Expanded Singles - Part I - Duran Duran & M|A|R|R|S

Trying something a little different this week, I am posting singles that don't have corresponding albums to go with them, and expanding them (to whatever degree I can.)

The two "new" songs for Duran2's GH album from 1989, they were never released on the GH album!  Ain't that a bitch.  And for the longest time, they were near impossible to find on CD.  Regardless of the fact that they mixed a lot of songs that weren't really meant to go together, it still came out sounding pretty well, considering the technology of the time.  I personally preferred Burning the Ground over Decadance, though.  After this single, it was a long slide down for the band to that shithole release Liberty, the worst Duran2 album EVER.

I've always been a huge fan of this single.  I have always been disappointed that they never gave us more than this.  To me, this was one of the first House singles... maybe?  At least, in my eyes.  Or should I say "in my ears".  All the mixes and a rare b-side.  A definite necessity.....

Duran Duran - Burning the Ground - 1989

M|A|R|R|S - Pump Up the Volume - 1987

Flesh For Lulu - Long Live the New Flesh - 1987

Back on June 10th I threw out a pop quiz with the promise of a choice for an extended album.  Mr Stevo answered correctly, so I promised to make a set for him.  Now, a month and a half later, I finally have his post....

To be honest, I know next to nothing about Flesh For Lulu.  Aside from their soundtrack hit I Go Crazy, I haven't heard much by them. Even their Wikipedia page doesn't really go into too much detail, other than they were a band struggling to get recognized, but always falling short.  Too bad.  Because, from what I heard as I was compiling these tracks, they are really a noteworthy band that I need to delve further into.

In 2003 they released a remaster of this album with 4 extra tracks on it.  As you can see, I added a hell of a lot more than that.  Partly because I added their Idol EP, which was released the year before LLtNF, so that added an additional four tracks, plus a few other odds and ends.

I've also added a "maxi-single" of I Go Crazy because I thought it would be fun, and they had a bunch of mixes, too.  I will say this is the one song of theirs that I've listened to a thousand times, because I find it's pophook to be spectacular.  I love it.  (Plus, as a child of the 80s, how could you not love any song featured in a John Hughes movie?)

Anyway, I hope I've given you something special, Stevo.  Let me know if it meets your standards..

Flesh For Lulu - Long Live the New Flesh - 1987

 

PS - Stay tuned for quite possibly my worst post ever on Friday.  I just looked at it and I'm wondering what the hell I was thinking...

Art Of Noise - In No Sense? Nonsense! - 1987

Not a whole lot to say about this one, today.  Just another collection of AoN perfection.  When this album came out, I had heard a couple of their songs that I thought were pretty good.  But, I didn't really get into them until after I got their Best Of set, and started collecting their singles.  So, most of this album was beyond me until about the mid to late 90s. 

Although I am not a huge fan of Dragnet, I found the rest of the album to be incredible.  Great, great stuff.  And, I know that Kiss was more a part of their Best Of release, but I wanted to associate it with an album, and this was the closest one.

Please let me know if I've missed anything....

Have a great evening!

Art Of Noise - In No Sense? Nonsense! - 1987

Hooters - One Way Home - 1987 - Nothing Extra Nothing More!

Nothing Extra Nothing More - Day Two - Hooters - One Way Home - 1987

This was one of my favorite albums during my Freshman and Sophomore years in High School.  I had liked the singles from their previous album, but didn't have the money to purchase it, so this was my first one.  The first six songs are great.  The last three...meh.  It's unfortunate that they didn't make any remixes and didn't record any actual b-sides.  The only b-side they had from this album, was their live version of Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds.  But, you all know how I feel about individual live tracks.

When I bought the album, my parents were a little disturbed by the name of the group.  I think they actually thought they were calling themselves "The Titties" or something.  Funny how naive a 15 year old boy can be at times to not see that at all.

Great music, though, and one that stands high in the history of my musical life.  Doesn't have anything extra, but worth every bit that it does...

