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

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 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

September 21, 2016

Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance (Extended Club Mix) (Europe 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982

“The Safety Dance” is a song by Canadian new wave band Men Without Hats, released in Canada in 1983 as the second single from Rhythm of Youth. The song was written by lead singer Ivan Doroschuk after he had been kicked out of a club for pogoing.

The song entered the Canadian top 50 in February 1983, peaking at no. 11 on 14 May. In the meantime, “The Safety Dance” was released in the US on March 16, but did not enter the US charts for a few months. When it finally did, the record became a bigger hit than it had been in Canada, peaking at no. 3 in September 1983. It also reached no. 1 on Cash Box, as well as no. 1 on the Billboard Dance Chart. “The Safety Dance” similarly found success in other parts of the world, entering the UK charts in August and peaking at no. 6 in early November, and entering the New Zealand charts in November, eventually peaking at no. 2 in early 1984.

The writer/lead singer, Ivan Doroschuk, has explained that “The Safety Dance” is a protest against bouncers stopping dancers pogoing to 1980s new wave music in clubs when disco was dying and new wave was up and coming. New wave dancing, especially pogoing, was different from disco dancing, because it was done individually instead of with partners and involved holding the torso rigid and thrashing about. To uninformed bystanders this could look dangerous, especially if pogoers accidentally bounced into one another (the more deliberately violent evolution of pogoing is slamdancing). The bouncers did not like pogoing so they would tell pogoers to stop or be kicked out of the club. Thus, the song is a protest and a call for freedom of expression.

Doroschuk responded to two common interpretations of the song. Firstly, he notes it is not a call for safe sex. Doroschuk says that is reading too much into the lyrics. Secondly, he explained that it is not an anti-nuclear protest song per se despite the nuclear imagery at the end of the video. Doroschuk stated that “it wasn’t a question of just being anti-nuclear, it was a question of being anti-establishment.”

SIDE A:
The Safety Dance (Extended Club Mix) 4:34

SIDE B:
I Got The Message 4:45
Antarctica 3:29

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1982	The Safety Dance	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#3
1982	The Safety Dance	U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	#21
1982	The Safety Dance	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Statik Records ‎– 600 881, Virgin ‎– 600 881
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Europe
Released: 1982
Genre: Electronic
Style: New Wave, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Design [Graphics] – B.Wear (at A.S.)*
Producer – Marc Durand
Written-By – Ivan*

NOTES:
Get the superb debut album “RHYTHM OF YOUTH” out now.

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

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