remix Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Duran Duran “Master Mixes”

sfilzen — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 18:52:04 +0000

Duran Duran “Master Mixes” released on this date — John Taylor’s birthday! (b. 1960) — June 20th, 1987. Master Mixes is a double EP of remixes from their 1986 Notorious LP. The ultra-plain packaging and the blank b-sides indicates this release was mostly for dance clubs and dj’s and I’m pretty sure it had fairly limited pressing. Produced by Nile Rodgers, the remixes have a crisp and funky flavor. There are two versions of “American Science” – the “Chemical Reaction Mix” and the “Meltdown Dub,” both remixed by Justin Strauss and Murray Elias. There are also two different variants of “Vertigo (Do The Demolition)” including the rather plodding (sorry guys!) “Mantronix Mix” and the “B-Boy Mix,” both by Kurtis Mantronik. Daniel Abraham remixed “Skin Trade (Parisian Mix).” The eight minute plus “Notoriousaurus Rex (Master Mix)” which is a mashup of a bunch of tracks from Notorious, including the title track, was “collaged by Tuta Aquino, featuring mixes by Daniel Abraham, Mark S. Berry, Murray Elias and Justin Strauss, The Latin Rascals, Larry Levan, Curtis/Mantronik [sic] and Nile Rodgers, with edits by Tuta Aquino, The Latin Rascals, Jose ‘Chep’ Nunez, Omar Santana and The Hit Squad” (from the liner notes, which are on a plain white piece of paper and looked to have been typed on an honest-to-god typewriter).

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Duran Duran “Electric Barbarella”

sfilzen — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 18:55:33 +0000

Duran Duran “Electric Barbarella” 12″ single, remix, 1997. Harvest Records, promo. It’s my birthday today so this is the perfect spin: my favorite band (Duran Duran) remixed by a member (Russell Simins) of one of my other favorite bands (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion). Did you know this existed??? I didn’t and my mind is blown (big thanks to pop-catastrophe for making me aware)! Side A has two remixes by Russell Simins: “Electric Barbarella (The Electric Sex Remix)” and “Electric Barbarella (The Electric Sex Instrumental Remix).” Both layer 90′s NYC electronica/hiphop beats and vibes over and under Duran Duran’s swirly psychedelic synthpop and it’s f’ing amazing. Side B has two other remixes by Eli Jamney (of Americruiser and Girls Against Boys), Steve Raskin (aka Raskal, composer/producer, Edsel) and DJ Jamin – “Electric Barbarella (The Americruiser Remix)” and “Electric Barbarella (The Yo Shorty Americruiser Remix).” Also electronic, trip-hoppy with a super-heavy dose of bass and scratches for days courtesy of DJ Jamin, these are definitely meant for the dance floor.

The original Duran Duran single “Electric Barbarella” came out in 1997 as the lead single from their LP Medazzaland. The song’s title is a reference to the 1968 Roger Vadim film Barbarella: Duran Duran took their name from a character in that movie (it’s not a good movie but as a Duranie I dutifully watched it back in the 80′s on Betamax). The single went to #52 in the US and to #23 in the UK. A ton of other remixes exist besides this one – apparently “Electric Barbarella” was one of the first singles to be actively marketed as a downloadable single release for the internet and at least one of the remixes (by Dom T) was the first download-only release ever. Supposedly this pissed off a lot of retailers at the time and they refused to stock Duran Duran’s single or LP and that, coupled with some video censorship issues, led to the relatively poor chart showing for the single. Too bad, it’s a great song!

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The Red Hot Chili Peppers “Get Up and Jump”

sfilzen — Wed, 26 Dec 2018 22:33:56 +0000

The Red Hot Chili Peppers “Get Up and Jump” 1984. 12″ single (dance mix, produced by post punk/funk Gang of Four’s Andy Gill and remixed by Rob Stevens, who also has worked with Yoko Ono, Herbie Hancock and others) b/w “Baby Appeal (Club Mix).” “Get Up and Jump” was RHCP’s first (and only) single from their debut self-titled album (that album credited as being the first funk metal record and, for better or worse, “the little spark that ignited the rap rock revolution) and it was also the second song the band ever wrote, back when they were going by the name Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem. It’s extra-super funky with simple rap/sing lyrics (consisting mostly of the lines “Get up and jump, jump on down, jump around” etc.) with a fairly out-front bright horn section. The B-side “Baby Appeal” is a slower groove, heavy on the funky bass (Flea!) with a metal (almost tinny) guitar sound backing Anthony Kiedis’ whiteboy rap.

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Deee-Lite “Groove is the Heart”

sfilzen — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 20:32:46 +0000

Deee-Lite “Groove is the Heart” 1990. 12″ single. One of my favorite dance songs of all-time, infectiously funky with the added of bonus of Bootsy Collins (Parliament/Funkadelic) on guest vocals along with a mid-song rap by Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest). The 12″ has two versions of “Groove is in the Heart” – the Meeting of the Minds Mix and the Peanut Butter Mix. Both are fairly similar to the single, which hit #4 on the US single chart, #1 on the dance chart and #2 in the UK, with the Meeting of the Minds Mix slightly longer than the single; the Peanut Butter Mix is about the same in length but omits Bootsy and Q-Tip entirely. (The Peanut Butter mix was the version released in the UK.) The track consists of a lot of different samples including a few of the following: Herbie Hancock’s “Bring Down the Birds,” Vernon Burch’s “Get Up,” Ralph MacDonald’s “Jam on the Groove,” The Headhunters “God Make Me Funky” and theme from Green Acres. In 1990 I had no clue about any of those samples and didn’t know who Q-Tip was (I did know about Bootsy, though!) but still danced my ass off at many house parties that fall while at college in Madison. The B-side is “What Is Love” with two versions, Holographic Goatee Mix and Rainbow Beard Mix. It’s more of a slow-groove, hypnotic dance track for later in the evening after the adrenaline high has worn off at the club.

