Tag: 1984

February 3, 2017

Tears For Fears – Mothers Talk (Extended Version) (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984

“Mothers Talk” is a 1984 song by the British band Tears for Fears. Written by Roland Orzabal and Ian Stanley and sung by Orzabal, it was the band’s seventh single release (the first to be taken from their second album Songs from the Big Chair (1985) and fifth UK Top 40 chart hit. The song was released six months in advance of the album and showcased the band’s edgier sound, as compared to their debut LP The Hurting (1983). It was also a moderate success internationally.

“Mothers Talk” was written in 1983 and was first publicly performed during the band’s late 1983 tour. In early 1984, the band went into the studio to record the song as their next single, though the recording sessions with their new producer Jeremy Green did not work out as planned and the recording was scrapped. The band’s previous producer, Chris Hughes, was then brought back into the fold and the song was re-recorded and finally released as a single in August 1984. Hughes stayed on with the band to record their second album, Songs from the Big Chair.

Along with its B-side, “Empire Building”, “Mothers Talk” was one of the first Tears for Fears songs to demonstrate a creative use of sampling. The strings at the beginning of the song were culled from a Barry Manilow record, while the drum sample around which “Empire Building” is built was lifted from the Simple Minds song “Today I Died Again”. This was the second Tears for Fears single for which Phonogram Records would use the picture disc and coloured vinyl gimmicks as a promotional tool, as well as the first one to feature multiple 12″ releases offering different remixes of the track. Limited quantities of the 7″ single also came with a free Tears For Fears window sticker of the band’s new logo.

SIDE A:
Mothers Talk (Extended Version) 6:17
Producer – Chris Hughes
Written-By – Stanley*, Orzabal*

SIDE B:
Empire Building 2:50
Written-By – Smith*, Stanley*, Orzabal*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Mercury ‎– IDEA 712, Mercury ‎– 818 388-1
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: UK
Released: 13 Aug 1984
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: New Wave, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Backing Vocals – Stevie Lange
Design – J.B.*, Peter Jones (15)
Mastered By – Timtom*
Photography By – Mike Prior (2)

NOTES:
Track B was not produced

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
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

January 25, 2017

Marc Almond – You Have (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984

“You Have” is a single by British singer/songwriter Marc Almond. “You Have” was taken from Almond’s debut solo album “Vermin in Ermine”. Produced by Mike Hedges who also produced The Cure, U2 and The Associates “You Have” debuted on the UK singles chart on January 9, 1984 peaking at #57.

The versions contained on this 12″ do not appear on the Marc Almond 10 CD Box set “Trials Of Eyliner”.

SIDE A:
You Have (Long Version) 6:18
Joey Demento 6:45

SIDE B:
Split Lip (Long Version) 17:12

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Some Bizzare ‎– BZS 2412
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: UK
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic
Style: New Wave, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Arranged By [Strings] – Bill*, Ginni*, Martin*
Bass [Bowed & Plucked] – Bill McGee*
Cello, Keyboards – Martin McCarrick
Design, Artwork [Hand Colouring] – Huw Feather
Drums – Steven Humphreys
Engineer – Mike Hedges, Tom Thiel
Guitar [Guitars], Banjo – Richard Riley
Percussion – Martin Ditchum*
Performer – The Sinners*
Photography By [Back Photo] – Marc Almond
Photography By [Cover Photo] – Peter Ashworth
Piano, Vibraphone [Vibes] – Annie Hogan
Producer – Mike Hedges
Saxophone [Saxes] – Gary Barnacle
Trumpet, Flugelhorn [Flugel Horns] – Enrico Tomasso
Violin – Ginni Ball*
Written-By – Almond*

NOTES:
Dedicated to Los Oliviados and to Wayne. Mike Hedges did most of the engineering but we’re giving Tom the credit because we’re kind.

Recorded at Hartmann Digital, Bavaria.

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

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

January 20, 2017

Time Zone Featuring John Lydon & Afrika Bambaataa – World Destruction (Japan 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984

Inauguration Day

“World Destruction” is a single by electro band Time Zone headed by Afrika Bambaataa.

In December 1984, Time Zone released their most well-known single, “World Destruction”. A collaboration between Bambaataa, ex-Sex Pistol/Public Image Ltd. leader John Lydon, and producer/bassist Bill Laswell. The “World Destruction” single was arranged by Laswell after Lydon and Bambaataa had acknowledged respect for each other’s work:

Afrika Bambaataa: “I was talking to Bill Laswell saying I need somebody who’s really crazy, man, and he thought of John Lydon. I knew he was perfect because I’d seen this movie that he’d made (Copkiller), I knew about all the Sex Pistols and Public Image stuff, so we got together and we did a smashing crazy version, and a version where he cussed the Queen something terrible, which was never released.”

John Lydon: “We went in, put a drum beat down on the machine and did the whole thing in about four-and-a-half hours. It was very, very quick.”

