The annual Record Store Day orgy of new and limited edition releases has come and gone and once more served up a new ZTT label release that has proved too tempting to resist, in this case an album-length release dedicated to eight versions of one song alone, ‘Dr. Mabuse’. What do you mean who needs an album of eight different versions of one song?! This is only ‘Part 1’ – there’s even more to come at some future as yet unspecified date! It is the single’s 40th anniversary too, don’tcha know?!
Of course, being ZTT, this is packaged up to the hilt to target with laser-precision the tastes of someone like me. A sleeve design with stills from the video shoot for the song, including inner sleeve, and pressed on bright red vinyl. But what’s going on in the grooves of that vinyl and is there anything new and exclusive to be had?
There’s no previously unreleased mixes to be had here. I’ve noted where you can find the mixes on previous CD releases and also on the various digital-only releases ZTT have issued over the past couple of years too, if you are not bothered by having these on physical formats.
Tracklist:
Side One:
- Testament Six (0’32”)
- Dr. Mabuse (The Last Word) (10’39”)
- Dr. Mabuse (Special Instrumental Mix) (5’23”)
- Abuse (4’17”)
Side Two:
- Das Tesament Des Dr Mabuse (12” Edit For Germany) (9’50”)
- Im Stahlnetz Des Mabuse (3’14”)
- Strength To Dream (The First Life Of…) (2’28”)
- Das Testament Des Dr Mabuse (13th Life Mix) (6’34”)
Let’s look at each mix in more detail…
Starting with side one:
Testament Six (0’32”)
This extremely short instrumental snippet from the main songs acts as something of a brief overture – it’s the loud, thumping rhythm section where one note pitch-bends down slowly before the rhythm comes to an end. It has previously been released on the 2012 Propaganda compilation CD ‘Noise And Girls Come Out To Play / A Compact Introduction To Propaganda’ and later appeared on the 2019 Record Store Day exclusive 4 x 12” single boxed set ‘The Eight Testaments Of Propaganda’. It can also be found on the October 2021 digital-only release ‘Dr. Mabuse (His Last Will And Testament)’.
Dr. Mabuse (The Last Word) (10’39”)
This version of the song is one highlighted in the pre-release publicity as being an exclusive on vinyl, only ever having been issued on CD in the past. If you have owned the debut Propaganda LP ‘A Secret Wish’ on CD then it’s more than likely (but not absolute, if you had the original US issue of the CD) that this is the version you know and it can be found on most CD versions. If you are not familiar with the differences between the original vinyl/cassette album version of the song and the slightly later CD version of the song then take a diversion…
Diversion
Some timeline basics around the single and the album versions
The ‘Dr Mabuse’ single was first released in February of 1984, pretty much a year and a half before the album ‘A Secret Wish’. Of the numerous mixes of ‘Dr. Mabuse’ released across a variety of 7″, 12″ and cassette single (or ‘singlette’ in ZTT-speak) formats from the period of the original release, none of them were ever used again ‘as is’ on any version of the album. The original 7″ A side mix is closest to what was released on the original LP/cassette as what I will here on in refer to as ‘Dr Mabuse (First Life)’, but is not the same – the 7″ mix fades out while the album mix progresses towards a conclusive end rather than a fade-out.
The original releases on LP and cassette – June 1985
First off, a note about titling of songs and the imprecision inherent in the way that ZTT worked – there is rarely consistency and often much confusion. As an example for ‘Dr Mabuse’ – on the original LP, the track is listed as follows;
- inner sleeve: ‘Dr Mabuse (First Life)’.
- record label: ‘Dr Mabuse’.
To avoid confusion, from here on in I will refer to the version from the original vinyl LP and cassette as ‘Dr Mabuse (First Life)’ and which has a duration of approx. 5’03”.
The first release on CD of ‘A Secret Wish’, September 1985 – and saw a whole lot of changes from the original releases on LP and cassette
There was a gap of several months between those original LP and cassette releases and the CD release – and this was cause for some major changes to be made to the album. Just going to focus on ‘Dr. Mabuse’ here though…
- ‘Dr Mabuse’ CD version – this essentially takes most of the fantastic 12″ mix ‘Das Testaments des Mabuse’ and fuses it with latter half of the original closing track from the album, ‘Strength To Dream / The Last Word’ – which in itself is essentially an orchestral version of what is already on the 12″ mix in lush high ‘80s synth form.
