BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983
Re-Rip Newly Remastered!
Originally I posted this one on March 25, 2010. But for those who may have missed it or if you are a new reader just discovering BTG. I decided to give this one a new rip with my newer Ortofon Super 30 stylus. This 12″ is also being posted in 24 bit flac for the very first time!
“Club Tropicana” is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released in 1983 on Innervision Records. It was written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.
The song was a mild departure from Wham!’s previous singles, which had all been motivated by social or political issues. “Club Tropicana”, however, was a satire of the boom for cheap package holidays for younger, single people of a hedonistic nature. It was specifically seen in the UK as a swipe at the very popular Club 18-30 scheme.
A memorable video directed by Duncan Gibbins was made at Pikes Hotel in Ibiza, with scenes of George and Andrew on the beach, making eyes at bikini-clad girls played by their backing singers Dee C. Lee and Shirlie Holliman. They were also seen relaxing by a pool and sipping cocktails, along with the famous scene of trumpet-playing taking place in the pool itself. A twist in the sexual tension between the two men and two women was revealed at the end, when it turned out that George and Andrew were airline pilots and Dee and Shirlie were stewardesses.
The song was released in July 1983 and peaked at #4 in the UK, going on to become the 39th best selling single of 1983. It was the fourth and final single to be taken from the album Fantastic. Wham! went on to dominate the UK charts, achieving four #1 singles before splitting at their height in 1986.
The B-side, “Blue (Armed With Love)”, is a semi-instrumental dub track of higher quality than is generally expected for B-side material, and would not have been out of place on Fantastic. It in fact appeared as a bonus track on the Japanese pic disc version of the album. During their “Club Fantastic” tour in late 1983 and in 1985 in China, they performed this song live, complete with sung verses, and the result was released as “Blue (Live In China)” on their 1986 LP Music from the Edge of Heaven as well as the B-side of 1985’s single release of “Last Christmas.” The studio version of the song has not appeared on CD except for a single CD in Japan. It was also overlooked for the 25th Anniversary rerelease of The Final, even though this version claimed to be accurate to the original release.
SIDE A:
Club Tropicana 4:27
Engineer – Tony Taverner
Producer – Steve Brown
Recorded By, Mixed By – George Michael , Steve Brown
Written-By – Andrew Ridgely*
SIDE B:
Blue (Armed With Love) 3:53
Engineer – Chris Porter
Club Tropicana (Instrumental) 3:30
Engineer – Tony Taverner
Producer – Steve Brown
Recorded By, Mixed By – George Michael , Steve Brown
Written-By – Andrew Ridgely*
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Inner Vision – TA 3613
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Mastered By – Arun*
NOTES:
‘Club Tropicana’ is taken from the album & cassette “FANTASTIC” which also includes
‘Bad Boys’, ‘Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?)’ and ‘Young Guns (Go For It!)’.
Special thanks to Margaret Holliman.
Thanks to everybody who has helped put the album & singles together.
Find The 12″ On DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Speed Control: Pro-Ject Speed Box S
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 Removeal: ClickRepair (DeClick Level 3)
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
