Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood

Well ya knew sooner or later you were gonna get this one, love it or hate it, it's undeniably one of the most recognizable, albeit overplayed tunes of the 80's. The big single off Welcome To The Pleasure Dome, this song was absolutely everywhere. And if you weren't listening to it on the radio, or playing it in the clubs, you were probably wearing it on your T-Shirt FRANKIE SAYS RELAX. I think this tune actually sold more t-shirts than it did singles (if that's possible). It was a massive hit all over the planet, especially England, where it stayed on the UK charts for 48 weeks, 5 of those weeks at #1. Of course it got some help from the wonderful people at BBC Radio 1, who refused to play it because of offensive lyrics...when will they ever learn...And you have to love the cover art, done by artist Anne Yvonne Gilbert, perhaps one of the most striking illustrations ever done for an album, or at least for a 12' inch single. A testament to a time when every aspect of an artistic release was meticulously thought out and created to be unique and original, much like the music.

.

Side 1

Relax (Long Version) Time 7:23

.

Side 2

Relax (7" Version Time) Time 3:56

Relax (Instrumental) Time 4:22

.

Written by Holly Johston, Mark O'Toole and Peter Gill

Prouced by Trevor Horn

1983 Zang Tumb Tuum (ZTT Records)

Manufacture by Island Records

Duel - Propaganda

.

....From Düsseldorf, Germany, who can forget this single, absolutely incredible work. Once again depending on who ya talk to, Propagada's either a New Wave band, a Synthpop band, or an Industrial band. Ain't it great the way everything was classified back then, everything fell neatly into it's own little category. Actually, come to think of it, things haven't changed much, they still do the same sh-t today. Personally, I'd classify them as New Wave, but you can call them what what ever the hell ya want, as long as ya call em good.
....This is the second single released by Propaganda, it features great vocals, fantastic keyboard work, and a heavy Industrialized beat. It's also the band's most recognisable release, the most successful single in the UK, and my favorite song by Propaganda. As was the norm in the 80's alot of time and effort went into the design for the record sleeve, this is as much a piece of art as it is a 12' inch single. In addition to being beautiful, the sleeve was also made of thin flimsy paper, so finding a copy of this EP without a crease in the cover is next to impossible, even mine has a couple of dents.

.

Band Members for Propaganda at this time (1985)...

.

Suzanne Freytag
Ralf Dörper
Claudia Brücken
Michael Mertens

.

Produced by S.J. Lipson and Boby Krausbar

Musical Director Trevor Horn

Sleve Design....London Design Partnership with z.t.t.

Photography by David Levine (screams) and Peter Brown (skin shots)

ZTT Records London England.

Ball of Confusion - Love and Rockets

From the Ashes of Bauhaus came Love and Rockets and this is their first release under this new moniker. This is the 12 inch single version of "Ball of Confusion", released in 1985 under the Beggar Banquet record label. Much like my other EP's from the time, I wore out my original years ago and I acquired this copy just recently. Wikipedia refers to it a minor hit...perhaps as a bean counter from a pure sales perspective one might agree. For those who were paying attention to the music scene at the time and remember it's popularity, they couldn't be further from the truth. This quickly became a classic cover, and I don't know a single 80's music collector that doesn't have it, or doesn't want it. A hard edged punk/goth combination with regards to style, they turned this Motown tune into a phenomenally popular track, heard in ever new wave cave, and underground club, the world over. I absolutley love this tune, as far as cover songs go, this is one of the best ever done.

.
Ball Of Confusion (12' Remix)
Beggars Banquet / Virtigo
.
This Side......Ball Of Confusion (The Extended U.K. Vesion) Remixed
That Side.....Ball Of Confusion (The U.S. Remixed Version)
Both Side mixed by N.Whitfield / B. Strong
Produced by John A River & Love and Rockets

Simple Minds - Sanctify Yourself ( Extended )

.
. "This is the Age of Thunder and Rage..."
.

This extended re-mix was released by Simple Minds under the Virgin Records label 1986, it received alot of airplay back in the day. This EP contains two version of "Sanctify Yourself" an Extended mix and a dub mix. It was co-produced by two legends in the recording industry Bob Clearmountain and James Iovine who's resumes are to say the least extremely impressive. Bob Clearmountain's been nominated for four Grammy awards and worked with likes of Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Bryan Adams and Robbie Williams to name just a few. James Iovine has engineered for John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen and produced for U2, Dire Straits and Patty Smith to name just a few. This version (extended) starts off with a simple beat overlayed with Jim Kerrs vocals approximately 20 seconds ahead the the heavy beat kicks in followed shortly after with the keyboard and bass tracks. Made for mixing the you get a good two minutes of repetitive droning before the meat the song proper transitions. An excellent variation of the original deviating enough to make it unique but not so much as to make it unrecognizable. Obviously the purpose of this 12 inch was the clubs and pubs so the drum tracks takes on increased prominence throughout, it works well. The B-Side dub mix is pure instrumental (well almost), very repetitive, very cool this is for pure mixing purposes, there are some vocals at the very end, also very repetitive. This is an extremely well done EP can't believe someone gave it up.

