Tag: Trevor Horn

April 1, 2020

Pet Shop Boys – It’s Alright (Ltd. Edition UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1989

“It’s Alright” is the 13th single from Pet Shop Boys and was released in the UK by Parlophone Records on 26 June 1989. It reached number 5 in the UK and, as of February 2009, it is the Pet Shop Boys’ 8th best-selling single. The song was originally written and performed by Sterling Void, Chicago Vocalist and lyricist Paris Brightledge and Marshall Jefferson and came to the attention of Pet Shop Boys on a house compilation issued by DJ International Records in 1987.

The lyrics list a wide variety of serious political issues in the headlines at the time (“Dictation enforced in Afghanistan, revolution in South Africa taking a stand…”), and then offers the positive message of the title—that on its “timeless wavelength”, “music is our life’s foundation”, it “shall last” and ultimately “succeed all the nations to come”.

SIDE A:
It’s Alright (Extended Version) 8:46
Engineer – Pete Schwier
Producer – Trevor Horn
Programmed By – George De Angelis
Programmed By [Assistant] – Steve Fitzmaurice
Vocals [Additional] – Sally Bradshaw, Tessa Niles
Written-By – Sterling Void

SIDE B:
One Of The Crowd 3:54
Engineer – Paul Wright, Pete Schwier
Producer – Pet Shop Boys
Written-By – Lowe-Tennant*

Your Funny Uncle 2:15
Engineer – Danton Supple
Producer – Pet Shop Boys
Written-By – Tennant-Lowe*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Parlophone – 12RS 6220
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single, Limited Edition, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: Jun 1989
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Design [Sleeve Design] – Mark Farrow
Photography By – Eric Watson (3)

NOTES:
Sleeve design @ 3a

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
DAC/Phono Pre-amp: 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 USED:
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

Username: btg
Password: burningtheground

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

January 7, 2020

Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Two Tribes (Keep The Peace) (UK Cassette)

“Two Tribes” is an anti-war song by British band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records on 4 June 1984. The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome. Presenting a nihilistic, gleeful lyric expressing enthusiasm for nuclear war, it juxtaposes a relentless pounding bass line and guitar riff inspired by American funk and R&B pop with influences of Russian classical music, in an opulent arrangement produced by Trevor Horn.

Supported by a striking advertising campaign depicting the band as members of the Red Army and a wide range of remixes, the single was a phenomenal success in the UK, immediately entering at the number one position on 10 June 1984 and staying at the top of the UK Singles Chart for nine consecutive weeks, during which time the group’s previous single “Relax” climbed back up the charts to number two. It was the longest-running number-one single in the UK of the 1980s. It has sold 1.58 million copies in the UK as of November 2012. Songwriters Johnson, Gill, and O’Toole received the 1984 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. In 2015 the song was voted by the British public as the nation’s 14th-favorite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.

Internationally the single reached the #1 position in seven countries however in the USA it only managed to peak at #43 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

ABOUT THE TRANSFER

I transferred this cassette single using a Nakamichi BX-300 Discrete 3 Head Cassette Deck. I did not apply any Dolby or other noise reduction pretty much leaving the cassette un-altered so you may hear some analog tape noise. As with vinyl, I did remove the occasional click or pop. The printed tracklisting on the release is not accurate so I used what was available according to ZTTAAT.com and Discogs.

SIDE A/B:
1. On the subject of Frankie Goes To Hollywood… 0:25
2. One February Friday (Singlette version, part 1) 0:40
3. Two Tribes (Cassingle Mix) 15:27
4. One February Friday (Singlette Version, Part 2) 1:08
5. War (Hide yourself!) 4:16
6. One February Friday (Singlette Version, Part 3) 0:22
7. War Is Peace 0:06

CASSETTE GRADE:
Cassette: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1984	Two Tribes	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#43
1984	Two Tribes	U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	#1
1984	Two Tribes	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Music/Club Play	#27

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: ZTT ‎– CTIS 103
Series: Action Series – 3, Incidental Series – 30
Format: Cassette, Single
Country: UK
Released: 23 Jul 1984
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Pop
Style: Pop Rock, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Artwork [Packaged By] – XLZTT
Photography By – Anton Corbijn
Producer – Trevor Horn
Producer [Assisted By His] – Bright Building Theam*
Voice Actor [As Himself] – Patrick Allen
Voice Actor [As Ron Reagan] – Christopher Barrie

NOTES:
Program repeats on both sides.

“Produced by Trevor Horn, assisted by his bright building them. And then there were the players: Patrick Allan (as himself) and Christopher Barrie (as Ron Reagan)
…
This cassette can be seen as both a part of number 3 in Zang Tumb Tuum’s bloodied action series ot number 30 in Zang Tumb Tuum’s harrassed incidental series. Did we save the world?”

Freedom Is Slavery

Find the Cassette at DISCOGS

CASSETTE RESTORATION BY::
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

EQUIPMENT USED:
Cassette Deck: Nakamichi BX-300 Discrete 3 Head Cassette Deck
DAC/Phono Pre-amp Line In: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
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

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 20, 2018

Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas? (Japan 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984

Originally posted December 17, 2012

Do They Know It’s Christmas?” is a song written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984 to raise money for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The original version was produced by Midge Ure and released by Band Aid on 29 November 1984.

In October 1984, a BBC report by Michael Buerk was aired in the UK, which highlighted the famine that had hit the people of Ethiopia. Irish singer Bob Geldof saw the report and wanted to raise money. He called Midge Ure from Ultravox and together they quickly co-wrote the song, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”.

Geldof kept a November appointment with BBC Radio 1 DJ Richard Skinner to appear on his show, but instead of discussing his new album (the original reason for his booking), he used his airtime to publicise the idea for the charity single, so by the time the musicians were recruited there was intense media interest in the subject. Geldof put together a group called Band Aid, consisting of leading British and Irish musicians who were among the most popular of the era. On 25 November 1984, the song was recorded at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, and was released four days later.

The 1984 original became the biggest selling single in UK Singles Chart history, selling a million copies in the first week alone. It stayed at Number 1 for five weeks, becoming Christmas number one, and has sold 3.69 million copies domestically. It remained the highest selling single in UK chart history until 1997, when Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997” was released in tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, which sold almost 5 million copies in Britain. Worldwide, the single had sold 11.8 million copies by 1989.

Following the release of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in December 1984 and record sales in aid of famine relief, Geldof then set his sights on staging a huge concert, 1985’s Live Aid, to raise further funds.

The song was re-recorded in 1989 by Band Aid II and in 2004 by Band Aid 20, again raising funds for famine relief. The 2004 version of the song sold 1.16 million copies.

SIDE A:
Do They Know It’s Christmas? (12″ Mix) 6:14
Remix –Trevor Horn

SIDE B:
Do They Know It’s Christmas? (Standard Mix) 3:52
Feed The World 4:17

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

CHARTS:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1984	Do They Know It’s Christmas?	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#13
1984	Do They Know It’s Christmas?	U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	#32

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Phonogram ‎– FEED 112
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Japan
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Engineer – Steve Lipsom*
Producer – Midge Ure, Trevor Horn
Written-By – Geldof*, Ure*

NOTES:
Many thanks to all the fine artists who kindly donated their time and effort in the making of this record.

All proceeds of this record are to assist famine relief in Ethiopia, this includes merchandise, sales, publishing & performance contributions.
Many thanks for the aid in manufacturing this record go to: Graphic Origination, Peter Blake, Torchlight, Robert Stace.

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.

January 3, 2018

Pet Shop Boys – Left To My Own Devices (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1988

“Left to My Own Devices” is a song recorded by Pet Shop Boys, released as the second single from their third studio album, Introspective.

The single fared better than the album’s lead single, “Domino Dancing”, charting three positions higher in the UK Singles Chart, at Number 4. It became the first track that Pet Shop Boys recorded with an orchestra, arranged by Richard Niles. Since its release, it has become a staple of Pet Shop Boys live performances.

In the U.S. the single only managed to rech #84 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. “Left To My Own Devices” was a bigger hit in U.S. dance clubs peaking at #8 on the Billboard Dance Chart.

SIDE A:
Left To My Own Devices (The Disco Mix) 11:28
Arranged By [Orchestra], Conductor – Richard Niles
Remix – Robin Hancock, Stephen Lipson, Trevor Horn
Vocals [Additional] – Bruce Woolley, Sally Bradshaw

SIDE B:
Left To My Own Devices 4:46
Arranged By [Orchestra], Conductor – Richard Niles
Vocals [Additional] – Bruce Woolley

The Sound Of The Atom Splitting 3:29
Engineer [Assistant] – Renny Hill
Written-By – Lipson*, Tennant/Lowe*, Horn*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1988	Left To My Own Devices	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#84
1988	Left To My Own Devices	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#8
1988	Left To My Own Devices	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	#25

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: EMI-Manhattan Records ‎– V-56121, EMI USA ‎– V-56121
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Electronic
Style: House, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Arranged By, Producer – Stephen Lipson, Trevor Horn
Design – Mark Farrow, Pet Shop Boys
Engineer –Stephen Lipson
Engineer [Assistant] – Danton Supple
Photography By – Michael Roberts (6)
Written-By – Tennant and Lowe* (tracks: A, B1)

NOTES:
Mark Farrow at Three Associates
Printed in U.S.A.

Find the 12″ on 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