Tag: Marty Blecman

Patrick Cowley – Menergy/I Wanna Take You Home (US 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1981

  • NEW 2022 Transfer!
  • NEW Meticulous Audio Restoration!
  • Originally posted September 4, 2012

“Menergy” is a 1981 dance single by producer Patrick Cowley.

“One day, while we were recording that album,” Marty Blecman, a former disc jockey and Cowley’s business partner, wrote before his death in 1991, “We got high and I added an ‘M’ in front of title track called ‘Energy,’ and we came up with all these completely gay lyrics for it. In the end, that’s what we used.”

Along with the song “I Want to Take You Home”, “Menergy” spent two weeks atop the Billboard Dance/Disco chart in October and November 1981. It was Cowley’s most successful single of four Top 10 dance chart hits, all of which occurred within the span of 15 months. As with Cowley’s other singles, “Menergy” did not place on any other chart in the USA. In 1984, a posthumous version of “Menergy” was released where Sylvester’s vocals were featured.

It was used in 2009 in the trailer for the video game Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony, as well as the in-game radio station K109 The Studio.

Cowley recorded in a style that has drawn comparisons to that of Giorgio Moroder and is often credited with pioneering electronic dance music.

SIDE A:
Menergy 8:44
Written-By – M. Blecman, P. Cowley

SIDE B:
I Wanna Take You Home 7:25
Written-By – P. Cowley*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1981 Menergy/I wanna Take You Home U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Disco #1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Fusion Records – FPSF 003
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1981
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hi NRG, Disco

CREDITS:
Lacquer Cut By – js*
Producer –  Patrick Cowley
Producer [Associate] –  Marty Blecman

NOTES:
Mastered At – Frankford/Wayne Mastering Labs

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO 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

**24bit FLAC only available for seven days!


Password: burningtheground

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Sylvester – Someone Like You (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986

a-front

Today is World AIDS Day an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day, held for the first time in 1988. I thought it fitting to feature one of the many artists who were taken from us in the 1980’s by this horrible disease.

 

“Someone Like You” is a 1986 dance single by Sylvester. The song was written by Len Barry and McKinley Horton. It was produced by Ken Kessie and Morey Goldstein. The single was Sylvester’s second and last entry to reach number one on the dance charts, where it stayed for one week. “Someone like You”, also went to number nineteen on the soul chart, and was Sylvester’s highest chart entry, since 1978.

An activist who campaigned against the spread of HIV/AIDS, Sylvester died from complications arising from the virus in 1988, leaving all future royalties from his work to San Francisco-based HIV/AIDS charities.

The single sleeve was designed by artist Keith Harring who was an American artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s by expressing concepts of birth, death, sexuality, and war.

Haring’s work was often heavily political and his imagery has become a widely recognized visual language of the 20th century.

The theme of AIDS permeates Haring’s late work, most likely because it had a heavy influence on his personal life. Midway through Haring’s journals there is mention of the disease claiming his friends’ lives, and later passages show Haring worrying increasingly about his own HIV status.

Haring died on February 16, 1990 of AIDS-related complications.

WEST SIDE:
Someone Like You (Remix) 6:15
Mixed By – Ken Kessie, Marty Blecman

Someone Like You (Joseph Watt Remix) 5:40
Engineer – Joseph Watt
Remix – Joseph Watt

EAST SIDE:
Someone Like You (Larry Levan Remix) 6:01
Engineer – Robert Kaster
Mixed By – Larry Levan

Someone Like You (Larry Levan Dub Remix) 6:36
Engineer – Robert Kaster
Mixed By – Larry Levan

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1986 Someone Like You U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #1
1986 Someone Like You U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles #19

 

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Warner Bros. Records – 0-20548
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Maxi-Single
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic
Style: Disco

CREDITS:
Executive Producer – Marty Blecman, Sylvester
Illustration – Keith Haring
Producer – Ken Kessie, Morey Goldstein
Recorded By [Originally] – Ken Kessie
Written-By – Len Barry, McKinley Horton

NOTES:
Original version available on Sylvester’s album “MUTUAL ATTRACTION” on Warner Bros. Records.

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

b-back

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