Never shying away from political matters, the British synthpop duo PET SHOP BOYS like to say it as it is, often with a sarcastic twist.
Having enjoyed years of successful record making and musically surviving many of their contemporaries, with ever a fresh approach, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe are back with a tongue-in-cheek EP ‘Agenda’.
It’s 2019, so what’s on the agenda? This time not the gay anthems, not slinky love songs, not dance your feet off punches, but straight to the point observations of the world we face today.
Photo by Pelle Crepin
Of course, Tennant and Lowe always aimed high with well observed poignant statements, be it from the very beginnings of their career with ‘Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money)’, or later cryptic attacks on Tony Blair and George W Bush on ‘I’m With Stupid’.
Further traces of Tennant / Lowe’s world affairs know how surface on many other tracks, depicting flaws in both historical and current politics, while their gay rights hymns inspired many to champion the LGBT communities. So what have we got here? “It contains three satirical songs and one rather sad song” claims outspoken Tennant, “I think it’s because of the times we’re living through.”
He’s certainly not wrong; both of the earlier unveiled tracks don’t mince words. ‘Give Stupidity A Chance’ speaks for itself, mocking both Donald Trump in the middle eight, as well as Michael Gove , with his infamous pre-Brexit vote statement “people in this country have had enough of experts”. Perhaps we should “give stupidity a chance”, as “intelligent people have had their say. It’s time for the foolish to show the way … We’ve had quite enough of experts and their dealings. Why face the facts when you can just feel the feelings?”
Trump’s sexual harassment accusations, which started after his misogynistic comments about grabbing women “by their pussies” find their reflection here too: “Chicks are always up for it. You’ve got to grab whatever you can. We need a leader with an eye for a peach-perfect piece of ass”. All this veiled with a simple melody and demure vocals.
‘On Social Media’ picks up the tempo, driving a quality gay club piece like ‘Outside’ by George Michael. The song is a total mockery of living our lives on social platforms, where our lives appear fantastic, and if things don’t go right “console yourself with a selfie or two and post them on Social Media”. Are your tweets re-tweeted? Are your family holiday snaps uploaded? Because “it’s so nice when people like you, you’re feeling hashtag ‘blast’, you’re part of the conversation, it’s like you’ve passed the test!”.
‘What Are We Going To Do About The Rich?’ is a further dig, this time “we’re talking about extreme rich – oligarchs and that kind of thing. The super-rich” says Tennant, with Lowe adding “The ones that don’t pay any tax.”
Tennant further describes it as “a sort of mock-protest song”, with the emphasis being more on the lyrical content as opposed to the melody, which, fortified by trumpets acts as a perfect canvas for the clever lyrics.
The fourth and final song from ‘Agenda’ is ‘The Forgotten Child’ and it represents “the sad song”. The demure, crying strings open up the tale about a missing girl, which is also political but in a more veiled manner, “where is the child? The child is lost”. The middle eight opens into a beautifully crafted section which PET SHOP BOYS are famous for, just to float away quietly.
All the four tracks were produced by Tim Powell with the duo themselves, and recorded at the end of last year. Stuart Price is due to produce the pair’s next album, which will follow 2016’s ‘Super’, and is due for release in the autumn.
Will it contain further political plug-ins? Let’s hope so, it is PET SHOP BOYS after all…
‘Agenda’ is available now via x2 Recordings in digital formats, please visit http://www.petshopboys.co.uk/ for information on CD and vinyl EP formats which will be released on 12th April 2019
Canadian based Glaswegian Michael Oakley rode the Synthwave with his debut solo EP ‘California’ in late 2017.
Admittedly more synthpop than Synthwave, Michael Oakley’s songcraft is what sets him apart from much of the music emerging from that Trans-Atlantic influenced movement.
With a similar emotional centre that is at the core of the best synth-based pop from the last 40 years, songs such as ‘Turn Back Time’ and ‘Rabbit In The Headlights’ managed to capture the youthful angst of Brat Pack rom-coms and the coming-of-age movies of John Hughes. For his upcoming debut full-length offering ‘Introspect’, Michael Oakley has been re-exploring the music of teenage years.
Michael Oakley kindly spoke about the critical reception of ‘California’, producing other artists and how his new record was coming along…
How do you look back on the ‘California’ EP and its various offshoots?
Wow, I mean honestly I had no idea just how big the reaction to ‘California’ was going to be. I’ve never had that kind of a reaction before or I guess what you would call success prior to releasing that. So it’s been a wonderful new experience for me which thankfully I’m staying grounded about.
I initially set out to write an album that was about my crazy love life to help me understand it and get through it, like a kind of therapy. I didn’t intend to let anyone else hear it because the story behind those songs was so personal to me. All my songs are true stories and I’m immensely proud of ‘California’ and the impact it’s had on so many people.
You appear to have drifted slightly away from Synthwave for your debut album ‘Introspect’?
You know it’s funny because although my music is known within the Synthwave scene, I’ve always felt like my music is way more in the synthpop category. Not that I’m at all complaining! I think the Synthwave scene has kind of branched out into all these other sub-categories to give names to the changing faces of Synthwave and allow for different extensions of the sound to be embraced.
On ‘California’, I have a very romantic John Hughes movie sound which is quite atmospheric and cinematic but also euphoric. The lyrics are sad but the music is uplifting. On my new album ‘Introspect’, I wanted to move into a slightly different realm and not just write ‘California Part Two’.
As a producer, I like to feel challenged and write music which moves and excites me. A big part of that is charting new territory within my sound. I try and make sure none of my songs sound like each other and I deliberately avoid using the same sounds twice, except for Fairlight Orchestra Hits! Those are amazing!
I was listening to a lot of the music I grew up listening to like NEW ORDER, PET SHOP BOYS and Italo Disco which I have taken a big inspiration from in the sound of Introspect.
Was there any frustration that there was a demand for instrumental versions of the tracks on ‘California’ from some quarters of the movement, like they had no interest in your actual songcraft?
It’s funny because I would have never ever considered releasing an instrumental version of my album if it wasn’t for Andrew Zistler of NewRetroWave suggesting it to me.
So I thought you know, what the heck. All I have to do is go back into the sessions and mute my vocals, bounce them out and get them mastered.
For me, it was more a curious experiment to see what the response would be, which was really positive. Whenever I’m writing or working, I personally like listening to instrumental music because I can get immersed in the world of what I’m doing, but a lot of the time with vocals I get distracted. I’d like to think my instrumental album will appeal to people appreciating my production and arrangement skills!
One thing about Synthwave that ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK does struggle with is its fixation with AOR… having lived on both sides of the Atlantic, do you have any thoughts?
AOR is a double edged sword. On one hand it’s catchy, accessible and radio friendly. On the other hand, it breeds WAY too many copycat, same sounding artists which I do believe the scene is a bit saturated with. My philosophy is always about pushing for something different and there is definitely a generic, safe, default sound within the scene which does get tedious after a while.
There’s a lot of really great new artists coming out in the scene who are not afraid to take that sound and do something fresh with it like Ollie Wride and THE BAD DREAMERS who also add great songwriting in the mix too.
The Scots have always had more of an affinity with America musically, even during post-punk?
Well post-punk there was that wonderful British invasion where America were listening to predominantly British music and synthpop grew. I know SIMPLE MINDS always get mentioned in the Scottish canon of successful Scots abroad, but for me I feel like THE BLUE NILE are Scotland’s real diamond when it comes to synthpop.
As with any scene that gains traction, more people hop on board the train and the music produced can vary in quality?
Absolutely, however the gap in quality is closing in. I think two or three years ago there was a lot of music which had a bedroom produced feel to it, in the sense that the mixes felt rough and didn’t have proper mastering. More and more now the quality has increased and people who maybe don’t have the best songs or music have had their stuff professionally mixed and mastered which makes all the difference.
I think if the scene wants to keep growing and appeal to a broader, mainstream audience then producers need to overcome their shortcomings by getting help from other more skilled producers to lift them up to match the quality levels coming into the scene over the past year.
What’s your take on how things have developed sonically in the last two years, good and bad?
Sonically I’m hearing music lately that I could easily hear on the radio. I feel like the scene is only one or two steps away from breaking mainstream. There’s highly skilled producers matched up with equally talented singer / songwriters, which has brought back the ‘Fire and Ice’ groups you used to see in the 80s like ERASURE and YAZOO. People like THE MIDNIGHT, FM84, THE NEW DIVISION and THE BAD DREAMERS are setting new standards and benchmarks for quality.
Synthpop has been rebranded under the term Popwave. The ‘good’ is that we are getting better and better music coming out and the ‘bad’ is that producers with little skill can pick up a laptop with minimal plugins and churn out a copied, watered down but less satisfying version of all the good stuff.
Is the new single ‘Control’ is an extension of the ‘California’ EP?
‘Control’ is darker than anything on ‘California’ for sure and my production on it is more aggressive too.
It’s the first single from ‘Introspect’ and I wanted to make a statement with it because it’s so different to anything I’ve done. It’s my way of planting a flag in the sand to say I’m charting new territory I hope.
So what has been your approach for ‘Introspect’?
I wanted to do something different that was a more pop sounding extension of what I had done before. I deliberately used Yamaha DX sounds and Fairlight sounds to capture more of that mid 1980s Trevor Horn sound and cut back using too many analogue sounds. Especially on bass.
After I finished ‘California’, I immediately felt anxious about how I was going to follow it up after such a great reaction, so I took some time out to work out what direction I was going in and set some limitations to work within. A lot of the stylistic choices I made on ‘California’ I deliberately avoided on ‘Introspect’. Also all the songs on ‘California’ are love songs, so for ‘Introspect’ I focussed on other aspects of myself and things which deeply affect me and also there’s a large part of the songs being about me living in Glasgow and how unhappy I had become with that.
‘Left Behind’ is one mighty Italo Disco statement, how did that one come together?
Haha yeah ‘Left Behind’ is absolutely my tribute to Trevor Horn, PET SHOP BOYS and Italo Disco. I’ve never done anything like that track before. I know some people have done Italo Disco in the scene but it’s always sounded authentically retro, whereas I wanted to give it a modern take. I actually wrote that song 14 years ago when I was in a band and the song is about me feeling like everyone around me was getting settled in their career, getting married and taking out a mortgage. Yet I was still living in my parents’ house, chasing a dream of being a musician that wasn’t working out.
Those orchestra stabs!!!! Although Italo Disco was vilified back in the day, the best of it has stood the test of time… discuss! 😉
Oh man I LOVE Orchestra Hits! Those are the staple of Italo. The best of Italo Disco for me is stuff like MODERN TALKING, BAD BOYS BLUE and the early PET SHOP BOYS records.
I’m very surprised no one has come out with any songs or albums that adopt parts of that sound within the scene. On my new album, I definitely have and really hope people like it.
What’s ‘Rain’ about, you sing of how to “find my way back home”, is this a reference to Glasgow at all?
Yes absolutely. ‘Rain’ is about me feeling trapped in a life I no longer had the heart or desire to continue living. I was working in a job I felt no connection with, I felt like a lot of the relationships I had with friends had changed and diminished into acquaintances. I think I reached an age where I was looking at my life and thinking “Who the hell am I?”.
For sure I fell out of love with living in Scotland and more so after I went to California and recorded my album. Over there I met similar minded people who were all like me and I met my wife there too. So coming back home to Glasgow was a real downer after such a high and I also wanted to be with my wife permanently. The reference to finding a way back home is more about me feeling lost and being desperate to find my happy place and enjoy life again.
You duet with Dana Jean Phoenix on ‘Now I’m Alive’? What was that like?
I absolutely LOVE Dana Jean Phoenix. For me she is up there with the most talented musicians in the scene. She’s just an unbelievable singer. Such an amazing talent and a great person. I originally had the idea of doing one of those 80s duet ballads like George Michael and Whitney Houston or STARSHIP. There was really only one person I would ever do a duet with and in my mind it was always going to be Dana.
If she had said no, I definitely wouldn’t have continued with it. So I came up with the track, made a rough demo and sent it over to Dana and said “You have total freedom to write whatever you want to do with it”. I’m super happy with how it turned out and it’s definitely ticked off one of my bucket list things getting to sing with her.
You’ve also been working with Ollie Wride, vocalist with FM-84, is it important for you to branch out and work with other artists?
I have to confess there was a time in my life when I wasn’t open to collaboration and was very territorial about my work. However over the past couple of years, I’ve been better at it and realised that all my best work involves other people contributing in some way.
I got introduced to Ollie Wride through a friend and we were both in the right place at the right time. He wanted to work with a producer on his solo album and I was working on my solo album and wanted to work with another writer who would help me to push out my comfort zones and help me to say what I wanted to say.
I knew what the songs were about but was struggling to write all the lyrics and would do these therapy sessions with him where I would talk about what the song was about and then send him lyrics I had. Sometimes it was just a verse or a chorus and he would take what I had said and work his magic. I really couldn’t have finished this album without him.
I think it’s crucial to work with other people in order to grow as an artist. You have to keep yourself opening up to new ideas and new ways of working or you end up making watered down versions of your previous work. It’s important to learn how to play off someone else’s strengths and to use your strengths to lift them without focussing too much on you and how good you look. Team work being the sentiment I’m trying to make there.
So what are your hopes and fears for ‘Introspect’?
My hope is that the same people who really loved ‘California’ have the same reaction with ‘Introspect’. I hope they can appreciate my progression from ‘California’ and share the same vision I had while making it.
In terms of fears… I’m not sure, I mean I guess it’s my worst fear that people don’t get the creative direction I’ve gone in but we shall see what the reaction is. Ask me in 6 months *laughs*
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Michael Oakley
As long as there has been a music business, artists and producers have been tinkering with their work.
While often, it’s the single version made for mass consumption through radio play that remains superior and best loved, there are occasions when the album take reigns supreme due to the freedom to work on a larger easel without commericial considerations or radio play constrictions.
Often there’s a track that is the obvious standout on the long player, but sometimes it can be of a structure that is considered too long for peak time radio where instant gratification is the key. On other occasions, the vision of the track for album consumption is reconsidered following an earlier short form release produced on a more limited budget.
So as a companion list to the earlier 25 Single Versions That Are Better Than The Album Versions listings feature and restricted to one track per artist, here are 25 Album Versions That Are Better Than The Single Versions presented in chronological and then alphabetical order…
GIORGIO From Here To Eternity (1977)
Despite being a hit single, ‘From Here To Eternity’ was actually something of a disjointed disco medley, throwing in a section of the album track ‘Utopia – Me Giorgio’ halfway through. The full six minute ‘From Here To Eternity’ from the long player of the same name was a futuristic slice of electronic dance perfection, with Giorgio Moroder steadily building on his throbbing synth backbone and layers of vocoder punctuated by the steady beats of drummer Keith Forsey.
The original Fast Product single version of ‘Being Boiled’ from 1978 had its own charm, recorded as mono demo which was subsequently released. However, having signed to Virgin Records and with a budget behind them, Messrs Marsh, Oakey and Ware took the opportunity to update their calling card with producer John Leckie for the ‘Travelogue’ album to more fully realise its funky overtones inspired by FUNKADELIC. The end result was fuller and more dynamic.
Available on THE HUMAN LEAGUE album ‘Travelogue’ via Virgin Records
‘Ghosts’ had been an unexpected singles success for JAPAN in 1982 and Virgin Records wanted more of the same with ‘Nightporter’, despite it being already two years old and with the previously unreleased song ‘Some Kind Of Fool’ in the vaults. Trimming the solemn seven minute ivory laden Satie homage was always going to be difficult and the horrific radio edit butchered out the lengthy if vital instrumental climax of melancholic Oberheim OBX strings. Less really does mean less…
The album version of ‘I Travel’ was only four minutes in the first place, yet original label Arista Records felt the need to chop the track on both single edits it released and neuter its impact. SIMPLE MINDS never fully realised their potential until they signed to Virgin Records and ‘I Travel’ heralded a futuristic art rock phase where the band’s Germanic influences, coupled to synthesized disco aesthetics of Giorgio Moroder, found favour at clubs like The Blitz.
Available on the SIMPLE MINDS album ‘Empires & Dance’ via Virgin Records
Whether ‘Autobahn’, ‘Radio-Activity’, ‘Showroom Dummies’, ‘Trans-Europe Express’, ‘Neon Lights’ or ‘The Robots’, the sheer average length of a KRAFTWERK track made them difficult to apply to the single format and ‘Computer Love’ was no different. A beautifully melodic piece that predicted internet dating and stretched to just under seven minutes with its glorious second half synth solo in its album version, it was like the reel of the film was missing in its edited form.
Available on the KRAFTWERK album ‘Computer World’ via EMI Records
A UK Top 20 single for BLANCMANGE in 1983, ‘Waves’ was remixed and given an orchestral treatment arranged by Linton Naiff, but it strangely detracted from the bare emotion of the song. Sounding like Scott Walker fronting OMD, with a more basic synthesized construction and a sombre detuned brass line allowed to breathe at the song’s conclusion, the album version sans orchestra was much better. However, the original cut has yet to be reinstated on reissues of the parent long player ‘Happy Families’.
Available on the BLANCMANGE album ‘The Very Best Of’ via Music Club Deluxe
Originally recorded for a 1980 single on Mute Records in more of a band format featuring guitar and hand-played synths, ‘Kebab Träume’ was subsequently reworked by DAF in a more superior fashion under the production supervision of the legendary Conny Plank for their third and final Virgin-era long player ‘Für Immer’. Transforming into something much heavier, the memorable if controversial line “Deutschland, Deutschland, alles ist vorbei!” had more bite on this album version also issued as a single.
Available on the DAF album ‘Für Immer’ via Grönland Records
Sweden’s LUSTANS LAKEJER came to international attention when their third long player ‘En Plats I Solen’ was produced by Richard Barbieri of JAPAN. With its synthesized atmospheres and art funk aspirations not that far off DURAN DURAN, ‘Läppar Tiger, Ögon Talar’ was one of the album’s highlights. But for the later single version produced by Kai Erixon, the band opted for a more laid back swing arrangement punctuated by a brass section, which frankly was not as good as the original.
Available on the LUSTANS LAKEJER album ‘En Plats I Solen’ via Universal Music
The single version of ‘We Take Mystery’ which was Gary Numan’s last UK Top 10 hit was too short and the extended 12 inch version was too long, which left the album version from ‘I, Assassin’ as the best take of the song. With its crashing Linn Drum snap and fretless bass with live percussion syncopating on top, this was a dancefloor friendly excursion which concluded with a marvellous additional rhythm guitar breakdown from fretless bassist Pino Palladino.
Available on the GARY NUMAN album ‘I, Assassin’ via Beggars Banquet
Remixed by John Luongo for single release, ‘The Anvil’ ended up as a B-side but while the sound of metal-on-metal was added, it somehow had less presence than the original album version. Possessing far Teutonic tension with some superb guitar work from Midge Ure, metronomic drumming courtesy of Rusty Egan minus his hi-hats, Dave Formula’s superb screaming ARP Odyssey complimented Steve Strange’s tale of debauchery for one of the best ever VISAGE tracks.
Available on the VISAGE album ‘The Anvil’ via Cherry Pop
By 1982, John Foxx has rediscovered his love of early PINK FLOYD, THE BEATLES and psychedelia which manifested itself in ‘Endlessy’. Based around a tom heavy Linn Drum programme, deep cello samples and sitars, it was an interesting if messy experimental romp. Come his third album ‘The Golden Section’ recorded under the helm of producer Zeus B Held, the new version, also released as a revisionist single, was much more focussed with an accessible uptempo electronic euphoria.
A sub-ten minute progressive epic was never going to work as an edited single and with ‘And That’s No Lie’, that’s exactly what happened. The original album version was HEAVEN 17’s ambitious adventure in sound and fusion that threw in everything from abstract sonic experiments, jazz piano, Fairlight samples, the gospel voices of ARFRODIZIAK and an orchestra, plus some excellent live bass and guitar work from John Wilson and Ray Russell respectively.
Available on the HEAVEN 17 album ‘How Men Are’ via Virgin Records
ARCADIA was Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor’s attempt to be JAPAN during the DURAN DURAN artistic hiatus, but many of the songs from the short-lived side project were smothered in a pond of self-indulgence. One of the highlights though was ‘The Flame’, basically ‘A View To A Kill Part 2’. However for its single release, a neo-acapella intro was applied rather than the frantic percussive beginning of the album version which robbed the song of its tension and impact.
