BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1985
“Heavenly Action” is a song by the British synthpop duo Erasure, released in November 1985 as their second single.
Issued by Mute Records in the UK and Sire Records in the U.S., the single proved to be the second commercial failure for the duo (following “Who Needs Love Like That”).
The mid-tempo pop song, written by Erasure members Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, is a straightforward ode to love. The music video features Clarke and Bell in an outer space/celestial setting, with several young children appearing as angels.
To this day, “Heavenly Action” remains Erasure’s lowest-charting single on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 100. In the United States, “Heavenly Action” was paired with “Who Needs Love Like That” on the 12 inch single and, as a double-sided hit, climbed to number eight on the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.
The song was later included on the duo’s debut album Wonderland, released in June 1986.
The UK only “Yellow Brick Mix” was at one time considered one of the rarest and most expensive commercially released Erasure items.
SIDE A:
Side One Heavenly Action (Yellow Brick Mix) 6:45
Bass – Dave Foster*
Remix – Joseph Watt
SIDE B:
Side Two Don’t Say No (Ruby Red Mix) 6:06
Remix – Colin Peter, Nick Titchener
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Heavenly Action | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play | #8 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Mute– L12 mute 042
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single, Limited Edition, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
CREDITS:
Artwork [Sleeve Design & Illustration By] – Health And Efficiency
Producer – Flood
Producer [Assistant] – N. Hine*, P. Legg*
Written-By – Clarke*, Bell*
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
Thanks Paul, only had the CD Single. 🙂
Really enjoying the mix tonight! Listening to it right now 🙂
Lovin’ all this Erasure that you’ve been posting. Thanks so much for the rarities!
I had this on vinyl back in the days when it was first released and watched it going up and up in price. Sister Ray Records in Soho had a copy in the window for £160 once, so I took my mint unplayed copy in there and asked if they wanted to buy it. They offered me just £60 for it, which I took, as I needed the money and it’s not like eBay was about back then, but it still pains me at how I got shafted by them and I never went back there!
Thanks so much for these Erasure rarities Paul!!
Hope you have a fantastic weekend.
Best,
Jeff
Thank you Jeff 🙂
Unbelievable to find this single,
Very surprised for me,
Though it was a failure single but I totally love it.
Thank you very much Paul.
You’re welcome Biol 🙂
Fantastic Paul. Many thanks
You’re welcome 🙂
I can understand the difficulty you had with this. It’s sound a little crackly to me which is what almost all of my vinyl sounds like but not usually any of yours!
It was really hard to tell what was supposed to be there and what wasn’t. I noticed the crackle too and almost didn’t post this one.
Hey Paul, I’m so happy you and NKelly pointed out the crackling sound. I thought it was me and that I messed up the download somehow. Still, it’s great you posted this as, like you said, with CD’s loudness issues, you always present the warmer sound of vinyl. You have schooled me in what real quality should sound like and I’m forever grateful. Ben Liebrand, like you, is committed to pure sound. Thanks again for the time you take to do what you do. We all feel this love of music from you and it’s like this warm, nourishing hug.… Read more »
Thanks Paul for these superb mixes once again.
You’re welcome Omar 🙂
@Jermajesty – definitely not on the EBX1 box set. Thanks Paul!
Also, I had Indian Rubber on vinyl, it had problems with the pressing as well.
Completely and totally wrong it was on there obviously as those sets covered all UK releases http://www.discogs.com/Erasure-1-Singles/release/139973
Yeah it’s on CD but it definately clips which means quality loss. Record labels want you to think yhat by increasing the loudness that it sounds better but really it destroys the audio. Burning The Ground is a clip free zone 🙂
Oh of course. I was just pointing out it was on that set!
Grabbing this for the rarity… 🙂 just looking it up it doesn’t look like this mix has been on CD anywhere??
The Yellow Brick version was released on the first Mute Erasure box set (ebx1). The box sets (of which four were released) were great for collecting all mixes from their first release “Who Needs love Like That” through to “Abba-esque”.
I’m not sure if they are still available to buy or if they’ll need hunting down as they were released in 1999-2001 in the UK. Well worth it for those tracks that may have fallen through the cracks!
The box sets are fantastic.
Awsome work! You are truly a Slave to the rythm…
Hugs
aah thank you Ezequiel 🙂