ABC – When Smokey Sings (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1987

“When Smokey Sings” is a song by English band ABC, released as the first single from their fourth studio album, Alphabet City (1987). The lyrics and title of the song are a tribute to R&B and soul singer Smokey Robinson. In the United States, Robinson himself was on the Billboard 100 pop chart with his single “One Heartbeat” at the same time as this tribute song; for the week ending 3 October 1987, both songs were in the Billboard Top 10 simultaneously.

“When Smokey Sings” and its B-side, “Chicago” also topped the Hot Dance Club Play chart. The song reached No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart and proved to be their second American Top 10 hit, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. There is a slight difference in the lyrics between the album and single version in the bridge of the song.

In the album version, references are made to “Luther”, “Sly”, “James”, and “Marvin” (most likely referring to Luther Vandross, Sly Stone, James Brown, and Marvin Gaye, respectively). In the single version, this is replaced by alternate lyrics, followed by a short saxophone solo.

Pitchfork Media was favorable for the Miami Mix, saying “can you fuck with…the proto–freestyle of the “Miami mix” of ABC’s “When Smokey Sings”?…No, of course, you cannot.”

The bass line of the song is a homage to Robinson’s composition, “The Tears of a Clown.” Smokey Robinson himself praised the song, saying, “Well, of course, that’s a form of flattery, and I really appreciate it.”

SIDE A:
When Smokey Sings (Miami Mix) 7:03
Mixed By – Phil “Mixmaster” Harding*

Chicago (Parts I & II) 6:37
Mixed By – Julian Mendelsohn

SIDE B:
When Smokey Sings (7″ Version) 4:23
Mixed By –Julian Mendelsohn

When Smokey Sings (Bonus Beats) 4:39
Mixed By – Phil “Mixmaster” Harding*

When Smokey Sings (Detroit Mix) 6:45
Mixed By – Julian Mendelsohn

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1987	When Smokey Sings	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#5
1987	When Smokey Sings	U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	#2
1987	When Smokey Sings	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#1
1987	When Smokey Sings	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	#8

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Mercury ‎– 888 726-1
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Single, Promo
Country: US
Released: 1987
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Engineer – Martyn Webster (tracks: A1, B1 to B3)
Producer – Bernard Edwards (tracks: A1, B1 to B3), Mark White, Martin Fry
Written-By – Mark White, Martin Fry

NOTES:
From the forthcoming Mercury album “Alphabet City”

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

Username: btg
Password: burningtheground

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.

March 10, 2020

Fine Young Cannibals – Good Thing (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1988

“Good Thing” is a song recorded by Fine Young Cannibals, the second single from their album from 1989, The Raw & the Cooked. The song was their second and most recent U.S. #1, topping the Billboard Hot 100 on 8 July 1989. It also peaked at #7 on the UK Singles Chart.

The song made its first appearance in Tin Men (1987). Fine Young Cannibals portrayed a nightclub band in the movie, performing this song and three others (including the single’s b-side “Social Security”). The film is set in Baltimore in 1963, and the song’s retro-soul style is consistent with that setting.

Jools Holland played piano on the track, noting that it was “one of the biggest selling records I’ve ever played on”.

SIDE A:
Good Thing (Nothing Like The Single Mix) 4:38

SIDE B:
Good Thing (7″ Mix) 3:33
Good Thing (Nothing Like The Single Mix – Instrumental) 4:38

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1989	Good Thing	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#1
1989	Good Thing	U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	#12
1989	Good Thing	U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	#2
1989	Good Thing	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#20

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: London Records ‎– LONX 218, London Records ‎– 886 531-1
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: UK
Released: Apr 1989
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Pop
Style: Breakbeat, Pop Rock, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Design [Sleeve Design] – Martin Jenkins (5)
Producer – Cox*, Steele*, Gift*
Written-By – Steele*, Gift*

NOTES:
“GOOD THING” is taken from the LP “THE RAW & THE COOKED”
Made In England

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

Username: btg
Password: burningtheground

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.

March 9, 2020

Eurythmics – Never Gonna Cry Again (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1981

NEW 2020 Transfer!
Meticulously Remastered!

Originally posted: October 16, 2012

“Never Gonna Cry Again” was the debut single release from Eurythmics, taken from their debut album In the Garden. It achieved little commercial success, only #63 in the UK, especially compared to Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart’s previous hits with The Tourists.

