Tag: Pride Month

June 9, 2023

Robin Stanley – Get Ready (US 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1986

Despite the “Death Of Disco” at the end of the 1970s, the desire for a different type of dance music was being demanded by the gay clubs in the U.S. and the U.K.. Hi-NRG dance music filled that need and became all the rage in the mid to late 1980s. One of those records that I remember dancing to at an after-hours club called The Wreck Room in Oklahoma City was”Get Ready” by Robin Stanley a cover of a Motown song written by Smokey Robinson, which resulted in two hit records for the label: a U.S. No. 29 version by The Temptations in 1966, and a U.S. No. 4 version by Rare Earth in 1970.

Robin Stanley’s 1986 version is a 138 BPM floor-filling Hi-NRG dance track released on the legendary Oak Lawn Records label based in Dallas Texas. “Get Ready” was the only single Robin Stanley ever released there is not much information about her or the recording available.

SIDE A:
Get Ready (Club Mix) 6:28

SIDE B:
Get Ready (Yahney’s Dub) 5:10
Remix – Scott Yahney

Get Ready (Instrumental) 6:29

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Oak Lawn Records – OLR-122
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic
Style: HI-NRG

CREDITS:

Engineer – Mike Potash
Executive-Producer – David Hilzendager, Ray Cooper (6)
Producer, Arranged By, Mixed By – Scott Yahney
Written-By – William Robinson*

NOTES:
138 BPM

Recorded At – Sound Lab Studios, Brooklyn, NY

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
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

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

June 8, 2023

Eartha Kitt & Bronski Beat – Cha Cha Heels (UK 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1989

Pioneering gay band Bronski Beat meets gay Icon Eartha Kitt who has precisely the qualities that make for a true Gay Icon: A history of anguish, abandonment, and alienation, mixed with a campy and sexually audacious stage act along with the necessary elements of artifice and aggrandizement. Plus, there is that unique, sultry purr of a voice. Kitt appeared at many LGBTQ fundraisers and she spent a great deal of her time dedicating herself to working with the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and other HIV/AIDS charities. Her 1989 single Cha-Cha Heels, recorded with Bronski Beat, was thumping away at the dance clubs during the worst years of the plague and the club kids and the older clones fell in love with Kitt.

In 1989, Jonathan Hellyer became Bronski Beat’s lead singer, and the band extensively toured the U.S. and Europe with backup vocalist Annie Conway. They achieved one minor hit with the song “Cha Cha Heels”, a one-off collaboration sung by American actress and singer Eartha Kitt, which peaked at 32 in the UK. The song was originally written for movie and recording star Divine, who was unable to record the song before his death in 1988.

SIDE A:
Cha Cha Heels (12 Inch Version) 6:40
Effects [Additional Wacky Bits] – Danny Hyde
Engineer – Danny Hyde, Graham Bonnett
Engineer [Assisted By] – Peter Lorimer, Rob Miller (4)
Keyboards – Rod Gammons, Steve Bronski, Willi Mowat
Mixed By – Graham Bonnett, Rod Gammons
Programmed By [Atari / C-Lab Programming] – Rod Gammons
Programmed By [MMT8 Programming] – Steve Bronski
Programmed By [Yamaha QXI Programming] – Larry Steinbachek
Vocals – Eartha Kitt, Jonathan Hillyer
Written-By – Larry Steinbachek, Steve Bronski

Cha Cha Heels (Radio Mix) 3:48
Effects [Additional Wacky Bits] – Danny Hyde
Engineer – Danny Hyde, Graham Bonnett
Engineer [Assisted By] – Peter Lorimer, Rob Miller (4)
Keyboards – Rod Gammons, Steve Bronski, Willi Mowat
Mixed By – Graham Bonnett, Rod Gammons
Programmed By [Atari / C-Lab Programming] – Rod Gammons
Programmed By [MMT8 Programming] – Steve Bronski
Programmed By [Yamaha QXI Programming] – Larry Steinbachek
Vocals – Eartha Kitt, Jonathan Hillyer
Written-By – Larry Steinbachek, Steve Bronski

