Jody Watley – Don’t You Want Me (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1987

“Don’t You Want Me” is the third single from singer Jody Watley’s eponymous debut album. The song was produced by Bernard Edwards of Chic-fame and written by Jody Watley, Franne Golde and David Paul Bryant.

Watley’s previous single, “Still a Thrill,” fared well in dance and R&B markets, but less-so in the mainstream. This prompted her label, MCA, to go in a more pop-friendly direction. “Don’t You Want Me” was one of the biggest crossover singles for the year 1987, reaching top ten on the Billboard pop and R&B charts and becoming a number-one dance club hit.

“Don’t You Want Me” landed in the Top 40 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart the week of October 24, 1987, advancing from #56 to #40. The song reached #6 on December 19, 1987 and remained there for three consecutive weeks.

Internationally the single reched #55 U.K., #46 New Zealand and #24 Canada.

SIDE A:
Don’t You Want Me (Extended Mix) 6:48
Don’t You Want Me (A Cappella) 4:12

SIDE B:
Don’t You Want Me (Radio Edit) 4:17
Don’t You Want Me (Dub Version) 7:54

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1987	Don’t You Want Me	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#6
1987	Don’t You Want Me	U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles	#3
1987	Don’t You Want Me	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: MCA Records ‎– MCA-23785, MCA Records ‎– MCA 23785
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1987
Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Design – Lynn Robb
Management [Direction] – Bennett Freed Management
Mastered By – Herb Powers, Jr.*
Photography – Victoria Pearson
Producer – Bernard Edwards
Remix, Producer [Additional Production Assistant] – Dennis Mitchell
Remix, Producer [Additional Production] – Francois Kevorkian*, Michael Hutchinson
Written-By – D.P. Bryant*, F. Gold*, J. Watley*

NOTES:
Original version appears on the MCA LP, “JODY WATLEY”

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
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 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

September 27, 2016

Regina – Head On (US 12″ Promo)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986

Originally posted August 25, 2011

“Head On” was the third single released from the debut album Curiosity by American singer/songwriter Regina. The song only continued the Madonna sound-alike concept, and Regina became a one-hit act. The song failed to chart in the US.

SIDE A:
Head On (Vocal 12″ Mix) 6:16

SIDE B:
Head On (Vocal Dub Mix) 5:23
One Minute Of Head 1:16

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint (company)

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Atlantic ‎– 0-86733
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Executive Producer – Doug Breitbart
Mixed By – Chris Lord-Alge
Producer – Leslie Ming
Written-By – Regina Richards*

NOTES:
Original version appears on the LP “CURIOSITY”

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

September 26, 2016

Madonna – Angel/Into The Groove (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1985

“Angel” is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her second studio album Like a Virgin. It was released on April 10, 1985 by Sire Records as the third single from the album.

After its release, “Angel” debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 48 on the issue dated April 27, 1985, while her previous single “Crazy for You” was at number-two on the chart. After ten weeks, “Angel” reached a peak position of five on the chart. The song tied Madonna with Olivia Newton-John, as the female artist with the most consecutive top-five hits on the Hot 100 at that time. “Angel” debuted on the Adult Contemporary chart for the issue dated May 11, 1985, and reached a peak of five. The song debuted at number 40 on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart on June 1, 1985, and reached the top after three weeks. It also charted on a number of Billboard charts, such as reaching the top of the Hot Dance Singles Sales and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at position 71.

In the United States, due to similar problems with “Crazy for You” and “Material Girl” being released at the same time and competing with each other, it was decided against releasing “Into the Groove” as a 7″ single so it would not compete with “Angel”, the third single from the Like a Virgin. “Into the Groove” was eventually released as the B-side to the maxi-single of “Angel”, therefore it was ineligible to enter the Billboard Hot 100 or Hot Singles Sales charts. The song debuted at number 40 on Hot Dance Club Songs chart, as a double A-side with “Angel”, on the issue dated June 1, 1985. After four weeks, it reached the top of the chart and also reached number 19 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. “Into the Groove” is Madonna’s most played song on Billboard’s Recurrent Airplay Chart. On July 30, 1985, “Angel/Into the Groove” was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of one million copies across the US—the requirement for a gold single prior to 1989. It was the first 12-inch single to be certified gold since Frankie Smith’s “Double Dutch Bus” (1981). The song placed at number 12 on the Dance year-end charts and sold approximately 600,000 copies of the 12″; it also reached number-one on the Hot Dance Singles Sales chart.