Hooters - One Way Home - 1987

 

Sting - Live In Italy - 1987

So, this one takes place about 9 years after my next post.  You've all probably already heard this show, as it was commercially released as the "Sting & Gil Evans" live performance.  But, it's still one of my favorites.  The diversity of the songs on here, coupled with their unifying elements make it a wonderful performance in an almost intimate setting.  Great stuff, and time well spent....

Sting - Live In Italy - 1987

Thompson Twins - Live In Dallas - 1987

 

Tonight's first show is by the illustrious Twins.  By this time, they were in their unavoidable slide down in popularity.  That's not really a bad thing, though.  By this time, if you went to see their show, you saw ALL of their great hits in one setting.  Yes, seeing them during their Gap Tour or Future Days Tour would've been spectacular, but this was seeing the best of all of it at once.

Soundboard recording sounds great.  I obviously used the cover to their Close To The Bone album.  Looking at it now, I'm not a fan of the colors I chose, though.  Doesn't matter, the show is wonderful and that's what counts.

Thompson Twins - Live In Dallas - 1987

 

Cure - Live in Brussels - 1987

Tonight's second show is a grand one that I would've given my left gonad to see.  When this tour hit, and they came through Chicago, I was living there at the time and remember a bunch of kids at school going to see them.  I remember the girls coming back the next day with their concert Ts on, and their hair all ratted up and the dark eyeliner practically dripping from their eyes.  I wasn't the HUGE fan of them like I am now, and chose to see other shows that year, based on what my friends wanted to see, really.  Now, I look back and kick myself.

This is a great recording of a great show.  There's enough concert hall echo in the soundboard recording to make it feel like you're really there.  They all play in excellent form, and Robert is chipper and talkative.

I know the cover of Kiss Me3 is of Robert's lips and eye, but I found these pics in HD and had to use them, they looked so good.  Of course, I had to do a lot of adjusting of colors and whatnot, but I think I got it to match up with the album pretty good.

Also, you will note this recording is 1 1/2 hours long, more than will fit on one disc, but I only made one cover.  I did it like this, as it's tough to decide where to split the track listing, and also a lot of you have said that you simply encode the jpg graphic to the Mp3 file.  If you feel the need to burn it off and make a case, just split the album wherever you desire and squeeze the two discs into one case.  Simple enough.

Cure - Live in Brussels - 1987 - Pt 1 

Cure - Live in Brussels - 1987 - Pt 2

 

Erasure - The Circus - 1987

 Yay!  I'm back online!  Amazing, isn't it?!  To be honest, I'm rather impressed with how my technician from AT&T set up our system, and the programming seems to be a lot better, too.  Still too many channels, though.  It's almost overwhelming. Now, all I have to do is get a VPN and I'm back in business....

This one took me a little while to get used to.  I got this after I had Wild and the Innocents, so the style is obviously very different.  But, I now listen to it compared with a lot of later Erasure from the 2000s, and I can see them taking cues from this one.  Although it's not my favorite album of theirs, it is definitely quintessential Erasure, by far.  It's a wonderful listen, even though I don't have any recollection of it from my youth.  Only my late teens and early 20s.

I never did like the layout of the 2-Ring Circus, so I've adjusted and added and taken out all of the live material.  Again, the live material will be "realized" in the next couple weeks with my "Live Week".  But, adding all the mixes really makes it whole.  All of the mixes fit onto 2 discs, but there are still two "single remixes" that didn't fit, so I just tagged those on as a couple extra tracks.  I actually had fun making the cover for the Remix discs, as I got to type along a curve, which I hadn't done before.  I should do it again, sometime....

I've caught up a bit.  I've got cover art made through the 24th of March, and I have scheduled out all my albums through mid-June.  And, there's still a lot more than that still to come.

Master Edition

Remix Edition

two tracks

Cure - Kiss Me Remixes - 1987

As Fiction, Elektra and Rhino began releasing the Deluxe versions of the Cure albums, I fervently anticipated the arrival of Kiss Me x 3.  This is the album, as I've said in my first Kiss Me x3 post, that was my "life" during 87 and 88.  It was and still is BY FAR my favorite Cure album.  So much of my soul is in all of those songs, and so much of those songs are in my soul.

