Tag: George Michael

December 4, 2014

Wham! – Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) (Special U.S. Re-Mix) (UK 12″ Promo)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982

Just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be another remix of Wham!’s 1982 classic Wham Rap!. This UK 12″ promo contains an exclusive remix on the b-side called “Special U.S. 7″ Remix”. The mix has a very interesting drumstick countdown during the intro. The 12″ comes in a plain white sleeve with a custom hype sticker. The labels are plain white with handwritten track titles.

SIDE A:
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) (Special U.S. Re-Mix) 6:43

SIDE B:
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) (Special U.S. 7″ Remix) 3:33

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Epic ‎– XPR1227
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, White Label, Promo
Country: UK
Released: 1982
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Producer – Bob Carter
Remix – George Michael
Written-By – Andrew Ridgeley, George Michael

NOTES:
Side B is an exclusive mix.

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: 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

August 5, 2014

Aretha Franklin & George Michael – I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) (UK 7″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1987

“I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” is a Grammy Award-winning #1 song performed by Aretha Franklin and George Michael as a duet in 1987. It was written by Simon Climie and Dennis Morgan. It also stands as Aretha’s biggest hit at Adult Contemporary radio, spending several weeks at #2. Despite selling more than a million US copies, the single was never certified.

The song was not originally written as a duet. Climie and Morgan pitched the song to Tina Turner as well to Aretha Franklin and Arista Records head Clive Davis. It was Davis’ idea to get Franklin and George Michael to record the song as a duet.

Narada Michael Walden, who worked with Aretha on her Who’s Zoomin’ Who album, produced this track. He also produced the song this displaced at the top spot of the Hot 100: “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship. This made him the eighth producer in the Rock Era to score back-to-back #1 hits.

The “Instrumental” only appears as the b-side of the 7″ single releases.

SIDE A:
I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) 4:00

SIDE B:
I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) (Instrumental) 4:00

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1987	I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#1
1987	I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)	U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	#2
1987	I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs	#12
1987	I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)	U.S. Cashbox Top 100 Singles	#1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Epic ‎– DUET 2
Format: Vinyl, 7″, Single, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 19 Jan 1987
Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul, Pop
Style: Synth-pop, Soul

CREDITS:
Producer, Arranged By – Narada Michael Walden
Written-By – Morgan*, Climie*

NOTES:
From the LP “ARETHA”
Produced for Perfection Light Productions.

Find The 7″ On DISCOGS

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

May 6, 2014

David Austin – Turn To Gold (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984

David Austin (born 14 July 1962) is a professional songwriter from the United Kingdom, who first had a hit single in 1984 called “Turn to Gold”, released on Parlophone. It entered the UK Singles Chart on 21 July 1984. It remained in the chart for three weeks, reaching #68. The single featured backing vocals from George Michael, who called Austin his best friend in the documentary film, A Different Story.

As co-writers Austin and Michael have been collaborating since 1983. Their joint work includes the download-only single “John and Elvis Are Dead”, their biggest hit “You Have Been Loved” and “Look at Your Hands” from the album Faith, which also appeared on the US CD single of Michael’s number one hit “Father Figure”. Listen Without Prejudice, is the only original material studio album of Michael’s which does not feature any collaboration with Austin.

SIDE A:
Turn To Gold (Extended Swing Mix) 5:19

SIDE B:
Turn To Gold (Swing Mix) 2:29
Turn To Gold (Instrumental) 3:42

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Parlophone ‎– 12R 6068
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Producer – George Michael
Written-By – David Austin, George Michael

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

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

September 24, 2013

George Michael – Monkey (US 12″)

“Monkey” is a US number-one hit song by George Michael. It was released as a single in 1988 and reached #1 on the US Hot 100 and #13 on the UK Singles Chart. “Monkey” debuted at #42 on 9 July 1988, reaching #1 for two weeks, beginning 27 August 1988.

“Monkey” became George Michael’s eighth #1 US single, and the fourth consecutive #1 from the Faith album. George Michael joined Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston as three artists who all had four or more consecutive number one singles during the 1987-1988 era, from one album (Michael Jackson scored five #1 hits from a single album (Bad) while Whitney Houston scored seven consecutive #1 hits from two albums).

“Monkey” also reached number one in the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart for two weeks and became his first dance number one. When the song was released as a single, the single version was remixed by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

SIDE A:
Monkey (Extended Version) 8:06

SIDE B:
Monkey (Acappella) 3:40
Monkey (Extra Beats) 3:30

VINYL GRADE:
VinyL: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1988	Monkey	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#1
1988	Monkey	U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	#8
1988	Monkey	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Columbia ‎– 44 07849
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Artwork By [Design By] – Norman Moore
Co-producer – Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis
Engineer – Chris Porter
Engineer, Arranged By [Additional] – Steve Hodge
Photography By – Chris Cuffaro
Producer, Written-By, Arranged By, Design – George Michael
Remix – Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis

NOTES:
Original version appears on the Columbia LP: “FAITH”

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Pro-Ject Speed Box S
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi