The Escape Club – Wild, Wild West (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1988

Originally posted March 25, 2010

“Wild, Wild West” is a song by The Escape Club from their similarly named debut album, Wild Wild West. The single hit the charts in late 1988 eventually reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of November 12, 1988, making The Escape Club the only British artist to have a No. 1 hit in America while never charting in the UK.

The lyrics, with phrases such as “I love her eyes and her wild, wild hair,” “heading for the ’90s, living in the wild, wild west,” are augmented with gunshot, laser and blaster sound effects. Critics have noted that portions of the song bore a strong similarity to Elvis Costello’s “Pump It Up” due to the distinct drum beat and vocal patterns during the verses.

The music video is noted for using mirror imaging of actors to give the illusion of disembodied arms and legs.

In 1989, Wally Wingert parodied it on the Dr. Demento radio show as “Adam West,” in response to the casting of Michael Keaton as the title character for that year’s Batman film.

I added as bonus tracks the “Artillery Mix” and “Bacapella” which I lifted from the US 12″ promo these versions are exclusive to this release. “We Can Run” is a non-lp track.

SIDE A:
Wild, Wild West (Dance Mix) 7:54
Wild, Wild West (Single Edit) 3:59

SIDE B:
Wild, Wild West (Wild, Wild Dub Club) 7:20
We Can Run 3:40

BONUS TRACKS:
Wild, Wild West (Artillery Mix) 5:58
Wild, Wild West (Bacapella) 5:45

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1988	Wild, Wild West	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#1
1988	Wild, Wild West	U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	#3
1988	Wild, Wild West	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#36

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Atlantic ‎– 0-86544
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Pop
Style: Pop Rock, Dance-pop

CREDITS:
Design, Art Direction – Stylorouge
Engineer – Gary Hellman
Management – Paddy Spinks*, Tony Smith (13)
Photography By – Nels Israelson
Producer – Chris Kimsey
Producer [Additional], Mixed By, Edited By – John Luongo
Written-By – The Escape Club

NOTES:
Also available the LP “Wild Wild West”

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

June 21, 2016

Boxcar – Freemason (You Broke The Promise) (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1988

“Freemason (You Broke The Promise)” is a song by Australian synth-pop band Boxcar. They rose to prominence after releasing the single “Freemason (You Broke The Promise)” in 1988 after signing with Volition Records, and hit number 8 in the United States Billboard dance music chart. Initially criticized in the local press for being derivative of New Order they nevertheless built a local following, despite a lack of commercial radio airplay for electronic music.

In 1990 the band released their debut album Vertigo. A round of live dates and tours followed including supports for New Order, Depeche Mode, Erasure and Pet Shop Boys.

SIDE A:
Freemason (You Broke The Promise) (Shakedown Mix) 5:59
Edited By – Omar Santana
Remix – Arthur Baker

Freemason (You Broke The Promise) (Free Dub) 6:45
Edited By – Omar Santana
Remix – Arthur Baker

SIDE B:
Freemason (You Broke The Promise) (Radio Version) 3:54
Edited By – Omar Santana
Remix – Arthur Baker

Freemason (You Broke The Promise) (Original Austral Mix) 7:07

Comet 5:40

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1988	Freemason (You Broke The Promise)	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#8

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Arista ‎– AD1-9855, Arista ‎– ADI-9855
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1989
Genre: Electronic
Style: Electro, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Engineer – Adrian Bolland
Mixed By, Edited By – Robert Racic
Producer – Arthur Baker
Recorded By – Tim Whitten

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

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

June 20, 2016

Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1987

To celebrate the release of Rick’s latest album “50” which debuted at #1 on the UK albums chart, his first number one album in twenty nine years.

