pop
Credits: Producer – Chuck Plotkin, Jon Landau, Steve Van Zandt
Remix – Arthur Baker
Edited By – Latin Rascals, The
NOTES:
Original verion on the Lp “Born In The U.S.A.”
Find The 12″ On DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
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
any chance to get a re-up of the 12′ of born in the usa by bruce…thank you paul
TY
Awesome 12″ a jewel that has left me speechless, always the boss, thank you Paul happy day
Excellent share. I missed this when it first came out.
Wonderful, thanks so much for this Paul!
I forgot all about this one. Nice to hear it. Thanks
Thanks Paul. Keep the Brooooooce coming.
Huge fan of this remix, just for the novelty factor. Who would have thought such a big rock track would work as a dance tune…oh wait, it doesn’t! LOL still a fun mix though.
Amazing. Gotta say, this is in my Top 5 of all time 12 inchers. Sublime! Any chance of spoiling us with the Cover Me 12″ next?
thanks once again paul, another great (and quite hard to find) track! ric, as a former mobile unit dj, i can tell you this song is nearly impossible to mix with, which undoubtedly contributed to its poor performance on the dance charts. maybe that’s why it’s so rare!
You’re welcome Feanor. I always found this song hard to minto as well. It’s just not a very club friendly track to begin with. But Arthur did an awesome job 🙂
Happy Independent’s Day, Paul and all American BTG followers!!!
And a great post to celebrate that.
I love what Arthur Baker did to all three singles, who knew The Boss could be remixed this way?!?!
But I understand the absence of this third single in the Club Play charts.
While I could club to Dancing In The Dark, and groove to Cover Me, I don’t quite know how to move to this. LOL!
Still, doesn’t take away the fact that it is a radical remix, and I love it!
Thank you, Paul!
hey Ric I don’t really know how to groove to this one either lol. I don’t think I ever played it when I was spinning back in the day. Still it’s a great remix. Happy 4th of July USA!!
Yes! I’ve been waiting for this one in high quality. Thank you!!!
you’re wlcome Bellenger1981 🙂
Bruce is a national treasure!
I agree Tyson 🙂
Everyday on this blog keeps getting better and better (and I’ve been following you for a few years)! Thanks again! Dave
You are so welcome Dave. I appreciate your loyalty to BTG!