Archive for the ‘Frankie Goes To Hollywood’ Category

Frankie for the New Year

Sunday, January 4th, 2015

Happy new year’s everyone!

This week marks my one year anniversary of moving to Japan! Holy shit! It’s been a year already and it only feels like…actually, it feels like it’s been a year. With all the amazing highs and shitty lows (most of which are behind me yay) I went through since I moved here, I’d be lying if I said it was all roses, or that it was so great that the time just flew on by. However, it has been, and continues to be, the most amazing and incredible experience of my life and I can’t wait to continue it for years to come.

And there are so many great records stores here! See what I bought?!

Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Welcome To The Pleasuredome (Urban Mix)
I recently bought that gigantic Inside The Pleasuredome box set. I liked it, but found it lacking in really rare and worthwhile bonus material. I wonder who will have to die for us to get a really complete and in-depth Welcome To The Pleasuredome box set. I wish ZZT would just do the right damn thing and put out EVERYTHING Frankie in one massive box set instead of doling it out piecemeal, with a couple of tracks on one compilation, a few others on another. I would gladly pay hundreds of dollars for a comprehensive Frankie Goes To Hollywood box set, and I know I’m not the only one. Besides, the longer they hold the good stuff back, the more assholes like me are likely to share what they’ve accumulated over the years.

This track is from the 1985 Japan-only compilation Bang!, not to be confused with the greatest hits album of the same name. Bang! is a six-track EP, and includes three album cuts, “War (Hidden),” “Two Tribes (Hibakusha)” and the above remix. Everything on the EP is now in-print and easy to find, save for the one I’m sharing tonight. Why has ZZT never bothered to re-release it? Probably because they need it in their vaults for another compilation they’re readying. Wankers.

Kavinsky
Protovision (Sebastien Tellier Version)
The original version of “Protovision” is from Kavinsky’s album Outrun, which, despite Kavinsky’s dreams, has nothing to do with the Sega arcade classic of the same name. It is a quality album though, and I suggest you pick it up. I scored this off of a 12″ single that had several other remixes of the tune as well. However, they’re all available digitally, so you’re only getting this one here. Buy the rest if you like it – they’re really good!

Primal Scream
Stuka (Two Lone Swordsmen Mix)
Stuka (Two Lone Instrumental Swordsmen Mix)
Primal Scream is insane popular in Japan. I have no idea why. These are from a 12″ single.

Harold and Frankie

Monday, October 7th, 2013

Caring about baseball for the first time in 16 years (when the Indians were in the World Series, for those wondering) has really taken a hit into my productivity. Games every day? Jesus, how the hell do baseball fans get anything done? I’m used to wasting just one day a week to sports, I don’t know if even I have enough lack of motivation to subject myself to this much longer.

And besides, I have a shitload of stuff to do! Operation: Get Crap Out Of My House is well into effect, but I still got a few “big ticket” items I need to unload.

In fact, can I interest any of you in the following?

Super Famicom (Boxed!)

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A complete Super Famicom system, complete with both controllers, A/V cable and original AC adapter (so you might want a power converter). Comes in its original box too! Looks great and I can verify that it plays games perfectly as well. I’m asking $100 for this (shipping not included). That’s about $20-$40 cheaper than most Super Famicoms you see on eBay when you factor in the high international shipping you typically have to pay.

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I occasionally help out in my friend’s used games store, so believe me when I tell you that coming across one of these in as nice shape as this one is doesn’t happen everyday!

Sharp Front Loading Stereo Turntable RP-117

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Okay, this thing is crazy. It’s a turntable that takes LPs like CDs, and then it can play both sides with no flipping required! It doesn’t sound amazing, but it certainly sounds as good as most mid-range turntables, and it’s a great talking piece to have as an auxiliary deck.  I haven’t played it in about a year, so I’ll test it before I ship it out, but last I checked it played fine. These can be a bit finicky too, so finding one in working condition is a real rarity.

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I’m asking $300 for it, which is $100 cheaper than what they tend to go for on eBay. Don’t ask me about replacement styluses or needles for this sucker though, because I have no idea.

If either of these items interest you, leave a comment with your email (I won’t approve it, I’ll just use it to get a hold of you).

 

Okay, sorry for that brief QVC moment. If you read all that, I appreciate your patience and reward you with silly music from the 80s.

Harold Faltermeyer
Fletch Theme (Extended Version)
Fletch Theme (Radio Edit)
Fletch Theme (Fletch Rap)
Fletch Theme Bonus Beats (Hip Hop Version)
So I’m going to be real and just put this out there: I’ve never seen Fletch.

Okay, yeah, I know. Yeah, I’m sure its great. But by the time I was old enough to really appreciate it, Chevy Chase was well on his path of sucking, so I immediately associated the film with the long line of sucking pieces of suck he’s sadly known for today. I know I should watch it! I know it’s a good movie! But there are a lot of good movies I haven’t seen that I need to watch, and when I start looking at that list, I feel that movies like Godfather II, The African Queen and Manhattan probably take precedence over Fletch. Of course, you’re talking to the guy who decided it was of the utmost importance to mainline the first five Fast & Furious films in a 48 hour period, so what do I know.

Well, I do know that Harold Faltermeyer’s theme to Fletch is pretty fucking rad, and like some commenters have told me in the past, it’s actually even better than his theme to Beverly Hills Cop, something that’s no small feat. All four of these versions of the theme sound pretty similar to me, but whatever, it’s four similar versions of a completely bitchin’ tune, so I’m not going to complain.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Rage Hard (++) [Broad]
Sometimes I feel the need to just write about an album. No reason. Just because I want to. If I ever do this, I think I’d have to write about Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Welcome To The Pleasuredome. Not just because it’s a fantastic record and one of my favorites, but because I feel that I’m in the extreme minority in saying as much.  That album is a fucking masterpiece. Not only that, I feel that it perfectly encapsulates every single thing about the early 80s, from rampant casual sex to the constant threat of nuclear war. It’s an awesome record.

Liverpool, the group’s 1986 sophomore album, and their last release, is significantly less awesome. I’ve listened to it several times since finding it a few months ago, and aside from “Warriors Of The Wasteland” and “Rage Hard” it’s an entirely forgettable album. It also tries far too hard to recapture the magic of the original album in tone and structure too, right down to the random oddball cross-genre cover (a weak rendition of “Roadhouse Blues” filling in for Pleasuredome’s amazing take on “Born To Run.”)

But like I said, “Rage Hard” is a pretty great track, and thanks to Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s shameless(ly wonderful) practice of remixing and re-releasing singles ad nauseam, there are more than a few remixes of it floating out there. I currently have four: The Bob K Remix, an extended version, one simply titled “Vocal/Remix” that I got off of the Japanese version of the Frankie Said compilation, and the one I’m sharing tonight. Of those, I think this one is the best. It’s not the longest, but it’s still a hefty eight minutes, and unlike the other remixes, it never delves off into sample-heavy wankery or excessive non-musical segues or interludes. It just uses its eight minutes to take its time and really stretch the tune out. As I’ve said time and time again, the best remixes are the ones that just let a song’s natural awesomeness shine while not trying to change it too much.

Slyvester Goes To Hollywood

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013

I’m on my new hosting service! But stuff is still kind of on fire. That’s why there’s no logo at the top of the screen. Hopefully that will get worked out soon. Double hopefully now that everything is moved I can finally start getting that other site in a state where I can unveil it to the masses. I think it’ll be relatively dope.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Two Tribes (Fluke Magimix)
Two Tribes (Olav Basoski’s Tiberium Power Mix)
Two Tribes (Rob Searle’s Club Dub)
While in Japan I picked up the Frankie Said, a  2CD compilation that assembles a rather bizarre combination of Frankie b-sides, remixes and outtakes. It’s an awesome collection, with multiple versions of classics like “Relax,” “Weclome The The Pleasuredome” and “Two Tribes.”

One of the most interesting things about the album is its sequence and editing. It has many interludes, 30-second to one-minute tracks that contain spoken word bits and song fragments. Many of them work to seamlessly segue into the next track. In doing so, it kind of transforms the hodgepodge collection into a concept album of sorts , and not just because parts of it sound like one big song mixed together, I mean thematically too. The compilation focuses on what Frankie knew best, hedonism, sex, drugs, and the constant threat of World War III. If that doesn’t have the makings of a concept album about life in the early 80s, I don’t know what does.

If you can find a copy of that 2CD set, I recommend picking it up. None of these remixes are from the said set though, they’re from a 2×12″ single that I also bought in Japan. The Fluke mix is the best of the bunch. And I love the fact that Fluke did a Frankie Goes To Hollywood remix.