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Depeche Mode “Never Let Me Down Again”

sfilzen — Fri, 20 Jul 2018 21:55:55 +0000

Depeche Mode “Never Let Me Down Again” 1987. Monday July 23rd, will be primary DM songwriter Martin Gore’s birthday (b. 1961). (I’m outta here next week, heading off to the deep woods of Wisconsin to commune with nature and probably lots of mosquitos.) Gore wrote “Never Let Me Down Again,” the second single released from Music for the Masses and my favorite track from that album. It hit #22 in the UK and #63 in the US. It’s so dark and so so beautiful. This 12″ single has three versions of the track: the “Split Mix,” the “Aggro Mix” and the “Tsangarides Mix” (remixed by Chris Tsangarides, producer and sound engineer known mainly for his work with heavy metal bands like Judas Priest and Thin Lizzy; he died earlier this year). “Split” is really long, clocking in at over 9-½ minutes, with an extended – and somewhat menacing – techno instrumental coda that follows what is essential the standard single version. “Aggro” starts with an appropriately aggravated synth riff before the beat kicks in, heavier than the original, and then snippets of the main melody and lyrics peak through the hypnotic layers of electronica. “Tsangarides” isn’t much different from the single version, just a bit of extra noise from the rhythm section (kinda like an industrial tambourine if there is such a thing).

The flipside has two versions of “Pleasure, Little Treasure,” which also appears on Music for the Masses, “Glitter Mix” and “Join Mix” (the latter remixed by Paul Kendall and John Fryer). “Glitter” is super fast with fragmented vocals, reversed and delayed. “Join” has a factory-line industrial beat; on the downbeat there’s an effect that mimics the sound of what I imagine is what a smokestack puff would be.

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Slide vs. The White Stripes “7 Nation Army”

sfilzen — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 19:40:20 +0000

Slide vs. The White Stripes “7 Nation Army” 2003. Unofficial release, no label. 12″ electronic/house/trance remix of the White Stripes’ monster hit “Seven Nation Army.” Recently I’ve been grooving on another remix, an exotic sitar rendition by Ramin Djawadi that appears on the HBO series Westworld soundtrack. This dance club version is completely different, with lots of thumping beats, synth effects and dubby repetitive sampled Jack White lyrics. Slide is the alias of Pete Martin, part of the trance duo Cass & Slide, who has recorded a few of these mashups including with The Cure (“A Forest”) and The Hives (“Cos I Wanna”). Not my usual fare but this is a pretty cool find.

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INXS “New Sensation (Nick’s Twelve Inch Mix)”

sfilzen — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 15:36:36 +0000

INXS “New Sensation (Nick’s Twelve Inch Mix)” b/w “Guns in the Sky (Kick Ass Mix)” 1988. Yesterday, January 22nd, would have been Michael Hutchence’s 57th birthday (b. 1960 d. 1997). “New Sensation” was INXS’s third single from their massive 1987 smash-hit album Kick. The single hit #3 in the US, #9 in their native Australia and #24 in the UK. The remix on this 12″ single is even more danceable than the original with increased electronica effects and expanded length. The “Nick” referred to in the title is record producer Nick Launay, who has worked with a sea of new wave, post-punk and alternative acts from the 1980′s through today like Nick Cave, PiL, Talking Heads and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Side B’s remix of “Guns in the Sky” is kick-ass: an operatic intro is followed by the classic Monty Python statement “And now for something completely different.” It then launches into a stuttered beat version of the original track (that also appears on Kick) and sneakily includes tidbits from the sexiest song ever, “Need You Tonight.” Today I especially appreciate the highlight and repetition of the line “It’s a load of shit!”

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Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney “Say Say Say”

sfilzen — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 16:21:35 +0000

Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney “Say Say Say” 12″ single on clear vinyl went to #1 this week of December 14th, 1983. 2015 rerelease, Record Store Day special. I picked this one up kind of as a joke, but I will totally cop to loving it back in ‘83 when I was still on my Michael high. Jackson and McCartney recorded “Say Say Say” in 1981, before the release of mega-seller Thriller, and it appears on McCartney’s ‘83 LP release Pipes of Peace. This 2015 remix reverses the vocal roles of Jackson and McCartney and the b-side is an instrumental version, with some “ooo ooo ooo’s” and “say say says” thrown in toward the end. “Say Say Say” ended up spending six weeks on the top of the US charts, Jackson’s 7th top ten hit that year which broke the record previously held by Elvis and McCartney’s old band, The Beatles. With worldwide success, it remains in the top 50 biggest hits of all-time, which is weird because I don’t think I’ve heard it (until now) since the early 80′s. The video is noteworthy for the cameos by Linda McCartney and La Toya Jackson, also for being the first to have dialogue and a storyline in a major music video.

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David Bowie “Let’s Dance (Club Bolly Mixes)”

sfilzen — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:58:10 +0000

David Bowie “Let’s Dance (Club Bolly Mixes)” 12# single, promotional copy, 2003. It took some digging to find information on this release but I found an article in Billboard dated June 14, 2003. In it writer Steve McClure states this “Let’s Dance” remix has “been given a Bollywood treatment, with an exotic sonic backdrop featuring table drums, Hindi vocals and sitars…and the project was the brainchild of Hans Ebert, EMI Recorded Music Southeast Asia executive director.” Bowie gave permission for the remix which was produced by both Ebert and Morton Wilson, president of Schtung Music. The article also mentions that the “Let’s Dance” remix, along with a remix of “China Girl,” would be included as bonus tracks on an Asian release of Bowie’s greatest hits. MTV Asia created a special video for the track as well, which you can view here.

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