BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1987

Remembering Laura Branigan.

Ten years ago today we lost one of the brightest lights in popular music Laura Branigan.  Branigan’s powerful voice and her countless contributions to the music world are deeply missed. She was truly one of the greats.

~ DjPaulT

Re-Rip Newly Remastered!

Originally I posted this one on November 10, 2010. But for those who may have missed it or if you are a new reader just discovering BTG. I decided to give this one a new rip with my newer Ortofon Super 30 stylus. This 12″ is also being posted in 24 bit flac for the very first time!

“Shattered Glass” is a song written by Bob Mitchell and Steve Coe which was recorded by Laura Branigan with the Stock/Aitken/Waterman production team to serve as the first single released from Branigan’s fifth album, the 1987 releaseTouch.

The song had originally been produced by Mitchell and Coe for Scottish singer Ellie Warren in 1980; Warren recalls “all the [radio] stations and media were totally behind [“Shattered Glass”], but the record wasn’t serviced properly. When the radio was playing it to death, you couldn’t buy it in the shops – a ludicrous situation.”

“Shattered Glass” was one of two tracks Branigan cut with the Stock/Aitken/Waterman team. Originally the Touch album was to totally be a collaboration with producer David Kershenbaum but after completing her recording with Kershenbaum, Branigan, who had an especial interest in scoring a strong hit single as her previous album release Hold Me had only produced a mild hit in “Spanish Eddie” (#40), made an overnight foray to the UK to record at the PWL Studios in London with Stock/Aitken/Waterman, that team currently enjoying massive chart success with releases by such acts as Rick Astley, Bananarama, Dead or Alive, Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue. Besides “Shattered Glass”, the PWL session produced Branigan’s recording of “Whatever I Do (Wherever I Go)” a Stock/Aitken/Watrman original previously recorded (1984) by Hazell Dean.

“Shattered Glass” was issued as a single in the US in June of 1987 with “Statue in the Rain”, a track recorded for Touch with David Kershenbaum and omitted from the album to accommodate the inclusion of the Stock/Aitken/Waterman tracks, serving as the B-side; the 12″ single version of the track was remixed by Pete Hammond. A music video was made to promote “Shattered Glass”, featuring Afa Anoa’i, a wrestler known, with his brother, as one of The Wild Samoans. A performance by Branigan on the 9/5/1987 broadcast of American Bandstand gave “Shattered Glass” the distinction of being the final track to be promoted by a guest star on the major network edition of American Bandstand but by the time of Branigan’s American Bandstand appearance the failure of “Shattered Glass” as a comeback vehicle for Branigan was evident, the single having stalled at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100 that August.

Billboard did afford “Shattered Glass” hit status on its dance charts: #13 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and #15 on the Hot Dance Singles Sales, and also on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart (#27). “Shattered Glass” was also the last Laura Branigan single to register in several international markets, although it only attained significant chart impact in Switzerland at #26 and Denmark at #6, the last-named being the final evident Top Ten placing by Branigan on a national chart.

Bryan Buss of AllMusic would later write that, from an album that contained “so many…successfully evocative cuts…lead single ‘Shattered Glass’…stand(s) out; you can hardly hold back from caroling along” – “[Branigan’s] big, boomy voice…has never sounded better”.

SIDE A:
Shattered Glass (12″ Vocal Mix)  7:14
Engineer – Mark McGuire
Mixed By – Mixmaster Pete Hammond*
Producer – Stock, Aitken & Waterman
Written-By – Bob Mitchell , Steve Coe

SIDE B:
Shattered Glass (LP Vocal Version)  3:40
Engineer – Mark McGuire
Mixed By – Mixmaster Pete Hammond*
Producer – Stock, Aitken & Waterman
Written-By – Bob Mitchell , Steve Coe

Statue In The Rain (Vocal)  4:16
Engineer, Mixed By – David Holman*
Producer – David Kershenbaum
Written-By – Mathew Garey* , Rick Palombi

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Cover: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Atlantic
Catalog#: 0-86699
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single
Country: US
Released: 1987
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hi NRG, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Artwork By [Art Direction/design] – Janis Wilkins
Photography – Victoria Pearson

NOTES:
From The Atlantic Album “TOUCH”

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