A surprisingly complicated tale to tell when it comes to the various versions of Hard Corps and their final single release, ‘Lucky Charm’ (in English) / ‘Porte Bonheur’ (en Français) that go beyond just the different language variants. In short – most have never been issued on CD and remain exclusive to the various original vinyl releases of the time, both UK and France, since the 7″ and 12″ versions not only differ in language, but in some cases the edits (rather than mixes) too. The only versions from vinyl that have ever appeared on CD are the 7″ mix of ‘Porte Bonheur’ – found on the B sides of the UK 7″ and French 7″ – this version appeared on the ‘Metal and Flesh’ CD – and the UK 12″ A side on a semi-official(?) compilation CD (and possibly a needle-drop at that?) ‘Euro Disco – The Lost Legends Vol. 2’. If you’re thinking that the ‘Metal and Flesh’ CD had the French language 12″ mix on it… pardonez moi, non! It nearly did… the mix is there, but edited down much shorter.
If you are not familiar with the track in any detail, the bigger picture in summary – the shorter 7″ mix (in French and English versions) was produced/remixed along with Mute Records founder Daniel Miller and the band. ‘Lucky Charm’ was one of about half a dozen tracks the band worked on during 1986 in the period where the relationship with Polydor Records had gone cold and they were trying to disentangle themselves from that contract. These tracks (according to ‘Showcase’ fanzine of the period, produced by Nick Linazasoro, which contains an excellent, in depth interview with the band) also included ‘Killing Fields’, ‘Desire’, ‘Rain in the UK’ and ‘Lovers and Strangers’. (Likely also ‘Coeur Clos’/’Change Your Heart’?)
Re-recorded for the eventual single, it varies quite a bit depending on the record you have. My original experience when bought at the time was that the 7″ mix starts off with some lush synth string pads and electronic percussion before the main thrust of the song kicks in. This 7″ mix is quite a bit different in many ways from the longer 12″ version (which again exists in both French and English) – this mix starts off with a sequenced, sampled voice and gets going with a different bass synth sequence and more of a four to the floor kick drum pulse. This mix doesn’t have the Daniel Miller involvement and was produced by the band (and with some involvement from Pascal Gabriel too) judging by the various sleeve credits. This mix was edited down for the A side of the French 7″.
Getting confusing now, huh? But wait, there’s more… there is also the wholly instrumental mix of the track too (which again is different on the UK and French releases). So, note the following in short (there’s a hell of a lot more detail at the end…)
- The ‘Metal and Flesh’ compilation CD contained the French language 7″ ‘Porte Bonheur’ mix produced/remixed by Daniel Miller and the longer 12″ ‘Porte Bonheur’ mix, BUT the latter was faded out much earlier than the vinyl mix.
- The A side of the French 7″ single actually contains a different mix of ‘Porte Bonheur’, which is edited down from the longer band-produced 12″ mix. It is unique to this 7″.
- The UK 12″ contains a wholly instrumental track, ‘Lucky Charm [The Music] – it doesn’t credit any involvement from Daniel Miller but much of it resembles the 7″ mix, with some additional portions to the track that differ by comparison.
- The version of ‘Lucky Charm’ found on the French 12″ single is basically the same mix as per ‘Lucky Charm [The Music] except the first 37 seconds have been cut off so it starts quite suddenly… how odd! Once more, that makes it unique to this 12″. This time, Daniel Miller DOES get a credit though…
UK 7″ and 12″
7″ Sonoscope / Rhythm King (in association with Mute Records) TYPE 3
- A: Lucky Charm (3’41”) – the 7″ mix produced by Hard Corps / Daniel Miller.
- B: Porte Bonheur (3′ 41″) – the 7″ mix produced by Hard Corps / Daniel Miller.
12″ Sonoscope / Rhythm King (in association with Mute Records) TYPE 3T
- A: Lucky Charm (6’10”) – the 12″ mix produced by Hard Corps (and mixed with Pascal Gabriel, though not credited).
- B: 1) Porte Bonheur (6’10”) – the 12″ mix produced by Hard Corps (Mixed with Pascal Gabriel, though not credited) / 2) Lucky Charm [The Music] (4’22”) produced by Hard Corps.
The original adverts for the single in the UK music press in 1987 also included the Trans Global Records logo as well as mentioning Rhythm King.
In 1988 it was re-issued with ‘Porte-Bonheur’ promoted as the ‘A’ side – same stock, I think, just with ‘A’ and ‘AA’ stickers added?
French 7″ and 12″
7″ MFS / Mute / Sonet 90332
- A: ‘Porte Bonheur’ (4’18”) – a different 7″ mix, edited from the 12″ mix produced by Hard Corps / Daniel Miller.
- B: ‘Porte Bonheur’ (3’41”) – the same 7″ mix produced by Hard Corps / Daniel Miller as used in the UK.
12″ MFS / Mute / Sonet 80311
- A; ‘Porte Bonheur’ (Mix Étendu) (6’10”) – the 12″ mix produced by Hard Corps. (Mixed by Pascal Gabriel, though not credited.)
