Archive for the ‘B-52s’ Category

Yabba Dabba Dumb

Monday, October 15th, 2012

I’m on cold meds right now and I feel like that whenever I’m on anything for my sinuses my copyediting skills vanish. So apologies for any drastic typos or poor sentence structure.

And now with that out of the way, here is the latest in my continuing efforts to provide you with the dumbest and most pointless remixes to ever grace the Earth.

The B-52s
(Meet) The Flintstones (Quarry Mix)
(Meet) The Flintstones (Bam Bam Tribal Beat)
(Meet) The Flintstones (Bedrock Dub)
(Meet) The Flintstones (Rock Charleston Dub)
Tell It Like It T-I-Is (MK Respect Mix)
Tell It Like It T-I-Is (Instrumental Respect Mix)
Tell It Like It T-I-Is (MK Underground Mix)
Tell It Like It T-I-Is (MK Mix)
Tell It Like It T-I-Is (MK Dub)
When The Flintstones movie came out in 1994, they of course had to include some version of the classic theme song on the soundtrack, and for this monumental task they turned to The B-52s, because when I think family friendly party music, I think The B-52s. However, in keeping with the original TV show’s “hilarious” tradition of taking popular bands and stars from the modern era and giving them stone age puns, The B-52s were credited as The BC-52s.

GET IT?!?! B.C.!??! Like the designated term B.C. (Before Christ) that is commonly associated with the prehistoric era? Isn’t that just so damn clever!?!

Sigh.

This is another case though where I wonder what came first; did someone get The B-52s and then figure out that their name could be so easily modified to fit the Stone Age theme? Or did someone think up “The BC-52s” all on their own and then ask The B-52s if they would do it (and by “ask” I mean throw a truckload of money at them). Maybe The B-52s agreed to do it because they heard that some people thought that “Shiny Happy People” was the worst song of all time and they wanted to give it a go at topping it.

Whoever thought of it was probably the same creative genius who decided to put “Walk The Dinosaur” by Was (Not Was) on the soundtrack as well. That’s not exactly deep digging for prehistoric cuts. I would have gone for “Caveman” by The Cramps, but whatever. You know that if they made the movie today some neanderthal would probably insist that “Dinosaur” by Kesha (I refuse to stylize her name) be put in there.

Needless to say, these “Flintstones” remixes are stupendously stupid, but since I’m a completionist who wants everything B-52s, I had to grab it. Now you get to hear it. I hope you’re happy.

After you listen to all four versions of “(Meet) The Flinstones” (and you have to listen to all four of them, I did), then cleanse your pallet with the non-Flinstones related track “Tell It Like It T-I-Is,” a far better tune from the underrated Good Stuff album.

Posted in B-52s, remixes | 3 Comments »

Mirror Mirror

Friday, May 25th, 2012

Now that I finished the mannoth undertaking that was The Lost Turntable Guide To Recording Vinyl, I’m starting to wonder what I should try next. Is there anything in the guide that I left out? Any topics that any of you thought I should have covered but didn’t? I’m thinking about writing something about what to look for when buying vinyl, because if there’s one thing I’m really good at, it’s spending money on records. Would anyone be interested in that?

 

Anyways, this is the last post for the week, and I probably won’t post until the second half of next week, thanks to some work commitments (which are good) and family commitments (which are more of a mixed bag).

One good thing, if all goes well this weekend I should be coming back to Pittsburgh with a new turntable! It’s not going to replace my Technics, but it’s certainly an interesting deck. If I get it I’ll be sure to do a full write-up, most of you have probably never seen anything like it.

Love And Rockets
Mirror People (88 Version Re-Recorded)
Mirror People (88 Version Edited)
What a weird song, and not just because of the lyrics, but because there are so many damn versions of it. The original version of “Mirror People” leads off the band’s 1987 tour-de-force Earth Sun Moon, and if you have the CD or digital editions of the album, a “slow version” of the song serves as the record’s coda.

However,  a year after the album came out the band re-recorded the song, as a more fast-paced and polished work that was no doubt intended to capitalize off of the band’s success with the single “No New Tale To Tell.” This new version is a lot less shoe-gazey than the original, and has much more of a “punchier” sound over all. I’m sure it was all a tactic to turn the song into a hit single, although I don’t think it worked. I have to say though that I prefer this version, I’m always a sucker for some more anthemic sounding drums. I do love the wall-of-sound production of the original too though.

