Tag: 1985

August 17, 2023

Miami Sound Machine – Conga (US 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1985

NEW 2023 Transfer!
NEW Meticulous Audio Restoration!

Originally posted July 26, 2011

“Conga” is the first single released by the American band Miami Sound Machine led by Gloria Estefan on their second English language album, and ninth overall, Primitive Love.

The single was released worldwide in 1985 and became a smash success around the world, providing the band worldwide mainstream popularity, reaching #10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and winning the Grand Prize at the 15th annual “Tokyo Music Festival” in Japan.

The single was certified Gold by the RIAA in the U.S. for sales of 500,000 copies.

“Conga” became a worldwide success and is recognized as the signature song of the band and Gloria Estefan. The song reached the Top Ten in various countries, including the United States and the Netherlands. The song was a minor hit in the United Kingdom, while the attention was based more on the single “Bad Boy”. In Billboard magazine’s year-end chart in 1986, “Conga” finished at #40.

SIDE A:
Conga (Dance Mix) 6:00
Remix [Special Dance Mix By] – Pablo Flores

SIDE B:
Conga (Instrumental) 4:53

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1985	Conga	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#10
1985	Conga	U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles	#60
1985	Conga	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#7
1985	Conga	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Maxi-Single Sales	#1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Epic – 49-05253
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Stereo
Country: U.S.
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Freestyle, Latin

CREDITS:

Lacquer Cut By [Runout Etching ✩] – Greg Calbi
Photography By [Photo] – Emirito Pujol
Producer – Emilio Estefan, Jr.
Written-By – E. E. Garcia*

NOTES:
Special Version from the Epic Lp: “Primitive Love”

Credits Emilio Estefan, Jr. on sleeve; Emilio Estefan on label.

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

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.

August 10, 2023

Sinitta – So Macho! (UK 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1985

BTG BARBIE Rewind: Bubblegum Pop Inspired by BARBIE!

“So Macho” is a song by American-British singer Sinitta. The song was released in 1985 as her self-titled début album’s second single.

Sinitta was both Simon Cowell’s and Fanfare Records’ first signing. Cowell had contacted record producer and songwriter George Hargreaves, who in turn provided the song “So Macho”. Armed with a highly infectious pop record, Sinitta looked poised for success; however, Iain Burton changed his mind and called Cowell to advise he was pulling the plug on Fanfare Records. Convinced “So Macho” was destined to be a hit, Cowell persuaded Burton to give him £5,000 to release the record.

The single was first released in late July 1985 and, like Sinitta’s début single “Cruising”, it quickly gained popularity in the gay clubs and on the Hi-NRG dance scene. Although the single failed to chart, it continued to sell throughout the summer, including 15,000 copies on import. The song’s popularity led Cowell to make the decision to delete the single at the end of October 1985 to let demand build up again. As Christmas approached, the song found renewed popularity in straight clubs and discos. The single was re-released as a double A-side with “Cruising” on 17 February 1986.

The record’s sleeve was changed from an image of Sinitta to a cartoon macho man, in an effort to make clear to radio programers that it was a pop record, and not R&B or soul. The re-release was not an immediate success as it remained in the lower reaches of the charts. It was not until four months later that the single started gaining airplay and entered the top 40, upon which it quickly rose to number two in the UK Singles Chart.

The song’s belated video was recorded for £500 in a London flat belonging to one of Cowell’s friends, in the hope of gaining TV exposure. Sinitta supplied her own wardrobe, and there was no budget for hair or makeup.

It was certified gold by the BPI, and has sold 585,000 copies. Iain Burton’s initial £5,000 investment became a profit of £1,000,000 and paved the way for Fanfare’s future.

SIDE A:
So Macho! (Extended Dance Mix) 6:36

SIDE AA:
Cruising (Remix) 7:31
Engineer –Richard Bull
Remix – Tony Atkins

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Fanfare Records – 12 FAN 7
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single, Stereo, White Logo
Country: UK
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hi NRG, Synth-pop

CREDITS:

Hair [Sinitta’s Hair By] – Madeline (10)
Photography By – Leo Lyons (2)
Producer – G. Hargreaves and Mick Parker*
Sleeve [Design] – Snap (11)
Written-By – J.G. Hargreaves

NOTES:
Engineered at Village Recorders, London

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

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

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.

July 13, 2023

Don Henley – All She Wants To Do Is Dance (US 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1985

“All She Wants to Do Is Dance” is a song written by Danny Kortchmar and performed by Don Henley, co-lead vocalist and drummer for Eagles. It was released as the second single from Henley’s second studio solo album, Building the Perfect Beast (1984), and was Henley’s sixth solo single overall. It was one of Henley’s most commercially successful singles, peaking at No. 9 on Billboard Hot 100 and also became his third song to top the Top Rock Tracks chart.