When they finally released the Deluxe version, I felt a distinct tinge of disappointment, as the bonus disc didn't have any remixes, and there were no new, un-heard-of tracks, and the only additional material was demos of songs we had already heard.  Despite, I still anxiously listened to the bonus material, hoping to find something new and wonderful to pull me back in.  But, there really wasn't.

The bonus disc from Rhino is ultimately a disappointment.  First, in my opinion, as stated in the last couple of posts, I despise live tracks unless they are part of the entire concert.  None of these hit and miss bastards.  The bonus disc had six separate tracks from four different shows.  WHY?!  That's just dumb.  Second, all of the rest of the tracks were "demos" and "guide vocals".  They may as well just have been labeled instrumentals, because that's all they were.

I've arranged here today the missing "third disc" that many have mentioned before.  I've included all of the remixes from the singles and b-sides.  I've included alternate mixes, and then finally the To the Sky remix.  Yes, I've included some of the tracks from the original bonus disc, to flesh this one out, and cut out the unnecessary.  This is what the second disc should have been, in my opinion.

I hope this one fits up snugly against the Album set I posted some time ago.  It completes that Kiss Me era, but I still have a few shows from the Kissing Tour that may yet make it here....

The Kiss Me Remixes

The Mighty Lemon Drops - Out Of Hand EP - 1987

Although my "EP" differs from the original, I must say that I got this on cassette back in the early 90s, after hearing the extended mix of Out Of Hand on the Just Say Yes Volume Two compilation from Sire.  Totally fell in love with it and became an EP of esteem in my collection.

Then I started listening to some of their other material....  Too bad they wrote all of their good songs for this EP, is what I think.  I look at the many albums they recorded and released, and I can't find a single one that I can say is good, to me.  What a sad thing.

This is definite Post Punk song writing.  Reminds me a lot of early Ocean Blue, and I also get a hint of the Bunnymen in there and a dash of jangle.  I changed the cover, using different trees than the original, but kept the same theme. I pulled out the live tracks, (which I've said previously I detest individual live tracks rather than a full show) and added the extended mix of Out Of Hand.  It's a good little one-off set to play between your discography binge-playing of other bands. 

The Mighty Lemon Drops - Out Of Hand EP - 1987

Yes - Big Generator - 1987

As a teen, I somewhat enjoyed Yes, along with the rest of the Post Prog bands out there, like Asia, Toto and the like, but I really didn't pay them much heed.  After the release of Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, I decided to pay attention a little more closely.  The 80's incarnation of Yes was definitely my favorite, and this was one of the albums from that period.

The entire album is great.  As with the previous album, this one has shaken off it's 70s Progressive style in favor of radio-friendly tunes to grow their fan base.  I'm not particularly in love with Rhythm Of Love, or the title track Big Generator, but I am totally infatuated with Love Will Find A Way and Shoot High Aim Low.  Those two tracks are two of the best examples of Yes' efforts at writing radio-friendly Pop songs.

I also found that Jon Anderson could sing about anything he wanted to, and I would think it was cool.  The band, as always, is extremely tight and well-performed.  Excellent performances.  And their harmonies are spot on with every song.  I do know that most of the song writing from this album and the one before - 90125 - can be credited to the extremely talented Trevor Rabin.  I'll try and post some of his solo stuff here later.  I think that his work is what allowed the 80s Yes to shine as bright as it did.

This post has the entire album, plus all of the remixes.  I changed up the cover a bit to make it match the colors from the single sleeves, pulling them all together.  A great 80s album, even if it isn't one of my regular fares. 

Yes - Big Generator - 1987

Erasure - The Innocents - 1987

Sorry for the late post tonight.  I took my five-year-old to see the Secret Life of Pets at the second-run theater.  Pretty good movie, well worth seeing or purchasing.  Clean and wholesome, without any adult innuendo anywhere.  Plus, I got to spend the evening with my little guy.

