Dead Or Alive – Lover Come Back To Me (Japan 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1985

“Lover Come Back to Me” is a 1985 single by Dead or Alive, produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. It was taken from the band’s second album, Youthquake, and the single mix features slightly different instrumentation to the album version but is generally the same. The single peaked at #11 in the UK, #3 in South Africa, #21 in Germany, #13 in Australia and #75 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The B-side to the single was “Far Too Hard”, a song from the band’s first album.

The single generally received positive reviews, being described as “appealing” by Ira Robbins while Ned Raggett of Allmusic said, “When Burns commands at the end of the chorus, ‘Kick it right down, right down!’ it’s as memorable as mass media pop of any stripe ever gets.”

As a bonus track I have included the “7” Bonus Mix” which I lifted from the U.S. 12″.

SIDE A:
Lover Come Back To Me (Extended Version) 5:23
Directed By [Director] – Mike Stock & Matt Aitken*

SIDE B:
Lover Come Back To Me (Extended Remix) 5:47
Remix – Zeus B. Held

Far Too Hard 4:33
Mixed By – Tim Palmer
Producer – Zeus B. Held
Written-By – Percy*, Burns*, Hussey*

Lover Come Back To Me (7″ Bonus Mix) 3:20
Directed By [Director] – Mike Stock & Matt Aitken*
Written-By – Dead Or Alive

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1985	Lover Come Back To Me	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#75
1985	Lover Come Back To Me	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#13

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Epic/Sony ‎– 12・3P-659
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Japan
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Producer – Stock, Aitken & Waterman (tracks: A, B1)
Written-By – Dead Or Alive (tracks: A, B1)

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

July 14, 2016

Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Relax (U.S. Mix) (Europe 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984

“Relax” is the debut single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the United Kingdom by ZTT Records in 1983. The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome (1984).

Although fairly inauspicious upon initial release, “Relax” finally reached number one on the UK singles chart on 24 January 1984, ultimately becoming one of the most controversial and most commercially successful records of the decade. The single eventually sold a reported 2 million copies in the UK alone, making it the seventh best-selling single in the UK Singles Chart’s history. Following the release of the group’s second single, “Two Tribes”, “Relax” rallied from a declining UK chart position during June 1984 to climb back up the UK charts and re-attain number-two spot behind “Two Tribes” at number one, representing simultaneous chart success by a single act, unprecedented since the early 1960s.

Upon release in the United States in late 1984, “Relax” repeated its slow UK progress, reaching number 67 upon initial release, but eventually reaching number 10 in March 1985.

The song won Best British Single at the 1985 Brit Awards.

On all of the original 12-inch releases, the B-side featured a cover of “Ferry ‘Cross the Mersey”, followed by a brief dialogue involving Rutherford attempting to sign on, and an a cappella version of the title track’s chorus, segueing into an instrumental version of “Relax”, known as “From Soft to Hard”.

SIDE A:
Relax (U.S. Mix) 7:24
Producer – Trevor Horn
Written-By – Johnson*, O’Toole*, Gill*

SIDE B:
Ferry Cross The Mersey 4:07
Written-By – Marsden*

Relax (From Soft To Hard) 4:34
Producer – Trevor Horn
Written-By – Johnson*, O’Toole*, Gill*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1984	Relax	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#10
1984	Relax	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#20
1984	Relax	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	#26

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Island Records ‎– 601 096, Island Records ‎– 601 096-213
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Misprint
Country: Europe
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Bass – Mark O’Toole
Drum – Peter Gill
Guitar – Brian Nash
Illustration [Cover Illustration], Photography By – Anne Yvonne Gilbert
Photography By [Group] – John Stoddart (2)
Sleeve – XLZTT
Vocals [One Voice] – Holly Johnson
Vocals [Two Voice] – Paul Rutherford

NOTES:
The A-side label is misprinted Sex Mix (8:20) but the A-side actually plays the U.S. Mix (7:25).

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

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

July 13, 2016

Berlin – Sex (I’m A…) (Australasia 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983

12 Inches of “Sex…”

“Sex (I’m A…)” is a song by the American band Berlin from their second album Pleasure Victim. The song was co-written by group members John Crawford, Terri Nunn and David Diamond and sung as a duet by Crawford and Nunn.

Released as the album’s second single in February 1983, the single became a cult hit on American radio and brought the group into the mainstream. Despite the significant attention, the song’s racy lyrics resulted in it being banned from several radio stations. Perhaps because of this, the single ultimately peaked at No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in late March and early April 1983.The song was also the first single release from the band’s new label, Geffen Records.

As a bonus I have included the “Instrumental Version” which I lifted from the U.S. 12″ promo.

SIDE A:
Sex (I’m A…) (Extended 12″ Version) 8:06
Remix – DVP (2), The Maomen
Written-By – Diamond*, Nunn*

SIDE B:
The Metro 4:11
Sex (I’m A…) (Instrumental) 5:08

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1983	Sex (I’m A…)	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#62
1983	Sex (I’m A…)	U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	#10
1983	Sex (I’m A…)	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#8

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Mercury ‎– 812 571-1, M.A.O. Records ‎– 812 571-1
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Australasia
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic
Style: New Wave, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Producer – Daniel R. van Patten*
Written-By – Crawford*

NOTES:
Manufactured in Australasia.

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

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

July 12, 2016

DAF – Brothers (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1985

“Brothers” is a 1985 single by influential German electropunk project DAF (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft). The song was taken from their seventh album 1st Step to Heaven released in 1986.The single charted at #23 in the Flanders region of Belgium.

SIDE A:
Brothers (Robert Gabi’s Mix) 7:14
Remix – Gabi Delgado

SIDE B:
Brothers (Mike Hedge’s Mix) 5:05
Remix – Mike Hedges

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Illuminated Records ‎– 12 LEV 65
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Artwork – Eddie Ernst*
Engineer – Tom Thiel
Performer, Producer, Arranged By – Gabi Delgado, Robert Görl
Photography By – Iain McKell
Producer – DAF*
Written-By – Delgado-Lopez*, Görl*

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

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