Decadance I: 1991

Side 2 of a made up mixtape, focusing on the Nineties. Today we arrive in 1991. 

Guitars are beginning to creep back into the mix, but today's selection is still very much about getting on to the dancefloor, whether of the club or indie variety.

Looking at the best-selling UK singles of 1991, there was clearly a collective madness permeating society as far as record buying was concerned. How else do you explain Bryan Adams spending four effing months at #1? Or The Simpsons also hitting the top spot and having the 5th best seller of the year? Is there any rational explanation for the existence of Color Me Badd?!!

I spent a large part of 1991 in Australia, whose singles charts were arguably just as bad, though I was at least spared The Stonk by comedians Hale & Pace. 

Continuing with the info on each single's peak (UK) chart placing and date throws up some interesting observations. As with yesterday's selection, 1991's dozen songs include eight UK Top 40 hits and four that, well, weren't.

Just the one #1 this time and that a cheeky piggy back on a re-release of Should I Stay Or Should I Go by The Clash thanks to a jeans TV advert. Mick Jones had regrouped and relaunched Big Audio Dynamite II the previous year and included a reworked and renamed song from their debut album. Change Of Atmosphere became Rush and it gave Mick another hit single...though it made little if no difference to the chart fortunes of follow up album The Globe.

The selection opens with Intastella, a band I loved but for whom commercial success seemed elusive. Century, despite a 12" remix from Adamski, peaked at #70 and proved to be the second highest charting single of their career in the UK. A shame, as they had some cracking tunes, including this one.

Today's MAW (Mandatory Andrew Weatherall, not to be confused with Masters At Work, although he's equally deserving of the label) is a monumental remix of 101 by Finitribe. Even the 3:20 single edit is a masterclass, to the extent that this was the album version selected for An Unexpected Groovy Treat the following year. 

Released in July 1991, as far as I can tell 101 managed to scrape to #171 by the end of August and that was it's peak. As I said above,  clearly a collective madness permeating society as far as record buying was concerned.

Apart from the aforementioned Big Audio Dynamite II stowaway, the only other song from 1991's Top 20 best sellers is Sunshine On A Rainy Day by Zoë. Quite an achievement given that the original 1990 version failed to make the same impression. All I will say is that returning to the UK and seeing the leather trousered, barefoot Zoë throwing all manner of shapes on Top Of The Pops made a lasting impression on me.

An unexpected delight whilst I was on the other side of the world was hearing Bristol-born boy done good Gary Clail cracking the Top 10 with Human Nature. I was already a fan of his work with Adrian Sherwood and On-U Sound System, but the additional boost of an in-vogue remix by Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne made all the difference. Hearing Gary's Bristolian burr ("put their hands in their pockets") alongside the dulcet tones of the legendary Alan Pillay still makes me smile.

Poor If? though, they really did try. They had some great tunes, seemingly tapped into the zeitgeist with their lyrical subjects and had impeccable taste in remixers, including Leftfield and Justin Robertson. Sadly, people just didn't buy any of their records. They had three goes with Saturday's Angels between 1991 and 1992, the 2nd being the best, with a peak of #83. This radio-friendly remix by The Grid aka Dave Ball and Richard Norris didn't in fact feature on any of the three attempts, instead tucked away as a B-side on another undeservedly flop single from 1991, Open Up Your Head.

Unfinished Sympathy was Massive Attack's first big hit...except it wasn't. Following a frankly bizarre edict regarding band names that might be triggering due to the ongoing Gulf War, the BBC banned a load of songs during this period.

The list apparently included Atomic (Blondie), In The Army Now (Status Quo), I'm On Fire (Bruce Springsteen), State Of Independence (Donna Summer), Walk Like An Egyptian (Bangles) and When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going (Billy Ocean).

The record label dodged this potential issue by renaming Massive Attack as Massive for this one single, but it seemed to work, although I sure that there were some music lovers out there devastated this this wasn't in fact a belated follow up by Massivo ft. Tracy.

Intastella weren't the only young upstarts, however. Saint Etienne, Flowered Up and The Mock Turtles were all establishing themselves, though arguably I should have made some room here for James or Manic Street Preachers. 

 

However, there was another band who showed some early promise, by the name of Blur. I wonder what became of them?

Be here next Saturday for some 1992 action. I'll be as surprised as you to find out what makes the final twelve.

1) Century (7" Version By Chris Nagle & Mike 'Spike' Drake): Intastella
2) 101 (Sonic Shuffle Edit By Andrew Weatherall & Hugo Nicolson): Finitribe
3) Nothing Can Stop Us (Album Version): Saint Etienne
4) Sunshine On A Rainy Day (7" Radio Mix 1991 By Youth & Mark 'Spike' Stent): Zoë
5) Do What You Feel (Dum Dum Vocal Edit By Dave Lee): Joey Negro ft. Debbie French

6) Human Nature (On The Mix Edit By Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osborne): Gary Clail / On-U Sound System ft. Alan Pillay

7) Saturday's Angels (Elevator Heaven Mix By The Grid): If?

8) Unfinished Sympathy (Nellee Hooper 7" Mix): Massive Attack ft. Shara Nelson

9) Take It (Album Version): Flowered Up

10) Rush (Edit): Big Audio Dynamite II

11) Can You Dig It? (Extended Mix By Martin Coogan, Pete Smith & Karl Madert): The Mock Turtles

12) There's No Other Way (Album Version By Stephen Street): Blur

20th Jan 1991: Saturday's Angels EP (#83): 7

3rd Mar 1991: Should I Stay Or Should I Go EP (#1): 10

10th Mar 1991: Unfinished Sympathy EP (#13): 8

14th Apr 1991: Can You Dig It? EP (#18): 11

21st Apr 1991: Human Nature EP (#10): 6

12th May 1991: Foxbase Alpha (#54): 3

12th May 1991: A Life With Brian (#34): 9

12th May 1991: There's No Other Way (#8): 12

25th Aug 1991: 101 EP (#171): 2

8th Sep 1991: Sunshine On A Rainy Day EP (#4): 4

17th Nov 1991: Century EP (#70): 1

17th Nov 1991: Do What You Feel EP (#36): 5

Side Two (47:18) (GD) (M)

There's Something Going Round Inside My Head

Side 2 of a cassette compilation, recorded 23rd July 1994.

I'd forgotten how much I loved listening to this tape, especially in my car. I owned a Mini Metro with a crappy tape deck that had been bolted to the underside of the glove compartment and wired in a similarly DIY fashion with copious amounts of black electrical tape where there shouldn't be. Windows down, volume up and the morbid thrill of wondering if the crappy tape deck would chew up and spit out the cassette at some point (which happened with alarming frequency).

Thankfully, this one survived both the tape deck and the eventual ditching of the car when I lived sufficiently close to Bristol city centre and with sufficiently awful street parking that I managed without a car for several years. The compilation continued to get regular airings but nothing quite matched those rock and roll lo-fi hi-fi years in the car.

This selection is resolutely and relentlessly upbeat for three quarters of an hour. Even Youth and Thrash's attempts to inject some darkness (sampling the Stones' Gimme Shelter) into Movin' by Marathon cannot suppress it's innate joy de vivre. And World Of Twist's take on another Stones classic remixed by Fluke is about as uplifting as one can get. And that's saying something, coming hot on the heels of another of their remixes, the aptly titled Celebrate.

It all gets off to a euphoric start with The Grid's superb remix of Bow Down Mister by Jesus Loves You, which in my opinion is still a career highlight for Boy George, albeit criminally overlooked and underrated. Messrs Ball and Norris put George in the backseat for this one, letting him back up front with the choir towards the end. For the most part though, it's all about Asha Bosle and it's all the better for it.

 

Another iconic singer gets a look in later on, when the unique presence that is Nina Hagen lends her singular style to Get Your Body! Adamski's bubble of commercial success  and chart hits the previous year had burst by 1992, which is a shame as I think the singles at least were just as good, if not better than what had gone before. I picked up this 12" for pennies in a bargain bin in 1994 and it's a great track that deserved better.

Devo is sadly not a tribute to the American band but the product of progressive house duo Crunch aka Terry Marks and Kevin Brewster-White from the UK. They loved their cheese: the three mixes on the 12" single are named Mozzarella, Red Leicester and Stilton. Nothing cheesy about this song though, which I first discovered on the Welcome To The Future² compilation in 1993.

I was (and still am) a huge fan of Justin Robertson and actively sought out his work as Lionrock and his prolific remixes for other artists. If? were already on my radar due to previous 12" purchases of Open Up Your Head and Everything & More, both featuring stunning remixes by Leftfield. With Saturday's Angels, Justin Robertson is more than up to the challenge, delivering an astonishing eight minutes. Most Excellent was the name of his club night at the time but also fairly sums up his remix and this selection, if I dare say so.

