The first time hearing this incredible remix of Billy Idol’s Flesh For Fantasy in 1984, I did not pay much attention to it for no reason at all. I’ve always loved the original LP version, but my brain failed to register Below The Belt Mix. It had all the elements which I craved in any given track in those times: drum machines, samples of stuttering vocals and guitar stabs, synthesizers, etc. Tight programming and blending of electronic synth, pop and rock music, produced by Keith Forsey who had worked extensively with Giorgio Moroder (go figure Below The Belt Mix sounding electronic!) — the godfather of electric disco, also notoriously known for his mind-blasting The Chase theme soundtrack of Midnight Exress motion picture!
The day which Below The Belt Mix floored me and left me breathless was at an all-nude strip bar near LAX airport, early one Summer afternoon in 1993. The place wasn’t packed. I was having a few drinks and watching the dancer peel off all her clothes on stage while listening to the loud music. Below The Belt Mix came on next. And she cirque-du-soleil’ed nude to it deeply into the flesh, heart & spirit of the song, as if it was her last dance in the world.
Billy Idol – “Flesh For Fantasy” (Below The Belt Mix)…
Artist: Billy Idol
Title: Flesh For Fantasy (Below The Belt Mix)
Year: 1984
Label: Chrysalis Records.
Billy Idol – “Flesh For Fantasy” (Below The Belt Mix) (mp3)
Although he produced only a handful of tracks of renown and disappeared into obscurity almost as quickly as he had emerged from it, Manny ( Man ) Parrish is nonetheless one of the most important and influential figures in American electronic dance music. Helping to lay the foundation of electro, hip-hop, freestyle, and techno, as well as the dozens of subgenres to splinter off from those, Parrish introduced the aesthetic of European electronic pop to the American club scene by combining the plugged-in disco-funk of Giorgio Moroder and the man-machine music of Kraftwerk with the beefed-up rhythms and cut’n'mix approach of nascent hip-hop. As a result, tracks like “Hip-Hop Be Bop (Don’t Stop)” and “Boogie Down Bronx” were period-defining works that provided the basic genetic material for everyone from Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys to Autechre and Andrea Parker — and they remain undisputed classics of early hip-hop and electro to this day. Check out example below:
Man Parrish
What made Trevor Horn’s productions stand out was his unique and genius production techniques and the heavy use of state-of-the-art pro-audio gear, which made him become the torch-bearer for the kind of technology-led pop music which was hip and incredibly disciplined. Trevor Horn’s 12-inch remixes were uniquely long (anywhere from 8 to 13 minutes in duration) and told stories which took the listeners through long instrumental journeys at the begenning of tracks until the climax is reached (around the 5/6 or 7 minute mark). After the climax, the original or alternate full vocal version of the track takes over from that point on to the end, lasting additional 3.5 to 5 minutes in length. Check out example below:
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Trevor Horn is the guy who produced and performed “
The Buggles
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