Emotion: Exhaustion
Artist: Natasha
Track: All Day And All Of The Night
Album: Captured
Release Details: Towerbell Records, 1982
It’s Friday night and I’m feeling a bit tired and emotional. This track seems smacky enough to fit the bill.
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Emotion: Unbridled Joy
Artist: Helena Lemkovitch
Track: Les Filles Nous On Veut Du Fun (Version Française De “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”)
Release Details: RKM, 1984
Because, let’s face it, who DOESN’T want to hear a french version of ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’?
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Emotion: Self Pity
Artist: Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Track: I Wanna Be Loved (Version Discotheque)
Release Details: F-Beat, 1984
Today’s submission comes courtesy of Eddy Rhead a.k.a Ed Zone, who has been responsible for numerous dubbed out remixes and edit’s of highly charged Emotional Pop and Disco, the likes of which have been featured on the recent Philadelphia International Re-Edits compilation. To check out more Ed-Zone material head over to his SoundCloud account and if this wasn’t enough Eddy also finds time to write for the Modernist Magazine, is a mad-keen cyclist and excellent photographer. Eddy also has lots of good stories about famous DJ’s from the nineties… You can stalk him by following him over at Twitter.
Here’s his story…
In 1984, when I was 14, I was arrested for shoplifting. I had actually got away with it but my partner in crime grassed on me and I got stitched up good and proper…
Anyway, I spent a day in the cells and obviously got a right good bollocking from my dad and when it was all over locked myself in my room and played this record over and over again. I absolutely loved this at the time and played it all the time anyway but in this case I played it over and over again in some pathetic cry for help, with the reasoning being that I was shoplifting was because I was some tortured soul who had be badly treated and was lacking love. In reality I was just a pain in the arse teenager who was too lazy to get a paper round and pay for stuff instead of nicking it.
Even before the whole shoplifting episode I found this song to be heart wrenching. Elvis sings like he means it and the accompanying video only adds to that sense. It ticked all the boxes for me as a teenager it was earnest but poppy and as an added bonus had Green Gartside on backing vocals (I was a massive Scritti Politti fan at the time).
There was even a nice 12″ version of it called the ‘Version Discotheque’.
I dont know if Elvis found his true love – I hope he did.
I’m also hoping I don’t get arrested for shoplifting again. If I do I’ll play this track to the magistrates and see if they will be lenient.
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Emotion: Realisation
Artist: James Ingram
Track: Yah Mo B There (Jellybean Club Mix)
Release Details: QWest, 1984
The sad thing about vinyl not being the format of choice for the major labels (Or any label in fact…) is that new releases today rarely have the opportunity to fill the side of a 12″ record.
What this used to mean back in the 1980′s is that a producer of choice was given a track that was originally created for radio play (i.e. Just over 3 mins…) and the opportunity to remix it to create an extended (Or ‘Club’) version that could last anything up to 8+minutes adding additional instrumentation, extending the intros and breaks including overdubbing various effects into the (Re)mix, creating a whole new and producer unique track.
John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez (One time DJ at The Funhouse) became an established producer in the 1980′s working with the likes of Madonna (Of who he was nailing…), Whitney Houston, Hall & Oates and Talking Heads to name only a few.
Using his extensive dance experience Jellybean uses almost proto-house sounding handclaps with his typical use of latin percussion to give the backing track more space whilst allowing McDonald and Ingram lead the chorus with their vocal for a perfect balance between the original and the ‘Club Mix’.
An excellent example of what remixes used to be about…
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Emotion: Elation
Artist: Gary Wright
Track: Dream Weaver
Album: The Dream Weaver
Release Details: Warner Bros. 1975
Dedicated to Vincent Kompany and all at Manchester City Football Club…
x
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Emotion: Frustration
Artist: Stock, Aitken & Waterman
Track: Roadblock
Release Details: Breakout, 1987
If you didn’t already know it’s Record Shop Day today which means hoards of music geeks cue up from midnight to get their mits on strictly limited edition vinyl releases to later hawk them on EBay for over inflated prices. Not that we are cynics of course.
It’s a shame we don’t see the record stores half as busy every weekend but we don’t need much of an excuse to celebrate independent record stores (Including the one’s that have fallen by the wayside over recent years…) so this one is dedicated to those getting pissed wet through in the queues whilst waiting to see if their wants are still available.
All they need now is a turntable to play their new purchases on…
*Buys http://www.turntableday.com domain*
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Emotion: Disgust
Artist: Howard Jones
Track: What Is Love? (Extended Version)
Release Details: WEA, 1983
Standing at the gate, tickets in hand, yours and hers, 15 minutes until the gate closes.
Today’s the day when you get away from it all and start afresh.
A text, your heart skips
‘sorry x’
“Final Boarding call for flight BA401 …”
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Emotion: Resolve
Artist: Alison Moyet
Track: All Cried Out (Extended Version)
Release Details: CBS, 1984
They don’t extend pop tracks like they used to. I’d be amazed (and delighted) if there was a 7 minute in house, strung out version of the next Adele song. It just won’t happen.
This one’s for all the Everton fans out there. Much love x
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Well…
We’ve laughed. We’ve cried. We’ve stripped to our waists, pumping our chests unashamed in a display of true primal masculinity and you’ve been there with us every step of the way.
To show our thanks we put together this little compilation of some of the highlights that have been featured on the blog thus far. Be warned, the music featured in this mix contains pure, unrestrained, unequivocal EMOTION. It took several times longer than it should have to compile due to us breaking down in each others arms as we listened back and debated what tracks should be featured. It was almost too powerful.
With this in mind, get ready to break-up, make-up and experience the true meaning of ‘Emotional Pop’.
Emotion: Delusion
Artist: Kylie
Track: 2 Hearts (Studio Remix)
Release Details: EMI, 2007
Kylie (The leprechaun) Minogue has always had a penchant for leftfield pop ever since she freed herself of the shackles of production-line-pop in favour of gaining her own sense of artistic licence working with Deconstruction Records back in the mid nineties. The highlight of her work during this period was a fantastic set of remixes found on ‘Confide In Me‘. Fast forward to 2007 and Kylie and her team at EMI decide to inject a little of that ‘Balearic’ sound that was making such an impact in the underground at the time, sourcing Scandinavian duo Studio to provide a remix on ’2 Hearts’ where Dan Lissvik’s instantly recognisable guitars are all over the reconstructed track with Kylie’s vocals positioned perfectly over the top. The less that’s said about the Alan Braxe remix on this release the better…
Now Studio have gone their separate ways is this considered a future Balearic classic? Quite possibly.
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