Tag: Stephen Hague

December 19, 2018

Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls (Japan 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986

“West End Girls” is a song by the British pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, the song was released twice as a single. The song is influenced by hip hop music, with lyrics concerned with class and the pressures of inner-city life which were inspired partly by T. S. Eliot’s poem The Waste Land. It was generally well received by contemporary music critics and has been frequently cited as a highlight in the duo’s career.

The first version of the song was produced by Bobby Orlando and was released on Columbia Records’ Bobcat Records imprint in April 1984, becoming a club hit in the United States and some European countries. After the duo signed with EMI, the song was re-recorded with producer Stephen Hague for their first studio album, Please. In October 1985, the new version was released, reaching number one in the United Kingdom and the United States in 1986.

SIDE A:
West End Girls (Dance Mix) 6:30
Engineer – David Jacob
Producer – Stephen Hague
Remix – Frank Roszak, Pet Shop Boys
Vocals [Additional] – Helena Springs

SIDE B:
A Man Could Get Arrested 4:18
Producer – Bobby Orlando, Pet Shop Boys
Remix – Frank Roszak, Pet Shop Boys

West End Girls 3:57
Engineer – David Jacob
Producer – Stephen Hague
Vocals [Additional] – Helena Springs

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
OBI Strip: Near Mint
Insert: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1986	West End Girls	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#1
1986	West End Girls	U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	#26
1986	West End Girls	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs	#1
1986	West End Girls	U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	#36
1986	West End Girls	U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock	#37

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: EMI ‎– S14-133
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: Japan
Released: 20 Mar 1986
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Design – C.S. Lowe*, XL*
Photography By – Eric Watson (3)
Written-By – Tennant/Lowe*

NOTES:
Comes with obi strip and lyric sheet.
Made In Japan.

Manufactured By Toshiba EMI

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Schiit Mani
Soundcard: Novation Audiohub 2×4 Audio Interface
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2, ocenaudio
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

Username: btg
Password: burningtheground

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

December 11, 2018

Pete Shelley – On Your Own (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986

“On Your Own” is a single released by English singer, songwriter and guitarist Pete Shelley. The song was taken from Shelley’s fifth solo album Heaven and the Sea (1986). Unlike many of Pete Shelley’s earlier singles “On Your Own” which was produced by American producer Stephen Hague has a more mature polished sound and lacks the nervous pop energy that was a hallmark of those earlier records. “On Your Own” failed to chart in the U.K. but fared much better in the United States where it peaked at #10 on the Billboard Dance chart on August 2, 1986, becoming Pete Shelley’s fifth and final charting single in the USA.

SIDE A:
On Your Own (New York Mix) 5:24
Producer – Stephen Hague
Producer [Additional Production], Mixed By – Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero

SIDE B:
On Your Own (New York Dub Mix) 5:34
Producer – Stephen Hague
Producer [Additional Production], Mixed By – Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero

Please Forgive Me.. But I Cannot Endure It Any Longer (Extend Version) 7:42
Producer – Pete Shelley

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1986	On Your Own	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#10

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Mercury ‎– 884 751-1
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Mastered By – Greg Calbi
Written-By – Pete Shelley

NOTES:
All tracks mastered at Sterling Sound, New York.
Track B2 is listed as “Extend Version” on the record label.
From the Nercury album “Heaven And The Sea”

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Mullard 12AX7 Preamp Vacuum Tube Pins
Soundcard: Novation Audiohub 2×4 Audio Interface
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

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

Username: btg
Password: burningtheground

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

March 6, 2018

Pet Shop Boys – Love Comes Quickly (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986

Originally posted February 13, 2012

“Love Comes Quickly” is a song by UK synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys, released as the third single from their 1986 debut album Please, and the last of its singles to be released before the album itself. Although a Top 20 hit in the UK and cited as one the band’s own favorite songs, its chart performance was disappointing given that it followed the worldwide number one “West End Girls”. It peaked at number 19 in the UK in March 1986.

The song is about the inevitability of falling in love, even for those who deliberately shun the idea.

Producer Stephen Hague receives a co-writing credit for writing the first two chords of the middle section of the song. Andy Mackay of Roxy Music plays the saxophone parts towards the end of the song.

As with “Opportunities”, the 12″ version of the single contains remixes by 1980s producer Shep Pettibone. The remixes of “Love Comes Quickly” and “That’s My Impression” reached the top ten on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in October 1986. Later, in 2003, new remixes by Blank & Jones were produced for the promotion of the singles collection PopArt.

The cover, featuring Chris Lowe in a baseball cap emblazoned with “BOY” in block letters, has become an iconic Pet Shop Boys image. Neil Tennant of the duo later recollected that he had expected the image of the cap to be the group’s coming out moment, calling it “incredibly gay”.

Directed by Andy Morahan and Eric Watson, the video to the song is very simple, utilizing facial shots of Tennant singing, interposed with blurry montages of the faces of various other people; at points, shots of Lowe, lying on top of a construction of a square grid, are superimposed over these shots. Watson would later call it a “complete disaster”.

SIDE A:
Love Comes Quickly (Pettibone Mastermix) 7:36
Producer – Stephen Hague
Remix – Shep Pettibone

Love Comes Quickly (Dub Version) 6:56
Producer – Stephen Hague
Remix – Shep Pettibone

SIDE B:
Love Comes Quickly (Dance Mix) 6:49
Producer, Remix – Stephen Hague

That’s My Impression (Disco Mix) 5:17
Producer – Pet Shop Boys

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1986	Love Comes Quickly	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#62
1986	Love Comes Quickly	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	#10
1986	Love Comes Quickly	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	#37

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: EMI America ‎– V-19218
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 24 Feb 1986
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Written-By – N. Tennant-C. Lowe*

NOTES:
Love Comes Quickly album version can be heard on the lp, “PLEASE”
That’s My Impression not available on the lp, “PLEASE”
Tracks are listed incorrectly on sleeve.
Printed in the U.S.A.

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7 TubeGold Pins
Soundcard: Novation Audiohub 2×4 Audio Interface
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

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

February 5, 2018

Pet Shop Boys – It’s A Sin (Remix) (Ltd. Edition UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1987

“It’s a Sin” is a song recorded by English synthpop duo the Pet Shop Boys which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in 1987, and was their third top ten in the US when it reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.

In the U.K. a limited edition 12″ was released which included a remix by Ian Levine.

The b-side “You Know Where You Went Wrong (Rough Mix)” is a track the boys worked on with Shep Pettibone. The inspiration came from Chris Lowe: “He’d been walking through Covent Garden and there were two tramps in this doorway and one of them turned round to the other one and said, ‘well, you know where you went wrong’. For the ‘It’s A Sin’ limited 12” release, a ‘rough mix’ was released that features a speaking part by Helena Springs, who also sings backup vocal. This version has not appeared on any official CD.

SIDE A:
It’s A Sin (Remix) 8:15
Producer [Additional Production] – Stephen Hague
Producer, Engineer – Julian Mendelsohn
Programmed By [Fairlight] – Andy Richards
Remix – Ian Levine

SIDE B:
You Know Where You Went Wrong (Rough Mix) 6:38
Engineer – Dave Meegan
Keyboards [Additional Keyboards] – Adrien Cook
Producer – Pet Shop Boys, Shep Pettibone
Vocals [Additional Vocals] – Helena Springs

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1987	It’s A Sin	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#9
1987	It’s A Sin	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	#3

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Parlophone ‎– 12RX 6158, Parlophone ‎– 12RX6158
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: UK
Released: 06 Jul 1987
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Design [Sleeve Designed By] – Mark Farrow, Pet Shop Boys
Written-By –Tennant / Lowe

NOTES:
Helena Springs, courtesy of Arista Records.
Sleeve designed at ③
Manufactured in the UK by EMI Records Limited

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7 TubeGold Pins
Soundcard: Novation Audiohub 2×4 Audio Interface
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

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