BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1985
REQUEST
“Sub-Culture” released in November 1985, is the tenth single by New Order.
It was the second and final single that also appeared on the group’s album release of the same year, Low-Life. A seven inch edit of the Robie remix taken from the Benelux version of the “Sub-culture” single appears on the group’s 1987 compilation, Substance.
The song has stirred some controversy with attempts to understand the lyrics being unsubstantiated by the group itself, particularly the use of the word shaft with its possible sexual connotations; i.e. “You’ll realize you can’t shaft without someone else”.
John Robie’s 12″ and 7″ single mixes provides a significant departure from the album version, using prominent vocals which feature Ish Ledesma of Foxy and Oxo with female backing singers. The version of the song Bernard sings in the remix has an altered line (whether it was intentional or not is unclear), changing the second verse’s line “A view without a room” into “A room without a view”. The remix was not very well received and garnered more attention for Robie’s extensive rework, that managed to be less-club friendly than the original album version despite his attempts to input greater melodic range. In spite of the poor reaction and sales, New Order and Robie collaborated for the band’s next two singles “Shellshock” and “State of the Nation” B-side “Shame of the Nation”.
On the UK Indepebdant singles chart the song reached #1 while on the UK Singles Chart it peaked at #63. In the US “Sub-Culture” reached #35 on the Billboard Dance chart and #18 for dance single sales.
SIDE A:
Sub-Culture (Remix) 7:25
Remix – John Robie
SIDE B:
Subvulture 7:55
Remix – John Robie
Sub-Culture 4:57
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint (generic)
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Sub-Culture | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #35 |
| 1985 | Sub-Culture | U.S. Billboard Hot Maxi-Singles Sales | #18 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Qwest Records – 0-20390
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Mastered By – Herbie Jr.*
Producer, Written-By – New Order
NOTES:
A (Re)production of John Robie.
45 rotations per minute.
Original version on the Qwest album “LOW-LIFE”
Find The 12″ On DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Speed Control: Pro-Ject Speed Box S
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 Removeal: ClickRepair (DeClick Level 3)
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