A. Sanctify Yourself - extended mix 7:10

B. Sanctify Yourself - dub mix 6:11

Produced by Bob Clearmountain & Jimmy Iovine

Mixed by Jay Burnette, Bob Clearmountain assissted by Moira Marquis

Written by Simple Minds

Virgin Records 1986

Talk Talk - It's My Life ( 12" Extended )

.

....A bit perplexed by this one, without an argument Talk Talks most commercially successful single and a rare 12 inch. I acquired this recently and it's nothing like the one I owned twenty years ago which had only the one extended single with four different versions of the same song. This EP contains not only It's My life 12" Mix, but also 12" Mixes of Dum Dum Girl, Such A Shame, Talk Talk, My Foolish Friend and Why So Hard, each of these songs is excellent on there own, it's almost like a mini greatest hits package (early stuff only), except they're all extended versions. The sleeve leads me to believe it was created for the North American market, with packaging designed in Italy and remixed in 1984 by Steve Thompson. This copy above belongs to me and was pressed right here in Canada in the bustling metropolis of Mississauga. A great set list and well worth picking up if you can find a copy in decent condition. Each and every track was eventually re-released on CD, after all Talk Talk aint exactly obscure or unknown. But the reason I pick these up has nothing to do with weather they've been re-released or remastered I don't much care about that. I pick them up because they are rare, and rarer still in perfect condition, also because I dig the photography and cover art which is so interesting.

.

Track List

.

1. Why Is It So Hard?... 12" U.S.Remix - Extended

2. Talk Talk... 12" Mix - Extended

3. My Foolish Friend... 12" Mix - Extended

4. It's My Life... 12" Mix - Extended

5. Dum Dum Girl... 12" Remix - Extended

6. Such A Shame... 12" U.S. Remix - Extended

.

Tracks 1, 5, 6 : Remixed by Steve Thompson

.

1984 EMI Records

Front Cover Photo by Sheila Rock

Ministry - Everyday ( Is Halloween ) & All Day

It's Industrial, err... I mean New Wave, no it's Industrial, no it's..it's..it's Ministry. From my collection another piece of plastic that got heavy rotation during my time in the booth, one of Ministry's early singles and still my favorite. Far removed from the industrial metal sound they are known for today, Ministry originally started as a New Wave band with a distinctive electronic sound, although one might say they were teetering on the precipice of an Industrial revolution. Al Jourgensen has reportedly expressed disappointment with Ministry's music during these early years, not really sure why. I think it had something to do with creative control, a problem that I'm sure most artist encounter with their record company occasionally. Ahh well screw it, whatever the reason I know I speak for many when I say that "WE" the fans were not disappointed. This was their signature single "Everyday is Halloween" with "All Day" on the flip side was essential vinyl for any music collector and fan of this genre. Ministry released a total of 4 singles under the Wax Trax Records label, I believe this was the most successful but don't quote me on that, sometimes I don't know what the ___ I'm talkin about...

.

.

this side

Everyday ( Is Holloween ) 6:35

.

other side

All Day 5:51

.

WAX TRAX! RECORDS

2445 Lincoln Ave Chicago IL

Wishing ( If I Had A Photograph Of You )

.

Click on the artwork to get full size.

 

..... Released in 1983 this was the first single off there second album LISTEN. The photo above is the artwork from the EP ( for those idiot industry people EP stands for Extended Play a.k.a. the 12'inch single...) "Wishing" peaked strongly in Great Britain and in Canada where it reached the Top 10, in the U.S. it reach #26 on the Billboard charts, it also charted in Germany as well. The version above is my personal copy, it's just over 6 minutes long (6:03 to be exact) it's the version that received regular rotation in all the dance clubs, the original version of this song clocked in at nearly 14 minutes. It also holds the rare distinction of having been performed almost entirely on the black keys of a keyboard.

...... In a celebration of early electronic music, digital radio station BBC 6 Music compiled a chart of its listeners' favourite synthesizer riffs in November 2006. "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)" came second in the list.

.

Wishing ( If I Had A Photograph Of You )

1983 Zomba Productions Ltd.

Jive / Arista

Side A.

Wishing ( If I Had A Photograph Of You )

The Flight Of Yuri Gagarin

.

Side B

Rosenmotag

Committed