DIVERSION ENDS
It is referred to as ‘Dr. Mabuse (The Last Word)’ on this release – the original CD releases with this mix don’t refer to it as that, looks as if this title came into being with the 2021 digital releases, as far as I can tell?
Dr. Mabuse (Special Instrumental Mix) (5’23”)
This is the version of the song that was first released on the second, ‘black cover’ version of the 7” single of ‘Dr. Mabuse’ (the one with the band photo set against a backdrop of a Zeppelin) and a white label promo 12” (with the ‘13th Life’ mix on side A). It has since been released on compilation CDs a couple of times. Firstly on the 2001 German release ‘Zance (A Decade Of Dance From ZTT)‘ and later on the CD on the 2012 ZTT label various artists compilation ‘The Art Of The 12″, Volume Two (A Promotion Of A Way Of Life)’. Subsequently, it is now to be found digitally on the October 2021 digital-only release ‘Dr. Mabuse (His Last Will And Testament)’.
Abuse (4’17”)
This is the version of the song that appeared towards the end of 1985 on the ‘Wishful Thinking’ album that remixed much of the ‘A Secret Wish’ album. Specifically, it is track seven – the third song on side two of that vinyl album, because in typically confusing ZTT fashion, there are two tracks titled ‘Abuse’ on that album – one apiece either side. To ease confusion, they have been slightly re-titled on later releases – so, what we have here is the 4’17” track titled ‘Abuse (There)’ on the 2021 digital release of the album.
Flipping over on to side two:
Das Testament Des Dr Mabuse (12” Edit For Germany) (9’50”)
Now we are into complicated territory when it comes to my knowledge of the various mixes. I think this is the same version as was first issued on a promo-only 12” single back in 1984 – but I don’t have that promo 12” single, so I can’t compare it directly – and also on some commercial West German territory releases such as this one, though the label incorrectly states the duration as the longer 10’14” mix length. This mix became available on CD on the 2002 ‘Outside World’ compilation CD, where it is titled ‘Das Testament Des Dr Mabuse (DJ Promo Version)’ and digitally on the October 2021 release ‘Dr. Mabuse (His Last Will And Testament)’, where it is titled ‘Das Testament Des Dr Mabuse (12” Edit For Germany)’. In the end, the mix is very similar to the magnificent full length ‘Das Testaments Des Mabuse’ except it seems to cut out part of the instrumental break that commences around about 3’45” before the drum/percussion segment starts up – its shorter by comparison.
Im Stahlnetz Des Mabuse (3’14”)
This is a largely instrumental and more rhythm-focussed / non-musical mix with occasional voice snippets appearing here and there. To be honest, it kind of drifts by without incident and is not bringing much excitement to the party. This was first released on the 2012 Propaganda compilation CD ‘Noise And Girls Come Out To Play / A Compact Introduction To Propaganda’ and later appeared on the 2019 Record Store Day exclusive 4 x 12” single boxed set ‘The Eight Testaments Of Propaganda’. It can also be found on another of the September 2021 digital-only releases, this time ‘(The Nine Lives Of) Dr. Mabuse’.
Strength To Dream (The First Life Of…) (2’28”)
Not to be confused with the similarly titled closing track from the vinyl (aka ‘Analogue Sequence’) version of ‘A Secret Wish’ – this is something else altogether, a two and a half minute duration instrumental / incidental piece that focusses on the synth bass-line and rhythm track with dub-like echoed snatches of the strings floating in and out on top of it all. Like the previous track, this was first released on the 2012 Propaganda compilation CD ‘Noise And Girls Come Out To Play / A Compact Introduction To Propaganda’ and later appeared on the 2019 Record Store Day exclusive 4 x 12” single boxed set ‘The Eight Testaments Of Propaganda’ and can also be found on the September 2021 digital-only release ‘(The Nine Lives Of) Dr. Mabuse’.
Das Testament Des Dr Mabuse (13th Life Mix) (6’34”)
Ahhh, the ’13th Life Mix‘. Another mix that you would have to examine the matrix numbers on the 12″ pressings to find out if you had it or not, except if you were fortunate enough to get a copy that had the handy ‘The 13th Life New 12″ Mix’ sticker plastered on the sleeve. Personally, this mix doesn’t really do it for me compared to the longer ‘Das Testaments Des Mabuse’, but as well as here it can also be found on CD and digitally once again on the October 2021 release ‘Dr. Mabuse (His Last Will And Testament)’.
So, there we have it, Part 1 done and dusted. Did you buy it? Do you enjoy it? Glad you gave it a pass? Do post your own thoughts on this release.