1) Bow Down Mister (Floating In The Ganges - Grid Mix By Dave Ball & Richard Norris): Jesus Loves You ft. Asha Bhosle (1991)

2) Devo (Mozzarella Mix): Crunch (1993)

3) Saturday's Angels (Most Excellent Vocal Remix By Justin Robertson): If? (1992)

4) Movin' (Original) (Translunar Injection Burn Mix By Youth & Thrash): Marathon (1992) 

5) Get Your Body! (12"): Adamski ft. Nina Hagen (1992) 

6) Celebrate (Magimix By Fluke): Horse (1994) 

7) She's A Rainbow (Right Foot Yellow Mix By Fluke): World Of Twist (1991)

 

Side Two (45:01) (KF) (Mega)

Think For Yourself And Question Authority

I'm a big fan of Richard Norris and Dave Ball's respective and prolific careers in music, so it's little surprise that I also love their work together as The Grid.

As well as hit singles and albums of their own, The Grid were ubiquitous remixers throughout the 1990s and I'd often buy a single by an artist that I wasn't all that fussed about because there was a remix by The Grid included.

Today's selection therefore focuses on The Grid as remix artists, drawing from 1990 to 1994, including a remix of themselves (featuring Dr. Timothy Leary) and Dave's former band, Soft Cell. Your Loving Arms by Billie Ray Martin initially scraped into the UK Top 40 in November 1994, but triumphantly returned to #6 when re-released in May 1995.

 

Some personal favourites from Sparks and Brian Eno, a couple of rarer tracks by Stex (featuring Johnny Marr) and Ragged Jack and single remixes of Sophie B. Hawkins and If? that I think improved on the original versions. 

 

And what better way to end than with World Of Twist? Their album Quality Street was produced by The Grid and deserved so much better than #50 in the UK album chart, as single Sweets (criminally peaked at #58) attests.

1) Still Feel The Rain (The Grid Mix): Stex ft. Johnny Marr (1990)

2) Your Loving Arms (Original Radio Edit By BRM & The Grid): Billie Ray Martin (1994)

3) Origins Of Dance (Electronic Future Mix By The Grid): Dr. Timothy Leary Meets The Grid (1990)

4) When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way' (The Grid's Frank And Nancy Mix): Sparks (1994)

5) Memorabilia '91 (Extended Remix By The Grid): Soft Cell (1991)

6) Saturday's Angels (Elevator Heaven Mix By The Grid): If? (1991)

7) Right Beside You (The Grid 7" Mix): Sophie B. Hawkins (1994)

8) Ali Click (Long Trance Mix By The Grid): Brian Eno (1992)

9) Grid Radical (Twilight Mix By The Grid): Ragged Jack (1992)

10) Sweets (Album Version By The Grid): World Of Twist (1991)

Think For Yourself And Question Authority (55:09) (GD) (M)

Mrs. McClusky, We Love You

Celebrating Gwyneth Powell, 5th July 1946 to 8th September 2022.

 

News belatedly broke yesterday, unsurprising given the unfortunate coincidence of her passing on the same day as Queen Elizabeth II. As a kid growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, Gwyneth Powell was synonymous with BBC TV series Grange Hill. Although her character, Mrs Bridget "The Midget" McClusky didn't appear until series 4, episode 1 broadcast on 30th December 1980, she was the show's longest serving head teacher, departing at the end of series 14, transmitted 15th March 1991. 

Gwyneth won over a whole new generation of fans when she co-starred with Greg Davies in Channel 4 comedy Man Down between 2013 and 2017 as his character's mum.

Sadly, little evidence online of Gwyneth's musical leanings and she was criminally overlooked for the Grange Hill cast's 1986 Top 5 anti-drugs classic, Just Say No. So, for today's selection, I've gone for a brief dip into songs by bands featuring a McClusky (or McCluskey, just to pad it out a bit more).

Is that the sound of a barrel being scraped...?

 

1) Wonderful (Cover of The Beach Boys): Adventures In Stereo (1998)

2) Just Got Lucky (12" Version): JoBoxers (1983)

3) We Love You (Album Version): O.M.D. (1986)

4) Five o' Clock World (Remix By Robert Ash & Nigel Grainge) (Cover of The Vogues): Ballistic Kisses (1982)

5) Everything And More (Seven Inch Edit): If? (1992)

6) Everybody's Somebody's Fool (Album Version): The Bluebells (1983)

7) Super Love: Wigan's Ovation (1975)

Mrs. McClusky, We Love You (24:13)

His Final & Most Fabulous Creation

Side 1 of a mixtape compiled for me by my brother, circa 1995.