The B-52′s
Channel Z (Rock Mix)
Channel Z (Remix Edit)
Channel Z (Rock Dub)
I just like saying “Channel Z” like  Fred Schneider does in the beginning of this song.

“Channel ZEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

ZEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Okay, yeah so maybe I wrote so much stuff this week that I’ve ran out of constructive or interesting things to say, what’s your point?

Posted in B-52s, Love & Rockets, remixes | 6 Comments »

Here’s to Six More Years of Obscurity

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

Okay, let’s try this again.

I wrote a thing for Nerve. You should read it.

After you do that, come back here. I have music for you. And if you’re visiting here for the first time because of Nerve, well then welcome! Want to listen to the soundtrack to Urgh!? If so, you might find this post of some interest.

David Bowie
When The Wind Blows (Extended Mix)
When The Wind Blows (Instrumental)
I posted those mixes to “When The Wind Blows” before, but if you say you remember that then you’re damn liar. That’s because they were on my very first post ever, which I am nearly 100% certain no one ever read until about six months after I took the files down.

That post was six years ago this month! That’s crazy. I can’t believe I’ve kept this blog going that long, but I’m so glad I did.

A lot of people ask me why I do this. I make no money on this blog (in fact, I lose money on it) and it’s a lot of work. Well, as much as I would like to say that I do it for you, the people who are looking for rare and hard to find music, the truth is that I really do it just as much for me as for anyone else.

By keeping up this blog, I kind of force myself to make adventurous musical purchases, and seek out rare and hard-to-find records with the hopes that I might find something interesting to write about it. During the times when the fun freelance writing work dries up (which is more often than I would like ) this blog literally keeps me sane, especially when it’s my only outlet for writing about music. And getting comments and tweets about how awesome I am certainly has done wonders for my self-esteem when things have gotten rough.

Basically, what I’m saying is that I’d like to thank everyone for sticking with me on what is essentially an entirely selfish endeavor that benefits my own ego. I’m glad you enjoy it, and I hope to keep doing it as long as I can type sarcastic bullshit with a healthy side of snark.

But enough of my humblebragging, I have David Bowie songs for you!

As I mentioned in my original post about these songs back in 2006, “When The Wind Blows” is the title song to a 1986 animated film about an elderly British couple struggling, and failing, to survive the horrors of a world in the aftermath of a nuclear war. It’s not a cheery flick. In fact, that’s an understatement, When The Wind Blows is a soul-sucking succubus of a film that will leave you depressed and without hope.

But the theme song is great! And six years later this extended version and the instrumental version (which is an entirely different recording, not just a studio cut with the vocals removed) remain out of print digitally! So enjoy them, and try to think happy thoughts. If you can’t then the next songs will probably help out with that.

The B-52′s
Roam (Extended Mix)
Roam (Instrumental)
Roam (12″ Mix)
“Roam” was released as a single in 1990, a year after R.E.M. released “Stand” as a single. Because of this I will forever assume that “Roam” is a diss track to R.E.M., in which The B-52′s shred R.E.M.’s promotion of a sedentary lifestyle in favor of a more exploratory state of being. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

Stan Ridgway
Salesman (Extended Mix)
Stan Ridgway was the lead singer of the epic Wall of Voodoo before he left the group in the mid-80s to embark on a solo career that most people probably don’t know about, and that’s a damn shame. While I can’t make any claims about his output from the 90s and beyond, his solo records from the 80s were amazing. If you have not, I highly suggest you pick up his debut The Big Heat and his excellent sophomore follow-up Mosquitos.

The best song on The Big Heat is “Camouflage” an excellent yarn about a marine in Vietnam who may or may not have been saved by the ghost of a super-solider. Since The Big Heat is in print and easily available on Amazon (where you should buy it), I can’t post that track. However, I can post this extended remix of “Salesman” which is the B-side to the “Camouflage” single. It’s not as great a track as “Camouflage,” but it’s incredibly catchy and still a solid tune.

Posted in B-52s, David Bowie, remixes, soundtrack, Stan Ridgway | 5 Comments »

Lets Dance to Songs about Shacks and Fish

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

Thought I’d take a break from arguing with game developers on Twitter and pounding my head against my desk trying to overcome a case of writer’s block with some happy tunes.

And I totally promise to have that guide to ripping vinyl up…sometime. I started that when I had almost no writing work going on and now I seem to have a ton. I’m not complaining about getting paid to write, but it does make this blog  kind of a secondary concern. And I’m sure most of you would rather me ramble for a bit and post some awesome remixes than go on and on about ripping vinyl.

Right now it looks like the guide will be split into several parts: Hardware, set-up, software, and editing. I think I should be able to get the hardware and set-up parts done fairly soon. Going into detail about software and editing is a bit more complicated though. Still, I really am planning on getting the whole thing done sometime this month. I appreciate your patience.

Now let’s head on down to the Love Shack.

The B-52′s
Love Shack (12″ Remix)
Love Shack (12″ Instrumental)
Love Shack (12″ Mix)
Love Shack (Big Radio Mix)
Channel Z (12″ Rock Mix)
I can’t believe that I’ve had this single for years and have never posted it! What the hell is wrong with me? Maybe it was because my original recording of it sounded like dogshit. It’s amazing what a stellar stylus and a high-quality record washing machine did for improving the quality of my rips (another tease from my recording guide?).

Since I pretty much everything ever put out by The B-52′s, it goes without saying that I think these remixes are sweet. I will always be confused by the “12″ Remix” and “12″ Mix” titles though. You think they would have called one of them something a little more unique. What makes something a remix and something else a mix anyways? Anyone know?

Bell & James
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (12″ Remix)
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (Instrumental) 
I posted this film’s amazing soundtrack a few months ago, and I’m still bummed that more people didn’t seem to dig it. If you like brilliantly dumb disco then my god do you need to download that record. It will change your life. You will believe that a fish can save Pittsburgh.

If that doesn’t do it for you, then these two added bonus mixes of the soundtrack’s so-good-it’s-life-changing title track should do the job. This song is a masterpiece of everything awesome. Ever. In the history of stuff. Bell &  James should not only get a lifetime achivement award Oscar for their work on this song, they should also get every best song Oscar from 1979 to 2011 as an apology (okay, I’ll let the people who wrote “Fame” keep theirs, but they’re it)!

So yeah, I kind of dig this song, you should download it.

Posted in B-52s, Bell & James, remixes | 8 Comments »

The Best Stuff

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

I was planning on posting one more Star Wars LP, an audio story called Rebel Mission To Ord Mantell. However, it turns out you can get that right here. Why don’t you just do that instead if you’re interested in Star Wars? I’m more interested in posting some bloody music tonight.

Winter. It sucks doesn’t it? If you live in the Midwest (which is reason enough to be depressed), tonight you’re probably bracing for your first big winter storm. That’s never fun.

And I don’t know about you, but I’ve been reading a lot of super-depressive news stories as of late. Probably has something to do with the fact that the Republicans are in the news. They usually take away the fun for everyone.

But fuck that weak shit! Let’s get back into happy fun times! If you download all the music in tonight’s post and don’t smile at least once, call a crisis center, you probably need serious medical help. Or maybe drink some whiskey. That usually helps me.

The B-52s
Good Stuff (12″ Remix)
Good Stuff (Remix Edit)
I listen to a lot of remixes. Seriously. A lot.  As of right now, I have exactly 53,361 songs in my iTunes library. Of them, 2,357 are remixes. That means that nearly one out of every 20 songs in my library is a remix of some sort.

Now, with that in mind, the 12″ remix of Good Stuff might be my favorite remix of all time. And if it’s not the best, it’s certainly the most fun.

It’s amazing what a few layers of synthesizers and a pumped up beat can do. While the original version of “Good Stuff” is beyond great, I think it’s held back as a dance song because it’s still trying to be a bit of a rock song. This version says fuck that, and rips out nearly all the guitars and replaces them with synthesizers, horns and synthesizers that sound like horns. Then it takes the beat and bass and makes them about twice as loud. It may not seem like much, but the end result is a brilliant explosion of feel good vibes and happy times for all. It’s so upbeat and full of energy that scientists should take samples of it and study it for use as a possible fuel source.

You need this song in your life. Today.

Oh, and the edited version is good too, if you need a concentrated blast of awesome instead of an extended mix version.

Cyndi Lauper
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Extended Version)
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Instrumental Version)
I’m shocked that this extended version isn’t in print somewhere. Doesn’t everyone in the world love this song? Who wouldn’t want more of it? I’ll tell you who! Republicans! They don’t want anyone to have fun, especially women. Let’s dance party them to death. I’ll bring this song. You bring the Red Bull. It’ll be a long dance party, I think we’ll need the energy drinks until those scientists figure out a way to turn “Good Stuff” into a snortable drug that’ll make cocaine seem like rock candy.

