Tag: 1989

October 31, 2016

Book Of Love – Witchcraft (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1989

Happy Halloween

“Witchcraft” is the seventh single released by the American synthpop band Book of Love. The song was the third, and final single from the band’s second album Lullaby, and was released on July 15, 1989.

“Witchcraft” was the only single from the album Lullaby that failed to make the Billboard charts. The track samples the classic 60’s TV series Bewitched, and also chants the names of the witches/characters from the show…”Enchantra, Endora, Tabitha, Esmerelda, Clara, Hagatha”. The song features quirky deadpan rap-style vocals from Susan Ottaviano, Jade Lee, and Lauren Roselli, with a Shakespeare-inspired incanting of ingredients for brewing a love potion.

The B-side “Enchantra” is a completely different composition, aside from the fact that it uses the chant of Bewitched character names from “Witchcraft”.

The cover art of the 12″ was done by band members Lauren Roselli and Jade Lee. It consists of a picture of a Play-Doh “queen” (done by Lauren Roselli), with refrigerator magnet lettering of the band’s name and song title. Female names included as part of the back cover artwork (Enchantra, Hagatha, Clara, Endora, and Esmeralda) come from the song’s chorus. The witches named in the song’s chorus are all named as a part of the back cover art except Tabitha. The cover sleeve was featured in the 2011 book Put The Needle On The Record by Matthew Chojnacki, which celebrated the vinyl sleeves of records from the 1980s.

During the band’s Lullaby Tour in 1989, when performing “Witchcraft”, the band donned witches’ hats, making it a fan favorite of the band’s live shows.

“Enchantra” has been used as the intro track while the band takes to the stage during Book of Love’s 2013 shows.

SIDE A:
Witchcraft (Extended Mix) 5:16
Witchcraft (7″ Mix) 3:04
Enchantra 2:45
Written-By – J. Lee*, T. Ottaviano*

SIDE B:
Witchcraft (Enchantra Chanting) 6:24
Witchcraft (Dub) 5:22
Witch’s Honor 0:06

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Sire ‎– 0-21251
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Maxi-Single, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 13 Jul 1989
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Art Direction – Jade Lee
Cover [Playdoh Queen] – Lauren Roselli
Edited By – Roger Pauletta
Engineer – Doc Dougherty
Producer – Flood, Ted Ottaviano
Producer [Additional], Remix – Book Of Love
Written-By – Theodore Ottaviano* (tracks: A1, A2, B1 to B3)

NOTES:
Original version on the sire album ‘Lullaby’, available on lp, cassette and cd.
MCMLXXXIX.

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

October 6, 2016

Red Flag – Russian Radio (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1989

“Russian Radio” is a song by the American synthpop band Red Flag. It was released as a single in 1988. The song charted highly on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, peaking at #11. Released at the time of seminal new wave/synthpop group Depeche Mode’s greatest success, it drew comparisons as being stylistically similar to that group’s recordings, featuring extensive use of synthesizers and dance beats, and vocals that were generally deep and gloomy in mood. “Russian Radio” was taken from the band’s debut album Naive Art.

SIDE A:
Russian Radio (Razormaid Club Mix) 6:13
Remix – Joseph Watt, Razormaid

Russian Radio (Fresh Club Mix) 3:41
Remix – Joseph Watt, Razormaid

Russian Radio (12″ Dub Mix) 6:44
Edited By – Art Maharg
Remix – Joseph Watt, Razormaid

SIDE B:
Russian Radio (Glasnost Club Mix) 7:28
Remix – Paul Robb

Russian Radio (Tremont And Webster Mix) 4:40
Remix –Paul Robb

Russian Radio (Radio Moscow Edit) 3:43
Remix – Paul Robb

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1989	Russian Radio	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#11

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Enigma Records (3) ‎– 7 75519-0
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1989
Genre: Electronic
Style: Electro, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Producer – Jon St. James
Producer [Additional Post Production] – Paul Robb
Written-By – Reynolds*, Reynolds*

NOTES:
Original version appears on the LP “NAIVE ART”

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

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

August 24, 2016

S’Express – Original Soundtrack Megamix (UK 12″ Promo)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1989

Originally posted November 12, 2010

“Original Soundtrack Megamix” is a UK promo only one-sided Megamix mixed by late English DJ/remixer Colin Faver released in 1989. The single contains tracks from the groups debut album “Original Soundtrack”. This limited edition promo contains a great David Little laser etching of the band on the flip side.

