BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986
“Oh L’amour” is a song by English synthpop duo Erasure, released in April 1986 as their third single.
It was issued by Mute Records in the UK and Sire Records in the U.S. to herald the June release of Erasure’s debut album Wonderland, but became the third consecutive commercial failure for the band in both territories.
In 1986, “Oh L’amour” climbed to number 85 on the UK Singles Chart and became Erasure’s first big hit in South Africa (number two), in Germany (number 16), in Australia (number 13) and their only one in France (number 14). In the United States, the song’s biggest impact was on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, where it hit number three on July 26, 1986.
This 12″ is the first of two 12″ singles released in the USA the other featured the “Funky Sisters Remix” which had already been previously released internationally I have already posted the Germany edition.
SIGNAL ONE:
Oh L’Amour (Re-Mix) 5:54
Producer – Flood
Remix – Michael Johnson
Written-By – Clarke/Bell
SIGNAL TWO:
March On Down The Line 6:03
Producer [Assistant], Mixed By [Assistant] – P. Legg*
Producer, Mixed By – Flood
Written-By – Clarke/Bell
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! 3:53
Engineer – Paul Kendall
Producer – Erasure
Written-By – Benny Andersson/Bjorn Ulvaeus*
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Oh L’Amour | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #3 |
| 1986 | Oh L’Amour | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | #9 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Sire – 0-20471, Sire – 9 20471-0 A, Mute – 0-20471
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Maxi-Single
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
CREDITS:
Artwork By [Sleeve Design And Illustration] – Health & Efficiency
NOTES:
Sides are listed as ‘Signal One’ & ‘Signal Two’
Track B2 recorded and mixed at Worldwide International.
Original versions of “Oh L’Amour” And “March On Down The Line” from the Erasure album ‘Wonderland’ on Sire Records.
Made in U.S.A.
Find the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
DAC/Phono Pre-amp: 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 USED:
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
Oh L’Amour. What’s a poor boy to do? Certified 80’s classic. But, I never knew this, what on earth is Thomas the Tank Engine doing on the cover!?
Great single by Erasure. Great cover art too.
Cheers Paul 🙂
Don’t think I’ve ever seen the sleeve for this song before. Seems like such an odd choice, but looking at the previous two singles they’re in a similar style – just slightly less full of glaringly obvious trademark infringement. 😀 I wonder if the withdrawal of copies with the offending sleeves had anything to do with its staggeringly low UK chart position – it could have been unavailable for a while whilst Mute tried to sort it? (Mute were an independent afterall and distribution wasn’t always easy for indies.) Didn’t know they were doing Abba covers this early either. Thanks… Read more »
I remember buying this the day it came out in the UK and I got a free A3 poster of the sleeve artwork with it. Very rare, especially as the original artwork was quickly withdrawn from releases due to copyright infringement!
Very cool Andrew 🙂
How many days I listened to this 12” after work…..good memories.
That is awesome I love when a record sparks good memories 🙂
My word Paul, this is a real treat. Karen’s going to be thrilled. And the artwork is tremendous too. I had no idea about its history. I also love this because of the production by Flood. He’s one of my favorite producers. Such a feel good song Paul. We so appreciate you giving us more Erasure.
Jeff
This is one of the records I picked up on my vacation to New Mexico back in January paid $5 for it in pristine condition. It is one of my favorites in my collection.
A great single that was erroneously attributed for years to Dollar who just a (mediocre) cover version. Plus this has the original iconic withdrawn Thomas The Tank Engine cover art (featuring Percy and Rheneas) which hadn’t been cleared by the copyright holder to be used. That made all editions with this cover art an early rarity!
Well that unfortunate circumstance is due to the Dollar version being a hit where the Erasure original wasn’t as noted in Paul’s write up. Similar awful situation to the cover of Mad World being a bigger hit than the TFF original.
You can’t get more quintessential 80’s than Erasure. With their incredible staying power and massive collection of mixes and versions, they are truly an incredible band. Can’t wait to enjoy this new BTG release. Thanks, Paul – and stay safe!
You’re welcome, dugn 🙂