Category: George Michael

March 19, 2014

Wham! – Bad Boys/Club Tropicana (Japan 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983

“Bad Boys/Club Tropicana” was a 1983 single released in Japan. The single is housed in a unique picture sleeve. This record is quite cofusing due to the front cover stating “Extended Club Mix Versions” in the plural sense. However if you flip the sleeve over and look at the back cover “Extended Club Mix Version” is only listed above “Bad Boys”. There has never been an official “Extended” version of “Club Tropicana” released.

I am posting this record just to clear up the “Club Tropicana” mystery and aside from the flawless Japanese pressing the artwork is great too. I have scanned the record with the Japanese OBI strip and without so you can see the full sleeve.

SIDE A:
Bad Boys (Extended Club Mix Version) 4:52
Arranged By , Co-producer , Written-By – George Michael
Producer – Steve Brown

SIDE B:
Club Tropicana 4:27
Producer – George Michael, Steve Brown
Written-By – Andrew Ridgeley, George Michael

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Epic ‎– 12-3P-512
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Japan
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Photography By – Brian Aris

NOTES:
Taken From The LP “FANTASTIC”

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Speed Control: Pro-Ject Speed Box S
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 Removeal: ClickRepair (DeClick Level 3)
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

March 17, 2014

Wham! – Young Guns (Go For It) (US 12″ Promo)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982

“Young Guns (Go For It)” was released in the US in 1982 like the previous single “Wham Rap!” a different remix was used for the 12″ single release however ther is no remixer credit given. “Young Guns (Go For It)” debuted on the US dance chart on March 19, 1983 after spending 13 weeks on the survey the single peaked at #21.

George wrote the song about a teenage lad’s worry that his best friend was getting too committed to a girl when he should have been enjoying his youth and the single life. It featured a middle eight aside in which the girl conversely tried to get her boyfriend to ditch the best friend, prompting a vocal battle, akin to a tug of war, between the girlfriend and the best friend which prompted the “go for it!” aspect of the song, as featured in the title.

On Top of the Pops, George mimed the vocals to his Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley, who “acted” the part of the teenage bridegroom-in-waiting. They were flanked by backing singers Dee C. Lee and Shirlie Holliman.

SIDE A:
Young Guns (Go For It) (Club Mix) 6:53

SIDE B:
Going For It! 4:50

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint (generic sleeve)

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1983	Young Guns (Go For It)	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play	#21

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Columbia ‎– 44-03501, Inner Vision ‎– 44-03501
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Promo, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1982
Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Producer – George Michael, Steve Brown
Written-By – G. Michael*

NOTES:
Demonstration Not For Sale.

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

March 15, 2014

Wham! – Young Guns (Go For It) (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982

“Young Guns (Go For It)” was the second single by British duo Wham! taken from their debut album “Fantastic”. The single was released in October 1982 on Innervison Records.

The song was Wham!’s first hit, although it came with some help from the BBC music programme Top of the Pops, which invited Wham! on to the show as a last-minute replacement for another act which had pulled out. It helped that the producer of Top of the Pops had seen them previously on another programme: Saturday Superstore. Wham! were just outside the Top 40 threshold of the UK Singles Chart at the time, which meant they had not climbed high enough in normal circumstances to get on the show, but they were recruited nonetheless as the highest-placed artists still climbing the charts from outside the 40.

The song entered the chart initially at Number 73, went up to Number 48, then dropped to Number 52 and the week after that, it jumped to Number 42.[ Their appearance on Top of the Pops broke the record wide open and on the following Monday the distribution centre received some thirty thousand orders. This sent the record to Number 24 before eventually peaking at Number 3 in November 1982. In the US the song reached #21 on the Billboard Dance Chart this would be Wham!’s first US charting single.

SIDE A:
Young Guns (Go For It) (12″ Version) 5:10

SIDE B:
Going For It 4:50

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1983	Young Guns (Go For It)	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play	#21

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label:Inner Vision ‎– IVL A 13 2766, Inner Vision ‎– IVL A13 2766
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: Oct 1982
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Producer –George Michael, Steve Brown
Written-By – George Michael

NOTES:
Special thanks to Shirlie Lorraine.
Made in England.

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

March 14, 2014

Wham! – Enjoy What You Do (Wham Rap!) (US 12″ Promo)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982

“Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)” was the debut single by British pop duo Wham!, released in 1982 on Innervision Records. The US Promo 12″ single was titled “Enjoy What You Do (Wham Rap!) and contained remixes by Francois Kevorkian which are unique to this 12”. It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo. The song failed make an impact on the US charts.

According to Rob Jovanovic in his 2007 biography of George Michael, the song “depicted the world as they saw it” although it was “hardly a rap as we know it today.” The message is that if you’re young and unemployed, have fun. Of course, most people who are faced with especially long term unemployment find life a struggle, but youthful optimism certainly paid off for this dynamic duo. David Austin and Paul Ridgeley (Andrew’s brother) added backing vocals.

SIDE A:
Enjoy What You Do (Wham Rap!) (Vocal) 7:01

SIDE B:
Enjoy What You Do (Wham Rap!) (Instrumental) 6:06

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint (generic sleeve)

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Inner Vision ‎– 44-03177, Columbia ‎– 44-03177
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Promo, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1982
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop, Funk / Soul
Style: Synth-pop, Pop Rap, Funk, Disco
Credits: Engineer – John Potoker
Mixed By – Francois Kevorkian*
Producer – Bob Carter
Written-By – A. Ridgeley*, G. Michael*

NOTES:
DEMONSTRATION NOT FOR SALE

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi