The sleekly re-engineered and re-envisioned ‘Radioactivity’ was a particular standout track from Kraftwerk’s 1991 album ‘The Mix’ and so it was an obvious choice for a single release. In the band’s homeland of Germany and European territories 7”, 12” and CD single editions were issued with mixes by François Kevorkian on the A side and William Orbit on the reverse. (The UK and France also got cassette single formats too.) In both cases, 7” and longer 12” remixes were produced. In the case of the 7” mixes, German language and English language mixes were issued. The 12” mixes were only in English language variations however.
There was one more mix that managed to see light of day though and that is the ‘William Orbit Hardcore’ Mix’ that was only ever issued at the time on this US 12” single, making it an attractive item to track down on import on my side of the ocean.
In the UK, the 12” single and CD single included the 7” and 12” François Kevorkian remixes, but only the 12” William Orbit remix – the 7” Orbit remix was left off. Same story for the German CD single issue. Which means that both the English and German language 7” William Orbit remixes have never been issued on CD.
The ‘William Orbit Hardcore Mix’ meanwhile was quite different to his 7” and 12” mixes. For starters, it’s only the vocoder/electronically generated voices that are present – Ralf Hütter’s naked voice is absent – and its definitely more of a four-on-the-floor feel. Musically, you might be forgiven for thinking that it was Orbital rather than William Orbit in the remixer’s chair – it has more of their feel, in some ways.
As it happens the ‘William Orbit Hardcore Mix’ of ‘Radioactivity’ was included on the 2020/2021 digital/CD/LP compilation ‘Remixes’ – but, in edited form (with the addition of ‘Kling Klang Edit’ to its title). In its original vinyl form the Hardcore mix has a duration of 6 min 12 sec, whereas the Kling Klang Edit chops it down to 5 min 36 sec – some editing with the digital scissors has taken place, its not simply an early fade out or the like.
Before wrapping up and while taking a look at the fine detail of those durations, it’s worth noting that those William Orbit 7” mixes that remain unissued on 7” differ in more than just language variants – the UK 7” mix clocks in at 3 min 33 sec, while the German language 7” mix is 3 min 47 sec – there are slight differences in the edits musically. Will these ever see light of day again digitally? Who can tell with Kraftwerk!
I was a big fan of Torch Song, and I loved William Orbit’s remixes up to at least 1991. I don’t think I’ve heard any remixes of his past this that year [checks – nope], but even though I was only buying CD singles by 1986, this was one 12″ that I also bought. And a good thing too, since the “William Orbit Hardcore Mix” was such a tech monster. The mix lacked the austerity of Kraftwerk, and was all the more interesting for it. In any mix, the 1991 “Radioactivity” was the one clear win on the place holder that was “The Mix.” I thought that any of the 1991 mixes of that song were simply an amazing leap forward. I also appreciated how the lyrics were changed to be directly pointed to Chernobyl and Harrisburg. No longer content to traffic in ambiguity.
For my money, the William Orbit remixes were more exciting than the François Kevorkian remixes, surprised that it was the B side choice.
Well, Orbit always delivered a more exciting mix than Kevorkian for my ears. Never more so than when Torch Song were active in the 80s. How I long for CDs of that material, but Orbit won’t have it! Gaaaaah!