Burning The Ground Exclusive 1986
“For America” is a 1986 single recorded by British pop group founded by Simon Toulson-Clarke and Julian Close. The song was taken from their debut LP The Circle & the Square.
During this period the group found themselves at odds with their record company regarding what it perceived as a lack of mainstream appeal in their choice of material, despite the success of of their previous single “Lean on Me” in the UK and Europe.
Toulson-Clarke responded to WEA’s request for something to appeal to American radio with the sardonic “For America”, which criticized what he saw as the style-over-content approach of the American media, as well as alluding to American military involvement in Grenada and Nicaragua. The song was not a hit in the United States, though it did outsell “Lean on Me” worldwide, reaching number one in six countries and the top ten in several others including the UK, where it spent twelve weeks in the chart peaking at number ten.
SIDE A:
For America (Bazooka Mix) 6:00
Mixed By – Red Box
Mixed By [Mixmaster] – Phil Harding
Producer – David Motion
SIDE B:
Ain’t Got No..I Got Life (From The Musical HAIR) 2:52
Arranged By – The Famous 6
Engineer – Chris Baylis
Producer – Red Box
R’n A 4:02
Engineer – Chris Baylis
Producer – Red Box
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Sire – YZ84T, Sire – 248583/0
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Stereo
Country: UK
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
CREDITS:
- Written-By – MacDermot* (tracks: B1), Ragni* (tracks: B1), Rado* (tracks: B1), Julian Close (tracks: B2), Simon Toulson-Clarke (tracks: A1, B2)
NOTES:
From The Circle & the Square
Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
DAC: 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:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: 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)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!
Password: burningtheground
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Thank you. R’n A is a bit interesting.
Thanks for this Paul. I was (and remain) a huge Red Box fan. An internet friend of mine used to run the fan site for the band. He lives about 25 miles from me but we have never met! Apparently Simon Toulson-Clarke is his cousin or uncle…can’t recall which. Unfortunately his website is now defunct. Anyway, I urge anyone here who listens and likes this to track down the album ‘The Circle and The Square’. I had the original pressing on CD but have to admit when it became very collectable I sold it for quite a lot of money.… Read more »
I love your passion for a band that you love Ian I fully understand. I do not have the Rough Trade 12″ of “Chenko” I will have to check it out. I may have a couple more singles left to post. 🙂
It is on YouTube with the native american inspired orange cover as the image displayed while it plays. I googled Red Box Chenko YouTube and it came straight up…if you do want to give it a listen. Listen out for the horses stampeding and the arrow flying and hitting it’s target!
Thank you Paul, never heard this band before in the UK, hope you have somemore from this fine band. All the best
You’re welcome 🙂
Another new one for me! So interesting to hear what other countries thought of the US! We get so insulated in our bubble, Lol. Thank you for thinking outside the “red box”… terrible pun I know. Thank you thank you!
You’re very welcome, Retro Hound 🙂
I have a vague memory of this band, so I am looking forward to hearing this! thanks!!!
You’re welcome, ING 🙂
I had to give this 5 stars just for the sardonic message … lol … but also 5 stars for an amazing song, and 5 million stars for a perfect rip! THANK YOU!!!
The author of this song is right! It’s amazing how many songs were “remixed” to sound more commercially appealing for the American market. And how many internationally successful singles didn’t even get released or promoted in the US because of their “progressive” messages (like “Belfast Child” and ” Biko”).
Thank you, Martika. I always appreciate what you have to say 🙂
This is fantastic, Paul!! I love this song!! Thanks so much for posting the record on your site. Like their previous record, this should have been a hit in the US. I so much like records more from Europe than in the United States. So more interesting!! Thank you, a lot, Paul!!
Jeff
You’re welcome, Jeff 🙂