Culture Club – Mystery Boy (Japan 7″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982

A. Front

I am going to see Culture Club live tonight at The Joint located at the Hard Rock Hotel/Casino here in Tulsa. It’s the original band line up with Boy George, Jon Moss, Michael Craig and Roy Hay. Their current tour has been getting great reviews so I am excited to see them live for the first time.

“Mystery Boy” was a single only released in Japan in 1982. The mix on this single, and the Japanese album “Kissing To Be Clever” is an alternate version than what appeared in the US and UK where the song was a b-side. This alternate mix includes a piano break which was removed from the US and UK releases. The song was also used in a Japanese TV ad for Suntori brand whiskey with “Hot Whiskey” lyrics.

SIDE A:
Mystery Boy 3:35

SIDE B:
Murder Rap Trap 4:24

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label:Virgin ?– VIPX-1667
Format:Vinyl, 7″, 45 RPM, Single
Country:Japan
Released:1982
Genre:Rock
Style:New Wave

CREDITS:
Producer – Steve Levine
Vocals – Captain Crucial (tracks: B)
Written-By – Culture Club

NOTES:
Japanese only release in plain paper sleeve with full color lyric insert.
This version of “Mystery Boy” is an alternate version to the mix released in Europe and North America.

Find the 7″ on DISCOGS

B. Back

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck 
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 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

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steven
steven
May 14, 2023 5:51 am

Any chance of reposting this one , please!!
Cheers

Richard the Big Bunny
July 29, 2016 4:04 pm

Fantastic sound quality! HOW INCREDIBLE. Thank you so much.

I didn’t even know about the differences and the piano section on Mystery Boy.

Added to my iTunes Library with notation!

Cheers.

henryjg
henryjg
July 29, 2016 12:53 pm

Are you referring to the piano part at 2:30-2:43? I have two copies of this song on CD–on the 2003 Colour By Numbers and the 12″ Collection Plus. I hear that piano part on both of those CDs. Is that piano part not on the original US vinyl 45 of “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya” or “Church of the Poison Mind” (which both had “Mystery Boy” as a B-side) or the UK 12″ of “Church”? I’m just trying to make sure I understand what’s unique about this mix.

Richard the Big Bunny
Reply to  henryjg
July 29, 2016 4:11 pm

The piano bit is certainly in a different place on Mystery Boy. It starts at 02:30 on the Japanese 7-Inch and after 02:44 on the Colour By Numbers (Remastered) CD.

henryjg
henryjg
Reply to  Richard the Big Bunny
July 31, 2016 1:06 am

Aha! Yes, thank you! I hadn’t noticed that. The piano bit lasts the same length of time, though, and both tracks are the same length. And the vocal starts again right after the piano bit in both. So has the track just been re-edited? I guess I need to do a closer comparison of the two to figure out how they’re put together differently.

henryjg
henryjg
Reply to  henryjg
July 31, 2016 7:34 pm

Ok, so I don’t think the versions are different mixes, and I don’t think there’s a missing piano part in the US/UK version. I think for some reason, the track was re-edited. The two versions are the same until about the 1:03 mark. At that point, the Japanese single version goes straight into the second verse, but in the US/UK version there’s another 15-16 seconds of “ooooohs” and just singing “mystery boy” inserted before the second verse starts. Once the second verse starts, both versions appear to be the same until after the third verse. In the US/UK version, the… Read more »

Richard the Big Bunny
Reply to  henryjg
July 31, 2016 10:36 pm

Correct! 🙂 The Japanese 7-Inch is just better arranged (like a proper radio single). Thx!

cdmaniac
July 29, 2016 12:50 am

Great post Paul!! Hope your having a fab summer… and not melting!

Jermajesty
Jermajesty
July 28, 2016 2:10 pm

Wow, what a fantastic treat for us all, and for you too tonight. I’ve never heard of this Japan only single, I absolutely love the unique artwork and photo, and those colours look great too. With all the graphics and symbols it looks like it was even done by Assorted iMaGes too, not just the local record company’s take based on other releases. Thank you so much for this, I adore these Japanese obscurities, like the Wham and HoJo ones that have Xmas messages on the b-sides. Hope you have an amazing time tonight. I’ve seen George solo in a… Read more »

omar
omar
July 28, 2016 11:54 am

Thanks Paul once again for the rare gem. Some songs of Culture Club have probably never appeared on cd before like White Boy (7″) as well.

Jeff
Jeff
July 28, 2016 11:18 am

I’m constantly flabbergasted by all the things you have in your record collection Paul. You truly can spotlight the rare, the unusual and the unique. How cool is this!! I love Culture Club and this sounds like an awesome rarity. Hey, hope you have a blast this evening and really enjoy the show. So excellent it’s the original line up of the band. Have fun and thanks for sharing this gem with us.

Jeff