Back to the beats for this Saturday selection which, despite it's mid-90s creation, seems to have a lot of love for 1992, with two thirds of the selection from that year.

A bit of a red herring to start, with Jim Thirwell's Foetus guise in full orchestral pomp, before we dive straight into a remix of rave classic Stakker Humanoid by Brian Dougans and FSOL partner Garry Cobain, then sidestep into Hi-NRG disco with the ever-brilliant Divine. 

A couple of Buzz McCoy tracks to follow, first up with his main concern, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, then a partnership with Sascha from KMFDM as Excessive Force for a one-off single in 1991, this version popping up on the Conquer Your World album, which reached the UK the following year.

Orbital's Chime is a brilliant song in any version, but I particularly like this remix by the Hartnoll brothers, which appeared on their Mutations EP. Likewise, If? benefited from some top remixes of their songs, especially by Leftfield, as evidenced here.

808 State's variations on Pacific, like Orbital's Chime, never get boring or sound dated to these ears. This is the version that was used for their debut album on ZTT, 808:90.

Rounding things off is another remix by The Future Sound Of London, this time of one of their many, many aliases, Semi Real. A lovely Balearic vibe here. As the original cassette side ran a couple of minutes short, I've swapped the original radio edit for the extended Med Mix here.

Happy memories of driving around with my college friends in my clapped out motor, playing this very loud, usually to requests/protests for Ned's Atomic Dustbin or The Levellers. Solid times.

 

1) Theme From Pigdom Come: Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel (1985)

2) Stakker Humanoid (Outer Limits) (Remix By The Future Sound Of London): Humanoid (1992)

3) Native Love (Step By Step) (Short Version By Bobby Orlando & Mark Bauman): Divine (1982)

4) Sex On Wheelz (Motor City Remix By Buzz McCoy): My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult (1992)

5) Conquer Your House II (Album Version By Sascha Konietzko): Excessive Force (1991)

6) Chime Crime: Orbital (1992)

7) Everything And More (Leftfield Vocal Mix): If? (1992)

8) Pacific 202 (Album Version): 808 State (1989)

9) People Livin' Today (Med Mix By The Future Sound Of London): Semi Real (1992)

Side One (45:42) (Box) (Mega)

Still Praying To The Skies...!

Side 2 of a mixtape, originally recorded 20th July 1992.

 

When I previously posted Side 1 in July last year, it was with no commentary or fanfare. It was a couple of months into challenging myself to post every day, maybe I was tired, maybe I was late for work and didn't have the time to wax lyrical. Either way, I did a disservice as I really, really love this mixtape.

It's a snapshot in time: after a year travelling, I was a year into my second attempt at A-Levels and college, having dropped out six months into my previous attempt; I was also back home living with my parents "out in the sticks" (boo! hiss!) but I was in love with a beautiful woman (back off, Dr. Hook!). More importantly, I had my own set of wheels. Whilst I could barely afford to keep the car on the road, any money left over from my part-time job went on music and recreation.

I'd hear very little of the "club music" selected here when I was out and about, but it was the sound track to my excursions to and from college and occasional nights out in Bristol and Bath, when taxi fares were prohibitive and city centre bedsit flops were limited. I think I had less success in converting my girlfriend and other college compadres - The Levellers, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Ozric Tentacles, Nirvana were more popular choices - but there was little denying the get-up-and-dance joy of, say, Opus III.

This isn't the first appearance of the 12" Mix of It's A Fine Day, written by Edward Barton and originally performed as a straight a cappella by Jane Lancaster in 1983. Opus III gave the song a trance overhaul, but it's Kirsty Hawkshaw's vocals that define this song. 

 

Side 1 contained several heavy hitters, starting off with In Yer Face by 808 State and taking in the mighty Hypnotone Mix of Cascades by Sheer Taft and Andrew Weatherall's unbeatable mix of Don't Fight It, Feel It by Primal Scream. The rest of the side saw several 1970s and 1980s artists rejuvenated by the exploding electronica and dance scene - Cabaret Voltaire, The Cure and Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy as System 7. Even the fey indie popsters were declaring there had always been a dance element to their music, in this case, Frazier Chorus to surprisingly good effect.