“Never Gonna Give You Up” is a single by Rick Astley, released in 1987, written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. The song was released as the first single from his debut album, Whenever You Need Somebody (1987). The song was a worldwide number-one hit, initially in the singer’s native United Kingdom in 1987, where it stayed at the top the chart for five weeks and was the best-selling single of that year. It eventually topped the charts in 25 countries, including the United States and West Germany. “Never Gonna Give You Up” hit number one in the U.S. in March 1988 after it was played by resident DJ, Larry Levan, at the Paradise Garage in 1987.

SIDE A:
Never Gonna Give You Up (Cake Mix) 5:46
Never Gonna Give You Up (Instrumental) 6:19
Never Gonna Give You Up 3:31

SIDE B:
Never Gonna Give You Up (Escape To New York Mix) 7:02
Mixed By – The Extra Beat Boys

Never Gonna Give You Up (Escape From Newton Mix) 6:23

VIMYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1987	Never Gonna Give You Up	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#1
1987	Never Gonna Give You Up	U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	#1
1987	Never Gonna Give You Up	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play	#1
1987	Never Gonna Give You Up	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance /Maxi-Singles Sales	#1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: RCA Victor ‎– 6784-1-RD
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1987
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: House, Dance-pop

CREDITS:
Engineer – Mark McGuire, Mike Duffy
Mixed By – Mixmaster Pete Hammond* (tracks: A1 to A3, B2)
Producer – Stock / Aitken / Waterman*
Written-By – Stock / Aitken / Waterman*

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

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

June 17, 2016

Erasure – Chains Of Love (US 12″ Promo)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1988

“Chains of Love” is a song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released in May 1988 as their ninth single overall.

The song was released by Mute Records as the second single from Erasure’s third studio album The Innocents. In the United States, Sire Records released it as the first single. The album version was produced by Stephen Hague and was slightly remixed for its single release (most notably the album version starts cold, while the radio version contains a short synthesizer pattern as an intro).

“Chains of Love” became Erasure’s sixth consecutive Top 20 hit on the UK singles chart, just missing the Top 10 by peaking at number eleven. In the United States, it became Erasure’s mainstream breakthrough by climbing to number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the group’s first entry on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also hit number four on the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. “Chains of Love” remains as Erasure’s highest-charting U.S. pop hit.

The song, written by Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, is an uptempo dance-oriented synthpop track with Clarke’s signature analogue sound and Bell’s lyrics about breaking through any restrictions or stereotypes of what love should be. The lyrics allude subtly to Bell’s desire for wider acceptance of homosexual couples, his pain evident from the opening lines “How can I explain when there are few words I can choose/How can I explain when words get broken”. The chorus is memorable for Bell’s use of falsetto. The music video featured Clarke and Bell performing the song while being hoisted through the air by thick, metal chains.

The instrumental dub as well as the remix radio edit without intro are exclusivley promotional versions/edits.

SIDE A:
Chains Of Love (The Unfettered Mix) 8:23
Chains Of Love (Fetter Dub Dub) 5:10
Chains Of Love (Remix Radio Edit Without Intro) 3:34

SIDE B:
Chains Of Love (Truly In Love With The Marks Bros. Mix) 7:19
Mixed By – Mark McGuire, Mark Moore

Chains Of Love (Instrumental Dub) 3:52
Chains Of Love (Remix Radio Edit With Intro) 3:54

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

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1988	Chains Of Love	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#12
1988	Chains Of Love	U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	#22
1988	Chains Of Love	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#4
1988	Chains Of Love	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music Club Play/Maxi-Singles Sales	#1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Sire ‎– PRO-A-3186, Mute ‎– PRO-A-3186
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Promo
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Edited By – Tim Scott (tracks: A1 to A3, B2, B3)
Engineer [Mix] – Dennis Mitchell (tracks: A1 to A3, B2, B3)
Producer – Stephen Hague
Producer [Additional Production], Mixed By – Shep Pettibone (tracks: A1 to A3, B2, B3)
Written-By – Bell*, Clarke*

NOTES:
Special versions from the LP “THE INNOCENTS”

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

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