Tag: Pride Month

Elton John – Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters (Part Two) (US 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1988

Gay Icon Elton John made sure to send a message to people who were cast out like him. He reassured people who were not fitting in that they would eventually find their place. Over the years he has been working for AIDS prevention. He also established the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992, which has raised more than $400 million. As well as an annual high-profile Oscar party which also raises money for AIDS prevention.

“Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part Two)” is a song by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin from the album Reg Strikes Back. It was released as a 12″ single in 1988 only in the United States.

Although not a particularly popular song, some critics judged it as a “most intriguing” song or the “brightest moment” of the album. John said: “That’s probably my favorite track on the album. It just has a great New York feel”. He played both versions of the song sequentially in concerts from the release of “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part Two)” in 1988 through to 1993.

The song is about New York City and is a continuation of the song “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” from the 1972 album Honky Château. Although the song follows the same meaning of its predecessor, it has a very different tempo and instrumental arrangement and is in many ways a more complex song, with a variety of key changes and unusual chords throughout the song. A brief homage to the Beatles’ song “Drive My Car” can be heard during the trumpet solo, where Elton and the backup singers interject “beep beep, beep beep, yeah!”.

SIDE A:
Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters (Part Two) (The Renaissance Mix) 6:18
Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters (Part Two) (The Da Vinci Version) 4:47

SIDE B:
A Word In Spanish 4:38
Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters (Part Two) (The Self Portrait Instrumental) 4:56

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: MCA Records – MCA-23917
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Single
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Pop
Style: Synthpop

CREDITS:

NOTES:
Original version appears on the MCA LP, “Reg Strikes Back”.

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.



Dead Or Alive – My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me To The Doctor) (US 7″ Promo)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1985

We could not have Pride month without the Liverpool band Dead Or Alive featuring LGBTQ+ Icon, Pete Burns, And His Impact Upon The World Through His Powerful Presence.

“People always want to know – am I gay, bi, trans, or what? I say, forget all that. There’s got to be a completely different terminology and I’m not aware if it’s been invented yet. I’m just Pete.” – Pete Burns.

“My Heart Goes Bang” is a 1985 song by the English pop band Dead or Alive. It was the fourth and final single from the band’s second studio album Youthquake. It peaked at No. 23 in the United Kingdom, No. 12 in Japan, and became a dance hit in the U.S.

++ The version included here is an edit of the “American ‘WIPE-OUT’ Mix”, otherwise unavailable on any other format. The mix title is not listed on the labels, and the same track is on both sides.

SIDE A:
My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me To The Doctor) (American ‘WIPE-OUT’ Mix Edit) 3:31

SIDE AA:
My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me To The Doctor) (American ‘WIPE-OUT’ Mix Edit) 3:31

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1985 My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me To The Doctor) U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play #13

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Epic – 34-05832
Format: Vinyl, 7″, Single, Promo
Country: US
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: New Wave

CREDITS:

NOTES:
Taken From The Epic Lp: “Youthquake”

Demonstration Not For sale

Nuy the 7″ 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.



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:

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.



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 HydeGraham Bonnett
Engineer [Assisted By] – Peter LorimerRob Miller (4)
Keyboards – Rod GammonsSteve BronskiWilli Mowat
Mixed By – Graham BonnettRod Gammons
Programmed By [Atari / C-Lab Programming] – Rod Gammons
Programmed By [MMT8 Programming] – Steve Bronski
Programmed By [Yamaha QXI Programming] – Larry Steinbachek
Vocals – Eartha KittJonathan Hillyer

Written-By – Larry SteinbachekSteve Bronski

Cha Cha Heels (Radio Mix) 3:48
Effects [Additional Wacky Bits] – Danny Hyde
Engineer – Danny HydeGraham Bonnett
Engineer [Assisted By] – Peter LorimerRob Miller (4)
Keyboards – Rod GammonsSteve BronskiWilli Mowat
Mixed By – Graham BonnettRod Gammons
Programmed By [Atari / C-Lab Programming] – Rod Gammons
Programmed By [MMT8 Programming] – Steve Bronski
Programmed By [Yamaha QXI Programming] – Larry Steinbachek
Vocals – Eartha KittJonathan Hillyer

Written-By – Larry SteinbachekSteve 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 LorimerSteve Bronski
Mixed By – Peter LorimerRod Gammons
Trombone – Peter Lorimer
Vocals – Eartha Kitt
Written-By – Eartha KittRod GammonsSteve 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:

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

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.