Bobby Brown – Don’t Be Cruel (Extended Version) (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1988

“Don’t Be Cruel” is a song recorded by American singer Bobby Brown. Taken from his second and most successful album as its title track, the song was written and produced by the songwriting and production duo Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Antonio “L.A.” Reid, with additional writing by Daryl Simmons.

“Don’t Be Cruel” was Brown’s second single to reach the top position of the R&B chart where it remained for two weeks. As a pop crossover, it rose from number 59 to number 49, on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the week of August 13, 1988, but it took two months to finally peak at number eight the week of October 15, 1988.

The music video was filmed in Boston in May 1988. It is similar to Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel”, in which a man eagerly pursues the love of a lady on a blue-lit city street.

SIDE A:
Don’t Be Cruel (Extended Version) 6:50

SIDE B:
Don’t Be Cruel (Dub) 5:32
Don’t Be Cruel (A Cappella) 3:22

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1988	Don’t Be Cruel	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#8
1988	Don’t Be Cruel	U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	#1
1988	Don’t Be Cruel	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#6

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: MCA Records ‎– MCA-23861
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Hip Hop, Pop
Style: RnB/Swing

CREDITS:
Executive-Producer – Louil Silas Jr.
Photography By – Todd Gray
Producer – L.A. & Babyface

NOTES:
Original version appears on MCA LP, “DON’T BE CRUEL”

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, 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

October 2, 2019

Madonna – La Isla Bonita (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1987

“La Isla Bonita” (Spanish pronunciation: [la ˈizla βoˈnita]; English: “The Beautiful Island”) is a song by American singer Madonna from her third studio album True Blue (1986). She and Patrick Leonard co-wrote and co-produced the song, and Bruce Gaitsch provided additional songwriting. Sire Records released it as the album’s final single on February 25, 1987. The instrumental version of the song was first offered to Michael Jackson before Madonna both accepted it and wrote the lyrics and melody. “La Isla Bonita” is noted for being the first Madonna song to contain Latino influences, with arrangements of Cuban drums and Spanish guitar, maracas, harmonicas and a mix of synthesized and real drumming. The lyrics of the song tell about a “beautiful island” and according to Madonna, was a tribute to the beauty of the Latinos.

Following its release, “La Isla Bonita” received a positive reception from critics. It also became Madonna’s fourth number-one single in the United Kingdom, giving her the record for most number-one singles for a female artist. The track additionally topped the charts in Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, and Switzerland while reaching the top five in Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United States.

SIDE A:
La Isla Bonita (Extended Remix) 5:24

SIDE B:
La Isla Bonita (Instrumental) 5:18

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1987	La Isla Bonita	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#4
1987	La Isla Bonita	U.S. Billboard Adult ContemporayTracks	#1
1987	La Isla Bonita	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#10

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Sire ‎– 0-20633, Sire ‎– 9 20633-0 A
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Maxi-Single
Country: US
Released: 1987
Genre: Electronic, Pop/Rock
Style: Latin, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Design –Jeri McManus Heiden
Photography By – Herb Ritts
Producer – Madonna, Patrick Leonard
Remix – Chris Lord-Alge
Written-By – Bruce Gaitsch, Madonna, Pat Leonard*

NOTES:
Original version on the Madonna album “True Blue”

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
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.

October 1, 2019

Prince – Batdance (The Batmix) (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1989

“Batdance” is the ninth and final track on Prince’s eleventh album Batman (the motion picture soundtrack to the Tim Burton film Batman), and, two weeks prior to the album’s release, Batdance was released as the album’s first single, becoming Prince’s fourth number-one hit, and his first to achieve the feat of topping all 3 American charts since “Kiss” in 1986.

The B-side is “200 Balloons”, which was recorded for the film and serves as the musical blueprint for the main portion of “Batdance”. The song was rejected for the film by Tim Burton and replaced with “Trust”. The lyrics of “200 Balloons” reference the scene which it was created for to a greater degree than the replacement track, which is only connected to the scene by the Joker asking “Who do you trust?” after the song ends. Prince did little more than replace the lyrics of “200 Balloons” in its transition into “Batdance”. Only musical portions survived the transition, but full lyrics showed up in “The Batmix” (turn your head to the east, I be coming from the west). “200 Balloons” also contains samples of “House in Order” and “Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic”; the latter was another song submitted for inclusion in the movie, but rejected (it was replaced by “Partyman”).

SIDE A:
Batdance (The Batmix) 7:16
Producer [Additional Production], Remix – Mark Moore, William Orbit

SIDE B:
Batdance (Vicki Vale™ Mix Mix) 5:55
Producer [Additional Production], Remix – Mark Moore, William Orbit

200 Balloons 5:07

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1989	Batdance	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#1
1989	Batdance	U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	#1
1989	Batdance	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Warner Bros. Records ‎– 9 21257-0, Warner Bros. Records ‎– 0-21257
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Maxi-Single
Country: US
Released: 1989
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Funk / Soul
Style: House, Pop Rock, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Producer, Arranged By, Composed By, Performer – Prince

NOTES:
Original version of “Batdance” available on the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Soundtrack album BATMAN,™ a Warner Bros. Film.

Made in U.S.A.

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
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.

September 30, 2019

Stacey Q – We Connect (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986

“We Connect” is a song by American singer Stacey Q. It was released on November 28, 1986 as the second single from her debut studio album, Better Than Heaven, by Atlantic Records. Written by Willie Wilcox and produced by Jon St. James, the song was a follow-up to her hit single “Two of Hearts”. It matched its predecessor’s top position on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart but was less successful in pop charts, peaking at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 14 on the Hot Dance Club Songs.

“We Connect” was promoted on the television series The Facts of Life in the episode “A Star is Torn” in which Stacey Q portrayed the role of Cinnamon. “We Connect” was issued as a single release in several territories where “Two of Hearts” had been a hit with impact evident only in Australia where “We Connect” matched the #7 peak of “Two of Hearts”.

SIDE A:
We Connect (European Mix) 7:32

SIDE B:
We Connect (Dance Radio Edit) 5:07
We Connect (Instrumental/Safari Mix) 5:27

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1986	We Connect	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#35
1986	We Connect	U.S. Billboard Hot dance Music/Club Play	#14
1986	We Connect	U.S. Billboard Hot dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	#1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Atlantic ‎– 0-86757
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Drums [Drum Systems], Programmed By [Synth] – Karl Moet
Guitar [Guitar Systems] – Rusty Anderson
Keyboards [Keyboard Systems] – Jon St. James, Rich West, Skip Hahn
Mastered By – D.K.*
Music By –SSQ
Other [Stacey’s Hairdresser] – Danny Medellin
Photography By – Aaron Rapoport
Producer –Jon St. James
Producer [Associate], Programmed By [Synth], Written-By – Willie Wilcox*

NOTES:
Special versions of Atlantic LP “BETTER THAN HEAVEN”

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
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.