Tag: Australia

December 20, 2021

Incredible Penguins – Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (Australia 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1985

Incredible Penguins were an Australian supergroup formed in 1985, which reached the top ten on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart with their cover of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” in December. Contributors included Angry Anderson (Rose Tattoo), Bob Geldof, Brian Mannix (Uncanny X-Men), Scott Carne (Kids in the Kitchen), Colleen Hewett, and John Farnham. The charity project, for research on little penguins, was organized and produced by Countdown host, Ian Meldrum.

After hosting Oz for Africa—the Australian leg of Live Aid—in mid-1985, Ian Meldrum decided to create a charity project for a local issue. Meldrum was talent coordinator and compere of national pop music show, Countdown. Late in 1985, he used his industry contacts to organise a charity single for research on fairy penguins. He produced the recording of a cover of John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Plastic Ono Band’s 1971 hit, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”.

The Incredible Penguins were a briefly existing covers band, with members: Steve Donald (Wendy & the Rocketts) on percussion, Craig Johnston (ex-Mother Goose) on vocals, Wayne Matthews (ex-The Masters Apprentices) on bass guitar, John Moon (ex-Keays, W.H.Y.) on guitar, Pat Polo on guitar, and Marcel Rodeka (ex-Mother Goose) on drums.

In late October 1985, The Incredible Penguins entered the Flagstaff Studios in Melbourne with Meldrum and guest musicians: Angry Anderson (Rose Tattoo), Brian Canham (Pseudo Echo), Scott Carne (Kids in the Kitchen), John Farnham, Venetta Fields, Bob Geldof, Steve Gilpin (ex-Mi-Sex), Hare Krishna Chorus, Colin Hay (Men at Work), Colleen Hewett, Jim Keays (ex-The Masters Apprentices), Brian Mannix (Uncanny X-Men), Wendy Stapleton (Wendy & the Rocketts) and Chris Stockley (ex-Axiom, The Dingoes).

A three-track single, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” was released by Mushroom Records and peaked at #10 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in December.

SIDE A:
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (Extended Version) 5:52

SIDE B:
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (Radio Mix) 3:51
Penguin (Instrumental Mix) 5:23

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Mushroom – X13232
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: Australia
Released: 1985
Genre: Pop
Style: Vocal

CREDITS:
Engineer – Cameron Craig
Producer – an “Molly” Meldrum*

NOTES:
Recorded 21, 22, 26 & 31 October 1985
Mixed 7 October 1985

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Black
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
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

Password: burningtheground

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

May 18, 2021

INXS – Dance (Australia 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1983

“Dance” is a 1983 Australia only 12″ released by Australian new wave band INXS. The 12″ includes an extended version of the single “Black And White” from the LP “Shabooh Shoobah” the song reached #24 on the Australian singles chart. Also included is “Long In Tooth” which appeared as the b-side of the North American release of the single “Don’t Change”.

The stand out for this release is “Any Day But Sunday” which is exclusive to this 12″.

In the US a similar release was issued titled “Dekadance” which included an alternate tracklist. “Dance” is by far the harder to find since it was only issued in Australia.

SIDE A:
Black And White (Extended Version) 4:54
Engineer – David Nicholas, Mark Opitz
Engineer [Remix], Edited By – Jerry Nixon*
Written-By, Producer [Remix] – A. Farriss, M. Hutchence

SIDE B:
Long In Tooth 3:39
Engineer – David Nicholas, John Zulaikha
Engineer [Remix] – Andrew Scott, Jim Taig
Written-By, Producer – A. Farriss*

Any Day But Sunday 4:23
Engineer – John Zulaikha
Engineer [Mix] – Andrew Scott
Producer – James Lee Farriss
Written-By – T. Farriss*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: WEA ‎– XS3, WEA ‎– XS 3
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Australia
Released: Jun 1983
Genre: Rock
Style: Pop Rock

CREDITS:
Artwork [Front Cover Art] – Sabotage (20)
Photography By – Grant Matthews (2)

NOTES:
Track A Recorded at Rhinoceros Recordings
Remix Produced at EMI Studio 301

Track B1 Recorded at Emerald City Studios
Remixed at EMI Studio 301

Track B2 Recorded at Emerald City Studios
Mix Down at Rhinoceros Recordings

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

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

Password: burningtheground

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

April 20, 2021

Pseudo Echo – A Beat For You (Australia 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984

“A Beat for You” is a song by the Australian pop group Pseudo Echo. The song was released in April 1984 as the second single from their debut studio album, Autumnal Park (1984). The song peaked at number 12 on the Australian Kent Music Report.