As for the Innocents.  This was my second Erasure album, after I had fallen in love with Wild!  I like this one a lot, quite a few great songs on here that aren't singles, but I think they should've been like Heart Of Stone and Imagination.  I love both of those songs.  Even Yahoo! could've been a single.  The b-sides are good, except for their version of Good Bad Ugly.  That one's just plain dumb.

I'm not sure about the cover, in that I like the way I've cut all the empty space out, but I'm still not sure that I like the way I did the Erasure logo.  I couldn't find a chiseled style that matched color with the graphic.  I like the style of the logo, I just couldn't get the color right.  Does it work for the rest of you, or no?

Lastly, I am moving down to one album a day, including the weekends.  I'll try to save my bigger specialized posts for those days.  But one is all I want to commit to, right now, especially with the holidays coming up.  I've been suffering from some burn-out ever since I came back from working on my rental property way back in September.  I used to have a months worth of covers & albums ready in advance, but I'm now down to just about 2 weeks worth.  It may sound like a lot, but I need that buffer just in case of any unforeseen circumstances.  Like now.  Plus, I still haven't been able to get my music hard drive to respond, so we have some issues, there....

Anyway, listen up to Erasure's American breakout album. A solid slice of pure 80s synth.  Gotta love it.

Erasure - The Innocents - 1987

Public Image Limited - Happy? - 1987

My second favorite PiL album.  I got this one shortly after I got Nine.  It had that sense of Post Punk on the verge of Mainstream Pop.  The melodies were there, the Lydon wailing was a little more controlled and coherent, and the music was performed with skill.  Heck, it's a great album.

......


And that's all I have to say about that.

I had a rough work week, I'm tired, I work for a bunch of incompetents, and I want to watch a little TV with my son.  We're probably going to watch either Kamen Rider Gaim, Kamen Rider Wizard, or Kamen Rider OOOs tonight (Google them).  I need me some Japanese Superhero shows.  Plus, it's my turn to cook supper, and I may just pass that on to Pizza Hut.

Tomorrow the family and I are going to the Pumpkin Patch to get our Halloween pumpkins, and it's an all day affair.  We leave about 930 or 10 am, and usually don't get back until 9 or 10 pm, dead exhausted.  That's why you got two posts today, I won't be posting at all tomorrow.

I'll get back with you all on Sunday, and maybe my mood will be a little better.  I hope you all have a great weekend and stay safe...

Public Image Limited - Happy? - 1987

Thompson Twins - Close To the Bone - 1987

So, the mature and mellow sounding Thompson Twins.  How incredibly dull.  But, I wouldn't be posting it if I didn't feel that it had some value. 

I was at my cousin's house in a little poe-dunk city in a Great Plains state when we were listening to a local radio program.  They were playing one of those pre-recorded interviews with the band on this album,  and telling us how great it was.  The local DJ got on there, and said that the next ten people would get autographed copies of the record for free.  SO, we jumped on their phone and got in.  Number seven!  She won a free autographed copy of the album!!!!  The next day we go down to pick it up at the station, and they had her the album with some signatures on it.  Cool.  We look closer, and the "autographs" on the record were those of the top local DJs for that station. 

W...T....Fuck!

Class acts, they are.  I will always enjoy some TT whether it be from their very first albums, blockbuster albums or their later ones, well into the Babble years.  The later solo material in the 00s and beyond, meh.  It's not the same.

What surprised me the most on this album was the utter lack of singles and mixes.  The previous albums had 4-5 singles and a huge slew of mixes that could fill discs and discs.  I could barely find enough material to fill one disc, for this one.  Sad, too bad.

Obviously not one of their best, but an essential part of every balanced TT collection.  Gotta have it.

Thompson Twins - Close To the Bone - 1987

Anthrax - Among the Living - 1987

Technically, you could say this is actually the first "Heavy Metal" album that I've posted.  No, I guess I posted Megadeth two days ago.  That makes this the second.  But, more on that later. 

Funny, I discovered Anthrax from their I'm the Man EP.  I knew they were Thrash, so to see this "Rap" song from them made me interested enough to want more.  Again, Sophomore year in High School (I was exposed to A LOT of stuff my Sophomore year.  OR was 1986-88 that fucking great for music?  Never know for sure.)  Yes, I'm the man is a hilarious novelty, but the rest of the EP was stellar.  It led me to purchase Among the Living.

Among the Living, along with State of Euphoria, are my two favorite Anthrax albums.  The rest are great, but these two have a genuine magic that the others don't.  I think that the reason why I like these so much, is they didn't have the same trappings that the other Metal/Thrash bands that were out at that time.  They weren't the sleazy, greasy boozer types.  They seemed more fun, more driven and more creative.  Plus, they liked skaters, and I liked that.  Even though I was a poser anyway.

I have that NOT Man graphic on a t-shirt.  It's my only Anthrax shirt.  I love wearing it.  And, when I wear it out, I'll probably buy another.

They're Anthrax and they take no shit
And they don't care for writing it....

Awesome, man!!!

Anthrax - Among the Living - 1987

Def Leppard - Hysteria II - 1987-88

This album had SEVEN singles.  That has to be some sort of world record.  What's amazing, is they could have released ALL of the album tracks as singles, as every single one of them was an absolute classic.  I bet I've listened to this album, literally, almost a thousand times.  It will go down as my most favorite Hard Rock/Heavy Metal album ever.

A rundown of the tracks...

-  Tracks 2, 9, 11, and 13 were all remixes that were released on their respective singles.
-  Track 1 was a remix for the Hystoria documentary, but sounds right in place here, and is good enough to be included on this compilation.
-  Track 3 was a rare (and I think unreleased) mix that I happened upon on a bootleg.
-  Tracks 5, 6, and 7 were all recorded during the Hysteria sessions, but were not released until the Retroactive compilation.
-  Track 8 was originally recorded as a b-side during the Hysteria sessions, but was re-recorded during the Adrenalize sessions and released on that album.
-  Tracks 10 and 14 were recorded during the Hysteria sessions, but were never released.
-  Track 12 was a b-side (for PSSOM) and then re-released on the Retroactive compilation.

I saw these guys in the summer of 1988 in Chicago at the Rosemont Horizon.  I was almost 17, had a girlfriend, and friends from work who all wanted to go.  Needless to say, the show was fantastic.  If I could see this show again, I would in a heartbeat.  I saw this show and the INXS Calling All Nations tour in the same summer.  What a fucking awesome summer....

Def Leppard - Hysteria II - 1987-88

Fleetwood Mac - Tango In the Night - 1987

 So, I blame this one on my parents.  I'm busy listening to Duran2, Cure, New Order, Punk, Hard Rock, 80s Synth, Post Punk, EVERYTHING, but late Classic Rock/Adult Contemporary.  In my wildest dreams, I would've never listened to an album like this, let alone own one.  But, as a teen still living with my folks, a lot of the time I was forced to listen to their music (sorta like I do to my kids now) and they both thought this was a pretty good album when it came out.  For the longest time, I thought it was a 70s album, being ignorant of Fleetwood Mac in general.  Why would I bother to know the facts?

So, several years back, I got nostalgic for this album.  Remembering my parents listening to it, and I recalled a lot of the tunes.  To learn it actually was an 80s album was somewhat shocking to me.  I thought most of them were dead by then or something (even now, none of them are dead.  Stupid, stupid man)  To also learn, while searching for the b-side material, that there were remixes of their songs was even more surprising.

The b-side songs and remixes are rather meh.  But, if you are a completist, it doesn't matter.  I'm pretty sure I have it all here.  There might be a remix or two that didn't make the cut, I can't remember.  But, there's more than enough here to make you feel like you've had enough by the time the disc is done.

It IS solid material, just not always my style.  As I said, it's a nostalgia thing.  But, to each his own, some of you may absolutely love this one....

Fleetwood Mac - Tango In the Night - 1987 

Fleetwood Mac - Tango In the Night Remixes - 1987

George Michael - Faith - 1987

 

Obviously, my little sister was the one who first got interested in George Michael.  Also, one of my best friends was a big Wham! fan as well.  I simply dismissed it.  But, back then when I did listen to the radio, I heard a lot of this album, while I was waiting for music I DID want to hear (Inxs, Duran2, Wang Chung, etc).  It didn't take long before I started to really like what I heard, and soon George became a figure that I was interested in hearing more from.  The fact that Shep Pettibone did several of his mixes made it even that more enticing. 

