BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983

R E Q U E S T

This is Mel Brooks at his bad taste worst relating the short but spectacular history of the Third Reich. The title is of course lifted from the Shakespeare play Hamlet; it is also the title of the 1983 film which Brooks produced and starred in with his wife, Anne Bancroft. It is actually a remake of a 1942 comedy, which did not of course include a rapping Führer, and neither did the Mel Brooks version; the song did though appear on the soundtrack, and was released as a single with a video reaching number 12 in the UK charts. It includes snatches of the melody of “Deutschland Ueber Alles”, the German national anthem, and the same couplet Brooks contributed to his earlier “Springtime For Hitler”.

Brooks co-wrote the song with the British musician, music journalist and producer Pete Wingfield.

SIDE A:
To Be Or Not To Be (The Hitler Rap) (Part 1) 7:43

SIDE B:
To Be Or Not To Be (The Hitler Rap) (Instrumental Mix) (Part 2) 7:51

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Island Records – 12 IS 158
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1983
Genre: Funk / Soul, Hip Hop, Stage & Screen
Style: Parody, Pop Rap, Disco
Credits: Engineer – Chris Birkett
Illustration – Graham Humphreys
Photography By – Stephen Vaughan (2)
Producer, Arranged By – Pete Wingfield
Written-By – Mel Brooks, Pete Wingfield

NOTES:
Inspired by the film “To Be Or Not To Be”

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi