Hi guys,
I hope you are all doing well and beating the summer heat! Especially if you are in the USA. If it’s not hot where you are consider yourself lucky. I will be taking Summer Vacation starting today Saturday, July 15, and I should return on Tuesday, August 1. Please stay safe and keep an eye on the place while I am away.
Cheers
Love & Light
-DjPaulT
Burning The Ground Exclusive 1983
NEW 2023 Transfer
NEW Meticulous Audio Restoration
Originally posted March 18, 2014
“Bad Boys” is a song by English pop duo Wham! which was a hit in 1983. It was written and co-produced by George Michael, one half of the duo, and released on Innervision Records.
The song was an energetic but endearing tale of a rebellious teenage lad’s struggle against his parents who are concerned about his late-night activities. Although Michael wrote and sang it from the teenager’s perspective (he was himself only 19 when he composed it and the character refers to being that age in the song), he also penned a middle eight in which the “parents” (Michael putting on more “adult” voices) aired their concerns, which included late nights and cigarettes and ultimately asking, “Why do you have to be so cruel?”. Michael’s father was played by Anthony Souter who was 18 and made up to look older.
It was the third single to be taken from Wham!’s debut album, Fantastic, and reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart, going on to become the 26th best selling single of 1983. At the time, Wham! was projecting a hard, politically motivated image, with “Bad Boys” one of a number of songs projecting a stance of mood and youthful independence, a “soul boy – dole boy” theme. The single was also released in the United States, peaking at number 60. It was the duo’s first time on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, although they were listed as Wham!-UK.
“Bad Boys” became the biggest hit from the debut album, although it would be usurped by “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” from the album Make It Big in 1984, which became the first of four UK number-one singles the duo would enjoy. Michael quickly denounced “Bad Boys” as a song he hated, stating it was “like an albatross round my neck”. The song was famously omitted from the 1997 compilation album The Best of Wham!: If You Were There…, despite the album including tracks that were not released as singles.
Also of note the 12″ Mix was omitted from the 2023 The Singles (Echoes From The Edge Of Heaven) CD single box set.
SIDE A:
Bad Boys (12″ Mix) 4:58
SIDE B:
Bad Boys (Instrumental) 3:25
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Bad Boys | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #60 |
| 1983 | Bad Boys | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #28 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Columbia – 44-03933, Innervision Records (2) – 44-03933
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Single
Country: US
Released: 1983
Genre: Pop/Rock
Style: Pop/Rock, Synth-pop
CREDITS:
NOTES:
Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Pitman
Mastered At – Sterling Sound
Mastered At – Customatrix
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!
Password: burningtheground
You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.
Burning The Ground Exclusive 1985
“All She Wants to Do Is Dance” is a song written by Danny Kortchmar and performed by Don Henley, co-lead vocalist and drummer for Eagles. It was released as the second single from Henley’s second studio solo album, Building the Perfect Beast (1984), and was Henley’s sixth solo single overall. It was one of Henley’s most commercially successful singles, peaking at No. 9 on Billboard Hot 100 and also became his third song to top the Top Rock Tracks chart.
The song critiques the US intervention in Central America, particularly in the then-ongoing Contra War, in which the Reagan administration funded the right-wing rebel group Contras to overthrow the socialist Sandinista National Liberation Front government in Nicaragua.
Backing vocals for the song was provided by Patty Smyth of the band Scandal, and Martha Davis, lead singer of the Motels.
When Kortchmar was asked about the song, he said, “I had the groove and the music going. That record was made back when the technology had just started to really take over in music. I had one of the first Yamaha DX7s, which was a keyboard that was used a ton in the ’80s, but we ended up luckily getting one of the first ones in the United States. It’s a synthesizer keyboard, and I used it to get that sound that you hear the record starting with.”
** As a BONUS TRACK I have included the “Remix Edit” which was taken from the U.S. 12″ Promo.
SIDE A:
All She Wants To Do Is Dance (Extended Dance Remix) 7:36
SIDE B:
All She Wants To Do Is Dance (Dubb Remix) 5:15
BONUS TRACK:
All She Wants To Do Is Dance (Remix Edit)** 4:29
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | All She Wants To Do Is Dance | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #9 |
| 1985 | All She Wants To Do Is Dance | U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | #1 |
| 1985 | All She Wants To Do Is Dance | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #10 |
| 1985 | All She Wants To Do Is Dance | U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles | #65 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Geffen Records – 9 20314-0 A, Geffen Records – 0-20314
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Maxi-Single, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1985
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Pop Rock
CREDITS:
NOTES:
Original version available on the Geffen album Building The Perfect Beast
Made in USA.
The cover art says
Don Henley: All She Wants To Do Is Dance.
Don Henley: Ella solo quiere bailar.
Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS
Buy the 12″ Promo 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!
Password: burningtheground
You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.
Burning The Ground Exclusive 1985
“We Built This City” is a 1985 song by American rock band Starship, the debut single from the album Knee Deep in the Hoopla. It was written by English musicians Martin Page and Bernie Taupin, who were both living in Los Angeles at the time and was originally intended as a lament against the closure of many of that city’s live music clubs.
The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Outside the United States, “We Built This City” topped the charts in Australia and Canada, peaked inside the top 10 of the charts in Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, and Switzerland, the top 20 on the charts in Belgium, New Zealand and the United Kingdom and the top 30 of the charts in Austria and the Netherlands.
The song has gained significant scorn, both for the inscrutability of its lyrics (notably the line “Marconi plays the mamba”), and for the contrast between the song’s anti-corporate message and its polished, “corporate rock” sound. It topped a 2011 Rolling Stone poll of worst songs of the 1980s by a wide margin, and the magazine’s Blender and GQ both called it the worst song of all time.
Billboard said that this “unusual rock ‘n’ roll anthem is as wise as it is rebellious.” Cash Box called it “an ear-catching tune” and described it as “dance rock with sharp hooks.”
“We Built This City” received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group in 1986.
The song was engineered by producer Bill Bottrell, written by Bernie Taupin, Martin Page, Dennis Lambert, and Peter Wolf, and arranged by Bottrell and Jasun Martz. The song was based on a demo by Page and Taupin with a darker feel and based on how clubs were dying in Los Angeles, leaving live performers without work. Wolf reworked the song’s arrangement with a more upbeat tone.
The song features Mickey Thomas and Grace Slick sharing lead vocals. MTV executive and former DJ Les Garland provided the DJ voiceover during the song’s bridge. Additionally, some radio stations, with the help of jingle company JAM Creative Productions, inserted their own opening lines to promote their stations.
SIDE A:
We Built This City (Special Club Mix) 7:00
Remix – Victor Flores
Written-By – Bernie Taupin, Dennis Lambert, Martin Page, Peter Wolf (3)
SIDE B:
We Built This City 4:51
Remix – Bill Bottrell
Private Room (Instrumental) 4:55
Written-By – Craig Chaquico, Mickey Thomas
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | We Built This City | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #1 |
| 1985 | We Built This City | U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | #37 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: RCA – FT 49930
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: UK
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Pop Rock, Synth-pop
CREDITS:
NOTES:
From the New Starship Album
Manufactured in England.
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!
Password: burningtheground
You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.