Having got DIVINE into the UK charts, Stock Aitken & Waterman gave the same treatment to DEAD OR ALIVE, scoring a No1 with ‘You Spin Me Round’. The resultant album ‘Youthquake’ had a number of excellent tracks including ‘My Heart Goes Bang’ which was ripe single material. But the single remix by regular PWL associate Phil Harding was horrible, throwing in the kitchen sink with voice cut-ups and an overdriven rhythm section which drowned out any merits the song originally had.
Available on the DEAD OR ALIVE album ‘Youthquake’ via Sony Music
Inspired by a News Of The World headline, ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ is one of the best loved NEW ORDER tunes. The rugged self-produced original version that appeared on the ‘Brotherhood’ album was a glorious electronic number with a slight mechanical offbeat and space for Hooky’s distinctive bass. But the version released for 45 RPM consumption was a frustrating, four-to-the-floor remix by Shep Pettibone which took all the character out of the song with a barrage of overdriven percussive samples.
Available on the NEW ORDER album ‘Brotherhood’ via Warner Music
Although ‘Living In Another World’ was the best song on ‘The Colour Of Spring’, it was always going to be a tall order to successfully cut its seven minutes in half for single consumption! A fine progressive combination of synthetic strings, piano, Hammond organ, hypnotic bass, acoustic and electric guitars, percolating percussion and harmonica, the TALK TALK sound would have been nothing however without the anguished vocals of Mark Hollis and the production skills of Tim Friese-Greene.
German trio CAMOUFLAGE had a hit with ‘The Great Commandment’ all over the world including the US, with only Britain remaining ambivalent to their industrial flavoured synthpop. As with many singles of the period, it clocked in at just over three minutes but sounded rushed. Come the debut album ’Voices & Images’ and ‘The Great Commandment’ was more fully realised, allowing space to prevail in the one of the best DEPECHE MODE tracks that the Basildon boys never recorded.
Available on the CAMOUFLAGE album ‘Voices & Images’ via Metronome Music
Enigmatic Glaswegian trio THE BLUE NILE were never an easy sell to the wider marketplace and the Bob Clearmountain single remix of ‘Headlights On The Parade’ was hopeless, with over a third of the emotively atmospheric number absent for the sake of radio play. The centrepiece of the brilliant ‘Hats’ album, its haunting piano, swaths of synths and a collage of modulated sequences needed a full six minutes to truly convey its solemn drive and rainy cinematic melodrama.
Available on THE BLUE NILE album ‘Hats’ via Epstein Records
Subsonically remixed by Andrew Weatherall with a distinct chilled-out flavour and an additional vocal from Sacha Souter for single release, the brilliant album version of ‘Floatation’ had a more rigid KRAFTWERK feel echoing elements of ‘Tour De France’. And as the track drew towards the home straight, Julian Stringle’s clarinet brought to mind the aesthetics of Dave Ball’s previous residency in SOFT CELL. But while those woodwind textures were present in the single, they were less effective overall.
Available on THE GRID album ‘Electric Head’ via Cherry Red Records
Partly inspired by a quote about Zelda Fitzgerald, novelist and wife of author F Scott Fitzgerald which stated “she refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn’t boring”, ‘Being Boring’ is one of PET SHOP BOYS’ best songs, reflecting on Neil Tennant’s youth and the loss of a friend who died of AIDS. While the single itself was almost five minutes long, the superior album version featured a fabulous intro that steadily built with a lilting synth bassline and wah-wah guitar that made the most of the song’s elegiac aura.
Available on the PET SHOP BOYS album ‘Behaviour’ via EMI Records
A tedious rockist statement by DEPECHE MODE when reworked by Butch Vig for single release, the lengthy original album version of ‘In Your Room’ was widescreen magnificence with a tense percussive drive courtesy of Alan Wilder who only played what was needed, adding a second simplistic drum passage in the final half for extra weight. A fine example of how feel is more important technique, current DM drumhead Christian Eigner managed to mess up his opportunity to shine on this during the ‘Global Spirit’ tour.
The second LADYTRON album ‘Light & Magic’ is probably best known for its lead single ‘Seventeen’, but opening its second half was the brilliantly propulsive ‘Evil’. An obvious single, when remixed by noted dance producer Ewan Pearson, it was filled out with extra string synths and made more contemporary. The track lost its appealing spatial dynamics and grunt while the way in which the vocals of Helen Marnie were mixed more than muted her charm.
Available on the LADYTRON album ‘Light & Magic’ via Nettwerk productions
ARTHUR & MARTHA were Adam Cresswell and Alice Hubley; their debut single ‘Autovia’ was the first release on Happy Robots Records in 2008 but when it came to recording the album ‘Navigation’, the incessant Doctor Rhythm drum machine was given a more hypnotic Motorik makeover which ironically gave the track more drive. Meanwhile, there was an extended end section which allowed for some cosmic Theremin and synth wig-outs between the pair not unlike STEREOLAB meeting NEU!
Available on the ARTHUR & MARTHA album ‘Navigation’ via Happy Robots Records
From MESH’s best album ‘Automation Baby’, the wonderfully metronomic ‘Adjust Your Set’ with its personal relationship commentary in a technology dominated world was one of its many highlights. Given a more orchestrated remix by Nico Wieditz for the MaBose Radio-Edit with a much busier electronic bassline along the lines of ‘Enjoy The Silence’, while this single version had more obvious presence, it lacked the eerie cinematic Morricone-esque air of the album original.