The Megamix includes:

Coma II (A.M/O.K) / Lolly-Pop / Have A Nice Day / Theme From S-Express / Superfly Guy / Blow Me Another Lollypop / Hey Music Lover (Miller Mash Glass Smash )/ L’Age Du Gateau / Superfly Guy (The Fluffy Bagel Mix) / Hey Music Lover (Spatial Expansion Mix) / Special and Golden with the occasional Todd Terry breakbeat thrown in for good measure!

Thank you to Mark Moore’s web site for some of the info.

SIDE A:
Original Soundtrack Megamix 18:13

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Rhythm King Records ‎– VOTG 2A
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single Sided, 33 ⅓ RPM, Etched
Country: UK
Released: 1989
Genre: Electronic
Style: House, Acid House

CREDITS:
DJ Mix [Megamix] – Colin Faver
Mastered By – Mike’s*

NOTES:
B side is a laser etching picture of S’Express group : Mark Moore, Chilo, Michellé & Linda L

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

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

August 23, 2016

S’Xpress – Music Lover (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1989

“Hey Music Lover” was the third and final single taken from the debut album “Original Soundtrack” by British band S’Express. The single reached #6 in the UK Singles chart, #26 in the equivalent chart in Germany, and #6 in the U.S. Dance chart. For its U.S. release, the song was inexplicably titled just “Music Lover” (no “Hey”), even though the original title remained on the album. The U.S. editions contain exclusive remixes.

Vocals on Hey Music Lover by Billie Ray Martin and Eric Robinson. US mixes have a couple of extra lines sung by Billie Ray Martin that never made it onto any of the UK mixes (“I just want to sing to you ’cause playing bad is hard to do”).

Note change of spelling from S’Express to S’Xpress. Radio interviewers would ask “…so why did you drop the E?” and the band would burst into uncontrollable laughter.

SIDE A:
Music Lover (Music Lovers Bass Mix) 6:58
Edited By –Chep Nunez*, Shep Pettibone
Engineer [Remix] – Goh Hotoda
Producer [Additional Production], Remix – Shep Pettibone

Music Lover (Music Lovers Dub) 3:46
Edited By – Chep Nunez*, Shep Pettibone
Engineer [Remix] – Goh Hotoda
Producer [Additional Production], Remix – Shep Pettibone

SIDE B:
Music Lover (Shep Zip Mix) 7:28
Edited By – Chep Nunez*, Shep Pettibone
Engineer [Remix] – Goh Hotoda
Producer [Additional Production], Remix – Shep Pettibone

Music Lover (Glass Mix) 3:57
Engineer [Remix] – Blaise Dupuy
Remix – Kurt Munkacsi, Philip Glass

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1989	Music Lover	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#6

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Capitol Records ‎– V-15454
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1989
Genre: Electronic
Style: House, Acid House

CREDITS:
Artwork By [All Typsetting] – Bats Repro
Artwork By [Art Direction] – D. Little
Artwork By [Computer Images] – David Little / Alex Quero
Artwork By [Design] – Pinky
Backing Vocals [B-vox Orgasmatron] – Michelle*
Brass – Gordon M*
Composed By – Sly Stone
Keyboards, Other [Great Semprini] – Linda Love
Keyboards, Other [Musical Assistance] – Brendan Beal*
Mastered By – Herb Powers Jr.
Other [Directed By] – Mark Moore
Performer [Noise & Electric Doormat] – Mark M*
Photography – Jaco
Producer, Mixed By – Mark Moore & Mark McGuire*
Sampler [Sampled Guitars Chords, Sampled Vox], Percussion – Chilo
Strings – Annie Stephenson*
Vocals [Additional Vox] – Billy Ray Martin*
Vocals [Vox] – Eric Robinson

NOTES:
US release of “Hey Music Lover”

Dedicated with L·O·V·E to Sly.

Recorded In England.

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

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