Back then, I was hooked on Father Figure (hot model in the video), Hard Day and Kissing a Fool.  Later, I quickly added his cover of Jive Talkin' with Boogie Box High and his duet with Aretha, I Knew You Were Waiting For Me.  For the album disc, I also added his song with Jody Watley and another Boogie Box High track (that really sucks, IMHO)

As far as the mix disc goes, there aren't any surprises on it.  All of the single mixes, including the remix that was on the album.  It surprises me that there weren't any actual remixes of I Want Your Sex, just those three versions.  You would've thought that a IWYS single would have an extended mix of Part I.  Guess not.

George Michael - Faith - 1987

George Michael - Faith Remixes - 1987 

Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark - The Extended Versions - 1979-88

So, several months ago, I posted my "Singles Collection" of every OMD single, b-side and remix up through Dreaming.  I know, though, that listening to 6 discs straight through can be a daunting task.  I know because it's tough for me, even on a road trip.  So, I also made myself an extended/remix collection with one mix from each of their singles, if a mix exists.

It's hard to say which disc I prefer, as I have favorites on both of them.  Regardless, it's a good set, and playing through a 2-disc set doesn't take long.  Favorite tracks would include Never Turn Away, So In Love,
Messages, Souvenir, and of course the Martin Hannett mix of Electricity.

I've said before that I don't care for greatest hits collections.  I don't.  But, when it comes to OMD, and Art of Noise, a lot of times, that's the only way you can listen to them.  Don't know why.  But, as far as albums go, neither of them can really pull together a cohesive group of songs that I can like.  I guess I'm too picky.

Anyway, I thought the font and cover graphic was fitting for this collection.  I hadn't made the cover for myself before, but once I got these two, I printed them off.  Looks good on my CD wall.

Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark - The Extended Versions - 1979-88 - Disc One

Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark - The Extended Versions - 1979-88 - Disc Two 

David Bowie - Never Let Me Down - 1987

One of Bowie's awesome 80s albums.  He'd ditched his "New Wave" phase of his early 80s music and now joined the likes of Wang Chung, Johnny Hates Jazz and Cutting Crew.  Basic 80s pop.

Now, most people would consider that a bad thing.  But, it's what kept Bowie alive for 45 years in the music scene before he died.  I will admit he didn't break any musical barriers with revolutionary work, but he kept inviting new people to listen to the work he did, and it wasn't crap work at that.

I didn't start listening to Bowie until Tin Machine.  All I knew about him before that was that horrid single he did with Mick Jagger and that embarrassing video that accompanied it.  I enjoyed Tin Machine, and liked Black Tie, White Noise even better.  But, working my way backward, I found that I was very comfortable with Never Let Me Down, as it captured my favorite (and I think the best) part of the 80s.  It was a time of discovery for me, and this music exemplified that.  It reminded me of my Sophomore and Junior years in High School in Chicago, and my discovery of life beyond what my parents taught me.  To coin a cliche, "a coming of age" moment.

All of the singles were perfect 80s hits.  Not that they were so much popular, but, as I said, they were SO 80s.  The album tracks were great, and he was able to do a little more of what made Bowie BOWIE.  And the b-sides were prime examples of Bowie in general.  You could line them up with his 70s material without skipping a beat.

I'm thinking of making an 80s compilation of remixes, and you  can be sure that you'll find at least one of these tracks on it. 

I used the same cover as the album and added the single sleeves for the back, and the Remix Disc, I completely redesigned one of the single sleeves.

I'm pretty sure I got all of the b-sides here, let me know if I missed any.  AND, if anyone knows or has any demos or outtakes from these sessions, I'd love to have them....

David Bowie - Never Let Me Down - 1987

David Bowie - Never Let Me Down - the Remixes - 1987