Haysi Fantayzee
John Wayne Is Big Leggy (Groovy Long Version) 
I never heard of Haysi Fantayzee or this song until I bought this 12″ single. I don’t even know what motivated me to make the purchase, probably the song title, because what the fuck does that even mean?

I don’t purport this song to be…well…good, but I bet you’ve never heard anything remotely like it. And its certainly energetic and fun, and sometimes those are more important qualities for a song to have than being well-constructed or full of artistic merit. I’ll certainly listen to this song more than I will the latest Bon Iver album, that’s for sure.

As for what the song is actually about? Well, on YouTube, there’s a video of Haysi Fantaysee performing poorly lip-syncing on Top of The Pops. At one point a trivia track scrolls across the bottom of the screen and simply says “Don’t Ask. It’s bound to upset the John Wayne Estate.”

I’m going to defer to that. It’s probably best if we don’t know.

Posted in B-52s, Cyndi Lauper, Haysi Fantayzee, remixes | 15 Comments »

This Blog Goes to 12. Spinal Tap can Suck it.

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

Tonight’s post is brought to you by eight month old Jagermeister. You see, that’s when that shit gets SMOOTH. Wow my eyeballs feel warm…

Also, to the people asking for the soundtrack to Get Crazy, email me. The addy is on this page, you can find it. I don’t post complete soundtracks anymore. They always get shut down by The Man. Fuck The Man. He’s a tool.

Tonight’s post is epic. Enjoy.

Big Country
In A Big Country (Pure Mix)
Wonderland (Extended Mix)
These are both reposts As in I posted this track before. But demand for the In A Big Country remix was overwhelming! Well, not overwhelming, two people asked. But I giving that whole “karma” thingy a try. For future reference to all y’all, if you want a track I posted before you should email me. It’s easier and you are FAR more likely to get it that way then posting in the comments. It shows to me that you actually read my blog. That makes me happy. You know what else makes me happy. This song. I’ve never took the smile away from anybody’s face either man. Damn, my face is all warm and stuff. I’m also reposting that amazing remix of “Wonderland” because I felt like it.

The B-52s
Hallucinating Pluto (Jason’s Ride On Mix)
Hallucinating Pluto (Jason’s Beats)
Roam (Miami Phunky Break Mix)
Love Shack (DJ Tonka Remix)
Planet Claire (Francois Kevorkian Mix)
Summer Of Love (Summer Party Mix)
Good Stuff (Schottische Mix)
Debbie (Edge Factor Mix)
So some of these are available to download at Amazon’s MP3 store. But I don’t care! Besides, my vinyl ripped versions sound neater. These mixes kick ass. Although Jason Mevin’s mix of “Hallucinating Pluto” make it sound like the track is an invitation from Fred Schneider for you to mount him. But hey, it probably is. So go nuts. Also, the” Summer of Love” mix is by Shep Pettibone, and the “Good Stuff” mix is by Moby. Also, the “Good Stuff” mix is rock your balls off amazing. I got these from a promotional 2×12” pack that was encased in red vinyl. It’s cool.

Jamiroquai
Supersonic (Pete Heller – The Love Mix)
Supersonic (Restless Soul Main Vocal Mix)
Supersonic (Restless Soul Digi-Beats)
Supersonic (Pete Heller – The Love Dub)
Supersonic (Sharp Razor Remix)
Jamiroquai is very hard to spell. Much more so when drunk.

N.W.A.
Gangsta Gangsta (Aphrodite Mix/Club)
Dopeman (Aphrodite Mix/Club)
That’s right biatch! I’m gangsta. Not really. These are remixes by Aphrodite. I never knew this 12” existed before stumbling across it last week. If I had I probably would’ve gone out of my way to buy it because these tracks appear in mix form on Aphrodite’s epic mix CD Urban Jungle. I think I’ve mention this before, but that mix CD is unbefuckinglievable. You will never hear a better 73 minutes of jungle music than you will on that CD. I just discovered it’s out of print too! What the fuck? How did that happen? That’s fucked up. Shit. If I ever dig mine out of storage I’ll try to post it. The version I have on my computer is one long MP3, because back when I ripped it iTunes couldn’t play mixes without pauses between tracks. It was annoying. Seriously though, however much you see that CD worth it’s totally worth it. It’s hand in hand with Fatboy Slim’s On The Floor At the Boutique as the best mix CD of the 90s.

Posted in Alcohol, Aphrodite, B-52s, Big Country, Jamiroquai, N.W.A., remixes | 9 Comments »