SIDE B:
My Discarded Men 3:39
Arranged By – Rod Gammons
Backing Vocals, Whistling – Jonathan Hillyer
Double Bass – Peter
Engineer – Peter Lorimer
Finger Snaps – Peter*, Peter Lorimer, Steve Bronski
Mixed By – Peter Lorimer, Rod Gammons
Trombone – Peter Lorimer
Vocals – Eartha Kitt
Written-By – Eartha Kitt, Rod Gammons, Steve Bronski

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Arista – 612331, Arista – 612 331
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1989
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:

Design – Ariola-Studios, CODECO
Hair – Richard And Ting
Make-Up [Makeup] – Ian Simon (3)
Photography By [Photos] – Francis Loney
Producer – Rod Gammons
Stylist [Styling] – Paul Savory

NOTES:
“Cha Cha Heels”: Recorded and Re-mixed digitally at Berwick Street Studios, London.

A Starcoast Production

Manufactured in England

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

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

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

June 7, 2023

George Michael – Outside (US 12″ Promo)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1998

After George Michael was outed by the media, he returned to music with “Outside”, satirizing his arrest for lewd conduct in an L.A. public restroom,
and sending a statement to anybody who thought he might retreat back into the closet.

Its video was set in a men’s bathroom complete with a disco ball and light-up floor, with Michael dressed as an LAPD police officer.

“Outside” is a song by English singer-songwriter George Michael, released on 19 October 1998 as the lead single from his first greatest hits album, Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael (1998). It was released through Epic Records and reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Michael’s most recent UK top-three hit. In Greece, Hungary, and Spain, the song peaked at number one.

The song was Michael’s first single since his arrest for engaging in a lewd act six months earlier by an undercover police officer in the public lavatory of the Will Rogers Memorial Park in Beverly Hills, California – an incident that prompted him to declare his homosexuality, which had been rumored for some years but never publicly confirmed.

Michael disparaged the incident in the lyrics, claiming he wanted an alfresco sex life because he was bored with lovemaking behind closed doors. Reference to the Beverly Hills affair came with the line “I’d service the community, but I already have, you see” (he was sentenced to 80 hours of community service for the offense) and direct samples of radio reports of his arrest.

In a 2004 interview with Adam Mattera for UK magazine Attitude, Michael reflected: “I felt that lightening the stigma around cruising was the most immediately beneficial thing I could do. I know for a fact that when I was 16, 17, when I started cruising, watching the Outside video would have taken some of the weight off my shoulders.”

The song was recorded at Sarm West in London with a string section and arrangement by Andrew Skeet.

“Outside” peaked at number one in Greece, Hungary, and Spain. In addition, it reached number two in the United Kingdom, number three in Italy, number four in Denmark, number five in Iceland, number seven in Ireland, and number eight in Finland. On the Eurochart Hot 100, “Outside” reached number three in November 1998. Outside Europe, the song reached number three on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, number 11 in New Zealand, and number 13 in Australia.

**This 12″ Promo contains vinyl-only U.S. remixes.

SIDE A:
Outside (Hex Hector 12″ Vocal Mix) 8:48
Engineer, Keyboards, Programmed By – Mac Quayle
Producer [Additional Production], Remix – Hex Hector

Outside (Sharp “Unlocked” Remix) 8:28
Engineer [Mix Engineer] – Kevin White
Producer [Additional Production], Remix – The Sharp Boys
Remix – Sharp*

SIDE B:
Outside (Razor-n-Guido Orange ‘e’ Dub) 9:56
Producer [Additional Production], Remix – Razor-n-Guido*

Outside (Album Version) 4:43

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1998	Outside	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#3

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Epic Dance – EAS 41703
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Promo
Country: US
Released: 1998
Genre: Electronic
Style: House

CREDITS:

Arranged By, Producer, Written-By – George Michael
Engineer [Mix] – Kevin White
Producer – Jon Douglas

NOTES:
Album version from the LP “Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael”

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

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

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

June 3, 2023

Pride Month

Pride Month is here, and everyone knows that some of the best parts of Pride are the music. The best Pride songs can make you pump your fist in the air, wave a flag, dance, or cry—because at their core, they convey universal and unique feelings to the community. This month I will be featuring some of my favorite Pride records from LGBTQ artists and allies. Let’s all celebrate the music. 🏳️‍🌈

-DjPaulT