CRC Retro Mix #43

Clearance Rack Classics Retro 80s and 90s Dance Mix by DJ Tintin

1. I Want You - Utah Saints
2. Hallucination Generation (Syametic Nightmare) - Gruesome Twosome
3. Salvation (Razormaid! Mix) - The Hood
4. State Of The Nation - New Order
5. Happiest Girl (Jack Mix) - Depeche Mode
6. You Make Me Wonder (Razormaid! Mix) - Celebrate The Nun
7. What Do You See (Arabian House Mix) - Cause & Effect
8. LSI (Love Sex Intelligence) (Beatmasters 12" Mix) - The Shamen
9. Lucky Charm (Extended Club Mix) - Hard Corps
10. Send Me An Angel '89 (Dance Mix) - Real Life
11. We Came To Dance (12" Version) - Ultravox
12. The Calling (Full Extended 12" Mix) - Ken Heaven
13. We Are The Boys (Razormaid! Mix) - Until December
14. The Sound Of The Crowd (12" Version) (Complete) - The Human League
15. My Translucent Hands (No. II) - I Start Counting
Notes and other random things:
Well, here it is. My first brand new podcast in nearly seven months. Where does the time go? They say patience is a virtue and good things come to those who wait and I think this one was worth waiting for. A good blend of the familiar and the not-so-familiar; some things you may remember and some you've long since forgotten or maybe never heard in your entire life.
Before I get to a few band notes, I want to mention that I have now upgraded my account back to a Pro account. I just couldn't bear the thought that people were actually making a point of coming to this site to listen to the music only to be told by a pre-recorded message that they could not because of bandwidth limitations. What does that mean for you all? It means no more running out of bandwidth two days after I post a new episode. With apologies to the Pet Shop Boys it means more "opportunities" to listen and to download when you have time. It means more storage, so I don't have to delete the audio from an older podcast just to post a new one. (You may have already noticed I've re-posted some of the more recent back-catalog episodes). Over time, I will add more of them. For long-time listeners, it's a chance to re-visit some of the older stuff from "back in the day". For newer listeners, it will be like a glut of new podcasts to check out.
I also want to note that I've removed the audio for my previous episode (CRC #42) as the recording levels were all over the map and I didn't think the quality was up to snuff. Perhaps 5 or 6 years ago, it would have been okay, I suppose, but even in light of the cheap mixer and free recording software I use to assemble these 'casts, I think this podcast has come too far now and demands a higher level of quality. So, I may re-record that one at a future date. At that point, I'll re-post. Same for back-catalog items. The really good ones, I'll re-post. The ones that could use a little work will most likely be re-recorded and re-posted as a "reboot" episode. All in all, thank you all again for tuning in. Have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2017!
Now on to the bands ...
If you've been a follower of this podcast since the beginning and you've clung to the belief that, against all probability, the thrash metal band, Slayer, would somehow make its presence felt at some point then your patience has finally been rewarded. And you should book your ticket to Vegas immediately. Taking a riff from the group's tune, "War Ensemble", "I Want You" was one of four Top-25 hits for Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt on Utah Saints' self-titled debut. The duo were at the pioneering edge of sampling, also grabbing a snippet of Kate Bush from her track Cloudbusting for the song "Something Good" and a soundbite from the inimitable Annie Lennox from her song "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)" for the track "What Can You Do For Me". Called "the first true Stadium House band" by Bill Drummond of The KLF, Utah Saints were one of the first rave acts to play live and one I had the good fortune to see on the same bill with The Shamen in the early 90s during the rave culture explosion. And let me tell you: it was quite a show ... probably.
I first heard "Salvation" by The Hood sometime in 1989 while in college. A guy who lived down the hall from me had a version of it on an old mix tape. I really liked the track and was pleased as punch when the first of many Razormaid! discs from my nascent subscription showed up in the mail containing a mix of that song. It is a portion of that 10+ minute version that appears here. I would soon come across a movie soundtrack of the same name while sifting through record bins at a local indie shop. New Order, Cabaret Voltaire, The Hood, hip-hop producer extraordinaire Arthur Baker and others appeared on the album, so I purchased it. While I've listened to the song "Salvation" umpteen times over the years, I did not know much about the band or its members. To this day, I still don't. I spent the better part of an hour trying to find information on the group, but mostly found song credits and track listings. Eventually, I did find a tiny bit of info on a website called The Lost Turntable. The info was posted by an Arthur Baker and a John Hood respectively, both of whom I can only assume to be the real article.
