Category: George Michael

George Michael – Outside (US 12″ Promo)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1998

After George Michael was outed by the media, he returned to music with “Outside”, satirizing his arrest for lewd conduct in an L.A. public restroom,
and sending a statement to anybody who thought he might retreat back into the closet.

Its video was set in a men’s bathroom complete with a disco ball and light-up floor, with Michael dressed as an LAPD police officer.

“Outside” is a song by English singer-songwriter George Michael, released on 19 October 1998 as the lead single from his first greatest hits album, Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael (1998). It was released through Epic Records and reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Michael’s most recent UK top-three hit. In Greece, Hungary, and Spain, the song peaked at number one.

The song was Michael’s first single since his arrest for engaging in a lewd act six months earlier by an undercover police officer in the public lavatory of the Will Rogers Memorial Park in Beverly Hills, California – an incident that prompted him to declare his homosexuality, which had been rumored for some years but never publicly confirmed.

Michael disparaged the incident in the lyrics, claiming he wanted an alfresco sex life because he was bored with lovemaking behind closed doors. Reference to the Beverly Hills affair came with the line “I’d service the community, but I already have, you see” (he was sentenced to 80 hours of community service for the offense) and direct samples of radio reports of his arrest.

In a 2004 interview with Adam Mattera for UK magazine Attitude, Michael reflected: “I felt that lightening the stigma around cruising was the most immediately beneficial thing I could do. I know for a fact that when I was 16, 17, when I started cruising, watching the Outside video would have taken some of the weight off my shoulders.”

The song was recorded at Sarm West in London with a string section and arrangement by Andrew Skeet.

“Outside” peaked at number one in Greece, Hungary, and Spain. In addition, it reached number two in the United Kingdom, number three in Italy, number four in Denmark, number five in Iceland, number seven in Ireland, and number eight in Finland. On the Eurochart Hot 100, “Outside” reached number three in November 1998. Outside Europe, the song reached number three on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, number 11 in New Zealand, and number 13 in Australia.

**This 12″ Promo contains vinyl-only U.S. remixes.

SIDE A:
Outside (Hex Hector 12″ Vocal Mix) 8:48
Engineer, Keyboards, Programmed By – Mac Quayle
Producer [Additional Production], Remix – Hex Hector

Outside (Sharp “Unlocked” Remix) 8:28
Engineer [Mix Engineer] – Kevin White
Producer [Additional Production], Remix – The Sharp Boys
Remix – Sharp*

SIDE B:
Outside (Razor-n-Guido Orange ‘e’ Dub) 9:56
Producer [Additional Production], Remix – Razor-n-Guido*

Outside (Album Version) 4:43

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1998 Outside U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play #3

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Epic Dance – EAS 41703
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Promo
Country: US
Released: 1998
Genre: Electronic
Style: House

CREDITS:

NOTES:
Album version from the LP “Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael”

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus:  Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
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

**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!


Password: burningtheground

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



Wham! – Freedom (Long Mix) (US 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1985

NEW 2022 Transfer!
NEW Meticulous Restoration!

Originally posted April 16, 2014

++The U.S. “Long Mix” is an alternate mix which is about one minute shorter than the “Long Version” released in Europe and Japan.

“Freedom” is a hit song by British pop duo Wham!. “Freedom” was number one in the UK for three weeks, and featured on the album Make It Big, which was issued at the same time. “Freedom” was the 10th biggest-selling single of 1984. This song also reached number 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in the US in September 1985. The music video, coinciding with the 1985 US release, features the band touring around Beijing, China.

The song finds George Michael telling a girl that he wants to fully commit to her, and not have one of those relationships where they can see other people.

When Wham! went to China in April, 1985, they became the first Western Pop act to play a concert in that country. While there is absolutely nothing political about the song, footage from the trip was used to make a music video for the track, implying a more global meaning of the title.

The video opens with about a minute of the band talking under clips of the Chinese people and the countryside. Wham! was one of the biggest acts on MTV at the time, but the network, fearing the short attention spans of their viewers, wanted to cut out the intro (this was before Michael Jackson changed the game with “Thriller”). The band’s manager, Simon Napier-Bell, refused, and MTV ended up airing the full video. Napier-Bell apparently found the negotiations with MTV much easier than those with the Chinese government.