The song critiques the US intervention in Central America, particularly in the then-ongoing Contra War, in which the Reagan administration funded the right-wing rebel group Contras to overthrow the socialist Sandinista National Liberation Front government in Nicaragua.

Backing vocals for the song was provided by Patty Smyth of the band Scandal, and Martha Davis, lead singer of the Motels.

When Kortchmar was asked about the song, he said, “I had the groove and the music going. That record was made back when the technology had just started to really take over in music. I had one of the first Yamaha DX7s, which was a keyboard that was used a ton in the ’80s, but we ended up luckily getting one of the first ones in the United States. It’s a synthesizer keyboard, and I used it to get that sound that you hear the record starting with.”

** As a BONUS TRACK I have included the “Remix Edit” which was taken from the U.S. 12″ Promo.

SIDE A:
All She Wants To Do Is Dance (Extended Dance Remix) 7:36

SIDE B:
All She Wants To Do Is Dance (Dubb Remix) 5:15

BONUS TRACK:
All She Wants To Do Is Dance (Remix Edit)** 4:29

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1985	All She Wants To Do Is Dance	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#9
1985	All She Wants To Do Is Dance	U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	#1
1985	All She Wants To Do Is Dance	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#10
1985	All She Wants To Do Is Dance	U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles	#65

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Geffen Records – 9 20314-0 A, Geffen Records – 0-20314
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Maxi-Single, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1985
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Pop Rock

CREDITS:

Engineer – Gary Hellman
Mixed By, Edited By – John Luongo
Producer – Danny Kortchmar, Don Henley, Greg Ladanyi
Written-By – Kortchmar*

NOTES:
Original version available on the Geffen album Building The Perfect Beast
Made in USA.

The cover art says
Don Henley: All She Wants To Do Is Dance.
Don Henley: Ella solo quiere bailar.

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

Buy the 12″ Promo at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

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

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.

July 12, 2023

Starship – We Built This City (UK 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1985

“We Built This City” is a 1985 song by American rock band Starship, the debut single from the album Knee Deep in the Hoopla. It was written by English musicians Martin Page and Bernie Taupin, who were both living in Los Angeles at the time and was originally intended as a lament against the closure of many of that city’s live music clubs.

The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Outside the United States, “We Built This City” topped the charts in Australia and Canada, peaked inside the top 10 of the charts in Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, and Switzerland, the top 20 on the charts in Belgium, New Zealand and the United Kingdom and the top 30 of the charts in Austria and the Netherlands.

The song has gained significant scorn, both for the inscrutability of its lyrics (notably the line “Marconi plays the mamba”), and for the contrast between the song’s anti-corporate message and its polished, “corporate rock” sound. It topped a 2011 Rolling Stone poll of worst songs of the 1980s by a wide margin, and the magazine’s Blender and GQ both called it the worst song of all time.

Billboard said that this “unusual rock ‘n’ roll anthem is as wise as it is rebellious.” Cash Box called it “an ear-catching tune” and described it as “dance rock with sharp hooks.”

“We Built This City” received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group in 1986.

The song was engineered by producer Bill Bottrell, written by Bernie Taupin, Martin Page, Dennis Lambert, and Peter Wolf, and arranged by Bottrell and Jasun Martz. The song was based on a demo by Page and Taupin with a darker feel and based on how clubs were dying in Los Angeles, leaving live performers without work. Wolf reworked the song’s arrangement with a more upbeat tone.

The song features Mickey Thomas and Grace Slick sharing lead vocals. MTV executive and former DJ Les Garland provided the DJ voiceover during the song’s bridge. Additionally, some radio stations, with the help of jingle company JAM Creative Productions, inserted their own opening lines to promote their stations.

SIDE A:
We Built This City (Special Club Mix) 7:00
Remix – Victor Flores
Written-By – Bernie Taupin, Dennis Lambert, Martin Page, Peter Wolf (3)

SIDE B:
We Built This City 4:51
Remix – Bill Bottrell

Private Room (Instrumental) 4:55
Written-By – Craig Chaquico, Mickey Thomas

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1985	We Built This City	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#1
1985	We Built This City	U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	#37

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: RCA – FT 49930
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: UK
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Pop Rock, Synth-pop

CREDITS:

Executive-Producer – Dennis Lambert
Producer – Jeremy Smith (2), Peter Wolf (3)

NOTES:
From the New Starship Album
Manufactured in England.

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

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

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.