BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1988
“Theme from S-Express” is an acid house song by English dance music band S’Express, from their debut studio album, Original Soundtrack. It peaked at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in April 1988 for two weeks.
One of the landmarks of early acid house and late 1980s sampling culture, the single became an instant hit upon its release in April 1988. Written and produced by Mark Moore and Pascal Gabriel the song samples liberally from many songs, including heavy sampling from Rose Royce’s “Is It Love You’re After” and TZ’s “I Got the Hots for You”. The hi-hat is sampled from an aerosol spray.
The track’s “S express” refrain makes reference to the 42nd Street Shuttle, or, as it is sometimes known, the “S Express”, a well-known line on the New York City Subway.
The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in April 1988. It fared less well in the United States where it scraped into the Billboard Hot 100 at number 91, but it reached number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. It peaked at number 11 in Australia and number two in West Germany and the Netherlands.
The song prominently sampled Karen Finley’s “Drop that ghetto blaster” vocal. The song’s predominant “I’ve got the hots for you” hook has been described as “campy”.
PLATFORM 1:
Theme From S-Express (12″ U.S.A. Mix) 5:57
Theme From S-Express (7″ U.S.A. Mix) 3:56
PLATFORM 2:
The Trip (Microdot House Mix) 5:41
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Theme From S-Express | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #91 |
| 1988 | Theme From S-Express | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #1 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Capitol Records – V-15377, Rhythm King Records – V-15377
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Electronic
Style: Acid House
CREDITS:
Arranged By [Strings & Orchestration] – Mark Moore
Artwork By [Sleeve Assembled By] – Kay-Ray-Zee At Bite It!
Engineer [Noise Engineer] – Mark M*, Pascal*
Hihat [Hairspray], Vocals [B Vox] – Jocasta (3)
Photography By – Kevin Davies (2)
Producer – Mark Moore, Pascal Gabriel
Trumpet [Noise Boogie Factor] – Mark D
Vocals [Vox], Clarinet [Microdot] – Michellé
Written-By – M. Moore*, P. Gabriel*
NOTES:
S-Express samples courtesy of:
Karen Finley “Tales Of Taboo”
T-Z “I Got The Hots For You”
Crystal Grass “Crystal World”
Debbie Harry “Feel The Spin”
Rose Royce “Is It Love You’re After”
Yazoos “Situation”
Rhythm King Music
Recorded in England
Printed in U.S.A.
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
Thank you very much for this nice S-Express collection !
Thank you!!!
Never heard this version before. Most of the samples in the original seem to have been replaced by original vocals. Sounds a bit strange to me.
Ha! Which I have just noticed is listed in the credits already. 🙂
Excellent choice, Paul. I believe that this track also features the intro of Debbie Harry’s awesome “Feel the Spin.”
woooow THANKS Paul one of my favorite house tracks of the 80’s, really catchy, AMAZING SONG!
You’re welcome Rafael Cova 🙂
I have been re-creating my own version of this, and after finally obtaining the 12″ vinyl with the TZ acapella, my task is almost done! Now, where is that can of aerosol spray?
The “Enjoy This Trip” is taken from an old Star Trek LP.
Anoraks may also notice that Black Box stole the bassline from this track for “Ride On Time”.
Sounds cool Carty 🙂
Big in Holland, this one.
And hey, do check out Rose Royce – Is it love you’re After, in the long version!
That one deserves a re-run, too, in my humble, but by now steadily bopping, breakin’ and shaking opinion.
I love that Rose Royce track 🙂
Wow, what an awesome track Paul. I loved this when it came out, even though it was very much at odds with my music tastes at the time (strictly no dance or chart music for cool alt teenage me! :D) I was watching a lengthy interview with Mark Moore recently on YouTube where he describes how this track came about. Bizarrely, one of his influences was Alien Sex Fiend! He was very nervous about releasing this song coz he thought everyone (ie all his mates) would hate it as it was sooo camp. But he hoped it would just slip… Read more »
L. O. V. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
I also love S-Express I think because it was so campy and new at the time. I need to watch that interview. I had no isea Primal Scream covered that song will check it out. Thank you for the info Jermajesty 🙂
Thank you Jermajesty for this interesting anecdote. I remember you saying something about Alien Sex Fiend on the Rhythm Stick issue Paul posted. I just love this stuff and you and many of Paul’s fans have really added to so many tracks’ backstory and influences. Have a nice day and weekend!
Jeff
It’s this interview for the Guardian newspaper. Conducted by Paul Morely.
It’s quite lengthy and boring in places, but has lots of geeky detail, so I didn’t mind. Starts talking about the track about half way through.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KWIziqy8gEU
I remember this one for the “hi hat” being sampled from a spray can, and the 12″ version having the “Suck Me Off” line. Never heard the “Trip” version before. Never heard these U.S. versions before either. Awesome!
The “suck me off” sample is taken from the same acapella as “drop that gettoblaster!”.
It’s Karen Finley “Tales Of Taboo” which I have posted on the site 🙂
G. Just listened to that one.. I vaguely recall hearing it at some punkparty half a lifetime ago!
Yeah – let’s drop this name again ;-0 Karen Finley “Tales Of Taboo”
Mind your webnanny-settings, by the way, or listening at work..
Thanks Paul,
I remember well when this track came out
it was like something never heard before
in pair with M/A/R/R/S.
Hope you got also the Herbal Tea Casualty mix.
Infinity Respect.
BE.D12” it was such a new sound very cool 🙂
DjPaulT rulez, thx !
Thank you pjanus 🙂
Man oh Man Paul!! Excellent!! THIS piece of wax…R-O-C-K-S!!! Gosh, what a fantastic record this is. I love these sample records and this one was such a favorite to both Karen and I. I love how you’ve added it to your discography. Hey, don’t forget the Ish sample from the “Scream For Daddy Dub” from the 12-inch “I Could Love You.” I love that you have some of the original 12-inches of which some of the samples were derived from on your site. Yes, you have so many treasures on Burning The Ground. We are so blessed by you DjPaulT… Read more »
You’re welcome Jeff S’Express have always been a big favorite of mine. I remember vividly the first time I danced to this track. It was at an after hours club in Tulsa called The Max they had huge speakers surrounding the dance floor we were on top of them dancing 🙂
Great memory Paul!! Mine was, and not as great as yours, but was on the radio from the New York dance station. What caught me was the naughty part by Ms. Finley, and then the “Aww, that’s bad!” Followed by the “No, that’s good!!” I had quite the chuckle, but I couldn’t escape the track’s drive and the adrenaline it caused me on my first listen. I knew then that I had to have the record. Oh Paul, what memories you conjure up with these precious rips. All the care and the love you instill in them really makes them… Read more »
Awesome. Always adored this song. I’m wondering if and how much different to the UK issue. I’ll find out later going out right now to a Faithless concert!
The voice saying “Enjoy this trip … etc.” in the first few seconds seems to differ from the UK version – am I right?
Yes, you are. There are several differences. The “Enjoy this trip” is different, as are “Countdown is progressing” and “Uno-dos-tres-quatro”.
The differences to the UK issue are described as follows (from the Mark Moore homepage):
“The U.S.A. Mixes were the same but with vocal samples reproduced by anyone who was hanging out in the studio. Stick to the superior UK mixes.”
Anyway, thank you very much, DjPaulT! I appreciate your work so much!!!