- B: 1) ‘Porte Bonheur’ (3’41”) – the same mix produced by Hard Corps / Daniel Miller as used in the 7″ B side in both France and the UK, 2) ‘Lucky Charm’ (3′ 48″) – a unique instrumental edit based on ‘Lucky Charm [The Music]’ – credited as produced by Hard Corps / Daniel Miller.
Other Releases
‘Metal and Flesh’ album
The long version of ‘Porte Bonheur’ was edited down by about half a minute for inclusion on the CD version. The shorter 7″ mix of ‘Porte Bonheur’ was included on both the CD and vinyl edition.
‘Rarities’ album
The original recording of ‘Lucky Charm’ – this as also used on the ‘The Fridge Sessions’ video.
Razormaid Remix
A rather nice remix – official? I’m never sure with those. As well as Razormaid label releases, it has also seen light of day under a different title on an Australian compilation CD, ‘Voices In The Air’.
A summary of the different versions and availability:
- ‘Porte Bonheur’ (4’18”) Produced by Hard Corps
- Found on the French 7″ A side (‘Face Nord’) only.
- ‘Porte Bonheur’ (3’41”) Produced by Hard Corps / Daniel Miller
- Found on the 1) French 7″ B side (‘Face Sud’), 2) French 12″ B side track 1 (‘Face Est’), 3) the UK 7″ B side, 4) track 4 on the ‘Metal and Flesh’ CD and 5) side 1 track 4 of the ‘Metal and Flesh’ LP.
- ‘Porte Bonheur’ (Mix Étendu) (6’10”) Produced by Hard Corps (Mixed by Pascal Gabriel)
- Found on 1) the French 12″ A side (‘Face Ouest’) and 2) the UK 12″ B side track 1.
- ‘Porte Bonheur’ (5’42”) Remix by Pascal Gabriel
- Found on 1) track 8 on the ‘Metal and Flesh’ CD and 2) also included on the 2016 compilation LP/CD ‘So-Low’ (Vinyl Factory VF170).
- ‘Lucky Charm’ (3’41”) Produced by Hard Corps / Daniel Miller
- Found on the UK 7″ A side only.
- ‘Lucky Charm’ (6’08”) Produced by Hard Corps
- Found on 1) the UK 12″ A side and also 2) on the 2019 Italian compilation CD ‘Euro Disco – The Lost Legends Vol. 28’ (Disco Magic Melody, DMM CD 28 E).
- ‘Lucky Charm’ [The Music] (4’22”)
- Found on track 2 of the B side of the UK 12″ single only. The record label states Produced by Hard Corps – musically, it has much in common with the 7″ mixed produced/remixed with Daniel Miller. Would be nice to know most of the full story behind the songs history.
- ‘Lucky Charm’ (3’48”) Produced by Hard Corps / Daniel Miller
- Found on track 2 of the B side of the French 12″ single – this is actually the same as the ‘Lucky Charm [The Music] mix from the UK 12″ but with the first 37 seconds or so removed.
- ‘Lucky Charm’ (Medora Rd Version) (3’55”)
- Found on side 1, track 1 of the ‘Rarities’ LP. The original recording of the song, before the single versions were made.
- This same version is also the one found on the ‘The Fridge Sessions’ video clips for the song that can be found on YouTube. This has an interesting history – the band spent a day recording live performance clips on stage at the Fridge in Brixton (now The Electric), perhaps related to the Network 21 channel and London radio station that there was some connection with at the time. It was offered for sale as part of video compilation that also included other known footage such as The Tube performance of ‘Je Suis Passee’, the promo video for that single and also a live recording from ‘Bennetts Bash’ in Glasgow and from the UK tour supporting Depeche Mode. (Source ‘The Machine Aesthetic’ fanzine produced by Hard Corps and/or Nick Linazasoro, circa 1987)
- ‘Lucky Charm’ (Razormaid Mix’) (6’56”)
- Found on various Razormaid releases including the 1987 2×12″ ‘Razormaid Chapter R-15’ (Razormaid Records – RM-R15), The 1989 CD ‘The Very Best Of Razormaid! II’ (Razormaid Records RM-CD-02), the 1991 2×12″ ‘Razormaid – Anniversary Six-Point-Five’ (Razormaid Records ANV 6.5), and the 1992 CD box set ‘Razormaid! 7th Anniversary Box Set’ (Razormaid Records ANV70).
- All Razormaid releases are by nature of their limited edition promo nature expensive and difficult to come by. So, it’s worth noting that the same mix is also on an Australian compilation CD from 1993 ‘Voices In The Air’ (Wavestation, CD WS 1939) where it is listed as ‘Lucky Charm’ (Extended Club Mix).
- ‘Lucky Charm’ (Tecnomix) – found on the compilation album ‘New Beat’, issued in Argentina in 1988. I don’t know anything about this LP and its mix.