SIDE A:
Angel (Extended Dance Mix) 6:11
Mixed By – James Farber
Producer, Mixed By – Nile Rodgers

SIDE B:
Into The Groove 4:42
Producer – Madonna, Steve Bray*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1985	Angel	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#5
1985	Angel	U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Tracks	#5
1985	Angel	U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Hip-Hop Singles	#71
1985	Angel/Into The Groove	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play	#1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Sire ‎– 0-20335, Sire ‎– 9 20335-0 A
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Maxi-Single, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Mastered By – Bill Kipper
Written-By – Madonna, Steve Bray*

NOTES:
A-side produced for Nile Rodgers Productions, Inc. Original version available on the Sire album Madonna – Like A Virgin.
B-side song from the Orion Motion Picture “Desperately Seeking Susan.”

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

September 22, 2016

Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982

“Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” is a song written and recorded by the British new wave band Culture Club. Released as a single in September 1982 from the group’s platinum-selling debut album Kissing to Be Clever, it was the band’s first UK #1 hit. In the United States, the single was released in November 1982 and also became a huge hit, reaching #2 for three weeks.

“Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” was the third single released in Europe by Culture Club and their debut release in the United States and Canada. The song was picked up by BBC Radio 2 and became a UK #1 single for three weeks in October 1982. The song entered the American Pop chart the week ending December 4, 1982. It hit #1 in Cash Box magazine and held at #2 for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March and April 1983 (kept from the #1 spot by Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”). The single achieved sales of 900,000 US copies and also hit #1 in Canada. It was also number one in Australia.

This was Culture Club’s first success, after their first two releases, “White Boy” and “I’m Afraid of Me” charted in the UK at #114 and #100 respectively. According to Boy George, it was their last chance to get an album deal.

The song rose rapidly in the UK charts after the group’s first appearance on Top of the Pops, which resulted in George’s androgynous style of dress and sexual ambiguity making newspaper headlines. The group were only asked to appear on Top of the Pops the night before the show, after Shakin’ Stevens pulled out.

In a retrospective review, Allmusic journalist Jose F. Promis described “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” as “a simple masterpiece, resonating with an ache that harked back to the classic torch songs of yesteryear.”

In 2007, Boy George said that the song was “not just about Culture Club’s drummer Jon Moss, my boyfriend at the time. It was about all the guys I dated at that time in my life.”

The B-side was a dub version featuring Pappa Weasel in many countries and “You Know I’m Not Crazy” on the US release. On the 12″ version of the record, the track “Love Is Cold (You Were Never No Good)” was also included.

SIDE A:
Do You Really Want To Hurt Me 4:22
Do You Really Want To Hurt Me (Dub Version) 3:39

SIDE B:
Love Is Cold (You Were Never No Good) 4:24

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1983	Do You Really Want To Hurt Me	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#2
1983	Do You Really Want To Hurt Me	U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles	#39
1983	Do You Really Want To Hurt Me	U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary	#8
1983	Do You Really Want To Hurt Me	U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	#21

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Virgin ‎– VS 518-12
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: Sep 1982
Genre: Reggae, Pop
Style: Reggae-Pop, Dub

CREDITS:
Bass – Michael Craig
Design [Cover] – Jik Graham
Drums, Percussion –Jon Moss
Engineer [Assistant Engineer] – Gordon Milne (tracks: A1, A2), Richard Lengyel (tracks: B1)
Featuring, Vocals [Additional Vocals] – Papa Weasel* (tracks: A2)
Guitar, Keyboards, Piano – Roy Hay
Mastered By – JA*
Mixed By – Jon Moss (tracks: A1, A2)
Photography By – Mark LeBon
Producer, Engineer, Mixed By – Steve Levine
Vocals – Boy George
Vocals [Additional Vocals] – Helen Terry
Written-By, Performer – Culture Club

NOTES:
The debut album “KISSING TO BE CLEVER”

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi