Burning The Ground Exclusive 1982
Season’s Greetings!
I originally shared this post way back on December 22, 2012, but a good friend of the site suggested it was worth revisiting to kick off the Christmas season. After giving it some thought, I agreed—it’s a fantastic way to get into the holiday spirit. While I didn’t create a new transfer for this one, there’s only so much you can do with a 44-year-old flexi-disc. That said, I’m excited to share it again and wish you all the best this holiday season and beyond!
“Happy Christmas From The Stars” is a promotional-only flexi-disc single featuring spoken-word holiday messages from various 80s pop stars. It was released in the UK in 1982 as a collaboration between Smash Hits, Levi’s, and Lyntone Records. The disc was included as a freebie with the December 9-22, 1982 issue of Smash Hits magazine.
This promotional item was tied to Levi’s “Accessory Kit 3” campaign for their black Levi jeans. Interestingly, the idea for the single came from Neil Tennant, who was then Smash Hits’ news editor and would go on to fame as a member of the Pet Shop Boys.
As with most flexi-discs, the audio quality isn’t stellar—they’re notorious for that. However, I’ve done my best to restore the recording while preserving some of the original crackle, which I believe adds to its charm. The full recording includes the Levi’s promo segments for a complete vintage experience.
Enjoy, and Happy Christmas!
—DjPaulT
SIDE A:
Happy Christmas From The Stars (Part 1) 6:12
SIDE B:
Happy Christmas From The Stars (Part 2) 6:14
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Very Good
Sleeve: Near Mint (generic)
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Smash Hits! Magazine – LYN 12570/1, Levi’s – LYN 12570/1
Format: Flexi-disc, 7″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1982
Genre: Non-Music
Style: Spoken Word, Holiday
CREDITS:
- Concept By [Idea] – Neil Tennant
- Featuring – ABBA, ABC, Adam*, Bananarama, Bucks Fizz, Captain Sensible, Culture Club, Duran Duran, Fun Boy Three, Haircut One Hundred, Imagination, Madness, Mari Wilson, Musical Youth, Steve Strange, The Jam, Piranhas*, Police*, Toyah, Ultravox
- Producer – Trevor Dann
- Recorded By – Mark Ellen
NOTES:
Smash Hits promotion for ‘Accessory Kit 3’ with ‘Black Levi’ brand jeans by Levi’s.
Made in Britain by Lyntone London.
Buy the Flexi 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 25 (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
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Hi Paul, Thank you for this one. This sounds amazing, especially compared to my old copy!! Happy Holidays!
Very cool! Of course, I can’t recognize all the voices.
There is a small error in the PlayList file (m3u). But just edit it and remove “..\” before the file names.
Grato, Paul. feliz natal!
This is a real ‘chestnut roasting’! I knew a lot of those artists from MTV… And to have ABBA included, that’s a rarity. I’ve always loved collecting the vinyl-only Christmas releases from the major artists of the time. You’ve posted ones from Bryan Adams and Corey Hart. Of course Queen had a great holiday song. Three Wise Men (XTC) had a great one that I actually hear at the supermarket during the holidays. Thank you Paul!
You; ‘re welcome, retro Hound. I love these kinds of oddities 🙂
As an avid Smash Hits reader in my early teens, this is a most welcome and memorable gem of a release. I do not recall having bought this particular issue but I do have other dubious flexi-discs that came as freebies with the magazine and now hidden away somewhere deep in storage. Thanks for sharing another magnificent 80s retro treasure.
You’re welcome, Martika 🙂
I think it’s great that you’ve done this work. I’m from Germany (where there were more youth magazines like Bravo, PopRocky and Popcorn). I know Smash Hits (and No. 1) from England, which I bought in the import magazine shop back then. But only from around the mid-80s, so I didn’t know the disc yet.
Thank you very much.
You’re welcome, Ingmar 🙂
I missed this the first time around, so pleased to finally see it again here. What a line-up of artists aswell.
I started collecting Smash Hits magazine publications from late 1984 till around the end of 1989. I have most copies in the basement.
Thank you Paul.
You’re welcome, Mark 🙂
This is indeed a gift to my ears, Paul!! I love these sorts of things. It’s cool that you followed “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” because that single had the stars wishing holiday messages too. I love these types of records because they represent a time-capsule into our past!! Paul, you’re already making my holidays brighter and grand.
Many, many thanks!!
Jeff
You’re welcome, Jeff 🙂