The single release was accompanied by Eurythmics first music video, a medium for which they would later receive notable acclaim. As of 2007, the “Never Gonna Cry Again” video remains commercially unavailable, though it is available on YouTube. Also, stills from it were used for the sleeve art of the In The Garden album, and footage from it can also be seen during the song “Jennifer” on the Sweet Dreams video album. The music video features Lennox walking about on a beach in a red dress.

The sleeve design featured an eerie picture of Lennox made up to look like a gargoyle.

Co-produced by respected krautrock producer Conny Plank, the recordings also featured two members of krautrock band Can.

Musically, “Never Gonna Cry Again” is a moody, melancholic, minor-key number. It is notable for containing a flute solo performed by Annie Lennox, one of the few times that Lennox was to use the instrument in her pop career, despite having studied it at the prestigious Royal College of Music in London. The song also is based around a reggae style bassline, a musical trait that numerous new wave bands experimented with at the time.

The single’s B-side, “Le Sinistre”, is an experimental piece, featuring musical arrangements similar to those used in horror film scores.

SIDE A:
Never Gonna Cry Again 3:03

SIDE B:
Le Sinistre 2:43

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: RCA – RCAT 68
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: Jun 1981
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: New Wave, Synth-pop, Experimental

CREDITS:
Drums – Jaki Liebezeit
French Horn – Holger Czukay
Producer – Conny Plank, Eurythmics
Recorded At – Conny’s Studio
Mixed At – Conny’s Studio

NOTES:
“Recorded at Conny’s studio 2nd-6th January 1981. Mixed at Conny’s 30th March-2nd April 1981 … Visitations by Les Vampirettes”

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

Username: btg
Password: burningtheground

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.

March 6, 2020

Brother Beyond – The Harder I Try (Germany 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1988

“The Harder I Try” is a single by British boyband Brother Beyond. It was released in 1988 and is considered their breakthrough single.

In 1988, top British producers Stock Aitken & Waterman auctioned off their services for the Young Variety Club of Great Britain charity. Label EMI won the auction, and British boyband Brother Beyond was selected by Pete Waterman to be produced by the trio. The group had met Waterman previously and the producer liked the band.

Brother Beyond was by then a struggling pop act, with their first four singles only making the lower reaches of the UK top 75 singles chart. EMI saw this as their much-needed breakthrough and agreed with Waterman on producing the group.

The resulting song, “The Harder I Try”, had a distinctive Motown-esque sound, and sampled the drum intro to The Isley Brothers’ “This Old Heart of Mine”. When released in July 1988, it became an instant success, peaking at #2 in the UK for two weeks, becoming the band’s best-selling single. The song was kept off from the top spot by Yazz’s “The Only Way Is Up” in the first week and by Phil Collins’ “A Groovy Kind of Love” in the second week. The single topped the Irish charts and was mildly successful when released worldwide.

As a result, of the group’s success with the song, EMI asked the producers to write and produce another track for the band, resulting in the song “He Ain’t No Competition”, a song that again featured a Motown sound. It was released as the band’s next single and it became another big hit for the group, peaking at #6.

Brother Beyond’s album Get Even had by the time of the release of the single already been released in Japan. It was repackaged for its release in the rest of the world, including the two Stock Aitken & Waterman-produced tracks, and omitting two of the band’s self-penned songs from the original release. This version was released in November 1988, and the album was also a top 10 hit.

SIDE A:
The Harder I Try (Extended) 6:07
Engineer – Mark McGuire
Mixed By – Mixmaster Pete Hammond*
Producer, Written-By – Stock/Aitken/Waterman*

SIDE B:
Remember Me (Extended) 6:48
Engineer, Mixed By – Kenny Jones (3)
Producer, Mixed By –Brother Beyond

The Harder I Try (Instrumental) 3:45
Engineer – Mark McGuire
Mixed By – Mixmaster Pete Hammond*
Producer, Written-By – Stock/Aitken/Waterman*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Parlophone ‎– 060 20 2792 6, Parlophone ‎– 20 2792 6
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Germany
Released: 1988
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

NOTES:
Made in EEC
Printed in Holland

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

Username: btg
Password: burningtheground

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.