OMD – Pandora’s Box (It’s A Long, Long Way) (US 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1991

“Pandora’s Box” (subtitled “It’s a Long, Long Way” for the US release) is a song by English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released by Virgin on 24 June 1991 as the second single from their eighth studio album, Sugar Tax (1991). The song, which deals with the less glamorous side of celebrity, was inspired by silent film actress Louise Brooks and is named after the 1929 film Pandora’s Box in which she starred.

The single was a top-10 hit in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe. In the United States, the song was a top-twenty dance hit reaching #11 on the Billboard Dance Chart.

Andy McCluskey wrote “Pandora’s Box” about the silent film actress Louise Brooks. He told the Edinburgh Evening News in 1991, “I’ve been fascinated by her for eight or nine years now. The more I learned the more fascinated I became. [She’s] absolutely the sort of woman you’d fall in love with on first sight and absolutely the sort of person that you desperately shouldn’t go anywhere near.

The music video for “Pandora’s Box” is in black and white and features Louise Brooks and singer Andy McCluskey. According to the video intro, all of the scenes of Brooks in the video are from the original 1929 film.

SIDE A:
A1 – Pandora’s Box (It’s A Long, Long Way) (Diesel Fingers Mix) 6:10
Edited By [Editing By] – Eric “Moe” Rosenberg
Engineer [Engineered By] – Kennan Keating
Keyboards [Additional Keyboards By] – Joey Moskowitz
Producer [Additional Production By], Remix [Remix By] – Carl Segal

A2 – Pandora’s Box (It’s A Long, Long Way) (Abstract Mix) 6:35
Arranged By [Brass Arranged By] – Snake Davis
Guitar [Guitar By] – John Themis
Mixed By – Paul WrightSteve Anderson
Remix [Remix By], Producer [Post Production By], Keyboards [Keyboards By] – Steve Anderson
Saxophone [Sax By] – Snake Davis
Trumpet [Trumpet By] – John Thirkell

SIDE B:
B1 – Pandora’s Box (It’s A Long, Long Way) (Constant Pressure 12″) 4:39
Mixed By – Dani GriffithsGuy Forrester

B2 – Pandora’s Box (It’s A Long, Long Way) (Prize Of Beauty Mix) 5:35
Arranged By [Brass Arranged By] – Snake Davis
Guitar [Guitar By] – John Themis
Mixed By – Paul WrightSteve Anderson
Remix [Remix By], Producer [Post Production By], Keyboards [Keyboards By] – Steve Anderson
Saxophone [Sax By] – Snake Davis
Trumpet [Trumpet By] – John Thirkell

B3 – Sugar Tax 4:05
Mixed By – Guy Forrester

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1991 Pandora’s Box (It’s A Long, Long Way) U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music / Club Play #11
1991 Pandora’s Box (It’s A Long, Long Way) U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music / Maxi-Singles Sales #25
1991 Pandora’s Box (It’s A Long, Long Way) U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks #19

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Virgin Records America, Inc. – 0-96338, Virgin – 0-96338
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1991
Genre: Electronic
Style: House, Euro House, Synth-pop

CREDITS:

NOTES:
From the album “SUGAR TAX”

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus:  Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp:
Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
DAC:
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:
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

**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!


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Joe
Joe
August 11, 2024 6:43 am

Thank you!

Martika
Martika
August 8, 2024 9:50 pm

And here’s another remix I have never heard, even though I love the original single! Thank you so much, Paul!

Jon
Jon
August 8, 2024 3:00 pm

Had this CD Maxi back in the day and it’s so great to hear more mixes! (And have the cover scans!) You are pressing all my nostalgic happy buttons this week. Thank you.

Marco
Marco
August 8, 2024 4:06 am

Great single by OMD and these versions by Steve Anderson are my favourites. I have some of the mixes on various CD single issues, but not all of them.

Thanks Paul 🙂

Last edited 3 months ago by Marco
Andrew
Andrew
August 7, 2024 11:37 pm

Thank you, Paul. I always liked these mixes.

Martin
Martin
August 7, 2024 4:46 pm

By strange coincidence OMD today regretfully had to announce the cancellation of their US tour just about to start for “health reasons”. Hopefully nothing serious and they can reschedule soon. Saw them a few years ago in Stockholm and I can recommend seeing them live if you have the chance.

Retro Hound
Retro Hound
August 7, 2024 4:28 pm

I wasn’t aware of this as I lost track of OMD after the 80s, but it’s a nice addition to their collection! Thank you Paul for your meticulous as always transfer!!

Grant
Grant
August 7, 2024 4:19 pm

Thanks very much for this Paul!

Jeff
Jeff
August 7, 2024 3:19 pm

And here we have another fantastic OMD 12-inch from you, Paul!! You are spoiling us!! I am so enamored with this band and its music and you giving us these marvelous dance versions means so much!!

Louise Brooks is so lovely and gorgeous. I have been getting into silent films as of late, so I need to see this classic film. I discover so much through the songs you post, Paul, and I find it fun getting to know the subject that an artist commemorates in a music song and/or video clip.

Major thanks!!

Jeff

Nacho
Nacho
August 7, 2024 3:14 pm

Maravilloso DJ Paul ….. GRAAACIASSSSS ME ENCANTA O.M.D.
Saludos desde Ecuador …..

Goodguy
Goodguy
August 7, 2024 1:36 pm

Thank you Paul!

Goodguy
Goodguy
Reply to  Goodguy
August 7, 2024 1:37 pm

A shame Speed Of Light wasn’t a single, btw!

ING
ING
August 7, 2024 12:33 pm

Love this album and the next one. 2 mixes here that I don’t believe are on the CD singles I have so super cool! Side note: the b-side here is the title track that did not appear in the album! Crazy! Thanks again for another awesome post!

Song_and_Dance
Song_and_Dance
August 7, 2024 12:23 pm

Great song from a great album imho. I love the Diesel Fingers remix – I know, I´m probably the only one around here. 🙂 Fun fact as a side note: “Pandora´s BOX” should actually be “Pandora´s JAR”. This mistake is based on a mis-translation by Erasmus of Rotterdam. I thought you´d like to know 😉 “Pandora´s BOX” sounds better anyway.

Jeff
Jeff
Reply to  Song_and_Dance
August 7, 2024 3:24 pm

Song_and_Dance!!!

Again, I’m so thrilled by your appearances here on BTG with your comments. I have sorely missed you here!! Anyway, this really is a fun fact. Thanks for this kind of trivia. I’m looking forward to hearing this 12-inch because I only know the album/single versions.

Have a great day!

Jeff