Bernie Worrell, Nicky Skopelitis, and Aïyb Dieng also played on the single, which was released by Celluloid Records on December 1, 1984. The track peaked at #44 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1985.

Although this single did predate Run-DMC and Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way”, it is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the first rap-rock record. This is not true as Run-DMC had incorporated hard rock guitar into songs, most notably “Rock Box”, in April 1984.

There are no mix titles given on sleeve or labels for each mix.

SIDE A:
World Destruction 5:32

SIDE B:
World Destruction 6:27

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Celluloid ‎– 12AP 3018, CBS/Sony ‎– 12AP 3018
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Japan
Released: 05 Mar 1985
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop, Rock
Style: Electro

CREDITS:
Bass, Drum Machine [Dmx] – Bill Laswell
Guitar – Nicky Skopelitis
Management [Administration For Material] –Roger Trilling
Mastered By – Robert Musso
Mixed By – Robert Musso
Mixed By [Assistant] – Mark Procopio
Percussion – Aiyb Dieng
Photography, Design – Thi-Linh Le
Producer – Afrika Bambaataa, Bill Laswell, Bill Laswell, Material
Recorded By – Rob Stevens
Recorded By [Assistant] – Hanh Rowe*
Synthesizer – Bernie Worrell
Vocals – Afrika Bambaataa, John Lydon
Written-By – A. Bambaataa*, B. Laswell*

NOTES:
Mixed by at RPM Studio
Recorded by at Evergreen Studio
Mastered at Masterdisk

Afrika Bambaataa is an exclusive artist of Tommy Boy and appears with their permission
Afrika Bambaataa courtesy of Tommy Boy Records
John Lydon courtesy of Elektra/Asylum Records

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

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

December 16, 2016

Wham! – Last Christmas (Japan 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984

I originally posted this festive 12″ on December 12, 2010, wow six years ago. Since then I have really upgraded my equipment and fine tuned my ripping skills. I also stopped using ClickRepair and now manually remove every click/pop myself, the results are much better since using ClickRepair can degrade the audio. This year I wanted to bring new life into this 12″ so I gave it a brand new transfer. If you happen to have the old rip in your collection I think you will see this is the definitive transfer.

The mix used on this 12″ omits a verse and has additional backing vocals from George Michael and some slightly different keyboard arrangements towards the end. The record itself is labeled as (Pudding Mix) (Long Version) it is actually an alternate edit of the “Pudding Mix”.

I really hope that you enjoy the new transfer Seasons Greetings.

~ DjPaulT (December, 2016)

“Last Christmas” is a song by English pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1984, on a double A-side with “Everything She Wants”. Originally written and produced by George Michael, it has been covered by many artists since its original release.

Wham! had been a dominant force in the UK Singles Chart in 1984 and news that they were planning a Christmas single meant that a battle for the coveted Christmas #1 spot in the UK seemed set to be between Wham! and the year’s other big act, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who had achieved a third #1 in early December with “The Power of Love”. However, the Band Aid project, helmed by Bob Geldof, produced the #1 single. Wham!’s offering peaked at #2 for much of the period, although George’s involvement in Band Aid meant that Wham! still had an input. Wham! subsequently topped the monies raised by Band Aid by donating all of their “Last Christmas/Everything She Wants” royalties to the Ethiopian famine appeal.

“Last Christmas” did make #1 in various other countries.

The single sold well over a million copies and became the biggest selling single in UK chart history not to reach #1. A year later, it was re-issued for Christmas again (this time without a billed flip-side) and got to #6. A second re-issue at Christmas 1986 – by which time Wham! had split – stalled outside the top 40.

The song gradually sold in Japan, and finally became the best-selling single that did not reach that country’s top-10 chart, selling more than 600,000 copies and peaking on the chart at #12 in 1992.

“Last Christmas” has sold 1.8 million copies as of June 2016 and is the biggest selling single in UK chart history not to reach number one.

Due to perceived similarities between “Last Christmas” and the song “Can’t Smile Without You” as popularised by Barry Manilow, an out of court settlement was reached in which the first year’s royalties were donated to the one-year-old “Band Aid” charity.

The video to “Last Christmas” saw George and partner Andrew Ridgeley accompanying girlfriends to see friends at their home in an unspecified ski resort, although the cable-car that can be seen in two shots is from Saas-Fee, Switzerland. It became clear early on, however, that Andrew’s girlfriend had previously been in a relationship with George, and it was to her character the song was aimed. The video also featured the duo’s erstwhile backing singers Pepsi and Shirlie and Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp, the boyfriend and future husband of Shirlie Holliman.

SIDE A:
Last Christmas (Pudding Mix Edit) 4:45

SIDE B:
Credit Card Baby 5:09

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Epic/Sony – 12·3P-575
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single, 45 RPM
Country: Japan
Released: 21 Dec 1984
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Producer, Arranged By, Written-By – George Michael

NOTES:
Released with a lyric insert and obi strip.
Side A is listed as “Pudding Mix” “Long Version” but actually plays the 4:45 version.

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

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