Read this fantastic article If You Only Knew (Chip E.) and interview of Chip E. (Irwin Larry Eberhart II, 43) posted by Jacob Arnold from the Gridface blog. Chip E. (also known as The Godfather of House) was the first artist to release a dance track which contained the words “house” and “jack,” and therefore spawning so many House tracks to be released by other House artists, also contained such words (either in the title and/or hook): 7 Ways To Make You Jack (Hercules), Jack Your Body (Steve Silk Hurley), Jack To The Sound Of The Underground (Fast Eddie), House Nation (House Master Boyz), etc.
Another great Tears For Fears 12″ single. This track was recorded and released in the UK charts in 1984, well before the release of their 1985 LP/album release Songs From The Big Chair. It showcased the group’s edgier sound, intricate production and, most importantly, the creative use of sampling. Beat Of The Drum Mix was clearly one of the earliest remix tracks with sampled vocals, loops and snippets as well as loops, that were sequenced and arranged together on top of all other synths and multi-tracked layers of instrument/vocal performances recorded by the band. For example, the string-hits at the beginning Beat Of The Drum Mix were sampled from a Barry Manilow track; James Brown vocal snippets near the end; and the other samples were real ambient noises, drum shots/rolls, orchestral and horn stabs, ambient and weird noises, guitar strums/chords, and Tears For Fears’ own vocals.
All the sampling were done with the Fairlight CMi-2 which was, at that time, the most sophisticated and highly advanced sampling/sequencing/digital-editing workstation. It featured a mainframe computer, large keyboard-instrument controller, computer monitor and a light-pen. Watch this video demonstration of the Fairlight. Also watch this other video of the Fairlight being demonstrated by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran.
The meaning of Mothers Talk stems from two ideas:
Something that mothers say to their children about pulling faces; they say the child will stay like that when the wind changes; and
Tears For Fears – “Mothers Talk” (Beat Of The Drum Mix)…
Artist: Tears For Fears Title: Mothers Talk (Beat Of The Drum Mix) Year: 1984, 1985, 1986 Label: Mercury Records; Polygram; Phonogram; Vertigo Media Source: Recorded straight from 12-inch record to enhanced digital.
I love this version of Head Over Heels (Preacher Mix) by Tears For Fears. It’s nice and long with outstanding edits and arrangements that takes you on a long journey. Layers and layers of real music instruments and electronic synthesizers. Intricate production. A work of art! I wish that I wrote this song. I recorded this track off of an imported 12-inch record (pressed in Germany) which I’ve had in my collection since the mid 80’s. The Preacher Mix is comprised of three parts: (1) intro Broken, (2) the main song Head Over Heels, and (3) outro Broken —- with all three playing in consecutive order. The intro and outro versions of Broken sound different from each other. However, the Broken-outro part in the album version of Head Over Heels is completely a different version/mix than the one in Preacher Mix; it sounds like a live performance than a studio-production (although I am not sure if it is really “live” or just made to sound that way).
The Preacher Mix was available only on 12-inch record for a long time. It wasn’t even available on Tears For Fears’ 1985 album Songs From The Big Chair, nor was it available on their 1999 remastered release of Songs From The Big Chair which included all the original tracks from the album plus several bonus B-sides tracks/remixes. But in 2006, The Preacher Mix was included in yet another remastered, 2-disc deluxe edition release of Songs From The Big Chair on CD
Tears For Fears – “Broken / Head Over Heels / Broken” (Preacher Mix)…
Artist: Tears For Fears Title: Broken / Head Over Heels / Broken (Preacher Mix) Year: 1985 Label: Mercury Records Media Source: Recorded straight from 12-inch record to enhanced digital.
In 1983, Malcolm McLaren released two singles, Buffalo Gals and Double Dutch, both of which becoming worldwide top-10 smash-hits. Those two tracks hit the international music charts before his LP Dutch Rock was released. Dutch Rock album proved to be highly influential, bringing hip-hop to a wider audience, especially in the UK.
In 1984, Malcolm changed his tune to opera on his next maxi/EP single release of Madam Butterfly which was an electronic, synth-pop modern-classic track, based on Giacomo Puccini’s 1902 classic-opera Madam Butterfly’s - “Un Bel Di Vedremo” final aria (watch videos below). For those of you who are not familiar with Puccini, perhaps you might recognize his “Nessun Dorma” aria from his Turandot opera (which is still part of today’s popular culture). Nessun Dorma has achieved pop-status by Luciano Pavarotti’s recording of it, used as the theme song of BBC’s television’s coverage of the 1990 FIFA World Cup soccer in Italy; and it subsequently reached #2 on the UK singles music chart (the highest placing ever by a classical recording).