"the hood- is john hood, a legendary nyc party promoter-doorman,who is also quite a good writer. he was signed for a short time on the sire label and is active on the club scene in south beach, miami, florida"
"Wow! Yeah, that The Hood track is indeed me: John Hood. (Thanks AB!) And I'm delighted to find it posted. In fact, till right now I never even had an MP3 of the song! So if no one minds, I'll post this, save this, and send this around. Nice to find Salvation!"
If anyone knows anything more about The Hood, I would LOVE to get a one-sheet or press kit or bio on them.
Speaking of bands I don't know much about, Gruesome Twosome would qualify as well. Sort of a one-off project for founders Samy Birnbach from Minimal Compact (aka Lord Solomon Pearbrook) and Norwegian producer Per Martinsen, who had been recording under the name Syamese, "Hallucination Generation" is the only official single from the group and was released in 1989. A cult classic in its own right, the song sort of bridges the gap between traditional industrial dance music and the bourgeoning New Beat music scene that was starting to take hold at the time. Birnbach and Martinsen would later collaborate with the likes of Bertrand Burgalat, Thrash from The Orb, Paul Kendall and Fortran 5 to eventually release a full-length album called Candy From Strangers, which was released in 1993. Birnbach currently releases material under the DJ Morpheus moniker, having once worked with Colin Newman from Wire for a project called Oracle, while Martinsen performs as Mental Overdrive.
While it's probably not the best analogy as they employed very different musical styles, Ultravox is much like the band Genesis in the sense that they have two distinct timelines, led by two distinctly different front men. And much like one could argue Peter Gabriel represented the true vision for Genesis, there is no denying that Phil Collins took the band to massive commercial heights and is probably remembered more readily as the face of the group. Similarly, one could argue that while John Foxx may have been the driving force behind Ultravox during their formative years, it was Midge Ure, who took over after Foxx left for a solo career, that kept the band from imploding and pushed them further into the mainstream and to massive success in the UK. With 7 Top-10 albums and 17 Top-10 singles, U-Vox, like many other bands of the day, took their cue from the glam rock outfits that came before such as Neu! In fact, early on Ultravox was known as Ultravox! (with an exclamation point) in deference to Neu! The first album with the classic line-up of Ure, Billy Currie, Warren Cann and Chris Cross would be the amazing Vienna, which marked a very different direction for the group. Produced by long-time Kraftwerk producer Conny Plank, the album included the title track, which would reach #2 in the UK and would be the highest charted song for the band. (John Lennon's "Woman" and "Shaddap You Face" by Joe Dolce would both keep the song from reaching #1). And while the 1982 album Quartet, produced by George Martin, would be the best-selling US album for U-Vox, the band would not again reach the level of critical success they found with Vienna. The song in this podcast is the 12" version of "We Came to Dance", the final single from Ultravox's sixth studio album, Quartet, released on April 18, 1983. The single reached #18 on the UK charts and was the last of seven consecutive top-20 singles for the band. This being the Christmas season, I would be derelict not to mention that Midge Ure also co-wrote (with Bob Geldof of Boomtown Rats fame) and produced the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid.
Last but not least, I want to mention "State Of The Nation" by New Order. Though it reached #1 on the UK Indie Singles Chart and #30 on the UK Singles chart in 1986, the song is probably not a favorite of the majority of New Order fans. I would wager if every NO devotee were to compile a list of his or her Top 10 songs, it would probably appear in less than 5% of those lists. Still, the track is a great one even if only for the fact that it's one of the few NO songs whose title actually appears within the lyrics and/or chorus of the song. As most die-hard fans know, the titles of most NO tunes have little or no relevance to the subject matter being discussed. "Shellshock", "Regret", "Touched By The Hand Of God" and "Confusion" are a few songs I can think of off the top of my head that go against that grain. While the song did not appear on the album, Brotherhood, which was released around this time, both the remix version appearing here and the B-side called "Shame Of The Nation", which was produced by John Robie, appear on the Substance compilation, released in 1987.
That will do it for this epidsode. I've got my next podcast ready to record. As soon as I find some time, I'll do just that.
Happy Listening!