Tag: Totally Obscure 80s

June 26, 2023

Modern Rocketry – Homosexuality (Germany 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1985

TOTALLY OBSCURE 80S!

Modern Rocketry was a hi-NRG disco band featuring Ken Kessie, active from 1983 to 1988. They’re not very well known – in fact, they’re downright obscure – but what little fame they enjoyed was probably due to their 1985 release, best described as the gayest disco song ever. Homosexuality, with its b-side of ‘Thank God For Men’, followed in the well-trodden footsteps of Patrick Cowley’s Menergy and Boystown Gang’s ‘Cruising In The Streets’ with massive gay audience appeal. A hit in gay clubland.

Other notable songs include ‘(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone’ and ‘Deeper N Deeper’, none of which, it has to be said, has quite the show-stopping charm of a song whose main chorus is ‘Homosexuality… Yes sir! Do you wanna get next to me?’. Oh, and the Pet Shop Boys did a live cover of it at a pride event in 1992.

Check out the music video here

SIDE A:
Homosexuality 5:59

SIDE B:
Thank God For Men 5:37

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label:ZYX Records – ZYX 5311, ZYX Records – ZYX REC 5311
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Germany
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hi NRG

CREDITS:

Lacquer Cut By – SST (8)
Producer, Written-By – Ken Kessie, Morey Goldstein

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.

April 19, 2023

Sam Harris – Sugar Don’t Bite (US 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1984

TOTALLY OBSCURE 80s!

“Sugar Don’t Bite”, was the debut single by Tulsa, Oklahoma native Sam Harris. The song debuted at #86 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 15, 1984 then peaked at #36 on November 10 after spending fourteen weeks on the survey. “Sugar Don’t Bite” also became a top forty Dance hit peaking at #24 on the Billboard Dance Chart.

Harris got his start as the grand champion singer of Star Search in its premiere season in 1983. He gained acclaim and became best known for his winning rendition of the song “Over the Rainbow” on the show. “Over the Rainbow” has since become his signature song. His appearance on Star Search led to him landing a contract with Motown Records. “Sugar Don’t Bite” was taken from his self-titled debut LP.

The EXTRA SUGAR tracks were taken from the U.S. 12″ Promo.

SIDE A:
Sugar Don’t Bite (New Dance Mix) 5:49

SIDE B:
Sugar Don’t Bite (New Dance Mix – Instrumental) 2:35

EXTRA SUGAR:
Sugar Don’t Bite (Dance Mix) 5:20
Mixed By –Ralph Sutton, Sam Harris (2)

Sugar Don’t Bite (Single Version) 3:50
Mixed By – Ralph Sutton, Sam Harris (2)

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1984	Sugar Don’t Bite	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#36
1984	Sugar Don’t Bite	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs	#24

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Motown – 4523MG
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-op

CREDITS:

Arranged By [Rhythm] – Bobby Sandstrom
Engineer – Tony Peluso
Producer – Steve Barri, Tony Peluso
Producer, Remix – Paul Sabu, Rusty Garner
Written-By – B. Roberts*, D. Weiss*

NOTES:
Single Version in the album “Sam Harris”

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.

April 14, 2023

B-Movie – A Letter From Afar (UK 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1984

TOTALLY OBSCURE 80s!

“A Letter From Afar” is the sixth single released by English new wave band B-Movie formed in Mansfield in 1978 from the ashes of local punk band The Aborted. Originally calling themselves Studio 10 after a local hairdressing salon.

After several lineups changes the band released “A Letter From Afar”, produced by John “Jellybean” Benitez but it only reached No. 81 on the UK Singles Chart. After the singles’ release drummer Al Cash left the band, leaving B-Movie as a three-piece. Towards the end of 1985, they finally released a studio album on Sire Records called Forever Running, containing re-recorded versions of their two biggest hits “Remembrance Day”. and “Nowhere Girl”, the album was not successful despite a tour to promote it. The band broke up soon after.

SIDE A:
A Letter From Afar (Big Mix) 8:10

SIDE B:
A Letter From Afar (Instrumental Mix) 7:48
A Letter From Afar (Small Mix) 3:51

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Sire – SIR 4058 (T), Sire – SIR 4058T, Sire – 259745-0
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single, Stereo
Country: UK
Released: Jan 1984
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:

Performer [B-movie Are] – Al Cash, Martin Winter, Paul Statham, Steve Hovington
Photography By – Bob Elsdale
Producer – John “Jellybean” Benitez
Written-By – Paul Statham, Steve Hovington

NOTES:
Mixed at Sigma Sound, New York
Pressed at Damont Audio Ltd.

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
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

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.

April 13, 2023

Six Sed Red – Shake It Right (UK 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1984

TOTALLY OBSCURE 80s!

“Shake It Right” is a 1984 single by the electronic duo Six Sed Red.

Keyboard player Rick Holliday founded the group from the group B-Movie and New York “singer” Cindy Ecstasy who had featured on the Soft Cell hit Torch in 1982. However, Marc Almond has since stated that her primary function was “the supply of ecstasy”. They had a big underground club hit with Shake It Right on the Label Sire Records Company in 1984 produced by Flood & Cabaret Voltaire.

Six Sed Red shared Soft Cell’s lyrical preoccupations with sleaze and sexual titillation but not their commercial success. Their only brush with the charts was the cover of their song “Dream Baby” on Bananarama’s self-titled LP in 1984.

The band played concerts at London’s Skin 2 fetish club and with the patronage of Sigue Sigue Sputnik’s Tony James expanded the lineup in 1987. Recognition however continued to elude them.

SIDE A:
Shake It Right 6:53
Remix – J. P. Iliesco*

SIDE B:
Bang ‘Em Right 6:21
Bass [Overdub] – Steven Mallinder*
Guitar – Marty Williamson
Percussion – Andy Johnson (26)

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Sire – SIR 4059 (T)
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic
Style: Electro, Synth-pop

CREDITS:

Artwork [Cover Art] – ThiLinhLe*
Artwork [Hand Script] – Teron
Photography By – Eric Watson (3)
Producer – Cabaret Voltaire, Six Sed Red
Remix – Flood, Six Sed Red
Written-By – Cindy Ecstasy, Rick Holliday

NOTES:
Jean-Philippe Iliesco is credited as J.P. Iliesco on the sleeve.

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
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

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.