‘Ocean’ was already dramatic perfection as the best track on the seventh GOLDFRAPP album ‘Silver Eye’, but for the single version, it was felt a contribution from a former member of the Mute family was needed. While Devotees were wetting themselves over Dave Gahan appearing on a more obviously electronic sounding track again, his faux bluesy drawl was something of a mismatch next to the breathy angelic tones of Alison Goldfrapp. Gahan may be from Essex but he is certainly no Alison Moyet.
Available on the GOLDFRAPP album ‘Silver Eye’ via Mute Artists
Ever bought an album on the strength of a single, only to find that “this is not the single I am looking for”??
As long as there has been a music business, artists and producers have been forever tinkering with their work. Sometimes it is to improve an album track for single release by remixing or even re-recording it. Or it is vice-versa to create a new vision for a song or make it sound more like the material on a latterly recorded long player.
But in many cases, it’s the version that was made for mass consumption through radio play that remains superior and best loved. This list celebrates the frustration of being stuck with the wrong version and the dilemma of whether to shell out extra cash to go out and buy the proper version.
Restricted to one single per artist and presented in chronological and then alphabetical order, here are 25 Single Versions That Are Better Than The Album Versions…
JOHN FOXX No-One Driving (1980)
While ‘Metamatic’ is an iconic long player and includes ‘Underpass’, its second single opted for a reworking of ‘No-One Driving’, rather than the more obvious ‘A New Kind Of Man’. Much busier and expansive than the comparatively tame album version, it provided John Foxx with another Top40 hit, something which had eluded him in ULTRAVOX who interestingly also produced a better single version with ‘Quiet Man’ from ‘Systems Of Romance’ while he was in the band.
Available on the JOHN FOXX boxed set ‘Metamatic’ via Edsel Records
On OMD’s debut self-titled album, ‘Messages’ just a song with potential as a single. Utilising a pulsing repeat function on a Korg Micro-Preset shaped by hand twisting the octave knob, it was decided to re-record ‘Messages’ for its single release. Produced by Mike Howlett, the new version included the addition of separately recorded drums for a cleaner snap alongside the basic primary chord structures and one fingered melodies to produce a magnificent UK chart hit that reached No13.
Despite being alongside DEPECHE MODE, SOFT CELL, BLANCMANGE and THE THE on the now iconic ‘Some Bizarre Album’, B-MOVIE were unable to secure a Top40 chart entry with the poignant magnificence of the Mike Thorne produced ‘Remembrance Day’. The struggle for success coupled with internal tensions led to the band fragmenting by 1983. Finally releasing an album ‘Forever Running’ in 1985 on Sire Records, it featured an inferior re-recording of ‘Remembrance Day’.
The combination of obscure lyrics from Ian Burden like “Stroke a pocket with a print of a laughing sound” and a screaming chant gave THE HUMAN LEAGUE their breakthrough hit. Produced by the late Martin Rushent, bursts of Roland System 700 white noise were trigged from an MC8 Micro-composer for the rhythm track. But for the subsequent ‘Dare’ album, ‘The Sound Of The Crowd’ was reworked with a Linn Drum and with the chant also pushed back, it lost much of its dystopian tension.
Available on THE HUMAN LEAGUE album ‘Greatest Hits’ via Virgin Records
More muscular and dynamic, ‘The Art Of Parties’ explored a funkier template was a move away from the mannered Roxy muzak that JAPAN had been associated with. Originally produced by John Punter, when it came to the album ‘Tin Drum’, new producer Steve Nye smoothed off some of the track’s tribal weirdness and muted its brassy punch. While the end result was tighter, synthier and had more melody, the band preferred to play the original single version live…
Extended version available on JAPAN album ‘The Very Best Of’ via Virgin Records
The first track on side 2 of Jean-Michel Jarre albums provided the trailer singles for radio and ‘Magnetic Fields’ was no different. But in a new approach, the French Maestro offered up a toughed up remix where the klanky lightweight tones of the Korg Rhythm KR55 were replaced by bangier drum samples while the synth stabs on the bridge were turned up. But as Jarre’s audience preferred albums, this superior remix got lost over the years and missed inclusion on his many compilations.
Everyone knows the wonderful hit single version of this Northern Soul cover with its hypnotic Roland Compurhythm running all the way through it. But for the ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ album, ‘Tainted Love’ was shortened by 2 seconds while the second phrase became the first, thus strangely muting the emotive impact of the original single. Annoyingly, this inferior version crept onto the first SOFT CELL compilation ‘The Singles’ and the more recent ‘Keychains & Snowstorms’ collection.
With its iconic piano line, ‘Party Fears Two’ was a magnificent song about dealing with the perils of schizophrenia. It also kick started a brief period when ASSOCIATES subverted the UK charts with an avant pop approach that fitted in with the Synth Britannia template of the times. A Top10 hit and emotive to the nth degree, the original single version is still the best and total perfection, while the longer album remix with its ambient intro and stop ending lost some of the magic.
The original ‘Height Of The Fighting’ from the second side of ‘Penthouse & Pavement’ was sonically an extension of ‘Travelogue’, Martyn Ware’s last album as a member of THE HUMAN LEAGUE. The more commercial single version took the funkier approach of the first side of ‘Penthouse & Pavement’, adding synthetic drums and a meatier bass synth attack. Featuring the BEGGAR & CO brass section who played with SPANDAU BALLET, it was a glorious electronic soul hybrid.
Available on HEAVEN 17 album ‘The Best Of’ via Virgin Records
Led by Iva Davies, the song which got Australian combo ICEHOUSE noticed by a wider audience in the UK during their tenure opening for SIMPLE MINDS was a slight reworking of the chilling synth laden title track of their debut album from when the band were called FLOWERS. Featuring a strange offbeat and the mannerisms of Gary Numan before blitzing out for the song’s flanged guitar climax, ‘Icehouse’ was as good as anything on VISAGE’s eponymous debut.
Outflanked by DURAN DURAN in the New Romantic debut album stakes, SPANDAU BALLET explored Britfunk with ‘Chant No1′, but then took a strange about turn with their next album ‘Diamond’ featuring a number of ethnic art pieces. Fresh from working with ABC, Trevor Horn reworked Richard James Burgess’ understated production of ‘Instinction’. Throwing in extra synths played by Anne Dudley and extra bombastic percussion; it saved their career.
Still Matt Johnson’s finest five minutes as THE THE, ‘Uncertain Smile’ on its single release featured a wonderfully rigid TR808 pattern, lovely layers of synths and a variety of woodwinds including flute and sax. Produced by Mike Thorne, this fuller sounding and more emotive take far outstripped the bland and overlong ‘Soul Mining’ album cut produced by Paul Hardiman which included the extended boogie-woogie piano of Jools Holland tagged onto the end…
Inspired by the burgeoning New York club scene, Rusty Egan brought in John Luongo to remix ‘Night Train’ from ‘The Anvil’ album much to Midge Ure’s dismay; it lead to the diminutive Glaswegian ending his tenure with VISAGE. But Luongo’s rework was sharper and more rigid, pushing forward the female backing vocals to soulful effect in particular and replacing the clumpier snare sounds of the album version with cleaner AMS samples.
Extended version available on the compilation boxed set ’12”/80s – Volume 2′ (V/A) via Family Recordings
The album version of ‘Sister Surprise’ on the ‘Mad Max’ inspired ‘Warriors’ was far too long, plus something was missing. For its single release, this slice of synthetic funk rock was shortened and sharpened, while a new vocal hook was added over Numan’s now ubiquitous “woah-oh-oh” refrains which provided a much better chorus. Despite this improvement and an appearance of ‘Top Of The Pops’, it was at the time, the lowest charting Gary Numan single since the start of his imperial phase.
Available on the GARY NUMAN album ‘Premier Hits’ via Beggars Banquet
The ‘Seven & The Ragged Tiger’ album sessions had not been a happy experience for DURAN DURAN with the prolonged mixing leading to a fall out between bassist John Taylor and producer Alex Sadkin. ‘The Reflex’ had potential but this was not fully realised. Enter Nile Rodgers who gave the track a rhythmic lift and played around with the then-new innovation of sampling, using various vocals to create new hooks and phrases for a monster international hit.
Available on the DURAN DURAN album ‘Greatest’ via EMI Records
Comedian Lenny Henry summed things up best in a sketch where he entered a record shop to buy a single and was then offered a plethora of versions by the assistant:”I JUST WANT THE VERSION THEY GOT RIGHT!” – ZTT’s marketing exploits with 12 inch mixes are well known, but they played around with album versions too and with the version of ‘Two Tribes’ on ‘Welcome To The Pleasure Dome’, they got it wrong and took out the piper call middle eight!
Available on the FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD album ‘Frankie Said’ via Union Square
There was a time when it was not cool to like ABBA but BLANCMANGE changed all that with their version of ‘The Day Before You Came’ which many regard as the last ABBA song. Combining that noted Swedish melancholy and melodicism with an artful Nothern England quirkiness, the more compact single version produced by Peter Collins improved on the ‘Mange Tout’ album version helmed by John Luongo and made more of Neil Arthur’s deep melodramatics.
Available on the BLANCMANGE album ‘Second Helpings’ via London Records
Originally produced by Stephen Hague, ‘Suburbia’ was a good if slightly underwhelming album track from ‘Please’ that got transformed into a more fully realised epic in a re-recording produced by Julian Mendelson. Complete with barking dogs, widescreen synths and thundering rhythms, the more aggressive overtones in the single version of PET SHOP BOYS‘ clever social commentary made ‘Suburbia’ a big hit, particularly in West Germany.
The collective strength of A-HA has been to produce great melancholic pop in that classic Nordic tradition. Chosen to record the theme to the James Bond film ‘The Living Daylights’, the collaboration with composer John Barry was fraught with tension and mutual dislike. However, the conflicts and Barry’s characteristic string arrangement captured an essence that was missing from the later re-recorded version with Alan Tarney for the album ‘Stay On These Roads’.
With DEPECHE MODE’s Trans-Atlantic breakthrough album ‘Music For The Masses’, the good but meandering track heading side two never realised its potential. But with PET SHOP BOYS, NEW ORDER, DURAN DURAN and Madonna remixer Shep Pettibone ‘Behind The Wheel’, a funkier bassline and syncopated rhythms were added to the much better single version, giving the song a far more accessible groove that could fill alternative club dancefloors in America.
‘Republic’ produced by Stephen Hague was not the finest hour of NEW ORDER, so it was something of a surprise when the underwhelming ‘Spooky’ aws the fourth single from it. But it was remixed by FLUKE, a house dance trio who had worked with Björk. Rhythmically more spacious, this superior ‘Minimix’ allowed the best elements of the song to shine.
Available on the NEW ORDER single ‘Spooky’ via London Records
The ‘So Tough’ album version of ‘You’re In A Bad Way’ was far too understated. With a brighter punchier recording helmed by A-HA producer Alan Tarney for the single version, the acoustic guitar was pushed back while vintage synths and a lovely ‘Telstar’ motif was added for a vastly superior rendition. Sometimes more can mean more and this slice of HERMAN’S HERMITS inspired pop brilliance gave SAINT ETIENNE a well-deserved No12 hit single.
Orbit’s concept of adapting classical works was because he wanted to make a chill-out album that had some good tunes. But trance enthusiasts who loved Dutch producer Ferry Corsten’s blinding remix of Samuel Barber’s ‘Adagio For Strings’ will have been shocked if they had bought its virtually beatless parent long player. Sounding not unlike Jean-Michel Jarre set to a 4/4 dance beat, this single version actually reached No4 in the UK charts.
In a poor period for Andy and Vince, the ‘Loveboat’ album’s problem wasn’t just the emphasis on guitar driven dynamics, but it also lacked the usual ERASURE charm despite production by Flood. Even the album’s one potentially great song ‘The Moon & The Sky’ was missing an uplifting chorus, something which was only fixed with the Heaven Scent Radio Rework version by Jason Creasey that was later released as an extended play single.
With vocals by KINGS OF CONVENIENCE vocalist Erlend Øye, ‘Remind Me’ was one of the highlights of RÖYKSOPP’s excellent debut album ‘Melody AM’ which fitted in with dance music culture’s penchant for chill-out. But for single release, the track was given a more rhythmic KRAFTWERK styled feel via ‘Someone Else’s Radio Remix’ by Marisa Jade Marks. The track drew in new listeners, although they would have had a major shock to the system on hearing the album original…
Available on the RÖYKSOPP download single ‘Remind Me’ via Wall Of Sound
Welsh duo SHELTER are back with their third album ‘Soar’ and it largely sees them in a more introspective mood.
The usually flamboyant pairing of Mark Bebb and Rob Bradley have toned down their approach following their previous full-length offering ‘Ascend’ in 2016.
That record had been something of a mixed bag, the sound of a band trying too hard and unable to shake off the spectre of ERASURE, although the more subtle ‘Figaro’ was an indicator of what they were capable of.
Their Crowdfunder mission statement said: “This time around, they’ve simply let the songs breathe their own life and be just what they felt the songs needed to be organically to tell their respective stories, without feeling a need to try to make them fit to any specific genre / sub-genre or generic template”.
For the start of ‘Soar’ though, it is business as usual for SHELTER with the supercharged opener ‘Electronica’ being an enjoyable PET SHOP BOYS styled celebration of electronic music utilising great synth lines and an appropriately procured robotic vocal aesthetic. The lyrics though, while well-intentioned don’t work so well.
Second song ‘Touch’ bases itself on ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’ and throws in the kitchen sink with a variety of stabs, sawtooths and drops that might cause the listener to duck!
But ‘Karma’ sees SHELTER at their best yet and realising their potential with a dark and more restrained demeanour. “What you want is what you’ll get…” sings Bebb, “You will get a lot more that you planned”. With the message relayed loud and clear, Bradley compliments the sentiment with a dynamic production that hits the spot with its highs and lows.
One of the dilemmas that has always haunted SHELTER is the many directions they can take their music; one example is ‘Soar’ which is a good song with a great topline. However, it might have benefitted from a less rigid rhythmic base and a more synthpop-based treatment.
On their previous album, it was observed that Bebb needed to work on how best to apply his voice. He’s done his homework and really makes very good use of his vocal potential on the lovely ballad ‘Pieces’ which will surprise many who may not have taken to SHELTER in the past. It’s the sort of tune that Midge Ure might have come up with for his ‘Fragile’ opus.
Following on, the heartfelt ‘Survive’ is cut from a similar cloth although more synthetically orchestrated in its superb cinematic arrangement with Bebb’s deep proclamation that “the sun will rise”.
‘1984’ does what it says on the tin, recalling the great octave bassline driven melancholic pop of the classic era, while the optimistic ‘Extraordinary’ plays with a Latin flavoured R’n’B template that emulates SHAKIRA and actually works! ‘Sorry’ features more great synth work from Bradley while Bebb tries to put a positive slant on the end of a relationship.
Closing with the staccato drive of ‘Exhale’, it’s SHELTER punching the air and making their play for a spot in a Jerry Bruckheimer movie!
A big improvement on ‘Ascend’, this is a more refined SHELTER unafraid to explore their darker side. Less can more and ‘Soar’ is documentary evidence of that.
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