In an interview with the Christmas 2009 issue of THE BIG ISSUE, Michael said of this song, that when he wrote it he knew he had arrived: “When I was 19, I wrote Freedom – the original version – and I thought, ‘I can’t believe I’ve just done that!’ I was absolutely thrilled. Because until then I had no real understanding of my abilities, but with Freedom, I started to take myself seriously as a writer.”

SIDE A:
Freedom (Long Mix) 6:17

SIDE B:
Heartbeat 4:42
Freedom (Instrumental) 5:04

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1984 Freedom U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #3
1984 Freedom U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks #4

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Columbia ‎– 44-05238
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Arranged By, Producer – George Michael
Written-By – G. Michael*

NOTES:
Taken from the Columbia LP: “MAKE IT BIG”

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO 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

 

**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!


Password: burningtheground

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



Elton John – Wrap Her Up (Germany 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986

NEW 2021 Transfer!
Meticulously Remastered!

Originally posted March 28, 2010

“Wrap Her Up” is a song by English rock performer Elton John, featured on his 1985 album, Ice on Fire. George Michael is also featured on the song. Released as a single, it reached number 12 in the UK Singles Chart, number 22 on the Australian Singles Chart, number 26 in Canada on the RPM Top Singles chart, and number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

George Michael was quoted at the time in Smash Hits magazine that “it sounded like I had my willy in a garotte” because of the falsetto he sings throughout the song.

The song is notable for the number of famous women’s names dropped toward the end of the song, including Kiki Dee, who had duetted with Elton on the hit song “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” in 1976, and also provided background vocals for “Wrap Her Up.” The rest of the list includes (in order) Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Doris Day, Billie Jean King, Samantha Fox, Joan Collins, Katharine Hepburn, Vivien Leigh, Grace Jones, Priscilla Presley, Vanessa Williams, Dusty Springfield, Nancy Reagan, Rita Hayworth, Madonna (as “Material Girl”), Julie Andrews, Superwoman, Annie Lennox, Mata Hari, Anouska Hempel, Shirley Temple, Tallulah Bankhead, Linda Lovelace, Little Eva, Nastassja Kinski, Princess Caroline of Monaco, Pat Fernandez (a close friend of George Michael who appeared in two Wham! videos), and Elsie Tanner.

SIDE A:
Wrap Her Up (Extended Remix) 10:12
Engineer – Stuart Epps
Featuring [Uncredited] – George Michael
Mixed By – Graham Dickson
Producer – Gus Dudgeon

SIDE B:
Restless (Live At Wembley Stadium 1984) 4:26
Engineer – Mike Robinson
Mixed By – Clive Franks

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

 

Year Single Chart Position
1986 Wrap Her Up U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #20

 

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: The Rocket Record Company ‎– 884 387-1
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Maxi-Single, 45 RPM
Country: Germany
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Pop
Style: Synth-pop

NOTES:
“Wrap Her Up” original version appears on the LP “ICE ON FIRE”

1986 German tour dates listed on the back cover.

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.

Andrew Ridgeley – Red Dress (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1990

NEW 2021 Transfer!
Meticulously Remastered!

Originally posted April 17, 2012

“Red Dress” is the second and final single released from Andrew Ridgeley’s only solo album Son Of Albert. “Red Dress” was the only track on the album to feature George Michael on backing vocals. The single was not successful and failed to make an impact on the charts. A promotional video was filmed for the single showing a shirtless Ridgeley playing guitar.

SIDE A:
Red Dress (12″ Mix) 6:38

SIDE B:
Red Dress (Instrumental) 4:15

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label:  Epic – AJR T2
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Red Vinyl
Country: UK
Released: 1990
Genre: Rock
Style: Pop/Rock

CREDITS:
Backing Vocals [uncredited] –  George Michael (tracks: A)
Producer – Andrew Ridgeley, Gary Bromham

NOTES:
Taken from the LP  “Son Of Albert”
This 12″ is pressed on Red Vinyl

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.