Category: A Flock Of Seagulls

A Flock Of Seagulls – Nightmares (UK 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1983

NEW 2021 Transfer!
NEW Meticulous Restoration!

Originally posted July 28, 2011

“Nightmares” was the 7th single released by the synth-pop band A Flock Of Seagulls. The single was taken from the band’s second album “Listen.” “Nightmares” peaked at #53 on the UK singles chart on April 16, 1983, and #62 on the US Billboard Dance Chart.

The two B-sides reveal the often-overlooked experimental side of A Flock of Seagulls. Slightly edited versions of “The Last Flight of Yuri Gagarin” and “Rosenmontag” appeared on the original cassette and CD pressings of “Listen.” Both tracks are extended for this 12″ and have never appeared on CD.

Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin was a Russian cosmonaut and the first man in space. He orbited the earth in April 1961, a humiliating blow to the U.S. spaceflight team which at the time was in heated competition with its communist counterparts. His “last flight” took place on March 27, 1968, when the UTI MiG-15 (an experimental jet he was piloting) crashed. He was 34 years old. The Apollo 15 astronauts put a plaque on the moon naming all of the men who’d died in the space race. Gagarin was honored among them.

“Rosenmontag” (German for “Rose Monday”) is a festival that takes place in Cologne, Germany in the days leading up to Lent. Rosenmontag is the Monday prior to Ash Wednesday. It is likely that the band learned about this Catholic holiday while in Germany during the recording of “Listen.” Coincidentally, it is also the title of a 1930 film directed by Hans Steinhoff.

SIDE A:
Nightmares (12″ Version) 5:02
Producer – Mike Howlett

The Last Flight Of Yuri Gagarin 6:59
Producer – Mike HowlettMike Score

SIDE B:
Rosenmontag 8:02
Producer – Conny PlankDave HutchinsMike Howlett

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1983 Nightmares U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Plat #62

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Jive – JIVE T 33
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: Apr 1983
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Bass, Vocals – Frank Maudsley
Composed By [All Material], Performer – A Flock Of Seagulls
Design [Sleeve] – Pete Watson (2)
Drums – Ali Score
Lead Guitar, Vocals – Paul Reynolds
Lead Vocals, Keyboards – Mike Score
Management – Checkmount Ltd.
Mastered By – BilBo (3)
Photography – Eric Watson
Written-By – A. ScoreF. MaudsleyM. ScoreP. Reynolds

NOTES:
Recorded at Conny Plank’s Studio, Neunkirchen, W.Germany.
Mixed at Union Studios, Munich.

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Black
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp:
Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
DAC:
Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning
: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans
: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: 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)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi


Password: burningtheground

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.

A Flock Of Seagulls – Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982

“Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)” is a 1982 song by A Flock of Seagulls, the opening song and only hit single from their second album Listen.

The song exemplifies “synth-pop’s spaced-out loneliness” and yearning for imagined absent lovers, and is noted for its Wall of Sound-styled layer of synthesizer padding – a “multi-layered, hypnotic song”, according to AllMusic.

Unlike the band’s 1982 hit “I Ran (So Far Away)”, largely a United States and Australian hit, “Wishing” performed strongly in the band’s home country, the United Kingdom, and reached the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart; in the US it reached the Top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the middle of 1983. It was popular in South Africa, reaching #8.

SIDE A:
Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) (Long Version) 9:09

SIDE B:
Committed 5:34
Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) (Short Version) 4:58

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1982 Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #26
1982 Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks #3
1982 Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) U.S. Billboard Hot DanceMusic/Club Play #26

 

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Jive ‎– JIVE T 25
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: Nov 1982
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: New Wave, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Art Direction – Pete Watson (2)
Lacquer Cut By – BilBo (3)
Photography By – E. Watson*
Producer –  Mike Howlett

NOTES:
From the LP “Listen”

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp:
Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
DAC:
Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning
: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans
: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: 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)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi


Password: burningtheground

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.