Side 2 similarly starts with 808 State, this time with indie darling Björk, and the start of what was the end of one partnership (with The Sugarcubes) and the beginning of another (with Graham Massey and other like-minded dance producers). There's less of Björk on this mix, but it's brilliant all the same.

 

Rainbow was the first Sly & Lovechild I heard, courtesy of a great remix by Mark Moore. It was a few years before I was able to track down the debut 12" and Andrew Weatherall remix, but Rainbow was an equally great single. A shame that chart success eluded the duo.

 

The Deee-Lite remix was taken from my girlfriend's copy of the Groove Is In The Heart 12" single, which was already popping and crackling like a breakfast cereal a year on. Likewise, my brother had the original Deconstruction 12" of Temple Head, which introduced me to an enduring love of Transglobal Underground and consequently, Nation Records.

 

I'd heard of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, but I don't think I was particularly aware of Faith Healer at the time I bought this. My motivation was probably that Recoil was the solo project of Alan Wilder, formerly of Depeche Mode. Here, he's joined by Nitzer Ebb's Douglas McCarthy on vocals, with a ton of remixes on the 12" and CD singles. This one by Moby in his Barracuda guise, is the standout.

 

The selection closes with Treaty by Australian collective Yothu Yindi. I was in Australia when this song exploded. Aside from the fact that it was the first song by a predominantly Aboriginal band to chart in Australia and features significant portions sung in Gumatj, it was a perfectly timed song, protesting the lack of progress on the treaty between Aboriginal peoples and the Australian federal government, promised to be in place by 1990. Treaty initially didn't make the desired impact, but the subsequent remix by Filthy Lucre took it to the clubs and the singles chart. The song also had a global impact and the UK release sported remixes by William Orbit and K-Klass. The Filthy Lucre remixes remain the essential purchases. 

 

The inclusion of The Jesus & Mary Chain's Jim Reid as the mixtape cover star is slightly harder to explain. I can only assume that this was the only available clipping from my copies of NME or Melody Maker of someone looking up to, and thereby potentially praying to the skies. Sometimes, I was just that literal.

1) Ooops (Mellow Birds Remix): 808 State ft. Björk (1991)

2) Rainbow (Green Mix By Phil Nicholas & Doug Martin): Sly & Lovechild (1991)

3) What Is Love? (Holographic Goatee Mix By Satoshi Tomiie): Deee-Lite (1990)

4) Faith Healer (Barracuda Mix By Moby) (Cover of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band): Recoil ft. Douglas McCarthy (1992)

5) Temple Head (Zenana Mix By Aki Nawaz & Paul Tipler): Transglobal Underground (1991)

6) It's A Fine Day (12" Mix) (Cover of Jane): Opus III (1991)

7) Open Up Your Head (Vocalfield Mix By Leftfield): If? (1991)

8) Treaty (Filthy Lucre Remix By Gavin Campbell, Paul Main & Robert Goodge): Yothu Yindi (1991)

Side Two (46:18)

Side One here

United State Of Dub

13 tracks, 12" mixes, more dub, less vocal, 'nuff said.

 

1)  Hope (Cameless Rub-A-Dub): Loop Guru ft. Zahrema Di Starace & Natacha Atlas (1993)

2) Touch Me (Two Lone Swordsmen Dub) (Remix By Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood): Sweetie (2002)

3) Open Up Your Head (Trancefield Dub Mix By Leftfield): If? (1991)

4) Buddy X (Masters At Work Dub No. 1): Neneh Cherry (1993)

5) United State Of Love (Soma Dub Remix By Slam): Supereal (1992)

6) Gandhi (Dicky Trisco's Heavenly Dub): Le Corps Mince De Françoise (2010)

7) Dr. Lee PhD (Dub Mix By Mario Caldato Jr.): Beastie Boys ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Money Mark (1998)

8) Silver Surfer (Dub) (Remix By François Kevorkian & Goh Hotoda): Lizzie Tear (1988)

9) One Of Our Submarines (Salz Dubmix): Thomas Dolby (2003)

10) Karmacoma (Bumper Ball Dub) (Remix By Mad Professor): Massive Attack (1994)

11) Adventures In Failure (Dub): MC 900 Ft. Jesus (1991)

12) Stupid Girl (Dreadzone Dub Version): Garbage (1996)

13) Shelter (Slow Phase) (Dub): Spooky ft. Julie Daske (2007)

 

United State Of Dub (1:20:05)