Sylvester
Band Of Gold
Band Of Gold (Dub Mix)
Band Of Gold (Radio Edit)
Does the original version of “Band of Gold” by Freda Payne count as disco? It came out in 1970, which I guess predates disco by a few years, but it sure sounds like something that could have torn up a disco club in the 70s. It’s certainly one of my favorite pop songs of the decade, and has turned into a surprising recurring track here on The Lost Turntable. First I put up a cover by Modern Romance that was featured on the wonderfully horrid Party Party soundtrack. Then I shared it again years later, this time being Belinda Carlisle’s version. Those versions were good, but they can’t hold a candle to this one. I mean, c’mon, Sylvester? Patrick Cowley? Can’t top that.

Listening to this track got me on a disco kick, and I searched to see if Sylvester ever did a cover of my favorite classic disco track “Don’t Leave Me This Way.” Turns out he didn’t. However, I did find a cover of the song by his friend and fellow disco diva Jeanie Tracy. That cover has a remix called “A Sylvester Mix.” I don’t know if he had anything to do with the mix, or it if was a tribute to him and/or his boyfriend who had just succumbed to AIDS that year. “Don’t Leave Me This Way” was a rallying cry for the AIDS-affected gay community of the early 80s, so that wouldn’t surprise me. It’s awesome though, so now I have a new 12″ single to track down.

I should really just go to bed already

Friday, September 21st, 2012

As I write this I have to leave in six and a half hours to catch a plane to go to Florida to go to Delunafest to see Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Joan Jett, The Joy Formidable and a few other bands I love. And I know that was a poorly constructed run on sentence but I’ve been writing like a madman all week and I think all my grammatical abilities are nearly shot.

But not shot enough to plug my fire sale! Please, if you’re interested in buying any of the records I have for sale let me know! I’ll be taking them off my site sometime next week and moving them to eBay. Don’t forget, all prices are negotiable! Also, I plan on selling some concert posters (mostly Pearl Jam) as well. So keep an eye on that if you’re interested. I might even try to sell my comic book statues. So if you REALLY like Spider-Man or Punisher, let me know.

But until then, hey, music.

Cutting Crew
(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight (Remix)
Me buying this 12″ single just proves that I will buy damn near any extended version of a pop song from my youth. Well, I guess that’s not true. You’re never going to see any 12″ singles from the Thompson Twins (“Hold Me Now” can fuck right off), but that’s really about it. Shit, if there’s an extended mix of The Outfield’s “You Love” I’ll probably get it at some point.

Also, this song is gross. Google it.

Siouxsie And The Banshees
Kiss Them For Me (Snapper Mix) 
Staring Back/Return 
I bought this single and then less than 24 hours later a friend of mine emailed me and asked if I had a remix of another Siouxsie song. That’s some Siouxsie symmetry right there. As great as “Kiss Them For Me” is, the real star of this 12″ is “Staring Back/Return,” a two-song suite that is powerful, beautiful and a must-hear for fans of Siouxsie. I can’t believe it was never released on a proper album by the group.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Welcome To The Pleasuredome (Brothers In Rhythm Rollercoaster Mix)
Welcome To The Pleasuredome (Elevatorman’s Non-Stop Top Floor Club Mix)
Welcome To The Pleasuredome (Elevatorman’s Deep Down Bass-ment Dub)
My quest to get every single Frankie Goes To Hollywood remix continues. I know it is an exercise in madness, because the discography of “Relax” remixes is greater than some bands complete musical output, but dammit I’m still going to try. I know own five different versions of that 12 inch, and three different 12 inch singles for this track. These remixes aren’t “original” mixes, instead they come from a 1993 re-issue, but I don’t care. I love me some Pleasuredome and I will take it anyway I can get it (I’m sure that’s a phrase that one person from Frankie Goes To Hollywood said at some point).

Both the Elevatorman remixes are decent, but if you want some bang for your unspent buck, check out the Brothers In Rhythm mix first. It is 16 minutes of hedonism-loving joy.

Sneaker Pimps
Spin Spin Sugar (Farley + Heller’s Fire Island Vocal Mix)
Spin Spin Sugar (Phlude’s Creeping Vine Mix)
Sneaker Pimps is a hideously horrendous name for a band. I posted these remixes a few years ago, but I totally forgot I own this single and I just bought it, and recorded it again this week. So hey, this recording sounds better probably, so you should just go ahead and download it even if you have the other one.

Also, if you want to buy this fucker, let me know. Because I’m stupid and I forget what I own apparently.