AllMusic said, “driving hard rock riffs puncture Pierre Gigliotti and James Leigh’s wall of synthesizers. Vocalist Brian Canham has a darkly erotic voice that only new wave groups seem to breed — imagine a cross between Jim Kerr of Simple Minds and Midge Ure.”

SIDE A:
A Beat For You (Extended Mix) 7:25
Written-By – B. Canham*

SIDE B:
Autumnal Park 4:07
Written-By –T. Lugton*

A Beat For You 3:41
Written-By – B. Canham*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: EMI ‎– ED 81
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Australia
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Engineer – Glen Phimister
Producer – John Punter

NOTES:
Recorded at Studio 301, Sydney Australia
Made By E M I (Australia) Limited Sydney, N.S.W.

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

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

Password: burningtheground

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

April 7, 2021

David Bowie – Cat People (Putting Out Fire) (Australia Limited Edition 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982

NEW 2021 Transfer!
Meticulously Remastered!

Originally posted March 21, 2013

“Cat People (Putting Out Fire)” is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released as the title track of the 1982 erotic horror film Cat People. Recorded in July 1981, the song was written by Bowie with Italian producer Giorgio Moroder. The 1981 recording has been described as one of “the finest of Bowie’s recordings of the 1980s”. A re-recorded version of the song created a year and a half later, appears on the album Let’s Dance (1983).

The director Paul Schrader engaged Bowie for a theme song in 1981, with Moroder having already recorded most of the music. Bowie was to put lyrics to the main theme.

The song itself, in keeping with the dark tone of the film, has some goth rock influences, with Bowie singing in a deep baritone croon while being backed up by a female chorus. Bowie’s octave leap on the word “gasoline” has been called “a magnificent moment” and “among the most thrilling moments he ever committed to tape”.

Because of Moroder’s contract, the single was issued by MCA Records. The full-length 6:45 version appeared on the soundtrack album, the U.S., and European 12″ single’s, while a 4:08 edited version was made for the 7″ release. The single reached No. 26 in the UK, No. 13 in Canada, and No. 67 in the US – Bowie’s biggest hit there since “Golden Years”. It peaked at No. 1 in New Zealand, remaining there for three weeks, as well as in Sweden for four weeks. It was also No. 1 in Norway for seven consecutive weeks, and then returned to the top for a further week.

The single was released three separate times by MCA, first in March 1982 with “Cat People” as the A-side, then again two months later with “Paul’s Theme” as the A-side, and finally in November 1982 with “Cat People” back on the A-side. Yugoslav-born Hungarian composer Sylvester Levay contributed to the orchestration.

In December 1982, Bowie re-recorded the song for his album Let’s Dance, released the following year. This version was also released as the B-side to the title track’s single release and performed on Bowie’s Serious Moonlight Tour. He had originally planned on using the original version of the song, but Moroder’s label MCA Records refused to license it to EMI America. In the re-recorded version of the song, Stevie Ray Vaughan provided the guitar solos and riffs in the song.

**Although the disc label gives a duration of 6:41 for side B, this 12″ contains a rare 9 minutes plus extended version. According to some sources, the Australian 12″ was mistakenly pressed with this longer version and remains up to now unreleased in any other form.

SIDE A:
Cat People (Putting Out Fire) (Edited Version) 4:08

SIDE B:
Cat People (Putting Out Fire) (OZ Extended Version) 9:23

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1982	Cat People (Putting Out Fire)	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#67
1982	Cat People (Putting Out Fire)	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#14
1982	Cat People (Putting Out Fire)	U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	#9

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: MCA Records ‎– DS 12087
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Limited Edition, Reissue, 9:23 extended version
Country: Australia
Released: 1982
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Producer – Giorgio Moroder
Written-By – D. Bowie*, Moroder*

NOTES:
Taken from the soundtrack “CAT PEOPLE”
Side B version is exclusive to this release.

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

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

Password: burningtheground

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