Tag: Mark Moore

August 18, 2016

S-Express – Theme From S-Express (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1988

“Theme from S-Express” is an acid house song by English dance music band S’Express, from their debut studio album, Original Soundtrack. It peaked at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in April 1988 for two weeks.

One of the landmarks of early acid house and late 1980s sampling culture, the single became an instant hit upon its release in April 1988. Written and produced by Mark Moore and Pascal Gabriel the song samples liberally from many songs, including heavy sampling from Rose Royce’s “Is It Love You’re After” and TZ’s “I Got the Hots for You”. The hi-hat is sampled from an aerosol spray.

The track’s “S express” refrain makes reference to the 42nd Street Shuttle, or, as it is sometimes known, the “S Express”, a well-known line on the New York City Subway.

The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in April 1988. It fared less well in the United States where it scraped into the Billboard Hot 100 at number 91, but it reached number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. It peaked at number 11 in Australia and number two in West Germany and the Netherlands.

The song prominently sampled Karen Finley’s “Drop that ghetto blaster” vocal. The song’s predominant “I’ve got the hots for you” hook has been described as “campy”.

PLATFORM 1:
Theme From S-Express (12″ U.S.A. Mix) 5:57
Theme From S-Express (7″ U.S.A. Mix) 3:56

PLATFORM 2:
The Trip (Microdot House Mix) 5:41

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1988	Theme From S-Express	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#91
1988	Theme From S-Express	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Capitol Records ‎– V-15377, Rhythm King Records ‎– V-15377
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Electronic
Style: Acid House

CREDITS:
Arranged By [Strings & Orchestration] – Mark Moore
Artwork By [Sleeve Assembled By] – Kay-Ray-Zee At Bite It!
Engineer [Noise Engineer] – Mark M*, Pascal*
Hihat [Hairspray], Vocals [B Vox] – Jocasta (3)
Photography By – Kevin Davies (2)
Producer – Mark Moore, Pascal Gabriel
Trumpet [Noise Boogie Factor] – Mark D
Vocals [Vox], Clarinet [Microdot] – Michellé
Written-By – M. Moore*, P. Gabriel*

NOTES:
S-Express samples courtesy of:

Karen Finley “Tales Of Taboo”

T-Z “I Got The Hots For You”

Crystal Grass “Crystal World”

Debbie Harry “Feel The Spin”

Rose Royce “Is It Love You’re After”

Yazoos “Situation”

Rhythm King Music
Recorded in England
Printed in U.S.A.

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

June 17, 2016

Erasure – Chains Of Love (US 12″ Promo)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1988

“Chains of Love” is a song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released in May 1988 as their ninth single overall.

The song was released by Mute Records as the second single from Erasure’s third studio album The Innocents. In the United States, Sire Records released it as the first single. The album version was produced by Stephen Hague and was slightly remixed for its single release (most notably the album version starts cold, while the radio version contains a short synthesizer pattern as an intro).

“Chains of Love” became Erasure’s sixth consecutive Top 20 hit on the UK singles chart, just missing the Top 10 by peaking at number eleven. In the United States, it became Erasure’s mainstream breakthrough by climbing to number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the group’s first entry on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also hit number four on the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. “Chains of Love” remains as Erasure’s highest-charting U.S. pop hit.

The song, written by Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, is an uptempo dance-oriented synthpop track with Clarke’s signature analogue sound and Bell’s lyrics about breaking through any restrictions or stereotypes of what love should be. The lyrics allude subtly to Bell’s desire for wider acceptance of homosexual couples, his pain evident from the opening lines “How can I explain when there are few words I can choose/How can I explain when words get broken”. The chorus is memorable for Bell’s use of falsetto. The music video featured Clarke and Bell performing the song while being hoisted through the air by thick, metal chains.

The instrumental dub as well as the remix radio edit without intro are exclusivley promotional versions/edits.

SIDE A:
Chains Of Love (The Unfettered Mix) 8:23
Chains Of Love (Fetter Dub Dub) 5:10
Chains Of Love (Remix Radio Edit Without Intro) 3:34

SIDE B:
Chains Of Love (Truly In Love With The Marks Bros. Mix) 7:19
Mixed By – Mark McGuire, Mark Moore

Chains Of Love (Instrumental Dub) 3:52
Chains Of Love (Remix Radio Edit With Intro) 3:54

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint (company)

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1988	Chains Of Love	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#12
1988	Chains Of Love	U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	#22
1988	Chains Of Love	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#4
1988	Chains Of Love	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music Club Play/Maxi-Singles Sales	#1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Sire ‎– PRO-A-3186, Mute ‎– PRO-A-3186
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Promo
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Edited By – Tim Scott (tracks: A1 to A3, B2, B3)
Engineer [Mix] – Dennis Mitchell (tracks: A1 to A3, B2, B3)
Producer – Stephen Hague
Producer [Additional Production], Mixed By – Shep Pettibone (tracks: A1 to A3, B2, B3)
Written-By – Bell*, Clarke*

NOTES:
Special versions from the LP “THE INNOCENTS”

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

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

October 31, 2012

Prince – Batdance (US 12″ Promo)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1989

“Batdance” is a song by Prince, from the 1989 Batman soundtrack. Helped by the film’s popularity, the song reached number one in the U.S., becoming Prince’s fourth number-one single, and first since 1986’s “Kiss”.

“Batdance” was a last-minute replacement for a brooding track titled “Dance with the Devil”, which Prince felt was too dark. Incidentally, although “Dance with the Devil” remains unreleased, some of the lyrics appear on the album’s liner notes.

“Batdance” is almost two songs in one—a chaotic, mechanical dance beat that changes gears into a slinky, funky groove before changing back for the song’s conclusion (except on single version in which it goes straight to the mechanical Joker laughter from the end of the movie and Prince saying “Stop”). The track is an amalgam of many musical ideas floating around at the time. Elements from at least seven songs (some unreleased) were incorporated into “Batdance”: “200 Balloons”, “We Got the Power”, “House in Order”, “Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic” (later released on the album, Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic), “The Future”, and “Electric Chair”, as well as the 1966 “Batman Theme” by Neal Hefti. Some of these were mere snippets, and other segments showed up only in remixes of the track. The song was also loaded with dialog samples from the film.

The U.S. 12″ promo contains two different radio edits that are exclusive to this release.

BAT SIDE:
Batdance (The Bat Mix) 7:15
Batdance (The Bat Mix Radio Edit) 4:09

THIS SIDE:
Batdance (Vicki Vale Mix) 5:55
Batdance (Vicky Vale Mix Radio Edit) 4:13

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

CHARTS:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1989	Batdance	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#1
1989	Batdance	U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks	#1
1989	Batdance	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#1
1989	Batdance	U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs	#18

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Warner Bros. Records – PRO-A-3702
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Promo, 33 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1989
Genre: Electronic
Style: House, Electro
Credits: Producer [Additional Production], Remix – Mark Moore, William Orbit
Producer, Arranged By, Composed By, Performer – Prince

NOTES:
Promotion Only. Not For Sale.
From the Motion Picture Soundtrack album “BATMAN” a Warner Bros. film (1-25936)

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
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