Welcome To The Trevor Horn

Monday, August 6th, 2012

I have huge news!

I can’t tell you it. But it’s really huge. And awesome.

When can I tell you the huge news?

Soon. But until then, hey some cool 80s music!

Yes
Leave It (Hello, Goodbye Mix)
One day I’m going to cave and actually listen to 90125, the Yes album that gave the world “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” and this equally good gem of 80s synth nonsense. It seems like the kind of stupid brilliance that I would fall in love with. But I’ve always wondered if actual hardcore Yes fans liked the album when it first came out. By all accounts it seems to be a very serviceable, above average synthpop record, but Yes was a prog rock band! Shit, there isn’t one song on 90125 that’s over 10 minutes long, fans of Tales from Topographic Oceans (the 2LP Yes album with FOUR 20 minute songs) must have been pissed at the time! However, their albums leading up to 90125 were allegedly so bad that maybe they took whatever they could get at that point that wasn’t outright horrible. I certainly know how that can be, as a Def Leppard fan I would settle for a post-punk revival rip-off record by them if it was halfway decent.

Or maybe all of their die-hard old fans were replaced with Frankie Goes To Hollywood fans, as Trevor Horn produced both 90125 and the seminal work of 80s excess, Frankie’s Welcome To The Plesuredome.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Happy Hi (Live)
Get It On (Live) 
Born To Run (Live) 
Warriors (Instrumental)
I have to give it to whoever is in charge of the Frankie Goes To Hollywood back catalog, they seem to be doing a pretty good job of re-issuing it. First there was the Twelve Inches two-disc compilation and now there’s the new Sex Mix 2 disc set that features even more rare and hard to find Frankie goodies (although I guess there’s a pretty severe mastering error on that one).

I give it up to them for going for the deep cuts and re-issuing long out-of-print and rare tracks, but I really think it’s time for them to go the distance and just put it all out. If there was any band that is deserving a full-on mega huge box set collecting everything it would be Frankie Goes To Hollywood. I want every remix, every edit, every alternate version, every live cut. Everything. Yes. It would be huge. Yes. It would be expensive. But I would buy the shit out of that thing and I be quite a few people who read this blog would too.

Until then, enjoy these live cuts and an instrumental track that have yet to see the light of day on any of the numerous Frankie re-issues that have been put out so far.

Flock of Bootlegs

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

If any of you follow me on Twitter, then you may already know that I might have to go on another grunge-related rant next week. For that I apologize.

Until then, let’s keep the happy synthpop train rolling!

Depeche Mode
Only When I Lose Myself (Lexicon Avenue Remix) 
It’s come to this, I have so many Depeche Mode singles (over 80 if you count the box sets) that I have to resort to white label bootlegs to get my remix fix. I’m willing to accept that if it means I can get more awesome mixes like this one, however. I’m digging this mix a lot at the moment. It’s very chill and minimal, and it really takes its time to develop. And since “Only When I Lose Myself” is one of those Mode tracks where all you need is Gahan’s haunting vocals, the sparse, bare-bones treatment fits the track perfectly. A quality mix that’s better than a lot of the official remixes that were on the last Depeche Mode remix compilation, it’s definitely worth a listen or twenty.

Flock of Seagulls
I Ran (Flatline Remix)
So one time I went to this weird hipster party in Pittsburgh and a band called Tehran Iran was playing. They came out dressed as sheikhs and played punk rock covers of Duran Duran songs. It was pretty awesome. For their encore they played “I Ran,” changing the chorus to “But Iran/Iran is so far away.”  Good times.

Anyways, this is another bootleg remix, bought in the same batch as that previously mentioned Depeche Mode remix. I never thought I’d find a trance remix of a Flock of Seagulls track, let alone like it a lot. Will the wonders never cease?

Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Welcome To The Pleasuredome (Trevor Horn Remix)
Get It On (Bang a Gong)
Relax International (Live)
Speaking of bootlegs, has anyone ever done a mash-up of “Welcome To The Pleasuredome” with Public Enemy’s “Welcome To the Terrordome?” It seems like the kind of thing that just should create itself into existence, it’s so obvious.

These tracks are not bootlegs, they are taken from one of the 86 zillion Frankie Goes to Hollywood 12″ singles that came out between the years 1983-85.  Because, y’know, the world needed as many remixes of “Relax” as possible! It’s how we survived the Reagan years. That’s a fact. You can look it up.

And that “Get It On” cover is ridiculous and I love every minute of it!