Friends Again – State Of Art (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983

-DjPaulT Recommended 12″

“State Of Art” is a 1983 single by Scottish new wave pop group Friends Again. They were formed by members Chris Thomson and Paul McGeechan, together with Neil Cunningham, James Grant, and Stuart Kerr. They released a self-titled EP in 1984, which peaked at No. 59 on the UK Singles Chart. They then recorded their debut album, Trapped & Unwrapped (1984).

After the demise of the band, Grant went on to form Love and Money in 1985 along with McGeechan and Kerr, while Thomson formed The Bathers.

“State Of Art” was produced by Bob Sargeant who also produced acts such as The Adventures, Haircut One Hundred, Fine Young Cannibals and others.

SIDE A:
State Of Art (Extended Mix) 6:05

SIDE B:
Winked At 3:59
State Of Art (Instrumental) 3:59

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Phonogram ‎– MOON 312
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 14 Oct 1983
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Pop
Style: New Wave, Indie Rock

CREDITS:
Bass – Neil Cunningham
Drums, Vocals – Stuart Kerr
Producer – Bob Sargeant
Vibraphone, Piano – Paul McGeechan
Vocals, Lead Guitar – James Grant
Vocals, Rhythm Guitar – Chris Thomson

NOTES:
Original Sound Recording made by Phonogram Ltd (London,1983)

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 
Phono Pre-amp:
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube:
Mullard 12AX7 Preamp Vacuum Tube Pins
Soundcard:
Novation Audiohub 2×4 Audio Interface
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: iZotope RX Advanced 2, ocenaudio
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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mothloop
mothloop
September 1, 2018 7:29 pm

Good band. Wish I had more from them. And dang, this single is quite rare judging from the Discogs link! Where do you live… heh heh heh!

mike
mike
September 1, 2018 6:35 am

Hope this means some Love and Money is on the way please Paul 🙏

Mark
Mark
September 1, 2018 5:17 am

This is a new one on me but i love what i’m hearing. It has various artist influences as already mentioned above.

Cheers Paul 🙂

Jermajesty
Jermajesty
August 31, 2018 5:40 pm

Hadn’t heard of these guys, but I do quite like this track.

It reminds me a little of Lloyd Cole and The Commotions, who were around at about the same time. Do you know their song Rattlesnakes? It’s very good.

Thanks again for a fab week Paul – it was just what I needed. 🙂

Luis
Luis
August 31, 2018 2:52 pm

this blog has damaged with the amount of crap that publishes lately is a pity

Martijn
Martijn
Reply to  Luis
September 1, 2018 5:53 am

Tastes differ and the wide variety of the 80s is well reflected on this site. Not every 80s song is for everyone, not even for 80s fans. Keep it up Paul and I love the more ‘alternative’ tunes since they are the unexplored edge of the 80s

Martijn van Heeringen
Martijn van Heeringen
August 31, 2018 2:32 pm

Yet another wonderful obscure 80s band that has cult following among those that dig deeper into the vaults of rare tracks from the day. So lucky to get the extended and instrumental versions – I only had a crappy vinyl rip but did not exactly feel like paying 100$ for the OOP cd from 1989.
Hope we get Lullaby 2 as well!

Fred
Fred
August 31, 2018 1:54 pm

I gotta say…listening only to the instruments, this sounds like The Cranberries meets Dire Straits meets Morrissey.

Interesting song and band that I’ve never heard of.

Thanks, Paul!

Santi
August 31, 2018 12:50 pm

Did you make a Filipino friend recently? Hahaha

You’ve been on fire this week with great new wave posts from artists who’ve made quite an impact back in the 80’s in the Philippines. No one else posts these, and I’m very happy that you’ve been giving your TLC to these records. (Also, these cost quite a pretty penny on discogs, so it’s hard to get one’s hands on these).

I do love Friends Again! Thank you for sharing this one; your rips are a work of art.

Tim Brooks
Tim Brooks
August 31, 2018 11:30 am

Never heard of them – but loving this BIG THANKS ::)

Daniel
Daniel
August 31, 2018 11:16 am

Wow Paul this was an amazing week! And today’s special recommended single is the one I prefer. I love this band and it’s great to get the exclusive 12″ mix in pristine quality. This version was not included on the japanese reissue of their album. Hope to see more posts of unknown and underrated bands or performers because this is the only chance we have to get these lost mixes in high quality sound. Thank you so much Paul. Have a great weekend.

Jeff
Jeff
Reply to  Daniel
August 31, 2018 12:40 pm

Perfectly stated Daniel. I couldn’t agree with you more about Paul and his musical picks. We are so fortunate to have Paul in our lives. With all the darkness in this world it’s a godsend to have people who are positive and make us smile like DjPaulT does. All about light & love.

Have a nice weekend Daniel!

Jeff

Daniel
Daniel
Reply to  Jeff
August 31, 2018 12:50 pm

Thank you Jeff. Burning The Ground wouldn’t be what it is without your beautiful and heartfelt comments. Have a nice weekend Jeff!

Jeff
Jeff
August 31, 2018 11:11 am

Thanks Paul for another “new” discovery. Looking forward to checking this one out.

It’s been a great week Paul. Grateful for the Seona Dancing songs. Please have a nice weekend and I’m hoping your feeling better.

Jeff

OMAR
OMAR
August 31, 2018 10:19 am

Thanks Paul. This is lovely. I love these guys as well as Love & Money.