Category: Side by side

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Side by side: Wire – ‘Our Swimmer’ and ‘Second Length’ versions, versions

 

Our Swimmer

‘Our Swimmer’ dates from a late 1979 recording session* at Magritte Studios which also witnessed the recording of ‘Go Ahead’ (which would be released on the B side of the ‘Map Ref. 41N 93W’ 7″ single) and ‘Midnight Bahnhoff Cafe’ (which would be released on the B side of the ‘Our Swimmer’ 7″ single). It was after the recording sessions that produced the ‘154’ album and the first time without the involvement of long-term producer, Mike Thorne – self-produced by the band. It was proposed as a single release while the band were still signed to EMI records, but rejected by the company.

* The 2014 re-issue of ‘Document and Eyewitness’ states ‘recorded at Magritte Studio, Harmondsworth Dec 1979’ – but I question that date if indeed it was the same session that also produced ‘Go Ahead’, since it was already released long before December. The ‘Nine Sevens’ singles box set also gets it wrong by stating 1980 as the recording year.

Wire - 'Our Swimmer' and 'Second Length' singles
^ Wire – ‘Our Swimmer’ and ‘Second Length’ singles

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Gang Of Four – ‘What We All Want’ UK 7″ and 12″ (EMI, EMI 5146 and 12EMI 5146, 1981)

The road to the Gang Of Four’s second album, ‘Solid Gold’, was something of a tentative, stop-start affair, looking back. Although the album itself in its final form was recorded in January 1981 with Jimmy Douglass sharing the producer role along with the band themselves, no fewer than five of its tracks had been released before the album on singles or compilation album appearances*.

‘What We All Want’ would be the track lifted from the album as a single immediately prior to the album’s eventual release however, ramping up the funk side of the band’s muscular rhythm section in particular into a hard-hitting battering ram of a single that stands up well forty years on from its original release.

7″ single

For the single’s A side, ‘What We All Want’ was edited down to 3’23” – losing its scratchy vibrato style opening guitar-only rhythm that the LP/12″ version features), so it jumps right on in.

Gang Of Four - 'What We All Want' UK 7
^ Gang Of Four – ‘What We All Want’ UK 7″ front cover

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Simple Minds – ‘Celebrate’ UK 7″ and 12″ (Arista ARIST 394 and ARIST 12394, 1981)

Released as the second single from 1980’s ‘Empires and Dance’, the band’s third album on Zoom/Arista records, truth be told Arista appear to have largely given up on the band by this time and it seems to have been a half-hearted push at best to back the single on its release in February 1981. Hell, there seems to have been a long-running fault-line between Zoom and Arista stretching back to 1979, with music press reports of label boss Bruce Findlay looking to ditch Arista and license with another major as early as October 1979. This particular single was released near enough forty years ago, on Friday 20 February 1981. Even at the time of release, music press gossip had them down as soon to sign with either Virgin or Polydor. Within a few months they would have their first single release on Virgin records, the abrasive funk clatter of ‘The American’, and the slow but steady rise in popularity would commence. How quickly it all moved back then jumping labels and swiftly back with new material. (See Japan and their own toot de suite move from Ariola Hansa to Virgin…)

Simple Minds - 'Celebrate' UK 7" front cover design
^Simple Minds – ‘Celebrate’ UK 7″ front cover design

Regardless of that back story… With the original album version coming in at 5’03” in length, the singles feature different mixes on both 7″ and 12″. First off, the 7″ buzzcut treatment. Continue reading “Simple Minds – ‘Celebrate’ UK 7″ and 12″ (Arista ARIST 394 and ARIST 12394, 1981)”

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Side by side: Hard Corps – Porte-Bonheur / Lucky Charm versions

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.

Hard Corps - Lucky Charm UK 7 inch single front cover
^ Hard Corps – Lucky Charm UK 7 inch single front cover

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Side by side: Brian Eno and John Cale – ‘One Word’ CD singles

What news it was at the time of the ‘Wrong Way Up’ album release that Brian Eno had returned to vocal duties and was actually to be heard singing on record once more. As big a thing as his continual questioning in interviews in those first few years of why wasn’t he singing anymore… Of course, he had still been singing, just not centre-stage on his own albums. Just listen to Talking Heads for example and even closer to this period he had sung on his take of ‘You Don’t Miss Your Water’ included on the soundtrack of the movie ‘Married To The Mob’ in 1988.

Brian Eno and John Cale - 'One Word' UK CD single front cover design
^ Brian Eno and John Cale – ‘One Word’ UK CD single front cover design

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