Malcolm McLaren’s Madam Butterfly is arranged with a drum-machine, atmospheric synthesizers and spoken/sung R&B verses (with opera backup vocals). The production on Malcom’s Madam Butterfly is stellar. The track was produced by Steven Hague who settled for nothing but the best in overall production. I know for a fact that a Fairlight CMI-2 was used, because Madam Butterfly (Un Bel Di Vedremo) starts with the Fairlight’s famous factory sound-preset ”aah” voices coming in slowly and rising gradually in volume, serving as a bed/pad sound layered in the background throughout the track. Watch music video below to hear that sound. I know all the Fairlight sounds inside-out, because I’ve heard them millions of times since 1980 when the Fairlight beast of a sampler/workstation instrument was used on countless of tracks by other famous artists and groups in that era (for it’s unique sound, powerful sample/sound processing engine and music sequencer). Watch this video of the Fairlight being demonstrated by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran. As for the chord melody in Madam Butterfly, it is a sound of an upright-harp with softer/slower attack transient; there’s no telling what synthesizer or sampler used for the track. It could’ve been a custom-sampled harp sound for the Fairlight, or a factory-sample bank coming from a then-popular E-mu Emulator-II, but my guess is that the harp and the bassline-sound were factory-preset patches from a Yamaha DX7 synth. Watch this YouTube demo of the DX7. Harp sounds from synths and samplers sound almost exactly the same and very difficult to distinguish them apart. Also, the drum-machine used in Madam Butterfly is an Oberheim DMX (which was just as popular as Roland TR-808, LinnDrum and E-mu Drumulator and SP-12 drum-machines at that time).
Attention new music producers: I have compiled and categorized .wav samples of almost every classic drum-machine and electronic drum-kits made by man. Download drum_kits.zip
I used to own the 12″ vinyl of Madam Butterfly which I bought in 1984 from Our Price record store in Uxbridge town center (Hillingdon, Buckinghamshire, UK). But I gave it to my friend Mister P-Body (Arizona) in June 2001 (just before I moved back to West Vancouver, BC, Canada, on July 1, 2001), as I had already owned a copy of it on CD-single which I’d purchased in 1988. To this day, I’m still playing the track over and over again. I have never gotten (and still never get) sick of listening to Madam Butterfly — takes on me on long mind trips each time.
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 Boogie Down Bronx (dub version) PLAY TRACK
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 Relax (12 inch Sex Mix) PLAY TRACK
Trevor Horn is the guy who produced and performed “Video Killed The Radio Star” world-wide smash-hit track. I did some major digging and discovered some fascinating, forgotten facts and hidden gem tracks from The Buggles. In 1980, the Buggles’ duo Geoffrey Downes (keyboards) and Trevor Horn (vocals) — who were coming off an international success with their new-wave album The Age of Plastic – to help out on a new YES album. Downes suddenly left Buggles when Trevor learned that YES’ keyboardist Rick Wakeman was leaving the band, and therefore snatched him as well as lead-vocalist Jon Anderson to work on the next Buggles album Adventures In Modern Recording. The Buggle’s second album was completed in 1981 but was never released or charted. The album was a gem masterpiece. Check out example below:
The Buggles I Am A Camera (12 inch version) PLAY TRACK
My original intent for this post was to be the third part of my Mastermix series, this time featuring the Prelude Vol. II Tony Humphries mixes. Well my thrift store copy is fucked and beaten to death, I was only able to salvage the two least essential tracks off the comp. Not to worry, I will track down a new copy and post them up sometime down the road. In […]
Nicky Siano was one of the first DJs to mix records and owned the legendary club The Gallery in Manhattan which he opened in 1972. He was the most proficient DJ of the era and mentored both Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan. His sound system, which was a scaled up version of the one at the loft is thought by many to be the best sounding club system ever. Nick […]
"that post was mean and not funny, edit it or take it down." .. oh, ok.Modern Romance - Salsa RapsodyNona Hendryx - To The BoneNona Hendryx - To The Bone pt1 & pt2Tout Sweet - Another Man Is Twice As Nice (vocal) Tout Sweet - Another Man Is Twice As Nice (dub version) […]
I think this tune was written to be the perfect car chase or karate fight scene song for a late 70's cop show. It came out on Shady Brook Records in 1977 by a group known as S.S.O. or The S.S.O. Orchestra. Their name is an abbreviation The Soul Sensation Orchestra, so the later name is redundant. I like the blaxploitation feel and the jazz funk sound th […]
Broccoli Rabe Records is still in business to this day, although now I believe the co-founder, Brian Drago, runs it as a post production and film scoring facility in it's home of Fairfield, New Jersey. Yet for a period in the early 80's Broccoli Rabe turned out some now much sought after east coast style synth funk and proto rap records. I have see […]
I recently came to the realization that we haven't explicitly covered the band Slave here in the several years since BE's inception. Now our omission can be justifiable to a point. Slave is a rather obvious group from the era, but a damn important one at that. Hailing from Dayton Ohio circa 1975, Slave were one of a handful of 70's artists tha […]
This jam by The Bang Gang came out on Sugarscoop in 1981. It is an early track produced by the most prolific dance music producer of the 80s and 90s; Bobby Orlando. This track has a much more black and boogie oriented feel than the Hi NRG sound for which he is known. His most notable release was Passion by the Flirts. Bobby O has an interesting story. It tur […]
I finally unpacked my records, but managed to put each and every individual cable I needed to get the home rig set up in a separate box, as if I was, at the time of packing, playing a stupid joke on myself. It was quite funny, costing me a day of my stupid life. Look what I found though in the back of a an old microwave box marked as containing kitchen utens […]
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Mp3's on this site are for sampling and promotional purposes only and will only. Most of the mp3 tracks on this blog/site are remixes, extended and limited versions which are deleted, no longer available for purchase and would not be heard otherwise. However, please support these artists. If you are one of these artists and would like your music removed from this site, please notify me, and I will endeavor to remove them as soon as possible.
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